BABYMETAL

Thanks to whoever submitted this for filling a space I didn’t know I had in my life. This was incredibly fun and silly and badass and just wild. Chocolate!

This is something unique enough it could have found a place on the og 1001 list. ‘Kawaii Metal’ is something you never knew you needed

I've always said that there is probably something in any genre that I would like. Death Metal was a contender for being the exception tot his rule, but I really loved Babymetal! It's wackadoo stuff that really made me happy!

Hahahaha yesterday I got the other Babymetal album and mentioned it was the 2nd one submitted and needed to cook. Well this is a fully cooked album and I have to say, it ain't too bad. At times annoying, but it's harmless ultimately. The last song I was again, "this sounds like Dragonforce" and then saw that Dragonforce played on the song and it made sense. The album is probably a little long but it is something different. Some of the vocals are a bit annoying, but given that this created a new genre, it's interesting enough. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 4/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Yes.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Megitsune, Chocolate, Line!, Akatsuki, Headbangeeeerrrr, Road of resistance

I remember hearing this when it first came out and thinking it was refreshing to hear something different. It’s like a load of other bubblegum j-pop, except in filthy dropped tunings and the occasional growl. It’s definitely something fun, but equally very much a gimmick. I find it hard to take something considered to be “kawaii-metal” too seriously, but then again, I don’t think it is trying to be taken seriously. If you want a bit of dumb fun, this is good sounding. It’s also a bit funny, because it’s three young girls with crystal clear singing, over some real dirty metal guitars.

Some occasional annoying vocals bring this down to a 4.5 Unironically great

Such a weird combination that shouldn't work but somehow does perfectly. As a big metalhead and a casual jpop enjoyer I love this band. Some of their best songs are on this album too.

Awesome

This album is ridiculous, funny, and completely serious at the same time. It’s parody, but it’s also a real metal record. The balance is what makes it work. There’s just something about Babymetal that does it for me. The J-pop sweetness on top of those heavy riffs shouldn’t make sense, but it does. The band clearly cram every metal style into one album: death metal, nu-metal, power metal, electro-metal, goth, and speed metal. It’s all here, and it’s fun, though not always evenly balanced. Not every song hits. Do・Ki・Do・Ki☆Morning and 4 no Uta are already skippable on a second listen. The heavier, more rhythm-driven tracks are where the album shines for me. Megitsune and Ijime, Dame, Zettai absolutely deliver, and Onedari Daisakusen (straight out of the Linkin Park playbook) is way more fun than it has any right to be. Headbanger!! is the clear standout. A tongue-in-cheek rite of passage for young metalheads, about a girl getting her first neck brace from too much headbanging, it’s completely on point for this album. I know this band started from an idol concept, but the music is professional, tight, and smartly composed. Suzuka Nakamoto’s voice is genuinely strong, full of energy, and perfect for this wild mix. It’s a guilty pleasure for sure, but a guilty pleasure that earns its place.

Strangely fun to listen to.

I like this album when the tempo goes up and the cheerleader background vocals fit like a glove on the melodic metal riffs. The album is a bit too long.

Not as draining a listen as I expected, definitely too long but there's at least some sense of melodic/instrumental variation, and I did bop my head at times. The solid production does help, maybe a bit over-produced but this LP moves along like a well-oiled machine with not a track out of place. Remember enjoying this group's debut for causing an absolute civil war among metalheads about what constitutes 'real metal,' an incredibly dumb argument when music is inherently subjective and taste is 100% personal.

it's kind of silly/throwaway stuff, not sure it makes for essential listening. But their live shows are ridiculous and lots of fun, highly recommend

Errr... I wasn't ready for this at all, not sure I still am. This is incredible. What a blend. J-pop and heavy/death metal to become kawaii metal. There's even elements of happy trance, SKA and house in there. The whole time I am imagining some kick ass anime series. Enjoyable, but can get a bit much toward the end.

I really enjoyed this album too. Especially the live track. Such clear/clean vocals.

This band is very polarising in the metal community. Uptight, no-nonsense metalheads vs. sleazy weebs. The sorts of forum arguments that just make you want to set the internet on fire. The music itself is single-listen, throwaway schlock just like you'd expect in something that's 50% j-pop idol gimmick. The singing doesn't do it for me at all, the "baby" element just creeps me out. I got really sick of it towards the end. Mostly it's just embarrassing. I don't begrudge it its right to exist, but I'd never willingly listen to it again. 2/5.

