Music Talk: Aqours

A brief introduction:

I was first introduced to the world of Love Live! through the second series idol group, Aqours. I had no idea what any of this "Love Live!" business was, but decided to go to some live concert experience at the cinema (a friend suggested I get out and try and meet people with similar interests. I quickly found idol otaku are not that). Anyways, after that, I went back to the beginning and watched the original series. It was great fun. So then I watched season 1 of the sequel, Love Live! Sunshine!! - I think season 2 had just started airing, perhaps? Anyways, my takeaway at the time was that Sunshine!! was the better show, but the original show had better music. I think on rewatch, my opinion of the shows reversed, so let's see what happens with the music - because if this is worse than μ's, I'm in for a hell of a day...

My collection is only their singles from 2015 to the end of 2017. Which is still 50 songs, surprisingly...

Maybe I'm just in a better mood today? Because so far, this is a barrel of fun! Like, it's all still cheesy and some songs are typical IDOL is SHiT, but I find their voices less annoying than μ's (sorry, Pile). I think what maybe swayed me earlier was that the good songs by μ's and SUPER good, whereas the good songs by Aqours are just mostly good. Except for the Opening/Closing songs - particularly 勇気はどこに？君の胸に！, which is actually amazeballs - I would really just say these songs are harmless fun pop songs. So where μ's have far more peaks, Aqours just kinds of hover around the middle.

I will probably be keeping half of these songs. Sure, I still won't listen to them around the house in fear of divorce, but when I need harmless total upbeat vibes, this could be a good go-to. Like, if I could delete the bad songs now, I'd probably give this all a re-listen on shuffle right about now.

Crazy times.

There are 4 more years of Aqours songs out there. And another 2 Love Live! series' that I haven't seen. I'm not quite sure I'm ready for that...

Music Talk: Buddy Holly and μ's

You know, I have the complete Buddy Holly recordings on vinyl, via some box set released in the 70's, AND on CD via Hip-O's release to mark the 50th anniversary of his death... yet, whenever I find myself listening to his works, I do a google search to make sure there isn't anything out there I'm missing.

Shows how awesome Buddy Holly was.

You know what isn't as awesome?
Idol music.

I decided to start some sort of cleanup in my iTunes library. This has been a long time coming; I have like 23,000 songs and I know there are a bunch I either have never listened to or don't want to listen to again. So I'm starting with my Japanese artists, as that's where most of my listening is these days. And at the start of that section is none other than μ's - the stars of that wonderful anime show, Love Live! School Idol Project. 

The show rules. And some of these songs are still awesome. But I've never actually sat through the full 77 song compilation I have in my iTunes.

Today I did.

Holy shit balls - some of this is pure and utter trash. Like, I don't like idol music at the worst of times. And this is surely the worst of them. Who the fuck writes this nonsense? And are they the same people that actually write the good songs?? Because μ's actually have some good songs. Otherwise, I would never have bothered going out of my way to download 77 of their fucking songs. And believe me, the good songs are SUPER good; NO BRAND GIRLS is the kind of pop-punk good times I would expect from PASSPO☆, 僕らは今のなかで invokes good feelings from the show, Wonderful Rush is just an all-round great song. So there are good parts.

And then there are hilarious moments like LOVELESS WORLD that make me think maybe I'm listening to Babymetal. I'm not. But that would probably suck, too.

Anyways, this has sure been an experience. As I've been listening, I've been giving the songs a score out of 10, with the idea that anything from a 5 or 6 will be saved, while everything else will be deleted. About halfway through I was hoping for it to be over and had only marked a third of the songs 5 or above. But then ooh I forgot that the end credits song from the 2nd season is the totally awesome feel good vibes of the Summer. That was a highlight.

Then everything just sounded like a collection of the same songs over and over; cheesy pop-ballads or weird songs with big techno beats, and all with the cheeriest girlie voices possible. But you know what? It was actually worthwhile; I finally ticked off these songs as being listened to, I can safely delete the ones I won't listen to every again, I reminded myself of the fun of some of these songs (looking at you, NO BRAND GIRLS) AND I actually discovered a few good songs in here that I'd never heard before:

So in total, of the 77 songs, 23 made the cut! And apparently there are another 50 songs they released? Wow! There's no way I am listening to all of those!

Love Live! needed more songs by Pile, because she's awesome. I should listen to more Pile. Instead, tomorrow I'm going to listen to all of the idol music from Love Live! Sunshine!!

ラストフライト☆9月22日2018

Follow the pink runway...

And here we are - the final 3 hours of PASSPO☆ week. I'm interested to see what I think of this concert 12 months later...

We open with a flight announcement and the usual silliness; Orange is sleeping like always, while Yellow and Aqua are fighting over the bathroom. This is followed by a special video package showing PASSPO☆ through the years. The music is totally new. There are people in the crowd crying already. It's totally not me...

