And where Miku's guitar is still an accessory...

Cory Jane 😆

btw, if you want to check out a song wth Miku on vocals, check out Time at kzfaq.info/get/bejne/at59qZN6ra_HnqM.html It's more along the line of Thrill as well. Simple, poppy albeit less a heavy sound relative to Thrill. One last thing, when you mentioned the 80's, a thought popped into my head with regards to the vocals. Miku and Saiki remind me of Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Ann with her power vocals and Nancy complementing the harmonies with her softer beautiful vocals.

good on miku for recognizing her voice, while good, was lacking a "punch" that was needed, then going out and finding the perfect voice to join them. its that kind of selflessness that gives this band longevity in my opinion.

Miku & Saiki also wrote the lyrics for two other songs on "Brand New Maid", and I would guess (as they played them) they also had a fairly big influence on how the songs sounded.

@@RevStickleback the other 2 songs they wrote it was Freedom y Yuragu. Freedom become (or at least the fans think it is) one of the BM anthem songs.

I think they have changed the label much later, and definitely not because of any conflict. They were actually quite happy getting materials from the external composers, Kanami was always inspired by those contributions from outside: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ www.reddit.com/r/BandMaid/comments/hf1cyq/interview_with_bandmaid_on_jungle_life_on_20160610/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ - This time you wrote and arranged Track 8 Alone all by yourselves. Was that your first try? Miku: It was just my first time to co-write lyrics. Actually, we’ve been writing songs for long. Alone is our first ever song finally approved. - So you have been writing songs. Miku: Yes. Our song was approved for the first time finally in our third year. Saiki: We showed it and got rejected and refined it again and again. So if you include that, its production time was extremely long. - So it took a long time to write the current form from its demo. Kanami: Basically I’m the one who writes a demo to some extent, then all of us refine it together. We also discuss with staff members again and again… It took probably a few months like that. We completed it while discussing like “let’s change the phrase like this” or “how about changing the development like this to have a storyline?” ... - This time, various songwriters have provided songs to you. Is that intentional? Kanami: Actually that’s just by chance. Saiki: First we decide what kind of songs we go with, listening to demos together. We decide them without knowing the composers’ names. - So you choose them while hiding the composers’ names. Kanami: We decide by our sense. Miku: Each member of us chooses songs among many candidates every time, like “I like this” or “this is good”. We are strongly attached to our songs because we choose them ourselves. We think they are “songs we ourselves have met”. - So you feel attached to provided songs because you have chosen them by your own will. Saiki: When they arrange the songs we’ve selected, all of us give our opinions. We also sometimes say “please make a melody line like this.” Recently we clearly see the path we Band-Maid should take, so we tell them like that. Miku: As for the lyrics, we tell them the importance of our “image of a strong woman” and our feeling that “we want to sing this song like this”. This time I also told my own thoughts like “I want to change the wording of this part” so I feel we’re all involved in the song production. - Do you change your songs from the originals in your arrangement? Misa: We change quite many parts. I leave tasty parts, but I also sometimes change everything myself. Akane: I sometimes make the drums a little more flashy, and change some parts where I want to show off myself. I’m the type who arranges while playing in the recording, so I sometimes change everything on the fly. I’ve once changed the whole phrase completely. I often change the drums quite a lot like that, to make them cooler. Kanami: As for the guitar, I basically use the riffs without any change, but I also add phrases I want to insert. While I learn from them, I play what I want to play. - So you keep good points of the original and add your own things. Kanami: In the beginning, we sometimes tried to copy them perfectly. But we’ve increased our stock of knowledge more and more, and we’ve become able to arrange songs ourselves. Misa: The level of the provided songs is getting higher and higher, which stimulates us well. Akane: Sometimes I receive songs above my level, and there are sometimes phrases I can’t think of by myself. I find something new, like “If I play like this, it comes out like this!” so I can increase my stock of knowledge and I can study. I can step up myself faster because they show me something I don’t know yet. - Now I understand provided songs also lead to your progress. Kanami: We want to write and arrange all the songs by ourselves someday. But I also want to ask them to arrange, because I’m afraid that doing everything by ourselves will limit our range. Now we want to grow further and further. We want to receive a little more songs from others until we establish ourselves.

