Ellegarden


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Ellegarden
Ellegarden [Bonus Track]
Label: Dynamord Label/Zealot
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Considering the limitations of pop-punk, an hour-plus-long record can be a dubious idea -- how many times can you listen to those three fast chords before it gets boring? However, Ellegarden's eponymous collection, intended to be the final summary of the band's career, turns out to be even better than the band's studio albums, which weren't half bad either. Ellegarden never even tried to pretend they were doing anything original -- they were around simply to deliver some catchy tunes -- but this means that their definitive collection is ten years' worth of hooks distilled to the best ones. J-rockers place a lot of emphasis on melody, which makes pop-punk their natural playground -- and, well, do Ellegarden ever use it: the band, in fact, sounds So-Cal rather than Japanese, especially since Takeshi Hosomi, who worked in the U.S., sings in English half the time, but whatever the inspiration, this CD is a success that sports hardly a dull note. The prime cuts, like "Middle of Nowhere" and "Salamander," have everything a pop-punk hit needs -- good speed, genuine simplicity, enough melody, and an elephant dose of catchiness; a few tunes don't live up to those, but that's smart planning, not a lack of material -- a bit of contrast always makes a good song shine even brighter. Ellegarden, of course, are indebted to blink-182 to the point where the Americans must start thinking about collecting royalties from them, but the Japanese borrow neither the dorky silliness of early blink nor their later angsty seriousness -- they just learn how to turn some uplifting chords and nasal whining into good songs. The hooks are Ellegarden's own, and the abundance of those makes multiple listens to this compilation hard to resist. Alexey Eremenko, All Music Guide

Tracks:
TitleComposerTime
1My Favorite Song3:42
2Kaze No Hi4:12
3Middle of Nowhere3:58
4(Can't Remember) How We Used to Be3:18
5Jitterburg3:23
6Kinboshi3:17
7So Sad2:45
8Supernova3:35
9Star Fish3:42
10Make a Wish2:18
11Pizza Man2:08
12Red Hot2:53
13Niji3:18
14Marry Me2:50
15Missing3:28
16Autumn Song3:02
17Fire Cracker3:17
18Space Sonic3:29
19Salamander3:48
20Mr. Feather3:38
21Koukasen2:24
22[Untitled Track]3:37







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