Search - Buck-Tick :: One Life One Death Cut Up

Unpolished, Hearty Concert Tour

komadori | 11/14/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This two cd set provides a hefty, and welcome introduction for any beginning Buck Tick fan. It begins with a directionless percussion noise track, a signature for the band, and hardly withstandable except that it preludes the actual concert. Much like a jarring overture - thankfully, there's better stuff on the album. The first true song, Glamorous, opens amid the enthusiastic screaming of fans, allowing for an exillirating shift from the obnoxious opening.



From that beginning, the cd only works upwards. A montage of tone styles adds to this collection. Some are simple, romantic ballads, such as "Flame". The errie "Sapphire" pinnacles the more ambient works, with a chorus that sounds as though it's coming from behind a veil. Harder electronic follows in "Down". Most songs showcase the vocalist, Atsushi Sakurai, a man whose sonorous, passionate voice and wide vocal range has earned him cult icon status in his homeland.



The other members should not be ignored either, and perhaps the second most distinctive band member would be guitarist Hisashi Imai. Identified by his boyish looks and a tatoo of the band's name under his left eye (or is that just makeup?), Imai serves a fair, chaste compliment to Sakurai's mature, androgynous sex appeal. Then again, everything looks chaste compared to Atsushi Sakurai. Probably even Prince. Hisashi contributes heavily to the band's industrial sound, especially in background noises.



Even if you don't understand Japanese, you'll find yourself singing along, screaming with the fans, or laughing from sheer excitment at Buck Tick's crowd pleasing antics. Sakurai, a genius at crowd manipulation, invites his fans to join the band, by turning the microphone to them on chorus lines of Uta. Hidehiko writes more of the mainstream appeal songs (e.g. ballads, such).



The group draws both from Japanese and Western pop of the 70's and 80's. David Bowie, Brian Eno, the Who, and Soft Ballet are only a few influences.



This album is a treat, especially for fans who can't afford to travel to Japan and see these concerts for themselves."