Babies shouldn't be playing metal.

Dumb novelty band that probably did irreparable damage to the image of Japanese metal in the eyes of western metalheads. But not like anybody should care about that, when this album's biggest sin is how obnoxiously bland it is if you look past the gimmick. How about somebody gets a bunch of fat hillbillies together and makes them sing bubblegum pop. Now that's something I'd listen to.

Man this was a wild album in the worst way possible. The metal was pretty standard with the double bass and thrashing guitars. The singing was very much at times the sound of children. Is that something people enjoy? Then there was a rap part in the middle of a song. Plus it was all in Japanese. What is this album other than a theatrical bit. 1.6/10

Standard Metal with cutesey vocals enjoyed by people who should be monitored.

Dog shit.

There's so much to enjoy here, so much fun. One of those bands I've dabbled in and enjoyed spending time with today. Faves: So many but let's go with Gimme Chocolate!

It hasn't been long since I had the other Babymetal album on this list. While I really enjoyed it, I think we can all agree, that 2 is simply too many? And while I enjoyed Metal Forth more than their debut, this is probably the album that should be featured here - it's the defining Babymetal record. There's no need for the opening track, but after that it starts of incredibly strong with the great "Megitsune" and even though the entire record doesn't hold up to that, it's still fun, heavy and weird. The record is more unfocused and on this debut kawaii metal is still a genre trying to find its legs ... And might still be to this day, actually. I gave Metal Forth 4 starts and for the sake of this being the Babymetal record most deserving of this spot, I will give it the same score.

The whole concept and execution of this thing feels super produced, with great talent and competence to be sure, but very much a product generated for consumption. I'm a fickle fan of metal at best and no fan at all of Idol music, so it doesn't exactly land for me. Didn't hate it, found it generally fun though silly, most of it felt like music playing behind some anime battle scene.

Not bad

I can't help but enjoy some of it

As a concept, this is kinda fun. But as metal music, I find it kind of bland. I get the hype and popularity. But not my taste

No more thank you

Gen-Z Mr. Bungle

Decent enough

It has come to my attention that there are two BABYMETAL albums on the user list. That is stupid. I will give this one the benefit of the doubt, since it was the first and makes much more sense than Metal Forth, which was added weeks after its' release. The thing is, as an actual metal album, the debut is inferior to the later output. It's all over the place, and doesn't stick to what really works - the power metal switching into kawaii pop like on 'Akatsuki' and 'Doki Doki ☆ Morning'.

Kawaii metal. Pobres niñas ... En fin, menos la primera canción, que no la soporto, el resto no está mal. Pero ese rollo de bandas creadas con niñas tan pequeñas, tan estrictas ...

Fun little venture into metal. Frenetic without depth.

My first reaction when I saw an image of the group on Apple Music was "this is a female metal band? Cool". But no, they just sing and dance, which is all part of this J-pop meets metal genre. Disappointing. My second reaction when I heard the music was "this sounds like that Dragonforce band that appeared at the end of Guitar Hero 2". And yep, a couple of those guys are session musicians that make up the actual band. Overall, this album gets a bump for being part of a new genre, despite me finding it a bit soulless - a bunch of music execs pairing Japan Idol winners with a sound recorded by session musicians. And the musical sound isn't bad - it is thrash to the max. The cartoony vocals layered overtop don't help though - makes it sound like it was made for an anime show and not for serious music lovers. Long story short, it's a 3, with a bunch of pluses and minuses contributing to that.

When my kid was in elementary school, I was driving him back from Boy Scouts, and he had a 3 Musketeers bar (full, not fun size). He talked nonstop on the ride home, probably the most he ever had, and then crashed on the couch. I feel like BABYMETAL is the equivalent to a sugar overload like my son had, and by the time you are done you are just... crashing on the couch. I know a number of metalheads don't equate the band to heavy metal. They say they can't shred, it's not metal blah blah blah. I disagree, and would say it's a valid form. But it's not aggression like some headbanging bands. It's just superduper hyped UP! Them singing in Japanese adds to the sugar rush of the band (take "I Love Chocolate", for example). I thought it was good, but halfway through the sugar high came down for me. Maybe it the album wasn't over an hour long, I would have enjoyed it more. As it is I feel the diabeetus coming on... Top tracks: "I Love Chocolate," "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!"

