Base Ball Bear – C

Base Ball Bear promoting C, L-R: Yuasa Shohei, Koide Yusuke, Horinouchi Daisuke, Sekine Shiori

Artist: Base Ball Bear Product Code: TOCT-26149 Release Date: 2006.11.29 Label: EMI Music Japan

Base Ball Bear is a pop-rock band created by a group of high school students who originally created an OASIS cover band. Their stand-out trademark is their use of both male and female vocals with their female bassist, Sekine Shiori, who contributes to the main vocals of male guitarist and vocalist Koide Yusuke. Guitarist Yuasa Shohei and drummer Horinouchi Daisuke round out the band.

After releasing a few singles and albums independently, they were signed to EMI Music. There, they released three more singles before C, their first major-label album.

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1. Crazy For You no Kisetsu
The first song starts off with an infective guitar sequence, and builds more and more tension as the song continues. It drags on a bit, but is a good start to the album.

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2. Girl Friend
Girl Friend was Base Ball Bear’s breakout single, and starts off on a catchy guitar sequence. The midtempo song is, as a whole, unbelievably catchy and has a good beat.

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3. Matsuri no Ato
Matsuri no Ato is heavier than the previous two songs – less pop, more rock. It features great guitar playing, a more prominent bass line, and a driving melody.

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4. Electric Summer
Like its name suggests, Electric Summer is a cheerful, summery tune. It’s the first song on the album to more prominently feature Shiori in the chorus. The song is catchy and fun – there are nice beat changes, jumps, and quirks to make this song unique and great.

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5. Swimming Girl
Following Electric Summer, Swimming Girl is also fun and summery. There’s not as catchy a melody, so the song becomes more flat as the melody repeats itself.

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6. You’re My Sunshine no Subete
After energetic songs, You’re My Sunshine no Subete starts off more mellow; but soon, it gains momentum and energy. The chorus has a slightly haunting melody, but it works.

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7. Girl of Arms
Girl of Arms starts off with simply guitar notes, then a beat and chords are slowly added until vocals finally enter. The song holds this mellow, almost lazy tempo. The song has a nice aura from the instruments, but doesn’t have that catchy a melody, and isn’t as memorable.

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8. Death to Love
Immediately, Death to Love steers the album back to fast-paced energy. However, it’s nothing stand out – the song isn’t very memorable.

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9. Stand By Me
Stand By My is another high-energy song, and like the other songs that have been released as singles, feature Shiori’s voice again. The song has interesting guitar throughout, and a catchy chorus.

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10. Last Dance
Last Dance has interesting lapses in beat, changes in atmosphere, and more wide-range vocals. It’s a little hectic but pleasant nevertheless.

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11. She is Back
The album ends with She is Back that reminds me of old 90s rock. It has a wild guitar solo in the middle, which matched the mood of the song. It’s more raw and laid-back than the other songs on the album.

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Conclusion: C is an album of solid pop-rock. Some songs are extremely stand-out and enjoyable by a wide audience, with their male and female vocals; the rest are more standard pop-rock songs, but are still pleasant for people who like the genre. The album isn’t monumental by any means, but it’s a fun listen.

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CD Tracklist

1. Crazy For You no Kisetsu
2. Girl Friend
3. Matsuri no Ato
4. Electric Summer
5. Swimming Girl
6. You’re My Sunshine
7. Girl of Arms
8. Death to Love
9. Stand By me
10. Last Dance
11. She is Back

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About the author

oroitsme loves Japanese music and loves writing about them, both here and at her other blog, She likes a variety of j-pop, from Johnny's like NEWS and Arashi to female artists like Otsuka Ai and Perfume to rock bands like chatmonchy and a picking of everything in between, and hopes you can enjoy them with her.