They open with the first PASSPO☆ single - Let It Go!! Holy shit, Yellow just did jumping splits? Now they rock the 少女飛行 and this is a great time for Yellow and Purple to do some choreography using luggage as props. I'm all for it. There is also clearly a lot of emotion in their voices tonight. Things get a bit heavier with WING and I find I miss the Ground Crew for this. But Purple makes up for it by absolutely belting it out to my surprise.

Time for the final introductions and White messes up the venue name. They're wearing the Cinema Trip classic-style blue flight attendant outfits complete with custom-coloured sashes. Hold up - Aqua's colour is actually Mint Green? WTF?? Since when?!?

7's Up is always fun and this time Purple uses her solo moment to harass a cameraman. Bah gawd she's the best.

Pretty Lie starts and HOLY SHIT the crowd are losing it! I know it's a great song, but I did not realise just how much the fans love it. Then they rock くちゃLOVE and Orange actually sounds really good in this. But then she has her one moment to do a fun trick with a smoke machine and totally fucks it up by going to her left instead of her right. It probably makes it funnier.

Band PASSPO☆ time!
I was skeptical of them doing BABY JUMP〜天国への搭乗便〜 last time, but I now I totally get it as the perfect Band PASSPO☆ song. During キャンディー・ルーム, Orange and Yellow go out into the crowd. Orange has a fake lollipop and sticks near the front, but Yellow just completely disappears and is not seen for the rest of the song. Orange makes it back for マテリアル Girl, but Yellow is still nowhere to be seen. Oh wait, a cameraman has finally tracked her down near the back of the hall - so she runs away to other side of the hall. And I do mean runs.

After that, Purple asks Yellow to warn her next time she's going to do that so she can remember to wear her glasses. Then Yellow gives a quick word about how much she loves to sing and that she wants to continue to sing together with White. Spoiler alert: they did one gig together a couple of months later, but haven't done anything since. I'm not happy about it. Then Band PASSPO☆ attempt 向日葵 - I admire the ambition.

Now it's time for lucky dip song choice!
They have a box with songs written on balls and each girl picks one out.
Orange picks Go On a Highway.
Aqua Mint picks ViVi夏
Blue picks LA LA LOVE TRAIN〜恋の片道切符〜 and the crowd erupts. And this is why I would never think I like the same songs as the fanbase.
Purple picks BREAKOUT!!
White picks じゃあね.

Huh - it's all songs from the first 2 albums. Purple wants to do BREAKOUT!! as Band PASSPO☆. It's actually really fun watching and listening to them work out how to transition between each song. Especially how they sound out the music while they work.

This Band PASSPO☆ version of BREAKOUT!! is awesome and should be the standard. I can barely hear LA LA LOVE TRAIN over the Otaku and their chanting. I'm not sure I'm too upset about that.

Yellow starts 無題 accapella again and it's pretty awesome. The whole performance is actually quite powerful. 「I」and You are next and they are both very emotional performances, before they finish off the main concert portion with Tracks - which is incredibly fitting. I really like the way they've shared out Yellow-Green's parts. No lie, this was the song that got me the most tonight.

Encore time! And more Band PASSPO☆!
Aqua Mint talks about how hard they had to work to make Band PASSPO☆ a reality. She gives a shout out to Blue for learning guitar after Yellow-Green left. Then they smash out Party Like a Rockstar! and it is a lot of fun.

Now it's time for the madness that is STEP&GO; Blue still can't ride the luggage scooter and tries to kamikaze into Aqua again - luckily, Yellow makes the save. And then they finish things off with Music Navigation and pose for photos at the front of the stage. But not before White has to wake up Orange.

But we aren't done yet - 2nd encore time!
Purple discusses how hard they've worked and all the challenges they've faced and how they had to work to overcome them. Then she says she'd like to do one last Band PASSPO☆ song, so they rock 少女飛行 one more time and even lead the crowd in a big sing-along. And then the final song - of their career, I guess - is バチェロレッテは終わらない. When Aqua Mint screams one more time and the explosion happens, I get the feels every time. And the final chorus where the girls sit in a circle and sing together feels like a really special moment. I remember on the night being so shocked they hadn't performed it and then feeling so much joy that they ended with it. It's a special song and the perfect ending.

Then we fade to black and credits roll, featuring pictures of their journey throughout the last 9 years. And then finally, each girl has a message of thanks to all the passengers.

Ninjas be chopping onions on my couch, I tell ya...

Was this a perfect concert? No.
But it was a magical sendoff that celebrated the coolest band ever and the emotion was real.
Would I watch it again?
You bet your ass, I will!

