Selling/Trading DCT albums

[Ark~Magic]

I have the following for sale/trade:
* 24/7 [Maxi-Single, the Club Mix feat. Zeebra is AWESOME! ]
* The Swinging Star
* Magic
* Love Unlimited
* Million Kisses
* Dreams Come True (S/T)
* Love Goes On...
* Wonder 3
* Delicious
* Sing or Die ~Worldwide Version~
* Wherever You Are [English Single c/w Sayanora English Ver.]

Each CD is $10 except for the singles which are $5 each. Shipping will cost about $1.80 or more if you decide to buy more than one. I strongly prefer PayPal!

I will trade any of the listed CDs for the following:
* The Soul: Greatest Hits
* Monkey Girl Odyssey
* Love Overflows
* The Monster ~Japanese Version~

Thank You!

[tachikaze]

Quite a collection! Japanese CDs aren't cheap!

I rented those exact same albums in one-go from Tsutaya in late 1999.

FWIW, here's my scientific top-5 ranking, based on how many songs I ripped from each album and how much I like the songs (10pts for 'must-have', 5pts for 'very good', 3pts for 'good', 1pt for the others:







The distribution of my 'must-have' songs from DCT's first 11 albums (up to MGO) is interesting:

0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 2, 1, 1;

the first 7 albums (up to Delicious) really didn't do a whole lot for me as far as song-writing goes, but taken as a musical whole, the middle 4 albums (The Swinging Star to Love Unlimited) are the strongest, and/or most even in their goodness.

[Ark~Magic]

I haven't gotten any offers yet and so far I have thought about keeping the CDs, but not sure.

Actually, you're right. The earlier stuff has some good songs but is mostly crap. The first CD was TERRIBLE.

I actually like their later stuff more as you can see, such as Delicious, The Monster, Monkey Girl Odyssey, and so forth. I actually think I should personally pick songs off of the older CDs and make my own personal DCT album to fit in my Dell DJ. I have Diamond 15 as well. I also forgot that I need Sing or Die, the japanese original.

I like DCT, they have great talent, but that doesn't mean they don't have their share of boring stuff (just about every band does :\) But Ive been forcing myself to try and like more of their stuff. I really like their singles and of course the song responsible for getting me into japanese music to begin with; Sweet Sweet Sweet/Sweet Dream from Sonic 2! I'll always remember the scene at the end when I was young, seeing Tails save Sonic after destroying the Death Egg!

It was such a powerful and unique song, I'm shocked it didn't make The Soul/Greatest Hits album! >:\

[nogizaka]

I don't understand why some people can't seem to get into DCT's earlier work, but I think maybe they're just not listening hard enough. Nor do I understand why the first album gets panned- it's good! Don't expect a high level of sophistication on a first album, just listen to Miwa's talent, range, and confidence grow and blossom from that first 'Hi, how're you doin'! I was listening to 'Delicious' the other night and thinking what cool intros Miwa and Masa write, sing, and play ('Yasumi no Uta' keeps coming back to me). If you want to hear one of the coolest, though, go right back to 'Kanashii Kiss'! Dig deep- there's plenty to find.

[tachikaze]

"I don't understand why some people can't seem to get into DCT's earlier work, but I think maybe they're just not listening hard enough."

Entirely possible. I only had 2 days to rip the 10 CDs, so I was only listening to each track for a minute or less before deciding to keep it or not (to keep the rental exercise semi-honest I was limiting myself to 650MB of 320kbit MP3s, not just ripping all of it to CDDA). Under these conditions the first album was largely "meh".

But "Kanashii Kiss" is awesome in the WL '95 video, as is the "Kare-wa Tomodachi" medley segment in that concert. Both songs sound a lot better in the video than the 44sec samples at http://dctgarden.com/disco/album.html for sure.

But I think it's mostly a theme thing. Miwa's earlier songs mine a similar vein, but she branches into more accessible (to me) stuff in the late 90s. Here's my "must-have" DCT songs:

1. Ai-suru Kokoro (1997)
2. Asa-ga Mata Kuru (1999)
3. SNOW DANCE (1999)
4. PEACE! (1997)
5. ROMANCE (1995)
6. LOVETIDE (1993)
7. Ureshii! Tanoshii! Daisuki! (1989)

Basically I can rank these wrt favorability by reverse chronological order, the newer the single, the more I like it (sadly, the singles of this decade haven't done much for me).

I think it's the first 4 albums were formative (with the lyrics chasing the sound), the middle 4 were solid, DCT at their peak, a good balance between lyrics and sound, and the five albums since LOVE UNLIMITED have been post-peak with stronger lyrics and musical ideas but less balance and coherance than the peak-era albums.

[nogizaka]

It's logical to look at DCT's albums from 'Sing or Die' on as a separate stage, possibly due to the change in record companies the band made at this point (which also meant changes in producers, engineers, musicians, and so forth). Their major attempt to crack the U.S. market began at this time also, and Miwa and Masa's outlook was changing, I'm sure.

I think I benefitted from the time I didn't have a computer, only had 'The Soul' and 'Sing or Die', and thought the only way I was going to get more DCT was going to Japan. Sounds very primitive, but it made me focus on those two albums (and I knew from the first listening of 'The Soul' that this band was worth focusing on) and those songs old and new had a year and a half of steady listening before I returned to Japan with a clear idea of what I wanted to buy next.

I still do most of my listening to DCT in chronological order. I agree with Tachikaze's ordering of the albums by period, and his description of those periods. Miwa and Masa's style has changed with the years and experience- if the later albums seem less cohesive, Masa has related the struggles the band has gone through over time, and they are the same struggles other bands and people in general deal with as they age (I'm the same age as Masa and can certainly relate).

I don't have nearly as much time to listen as I used to, but I know it is time well spent (whatever I am listening to) and will continue 'listening hard enough'.

[Ark~Magic]

OK, I have decided to sell the CDs.

Same rules as above, if you want them, just ask. I'll even offer to sell DIAMOND 15, in case you don't have it.

You can either buy them from me via PayPal or trade them for one of the mentioned CDs.

Thanks guys, and I hope we can work things out! ^_^

[buraian]

Ark~Magic, you have a PM.

Cheers,
-Brian*