[RELEASE] AKB48 - Koisuru Fortune Cookie (2013.08.21)

[Pavlova]

Yeah I feel the same way. Not my favorite single at all, but it's like their second "heavy rotation".

[stam4o]

Yeah, and Youtube continue offering me the non-stop uploading of different versions and versions of the song. The AKB channel in Youtube is getting crazy

[Pavlova]

It is. I don't like how they organize things at all.

[Zunu]

Most AKB songs are kind of melodically lame. But I think that's on purpose. They're supposed to be easy to take up, easy to remember, and easy to dance to, so as to cast the net as wide as possible. And this particular song is Akimoto I believe thumbing his nose at MM's mad dance skillz. "Yeah, it's great that your girls can sing well and do all kinds of crazily intricate dances, but when it comes to warming people's spirits, this is how it's done." A dance so easy it can be pulled off by 4 year olds and 65 year old grandmas.

[esm]

idk for me it's not at all some sign of lack of quality. Yes, a lot of their songs sound quite simple, but a lot of these simple songs have melodies that would sound as pleasant if they were played on an instrument (like, imagine a piano cover). I can't say the same for a lot of pop songs out there. I mean, generic pop songs in the US sung by teen stars and such kind of just sound like teenagers shouting some stuff, and there's not much of a melody. AKB48 singles tend to stick in my head really easily even after just 1-2 listen and never in an annoying way.

People like to point to the various ways AKB48 appears to compromise quality for gimmicks and easy money-making methods, but like I've said many times on this forum I genuinely enjoy their music... at least the singles and many of the b-sides I've listened to. If I were to sing karaoke regularly or something I'd enjoy singing a lot of these songs because the melodies are nice. To be honest, I don't like the "mature" songs as much. There are lots of good ones, and their singles tend to be pretty good overall, but I prefer the latest single with the long-ass name over, say, Beginner and Flying Get.

[Zunu]

Just wanted to say I appreciate your better choice of words. When I said, "melodically lame," I meant "melodically simple," i.e. not in bad way, just that they don't typically use complex melodies or harmonies. At least for their singles. Their stage songs tend to be more diverse.

[Pavlova]

On the other hand, I have a hard time with most of their "happy" singles and all of my favorite singles are the "cool" singles. I don't really hate the happy/cute singles and I enjoy singing along and all, but they don't bring me the feeling of awe that some of the cool singles do.

All my favorite songs remain stage songs though. That's mostly why I created the YouTube thread... so many of the stage songs and b-sides are overlooked.