[Music] Flying Kids - Mayonaka no Kakumei

[Ragnar]

Mayonaka no Kakumei (Revolution Over Midnight), 1996
Flying Kids

I'll cut right to the chase. This is one of my highest-rated albums ever. The only place you are likely to have come into contact with this band is the same place I found them: their single "Boku de Aru Tame ni" was used as the opening for the "You're Under Arrest" TV series. I watched the first four episodes of YUA at Otakon 2003, the first year I went, and was impressed by the opening. About two years later, still having the song stuck in my head, I prodded Shuten until he came up with a copy of it. I eventually e-mailed a rather prominent J-Pop fan/expert/lyrics-collector asking if she had ever heard of them. She was able to ship me a CD she found in a used bookstore in California, and I have since had five others delivered, only one of which was a little disappointing.

The first CD I got was Mayonaka no Kakumei ("revolution over midnight"), which is a solid-gold album from 1998 full of great music. It starts off with the brief track "Hajimari ~ Ignition ~", which introduces the album in a Star Trek-style monologue. The first "real" song is the next, "Kairaku Tengoku," a rollicking rhythmic track relying more on its fast-paced rap rhythm than a melody. As stated before, my favorite song from this band is "Boku de Aru Tame ni," which features a guitar backing up vocals and piano chords. The piano is mentionable because it figures prominently in many of the songs on this album, as well as much of their other albums. The vocal harmony on this track, as on the whole album, is excellent. The combination of the voices of lead singer Takashi Hamazaki and back-up vocalist Junko Hamaya also features prominently in the track "Manatsu no Blizzard," and later "Blue."

"Manatsu no Blizzard" opens with a great guitar riff, followed by violins. These periodically pop back up, but the track is driven mainly by acoustic guitar and vocals. Also present in the background is the piano, which adds beautifully to the music without being obtrusive. "Atarashii Jitensha" is the only instrumental on the disk, consisting only of acoustic guitars and percussion, but isn't otherwise worth special mention. However, the track immediately following it, "Blue," is one of my favorites of the band. The first noise on the track is a mechanical whirring, but I was able to recognize it instantly: it is the sound of a jukebox moving a 45 rpm record onto the turntable. This is followed by a short organ segment, and then moves into the main melody with piano and percussion. The vocal harmony in the chorus is wonderful, and a good demonstration of one of the band's strong points.

"Afureru Omoi ga Aru Kagiri" is the longest track on the album, clocking in at 5:18. This is arguably the focal point of the album, and it contains the moment which an old friend of mine would describe as the "songasm." Once again, this track is driven mainly by piano, acoustic guitar, vocals, and percussion (including bells) with an electric guitar accompaniment on the chorus.

Afterwards, "Danro" (the requisite slowly-moving love song) and the title track "Mayonaka no Kakumei" are the only real tracks left on the disk. I'm tempted to gloss over them, just because I don't feel that they're quite as unique as the rest of the CD, but they are still very good. The album ends with "Owaranai Owari ~ Daybreak," another 23-second track which consists of beeping, the sounds of rocket thrusters, and unintelligible Mission Control transmissions.

Overall, this is my favorite album from one of my favorite bands, and I honestly can't do it justice in a written review. In the future, it's possible I'll refine this to make it better, but right now I just want to get it up here. I give it the highest rating; but as LeVar Burton might say, "don't take my word for it." So to really get a good feel for this album, just listen to it. The full album can be found at the following link, only because it is otherwise unavailable and because the band disbanded nine years ago and likely wouldn't see any money anyway. I do request, however, that you try not to spread it too far past the forum crowd, because then I'll feel guilty ;_;

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4XB4X44C
The password is the username of our Kind Fearless Leader.


Rating: 7/7

TRACK LIST: (Translation courtesy of Liddo-kun)
Mayonaka no Kakumei (revolution over midnight)
 1. Hajimari ~ Ignition ~
 2. Kairaku Tengoku (pleasure heaven)
 3. Discovery
 4. Boku de Aru Tame ni (roughly "to be the me that's me,' or 'for the sake of being myself')
 5. Shounen no Takaramono (treasure of youth)
 6. Manatsu no Blizzard (midsummer blizzard)
 7. Atarashii Jitensha (new bicycle)
 8. Blue
 9. HEY GIRL! ~ Kimi wo Shiritai ~ (I want to get to know you)
10. Afureru Omoi ga Aru Kagiri (as long as I have my overflowing feelings)
11. Danro (hearth)
12. Mayonaka no Kakumei (revolution over midnight)
13. Owaranai Owari ~ Daybreak ~

[thepanda]

Yeah, I have the You're Under Arrest song on one of my Emotion CDs. I liked it.