I finally got my HMV order yesterday, which was pretty long considering it was shipped by EMS....

Anyway, I've only listened to a little more than half so far. The only songs I've haven't heard in full yet are Happy Birthday and Your song (English ver.).  I have to say that YELLOW is probably their best work yet.  HELLO WORLD is probably more "complete" sounding as a whole, but I'd say the members definitely deserve high praise for their first completely self-produced album.  I like the term "concept album" for YELLOW, seeing as they try out so many different styles.  While I think it definitely has more mainstream appeal, it's not for everyone, especially if you prefer SCANDAL's earlier works.

As expected, I really liked Heaven na Kibun.  It's Nirvana-inspired, 90's grunge rock really resonated with me. (w) I kinda want to hear it sung with rough male vocals, like HYDE's voice in VAMPS.  Maybe I'll try it one day....
Off topic, I really want to see SCANDAL challenge a really dark, heavy, visual-kei-ish rock song one day.  Maybe even with screams, death voice shouts and growls, the works.  Sure, it may alienate a lot of their fans, but it definitely would be fun to hear...!
OK, back on topic...Room No.7's funky rock sound was nice, as well. Since I like sad ballads, Morning sun and chiisana honoo are high on my favorites list.  Really nice, emotional lyrics.  Konya wa Pizza Party was the fun, punkish, party rock I was hoping it would be. Sunday Drive is nice as a cruising song.

Now, LOVE....I was really looking forward to hearing this one, and I was amazed at how well the girls pulled it off.  I don't listen to much reggae, but I do hear a lot of Hawaiian music.  A lot of Hawaiian band fuse some reggae into their sounds, so it's not a completely unfamiliar genre. This mixture sound is what I think the girls were aiming for, similar to what Aqua Timez and Def Tech does.  It has this Jawaiian (Japan+Hawaii version) sound that resonates well with islanders.  I really want to hear them perform this at the Waikiki Shell live.

All in all, yes, this is a more poppy-sounding release.  Under the giant umbrella that is "J-Pop," YELLOW is no doubt, J-Pop rather than J-Rock. However, I'd say they're different from most pop.  Since their indies days, I've always seen SCANDAL as a "girl band." Being a fan ZONE and their "Rockin' Pop" from before, girl bands tend to have a "guitar pop" sound, straddling the fine line of pop and rock.  YELLOW is no different in that respect. Some songs sound more rock, others sound more pop.

I'm excited to see where SCANDAL will go from here, with all of the knowledge and experience they now have.  I hope they continue experimenting with different sounds to produce their own definition of "Happy Rock."  It would be fun if they try a completely different sound for each release like what GazettE does....

(I'm really sorry for the length...!) m(_ _)m

March 12 YELLOW still on #12
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2016-03-12/p/2/

Star~world96 wrote:

spacecadet wrote:

victor_survive wrote: But there won't be 3rd single?

There's still 2 1/2 months to go. Typically the third single is released just before the album goes on sale, to help promote it. So it probably just hasn't been announced yet.

But they usually announced a new single along with the album , like last year and for 2013. I think they wanted to change things up a bit for YELLOW, they already didn't put out a new studio album this year, why not up the anty and skip 3rd single and head straight to album.

I can't wait for the tracklist and the album art, but i feel like its gonna be a while.

Who knows the 3rd single will be released with brand new songs right before the Perfect World DVD release. It's kinda odd in SCANDAL's single chronology but that strategy has been tried-and-tested in the international music market. 

Meanwhile, here's my review for Yellow on JRock247:
http://jrock247.com/2016/03/scandal-yellow-review/

March 13 YELLOW on #16
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2016-03-13/p/2/

A bonus tote bag comes with the HK edition of YELLOW:

Source: https://www.facebook.com/SonyMusicEntertainmentHK/photos/a.110744021827.108596.100921436827/10153406669406828/?type=3&theater

March 14 YELLOW on #12
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2016-03-14/p/2/

2nd week on Oricon:
#15 with 3,874 copies (total: 33,189)

That's the all time lowest 2nd week album sales for them. (things to keep in mind: 3 all-female band with possibly overlapping fanbase released an album on the same date, JPU release their stuff for way cheaper in the EU, and CD sales are declining quite a bit since 2010)

#1: Temptation Box (2010) with 10,184 copies
#2: Baby Action (2011) with 7,666 copies
#3: Best Scandal (2009) with 7,398 copies
#4 QAT (2012) with 5,599 copies
#5 Standard (2013) with 5,400 copies
#6 Hellow World (2014) with 4,845 copies
#7 Yellow (2016) with 3,874 copies

OMG The difference between Hello World and Yellow is way too big, almost 1000 copies T_T. The sales are going down every year since QAT

I reckon the iTunes sales are up though... I assume that's counted in the above sales figures?

