I just happened to stumble upon some of their old PVs like the one below, and WOW i really felt like they changed (or if change is too negative a word, i'll use evolve) a lot!

 




I only got to know SCANDAL this year, so for me it is kinda surprising, but what do you guys think?

well a good topic Lazzal I'm same as you know only a year. I love them because they do rock and roll and they song is so good till I head bang, this is why I follow them so and become their fans. I will say this year is the big change for them to try other genre type of song for me, I feel they still rock on some point but not like they use too before now they become more like kyary pamyu pamyu type.Sry to be a bit of emo on this topic but I not really like that. Maybe I just too old to change my mind so I think this debut 5 year they change the most is this album. Other is just getting more and more rock and mature.nice.

Actually i think its interesting that they diversified in that way, plus i think STANDARD showed that they haven't completely 'lost their roots' 

also i think SCANDAL's song's grow on you as you listen to them haha. I sorta disliked SCANDAL IN THE HOUSE and STANDARD at first cuz i thought they were going off track, but right now i do like them haha

well I will stay low and see how first like I always do If they go off rock and roll. I will go off without hesitation

They've changed quite a bit since the BEST SCANDAL days, and we've talked about it some in other threads as well. But to sum up:

1) Ballads - it's amazing now to realize that they didn't have a single ballad until Temptation Box, unless you want to count their cover of Zone's "Secret Base", which came out shortly after BEST SCANDAL.

2) Pop songs - I don't really consider any of BEST SCANDAL "pop", although some people do. But you have to admit that something like "Brand New Wave" would have sounded totally out of place on that album. They may have had pop/rock songs in those days, but the straight pop stuff definitely came later.

3) Uniforms - they stopped wearing the school uniform-inspired outfits because they're no longer in school and felt it was no longer appropriate.

4) They're better musicians now, both in terms of instrumentals and vocals. That's allowed them to branch out even within rock - not everything needs to sound like punk.

5) They're just older and more experienced - they were literally kids in their first videos. So they look different, and they act different. It's the difference between kids and adults, or amateurs and professionals.

The "Koi Moyou" video embedded above, if I remember right, is the second one they ever made (I believe "Space Ranger" was the first), and I'm pretty sure both of those videos were produced by Kitty Records before they were officially signed to Sony. That's probably why the production looks so cheap and why they're kind of awkwardly giddy in them. That actually changed pretty quickly - "Doll", which was their debut on Sony, still looked kind of cheap but they already had a different image (more of a bad girl thing). "Sakura Goodbye" and "Shoujo S" both look pretty slick and I think show the two most common sides to them that we still see today.

theres nothing to be afraid of... SCANDAL always be the same.. I still love what they are right now... .cool. 

wow, since the past 5 years i think they do change alot in the way of music style and genre
1st major album Best Scandal is more rock 'n roll
2nd album Temptation Box is kinda rock techno
3rd and 4th albums, form me they expand the genre to pop-rock, or if i can say is "girly rocks" and i love the way they evolve 'till now, make them as japan girls band leader
the 5th album, Standard like a whole new Scandal for me, everything is improve here, it is like "here we are now" album, showing the new standard of them and i love it, we are love it!

There are a lot of things that changed ever since I first watched and heard SCANDAL... If you listen to the singles/albums from the BEST SCANDAL days and compare it to STANDARD you'll notice a huge difference.

Their songs became more mature as the year goes by... I think the key here is that they challenged themselves as musicians to try different stuffs together

But the core SCANDAL, the band that debuted DOLL back in 2008 is still there in their music... so pretty much they've changed but it's still SCANDAL

I discovered Scandal 2009, I found them by accident on YouTube, via a Japanese TV show with “Perfume” on as guests, these four girls were there too, chatting to Perfume, they seemed so lively, copying Perfume's dance routines, and I thought they were just a schoolgirl fan club of Perfume (I don’t speak Japanese). Looking one day later at a Girls from Japan playing guitars (Promo video), I realized, “Hey that’s those schoolgirls from Perfume interview show”. I checked out a You-tube by this band Scandal???
As soon as the live show opened for Best/One-man Live tour, and they hit the stage, Spacer Ranger, hit those big chords, bass and drum pounding it out, the crowd chanting along with encouragement, then Haruna yells out something and they go into the “Space-ranger” riff....I WAS GONE.