"It's a different culture," as they say. Mixing two heavily cliché-laden genres (here metal and J-Pop) doesn't necessarily make the end result any less cliché. Also, when you have almost as many *different* composers as you have songs (almost one *for each different song*, mind you), the whole endeavor sounds primarily driven by capitalism instead of genuine art. There's a whole "economy" behind those Japanese "idol groups", and as open-minded as I can be, I can't help sensing that what we have here is very obviously the epitome of fakeness. THAT SAID, I would lie if I said there weren't a few moments in this project that had me laugh out loud, or that I found at least interesting or even daring on a compositional viewpoint. "Megitsune" and "Gimme Chocolate!!" are bangers in their own right in that 'kawai metal' genre. 'Catch Me If You Can" also goes to fun places, with its mix of SOAD, drum'n'bass and hardcore punk. And the album finishes kind of strong with "Headbangeeeeerrrr!!!!!" and "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" -- everything I should hate on paper, yet sounding so "ridiculous" -- in all the senses of the word -- that I just can't put this in my lowest-rated gallery. Otaku culture is a different planet for me, and I live so far from it that I shouldn't even be able to grade this thing. Yet I can quite clearly picture why a weeb or an otaku would fall in love with this, oddly enough. I teach English to middle schoolers for a living. This morning, ninth graders were asking me what I was listening to on my phone before class. I explained the concept of this generator to them, and when one of them saw that today's album was Babymetal, she was flabbergasted -- she's a big fan. Like, I gained so many cool points as a teacher in her eyes here, haha. And truth be told, she's a good kid, bright and everything. It's not hard to imagine her having good memories about this band for some time, even if she goes on to discover other things later. When you love music, you gotta start somewhere, right? ---- 2.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 3 7.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 2.5) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 56 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 75 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 136 (including this one) --- Émile. Ça y est, j'ai *enfin* répondu (en deux temps). Tu trouveras ça sous les reviews des disques de Blackalicious et Alexisonfire au dessus.

Kawaii metal. Rollo pop japonés. Un 2.

As much videogame soundtrack as a musical release. It is an interesting mixture of styles, but I'm penalizing it as it seems unnecessary to have a second BABYMETAL album on this list.

Kawaii metal. Rollo pop japonés. Un 2.

Yeah. Didn’t love this one. The vocals sounded like they floated over top of the music as opposed to being integral to the music. I enjoy female singers in metal bands like Jinger. In those cases the music and vocals are very much intertwined.

Odd generic metal album, didn’t do much for me sorry.

My God BABYMETAL is an experience. Drop D tuning with JPop girls singing in semi-autotune over the top of it, racing through at incredible bpm, what's not to like? Well, it's a bit of a headfuck because I don't think it works all that well, and once you've got past the novelty laughing at this chaos unfolding in front of you there's not really any substance to it all. You can't even call it a pastiche because it's done seemingly 100% seriously (and I can't be sure this isn't entirely overproduced and micromanaged like so many J&KPop bands, to their personal detriment). Every now and then you get some absolutely brilliant moments; there are parts of Ijime, Dame, Zettai that are really good to listen to, but then you take a step back and realise Dragonforce or whoever did it much better fucking ages ago and this is a bastardisation of it. And it all made my head hurt. 2/5 because it has some superficial value but really just left me confused and with a headache.

I thought these girls were pretty sick to be playing music this hard. Then I looked up the first track live because I wanted to see if the drums still sounded like a machine gun if played out of the studio and guess what I found out! They don’t play the instruments. How disappointing. Furthermore the drums and guitar are all programmed. And on top of all of that, they don’t even write the music! So why am I listening? What am I listening to? Other people sing someone else’s words. It’s like Elvis, that talentless bastard. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t enjoy this. As for the actual album, the instrumentation is obviously spot on (because it’s a fucking computer) and the vocals are alright. They sort of get drowned out in the production which is way over the top. I understand why people like this. It just feels like a cardboard cutout of a band rather than something tangible. 2/5

Not for me I am afraid. Too many Eurovision vibes (except that the vocals are in Japanese).