Highlights:
Tracks, STEP&GO, バチェロレッテは終わらない being the surprise perfect ending

Lowlights:
No more PASSPO☆. It's obvious, but honestly a year later I still want them back


6 / 7 Glowsticks

すてんだっぷガールズ!〜第1話 ダメダメ怪獣にご用心〜 First-Class Edition Bonus DVD

Peak PASSPO☆

Again, this is simply the すてんだっぷガールズ!〜第1話 ダメダメ怪獣にご用心〜 music video. It involves PASSPO☆ in some sort of comic where fight monsters and then defeat the big boss monster using the combined power of their lightsticks. This was the first PASSPO☆ video I ever saw and I think it made me a fan instantly; the video concept is fun, the song is awesome, their outfits are fire and they're all super cute. I don't know how anyone could watch this and not fall in love.

Peak PASSPO☆ right here.

Highlights:
Everything I listed above and probably more.

Lowlights:
There was nothing more to come after that.

7 / 7 Glowsticks

すてんだっぷガールズ!〜第1話 ダメダメ怪獣にご用心〜

Unemployed and ejected from the movie theatre, our heroes can no longer afford windows

This is just a single but I didn't think it fits on the Tracks compilation. Plus it's the final PASSPO☆ release and is responsible for me discovering the awesomeness that is PASSPO☆, so it deserves it's own post.

Our opening song is the title track - you know, the subject of the single - すてんだっぷガールズ!〜第1話 ダメダメ怪獣にご用心〜. Duh! It picks up where Cinema Trip left off. It's just a blazing assault of pop-punk awesomeness that makes every day better. Each girl gets a moment to spit some cool lyrics in a fun way.

Our second song is Party Like a Rockstar! At first, I thought this was inferior, but now I realise this song is actually a different kind of badass. I get the feeling it was written specifically for Band PASSPO☆. It's super awesome.

Then we get instrumentals of both songs, which I don't totally mind because there is actually some really cool stuff going on in these songs and I need to make myself learn すてんだっぷガールズ! in full one day. The Party Like a Rockstar! instrumental is followed by PASSPO☆ talking for 10 minutes. I think Blue just watched the video for ギミギミaction 4 times and said the food looked really good. White gets them back on track to discuss the single but then Red is like 'Why is the title for this song not written in English?" I could try and recap more, but I will leave that for another day when I can focus more and my Japanese is better.

Highlights:
すてんだっぷガールズ!〜第1話 ダメダメ怪獣にご用心〜, Party Like a Rockstar!

Lowlights:
The last release from PASSPO☆

6 / 7 Glowsticks

Cinema Trip First-Class Edition Bonus Disc

With both their airline and diner businesses failing, our heroes took up a new hobby of being rowdy at movies

So there isn't much to this at all - just the video for Playground. It's pretty great; Aqua catches a flight on PASSPO☆ Airlines, where she drifts off to sleep after watching a horror movie and being poisoned with a "Zombie Virus" drink. She has a nightmare where the other girls are all zombies and make her one of them and they dance up a storm. I'm not sure it is a good advertisement for the service you can expect on PASSPO☆ Airlines. Unless you are wanting to become a zombie? I mean, I guess it's an added bonus feature other airlines just aren't offering these days.

The dance shot version is even better because this choreography is FIRE.

With only one video on the disc, I decided to watch all the other videos from this era:

Mr. Wednesday just involves PASSPO☆ being cute - getting ready for their day and playing music and dancing.

ラブリフレイン is just Band PASSPO☆ jamming the song and dancing.

7's Up is fun video from live performance.

バチェロレッテは終わらない is another great video; it's announced on the PASSPO☆ World Evening News that White is going to get married. The other girls see this on TV so throw her a bachelorette party, which involves ridiculous gifts like baseballs bats and hula hoops. And a lot of drinking. And they shoot Aqua out of a canon. The making of this looked seriously fun.

ギミギミaction is actually the greatest music video ever. Me writing about it doesn't do any justice. But I will say Red puts on the performance of a lifetime as Purple's douchebag boyfriend causing trouble for the PASSPO☆ family at Christmas. Orange also make for a super cute dog.

So one video on that DVD really wasn't enough. They should have included all of them, because they are actually good. Well, Playground and バチェロレッテは終わらない are, and ギミギミaction is amazing.

Highlights:
Red and Yellow portraying convincing Japanese men, the choreography in Playground

Lowlights:
All this should have been on the DVD

5 / 7 Glowsticks

日本青年館のフライト、9月9日2017

"If your beard is *this* long, you can't enter the airplane!"

This was a concert from 2 years ago that I found on the interwebs - probably from around when I first discovered PASSPO☆ (I got Cinema Trip in November 2017, but my first exposure was the すてんだっぷガールズ! music video. I think that came out around August/September 2017. It's a bit of a jump as far as my chronology goes, but it's nice to have something between the 2015 live and ラストフライト.

This concert opens with Puti Passpo.
They are NOT PASSPO☆.
Yeah, I'm not watching this nonsense...

