[8/8] Idoling!!! 18th single [One Up!!!/Ichigo Gyuunyuu]

[Technoboots]

I'm not quite sure what I thinkof the PV yet. I'm some ways I don't like it. With there being so many members it seemed to me that at times they were changing camera angles much too quickly in order that everyone could be seen. Because of this I wasn't able to follow it easily.
Another think I wanted to happen was for another member to get to do the solo. I know Maipuru is a great singer (in my opinion) but she always seems to get to do the solo parts in most of the songs. For once I'd like another member to get the chance to do it. It's got me wondering what is going to happen when she does finally graduate, how are they going to choose who takes over singing the solo parts.

[b8067hc]

^^ Ton-chan, Rurika, Umeko & Yurippe still there  But my wish is Maipuru still in Idoling!!! at least 2 years from now (25 years old)

[SuzukiRyo]

[Jenus]

This looks like a rebroadcast of the Sashihara event. Performing One Up!!!

[SuzukiRyo]

Bigger 

 

     

[Hatix]

Our goddesses look like... well, goddesses Beautiful indeed!!! 

I like Sayonara Junjou a lot

The Megami no Pulse clip is a little short to make a real opinion. For some reason it reminds me a bit of **wake Maybe, but it's not bad so far.

[LarcKen]

Looking at the big covers made me think that our supposedly called 'variety idol'  actually have more goddesses like beauties than those 48 senbatsu members   

Just for fun, someone at 2ch made these comparisons:
- One up = Kattun
- Ichigo Gyuunyu = Arashi
- Sayonara Junjou = Kinki Kids
- Megami no pulse = Kiss my ft2

I have to say the kinki kids one is a bullseye. I like the song btw

[praxis]

like Sayonara Junjou a lot
its better than one up!!!
IMO

[SuzukiRyo]

Looking at the big covers made me think that our supposedly called 'variety idol'  actually have more goddesses like beauties than those 48 senbatsu members   

Just for fun, someone at 2ch made these comparisons:
- One up = Kattun
- Ichigo Gyuunyu = Arashi
- Sayonara Junjou = Kinki Kids
- Megami no pulse = Kiss my ft2

I have to say the kinki kids one is a bullseye. I like the song btw

I'm gonna listen to kiss my ft2 then 

[Jenus]

One Up!!! PV review - I find the concept a bit conflicting, it just doesn't seem like the dark theme goes together with the uptempo & cheerful beat of the song. I don't think the theme is very detailed, I don't know what I'm suppose to imagine with the outfit, is it about punk rock? exotic dancing? wrestling? Whatever it is, the imagery is too vague. The over-usage of effects bother me as well, the sparkles especially are too bright at times that I had to squint my eyes while watching. Camera cuts are too fast at times that I couldn't even tell who I was watching. As a whole the PV just felt very fragmented and hectic, I couldn't remember any specific moments that stood out from a couple of viewings alone. Having said that, the PV does have more visual impact than the previous PVs I could recall in recent times, it may have a better chance of stopping the people walking on the street if shown on big screen in Shibuya. It's better than Mamore!!! PV, but not by much.

As for member placements, I didn't like how 5th gen. members are so under-utilized, because Kurumi and Karen are visually impeccable ones out of the group and they were hardly shown in the PV. As much as I like Asahi, she's featured way too much in this type of theme, she's not the sexy type, she's totally mis-used in the PV in that she's over-exposed, her position would've been better suited with someone like Tonchan or Miyake. I didn't have a problem with the amount of camera time Kikuchi got as she is one of the sexy types which fits with the theme of the PV.

As for the coupling songs, I would say they are the weakest efforts by far, very generic and not memorable, mostly for the fact that the music style just seems off. I can understand that they would use the coupling songs as a testing ground by letting the less vocally gifted members to participate with more lines, but it sure doesn't hurt to have Maipuru, Tonchan, Ruri trio in a beastly god-like ballad once in a while as well. Idoling coupling songs historically were on par with single songs if not better, but I can't say the same this time around, the coupling songs are quite under-whelming. It bothers me a little more in that they sound like typical AKB songs where vocal ability is not utilized at all, and going with a casual style vocal that makes the song even more generic and dull. As a whole I don't understand the musical style of this single, it just doesn't sound like the kind that Idoling would be a part of. I seriously think the current music composition staff's well is dried up, and it's time to get a fresh blood of talent in there.

[wq12wq12]

I think Strawberry milk PV is better than  1UP.

Like CM song.

I also think No.19 is very cute in the PV. But my NO.1 is still Tonchan.

[Hatix]

Why a surprise if the coupling songs are kind of different, it's always like that.
Sayonara Junjou has a style that Idoling!!! hasn't done yet, and Idoling!!! is quite known to try out any genre.
And I like the latin style of this song
After listening to Megami no Pulse a few times, even though it sounds a little generic, I like it (And it sounds like mixes can fit in

Still think One Up!!! is the best song, I'm glad this is the main A track,
and Ichigo Gyuunyuu the weakest song (although it's starting to grow on me).

