Don't feel guilty about the leak, it's not our fault. It could hurt sales yes, but I wager most proper SCANDAL fans would've pre-ordered.

My physical copy will probably arrive next week Monday-Tuesday since HMV deliveries take 4-6 working days to reach my part of the world. I actually wanted to wait until then to post this but this simply cannot wait.

Oh. My. God.

The hair on my arms and the back of my neck are on ends as I write this. Yes, this album is THAT GOOD. Those little previews? Did not even come close to doing proper justice to what this album really is. And mind you guys I had very, very high expectations.

There is no need to worry about this album being "too pop", trust me it ain't. Ok, fair enough it's not metal. But pop as in cutesy bubble gum pop? No. It's SCANDAL, OUR SCANDAL and their way of doing it. Power pop, pop rock, whatever you call it.

Those effects we hear, just icing. The heart of each song, yes each song, are the same girls who did Best SCANDAL to Queens Are Trumps. Listen closely and it will reach out and grab you. Their edge is still there. They didn't forget. Under all the processing and the keyboards, this is still very much a guitar driven band. And talking about effects, check out some of those sick guitar effects in use. Simply awesome.

This is easily their most clever, complex, skilful album to date. Trust me when I say, copy bands are going to have quite a bit of trouble covering some of the stuff on it. Tomo's basslines and surprisingly for me, Haru's rhythm guitar playing really stands out in some of the songs.

I love how some many things go on in so many songs, how it goes back and forth between pop, rock, there's even some nice alternative rock vibe in there. Open your ears and minds, listen closely and you'll be in for a treat.

That's it for now, when I get my physical CD and start playing it to death I might want to do a track by track.

And for those who haven't or are not planning to buy this album, BUY IT!

Something really special is upon us and you have no idea what you are missing out on if you don't take part.

I have no problem admitting I'm weak-willed LOL
The second I heard there was a leak, I had to find it. I just couldn't wait anymore TuT

And to those who will wait for their physical copy to arrive, or wait until release day to get it off of Amazon or iTunes, you won't be disappointed. This album is truly wonderful. Just as good, if not a bit better, than Queens are trumps, imo.

I loved every song.
Uchiagehanabi made me feel kinda sad though. It had a strong nostalgic feeling to it.
And my fav so far has been Koi no Gestalt Houkai. The vocals are really cool and Tomo's bass is funky and I love it!haha
And what else can I say? Every song had it's own feeling. Metronome was really strong, Namida yo Hikare was really upbeat and it kept making me stomp lol Weather report was beautiful start to end. And Orange Juice and Hachigatsu were great too.
They made a very good choice leaving STANDARD at the end. Wrapped up the album nicely.

I still plan on getting STANDARD off of Amazon on release day, but I just couldn't wait any longer. The desire to hear the songs was far too great ; u;

I'm a good fan... Too stupid to find leaks... .wew. 

I hope, the German customs won't keep it for over a week again. I wanna work there. Must be a chilling job .evilgrin. 

Anyway, I can't wait to hear it! According to the previews it must be a great album. I think Weather report and Hachigatsu (since I heard it live already) attract me the most!

I listened to the leak too, because I just can't wait 'till november to hear this when my copy arrives blame the absurd import taxes of my country that force me to order by SAL to be safe

But after listening to this album, I'm even thinking of buying it from iTunes in addition to getting the physical copy. Yes, it's THAT good.

I can't even say just a few favorite tracks, because the whole album is so damn amazing I'm not able to do this. They mixed so many things here that pretty much every song surprised me, and I already had the belief that this was gonna be an awesome album. I think the biggest surprises were probably Orange Juice, Weather report and Koi no Gestalt Houkai.

The tracks they composed themselves, I dare say are the best ones along with Metronome. Really!

I'll seriously get the bandscore when it's out, this album is GOLD, I love it even more than Queens are Trumps. My new favorite without any doubts.  .dies. 

If anyone has doubts on buying it, pleeeease do. You won't regret it.
The girls really did an AMAZING job here. .love.

And i knew it. I didn't enjoy this album at all.
Metronome was the only song which i found decent.

Gintoki wrote:And i knew it. I didn't enjoy this album at all.
Metronome was the only song which i found decent.

One. Song. Decent.

OK, then I wonder what you are doing here because this album is totally a SCANDAL sound like they have in other albums. Maybe it's time for you to find another awesome band to support or simply enjoy I guess. Nothing against you but being a fan makes it hard to see something like "Yeah I liked only one song and it was just decent" on a SCANDAL fan board when there is absolutely no big change at all in their sound, same sound and mix of songs as in the old albums.

~~

Anyway, couldn't resist too and downloaded the album. It's not our fault that some people make it available, just don't share the link or don't host the album!