@@VladimirChupin Thanks for this link... it's a really great interview... (always thought the "dark" one was Kanami... :-) )

Alone is an amazing solo but my favorite solo is the one from Daydreaming

@@VladimirChupin Had not seen this interview before. Makes much more sense now that even the songs they were given had that "Band-Maid" type vibe. They got to choose the song and then also worked with them to arrange it to their liking. They were not just handed songs and told to play it, that makes me happy that their record label was actually smart enough at the time and willing to realize these girls were talented enough to make songs but they just weren't there yet fully.

@@minchomania , yes, BAND-MAID was never taking it carelessly, like, "OK, Mr. Manager, you are the boss, and we play what you pay for." They were truly making each song their own, changing it and polishing it until they liked it.

Miku was their original singer, Saiki was brought in for more vocal punch. At this time Miku didn't play so I believe they gave her the second verse to show her off. They just hung a guitar off her as a prop. Would you play that riff on a Rickenbacker? They didnt write this song but Kanami made it her own. Her right hand plays a very percussive rhythm which adds to that 80s big hair sound. Nice reaction

I would even argue that most of the "best" songs aren't conplex at all...and that's why they are great...

There is a live version of Real Existence on band-maid’s channel. I think it is vastly superior to the MV, especially since they had improved beyond sight between the MV and that live performance.

@@weilima9316 You are right, never saw that live one before but its great.

Yes the difference between Thrill (which I'm not really a big fan of) to Real Existence is immense......

The same thing happened to me, trhill seemed like a great song, but I started to really listen to Band Maid it was with Real Existence!

YAS! ALONE! DO IT!!!

Alone is actually the First song they released that they Composed and arranged themselves

Yeah right. Do their second MV Real Existence: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/b7qbe9OnxrWUaZc.html now 12mill. views Then You will see a great difference between them :-)

Happy to hear that it did not happen in the end. Now we can keep enjoying longer 😎

It would've been a tragedy if that happened.

The publicity people thought it looked better to have two guitarists in the promotional shots, so Miku ended up as the designated 'guitar-holder' after it was discovered that Saiki looked awkward with it. It is rumoured that Kanami was ticked off that Miku bought a seriously expensive guitar just for posing purposes but Akane wanted a dedicated rhythm guitarist in the band, and so the rest is history ...

@@MoonmanRedux and in an incredible way she learned how to play it while singing at the same time.

I still really like the First album you just have to appreciate it in context.

This is my first band maid song can't get enough of them !!!

Bridear only with Misa and Mitsuru on the guitars.

There is also a fan made "Band Maid" compilation video celebrating 10 Million Trills. The live cuts are well edited and synchronized. Search this: [ BAND-MAID have reached a KZfaq milestone with their 'THRILL' PV ]

I found a posting of what I think is the first taped clip of Band-Maid. In the background is a an Engadget banner marked "Winter 2014" at the bottom. At the 5:33 mark there is a cover of Santana's "Love, Passion, Matador", than at 15:57 mark is an very early Latin music version of "Thrill". The title of the clip: [ KZfaq用 冬フェス BAND MAID].

I was gonna say, he seems to appreciate what Miku brings to the band (besides, ya know, *founding* it - and zaniness). A) 'Rock In Me' is the uplifting feel-good song of the decade, but B) when you hear a live version you really notice how much thinner the band sounds without her journeyman rhythm guitar cuz she's working the crowd. (Although, as with a soft bridge or pre-chorus, that works so that they hit you with both guitars + vocals afterwards.)

I've wondered more than once if the strong Latin feel on the acoustic version is Kanami channeling her hero Carlos Santana.

P.S. with the magic time intro please 👏

Alone was never released as a single so it was not in any charts the first single to chart for Band-Maid was "YOLO" in 2016 (their second single, the first being "Love Passion Matador")

@@DavidMISAMISAMISACook You learn something new everyday. I read somewhere that the popularity of Alone played a role in their getting more creative control, so I assumed it must have gotten some airplay.

@@GlennWH26 sorry for contradicting you just my OCD about Band-Maid and you are very right about Alone being the song that got them creative control. Stay safe fellow Madiac

Also Akane still had her little hat

@@Evilatem Ahhhhhh the little hat Damn you Pigeon!