ＳＣＡＮＤＡＬ（スキャンダル） !!

 Scandal at Japan Expo, 2008

Pertama kali denger & liat Scandal itu, waktu nyari2 video di YouTube, trus mentok di satu penampilan mereka di Odaiba tahun 2009, di Mezamashi Live. Masih agak2 kasar sih soundnya, tapi gw suka liatnya,karena nampilin skill mereka yg sebenarnya (gak cuma ngandelin fisik doang,hehehe..). Langsung deh, nyari2 konser-konser mereka di YouTube, karena gw pikir, ini nih yang namanya happy rock! Abis pada senyum-senyum mulu,kalau lagi main. Apalagi drummer-nya, gak bakalan nyangka ni cewek bakalan maen dengan rapih dan enerjik di panggung..Bassistnya!Kawaii,tapi waktu nge-slap bass,keren! Permainan bassnya juga cukup variatif, ini nilai lebih karena dia juga ikutan nyanyi..! Liat band ini, jadi inget Phantom Blue, meski yang ini musiknya lebih ringan daripada Phantom Blue yang nge-rock abisss!!

First time I saw and heard Scandal is when I’m looking around on Youtube. Then I got stuck on their 2009 performance in Odaiba at Mezamashi Live. The sounds may a lil’ bit rough, but I’d love to watch it. It shows their true skill (not rely only on their physical appearances..^^). After that, I start to looking for their live performances on YouTube. I think this it what happy rock means!! They always smiling while playing and singing. I can’t imagine that the drummer, Rina-san, would play so smooth & energetic on the stage. The bassist, so kawaii, but when she slap the bass..so cool!!Her bass play is so attractive, and it’s a good thing cause she plays it while singing along..!When I saw this band, I remember a band named Phantom Blue. Though, Scandal play a more lighter music then Phantom Blue who plays more heavy roccckk..!!

Scandal ini band asal Jepang, tepatnya di Osaka setelah keempat personilnya bertemu di sekolah tari & vokal, Caless. Bagian vokal & ritem gitar - Haruna Ono, lead gitar, vokal latar - Mami Sasazaki, bass, vokal - Tomomi Ogawa, drum - Rina Suzuki. Dari sejak mereka indies hingga akhirnya hinggap di Epic, gw rasa permainan dan skill mereka semakin membaik, dan semakin banyak fill-in yang mereka mainkan di album terbarunya. Gw yakin mereka mengisi sendiri bagian2 gitar, bas, dan drumnya (kecuali synth,dll yaa..), karena orang Jepang dikenal cukup rajin dalam menekuni satu bidang hingga bisa dikuasai secara mendalam. Meski dalam penampilan awal-awal mereka, masih memakai sampler untuk beberapa bagian gitar yang tidak bisa dimainkan secara live (secara di album, bisa diperkaya dengan beberapa layer bagian gitar). Tapi, semakin kesini mereka hanya menggunakan sedikit sampler gitar (tapi untuk bagian synth tetap dipakai,ya..). 

Scandal is a Japanese rock band came from Osaka. The four member met at the Caless school of dance and vocals. Lead vocals & rhythm guitar section - Haruna Ono, lead guitar & backing vocals section - Mami Sasazaki, bass & vocal section – Tomomi Ogawa, drum section – Rina Suzuki. Since their indies era until their major debut with Epic, I think their skill had improved a lot. There’s a lot more fill-in they played on their latest album. No doubt they played by themselves their own parts, such as gitar, bass and drum parts..(except the synth,etc..).  I have no doubt about this, cause Japanese people are well known for their endless effort to learn thing until they could master it well. Though on their early performances, they still using sampler for several guitar part that couldn’t be play lively (they could make several guitar layer on the album, but there’s only limited option on the stage). But afterward they use less guitar sampler on their live performances (but they still using it for the synth..)

