merveilles
review by Elec

1998 rolls around, and Malice Mizer is under a larger, major label with much wider distribution, and significantly more talent. The lineup at this point is still Gackt (vocals, piano), Mana (guitar, synth), Közi (guitar, synth), Yu~ki (bass), and Kami (drums).

TRACKS

1. De　Merveilles

Here’s another useless intro track that only serves as some creepy mood-setting. Doors creaking, hearts pounding, horse clopping, and a freaking TELEPHONE. Who’s bright idea was that? Some clocks, dogs barking, thunder, footsteps...just another overly gothic mess. Tracklist padding, that is.

2. Syunikiss～二度目の哀悼～

Here we have the one song that Yu~ki ever wrote, and it’s a pretty groovy song. Might I add that it’s the first Malice Mizer song I ever heard. I had a feeling it certainly wasn’t one of their best, sweeping, grand songs, but there was something about it that clearly made me love them.

So anyway, there are lots of strings making this grandiose sound come across.

I think this is one of the first songs that really shows what Gackt can do with his voice. He does the low, operatic, pseudo-creepy thing in the verses, and the high, melodic vibrato stuff in the choruses.

The chord structures here are really, really fantastic, especially in the verses.

Then there’s this little interlude thing with birds chirping and some ethereal sort of instruments going. Unlike other times they’ve done the sort of ‘stop the song!’ thing, this works out rather nicely.

And since they come back in with DUAL GUITARS, and a COOL riff at that, I can forgive the fact that it’s mostly an orchestration.

There’s a key change too. Winner. Yu~ki should have written more.

3. ヴェル・エール～空白の瞬間の中で～***

To be honest, this is the first song that established to me that Malice Mizer could be really, really cool.

There’s a pretty music box going on, but then Mana and Közi pull off some of their greatest guitar work. It’s just such a rockin’ song, and certainly sounds like a lot of fun to play, you know? There’s probably such a rush in playing interlocking parts THAT cool.

The melodies throughout the song are pretty catchy, and Gackt doesn’t let the fact that this is a rock song sacrifice his great vocals. If anything, he’s at his strongest here.

There are time signature changes, pseudo-key changes/temporary modulations, and other little goodies that make this track like a huge gift box.

There’s another ‘stop the song!’ break in the middle, that fades into a music box, which is really pretty, but of course, then we rip back into awesome guitar.

Sometimes I wish they had done more guitar songs like this, but then I realize that I appreciate the awesomeness of the riffs when they do write a song like this. I’ll let them use it sparingly.

The ending rock out session, where the guitars finally play the melody that’s been on the music box, is a great ending, as well as the two falsetto voices, and then a fade out.

Great song, one of Malice Mizer’s most accessible. If you have a friend you need to convince of the wonders of this band, this might be THE track.

4. ILLUMINATI

Like I’ve said a few times before, Közi’s writing is usually hit-and-miss, but I really like this song. It’s got a nice dirty dance beat going on, and while I usually find Közi’s affinity for circus-y sounds slightly irritating, I think it works to great effect here.

The chorus is pretty fun, and Gackt sings well, as usual.

The verse part right before the bridge is really cool, because Gackt hits some notes that sound sour at first, but then you realize he’s totally awesome and it sounds great.

5. Brise

Acoustic guitar? From MM? Well, at least they’re all playing their instruments for once…except Mana, who’s almost embarrassing in the live clip of them playing this song…but anyway, let’s move on.

The song is borderline prissy-like-Voyage, especially with the ‘fun’ organ in there, but I like the way Közi plays his acoustic, and Yu~ki does quite well with what he’s been given: an acoustic rock song.

The chorus vocals are also very enjoyable, and just watching Gackt perform this one shows how much the lyrics mean to him. Incidentally, I haven’t taken the time to really piece together a translation.

There are some little ‘sound clips’ in this song of silly instruments that really bug the tobacco juice out of me, but I can let it slide, because the rock-out section in the bridge is pretty nifty.

It’s a nice little tune.

6. エーゲ～過ぎ去りし風と共に～

This is a remake of a song off of the memoire album, if you’ll recall. It’s a bit different from the Tetsu version, and while I’d love to have a clear-cut winner here, I really do like both versions for different reasons.

We start off with what sounds like a film real (sentimentality), and the same guitar riff from the first one.

The verses are traditional Gackt fare, keeping it low and spacey…but the chorus has a MUCH better melody than the old version. There are kind of two choruses here; and the second, sadder one is my favorite. It’s just really beautiful. There’s nice guitar work, good chord progression, and good melody.

Malice Mizer dual guitars on acoustics? Very interesting. I dig.

Pretty song. Nice lyrics.