So Yellow-Green has since gone, due to health or something. It's a shame, because she had grown on me a lot - she was a great dancer and solid singer. BUT this does mean we're down to the core 7 that make up the PASSPO☆ I know and love.

The show opens with a big spoken-word intro over the speakers. Orange keeps sleeping and there is other hilarity but my Japanese is not fast enough to catch it all. Then Popcorn Bought? kicks in and every　time the crowd join in with the big "HEY!" I get very jealous I'm not there. PASSPO☆ come out wearing the outfits from すてんだっぷガールズ! and I immediately know this will be a good live because those outfits are pure fire! Bah gawd this was peak PASSPO☆ for me.

Oh cool they're going to open with Honey Dish - just what I wanted after having to watch the music video 9 times in a row... Purple then teaches the crowd the dance for すてんだっぷガールズ! and I realise I should learn that on my next day off.

The fact that I never got one of these PASSPO☆ star-shaped lightsticks is an absolute crime and the world should be ashamed. Orange and White clearly enjoying performing 7's Up. But Purple using her solo moment to be silly with a security guard shows how she's become a dam star in this group. With the other 2 gone - and her getting older - she's certainly taking command on stage.

Band PASSPO☆ time already??
Blue is no longer pretending to be a DJ and has traded her Xylophone for guitar. And they even pull out BABY JUMP〜天国への搭乗便〜 to my surprise - I did not expect Band PASSPO☆ to be doing the heavy shit. They follow up with WANTED!!, which I did expect. Honestly, they're lucky Purple and Aqua are actually competent at drums and bass because the guitarists are not quite at Ground Crew level. They even do Love Diary, which is kinda cool. But I do miss the choreography. And then we wouldn't have to make Red attempt a guitar solo. BUT at least this means Orange plays a real whistle instead!

White gives a speech where I believe she was discussing how hard they've worked to be able to do Band PASSPO☆ - Purple points out that doesn't apply to her.

Back to just regular PASSPO☆ now and Purple is talking about their previous songs as Band PASSPO☆. I can't quite work out if she's saying she wanted to keep going as Band PASSPO☆ or she was bummed that she didn't do a song as well as she would have liked.

Time for your in-flight meals! Today's options are Beef or Chicken - get it?
So they wheel out two boards (Beef and Chicken) with 4 different songs and the audience gets to choose which they perform. Where's the Vegetarian option?? The audience can vote using the colours on their lightsticks, but Purple thinks using animal noises is more accurate and given her Cow and Chicken impression, I'm going to have to agree. The crowd are split, so the girls also vote and hilarious it is unanimously in favour of the Chicken menu. Aqua reminds the team that two of these songs require Band PASSPO☆ so they spend another 10 minutes organising the menu and labelling each song with Salad, Soup, Main and Dessert. Girls, you just said this was the "Chicken" menu - I ain't never heard of no chicken dessert!

This is a meal, so before we can partake you must wash your hands and say "いただきます”

Anyway, the result is this:

Mr. Wednesday = Salad
キャンディー・ルーム = Soup
Pretty Lie = Main
くちゃLove = Dessert

I'd actually agree.

In the funniest moment of the night, Purple starts talking about Disney but can't remember Mickey Mouse's name. Then tells the crowd they are full of it when they say they knew it.

Playground is still one of my favourite dance routines they've done. And this was possibly one of the best performances of the night! It's just the Aqua, Yellow and Purple show and they killed it. Then Yellow opens 無題 accapella and it is possibly her best vocal performance of the night. Purple nails her solo part and doesn't break into tears. Then oh shit - they're doing フィルム? And then following with バチェロレッテは終わらない? Well, that's one hell of a way to end the main concert!

Encore time! Buy their goods! I would if I could, believe me!!

Time for the madness that is always STEP&GO. This time Orange tries to lie down, so Purple sits on her. They've got luggage attached to scooters and Red goes across the stage. Then pushes Blue on it, who is not so confident and almost runs over Aqua. As soon as the song ends, they ALL fucking destroy Blue for it. Then Purple shows her how it's done by racing across the stage on the scooter and avoiding everyone.

Purple is queen.

Red announces a concert on 22nd September 2018. They're excited! That would become their final concert performance and last official act as PASSPO☆. Then they do one last performance as Band PASSPO☆- 少女飛行 - then rock the house with Music Navigation before calling it a night.

This was a really fun live. One of the reasons I love this 7 the most is that being less members, they all had a chance to show personality. And they have a lot of it! It might even be just that they've gotten older and more experienced, but whatever. I can sit here and badmouth the singing or the Band PASSPO☆ stuff, but really at least they were trying their best to do something different.