I sat there, like an mesmerized idiot, watching with my jaw on the floor for almost the entire song, then at the end of the song they powered to the finish with the closing chant... WHAT THE F&**# !!!!  : 0  ....... I was HOOKED!! I sat there for hours playing everything I could find by them live. All songs one One–man Live Tour clips were great too. Then, in 2012, they have conquered Budokan. An icon gig to westerners too. Their home coming gig at Osaka-jo Hall seemed to mark a turning point, even more than Budokan. I was in tears as was Tomo at beginning and end of this show, as this is when all their hard work paid off, and their dream achieved.  They rock solid, even though I have ner seen Tomo so emotional, and she still held it together. Heatbreaking to watch though, in a good way.

 
UNBELIEVABLE little “Rock-girl Ninjas” they are. Someone should make a film about them. They are sensational!!! There will be no band anywhere on the planet as cute AND talented as Scandal...EVER! If they make a movie about these girls in the years to come and release English, Spanish and French language versions it would have to be a worldwide hit.

To my friends who tell me they are a gimmick band I just ask them, “Name ONE all-female rock band, anywhere in the world from any era, that can play complex pop/rock songs so well, sing well and perform a great show to large crowds? “ . ...You can’t? That’s because there isn’t one.
ONLY CONCLUSION : Scandal are without a doubt the best Girl Band in history of this planet!

As i have watched Scandal over lat 5-6 years i see by their live performance they have not only become beautiful young women, but also a rock solid band that can play anywhere in the world an impress people, their ability to sing an play intricate parts at the same time, that alone is astounding, Tomo and Rina are just unbelievable as a rhythm section. Mami's playing so confident now, and has come from being the wallflower of the band to the cool glamour in the group. Haruna despite her protestations has become a great front person on stage, commanding and confident.

You know, i thought i would tire of Scandal when uniform thing went and they became mainstream , but they just keep changing for the better looks wise and playing stronger and better so much , you just can't take your eyes off them. i check their sites EVERYDAY.....just in case .

These are 4 little amazing ever-changing girls, and i totally admire them as musicians and performers.
There will be no other band like them, they have just set the Standard "too high" for anyone to catch up now. Astounding effort!

They really have changed. I think they mentioned something about this from an interview (can't remember which one) And they said that they want to grow up and be more mature about things. .smile.

I don't think their change is a bad thing though! Scandal should have various faces anyway! 

Although i don't get the BGM thing they're aiming to do now >.<

PAulfromAustralia wrote:I discovered Scandal 2009, I found them by accident on YouTube, via a Japanese TV show with “Perfume” on as guests, these four girls were there too, chatting to Perfume, they seemed so lively, copying Perfume's dance routines, and I thought they were just a schoolgirl fan club of Perfume (I don’t speak Japanese). Looking one day later at a Girls from Japan playing guitars (Promo video), I realized, “Hey that’s those schoolgirls from Perfume interview show”. I checked out a You-tube by this band Scandal???
As soon as the live show opened for Best/One-man Live tour, and they hit the stage, Spacer Ranger, hit those big chords, bass and drum pounding it out, the crowd chanting along with encouragement, then Haruna yells out something and they go into the “Space-ranger” riff....I WAS GONE.

I sat there, like an mesmerized idiot, watching with my jaw on the floor for almost the entire song, then at the end of the song they powered to the finish with the closing chant... WHAT THE F&**# !!!!  : 0  ....... I was HOOKED!! I sat there for hours playing everything I could find by them live. All songs one One–man Live Tour clips were great too. Then, in 2012, they have conquered Budokan. An icon gig to westerners too. Their home coming gig at Osaka-jo Hall seemed to mark a turning point, even more than Budokan. I was in tears as was Tomo at beginning and end of this show, as this is when all their hard work paid off, and their dream achieved.  They rock solid, even though I have ner seen Tomo so emotional, and she still held it together. Heatbreaking to watch though, in a good way.

 
UNBELIEVABLE little “Rock-girl Ninjas” they are. Someone should make a film about them. They are sensational!!! There will be no band anywhere on the planet as cute AND talented as Scandal...EVER! If they make a movie about these girls in the years to come and release English, Spanish and French language versions it would have to be a worldwide hit.

To my friends who tell me they are a gimmick band I just ask them, “Name ONE all-female rock band, anywhere in the world from any era, that can play complex pop/rock songs so well, sing well and perform a great show to large crowds? “ . ...You can’t? That’s because there isn’t one.
ONLY CONCLUSION : Scandal are without a doubt the best Girl Band in history of this planet!