Can't wait for a full CD rip (or my own copy, whichever is first )

[LarcKen]

vP kilM yrrebwartS

Now that's more like it   
simple outdoor PV which showcases each member quite well 
And it actually reminds me that this is a double A side single 

[paperbed]

First post in a while... 

Henceforth, any mention of "Idoling", "them", "they" or "their" in this post refers to the Producer(s).

I'm not sure this collection of songs (singles + b-sides) is going to help Idoling, on the contrary, I feel like it might hurt them. Their exposure has been increasing since Don't Think. Feel!, and it's going to be necessary for them to constantly out-do their previous work to maintain and increase buzz. That's being said, I'm not sure if either A-side could deliver: they're both far more mild than Mamore!.

I'm trying to think of Idoling from an objective, non-fan's POV. If I had to sum up why I wouldn't be interested: 1) uninspired songs 2) weak production 3) unpolished singing. This release seems like a mix of 1) and 2). 3) seems to be taken care of recently because (I might be wrong) the girls are singing over their studio vocals during TV appearances. These songs have weak instrumentation, weak mixing, and all-too-familiar, almost cliché melodies and progressions. I think they even re-used the Pre-Chorus from the recent PuyoPuyo song in Ichigo Gyuunyuu. It's almost as if they're trying to write something they think as many people as possible would be able to stomach.

As far as mixing goes, the drums sound like they've been mixed so aggressively that they're now sitting between good synth / bad acoustic, and the overall mixes lack punch. Yes, I'm aware of the "Loudness War", but I feel like the guys in the studio didn't even attempt to thicken up these mixes. Fans wouldn't care about the mixes so much, but if you want to catch people's attention, you gotta jam the songs into their ears, make them really HEAR every second.

I don't harbour any desire to see Idoling explode like AKB. Frankly, I wouldn't give a rat's fanny if they existed solely for us on the forum, but financially that's impossible. I just want them to be successful enough to keep going for several more years, but I feel like they need to step up their game.

Idoling has been the underdog since their debut; everyone knows that, they themselves even joke about it. I feel like this gives them a Free-Pass just go all-out and experiment with whatever genres and compositions they want. Right now, I feel like they're just trying to keep their head above the red by releasing overly "safe" singles that JUST meet the industry standard.

[Code001]

I think they even re-used the Pre-Chorus from the recent PuyoPuyo song in Ichigo Gyuunyuu.

I'm not sure what parts you're referring to.  Can you point out the exact times in the songs?

As far as mixing goes, the drums sound like they've been mixed so aggressively that they're now sitting between good synth / bad acoustic, and the overall mixes lack punch. Yes, I'm aware of the "Loudness War", but I feel like the guys in the studio didn't even attempt to thicken up these mixes. Fans wouldn't care about the mixes so much, but if you want to catch people's attention, you gotta jam the songs into their ears, make them really HEAR every second.

The CD isn't out yet, and I wouldn't go by any of the awful "YouTube compression" rips when it comes to how good the production sounds.  My DAW's meter seems to be showing that it's been compressed to hell and downsampled, even on the 1080p setting.

[Jenus]

Ichigo Gyuunyuu PV review - The image video style is very appealing and it's nice to see that the outdoors was used to give it a more natural feel that matches with the style of the song. I don't necessarily have a problem with the members that were in school uniform, but considering that there are plenty of real-time students in Idoling to utilize, I can't help but scratch my head in the choices a bit as Aichan and Yurippe are no longer in school. Having the rest of the members in a snap-shot cut scenes in brief segments just looks unbalanced. It might have looked more coordinated if the real-time student members are utilized just for school uniform scenes as visuals and have the singing members be shown in the rest instead. Considering that this is an A-side song, I'm not thrilled with a very small showing of some members such as Kaepyon and 5th gen. memebers, It's only fitting that they would be the prime candidates to be showcased in a song like this where youthfulness is essential, instead the youngest members are completely neglected, I mean what are they thinking? Wouldn't it be better to have 2 A-side PVs showcase different members instead of the same? I'm perfectly fine with how Asahi was showcased in this PV, but she is totally not the right fit in One Up!!! PV. I also would be fine without the shots of Maipuru in this PV even if she's the main vocal, she just doesn't go with a youthful song and this PV. As for the song itself, I don't hate it but I can't stand the casual singing style that just kills the potential of such a ballad song where emotional element is simply not there to a listener.

As a separate commentary, I like to mention that I'm alarmed at just how little 5th gen. is utilized in the PVs since they have joined. It's like they are not even there in the 2 PVs so far. Why are they being so under-utilized when 3rd and 4th gen were practically given their own single PV when first joined in "baby blue" and "Meniwa Aoba..." to feature the new faces??? I'm not saying they should put 5th gen. members in the center position, I'd just like to see a little more balance and at the least show them enough in PVs that they do exist. I understand that they would like to push members like Asahi, Aichan, Maipuru, and Yuna, but if only 4 of them are exclusively shown in PVs, the appeal factor would only become narrower to the audience as opposed to showing all members equally so that Idoling would attract more fans with 21 instead of 4 faces.

