Ronrinesu wrote:I think what's pissing me off is Haruna's terrible vocal technique. I have to admit she is really bad. It is easy to hear she is often straining and it's damaging for her voice. I just don't understand why she just doesn't take proper voice training lessons. It was somehow understandable when they were still rookies but nowadays they are probably the most known Japanese female band and Haruna has barely improved since their indie days. 
I just hope she won't turn into the Japanese Park Bom.

Oh my......can you at least use some words that more polite? If you use such a word even though you don't really dislike her, some people maybe will misunderstood you........And as far as I know, Haruna takes voice training lessons.


@Topic : Just like anyone else, I just hope SCANDAL member especially Haruna should gain some weight....

They're improving on this front, but I don't like how most of their songs aren't written by them. It's their 7th year in their musical careers, I feel like they should have enough confidence in their ability to create at least a single entirely by them. Are they trying to widen their fanbase? Because as I see it, Japan is pretty much enamored with poppy songs at the moment. I don't think there's much the girls can do about that. I definitely do not want them to appeal to the masses for the sake of doing so. I want to see them stay true to themselves, and I feel like the best way to do this is by creating their own music.

I would rather get a new album once every two years instead of one if it means it's entirely by them. Maybe they will do this once it is no longer a monetary issue?

kaitanuva wrote:They're improving on this front, but I don't like how most of their songs aren't written by them. It's their 7th year in their musical careers, I feel like they should have enough confidence in their ability to create at least a single entirely by them. Are they trying to widen their fanbase? Because as I see it, Japan is pretty much enamored with poppy songs at the moment. I don't think there's much the girls can do about that. I definitely do not want them to appeal to the masses for the sake of doing so. I want to see them stay true to themselves, and I feel like the best way to do this is by creating their own music.

I would rather get a new album once every two years instead of one if it means it's entirely by them. Maybe they will do this once it is no longer a monetary issue?

good point, but let say this, SCANDAL is musicians with nearly zero background of musical histories instead Rina that had a piano lesson since kid..
they were supposed to be a dancer, when their teacher asked them to try something else such as becoming a musical band..
and back then.. so many people and team that support them, that creating so many great songs for them that made what they are today, yes we can say that SCANDAL is a music perfomer, playing their song that was made by them and others, but that still their music, all of SCANDAL songs is their own songs, right?

just don't push them to hard to make their own music for one album (for right now), IMHO, creativity is a gift, not something that we can get by learning.. even so, it'll take times, a long process to get it..

but hey, STANDARD is a music that created by them isn't? something that we should appreciate, the song is so "them". lot of fun and cheers, sounds like a spontanious jam session song, i love it  

well.. lets hope that someday they'll be able to make their own songs for a new album. they are stil growing up girls .love.

orange mami's hair . wanna blonde hair

I don't really dislike it but I would prefer it if they didn't use backing tracks while doing lives. Like for Love Survive, etc with the synths. I remember watching a documentary and they worried about that too and how they wouldn't be able to perform the same sound without the backing track. I was thinking that it's not really necessary, since we hear the studio version in official audio and that it could be different during lives (like going/watching the live is the chance where we get to hear just the 4 of them). They don't do it much though so it's not a big deal - just a thought~

And is it just me or does some of their official audio feel like they're... missing something. Somehow, I just feel like there could be more power or that it's not up to (my) standard. It's an odd feeling.. I can't really place it.

waning_moon wrote:And is it just me or does some of their official audio feel like they're... missing something. Somehow, I just feel like there could be more power or that it's not up to (my) standard. It's an odd feeling.. I can't really place it.

I think it's a byproduct of all the processing they've been doing in their official recordings lately. Obviously everything is going to be processed to some extent, but they have gone way further in their past few releases (both studio audio recordings and live videos) than they did on their earlier releases. To some extent, this is just kind of a natural progression as a band gets bigger and more mainstream and there's more money put into their recordings.

