Review Summary: A song about Freeza coming to the planet Namek after revenge, Alien and sperm are some of the themes found in the wonderful album "Yoshu Fukushu". All of this, on the best of Maximum the Hormone's style!
"Yoshu Fukushu" is the fifth studio album of the band MAXIMUM THE HORMONE and got deservedly achieved 1st place in the most important Japanese music chart, Oricon. Deservedly so, because this is a major achievement in a time where the domain is with artists who are making embarrassingly bad music, such as AKB48 and its bizarre variations.
With the responsability of maintaining the band music level as amazing as their previous works, including the LP "Buiikikaesu", which was a huge success. This album included way too different songs like "Chu Chu Lovely Muni Muni Mura Mura Purin Purin Boron Nururu Rero Rero", "Bikini sports punchin", "Akagi" and also the song that made me aknowledge this incredible band's existence: "What's up, people?!". For those who don't know, this song was the second opening theme for Death Note, one of the best animes i've ever seen, i'm serious.
Now with "Yoshu Fukushu", the band proves that they can have a unique, crisp sound for years, reinventing themselves and still be natural for his fans and people who just want to enjoy a good sound. What i'm trying to tell you guys, is that they achieved something that almost any band can't do, that is still sounding the same band and preserving their musical roots and influences, but yet showing improvements on their newest projects.
The album starts amazingly well with the song that gives the album its title " Yoshu Fukushu". This song is introduced with the soft drummer's voice Nao Kawakita, (which deserves recognition for her drumming on this album, showing different styles throughout the entire album, making some drummers out there kneel to her techniques) then followed by the typical "musical punch in the face" with a gorgeous breakdown riff. The next song that derserves highlights is "Utsukushiki Hitobito no Uta", another great song with well balanced catchy riffs and fierceness.
If you're a Dragon Ball fan like me, you'll need to have a listen to "F", the song is sung completely in japanese, but i invite you to take a look at its translation over the internet, you won't be disappointed!
I would say that this album has almost no lows, and the members of the band once, used their strenghts to and i would consider a "Classic" if it had appeared more songs like "Yoshu Fukushu", the awesome "A.L.I.E.N" which starts extremely heavy and ends with a melodic base and a nice sing-along chorus, "Tsume tsume tsume" and the song with the band's name "maximum the hormone", which for me, were the songs that really impressed me and got my attention, but this is definitelly a "Classic" album for those who really enjoy MAXIMUM THE HORMONE's style and also wants to have some fun with the band's way of songwriting. For those who never been into MAXIMUM THE HORMONE sound before, i would encourage to listen if you're looking for something unconventional but at the same time very catchy and addicting.
Also, please Mr. Daisuke, Ryo, Ue and Nao don't leave us here waiting for more 6 years for another masterpiece of yours!