Highlights:
Playground, the luggage riding incident, Purple making cow and chicken noises

Lowlights:
No vegetarian meal option

5 / 7 Glowsticks

Beef or Chicken First-Class Edition Bonus DVD

Sitting on the tables could see you fail your hygiene grade

There's not a whole lot to this DVD; just Honey Dish. Which is an awesome song.
In this adventure, PASSPO☆ are now running an American-themed Diner. But I'm not convinced on the quality of service; Yellow burns her food, Yellow-Green can't stack pancakes and Aqua just throws popcorn everywhere. Then at night, they become Band PASSPO☆ and completely mess the place up, drink and have a rowdy time.

I'll pay double the menu price.

And then we get a solo video for each girl!

White
She's just getting ready in her bedroom. Okay. It would seem they won't be lipsyncing unless it is actually a part of the song they sing - this could be funny. I want her white tambourine.

Aqua
She's also just in her bedroom - I'm guessing that is going to be the running theme of these. She gets bored and remembers she doesn't actually sing anything in this song, so just grabs her bass and rocks out. Putting on the little girl act while posing on her bed just makes this weirdly uncomfortable.

Yellow-Green
She looks completely uninterested in this - until her one solo part comes up. Oh, and she really enjoys pretending to not play this on guitar; Honey Dish is more than just a continuous B-chord, Yellow-Green!

Purple
Her hair is now a weird shade of Orange/Pink. But she can twirl her drumsticks and rocks her diner outfit the best.

Yellow
In the least surprising moment of the evening, the girl with the most lipsyncing to do is also the least bored.

Red
She went straight for the shoes and clothes - she knows what's up. She's got nothing else going on for the next 3 minutes.

Orange
She stole White's tambourine. Is she not worth them buying an orange one??

Blue
I like that Blue wears full pink shorts instead of the white checkered skirt - she's so tall and lanky that it totally works better on her. She also folds her t-shirts well. But her storage of underwear needs improvement.

And now I'm almost sick of this song. Thanks!

Highlights:
The actual music video

Lowlights:
Watching 8 different girls do the exact same stuff to the same song for half an hour.

3 / 7 Glowsticks

Beef or Chicken?

With the airline business down, our heroes branched out into opening their own diner

So with the recent graduation of Pink, we now only have 8 girls to get the party going. How will they cope? Will they still continue to be as awesome as ever?

Our opening instrumental this time is Immigration Control it is a great energy lift. but not as much as Honey Dish. This song makes me want to skip around the house and dance on your grave. You are dead because you couldn't handle the awesome of PASSPO☆ and there was no way I was going to stop listening to them when they sound this good. See you in hell! I'll bring the PASSPO☆ CD's...

Where was I? Oh yeah, we've opened with two rockin' fun songs and いたずらRock'n'Roll has that same energy and now I'm just in full party mode. So here is Not in Theory to give me more of the heavy metal vibes from JEJEJEJET!! So we now get one of those 'seems like a slow song in vibe but is actually a pop punk anthem so get your fist in the air and rock out' kind of songs with 向日葵. It is the absolute fucking business.

So now we need to slow it down with a nice power ballad in Shiny Road. I wasn't sold on this song at first, but it's really grown on me over the past few months. And then especially after watching the concert last night. And I'm pretty sure Pink's vocals are still on here! Then we get ヘブンズバーガー which is so cutesy and silly it should be terrible, but instead it is the absolute funnest track.

はっちゃけ隊 are back! With ハイテンションエモーション（はっちゃけ隊#3）. And a bit less nonsense. But it's still the same rock dance hybrid fun times. FAKE takes us back on the heavy shit. Yellow really does like to get her 'rock chick' on. The "Hey wig out!" line is really cool. Actually, the entire chorus is really cool. There's a fair bit of Yellow-Green in here as well. Now we go from heavy to ballad and the first Band PASSPO☆ song, Perfect Sky. Again, I didn't like this all that much at first. Now I think it's a really nice song.

So from there we get another pop-punk anthem win You - which makes sense, since the last pop-punk anthem was called 「I」. This yet another kick-ass song to raise your fist and get down and wonder how you managed to live without it. Not you, I guess, because apparently you died earlier. And then we close things out with Fairy Tale, which is the perfect closer for this album. Has those power ballad vibes, still rocks but has the feels for sure. I'm going to do an acoustic cover of that, mark my words!

I read a while back where someone tried to say this was better than Cinema Trip (or more precisely, Cinema Trip wasn't quite as good a Beef or Chicken?) because Beef or Chicken? is a near perfect album. I wanted to disagree because Cinema Trip has a special place for me and I couldn't understand how anything could be better than that. But BAH GAWD this album is near perfect. Not even an average song in sight. Just 12 songs of pure joy.

PASSPO☆ just continue to get better and better.

Highlights:
Honey Dish, 向日葵, ヘブンズバーガー, You, Fairy Tale

Lowlights:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

7 / 7 Glowsticks

JEJEJEJET!! First-Class Bonus Disc

Does the black background mean this is "Evil" PASSPO☆?