But I admit, I feel the same way about their recorded sound recently, and I don't think they need to go as far as they have been. They have lost a little of the "punch" to their sound that comes from engineers and producers knowing when to hold back and let the raw sound of the band and their instruments come through.

I also think either Haruna or Mami or both are using *too much* distortion lately, which can ironically have the effect of making a guitar sound weaker. I think it's Haruna - I think she has changed something in her studio setup. Either that or it's also some kind of compression being used on her guitar by the engineers. I was about to comment that I think "Your song" is one of their better sounding recorded songs recently, and I still think that, but I also hear that weak-sounding guitar on it, which is just all high end rasp, no middle or bottom. (The drums sound much better than usual, though.)

Live and in person is a different story, of course. They still sound huge there.

@spacecadet  Yeah, makes their lives seem way more worth it than it already is xD I felt that from Your Song and Rainy, too (both of which I just realized are songs they fully composed). I don't know all the details and uhm "mechanics" but that's interesting tidbit. What you said about losing a little "punch" is what I meant by "power". 

A bit off topic but I wonder if fans ever send (good) criticism to the band, like we are discussing here.

^ I don't think so. to us fans they are perfect. we tend to ignore their flaws and shortcomings. because of unconditional love.

But I too have something I don't like about them.

for starters.. it has been said many times before.. HARUNA is too Thin! I know she doesn't like the 'wide-face' she had before. but its not that bad! and only on certain angles. 95% of the time she's drop dead gorgeous. she should have maintained her figure from 2010..

another thing.. why did HARU wear braces to align her crooked teeth..? WHY!? its one of her most defining quality. I love it. and it is considered 'cute' in Japan. guess she does not want to be seen as 'cute' huh.

and RINA.. I don't know.. she's always been my least favorite. for some reason I think she has the most mature mindset. not as goofy as the other members.

TOMOMI. didn't like her at first.. BUT I've grown to like her because of her happy-go-lucky attitude. win!

-i listen to Houkago 1H at least 10 times a day. one of my favorites.

MAMI - her HAIR. if anything all I have is praise for MAMI.. she (IMO) has the best body out if the four. very fine indeed.

I could talk more about their Music. but.. enough..! says batman

waning_moon wrote:A bit off topic but I wonder if fans ever send (good) criticism to the band, like we are discussing here.

I'd bet the band themselves are pretty well insulated from it unless they specifically seek it out. I'll bet their producers and record label see it, though - I'm not sure how it is at a record label in Japan, but in the US it would be part of their job to see what people are saying about a signed band's recordings.

Crei wrote:another thing.. why did HARU wear braces to align her crooked teeth..? WHY!? its one of her most defining quality. I love it. and it is considered 'cute' in Japan. guess she does not want to be seen as 'cute' huh.

My guess is that she is trying to line herself up for a longer-term and possibly post-SCANDAL career. It's "cute" in young girls but you don't see it much in adult women with jobs in TV or that are otherwise public in Japan. I also kinda wish she hadn't done it but I understand it. I really want to hold on to their early image too but we have to accept that nothing lasts forever.

I'm still hoping that she will regain some weight when she gets the braces off too. I know she's very thin these days and have discussed it here before but even so, I still sometimes see new photos of her that make me go "whoa!" There was one that she herself posted to her blog just the other day that really startled me.

Yeah there was one photo on twitter not too long ago and because of the angle/clothes/whatever you can see how thin she is... I also think (just an opinion, maybe it's stupid) that she should gain some weight, I have a hard time believing that being so thin is completely healthy (not saying it's unhealthy and dangerous, I'm no doctor just my impression).

Anyway... About the braces it's her choice and people change. We will probably never really know the deep reasons of it, maybe she thought it was ugly, maybe she wasn't comfortable, maybe she liked it but did for her career yeah, etc. It's not because YOU love something that another person feels good. I loved the younger HARU, she looked amazing and now she is different and older, there is nothing better or worse it's just different. People change ^^

The songs aren't THAT hard rockish anymore, like from their debut till 2012. They started changing their style in 2013, At least that's what i feel. I'm hoping they revert back to their old style.

