D・P・S

D・P・S is THE DEAD P☆P STARS' 4th album, their major debut, and their only album on a major label, as they've gone back to being independent a year after. It's comprised of mostly heavy/speed metal à la X Japan, but it does a few things that wouldn't appear on one of their albums, at least not from the hands of Yoshiki. The intro track begins with baby crying sounds and some electronic samples, replacing them with nice strings in the middle and introducing a guitar to finish it off. The next song, ALIVE 〜DEDICATED TO THE SAVIOR〜, is pretty good with its twin guitar action, but the surprise comes after. DEFORMED INFANT has a meaner riff, noticeably more downtuned guitars, audible distorted bass, and recurring samples of what sounds like a robot moving and scratching. The album just returns to normal like nothing happened with ASSHOLE—although it is heavier than ALIVE and the next few tracks—even giving us a ballad (Promise…) in the middle of the album. The band must've realized they haven't pulled anything in a while, as I･S･T･S･G･Y･V･T･Y･M･O is a more industrial, perhaps slightly punky affair. And then it's normal business to the end, with the songs Ultimate W・A・R and 旗の下に (Quelle Fuckin' Drug) being rerecordings, and the last one being a ballad. Somehow all of this works, but that's probably because the music is good; the twists also make the Trevor Brown artwork fitting. I hope this isn't the only time they have done something like this.