Time to hit the bonus DVD that came with JEJEJEJET!!.
First up is a "Growing Up" documentary; this involves each of the girls going to a place that means something to the beginnings of PASSPO☆ and discussing what they were doing 3 years ago. White walks around Akihabara, Orange and Aqua go to the live houses they used to frequent, Purple went to their rehearsal room, Blue harasses some white cats, Red went to the park and found the tree they would sing under, and Yellow goes to the record company office because she's a fucking rockstar. Then they each call someone important to them and that has supported the group and say thanks. It's pretty touching.

Then we get a live performance. And one that isn't a totally ridiculous waste of time!
They open with WING and it rocks. Then we get ViVi夏 and it's a barrel of fun. This reminded me that Aqua is a little goddam firecracker and always seems to be having the funnest of times on stage. She brings the most infectious energy with the way she leaps about and gives it her everything. This continues in STEP&GO where she leads everyone from one side of the stage and back to the other, while waving her arms in the air. Aqua in the centre is always a win.

Now we get two of my least favourite PASSPO☆ songs - LA LA LOVE TRAIN〜恋の片道切符〜 and 夏空HANABI. But luckily these are followed with the live fun spectacular that is マテリアルGirl. Aqua is so great at working the crowd. And finally, we end the party with WANTED!! which features Yellow and White singing really tough vocals. Obviously, this live was a longer than is presented on the DVD, because by this point their voices are pretty much shot. BUT it totally works for their solo parts because it gives their vocals a rougher edge. I dig.

I just don't dig that it's over.

Highlights:
Aqua reminding me that she is as awesome as she is small

Lowlights:
I could do with the whole concert, thanks

5 / 7 Glowsticks

JEJEJEJET!!

♪Wanna be on top?♪

Today we open with a quick flight announcement in Ignition. This is a great fast-paced instrumental opener that sets up the vibe quite nicely. These are improving with each album. And then it's straight into the ROCK with BABY JUMP〜天国への搭乗便〜 which kicks aaaaaasss. I love their quick, strong delivery of the vocals and the "We will rock!/Baboo" break. PASSPO☆ really know how to open albums the right way. And continue them; BEAST IN YOU is another dark, heavy, awesome song.

サクラ小町 continues the vibe but includes another killer guitar hook. This song is like Yellow's coming out party - in WING, she was doing some cool big parts, but here she's really belting out the cool parts with power. The rockin' out doesn't stop, as next we get おねがい which is way more in the vein of the classic PASSPO☆ sound. Though 4 albums in now and I don't even know what that "classic PASSPO☆ sound" could possibly be, because there's all sorts of stuff going on these albums. But whatever, because STEP&GO is kinda on that similar vibe. But not really.

気分はサイコー!サイコー!サイコー! is a song I did not like at first. Now I consider it a highlight of the album and I have to stop myself from giving it a 5 star rating when I know it really isn't a 5 star song but then I realise that it doesn't matter so I give it 5 stars. Because it makes me want to party. This is the はっちゃけ隊 song #1; はっちゃけ隊 are the PASSPO☆ side group. It involves Yellow, Red, Orange and Blue drinking beer and being ridiculous. They're so bad it's amazing and it makes me happy this group seems to be continuing to perform. Especially because then songs like this won't die.

妄想のハワイ is kinda fun. Shang Shang シャンデリア seems to be incorporating some classic Asian sounds into the Idol musicverse. I'm not sure I get this song. But I certainly get キャンディー・ルーム. Super fun pop-punk to the rescue! That chorus is WAY too catchy! And Yellow doing all the silly cute voices just tops it off. くちゃLOVE is actually exactly the sort of song I consider signature PASSPO☆; pop-punk sensibilities with an almost power ballad vibe, without being a slow song at all. Do I make sense? No. PASSPO☆ break all genres and power of correct thinking.

Truly is one of those songs that starts off kinda 'meh' but then slowly builds into something more interesting than you were initially expecting. But then it's back to rockin' in your face with MASK. Wish on a Star has a great hook but also doesn't really go where you expect. Or want. Growing Up（Album ver.）, like 気分はサイコー!サイコー!サイコー!, was not something that grabbed me at first. Now it's probably my 2nd favourite song on the album. It's really groovy, but also a soulful musing of how life moves forward. The single version isn't quite as awesome as the album version - there is a chord change in the chorus that's missing in the single version. Amazing how one chord can make a large swing like that.

Growing Up is the 1 of the 1-2 punch to end the album. The 2 being 「I」. I recall a review of PASSPO☆'s final concert where they wrote 「I」could have been written for the event and they're not wrong at all; the lyrics are about chasing your dreams and staying together no matter what. The last line is especially fitting: "No one can take your place/It's my faith!" It's a fast-paced punk anthem with all the feels. This album ends with a raised fist in the air and DAAM it feels good!