They don't have black hair anymore, it suits all scandal members, especially Haruna.

Haruna without braces looks better, since she looked more cute, but maybe it bothered her or something.
Haruna has gotten TOO thin since last year. She needs to put on weight, so she looks like healthy again.
Mami shouldn't have changed her hair color to orange, she looks much better in her previous hair style.
I think that's all.

I agree with Spacecadet. Besides, Haruna is already 26. I guess, it's her preparation of having a more mature and serious image as a rock musician. Having great looks plays a major role in showbizness.

Meanwhile, what I observed about the band is their musical direction is somewhat lacking. Hodge-podge in a single album. For me, sudden change of sound from one song to another in their albums since 2010 is a bit confusing. Too much control from the producers and contributing songwriters over the band could be the culprit. Good thing that their musicality has been improving since they have gained "more creative control" since Queens album was released.

I don't mind if they become a full-fledged hard rock band or move towards a more pop-oriented direction. As long as they write more songs on their own.

^ The thing is I think they will keep to "creating their own genre", which they have said since a long time ago. By that I basically just think they'll create and play whatever music that comes to mind or that they like at the moment. Even in the future I doubt they will stick to one or two genres but I do agree about them creating more of their own songs. Especially if a single member composes a song - cases like that would result in different sounds cause I think the members each have their own style/preference in music. 

I think the recent change in sound is really only because of the promotion for the Pokemon song and the creation of Your Song for J-Melo. 

Getting braces is a healthy choice in general, disregarding appearances. With the amount of exposure they're getting looking even prettier is never a bad thing hehe. Getting your teeth (jaw, etc) adjusted could also adjust how you sing I think (though not sure). 

@Crei Considering that we have started and kept up with this topic, we are obviously not ignoring their flaws. But I agree about the unconditional love part haha. 
I don't want SCANDAL to become too burdened by fan opinions and create more of what they like but seeing some criticism every now and then would help I think.

I don't like haru's vocal issues, she doesn't deserve that.  

I really was heartbroken about MAMI while reading that interview where the girls talked about boys and stuff

Mati Saurus wrote:I don't like haru's vocal issues, she doesn't deserve that.  

yeah, until now I still dislike it even though I have already adapted to her voice changes, but there are times though where she sounds like muffled, and weak that somehow I can feel the strain on the throat when she sings. 
I'm missing her old voice now..

^ agreed.. her voice now feels hollow and forced at times esp at lives.. I've been wanting a performance like in the temp box tour.. solid and deep HARU vocals.. ever since.. BUT! she's still HARUNA and she still sings! I'm just happy we have her now and the jap fans still support her despite of these.

@waning_moon yes! unconditional love for the girls! I think the best position to critisize them is themselves and the manager.. xD

Mati Saurus wrote:I really was heartbroken about MAMI while reading that interview where the girls talked about boys and stuff

What were you heart broken about? :/

Yes even Nuns are allowed to talk to boys and I am pretty sure Scandal are not Nuns

Gintoki wrote:

Mati Saurus wrote:I really was heartbroken about MAMI while reading that interview where the girls talked about boys and stuff

What were you heart broken about? :/

About something you can read here.

Something I'm not fond of is their new J-pop sound. I don't want everything to sound like Shunkan Sentimental, but it seems like they're slipping away from J-rock... :/

I'm too busy loving them that I don't have a time to find something to dislike about them

I dislike the fact that they've never played a concert here in Atlanta. I dislike that they don't tour the USA more often. I dislike that I've never won a competition where I get to have dinner with the band and pick their brains about all their musical influences and share my favorite bands with them.

I dislike the fact that I could not take Tomomi home with me after meeting her at the London concert

tonymiller wrote:I dislike the fact that I could not take Tomomi home with me after meeting her at the London concert

Seriously, though, wouldn't it just be amazing to go out after a concert and have some beers with the band, talking about all sorts of random crap?