eight-hundreds | ETC. Works 2
GO ON AS YOU ARE (2000)
1. Don't Worry Be Happy
2. George
3. Happy Birthday
4. Wish
5. Happy Life
6. 愛する花
7. Part Time Job Song
8. Miss You
9. ホルモン
10. Party
11. Happy Birthday (live at Bang! Holiday 1999)
Not the most inventive album, but still damn good. A bit reminiscent, in a happy way, to the old days of Greenday.
A majority of the album is written in English (10/12 songs), so initially I wasn't going to translate it. After all, it seems a bit rude to do so especially when the English is pretty understandable. However, I started reading the Japanese translation in the liner notes, and realized that didn't always meet up one hundred percent, so in the interest of education and learning about the differences between English and Japanese, I've decided to translate the translations!
MESSAGE (2001)
1. あなたに
2. Song for you
3. 小さなの恋の歌
4. Melody
5. 月明かりの下で
6. For Life
7. -Summer Again-
8. HEY Mommy
9. Marriage Blue
10. 矛盾の上に咲く花
11. 琉球愛歌
12. Dear My Lovers
13. 夢叶う
14. Dandelion
This is their most famous album, as it has the song sung in karaoke everywhere (I think it’s probably sung somewhere in Japan at least 10 times an hour), Chiisana Koi no Uta, that was featured in a popular Japanese drama, Proposal Daisakusen.
I love this album because it shows that MONGOL800 has a definite capacity for growth, and indeed, this album sounds far more mature than its last while still keeping the naivety and innocence that is their trademark.
MOMO (2004)
1. WiND
2. Rainyday
3. ドキドキ
4. ハナウタ
5. あるがまま
6. 星の数 月の数
7. リリー
8. いつの日か
9. カジュアルの木
10. 月送る手紙
This album will always be very special to me, as it is the first Monpachi album I owned. I played this over and over in my car for months, and even now, three years later, I’m still not sick of it. The three songs in English will follow the format of Go On As You Are and Message.
Momo means peach, and the way it is written on the album is written using old Japanese and is usually pronounced as "dodo" or "doudou". The album, too, seems to be dedicated to using fairly old style speech, while still being –understandably- modernized with present-day vocabulary. There is also less English in this album than the previous ones.
DANIEL (2006)
1. Real Life
2. 煩悩のブルーズ
3.亀
4. Baby Monster
5.地球図鑑
6. Hunky-dory
7. Hokus-o-em
8. ダンスハール
9. 廃墟
10. スコール
11. ストーンハウス
12. face to face
13. Home
DANIEL (2006)
2. 煩悩のブルーズ
3.亀
4. Baby Monster
5.地球図鑑
6. Hunky-dory
7. Hokus-o-em
8. ダンスハール
9. 廃墟
10. スコール
11. ストーンハウス
12. face to face
13. Home
I must admit, that I didn't initially like this album when I bought it. Of course, now, it's hard for me to say if I like it or Momo better.
Like the two albums before it, Daniel has a more mature, if not slightly experimental, sound to it, but still retains the band's more playful elements. Also, there is a lot more of Takashi Gima singing on it, and that makes me happy even if his enunciation leaves a bit to be desired. Added bonus: Satashi Takazato isn’t just doing back-up vocals and drumming! He has a small part in BABY MONSTER, my favorite song! Nice!
There isn’t really much to say about this album other than it is really good.
ETC. WORKS (2008)
1. ラッキー８
2. 大迷惑
3. Beautiful
4. 輪
5. ナサキ
6. Remember
7. ひとりじゃない
8. オーバーラップワルツ
9. Party
10. さよなら
11. 二十九の春
12. 百々
13. 安里屋ユンタク
This album is a bit hard to categorize. It has some b-sides that never saw the light of day, a few remixes, and a cover of my absolute favorite UNICORN song. It's a must have a MONGOL otaku, but on the whole it's not really worth a whole lot of listens.
It features some artists that are pretty famous, such as Rip Slyme, and SOFFet, and some lesser known bands such as the SKAYMATES and Black Bottom Brass Band. If anything, this album really seems like a nod to MONGOL800's roots and influences, with its heavy use of ska, cover of a band I'm sure they listened to growing up, and use of very traditional Japanese music.