  

Tapi, ternyata lagu Koshi Tantan yang terdengar cukup 'mesin' buat gw (kecuali bagian gitarnya..), yang gw pikir bakal dimainkan dengan live seperti lagu Tokyo, ternyata dimainkan dengan intro sampler duluan, lalu disusul dengan permainan drum Rina dan gitar Mami, yang dinyanyiin Haru & Tomomi di konser Animax. Lebih 'hidup' rasanya!! 

Gaya permainan Mami juga semakin variatif. Meski dia dikenal dengan solo-solo yang tidak terlalu njelimet, tapi di lagu Anata Ga Mawaru, solo gitarnya terdengar seperti bukan ciri khas solo-nya Mami. Agak ragu juga awalnya, tapi pas liat di konser First Live-nya Scandal 2009, ternyata dia mainkan dengan cukup rapih solo gitar Anata Ga Mawaru, sugee! Semakin yakin gw dengan kemampuan Mami, tambah kagum aja...^_^v..

I thought that ‘Koshi Tantan’ songs which sounded –so-machine to me (except the guitar part..) will be play live same as ‘Tokyo’ songs. But unexpectedly, they play it live with sampler intro’s first, then followed by Rina drum and Mami’s guitar. Haruna & Tomomi sang the song (they didn’t play instrument on this song). They perform it on Animax concert. It felt more ‘alive’!!

Mami’s guitar style sure improved a lot. Eventhough she’s known with her uncomplicated guitar solos, but surely she showed different style on Anata Ga Mawaru. I had a doubt on it first, but when it came to live on First Live Scandal 2009, she played it amazingly smooth, sugee! I love her skill more and more..^_^v..

Tapi, yang gw liat permainannya semakin meningkat dan variatif adalah Tomomi dan Rina. (Bukan berarti Mami ma Haruna stagnan, ya.Hehehe..) Semakin kesini, struktur lagu-lagu Scandal semakin variatif. Permainan drum Rina juga semakin mumpuni, dan kelincahan Tomomi bermain di fret basnya semakin lancar. (Dia main bas sambil ikutan nyanyi juga, jadi inget Sakura Goodbye. Nyanyi sambil main bagian bas yang lincah,gileee..).Untuk Rina, dulu waktu dengerin lagu Hi-Hi-Hi versi album dan konser, sebenarnya gw pikir dia pake dobel pedal, tapi setelah gw intip di video konser mereka, ternyata dia cuma pake singel pedal. Weits! Salut gw ngeliatnya, rapih banget mainnya Rina-san ini, 最高! Mami, ia juga semakin berani untuk bermain sedikit lebih cepat dan liar. Contohnya, intro Love Survive yang catchy. Untuk Haruna, dia semakin dewasa bwt gw,baik dalam penampilan dan lirik musiknya,hehehe..

But the member whose her skill improved a lot more better is Tomomi and Rina. (Doesn’t mean that Mami & Haruna not improved at all..^^). Lately, Scandal song structure became more various. Rina’s drumming getting far more better, and Tomomi’s fingers are dancing like crazy on her bass fret. (She sang and playing bass too. Just remember Sakura Goodbye when she sang her part and play difficult bass part too..wow!) When I listen to an album &concert version of Hi-Hi-Hi, I thought Rina was using double bass pedal. But after take a peek on the concert video, she only uses single bass pedal. Gosh!What a smooth action of hers, 最高! And Mami’s getting more courage to play faster and wilder. For examples, the catchy intro’s of Love Survive and a wild fill-in on Appletachi No Dengon. And for Haruna, I think she’s getting more matured, on the lyrics and appearances too..hee..

Sebenarnya kemampuan mereka dalam bermusik terlihat di album cover version mereka R-Girls Rock! Di sini terlihat skill keempat-empatnya. Saat memainkan lagu orang lain di album ini, mereka terdengar lebih berani. Sound mereka pun di album ini terdengar sedikit lebih berat. Terutama ketika memainkan lagu Roppongi Shinjuu ma Rock N'Roll Widow. Kalau pengen dengerin sisi lain dari Scandal yang ngerock banget, yah disini deh..!(^o^)

Lanjut ke album mereka yang paling baru,ya..!

