If yo went "WTF?" at the title of this album, don't worry. It's the normal reaction. It is after all, a really terrible name.

And the meaning also warrants similar reactions. PROGLUTION derives from PROGENITOR and REVOLUTION. Which essentially means the pioneer of revolution.


WHO THE HELL USES THE WORD "PROGENITOR"?! Has anyone of you used "progenitor" EVER in your life? Can you remember the last time you used "progenitor"? If you can, you're plain weird.

And let's not even get me started on the cover for the limited edition one. THAT LOOKS LIKE A SAW MOVIE POSTER.



Damn, that was a good line.

Similar to past reviews, I will remove the songs released previously, and the songs that are useless (instrumentals and interludes and whatnot). Especially when the stupid album versions are so similar to their originals. endscape for example, removed 7 seconds of MUSIC (read: not singing) from the beginning and named it an album version. Goodness.

This leaves me with 10 songs to group into good, so-so and bad.

[The good]

I had a hard time deciding the good songs on this album, because honestly none of them were exceptionally good. Upon first listen I'm thinking "hmm, ok. This could qualify as good I suppose", but after a few more songs, I completely forgot how the supposedly good song sounds like and which one it is. This album is THAT similar-sounding throughout.

This album deals with 3 basic categories of music - rock, rap and house. Every song in the album takes either one or two elements and plays around with it till it becomes what it is.

Hence the confuzzlement.

The house-ish tracks on the album are all generally good. These include -forecast map 1955- and to the world (SE). Both of these songs were not full tracks (clocking in at 1:25 and 1:48 respectively), which is sort of a waste in my opinion. Both sound similar, the stereotypical trance-ish club tracks that is either pleasant (if you're in the mood to relax) or confusing (if you're drunk). Perhaps it's just the echoey effect, but TAKUYA's voice sounds really good in both of these.

Kami Atsume would probably be the only song on the album that appeals to me (bearing in mind I am a hardcore pop fan). Very very slight tinge of house (he was repeating a phrase constantly, though I can't quite make out what) and the chorus sounds slightly off-tempo and slightly off-tune. However, the pop-rock tune remained excellent throughout the song, which helps distract you from the minor hiccups of this song.

[The so-so]

Oh boy, this is hard. Most of the songs on this album are generally so-so, so to choose the bad songs from the pile of so-so's is a touch task.

So I present you with the stark amount of so-so songs.

Roots being the "main song" of this album is surprisingly dull. While it has a heavy rock tune, the rhythm of the songs remains somewhat constant, leaving one strangely empty after finishing the song. Loads of shouting everywhere, so beware.

brand new ancient started off with the overused radio-filter and then burst into loud music. Some singing ensues and then comes the weird part. All the TALKING. I'm assuming it's supposed to be rapping or something, but once you hear it you'll agree with me. In any case, this rapping/talking thing makes the whole song strange and even slightly funny to listen to. Thankfully, the chorus is decent (minus the constant "BREAK DOWN" or "BREAK OH"s in the background), with a melody that is very distinctly UVERworld. TAKUYA seems comfortable with it as well, so that's always a plus.

Byouteki Kikyuu Nikki would have been a good song if the chorus wasn't so.... Well I'm not sure what to call it. It's a good chorus, but TAKUYA drops his note rather drastically at the end of every line, which is kinda like nearly reaching climax, then suddenly finding out you're doing a goat. Well, unless that's your kind of thing of course.

counting song-H starts off slow and gradually picks up sound, until suddenly exploding into a slightly louder verse. It slows down a little again and then bursts once again into a bright chorus. The verses are boring though, which makes the chorus stand out even more. While this should have been a good thing, it makes the song tiring to listen to most of the time. Very forgettable.

Kokoro ga Sasu Kuchiguse Soshite Kimi ga Tsuite Kuru is a slow rock number which is nice but could have easily worked better with another singer. TAKUYA's voice is nice, but in such a song, the shouting thing he does in his songs stick out like sore thumbs. The straining on his part can be heard, which might or might not add to the overall mood of the song.

Oto no Ha, the acoustic unplugged number, is filled with loads of emotion. Usually this would have been really well-received by me, but unfortunately TAKUYA's flaws in his voice is put on prominent display in this song. To be fair, he shows off quite a few impressive notes as well, but a fly in a soup spoils the whole thing. A more polished version would have been perfect. This song is really nice to be honest.

[The BAD]

The only bad song for me on this album was GROOVY GROOVY GROOVY. In my opinion, it just a bunch of very clangy and noisy music coupled with loads of incoherant yelling everywhere. Right before the chorus, the group breaks into something that sounds like "Catch Catch Catch Checkit Checkit Checkit YEAH BABY", which was erm... enthusiastic. Let's just say I'd probably love this song after 21376 beers and a couple shots of tequila. Nice song to slur to. Like "CAF CAAGH CAGH YEAH YEAH YEAH BABEEE~!" Then again the blaring music might have given me a headache, which is always so pleasant when you're drunk.

Overall as an album, PROGLUTION is a pretty so-so album. It's not BAD, but it definitely does not count as a good album. If you're looking for something from UVERworld to start with, try BUGRIGHT instead. That was a much better and definitely more sober effort. This one ends up having a tracklist that is very difficult to differentiate. For the older fans who love the louder side of UVERworld, this one is definitely for you.

Labels: UVERworld