EIGHT-HUNDREDS (2009)
1. 神様
2. ターコイズ
3. Breakfast@曙
4. 常夏
5. No working man ska
6. not equal
7. blue blues
8. I'm in love
9. I'll be
10. Rockin' mock
11. ベイビーシーサー
12. Happy end
I don't like to talk about this album. Not because it's bad. No. It's just, I sort of associate it with pain and loss more than I wish I did. This album was released the day of my going away party, and that night was... very rough for me, though it did end with a lot of enka at a host bar. Still, the album can make things that I long since healed (like asshole ex-boyfriends) become quite raw again. Of course, what's worse, is that they had a concert in Ishikawa (where I lived at the time) in promotion for the album two weeks after I left the country.
In any case, eight-hundreds is another step in MONGOL800's growth. Step by step, each album doesn't sound that different from the last, but compare this album to Go on As You Are, and you'd wonder if the clean sound you hear on eight-hundreds is even possible from the same band on Go on As You Are.
ETC. WORKS 2 (2011)
1. What a Wonderful World
2. Oh Pretty Woman
3. 南風と太陽
4. Enjoy Yourself
5. おりこうさん
6. Daydream Believer
7. Boku and Jelly
8. SAYONARA DOLL
9. hanabi
10. こいのうた
11. 涙そうそう
12. 豊年音頭
This album is just a compilation of stuff the band has done outside of albums, covers of English songs, and a few things Kiyosaku has done on the side. It has some decent songs on it, and it over has the Monpachi feel, but doesn't have the cohesive feeling the other albums have (excepting its predecessor, ETC Works, of course).
ETC. WORKS (2008)
1. ラッキー８
2. 大迷惑
3. Beautiful
4. 輪
5. ナサキ
6. Remember
7. ひとりじゃない
8. オーバーラップワルツ
9. Party
10. さよなら
11. 二十九の春
12. 百々
13. 安里屋ユンタク
This album is a bit hard to categorize. It has some b-sides that never saw the light of day, a few remixes, and a cover of my absolute favorite UNICORN song. It's a must have a MONGOL otaku, but on the whole it's not really worth a whole lot of listens.
It features some artists that are pretty famous, such as Rip Slyme, and SOFFet, and some lesser known bands such as the SKAYMATES and Black Bottom Brass Band. If anything, this album really seems like a nod to MONGOL800's roots and influences, with its heavy use of ska, cover of a band I'm sure they listened to growing up, and use of very traditional Japanese music.
EIGHT-HUNDREDS (2009)
2. ターコイズ
3. Breakfast@曙
4. 常夏
5. No working man ska
6. not equal
7. blue blues
8. I'm in love
9. I'll be
10. Rockin' mock
11. ベイビーシーサー
12. Happy end
I don't like to talk about this album. Not because it's bad. No. It's just, I sort of associate it with pain and loss more than I wish I did. This album was released the day of my going away party, and that night was... very rough for me, though it did end with a lot of enka at a host bar. Still, the album can make things that I long since healed (like asshole ex-boyfriends) become quite raw again. Of course, what's worse, is that they had a concert in Ishikawa (where I lived at the time) in promotion for the album two weeks after I left the country.
In any case, eight-hundreds is another step in MONGOL800's growth. Step by step, each album doesn't sound that different from the last, but compare this album to Go on As You Are, and you'd wonder if the clean sound you hear on eight-hundreds is even possible from the same band on Go on As You Are.
ETC. WORKS 2 (2011)
2. Oh Pretty Woman
3. 南風と太陽
4. Enjoy Yourself
5. おりこうさん
6. Daydream Believer
7. Boku and Jelly
8. SAYONARA DOLL
9. hanabi
10. こいのうた
11. 涙そうそう
12. 豊年音頭
This album is just a compilation of stuff the band has done outside of albums, covers of English songs, and a few things Kiyosaku has done on the side. It has some decent songs on it, and it over has the Monpachi feel, but doesn't have the cohesive feeling the other albums have (excepting its predecessor, ETC Works, of course).