As i have watched Scandal over lat 5-6 years i see by their live performance they have not only become beautiful young women, but also a rock solid band that can play anywhere in the world an impress people, their ability to sing an play intricate parts at the same time, that alone is astounding, Tomo and Rina are just unbelievable as a rhythm section. Mami's playing so confident now, and has come from being the wallflower of the band to the cool glamour in the group. Haruna despite her protestations has become a great front person on stage, commanding and confident.

You know, i thought i would tire of Scandal when uniform thing went and they became mainstream , but they just keep changing for the better looks wise and playing stronger and better so much , you just can't take your eyes off them. i check their sites EVERYDAY.....just in case .

These are 4 little amazing ever-changing girls, and i totally admire them as musicians and performers.
There will be no other band like them, they have just set the Standard "too high" for anyone to catch up now. Astounding effort!

Nice story and passion for SCANDAL .love. When I became a fan I also sat hours watching youtube videos of them for everything with 10 tabs open going from link to link lol.

the same thing goes to me too, i ended up digging all their live and PV for hours watching youtube and vimeo, Taiyou To Kimi Ga Egaku Story is really suck me in so deep that i became a fan of SCANDAL from that time :p

If any of you have their 1st Live DVD and the Budokan/Osaka-Jo hall one, watch them back to back. The difference in terms of performance and skill is like night and day. (Key words here are performance and skill, forget the setting)

Change is inevitable, we should accept and embrace it. And the girls have grown up and changed in a good way. Along the way since their CALESS days, they have improved as musicians, as lyricists and song writers, have become a more diverse, experienced, confident and tighter unit. With STANDARD, they've become... in their own words, a "real" band. (I get what they mean by this but it still made me chuckle the 1st time I heard it, I've always thought of them as a band first and four pretty girls second since I discovered them.)

And talking about diversity, it seems like it's a double edged sword isn't it? Some people don't deal with that very well, preferring the girls to strictly remain within the confines of a particular genre or style. This is very unfortunate, because I don't see them ever limiting themselves like that. They have always said that they will explore new things in their music and this to me, over the years, is one of their biggest strengths.

Ever since the beginning I have learned that to fully enjoy SCANDAL, a certain openness is necessary. I can't wait to hear what their next album will sound like.

drake79 wrote:the same thing goes to me too, i ended up digging all their live and PV for hours watching youtube and vimeo, Taiyou To Kimi Ga Egaku Story is really suck me in so deep that i became a fan of SCANDAL from that time :p

Not just those, their television show appearances as well! I think that made me like them even more!

lazzal wrote:
Not just those, their television show appearances as well! I think that made me like them even more!

yes, that actually happened the day after, LOL
every behind the pv making, tour documentary, tv appearances, i want to know more and more about them, and it amazed me that they were just a scholgirl when they went to america tour, and Rina was like abut 16 years old! OMG 

I discovered SCANDAL some months ago, but already watched all the PVs, Lives and concerts.. also heard all of their songs.. i'm agree that they changed visually.. some of their songs are "popish" like Brand New Wave, but for me they are still the same through all these changes, because they're still singing and playing their hearts out! Their love to music didn't change! That's my opinion

Like most people have said already, I feel like they have matured; not necessarily in a bad way. To me it's like watching someone close to me grow up - I still remember why I fell in love with SCANDAL, but I am also so proud of how far they've come, and who they are today.

PAulfromAustralia wrote:To my friends who tell me they are a gimmick band I just ask them, “Name ONE all-female rock band, anywhere in the world from any era, that can play complex pop/rock songs so well, sing well and perform a great show to large crowds? “ . ...You can’t? That’s because there isn’t one. 
ONLY CONCLUSION : Scandal are without a doubt the best Girl Band in history of this planet!

OMG, this is so true! Love your passion!

drake79 wrote:Taiyou To Kimi Ga Egaku Story is really suck me in so deep that i became a fan of SCANDAL

Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku Story, to this day, is still my favourite song by SCANDAL! I sometimes (try to) sing it at work when no one can hear me haha

macdyne73 wrote:And talking about diversity, it seems like it's a double edged sword isn't it? Some people don't deal with that very well, preferring the girls to strictly remain within the confines of a particular genre or style. This is very unfortunate, because I don't see them ever limiting themselves like that. They have always said that they will explore new things in their music and this to me, over the years, is one of their biggest strengths.