Just got a mail that my order has been shipped today yay! STANDARD, OVERDRIVE and... Scandal Nanka Buttobase ^^

The album is fantastic, I just listened to it once so it's still fresh and it's hard to say which songs are better to me but overall it's a really great album, I'm not disappointed at all.

Namida Yo Hikare, METRONOME and Hachigatsu are my top 3 for now I guess (excluding the song we already know like Awanai, Kagen, BNW, Kimi to Mirai, OVERDRIVE and STANDARD, so top out of 7 new songs =P) but Kagen for example took me some time to really like and I guess some other songs of the album will have that effect on me after a few repeat The good point is that there is no song that I dislike or that I want to skip!

I'm no musician but yes this album sounds more complex than past albums (no saying old albums are simple), I love how they keep the SCANDAL sound and feeling but have different rhythm/melody in some songs. You can feel the band is growing up years after years but keeps the SCANDAL touch. If you compare them to the young SCANDAL band in 2008, I guess you can say that yes they are more "popish" but honestly it's just natural evolution for a band and they always have the mix between some light-rock-popish sound and rock sound.

Sooooooooo good job SCANDAL! Now I want to hear all the songs live so do your tour and then give me a 2 hours DVD for Christmas please!  

Am i sensing some hostility here?
First of all, i want you know to know this is my opinion. Get used to the fact everyone doesn't have same opinions as you.
To you, it did had that scandal feel, but to me, it didn't. Again, differences of opinion.

I enjoyed more than half of the songs in Queens are trump and other great albums like Temptation Box, so i think myself as a fan.

All right, guys; let's agree to disagree.

-----------------------------------------------------

Anyway, their manager Eisuke who's in charge of the scandal_band Twitter tweeted these short descriptions of the album tracks.

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384465589005062144
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M1. Brand new wave
A bewitching band sound that incorporates an electro dance beat and vividly colors the opening of the album! Lyrics by TOMOMI! ITO-EN 「Stylee Sparkling」's CM song!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384508759340380160
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM『STANDARD』
M2. OVER DRIVE
The 17th single that was written and produced by Yasutaka Nakata (CAPSULE) that became a hot topic! A powerful pop number that sings of the joy of music!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384549787275513856
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M3. Uchiagehanabi
Written by Noriyasu Isshiki (Tsubaki), who provided great songs in the past such as 「HARUKAZE」, 「24 Jikan Plus no Yoake Mae」, 「Anata ga Mawaru」! It's a middle number in which the memories of a nostalgic summer are sung about!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384552192788545536
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M4. Orange Juice
A song that shows the true worth of SCANDAL's fun twin vocals between HARUNA & TOMOMI! Note that it seems like it starts off with a rockabilly tone but a pop melody suddenly expands out during the hook! Lyrics by TOMOMI!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384555428790542338
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M5. Metronome
This is sure to enliven things up at lives! An undulating intro riff, a dramatic B-melody, and a fast hook! An energetic rock number with no tricks!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384608332993941505
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M6. Weather report
A tie-in song with the WOWOW overseas drama 「Scandal」! It gives off a mature atmosphere with lyrics that are likened to continuous cloudy skies and when a relationship is going badly! Lyrics by RINA!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384617413808910336
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M7. Hachigatsu
Music by MAMI, lyrics by HARUNA! The lyrics that sing of an oath of abiding friendship with a friend actually spell out the feelings of the members' of their 7th year since formation! It's a middle ballad that could have only been written this year after accomplishing their dream of playing at Osaka-Jo Hall!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384618955995766784
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M8. Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne
It's become a song that's indispensable at SCANDAL lives! The theme song to the move 「Ore wa Mada Honki Dashitenai Dake」! Guitar rock that was written by SUPER BEAVER's Ryota Yanagisawa!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384625301537304576
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M9. Kagen no Tsuki
The 16th single, with its jacket photographed by 『Solaryman』 and 『Schoolgirl Complex』 photographer Yuki Aoyama! The oldie, dirty sound gives off a dominant presence in the album!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384626913731280896
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M10. Koi no Gestalt Houkai
An alternative number that's a collaboration between Hajimetal (ex. Midori), writer of 「Kimi ni Shittochuu」 and 「Kill the virgin」, and RINA! No explanation needed (is it unexplainable?)! Listen!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384645690942427136
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M11. Kimi to Mirai to Kanzen Douki
TV Osaka 'Umekita's support song! A funky dance number that sings about 《thrills and suspense》 towards a new world! Lyrics by TOMOMI!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384654568174280704
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M12. Namida yo Hikare
This song was played at the live house tour before the album's release was announced, and it's fast becoming a sure song at lives! A pure eight-beat punk number! Lyrics by MAMI!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384656033819267072
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M13. STANDARD
Music by MAMI, lyrics by SCANDAL! The title track that was put in last! There's the true meaning of this album that you would call the 《STANDARD》! All 13 tracks! It's a must-listen!"

