My Mad Music Corner: R.A.M

Sunday, November 23, 2014

R.A.M

The day after I made that post on Nu Riot and Hakai, Kyono's first two Wagdug Futuristic Unity albums, I received my copies of R.A.M and Raw, and I'm glad to say that both of them are well worth your time. This album was Kyono's first Wagdug album with his new backing band, as opposed to workhorsing the entire effort himself as he did on his earlier material. Admittedly, when I first heard this album, I wasn't feeling it, but after giving it a little more time, it grew on me by leaps and bounds.

When I first started writing this piece, I wrote a few paragraphs on how I felt Kyono was holding back his band, since he still wrote most of the album's material, but after giving it a couple more spins, I feel like the material he wrote still works against this new backdrop, although WAG Jam, the only track where the entire band has a songwriting credit as opposed to solely Kyono, is still one of the better songs on the album. Still, it did take me a few listens to get into R.A.M, whereas I found myself into Hakai from the first listen. Give it some time, and it might grow on you as well, but I'll understand if you aren't feeling it.

In any case, the packaging of this album is really, really nice. The limited edition CD+DVD version of the album, in addition to the excellent bonus track, has a slipcover that holds a jewel case that is oddly thicker than even most 2-disc jewel cases that I have, and it still has a tendency to slip out. Again, the included DVD is only in Region 2, although it is NTSC-J Region 2 for anyone who has issues with PAL playback.

The album also has an obi, but I sadly don't have it. This copy was won on my third attempt at bidding on a copy, as I was sorely outbid twice over copies that actually had the obi. To be fair, though, because of the thickness of the slipcover, that obi has to be especially thick, and I don't think I have a mylar that could fit it. Still, I desperately want one of those damn things... maybe one day.