This is the longest album in the PASSPO☆ library with 16 songs at 62 minutes. If you took out a couple of the lesser awesome songs like 妄想のハワイ and Shang Shang シャンデリア it would be near perfect. But as it stands, it's still a mighty fine album - I think it even has the most 5 star songs of all their albums! My first few listens didn't really grab me a whole lot, but it was possibly on my last flight to Osaka where I listened to it and finally realised I was wrong and there are too many great songs to ignore.

Highlights:

サクラ小町, キャンディー・ルーム, くちゃLOVE, Growing Up (Album ver.) , 「Ｉ」

Lowlights:

PASSPO☆ not staying together like they promised in 「Ｉ」

5.5 / 7 Glowsticks

CHECK-IN First-Class Edition Bonus DVD

The "PASSPO☆ Airlines Gang" were allowed to wear their hats for their mugshots

Time for another DVD! And this time, it's actually a live performance so I don't have to just recap a bunch of music videos pointlessly.

I decided to watch the TIF 2010 performance before this. And it's lucky, because this DVD is just a 10 minute highlights package of a performance. And about 3 minutes of it are talking. So all we get is short clips of the girls 2 different songs in 2 different outfits that make NO sense at all and doing the absolute worst lip-syncing possible.

There is also an audio commentary option and it is possibly more fun. Certainly a good reminder that I should be studying Japanese a lot harder.

I opened my Tokyo Banana's for this??
Maybe music videos would have been a better option...

Highlights:
It's PASSPO☆

Lowlights:
It's not their shining moment, that's for sure.

2 / 7 Glowsticks

TAKE☆OFF

The reaction when I asked the flight attendants to borrow a pen to fill in my Arrival card

PASSPO☆'s first album! What a crazy place to start, huh?

This was likely the second album from PASSPO☆ that I listened to (the first being the mighty Cinema Trip); I had been checking out some live performances on YouTube and discovered Pretty Lie, which meant I had to track down this album and hear how it sounds in its original form.

I became a fan of 7-member PASSPO☆, so I find myself wondering if I want or need these other 3. And the fact is, I couldn't tell you what they actually do in the group because in 2010 all 10 girls sound exactly the same and it doesn't sound like anyone even does any solo lines.

The album opens with Let It Go!!, a killer happy-funtimes pop-punk track. This song never fails to lift my mood or make me feel superkickass if I'm already in a good mood (reader's note: not likely. LOGMAN's a grumpy old bastard!). Then comes GPP (Girl's Pajama Party), which is more upbeat rockin' awesomeness while the girls sing about about having a sleepover and gossiping and all those other fun things teenage girls do. There's some seriously cool harmonies and shit going on in this. There's actually some solo parts, but I have NO idea who is singing what because they're all so young and sound the same. I'm going to pretend all the best parts are Yellow and White and definitely not the 3 that I don't know.

Next is Go On A Highway which is superkickass pop-punk awesome. This album is just getting better and better! Then we continue the upward trend with the balladish Pretty Lie. Legit one of my all-time favourite songs. And it's even better without idol otaku yelling all the way through it. In fact, I think this has now overtaken Ayumi Hamasaki's Out of Control for the 2nd spot in my iTunes Top 25 Most Played list. That's crazy! Right now I'm thinking 'Holy shit, how can 1 album start with 4 perfect songs in a row? Surely they can't keep this up?!?'

And I'm right, because the album immediately falls off a cliff with 無敵GIRL. I mean, it's not the worst song in the world. But that's probably because it is PASSPO☆ singing and I will give them a pass on bad songs, whereas if this were, say, Metallica I would likely be calling it the worst thing to ever happen to my ears. Because Metallica could never be PASSPO☆ no matter how hard they try. Try and rock out with a glow stick at a Metallica concert and see where that gets you!

BREAK OUT!! is next. It's kinda OK. LA LA LOVE TRAIN〜恋の片道切符〜 is kinda less OK. It's the type of song you immediately think of when someone mentions Japanese Idol music. Not me - I immediately think of BiSH giving the middle finger and screaming about beating people with baseball bats. But the average Joe that doesn't follow this type of music would likely be picturing a bunch of young Japanese girls dancing and singing to super happy dance music with lots of keyboards that sounds like it's from the mid-nineties. Again, I'd give a lesser band more shit for it. But I'm a hypocrite and my dear PASSPO☆ are mighty young here, so I'll not hold it against them.