[123SillyBlast]

vP kilM yrrebwartS

Now that's my kind of PV. I'm not really into PVs with just dance and a few close-ups. I might as well just watch a live performance. This, however, is much better. It has outdoor parts (that's almost always good) and natural, non-dance close-ups with interesting clothes and backgrounds.

[paperbed]

I'm not sure what parts you're referring to.  Can you point out the exact times in the songs?

The Prechorus of both songs. Funnily enough they both start at 0:51 as well.

The CD isn't out yet, and I wouldn't go by any of the awful "YouTube compression" rips when it comes to how good the production sounds.  My DAW's meter seems to be showing that it's been compressed to hell and downsampled, even on the 1080p setting.

I've always found their mixes to be a lot "smaller" sounding than other modern pop idol groups, I'm listening to a few now to compare. Oddly enough I'm comparing Idoling 320kbps to Youtube (other groups) and they still sound smaller. They use real instruments, but most of the times I feel like the instruments are an afterthought. It sort of leaves this greyish colour over the whole song. My concern is mostly with Ichigo Gyuunyuu, I sense that it'll end up having as much punch as Bokura no Niwa.

[Code001]

The Prechorus of both songs. Funnily enough they both start at 0:51 as well.

Puyo Puyo, which mainly follows E Major
G# F# A G# F# E A G#F# G# F# D# E
G# F# A G# F# E A G#F# B

Ichigo, which mainly follows D Major
F# G A Bb A G F# A F# E D
E F# G F# G F# E D E F# F#
F# G A Bb A G F# A F# F#

I honestly don't see the connection here, other than they resolve to a root of a major scale, but that could be said for 99% of idol music to begin with.  Here's a pretty funny comparison though, and this is really (probably) just a fluke happening.  AKB48's chorus to song 109 sounds a lot like Sonic 1's Marble stage theme.

1 minute and 2 seconds into this video.  First 4 bars:


Sonic:

I've always found their mixes to be a lot "smaller" sounding than other modern pop idol groups, I'm listening to a few now to compare. Oddly enough I'm comparing Idoling 320kbps to Youtube (other groups) and they still sound smaller. They use real instruments, but most of the times I feel like the instruments are an afterthought. It sort of leaves this greyish colour over the whole song. My concern is mostly with Ichigo Gyuunyuu, I sense that it'll end up having as much punch as Bokura no Niwa.

Those "real" instruments that you hear result in a different sounding mix than a lot of other modern pop music out there.  Mixing real instruments that have been miked in the studio is a lot different than mixing MIDI mapped samples.  I can throw Ozone on some sample loops set to a default preset, and it'll sound huge.  I can throw that same thing on a mix recorded with real instruments, and it'll sound anemic in comparison.  When you combine both samples and real instruments in a mix, you have one hell of a time trying to fit everything in properly.  The frequencies start competing with each other, compression levels are totally different and it's just a huge pain.

Idoling!!!'s audio engineers follow a more conservative approach when it comes to mastering.  Their mixes rarely clip, and they like to leave some headroom in them.  You can compare the average RMS between their songs vs others, and you'll notice theirs is lower.  I will say one thing - AKB has tons of artists out there competing against each other to record their next greatest hit.  They also have access to some of the top recording engineers in the J-Pop industry.  It's hard to compete with that when you're not quite as well known.  Marty Friedman actually did a nice piece explaining how all of this works in his Workshop at MIDEM article.

But I digress.  If someone doesn't like the song, that's fine.  I have no issues with that.  I actually don't really care for any of the songs on this single, but that's my own personal feeling.  They're alright, but I won't be adding them to my Idoling!!! favorites playlist anytime soon.  My main thing was to help try to explain what was going on in the main audio engineer's head.  That, and I personally don't think the pre-choruses of Puyo and Ichigo are that copies of each other.

[paperbed]

Sorry, should have clarified, I wasn't referring to the roots, it's the vocal melody at the beginning of each phrase.

When I listen to SISTERS, 4U and Ichikoi are the two that leap out at me most due to their nice, thick mixes. They sound the most polished; the most "complete" if you will, as if the writers just jam-packed as much as they possibly could have into each song. That might not be Idoling's signature style (which is varied, 3 Dome to Bakkyun  ), but it'd be nice to hear them release something huge and full once in a while to remind the public that they have balls and that they can roll with the best of them.

Maybe the public is reacting? I just looked at the sales figures of MM's recent singles (not really a fan) and sifted through the sales figures you guys put up on the forum. With the exception of the latest, it looks like Idoling's giving MM a run for their money. I wasn't comparing or counting AKB, they've reached this plinth of absolute saturation and sales ridiculousness.

On a separate note, I've finally watched both PVs now that I don't have to worry about my Boss walking by and seeing me staring at a bunch of young girls in black bras. One Up's PV looks a lot more polished than I was expecting. Here's hoping the public eats it up.