Artist: The Pillows
Album: Fool on the Planet
Musicians: Sawao Yamanaka (vocals, guitar), Yoshiaki Manabe (guitar), Shinichiro Sato (drums), misc. members (bass)
Composer/Lyricist: Sawao Yamanaka
Release Date: 7 Feb 2001

Fool on the Planet – The Pillows Tracklisting  01. Fool on the Planet 02. Swanky Street 03. I think I can 04. Instant Music 05. Trip Dancer 06. One Life 07. Climbing on the Roof 08. Midnight Down 09. Carnival 10. Let’s See, If That’s True or Not 11. Little Busters 12. Ride on Shooting Star 13. Naked Shuffle 14. Funny Bunny 15. Strange Chameleon 16. Hybrid Rainbow *Bold titles–Recommended listening

 

OVERVIEW

In a genre where men wear make-up, cosplay goth, and are prettier than pretty, The Pillows seem to stand out slightly. Without purple eye shadow or gothic dress, The Pillows seem quite the ho-hum J-Rock band in appearances. But that’s just on the surface: what they lack in lip-gloss, they more than make up for in talent.

Take the first generation of Pillows hits and compile them into one CD and one gets Fool on the Planet. From the title track to “Hybrid Rainbow,” this is a great album. With a variety of slow ballads to energized hits, veteran and newbie fans alike will appreciate this wonderful archive of tunes.

 

THE GOOD

One Life
Simply put, “One Life” is a feel-good and impressive song. Its sound has a wonderfully hypnotic effect. From beginning to end, one is mesmerized by the great vocals that are in sync with the fantastic guitar and drum performances. The beginning has energy and the last verse carries through with the energy and yet the sound is soothing and calm. The beautiful sound evokes a slight feeling of nostalgia that makes this song only better.

Funny Bunny
“Funny Bunny” is a song that flies under the radar. It starts out as a song that isn’t expected to be all that special. However, it slowly reaches a climax and grabs you by the throat. Starting out slow, it graduates to a more medium rhythm that has a terrific sound. This song has a sound that is part feel-good, part expressive, and part “end credit music” (in a positive way).

Hybrid Rainbow
This song needs no introductions. Both my favorite Pillows and anime song, “Hybrid Rainbow” is simply a damn good song. The opening sound is magnetic and draws you in. There is a reserved sound that graduates to an apex in which the vocals explode with powerful emotion. The lyrics “Can you feel? Can you feel that hybrid rainbow?” convey raw emotion and Sawao sings them in dramatic fashion. The sound is matchless and the song is unforgettable.

 

THE BAD

Climbing on the Roof
Now I like slow songs, but this song was a tad unsatisfying. One would assume that the song following “One Life” would have some momentum going for it. However, this is not the case. It’s drone-like beginning and sudden jump to a faster tempo and back, added with a not-so-great vocal performance, just didn’t work for me. The vocals aren’t horrible, there are just parts that rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. The instrumental sound isn’t bad, but the song had other underlying flaws.

Let’s See, If That’s True or Not
It’s one thing to start slow then build up to a quicker pace. It’s also another thing for a slow song to have a consistent sound. However, this song seemed not to accomplish this proficiently. It starts out with a slow, almost monotonous sound. Later on it makes a vain attempt to pick itself out of any monotonous rut it may have been in. There are bright spots and parts do catch my attention, however, it is a little too late. After this bright spot, it reverts to its original slow monotony. In the end, the sound is quite good (though at one small spot, annoying) but it seemed monotonous throughout quite a bit.

The Rating: 8