neck-snappin-freakazoid | providence noise island | 01/03/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"if you think your a hardcore music fan then you should go out and buy everything you can possibly find by this band....nothing...absolutly nothing compares to the ruins....well...maybe lightning bolt ...but even still...these guys music is totally increadible....if you can sit still while listening to ANY of theyre realeases your a stronger man then i am....i freak ... out when i hear them...were talking epileptic fits here....if you want to break your own neck with the biggest smile on your face youve ever had then listen to this....and everything else by them...study them...worship them...pray to the ruins as a god...it is your only chance at salvation. 5 stars is a huge understatement here...i would rather rate this 500 million billion zillion stars...ps. if you dont like the ruins then you arent my friend.even my grandma likes the ruins."
Does not soothe those prone to motionsickness
igavethecatacid | Auckland, New Zealand | 06/15/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"theres something about the ruins that makes them seem great live but on studio releases, it doesnt quite come off for me. this would definitely be my favourite ruins effort cause of that fact, with the madness being at peak levels, but not running into clinical workouts like some studio recordings threaten to. the stopping and starting jerking around of it all would seem wildly out of control in the hands almost any other band, but theres always a sense here that they can stop and launch off on a completely different tangent whenever the hell they feel like it.the only thing ive got to question about these guys is their love of medleys. why so many? i dont get it. theyre kinda fun at first, but they have a pretty short life. anyway at ruins speed, you dont have to put up with them for all that long.you could probably make someone violently ill with prolonged exposure to these guys. you'll notice i mean that in a good way from the rating. this album is probably the best in the world to play to your cat while you spin it round on a swivelchair."
5 stars, but not the best Ruins record (yet?)
Artur Nowak | 11/28/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Ruins is an amazing duo. I saw Yoshida Tatsuya live (with Satoko Fuji) recently, he is the leader/drummer who is responsible for almost everything related to the Ruins. He is a blast. He plays with such energy but when you see him playing he seems to be... relaxed. He's body is a perfectly functioning link between complex rhythm patterns produced by he's brain and the drums. See seems to be able (or actually he is) to play any desired drum pattern. I've heard a bootleg Ruins live record and it was even better than this one, because this one is processed a lot. It doesn't sound so natural anymore, the feeling of live recording is lost somewhere, but it still deserves 5 stars, especially because of the encores with violinist Katsui Yuji, who's playing fits with Ruins music very well. Maybe they will release a more "plain" live record, "raw" live record, which would be a proof of their power!"
Good Ruins!
vyper | Minneapolis | 12/31/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)
"A live recording with Yoshida and most recent bassist Sasaki.
One thing about this album is,it sounds too clean and slick to be so..."live".And you hear absolutely no crowd noises,was this "live"in a closed club?I've heard Japanese audiences can be reserved and quiet during the songs,but I have my suspicions.
But it doesn't matter,because this thing kicks all sorts of tail.A good number of these songs came from the Palloschtom album,but they sound MUCH better here.That album was underproduced,and didn't do justice to the energy and power of these songs.
This album shows Sasaki very much in command of his bass role in Ruins,he frequently uses what must be pitchshifting to get very high squealing notes,and also samples his own playing and loops it.
The duo also throws in some improv pieces and their by now trademark medleys.Two medleys from Palloscthom appear here,Hard Rock and Classical,the one left off being Prog Rock Medley(of course!).I don't see why people get annoyed at these,I mean they're over so quickly!Basically the two just tear through dozens of classic rock riffs and melodies in typical Ruins jumpcut fashion."