Customer Reviews

Penalty Life

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album has showed the pillows' sound turning more melodic while still keeping a firm grasp on their frantic and heavy but calculated sound.
For those who haven't heard these guys, they're obviously influenced by the modern/alt. rock of the '80s and '90s.
However, they're definitely not wannabes, they have a very distinctive and enjoyable sound which by all rights should be popular here in the U.S., as it's far superior to a lot of the trash that gets spilled on the public all the time over here.
The language barrier isn't even an excuse since many of their lyrics are in english and since when did lyrics matter much to the american public much anyway?

The Pillows are best known here in the US by providing the soundtrack to the popular anime series Furi Kuri (or Fooly Cooly, to us Americans). While the first OST for the show has had an American release, if you want more music by The Pillows, then check this CD out.

More melodic than their pervious offers, you still get the hard crunching guitar and the catchy riffs that The Pillows presented in FLCL. Most of the songs have a Beetles-flavor to them, which will meake you reminise of the Fab Five in the early years. But let's not compare them to The Beetles. The Pillows have their own niche in a seemingly cookie-carved rock world that just begs to be shared!

Personaly, the language barrier is not a problem for me. While Puffy AmiYumi's recent album have an even mix of Japanese-only and English only tracks to please the masses, I love how that the Pillows only have a few lyrics in English and the majority in Japanese. I believe tampering with an artist's work is unnessesary and hinders the creativity of the work. If you where to temper with the Pillows' songs, they wouldn't have the same edge, nor orginality that they once possesed.

If you wanna get into a great J-Rock band, The Pillows are right up your ally!

Please, OH Please!!! Hear Me out. To anyone considering purchasing this album please do, this is an excellent album. If you are a Pillows fan and have acquired their music off the web, buy this album to show your support. I have and will buy thier other albums as they are released. I love this band and I am major fanboy and I want The Pillows to have all the respect and success they deserve.

Of all The Pillows cds. *including all the ones that aren't sold on amazon* I would say this one is in my third fav. Thoguh i like most of thier songs equally, this cd really shows what the pillows can do. It also has my second favorite song to come from the pillows. Terminal Heavens Rock *Carnival being the first...though that aint on this cd* Even after 15 years of playing * or was it 16...or 17...eh i forgot* They still seem to keep the same power they have before. If only they were repected more.
1.Dead Stock Paradise (3/5) : Not thier best , but still not a bad song. Features all of that broken english that you love.

2. Lonesome Diamond (4/5): Great opening, a nice song with good lyrics

3. Freebee Honey (4/5): This feels a bit paced at times and then at other times it doesn't a little bit of a weird song , but still not a bad song.

4.Terminal Heavens Rock (5/5): My favorite song on this cd. Riffs, lyrics everything. This is the reason to buy this cd. *thugh even without this song, i'd buy it...still a great cd and an amazing band. For some reason , I like the 50s style in this one. Though I usually don't like that.

5.The sun that will not rise (4.5/5): One of thier slowest songs. It can feel really dragged out at points, but at the end it feels very complete and worth listening to again. Can sometimes make people feel tired, but it's still a great song.

6. Phantom Pain (3/5): My least favorite song on this cd. I do not know why. It's just for some reason they did not hit home with this one.

7. I know you (5/5): I have no idea why people hate this song so much. I happen to like the pace, and english lyrics that are in it.

8. Moon Marguerite (5/5): Very catchy lyrics, and tune. Proves that the pillows can still rock it out.

9.Super Trampoline School Kid (3/5): Te second weridest song from the pillows ever. *the first would be advice.....and no...not the flcl verison, the original verison* If you are not put off by the opening , this is actually a pretty fun tune.

10. Mole Town Prisnor (5/5): The cd is called Penalty Life *originaly it was called good dreams* but this song is not called Penalty Life. Even though they say it in the lyrics. Which I thought was strnage , but still this is another song that is over quick and can easily get stuck in your head. *sortof like Ride on Shooting Star or the original verison of advice*

11. The scar whispers, nobody is in paradise (4/5): A nice finish *or is it?* to an amazing cd. A slow song throughout.

Hidden Track: (3/5) : Definatly one of thier more fast paced songs. I would like it more if it didn't end so quickly.

Average:(4.5) An amazing cd. Very well done mix of songs. Not the best I've heard from the pillows but still one of the best cds to come from them.
If you want good music, get this people. Does not get much better. It is so different from what is shown in the market today and proves that there is music outside of the media.

I love listening to this cd. I got it for my husband for x-mas but I can't stop listening to it long enough for him to get a chance. If you are considering buying anything by The Pillows, DO IT NOW! You will not be disapointed.

I recently went to Hawaii and bought this for 15 dollars. You can find this at some electronic stores on the mainland though and theyre cheaper by a lot so do that...

The CD is good. Not has good as all the riffy stuff from FLCL but still fricken good. I love Terminal Heavans rock and the Last track by far. The last track is actually 2 songs but one is hidden and you have to fast forward a minute to here it.

My favorite song though is most definately "I know you" and I don't care if it has bad english lyrics. I still like it.

Just a few days till the new album "my foot"

I saw FLCL and loved the music. It's so different from anything you hear in America. Don't try to fit it into one genre, because if you do you'll end up in a great pit of confuzzlement. The style is a LOT different from the older songs that enhanced FLCL so much, like Instant Music and Blues Drive Monster and I Think I Can, but not different in a bad way.

Dead Stock Paradise 2/5 Not their best song ...
Lonesome Diamond 3/5 Reminiscent of Radiohead. Combines fast and slow really well and a chorus that you can only remember when you listen to it but's still catchy somehow...
Freebee Honey 5/5 Faster, strangely blink-182 like guitar riffs.
Terminal Heaven's Rock 4/5 Something very fifties about it, but I like it.
The Sun that Will Not Rise 5/5 A bit too long, but somehow sleep-inducing. They should have used this song in Lost in Translation because the feeling is the same.
Phantom Pain 2 1/2/5 Kinda bland ...
I Know You 3/5 Not the most inspired english lyrics, but the guitar is spiffy.
Moon Marguerite 5/5 One of the best on the album.
Super Trampoline School Kid 4/5 If the title and beginning don't scare you away, you'll like this.
Mole Town Prisoner 5/5 Another one of the best on the album.
The Scar Whispers, Nobody is in Paradise 5/5 another slower-paced song like The Sun That Will Not Rise.
Hidden Track 4/5 a little too upbeat even for the pillows, but its good.

This isn't Penalty Life.... this is Good Dreams which I'm not giving a review on but Penalty Life is the one that actually has the sample songs available on this page available....
Just thought you'd like to know! AND pillows rock SO 5 stars!

Thumbs up! Though I hate to think this, some people won't like it as much because most pillows fans started out with FLCL (at least the american ones) and these songs are alot different than the FLCL songs. Personally, I like alot of them, but the songs like "Mole Town Prisoner" and "Moon Marguerite" ware out thin pretty easily.

show your love for the pillows to get all their cds brought over to the states!!