7. Au　Revoir***

This is one of my favorite Malice Mizer songs ever. It’s got wonderful lyrics, great melodies, and non-prissy violin, and REAL piano.

But wait! Doesn’t it sound too prissy overall? Don’t I hate that? And the answer is NO, but who knows what question I answered? So here are some unambiguous answers: YES, I hate prissy songs. Looks like someone forgot to bring the rock to the rock show. But NO, this song is not prissy at all. It is, in fact, way awesome.

It strikes me as really jazzy, too, but Malice Mizer’s like a sexy, philandering chameleon…they can easily change styles away from something you like, and you’ll love them for it still. And you want to break up with them, but they keep seducing you. So you lose all inhibitions and give in.

It’s a bit of a stretch, but it works.

Along with track 3, this is one of the more accessible songs for some reason. I think the piano adds a depth that synths clearly don’t have, and the smooth, steady tempo and rhythms. Pretty melodies help too.

GAWD the drums are so great in this song. Oh wait; everything in this song is. Sorry.

8. Ju　Te　Veux

Here’s another Közi song, and this time, it’s neither a hit nor a miss. It’s got a straightforward, hip techno groove, I guess, which makes it automatically enjoyable (or at least not terrible).

I think the verse melody is almost better than the chorus, because for some reason the chorus seems pieced together and slightly uninspired. The bridge has some interesting timing, but it doesn’t last long at all.

It’s not a bad tune, it just seems out of place.

9. S-CONSCIOUS

Malice Mizer has done a handful of tunes like this since, but this is by far the worst. The song is just far too busy; the synth lines just…don’t sound right. I really like the industrial feel, and for some reason the “cut it out!” bit is slightly enjoyable, but otherwise the lyrics are terrible and stupid, and the song otherwise blows. It’s okay; there are more like this and they’re better.

10. Le　Ciel***

While I heard the single version of this first and thought it was the most gorgeous thing ever, the album version is even MORE gorgeous, if you can imagine.

This is a very pretty, heartfelt song, and in the single version had lots of sparse bits of coolness, but for some reason, in the album version, when we’ve got guitars spilling from the top of the phrase like a waterfall, a bass line that tugs at your heartstrings, and somber drumming, you’ve got something you didn’t have with only floating orchestrations.

Not to downplay the single version at all, I simply think the album version has something the other one doesn’t.

Maybe the single version has the advantage in the chorus, but either way you go, it’s a winner. Time signature changes, beautifully-written melodies, sad lyrics, great piano…

11. 月下の夜想曲

Here’s another Közi song. I REALLY wish that this song and Le Ciel were switched around; I think this kind of kills the mood that the previous song had. It’s also far too circus-y for me; a bit prissy.

And where are the guitars? They were doing so well…

I do, however, really like the chorus, and I don’t think I could tell you why.

I’m kind of breaking my rule here: This song has a key change, and a well-done one at that. But this does not make it a winner this time. I feel like such a hypocrite. But I guess I can deal with that.

I guess one thing going for this song is the interesting story told in the lyrics.

12. Bois　De　Merveilles

Here we have a short song, but definitely a song. It’s got a nice, ghostly waltz feel, with understated orchestra (thank goodness), gorgeous melody, and of course, a KEY CHANGE. This song also has a nice little story to tell. It also ends wonderfully. One of the best endings on any album I own.

MUSICIANS

Gackt: Gackt finally shows us his true, TRUE potential. We definitely saw his raw talent on Voyage, but I think on merveilles we have a lot more Gackt-goodies. He has some great piano playing here, as well. And for writing Le Ciel, even if he didn’t arrange the album version himself, he gets high marks.

Mana: He really let me down with S-CONSCIOUS, but I can forgive that because he wrote Bel Air and au revoir. There are such better guitar parts here, and this album I think really developed their sound. Now, if only he would stop prancing about and stick to his guitar…

Közi: He impressed me a lot more this go around, what with Brise and ILLUMINATI. He and Mana are a great guitar team.

Yu~ki: With one song now under his belt, you’d think he would have written more. Sadly, though, he didn’t, but luckily his venture into songwriting wasn’t terrible at all. (early George Harrison songs with the Beatles, anyone?) Still a great bassist, although he hides it terribly well.

Kami: Kami was given better material this time around, I think. He also, I think, just learned how to do more even when he was given little or nothing to do (like, what part did he have in Jut e veux or S-CONSCIOUS? Poor guy).

OVERALL

There are a lot of different styles on this album; very conflicting styles sometimes. While usually that would annoy me, this album feels very cohesive to me, because the songs stand on their own for the most part. I personally would have switched Le Ciel and track 11, and done something BETTER with S-CONSCIOUS, but there are some absolute gems on here. I think it’s a pretty good, fun album.