Author Topic: (Band) ZONE/MARIA (Read 64155 times)

tenkei · « **Reply #120 on:** July 04, 2007, 07:23:56 AM »

MARIA's album isnt bad, but i wish they had their own sound instead of being ZONE lite.

StreakInTheSky · « **Reply #121 on:** July 06, 2007, 01:34:17 AM »

I don't really think they sound that much like zone. But they do sorta have that general pop/rock sound in most of their songs that gets tired pretty quickly. My main gripe is that their vocals aren't all that great, something that I think would have made up for some of the downfalls of the album.

It was an alright album overall, but it just didn't seem to meet my expectations.

vergil83 · « **Reply #122 on:** July 06, 2007, 08:18:39 AM »

I had high expectations for the album but it turned out okay only. Nevertheless, I will continue to support them and hopefully things will be different for their next release.

Arcadia Victis · « **Reply #123 on:** July 07, 2007, 01:23:13 AM »

Quote from: StreakInTheSky on July 06, 2007, 01:34:17 AM

My main gripe is that their vocals aren't all that great

Quite. Sacchin's voice just sounds flat and kinda bored in a bunch of the songs.

Also, Miyu returning is interesting, but is it me or does she look like a circus clown in that picture? I get chills if I look at it too long. >__>

StreakInTheSky · « **Reply #124 on:** July 07, 2007, 05:44:12 AM »

lol circus clown? I guess she didn't really wear much make-up back when she was in zone, but it's not that bad. It's what most japanese girls her age look like now a days it seems

StreakInTheSky · « **Reply #125 on:** July 15, 2007, 01:31:34 AM »

I've been listening to a bunch of Zone the past couple hours... I have no idea why, but I just decided to do it.

Man I miss them, they were so awesome. They don't have a single bad song. It seriously almost brought a tear to my eye listening to some of their songs. And secret base still chokes me up every time I hear it, just from the opening melody.

I used to concider them my favorite j-pop band and now I remember why.

It's funny though, I still haven't watched their final concert, and now I don't know if I could handle it.

vergil83 · « **Reply #126 on:** July 15, 2007, 07:51:40 AM »

Quote from: StreakInTheSky on July 15, 2007, 01:31:34 AM

I've been listening to a bunch of Zone the past couple hours... I have no idea why, but I just decided to do it.

Man I miss them, they were so awesome. They don't have a single bad song. It seriously almost brought a tear to my eye listening to some of their songs. And secret base still chokes me up every time I hear it, just from the opening melody.

I used to concider them my favorite j-pop band and now I remember why.

It's funny though, I still haven't watched their final concert, and now I don't know if I could handle it.

It might be sad but I'm sure you can overcome it. The final concert is good. You should give it a go.

StreakInTheSky · « **Reply #127 on:** July 16, 2007, 12:31:58 AM »

I think I realized why I'm like this. Unlike most Zone fans, I wasn't really around when all the stuff about their breaking up happened. I pretty much stopped listening to J-pop for a while around the time glory days was released. I guess somewhere in my mind that was still the zone I knew and it never really hit me that they broke up. For some reason I'm really feeling it now.

If I could find it for dl, I'll try to watch it. Either that, or until I could get the money to buy it and a region free dvd player (I'm broke)

I don't really want to watch it on my small ass computer screen.

Twisted Blue · « **Reply #128 on:** August 23, 2007, 08:35:29 AM »

very funny, they can't even sing from laughing!

[youtube=425,350]gwJRnyqjKSA[/youtube]

... and look who's there too!

Arcadia Victis · « **Reply #129 on:** September 05, 2007, 03:08:56 AM »

Quote from: Thunderbolt on August 23, 2007, 08:35:29 AM

very funny, they can't even sing from laughing!
[youtube=425,350]gwJRnyqjKSA[/youtube]

... and look who's there too!

Izzat Mari?

boykun · « **Reply #130 on:** September 05, 2007, 06:56:57 AM »

That's a pretty classic ZONE video, especially if you've seen the secret base PV.

Asmodai · « **Reply #131 on:** September 20, 2007, 05:45:38 PM »

Quote from: StreakInTheSky on July 15, 2007, 01:31:34 AM

I've been listening to a bunch of Zone the past couple hours... I have no idea why, but I just decided to do it.

Man I miss them, they were so awesome. They don't have a single bad song. It seriously almost brought a tear to my eye listening to some of their songs. And secret base still chokes me up every time I hear it, just from the opening melody.

I used to concider them my favorite j-pop band and now I remember why.

It's funny though, I still haven't watched their final concert, and now I don't know if I could handle it.

It's worth watching.

I love ZONE too. They're still my favorite.

In some ways what happened can be seen as a blessing. They didn't linger, overstay their welcome, try to 'reinvent themselves' or devolve into mediocrity like usually happens.

