Babymetal

In my musical journey, my recent appetite has taken me to the Far East, to the land of the rising sun, where a surprising scene is emerging, and leading it is a band called Babymetal. The surprising fusion of genres that couldn’t be further on the music spectrum, Babymetal is a mashup of Death metal, pop idol music, and catchy techno beats. Three teenage girls, backed by a tight killer metal band, deliver an experience that leaves you dumbfounded at first, a little scared and questioning everything you thought you knew about the industry. The brainchild of a whacky Japanese music producer, Babymetal is a collaboration of talents. The musicians are exceptional, perfectly executing a wide range of styles and techniques of the metal genres. Loaded with crushing riffs, death-growls, heavy beats, even some sweet shredding the debut’s repertoire never gets predictable. More than that, the girls who front the band effortlessly apply their vocals over the range of styles adding their unlimited energy to an otherwise tired genre. The production on this album is solid, and demands you turn it to eleven. The album is full of surprises, whenever there’s a break in the song you’re never quite sure which way Babymetal is going to take you; whether you’re going to be hit by a fireball of shred, cheesy pop or some clubber’s techpop beat, and it’s that unpredictability that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Just listen to the song ‘line!’ to experience this, only be careful if you’re in public: When driving to the crunchy riffs I often found myself winding my window down to torment the neighbourhood, only to wind it back up again seconds later embarrassed by the sudden U-turn to soft pop from my car. In the Iraq war of 2004, a mix of heavy metal and songs from children's TV shows were used to torture Iraqi POWs, I believe it would have sounded something like this. But still, there’s a lot to like about this album –cheesy parts included- and a lot to be discovered. It was a delight to find the speed shredders Herman Li and Sam Totman of Dragonforce fame lend their writing skills and burn their axes on an epic bonus track ‘Road to Resistance’. Although plain out rejected by some in the metal community, Babymetal is building a strong following and can no longer be ignored or passed off as a gimmick. The metalheads haven’t yet made its mind up about whether this style has a place in the west but personally, whether you like it or not, I think this is as exciting and fresh as metal has been in years. - James

The songs here established Babymetal as genuine players in the rock/metal world, rather than a gimmick act. This debut album must surely by now be approaching 'classic' status? Not a poor track on it - genuinely all killer tracks, no fillers! World class musicianship and vocals throughout with enough pop-hooks here to keep even the casual listeners happy! ('Gimme Chocolate' anyone?). Babymetal have gone on to really take the 'metal' world by storm and long may they reign! Quite simply, a stunning debut.

I knew of Babymetal but that was as far as it went. When I heard they were playing Sonisphere 2014 @ Knebworth, mostly because of the polarised opinions most people of forums had, I deliberately avoided hearing anything by them so I could judge them live. It is fair to say most people there were watching with open mouths. it was one of the most bizarre things I'd ever seen. I then went to see them @ Brixton Academy in November 2014. This album isn't perfect, as others have said, some of the production is slightly off but over all it is a remarkable piece of work. The backing Kami Band can really play, there's some serious guitar work going on in this album and the main singer, Su Metal, is really talented. She has a remarkably powerful voice for her age and it seems as though world domination beckons. Resistance is futile!

Right I get it....it's not metal blah blah blah! What it is, is a mix of lots of different genre's of music backed up by heavy guitars and metal sounding riffs with super catchy, high energy and simply fun music. The fact I don't understand a word of it seems to add to the experience for me. This is a very good album, by that I mean there are more good songs than bad ones. I don't even think there are any bad tracks, just some that are not as good as others. If you're capable of dropping the "I'm too heavy for metal" attitude (15 yr old virgins) then you should enjoy this album. It's MENTAL! Top tracks: BabyMetal Death - Song4 - Head Bangeeeeeer - Gimmie Chocolate - Megitsune - Onedari Daisakusen

