Jun Togawa with Vampillia - Watashi ga Nakou Hototogisu Album Review

The queen is back, and louder than ever! For the 35th anniversary of Jun Togawa's career in December, she teamed up with alternative / gothic / visual kei band Vampillia for a collaboration album spanning all 35 of those years. This review is a bit late, and unfortunately I wasn't able to listen to the album before the end of 2016, but I feel pretty confident that it would have made my end of the year list if I had.

Watashi ga Nakou Hototogisu opens up with a Yapoos track, Akai Sensha. In typical Vampillia fashion, the synths are replaced by luscious violins. Everything about the mix here is louder, and the band's passion bleeds through in spades. The next track is one of my favorite Jun Togawa songs of all time, and one which has been redone countless times by countless groups. This rendition of Suki Suki Daisuki starts out with minimal instrumentation, some sparse piano and sweeping violin, which explodes into a full band effort shortly thereafter. Togawa's voice is a force to be reckoned with, as powerful as it is diverse. The song builds to a monstrous climax, and immediately gives way to the equally powerful Barbara Sexeroid. 

---

Akai Sensha MV

---

A pummeling, bass-driven rendition of Nikuya no You ni allows Vampillia to show another side of their music, wrought with harsh noise and heavy percussion. The black metal screech at the tail end of this track will send shivers down your spine. The first break comes in at track five, a version of Sanagi ka no Onna which is not unlike the original. Vampillia's beautiful arrangement does the song justice like nobody else ever could. As the song builds, more and more short hits of harsh noise make their way into the mix. The song closes out with a massive wall of overdriven guitar which somehow meshes perfectly with the violin melody.

12-kai no Ichiban Oku is equally downtempo, but unlike the previous track it's almost completely unlike the original. Everything about the mix here is different, with a lot more bite than the original could have ever hoped to have. Teinen Pushiganga is really something special. Again the arrangement opens up matching the original very closely, but the chorus is absolutely massive. While the original used very traditional instrumentation to evoke a certain feel from the song, this version is full of heavy guitar and bass, instead using backing vocals to evoke those same feelings.

One of my absolute favorite songs on here is Men's Junan, which takes all the best aspects of Vampillia's arrangements and brings them to a perfect head. The song is loud, diverse, beautiful and full of an unrivaled passion. At this point we hear Jun Togawa's first new song in years, the title track Watashi ga Nakou Hototogisu. It's a gorgeous, mostly piano-driven piece which doesn't sound out of place in the slightest amongst the older classics. The buildup near the end is to die for, but if you've made it this far into the album that's to be expected. The album closes with a fantastic, echoey version of Dotou no Renai, which once served as the opener to Togawa's classic album Tamahime-sama (which we reviewed as well!). It's a perfect closer to what I believe is a perfect album.

As I said before, it's a shame I wasn't able to hear this album when it came out. Looking back on 2016, this may very well have been my number one album of the year, or at least very close. While I loved Togawa's collaboration with Hijokaidan, this album with Vampillia went above and beyond with perfect arrangements and incredible skilled musicians to create something unlike anything I've ever heard before.

-Justin

---

Watashi ga Nakou Hototogisu

1. Akai Sensha
2. Suki Suki Daisuki
3. Barbara Sexeroid
4. Nikuya no You ni
5. Sanagi ka no Onna
6. 12-kai no Ichiban Oku
7. Teinen Pushiganga
8. Men's Junan
9. Watashi ga Nakou Hototogisu
10. Dotou no Renai

---