About Taka’s huge shadow
that seems to be Hiroki’s main adversary:
This confession I stumbled upon just pissed me off
“Cheap rip-off”? “Cheap rip-off”?
Back when the “Second Limit” PV came out, I couldn’t help but compare the two of them. Yes, Hiroki moves/spazzes out similar to the way Taka does. Yes, the two of them are in a rock band. Yes, the two of them look good in tight-fitting black pants. Yes, the two of them have a knack for melodic screaming. Yes, the two of them look good in v-neck shirts. Yes, the two of them sing in English and in Japanese, and deal with similar subject matter in their songs.
But it only takes 1 (ONE) run-through, maybe even only .5 (HALF) a run-through of the MY FIRST STORY album to distinguish between the two bands.
OOR has demonstrated that they’re capable of a wide range of instrumental work, whereas MFS generally has the same level of….loudness, metal-ness aggression in each song; if anything their debut album is most comparable to the aggressiveness that NICHE SYNDROME had. Of course it’s too early to tell for sure what sort of sound they’re aiming for.
AND OKAY SERIOUSLY Hiroki’s English isn’t as well articulated, and his voice is way higher than Taka’s. IT ONLY TAKES LIKE 3 SONGS TO REALIZE THAT.
I respect an artist’s choice to imitate, appropriate, and evolve. If you read a lot of a certain author’s books, your writing reflects that; if you look at certain kinds of drawings all the time, your own drawings will reflect that. In most cases of creative/artistic work, one thing can be —and probably is— derived from its predecessor, even if you, the artist, are not aware of it. Heck, even when you spend a lot of time with the same circle of friends, you might end up adopting their mannerisms: influence is a way of life. Hey, if Taka was the one who inspired Hiroki to do rock music, and if people think the younger sounds too much like the elder, THEN FINE THAT’S PROBABLY BECAUSE HE DOES for the reason in bold above.
The point I’m trying to make is that it’s pointless to keep comparing the two bands solely because the lead singers are brothers. The fact that they’re brothers makes it very tempting to arbitrarily shrink the vast jrock universe down to these two bands and judge them. But it’s important to also recognize that these two vocalists and their fellow band members are musicians—artists—who have the right as creative workers to pay homage to that which compels them and inspires them to create music. Even the “most original work” ever was inspired by something that already exists, be it another song, another drawing, or a life experience.