Japanese Death Metal with a hit single titled Gimme Chocolate?... Hmmm. I bought the album on the weight of seeing 'Gimme Chocolate' performed on a documentary tv program a year or so ago, an interest in Japanese culture, and to fill a metal gap in my CD collection. Not usually my genre but what can I say, despite understanding few words of Japanese many of the songs are almost 'pop' style with a very slick metal backing. The energy that comes through the vocals of the three 'metal' girls, not to mention the rapid-fire technical abilities of the band has to be heard to be believed. Su-metal (credited with Vocals and Dance) has a good strong voice and precise delivery, very ably backed by Yuimetal and Moametal (both credited with performing Scream and Dance). The CD contains a a booklet with lyrics in Japanese and a separate sheet with the Japanese lyrics anglicised, although the pace of most of the songs is such that anyone attempting to 'sing along' (unless a fluent Japanese speaker) would probably struggle to keep up. Surprisingly good fun. Despite being able to understand but a few words, a real bop-along album containing many tunes that a casual buyer could find themselves humming quite easily. It'll be interesting to see if Babymetal becomes another short lived phenomenon or whether the band matures and evolves over the next few years.

Non aggiungo altro se non:LE AMO!! 😍 Primo album di queste 3 meravigliose ragazze ormai diventate famose da qualche anno a questa parte di nome BabyMetal. Già dal Nome Metal vi fa capire che tipo di Band è🥰 da quando le seguo dal 2020 me ne sono subito innamorato alla follia💯 In questi giorni proprio questo album ha compiuto i 10 anni dalla sua uscita😁 il cambiamento e l'evoluzione che hanno fatto è davvero incredibile💪🏻 In conclusione album incredibile,consiglio vivamente a chi ama il metal di ascoltare le loro canzoni. 🤘🏻🦊 Il Pacco mi è arrivato in ottime,senza danni interni o esterni con anche l'album del 2019 Metal Galaxy 🖤

Estoy fascinado con el disco, es justo lo que esperaban escuchar mis oídos, y pues aunque hay algunas canciones que tienen más marcado el género J-pop como base, el tipo de metal que se escucha aquí es bastante bueno. Babymetal es un grupo excelente y ni hablar de sus presentaciones en vivo las cuales son magistrales. En cuanto al producto, llegó en excelentes condiciones, sellado y bien empaquetado.

Prenez du gros métal qui tache, ajouter une dose de chanteuses/danseuses JPOP, mélangez le tout à la sauce saké : vous obtenez Babymetal. Je vais reprendre ce que je disais dans un autre commentaire : Babymetal est un groupe monté de toute pièce, un peu comme nos "boysband" qu'on trouvait chez nous il y a quelques temps. Les japonais sont en effet très friands de ce genre de groupe, qu'on nomme "Idole", généralement composé de très jeunes filles aux airs insouciants, sur fond de musiques pop entraînantes. Tout vient à la base d'un groupe, Sakura Gakuin, dont le concept est basé sur l'école. On trouve à côté de ce groupe principal divers "sous groupe", basé sur des thèmes périscolaires (cuisine, tenis, science, etc...), et nos 3 Babymetal sont donc les membres du club 'Heavy Metal" de l'école. Vous vous rappelez la pub pour Canada Dry "qui ressemble à de l'alcool mais qui n'est pas de l'alcool" ? Babymetal en est un peu l'équivalent pour le métal. On retrouve tous les codes du genre, mais édulcoré : c'est jamais trash, ni violent visuellement, même si on nage dans un univers sombre et rouge, les habits sont clairement inspiré gothique, mais ça reste très soft, on trouve divers signes évoquant la magie noire, mais jamais de vrai pentacle, la musique, du pur gros métal est accompagné de textes plutôt "positif" et léger. Même le signe de ralliement des métaleux avec l'index et l’auriculaire levés, dont la légende dit qu'il fut inventé par R.J. Dio, est aussi légèrement modifié pour en faire... une tête de renard ! Bref, vous l'aurez compris, on est ici dans le théâtral et l'artificiel. La seule chose de vraiment métal est la musique. Et la pas de doute à avoir, même si les chansons ne sont pas composées par les 3 filles, elles sont très bien entourées, aussi bien pour les compositions, que sur scènes. On trouve ici du métal de qualité, oscillant entre du death assez violent à la Arch Enemy, ou un peu plus heavy comme Dragon Force. Tout est très bien joué, parfaitement maîtrisé, et il faut le dire, de très bonne facture. Normalement la pure JPOP ne s'exporte pas vraiment en dehors du Japon, ou de façon marginale, mais grâce à son côté métal, il permet à Babymetal de toucher un publique plus large, et en fait une des raisons principale de son succès en occident. Mais ça reste de la JPOP, avec ses codes, et cela peut être difficile appréhension pour le métaleux non averti. Ce premier album sortit en 2014 fait suite à 5 singles sortit depuis 2011. Je ne sais pas si le succès était attendu, ou prévu, en tout cas, très vite, les vidéos font le tour des réseaux sociaux et sont partagées par les métaleux. Car on a beau dire ce qu'on veut sur la motivation première de ce groupe, il n'en reste pas moins que nous avons affaire à du métal. Du vrai. Tout est parfaitement joué, maîtrisé, exécuté, et la touche JPOP vient s'intégrer parfaitement. Ça surprend, oui, mais c'est efficace : on tape du pied, on hoche la tête, et on se retrouve même à fredonner certains airs par la suite. Alors, on peut ce sentir refroidi par le côté "fillettte", mais c'est aussi ça qui fait le charme, ce côté décalé et nimportnawak à la japonnaise qui en font un pays à part et attire la curiosité du monde entier. L'édition cd est plutôt simple, un petit booklet avec les texte en japonais et quelques illustrations, ainsi qu'un second petit booklet avec les textes, toujours en japonais, mais ecrit en caractères occidentaux. Cette édition comporte également 2 chanson bonus. Un très bon premier album, qui ne décevra pas les fans de métal, mais qui nécessitera qu'une seule chose : une bonne ouverture d'esprit. Je conseillerais aux plus récalcitrants de se pencher en premier sur un live, même si le style est le même, le son est plus métal que sur album.

