KYOBO NA ONGAKU (A VIOLENT MUSIC)

There are portions of this record that are incredible, but overall this doesn't measure up to their first two studio albums. "A Violent Music" is an apt title for this recording as it is often very "noisy" and as victor77 says it's "hard to listen" to at times. Sometimes the drums are too upfront in the mix or they just don't sound good, and at times it's the distorted guitar that takes away the enjoyment of this record for me.

"A Violent City" hits the ground running with a lot of noise as guitar leads the way. Fortunately we get some scorching guitar melodies, and the guitar is especially good before 5 minutes in. Mellotron then floods the soundscape as xylophone, more mellotron and some blistering guitar follow. "Feet On the Ground" is difficult for me to enjoy as there is again a lot of noise.

"A Violent Party" is uptempo with fast paced vocals as the guitar grinds it out. Mellotron and drums follow before the melody from the beginning comes back but this time with xylophone. "A Violent Fort" has more mellotron and xylophone, but prior to that it's the guitar that impresses me the most 3 minutes in. "A Man Of Hand To Mouth" has processed vocals that I don't like, but I love the mellotron after 2 minutes. "Creep Funk" has some good bass and I especially like the guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. "A Violent Nightmare" features some good guitar as the band jams for a while.

A good record but disappointing for me after really enjoying their early work.