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384658493107470336
"That was commentary for all of the songs, and although they were pretty crude, this truly is going to be the best album. Tomorrow, it'll be in stores.
By all means."

thoseguiltyeyes wrote:

https://twitter.com/scandal_band/status/384549787275513856
"10/2 (Wed.) on sale
5th ALBUM 『STANDARD』
M3. Uchiagehanabi
Written by Noriyasu Isshiki (Tsubaki), who provided great songs in the past such as 「HARUKAZE」, 「24 Jikan Plus no Yoake Mae」, 「Anata ga Mawaru」! It's a middle number in which the memories of a nostalgic summer are sung about!"

It seems that they should hire Mr. Noriyasu Isshiki everytime they have a single or an album!  Harukaze, 24 Jikan and Anata ga Mawaru belongs to my favorites list. I have now a high expectation to this song.

What are you guys talking about the leak? Are the songs (full) already available in the internet? Oh well, I will just wait for my album! Need to have a couple of good sleep before I get my CD+DVD!

Ah, I was waiting for this, Jade haha
I saw them and thought about translating them, but then I got lazy and decided to wait for you
Sankyuu~

I hope SCANDAL can keep working with Mr. Hajimetal. Together they can make some pretty kickass songs .clap. 

And they totally hit their mark with Uchiagehanabi. Such a nostalgic feeling to that song I could just lay my head on my desk and cry

Mine's shipped out too! Should get it by Friday, I hope! Just excited to listen to the CD format and watch the DVD, Scandal in the house! I haven't watched that LQ version. So it'll be nice.

I finally got the time to listen to the songs especially the 9 new ones

And here's my reviews for those:

Brand New Wave - as i've said before this song fits as a starter for the album... not really amazing but it's pretty good.

Uchiagehanabi - Again Tomomi pulls out those amazing bass lines... great sounding. It has a bittersweet sound maybe the lyrics of this one has some deep meaning

Orange Juice - I have mixed feelings with this one. I think it just sounds so unique for me

Metronome - I really thought I was playing a One Ok Rock song when this was shuffled in my playlist haha. Great Song

Weather Report - Somehow this song got stuck in my mind all day long... again this is a part of Scandal which I like and Haru's vocals are top notch...

Hachigatsu - Pretty much like Uchiagehanabi, this one has a bittersweet feeling... like the tone and Haru's vocals tears my heart apart...

Koi no Gestalt Houkai - This song is very groovy sounds like Anata ga Mawaru with a little bit of Want You in it.

Namida yo Hikare - Probably my most favorite track in the album... simply amazing

STANDARD - Hmmm just okay for me... pretty much like Pin Heel Surfer in Queens Are Trumps

My top 3 would be (including the 4 other songs) would be... Namida yo Hikare, Awanai Tsumori no Genki Dene and Weather Report

This is a must buy album... and CDJapan just sent me a notification that the album has been shipped...

I'm also waiting for my album. CDjapan sent me an email to let me know that they have shipped my order.

Mine is shipped, too. I only hope the german customs won't take to long. I'm very exited, haven't listened to any preview yet .happy.

I like the twitter descriptions, but now i'm even more curious about Hachigatsu!

For sure one of my favorite in this album and also lyrics by HARUNA   MAMIxHARUNA need to write more songs .wow. 

Like the many before me I can't wait for the actual release. I'm still waiting for my issue of GO GO GUITAR to be processed before they send out the parcel, so prob won't get it by the release date. Already listened to the full album on the way to school this morning, sounds awesome. But I'll leave my song-by-song review for the actual release in order not to spoil it any further for those still hanging in there (although plenty before me have already done it).

To those still hanging in there, don't give up, just 1-2 more days (depending on time zone).

I also received a confirmation mail from CDJ that my items were shipped today! But then again I will receive it not less than a week 'cause it will go to the customs first (though there are no fees to pay!).

And I'm one of the fans who can't wait and listened to the leaked files of the album. I love every song but if I have to choose one, I'll go for Metronome. Totally awesome. But then again everything is awesome hehe.

It will be a very hard wait for me because everyone's saying, how good it is. But I am glad you guys are all so positive about it.

As most people here I couldn't help myself from listening to it as I am probably going to receive my cd+tshirt edition next week even if it has been sent also today.
I am very positive about this album, it is well balanced (there is a good mix between ballad, pop and rock genres): my favorites go to Metronome (My god, Mami rocks so much in that track!^o^), Weather Report (I have a big crush on it!) and Koi no Gestalt Houkai ^_^ (+ the others that we have already listened to: Awanai, Kagen, Kimi and Standard)
Now I am going to wait patiently to receive the cd and let grow this album more on me!

Mature is definitely the right word for this album. The new songs are absolutely beautiful. I personally can't understand why people would think otherwise, but we must respect everyone's opinion. I do think this album will grow on the people who might think it's not so great now.

