My Mad Music Corner: Back Drop Bomb

Something happened to Back Drop Bomb between Micromaximum and this album. Something that would end up changing the direction of their music for the rest of their time on Toy's Factory. They lost their saxophonist. The effects of this loss were already felt on the 2254 Universal EP, a release that split the four-year difference between this album and Micromaximum right down the middle, but BDB managed to squeeze out some great material for that EP, like "Sigh" and "Remind Me". Except for a few songs here and there, and the inclusion of "Remind Me" from the aforementioned EP, this album represents a dramatic fall in quality after Micromaximum.

It's a shame, because there are quite a few good ideas interspersed through the numerous tracks on this album, even in the weaker links. Whenever vocalists Takayoshi Shirakawa and Masashi Ojima unite for some sweet harmonies, the result is more often than not a shining moment on whatever track it happens on. But a lot of the album feels directionless, incohesively patched together from ideas they just couldn't find a way to flesh out into full songs. The weird mastering on the album doesn't do much to help the barren musical landscape-- if anything, bringing the drums really high in the mix makes it feel even more barren. I don't know what happened for them to lose their saxophonist, but I really wish they didn't, because the presence of one would've helped this album in a lot of ways.

If nothing else, this album has a lot of cool stuff thrown in with it. This particular 2-disc deluxe edition came with a "bootleg" CD of a couple live renditions of some of their songs. I haven't listened to it, because live albums just don't really do anything for me most of the time, but at least the song choices are pretty dope-- one song from Micromaximum, two from the 2254 Universal EP. They also threw in a sticker of the logo they created for this album, and I always appreciate cool feelies.

Oh, one extra disclaimer: the version of "Never Shined" on this album is not the awesome version playing in this music video. That version was released on the Diversive Audio EP they put out in 2004, a year after this album came out. You might ultimately be satisfied with just grabbing the two aforementioned EPs that bookended this album's release instead of this, if you're not in it for collecting every release the band put out.