This is very apparent for both SCANDAL and most other bands out there. However, I believe it is inevitable - most people do grow 'tired' of a band's music. But I think SCANDAL has managed to keep, as well as grow its fan-base by changing and evolving to accommodate for a larger variety of tastes.

Let's see...well, they definitely have matured. In almost every way possible, too. The most important ones, though, are the fact that they matured musically, and they have matured as people. They are still the same girls who debuted in 2008, but they have taken it to another level.

Haruna- She went through her vocal problems, yes, however, I never thought she sounded terrible. She sounded great when they first started, and even now, she still is great. Despite the fact that she sometimes strains or sounds too soft, she's great; even then, it doesn't bother me. Her guitar playing has improved as well.

Tomomi- Although people don't seem to touch on it as much as they do with Haru, Tomomi went through a different vocal change. Obviously, when you get older your voice changes, but she became higher pitched, rather than lower. And squeakier. Her bass playing is absolutely FANTASTIC! Trying to play Awanai kills my hands; tons of other songs, even from the start, have great bass lines. And her lyrics have improved, especially because she's able to write in such a touching way, and about other things than love.

Mami- Mami's guitar playing definitely improved, as well as her singing. When you look at early performances of DOLL to now, there are almost no mistakes. When you simply compare her parts in each song, she improved with every single and every live. Her vocals definitely got better. Back when they first started, she didn't sing much lead vocals. So when she actually did, it never sounded as good as Tomomi or Haruna. However, now, her voice, in my opinion, is one of the best in the band. It's unique and is strong for the most part. 

Rina- Rina went from wanting to quit to playing with a double bass pedal and two snares. Think about that. It takes a lot of skill to do that, and she's only 22 years old! Her drumming has constantly improved, and, for someone who doesn't sing much, has a strong voice. Her lyrics are touching, and she's very musically inclined.

The girls themselves had simply changed the look of the band, the sound of the band, and just the overall thoughts you get when you hear the name, "SCANDAL." They've accomplished their dream, broke several records, and continue to make music that can attract anyone. I think that SCANDAL has definitely changed; they've matured to the girls we know today; from Space Ranger to STANDARD.

As a fan of the band since 2011 (but got to know them since 2009), I still consider myself as one of the newer kind of fan. Almost all of their so-called sudden changes almost didn't had any effect in my opinion of them. Maybe because I felt the change was natural not of a big deal. Anyway...

First, of course they had changed so much on how they look. But I think it's only natural. They grow up too, and they can't remain on wearing their school uniform themed outfits forever. I hate wearing uniforms too, to be honest, so I can fully relate (But we may have different reasons.). And imagine, Haruna had to deal with wearing uniforms the longest because they only stopped wearing those uniforms when Rina reached the age of 20. They also changed hairstyles and hair color, and wear the clothes they like to wear, which displays their good fashion sense. All these changes are only physical in my perspective, and they are still the same SCANDAL I've known since I watched Shoujo S.

No matter what they liked to look in our eyes today, they are still the same four reckless girls that brought us great music. Of course, they have matured as individuals, musicians and as a band, but the energy and fire in them when they just started is still there, brighter than ever.

Those 5 years were not put to waste. They continuously improve their skills as musicians and performers. Any change in them that occurred in those 5 years were necessary to their growth as a band and as individuals.

Honestly, I always expect more from them because I know they are capable of more. But a journey of a thousand miles will always begin with the first step, and for me, SCANDAL has just been on the first few kilometers. They have not yet reached what they are meant to reach, and I'll always wait for that moment. They may not have an ultra-mega hit song for now, but I'll always be glad that SCANDAL didn't became a one-hit wonder.

And speaking of journey, their journey wasn't on a smooth road. It was rocky, and who would have thought of an all-girl pop/rock band to be a hit those times... But they still did what they can do, and became the SCANDAL the world knows. I'm glad I don't gave up on them, back when I was weighing my decision if I'll be their fan or not.

I'm also glad that they always sound so different in each song that they produce, but still feels SCANDAL-like. I don't really like it if an artist sounds the same everytime, but there are of course others that want them to stick to a narrow band of genre and style.

I hope that SCANDAL will continue to evolve and be more than they are today, at which I know they will.

I really like that they don't only do garadge rock c: It's great to have a variety of genres. Also,some genres express the certain emotion their aming for in a song more than other genres.
 As for the school uniforms, they were young when they started so of course they'll change. You can't expect a 18-year-old to have the exact same taste when they're 25! >.<