ハレルヤ is a step back in the right direction. 夏空ダッシュ is another step up in upbeat pop-punk fun. And then 夢パスポート keeps the fun going, before サクラ色 kind of closes off the album with a bit of a ballad. I say "kind of" because it is followed by a bunch of instrumentals, depending on which version of the album you have. The instrumentals are only Let It Go!! and サクラ色 in varying degrees of stripped-ness. In all honestly, I quite enjoy the slower take on Let It Go!!. It sounds like a completely different song and isn't a bad way to send me home. I mean, I don't need 3 different versions of it, but I'll take any of them over LA LA LOVE TRAIN again.

Now let's talk about some of the other important details... like HOLY SHIT WHAT IS UP WITH THAT COVER?!?! If all I had were the Economy Class cover, I'd think 'These 10 girls fucking HATE being idols and people and don't even have a cool gimmick'. And I'd be wrong and a dick and need a beating for questioning the wonderful PASSPO☆. But seriously, they look miserable. And super young. And unimpressed. And while they have matching outfits, they don't have the pizzazz their later costumes would have. At this stage, they look like a budget airline. At least the First Class version shows the girls smiling and happy to be taking you on this flight. But I guess that's kinda what happens when you're actually flying as well...

Overall, this is a welcome start to the PASSPO☆ journey; I always get confused because the first 4 songs are SO awesome that I think of the rest of the album as being disappointing, but it's actually a fairly decent offering and a very welcoming introduction to the coolest girls on the planet.

Highlights:
Let It Go!!, GPP, Go On A Highway, Pretty Lie

Lowlights:
LA LA LOVE TRAIN〜恋の片道切符〜, the cover for the Economy Class edition

4.5 / 7 Glowsticks
✈✈✈✈🛄

PASSPO☆ Week

It's PASSPO☆ week here on the bLog!

I wanted to commemorate the anniversary of the PASSPO☆'s disbandment by doing a bit of a PASSPO☆ marathon. And then bLogging about everything. Because bLogging about a Japanese pop-punk idol group is exactly why you're here and why I get paid.

I may even include some DVD watching in all this as well! Which is why I went out and ordered all their albums in the limited editions that are no longer in print so I had to spend about double what I could have just buying their regular albums secondhand. LOGMAN plays expert level!

So unlike Kissathon and the Ryan Adams (is cancelled) marathon, I'll be spending a whole day on each album before moving on to the next. Because PASSPO☆ don't have 60 albums. They only have 6. Plus I've made a compilation of all their b-sides. So that makes 7 albums. And even then, if I were to listen to them all back-to-back that would only take ONE day of work. And that seems like I'm just half-assing this. I will only half-ass my actual employment, thank you very much!

So here is how the week is shaping up:

Monday:       TAKE☆OFF + Bonus DVD (4 Music Videos + the making of 2)
Tuesday:       CHECK-IN + Bonus DVD (possibly a live concert from 2011)
Wednesday:  One World + Bonus DVD (9 Music Videos)
Thursday:      JEJEJEJET!! + Bonus DVD (live concert from 2013 + Growing Up MV + Making of)
Friday:           Beef or Chicken? + Bonus DVD (2 Music Videos)
Saturday:      Tracks - LOGMAN's specially curated compilation of b-sides + Live in Shibuya 2015
Sunday:         Cinema Trip + すてんだっぷガールズ！～第1話 ダメダメ怪獣にご用心～ + Last Flight Concert

The whole thing will culminate nicely with their final live concert 1 year after it took place. I had to cram Cinema Trip and すてんだっぷガールズ！～第1話 ダメダメ怪獣にご用心～ onto the same day to make it work, but I'm fine with that because I've listened to them the most.

I really do make the best use of my time...

PASSPO☆ - Let the Good Times End

So fun facts:

A year ago, I discovered PASSPO☆ - a super fun Japanese idol group. Now, normally idol music is really not my thing. But PASSPO☆ just so happen to make music that is pure super fun pop punk goodness and I can't help but listen to it all the time. And their gimmick is they are flight attendants, and I'm a bit of a sucker for gimmicks. Anyways, their album Cinema Trip is brilliant. Second best album of 2017, in my opinion.

So a year ago they released their last single, Stand Up Girls! (すてんだっぷガールズ！～第1話 ダメダメ怪獣にご用心～). It was my first exposure to PASSPO☆. It is awesome.

Today, their song Bachelorette wa Owaranai (バチェロレッテは終わらない) has become my most played song in iTunes, knocking 3eb's Shipboard Cook off the top spot after 3 years. I haven't even had the Cinema Trip album in my iTunes for a year - it's just that darn fun.

And today, PASSPO☆ will perform their final concert.

It's kind of my own little PASSPO☆ circle. I'm sad they are disbanding, but that just seems to be what happens to every Japanese band I become a fan of. I was disappointed to miss them in concert during my trips to Japan and now I won't get the chance. But at least I will always have their super fun pop punk music to make smile. And it's ever so fitting that they take the top spot in my iTunes library on the day they go their separate ways.

Safe travels, PASSPO☆. Logman is your passenger for life!