On Ambitions, and ONE OK ROCK
I can’t help but notice the weird conflict among fans happening since 人生×僕= and Deeper Deeper/Nothing Helps, and I say weird because the moment they had that interview with Fall Out Boy, I already began hearing people say some pretty mean stuff about selling out, or how they’re going to suck once they’re officially integrated with the North American scene.
Which I totally get can be a bittersweet feeling. Because you don’t know how being official on an international platform will affect them as people or as musicians. You don’t know if they’re going to pick up bad habits from the American music industry. You don’t know if they’ll ever be the same, or if they’ll forget where they came from. You would think you would be happier now that they’re getting the attention you know they deserve, but worry about the sacrifices they might have to make to fit in. You worry about losing them.
But sometimes, that resistance to change can limit growth, and I feel like some of us can be a little too entitled with the direction our favourite bands and artists and stuff are heading. Unless it’s a certain way, at a level of your comfort and enjoyment, it’s not the right way. Deep down, there’s that selfishness and overprotectiveness and fear of losing them that’ll be there. I sure as fuck can feel that way, so by no means am I pointing fingers.
I think we forget that they’re just four regular guys outside of being ONE OK ROCK, and experimenting with new sounds is what comes with being a musician, an artist. And what I find funny is that there are people who claim they’re becoming more American-sounding, when many of their Japanese inspirations such as ELLEGARDEN, drew influence from American bands like Sum 41 and Weezer. And I initially liked ELLEGARDEN because of their American sound. It all comes full circle, and that’s always been the beauty of the arts: there isn’t one definite algorithm to making it, the subjectivity and sheer malleability of it. Simply put, you do whatever you want with what you have, into how you want it, and hope that there are people who will like it.
What I’m saying is, that even if what they’re making now isn’t the same as it was with Niche Syndrome or 残響Reference, I feel like it’s really important for them to have hits and misses with their audience, to make mistakes, to try new out things for them to grow as musicians. Because if they kept it the same since Keep It Real, and if Tomoya and Toru hadn’t taken the spots they’re in today, can you really say that the progress they’ve made to get this far was worth jack? You can sense the growth, literally hear the evolution of their sound throughout the years, and no matter what happens after the release of Ambitions, I’m confident they’ll still keep going at it with making songs because that’s what they enjoy.
Of course the feedback from fans is important, but they can’t do this solely for us. They have to be happy with what they’re doing, and it just doesn’t sit right with me to listen to songs about fighting the night and being good to yourself, yet knowing that they’re not doing the same thing for themselves because of heavy expectations. I’m sure they do deal with the pressure of selling well and pleasing the higher-ups, it’s not fair to be adding to that stress because no matter how happy their posts on IG are, you never really know what they could be worrying about when the sun goes down. Like, it must affect you a little when someone says you’ve changed in a “bad” way when you’re having a good time. Idk man, I try not to take things at face value.
They’ve only released 3 of 14 songs from this album, and I’m digging I Was King and Taking Off personally. It seems way too early to say it’s a terrible album, and I can honestly admit that in my 9-ish years of liking them, I didn’t enjoy every single song from their older stuff. I’m about as excited as I am critical about what’ll come out of this, but the point of this post is just as long as they’re happy with where their progress, I’m happy. And I can’t wait to meet them next year in Toronto to thank them for their hard work.
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