ZONE left making the best music out there, and that's what they'll be remembered for.

subpain · « **Reply #132 on:** September 24, 2007, 01:37:36 AM »

My ZONE fandom is still as alive as it was when they were still releasing new music! Which is pretty impressive, I think. I can't wait for Miyu's solo single next month!

TotallyUncool · « **Reply #133 on:** October 29, 2007, 05:07:23 AM »

The more I listen to Miyu's new single, the more I like it.

Speaking of Miyu, I found this a while ago (Amazing Grace, from her 2004 NY making-of DVD), so I put it on Veoh:
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1371630xjb9nspX

doinkies · « **Reply #134 on:** November 08, 2007, 06:02:52 AM »

Quote from: StreakInTheSky on July 15, 2007, 01:31:34 AM

I've been listening to a bunch of Zone the past couple hours... I have no idea why, but I just decided to do it.

Man I miss them, they were so awesome. They don't have a single bad song. It seriously almost brought a tear to my eye listening to some of their songs. And secret base still chokes me up every time I hear it, just from the opening melody.

I used to concider them my favorite j-pop band and now I remember why.

It's funny though, I still haven't watched their final concert, and now I don't know if I could handle it.

Yeah...when I watched the Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ PV, I cried and cried like a baby, especially when the song got to the line "Totsuzen no/tenkou de/doushiyou mo naku/tegami kaku yo/denwa mo suru yo/wasurenaide ne/boku no koto o/itsumademo futari no kichi no naka". That line hit hard for doinkies in particular because, like the protagonist of the song's friend, I too had to switch schools in middle school and that was really hard for me. That line brought back memories of my classmates from those times...and I wondered what they were doing now...

For that matter, I wonder what MARIA's doing now. It's been a while since their album came out and I haven't heard anything about them since...though they're not as good as ZONE I like a couple of their songs, like Tsubomi, and the B-side of Chiisana Uta...

Arcadia Victis · « **Reply #135 on:** November 23, 2007, 03:08:32 PM »

So I got my hands on Gateway to Tomorrow.

I have to say, Miyu's voice seems to have developed a lot recently, and I'm liking the way it sounds.

Very nice guitar work to boot, but that's expected.

4n01 · « **Reply #136 on:** November 23, 2007, 11:00:17 PM »

Hi everybody!

I'm new to these forums. I just happened to find this place while doing a Google search... and it was a wonderful surprise to see that there is this thread about ZONE right on top, because I've been so in love with their music for a little over a year now.

It just goes to show that when something really special comes along, it's remembered... and from reading many of the posts in this thread, remembered well. I don't know how ZONE happened, but it was magic. Just the right mix of skills, enthusiasm, and personalities. Each member was so unique... and even though people seem to have their favorites, they are all loved and appreciated for what they brought to the band.

And yes... I've also been following MARIA... I think that the best songs on their album are the ones that never made it as singles: MABUDACHI, Anata ni, h@cchake, watch me, and Ichiban Hoshi. I wish that each of those songs had their own PV. I've also been following Miyu and Takayo's solo careers.

I hope to be back regularly, and thank you for this great forum!

Y70 · « **Reply #137 on:** January 13, 2008, 01:53:47 PM »

The PV for MARIA's 4th single "Yurari sakura sora ..." is on air. It turns out to be a slower song, lead vocals by Maiko (on her own, without Aika) and without a bass in her hands.

When I listened to the album "You Go! ~We are MARIA~" I was struck by two things. Firstly, that the songwriting was really quite good and second, that MARIA lacked someone with a voice strong enough to do the songs justice. I have exactly the same reaction to this new single. The thought that comes into my heard is I want to hear this sung by someone with a real voice and it then takes less than two seconds for that thought morph into Wouldn't this sound great if Miyu was singing it.

The decision to put Maiko 'up-front' as lead singer makes good marketing sense. Rightly or wrongly, she is still MARIA's main asset and her vocals are gentle, pleasent and thoroughly competent. The PV is largely (but not entirely) monochrome and it's difficult to escape the impression that MARIA's video budgets are shrinking. The PV is nice but a modest increase in funding could probably have secured something better. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this makes a reasonable showing in the chart.

Arcadia Victis · « **Reply #138 on:** March 15, 2008, 04:33:05 AM »

Quote from: Y70 on January 13, 2008, 01:53:47 PM

The thought that comes into my heard is I want to hear this sung by someone with a real voice and it then takes less than two seconds for that thought morph into Wouldn't this sound great if Miyu was singing it.

THIS. OH GOD THIS.

Runtime REALLY ought to consider bringing Miyu into MARIA. Esp. since her individual artist sales are doing so poorly... I couldn't help but think Yurari Ouzora could have been a lot better with Miyu doing the vocals.

Ayabie · « **Reply #139 on:** May 18, 2008, 12:12:19 PM »

Miyu was on Music Fighter yesteday!
http://mullemeck.serveftp.org/jps_beta/?page=details&id=44908

Haven't been following her solo career, but glad she's doing well.