Up next on the chopping block is a band that you may or may not have heard of. They are a Japanese hard rock band called Band-Maid and I first heard of them because they did a collaboration with one of my favorite bands The Warning. Now I very much enjoyed that song so I was curious to hear how their albums sound so with that let’s take a look……..
Maid In Japan- so this one is I guess a mini album which I can only assume is just slightly longer than an EP. But the album itself is pretty damn good and certainly not what I was expecting. It sounds a lot like a ska record and it’s really cool. Again it’s a bit short but it’s a great start. I will give this one, 8.5/10.
Standouts: Knockin’ On Your Heart, EverGreen, Forward
New Beginning- stylistically this one is a bit of a departure from the previous album. By that I mean, it’s got more hard rock and even a dash of metal mixed in. Again, and going forward the lyrics are in Japanese and there’s a couple that are in English but anyway you slice it, this is a really fun album. I’ll give this 8/10
Standouts: Beauty And The Beast, FREEZER, Shake That
Brand New Maid- you know I’m sure if you listen to this album and the previous album back to back. You probably wouldn’t be able to tell a difference but there’s just something that’s so cool about this album. Yes you can’t understand (unless you speak Japanese which I don’t) what the lyrics are but I guess with this band that’s not really the point. It’s just a great fun album and there are some surprisingly heavy moments. I’m gonna give this album 8.5/10.
Standouts: the non-fiction days, Yuragu, Freedom
Just Bring It- so I guess up until this album the other releases were all considered mini albums so technically, this would be their first full length album. Whatever the case may be this band has clearly found a style that works for them and it works quite well. Again, this isn’t really anything that new and it doesn’t really stray too far away from what they’ve done before. It’s almost like if you take pop music and you add some heavy rock to it, this is what you would get. I’m gonna go ahead and give this album 8/10.
Standouts: Puzzle, TIME, YOLO
WORLD DOMINATION- ok so this one is definitely in the heavy rock category. It’s so much so that it could almost be a metal record. This one is definitely a bit more cohesive and tighter. Again there are a few pop elements but there’s also a lot of heavy rock and honestly when you first look this band up, you wouldn’t really expect them to sound like this. Definitely check this album out!! I’m giving this one 10/10
Standouts: Domination, I Can’t Live Without You, Spirit!!
Conqueror- so it looks like for this album, they kind of slow things down a bit. Sure there are a fair amount of heavy rock songs, but there’s also a decent amount of slower paced songs. It is a nice contrast to the previous album and even the album before that which does show that they are more than a one trick pony. Great follow up and I’m giving this album 9/10.
Standouts: Liberal, Bubble, Glory
Unseen World- for this one again it continues in the same Van of what they were doing before I would say it to maybe slightly heavier and there aren’t as many ballad type tracks on here. But again they seem to have found a formula and they’re sticking to it. It’s still very much a heavy rock oriented record, and the songs are just catchy. I’m gonna give this album 9/10.
Standouts: No God, Honkai, Manners
Unleash- this is basically just an EP that is meant to serve as a companion piece for Unseen World. It very much feels that way and oddly enough it doesn’t feel like a B sides. It definitely does seem to extend the Unseen World album a bit and it’s fun to listen to right after that album so I’m gonna go ahead and give it 8.5/10
Standouts: From Now On, Unleash!!!, Hate?
Epic Narratives- for some reason and I can’t really explain why this one’s probably the most mature sounding record. It does seem like it’s got a little bit of everything that they’ve done up to this point. This one also has the song Show Them which is a collaboration with The Warning and I gotta say it’s a great song. That’s actually how I first heard of this band and what made me decide to check them out. Overall, this is a really good album and as I said before, it’s a nice mixture of what they’ve done up to now. I’m giving this album 9.5/10.
Standouts: Shambles, Forbidden Tale, Brightest Star
Again, as I stated before, when you look at this band, you would not expect them to sound the way they sound. Their whole look I guess is French maids and I gotta say it is something different but looks aside, this is a great band with some killer records. And I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the guitar work on these albums. For a band that I don’t think is that well known out here in the U.S. the guitar players can absolutely shred. I was actually seriously impressed by the guitar solos and just the riffs alone on some of these albums. I’d also like to give a shout out to the bass player too. She really cuts through and her fills are absolutely badass. Basically what I’m trying to say is that I was very pleasantly surprised with how awesome these ladies are. Now I’m willing to bet that they put on a great live show and hopefully they can come back around to North America sooner rather than later because they are now on my bucket list of bands to see live. If you are a fan of bands like The Pretty Reckless or The Warning, then definitely give these ladies a listen.
Final Grade: A
Album Rankings:
- WORLD DOMINATION
- Epic Narratives
- Unseen World
- Conqueror
- Unleash
- Maid In Japan
- Just Bring It
- Brand New Maid
- New Beginning
Sinister Reviews 