Overall I like it. There are a few songs on it I'm really not into, and then a few songs on it I really dig, but overall it's good.

I've noticed that it seems to start out extremely poppy, then slowly moves into rock as the album progresses, until by the end they're almost total garage rock. It's a pretty consistent progression through the album - it doesn't seem like a random mix of styles from song to song. I have a feeling that's intentional.

I've also noticed that their musicianship seems to have jumped a couple notches. They've been getting consistently better as players with each album, but they really seem to be pushing it and exploring the limits of their instruments and their ability to play them on this album. I'm hearing them do things I've never heard them do before; difficult things, and creative things.

It's an album that really needs to be played loud. When I first listened to it on my tiny computer speakers, I thought it sounded awful, but it came alive on my living room system. A lot of songs are "wall of sound" kind of songs; they will be great live, and at home they really need to fill a room.

STANDARD is my favorite song on the album.

As for the leak, well, I said in another thread that nothing ever goes completely according to plan with any consumer release

So I've decided to listen to the leak version a couple of times before writing here. Overall I like the album, but I don't think it tops Queens are Trumps as my favorite. It probably come close second together with Temptation Box. I feel that there a lot of good songs that I enjoy but QAT has more outstanding songs that I REALLY like. Some songs are a bit too poppy for me.

My favorite definitely goes to "Metronome", followed closely by the ballads "Weather Report" and "Hachigatsu". Metronome is just FREAK, I even think it's better than "Queens are Trumps". As for the ballads, I'm always drawn to them. I like almost all of Scandal's ballad songs. And this time is no exception.
Orange Juice, Brand New Wave, and Standard are good too. Orange Juice is especially creative musically.

I feel that this album is a bit more pop than QAT, but it's about the same pop as Temptation Box and Baby Action. But I'm not surprised, Scandal is now more a pop-rock band than garage rock band. That's apparent from the singles that they choose to promote. I don't mean it in a bad way, if they are happy and that's their decision, it's totally fine. As long as they can still come out with good pop-rock songs (as they always do), I'm sure their popularity will increase.

baymon wrote:I feel that this album is a bit more pop than QAT,

I understand how a person can feel that way and my opinion might change with more listens, but right now I actually feel it's *less* pop overall than QAT. I think the first two or three songs on Standard really skew the average. Of those, "Brand New Wave" is... not my favorite song, to say the least, and "Over Drive" I've only gotten used to (and it's one of the songs I mentioned sounding better very loud). "Uchiagehanabi" I actually like but it is definitely still on the pop side.

The rest of the album, though, I feel like is mostly rock, and some songs sound *beyond* early Scandal rock style to me. If you just chop off the front of the album (honestly, I will probably skip the first two songs most of the time), it's like the second coming of Temptation Box from then on. In that way, it makes me happy. It's kind of a weird mix. Whereas QAT and Baby Action had poppy songs sprinkled pretty much all the way through, Standard is front-loaded with pop and then pretty rocking from the fourth song or so onwards, and by the end it starts getting really noisy - even noisier than Temptation Box or Best Scandal.

Anyway my own copy of it just shipped, along with my Go!Go!Guitar! and my Go!Go!Guitar! Mami Special. Anxious to get them!

I agree with many things that spacecadet is saying about the album. The way the album's start is...quite deceptive.

Like spacecadet says, when it comes to sheer "hardness" I too feel that there are songs here that go over the usual SCANDAL standards, things like the almost glam rock Metronome to the The Strokes-esque Orange Juice to the pop punk Namida yo Hikare (this one really, really caught me off guard, I totally did not expect straight up pop punk in a SCANDAL album).

Overall, the thing I like the most about this record is the level of skill being put on. The girls really did well and like spacecadet noted, they are little things that I noticed, new things that the girls haven't tried before. Tricky, clever, creative things here and there. I suppose a person who plays will notice and appreciate these little things more. It's a bit hard to explain.

Whether it's Rina's drumming (which is more expansive than before), Timo's skillful, walking basslines (which I always like and to be honest, have come to expect from her), Mami's improving riffing and use of effects and even Haru's rhythm guitar playing which I feel, contributes a lot to that "wall of sound" that spacecadet also mentioned. In some songs, it's really, really in your face and upfront. And loud. Which is great!

Yes, you need to play this record LOUD. A good set of headphones can really help with this if you don't want to have the cops called on ya :PTo appreciate some of the songs in their full glory, you need to surround yourself, lose yourself in them.

Yes, I really like this album, right up there with QAT for me. Maybe even better.

Also

spacecadet wrote:

Standard is front-loaded with pop and then pretty rocking from the fourth song or so onwards, and by the end it starts getting really noisy - even noisier than Temptation Box or Best Scandal.

Quoted for truth.

Edit: My copy ships tomorrow, so that means I have to wait until next week :/