Search - Judy & Mary :: Pop Life

Judy and Mary, Lover Souls

N. Marrone | Los Angeles | 05/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Judy and Mary's fourth album, Pop Life, is also their most popular. Although many of their most famous songs such as Overdrive, Classic, and Blue Tears, are on earlier albums, this is the album that saw them performing in front of the gigantic audiences in the largest stadiums in Japan. The album also marks the leadership of the band having moved completely out of the capable hands of bassist Onda into those of younger guitarist Takuya, who wrote nearly all of the songs.The first full track, Music Fighter, shows off Judy and Mary's schizophrenic tendencies with a tune that switches between jazz - do be do be do bop and noise - I AM MUSIC FIGHTER! like the flip of a light switch. The music video (on a separate DVD) appears to have been taken straight out of City of Lost Children. LOVER SOUL is a guitar ballad with Yuki singing "Anata to futari de, kono mama kiete shimau" (If we stay like this we will dissappear...). There is a moving quitar solo at the end of the song which is nearly half of the entire track.Another notable track is Sanpomichi (Walking Path), written by drummer Kohta. A fun and upbeat song, essentially the heart of Judy and Mary, that is about taking a walk on her favorite path in all different seasons.The album insert includes band photos and lyrics and is printed on circular, CD sized paper. The CD case is clear orange plastic."

Excellent

kobe_yakuza | Seattle, Wa United States | 07/03/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am good at judging a book by it's cover. While in Tokyo during a vacation in 2001, I was flipping through the MiniDisc collection and found this album. The cover was so bizzare, I had to buy it. It showed this severly bandaged girl, holding a rabbit, while this boy is laying on the gorund behind her happily listening to music.And when I started the music, I was jolted by how happy and, well, Japanese it was. It captures that special something that is unique in Japanese pop-culture, and highly reccomend it to anyone with an interest in sampling Japan.Track seven is my favorite. I have a long story that goes along with that to, but I'll spare you.Buy the album if you have any capacity to listen to uber-happy Japanese music. It's the best of the best.Jya ne!"

Fun JAM album...but a little more mature

J. Holmes | yokohama, japan | 10/26/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Judy And Mary were a band who took the j-pop songbook and turned it inside out with all manners of heavy metal riffs, funk drumming, punk bass playing, and Yuki's expressive voice that made this group a top notch unit. there is alot of energy and intensity in these songs, and everything flows with an electric bubblegum kind of poison. the songs are so cute and so sweet...but yet with some bite. it's a little bit tough to give some comparisons; but i'll try. imagine Big Star or the New Pornagraphers in the studio with members of Nirvana joining in for the jam session; then add some jazzy interludes, some guys goofing around with the keyboards, and a guitarist who can barely keep his fingers still. does that give you a mental image? this is certainly pop rock and roll...and this could be the greatest thing you've ever heard...or it could be the most annoying band you've ever laid ears on. personally, i feel in love with this band when i first visited japan and i heard this cd. i gathered their old releases and eagerly awaited their future albums when they came out.



with Pop Life, Judy And Mary exploded into well deserved fame and super stardom in their home country of Japan. this album is a little bit more toned down than the past career-defining Power Source record, but it's still pretty great. if the fact that the singer, Yuki does a little scat routine on the first song is any indication, this record seems to follow a little bit of a jazzier path than previous outings. and it's mostly just the guitarist who provides these jazz flourishes in certain passages, the rest of the band seems content to keep rocking in their weird frazzled punky funk sort of way. Pop Life seems to be lacking some kind of real fun and raw feeling that their older albums contained, but it's not bad at all. if you're new to this band, i woud suggest checking out the Warp and Power Source cd's first...then moving onto to this slightly less superior cd."