Actually they have showed their music skill on their cover version albums, R-Girls Rock! You could see the skill of all members. When they cover other musician songs in this album, they play it with more courage on, and they also sounds more heavier. Especially when they play Yamaguchi Momoe’s Rock N’Roll Widow and Roppongi Shinjuu. If you’d like to see the other side of heavier Scandal’s rock, this album is the answer..!(^o^)

Next, their latest album…!

 
Satu lagu yang menurut gw bener-bener menampilkan kemampuan mereka di album yang paling baru, Baby Action, adalah Appletachi No Dengon. Karakter gitar yang kuat, dan diperkaya dengan permainan trompet dan beat lagu yang cukup cepat. Kerjasama vokal yang apik antara Tomomi dan Haruna, dan keberanian Mami ngasih lick gitar yang  sedikit liar, nambah nilai plus lagu ini. 

One track that really showed their talented skill on Baby Action is Appletachi No Dengon. Strong guitars act, enriched with trumpet, and lil’ faster beat. Excellent vocal performances between Haruna and Tomomi, and also Mami’s courage to add few wilder guitar licks has brought this song into another higher levels.

Tapi, bukan berarti band ini tidak ada kelemahannya,ya..Gw lebih suka liat mereka main di konser ketimbang dengerin aj, karena disitu kita bisa liat skill mereka yang sebenarnya. Sayangnya, akhir-akhir ini kondisi vokal Haruna tidak sebagus dulu. Mungkin karena mereka nyiptain beberapa lagu dengan patokan nada di suara Tomomi yang memang jangkauan nadanya lebih tinggi dari Haruna. Sehingga Haruna jadi agak keteteran kalo lagi konser. Gw ambil contoh, lagu Haruka yang agak ketinggian di bagian intronya. Kecuali untuk lagu-lagu dimana Tomomi gak ikutan nge-lead di bagian vokalnya, Haruna masih bisa bernyanyi dengan baik. Tapi, gak semua lagu yg ada lead vokal Haruna+Tomomi, bagian Haruna-nya ketinggian kok. Contohnya Appletachi No Dengon. Mungkin penurunan kualitas vokal Haruna dipengaruhi juga oleh kondisi Haruna yang kecapean karena jadwal konser yang begitu padat hingga sebelum mereka rehat bentar menuju panggung Budokan bulan Maret 2012 ntar..Yayy!!

Pokoknya, gw tungguin dah ampe mereka mau konser di Indonesia!..よし、Salam musik!

Beneath their strong point,this band also have their weaknesses..I prefer to see them live than to listen on their album, cause we could see their true skill on the stage. Unfortunately, lately Haruna vocal performances gradually became less better than she used to. I think it happens cause they create few songs based on Tomomi’s vocal range-whose basically has a wide range vocal than Haruna. And it makes Haruna vocal goes a lil’ bit off on their several live performances. For example, Haruka’s intro notes was a lil’ bit higher for Haruna. Except for few songs that Tomomi didn’t take a singing part on it, Haruna vocals is good. But it didn’t mean that on each songs that Tomomi+Haruna took part, Haruna’s part is always too higher for her..For example, Appletachi No Dengon goes well for both of them. This Haruna problems also could happened due to their tight concert schedule until their few month resting before the Budokan’s schedule on March 2012. Yayyy!!

I could only pray for their performances in Indonesia. I’ll wait.. よし、long live music! 

Personil favorit/Favourite member: Mami!

Lagu favorit/Favourite songs: Space Ranger, Koi No Kajitsu, S.L. Magic (indies rule!),Sakura Goodbye, Shunkan Sentimental, Switch, Aitai, Hi-Hi-Hi, Hoshi No Furu Yoru Ni, Pride, Roppongi Shinjuu, Rock N' Roll Widow, Appletachi No Dengon.Love Survive..

sumber/sources: wikipedia, youtube, dll.