BTW, where are the sales figures? Got a source?

I guess they better call it quit now.

My guess that it's probably overrun by digital sales now, its 2016 everything practically done online now, especially for overseas fans who can't physical go to the store and get the CD's. Well I'm guessing they are not counting online sales. (CD japan sales, Amazon, etc)
and Yeah i was a bit worried when other famous two female bands were releasing an album on that same day,and not just those bands but other artists too, but would it make a difference if they released it on another day?

To me it is only natural that album/singles sales decline as the band matures and changes styles, their songs have changed significantly and the sounds are not the same they were back in QaT and before era, its nothing to worry about.

It would be cool if someone who knows the business end would give us a rundown of what's going on with that but hey probably not gonna happen. But we know they are popular though—making money for Sony et al—cause they keep selling more seats at lives, being asked to do movie themes, TV commercials and tie-ins… Meanwhile think about the economic picture... especially in Japan prospects for young people not so good… that's gonna push more fans to go the cheaper route and buy online. As for this album, Yellow, I'm just obsessed with how good it is. The sounds they're producing now are just stunning. I'm so grateful to them, to their team, their fans, and very one that's kept faith with them so far

Thats a huge decline... the competion has gotten tough. But considering their early days, I think thats the time when they were doing a lot of TV appearances and promotions so they were more visible(maybe Im wrong here) . Or maybe fans prefer their sound more in those days. TEMP BOX is huge probably because of SHUNKAN being a soundtrack to FMA brotherhood as well as SHOUJO S on BLEACH so those albums were really boosted by this factor. But theyre still sitting on the charts so I think theyre doing pretty fine.

Star~world96® wrote:My guess that it's probably overrun by digital sales now, its 2016 everything practically done online now,

Not in Japan. CD is still king.

spacecadet is very right, AKB48's new single released on March 8th sold 1,133,179 CD's on the first day.

Any artist/band has ups and downs, all we can do it to always support the band and buy the albums.

yeah but afraid one reason AKB48 sells so many is because older men with lots of money will buy a hundred copies which buys them a seat right next to the stage.. that's the idol business model for ya.. while it's true that Japan is still much more into CD than any other market, still gotta expect that young people & fans with less money will move toward online purchasing… does anyone in SH read Japan Billboard edition?

etwee wrote:yeah but afraid one reason AKB48 sells so many is because older men with lots of money will buy a hundred copies which buys them a seat right next to the stage.

Scandal and AKB48 have approximately the same demographics among their fans, although Scandal probably has a higher percentage of female fans. But if you just look at the crowds at the shows for each, they look about the same. Young and old, male and female for both.

I don't see the point in making excuses. If sales are down, I'm sure we all probably have our own theories as to why. I think it's probably a combination of a lot of things, some of which the band has control over and some not.

I think it's pretty unfair to compare Scandal's sales to AKB48's because they work on completely different levels, even if on the surface they appear to similar demographics. We all know how the idol market works, it's not just a question of target audience or even music genres. Japan's music market would probably crumble if not for those specific groups who always sell thousands and thousands of units no matter what.

It's not even about Scandal actually.

I don't think we as a fan base need to worry about the band quitting or their label dropping them. We just need to support them and enjoy the music and the journey.

etwee wrote:yeah but afraid one reason AKB48 sells so many is because older men with lots of money will buy a hundred copies which buys them a seat right next to the stage..

Can you explain how that works? Do the CDs come with extra applications for the lotteries?

Scandalsuki wrote:

etwee wrote:yeah but afraid one reason AKB48 sells so many is because older men with lots of money will buy a hundred copies which buys them a seat right next to the stage..

Can you explain how that works? Do the CDs come with extra applications for the lotteries?

As far as I am aware (I dont follow idol groups) some groups will sell handshake tickets in their singles/albums and you have a chance at getting one if you purchase an album, so there are some fans that will buy the same album/single several times in order to have a better chance at obtaining said handshake ticket. 

See story here: Guy buys $300,00 worth of AKB CDs

It is absolutely unfair and ridiculous to compare a normal band to an idol group when idol groups are involved in these practices when it comes to CD sales.

Now that thats clarified, lets keep this about YELLOW and SCANDAL and lets not go too far into AKB stuff specifics please 

Based on my observation, the sales of their CDs and MP3 are mostly online purchases from international customers. It's a shame that Oricon does not count that even CDs were purchased from online merchants based domestically. That is why SCANDAL is still getting more exposure and increasing demographics such as domestic female listeners despite of low CD sales in Japan.

If worst case scenario happens a few years from now (y'know what I mean), SCANDAL can doe well with the help of another record label either indie or new major label, with the help of international distribution, and more media exposure.

So, has anyone had any other thoughts about Yellow after a week or two?