All three of the Babymetal "studio" albums are 5-star, IMO, with not a bad song on any of them. Still, I think their first offering, the self-titled "Babymetal" is my favorite. The musicianship of the metal session players (the Kami band) is world-class. The lead singing of Suzuka Nakamoto is very strong for someone who was in her early to mid-teens when these recordings were made. Although I don't speak Japanese, I have done some research (and continue to do so) into the Babymetal song lyrics. It's fairly easy to guess what the world-wide hit "Gimme Chocolate!" is about! Some of the other songs take some digging to understand what they are about. For example, even though death seems to be a common theme in metal music, the song "Babymetal Death" which introduces the first album and was performed as the first song of many of their live concerts early on, is actually a play on words as I have come to understand. The Japanese word for "death" is very close to the verb "to be". So, in reality, the song Babymetal Death is an introduction of Babymetal as a group and individually, as they say on the song: "I am Su-metal, I am Yuimetal, I am Moametal, We are Babymetal". Another song on this first album, "Ijime, Dame, Zettai", is about standing up to and supporting each other against bullying. The earliest recorded song on this album was, I believe, "Doki Doki Morning". It's a fan favorite at concerts, especially in Japan, where fans sing along with parts of the song (see YouTube postings). Speaking of live concerts, the song "Headbanger!" is often featured and played as an encore. Great song which is highlighted by Suzuka's strong lead vocal. Another great song which was sometimes used to close early concert performances is "Road of Resistance" which I don't believe was on the original version of this CD. Also, a live version of "Gimme Chocolate!" from a concert in London closes out this wonderful CD. I never get tired of listening to it from beginning to end! The rest of the songs on the CD are all special in their own way. Internet searches will show you live performances of most and written English translations of the lyrics which will give some insight into what Babymetal is singing about and the subjects that are important to the group. I highly recommend this CD version of Babymetal's first album.

Babymetal’s first album and it shows. As much as i love this album its obvious the writers didnt have a clear vision of how this project should sound. Musically its very scatter brained and all over the place. The components are there but they havent quite figured out how to fit them together 100%. Tho IMO its babymetal’s weakest album its still great, entertaining, and plenty of fun to listen to.