Stairway Generation

アルバムレビュー

With a handful of tracks anchored by the title Stairway Generation, Base Ball Bear's return to form comes in the form of a teen-based anime action theme. The title track is a rambunctious piece, riff-heavy and dense with guitars and off-beat singing. The energy level is unseasonably high, but brings the album to a quick head. The second track, "User Unknown," uses a cascading bit of keyboard magic as a backdrop for a slower delivery, with more harmonizing for good measure. The vocals are a bit off, but the tempo and tone changes are drastic enough to provide a glimpse into what Base Ball Bear can do when they aren't simply pumping out a theme. The small set finishes with "Renai Hakusho," a much more vocally based track that never quite picks up enough to go anywhere, preferring instead to laze about for a few minutes without any obvious goal. It's a short set, even for a singles collection in Japan, but it's not too bad. With some stronger album tracks, Base Ball Bear's next effort sounds even more promising.