I’m a 70 year old metalhead. Been a metalhead all my life. I like BABYMETAL, because it puts a smile on my face. And I’m always happier after listening to the young ladies. The band is awesome some of the best musicians.
...I used to listen to a band named "Loudness". They were a Japanese metal act. from the 80s.Do you remember them?..The Japanese are a very technical people, it shows in their musicianship...But, yeah,"Babymetal "is fun...Rock on ,Omneil
@@funnytoss I have to hand to the promoter that thought up this concept. Take three girls that sing and never knew metal before, recruit accomplished musicians and voila you have a concept as good as the boy bands. I listen to bands that all the members, except maybe the singer, play instruments and compose the music. But everyone has their own likes and dislikes.
@@metalmark1214 At a certain level, "let's try and do something weird and fun" is easier when there are absolutely no expectations for success! Glad it worked out well for them, but their success was by no means guaranteed. Certainly, their talent agency didn't invest a lot of money or resources into the project at first; that came later after they saw how it was blowing up in popularity.
RoR gets my upvote here. Live in Japan is their iconic video that converted many a people from "its a gimmick" to "wow, this actually is a metal band for sure".
@@robxsiq7744 they aren't a metal band. They are a heavy metal Idol Group. Heavy metal is boring. It's not 1968. They aren't Black Sabbath. Being the very first heavy metal Idol Group is much better. Babymetal is the Black Sabbath of heavy metal Idol Groups.
@@KenjaTimu I enjoy Babymetal, but heavy metal is certainly not boring and bands Black Sabbath will be around long after Babymetal is just remembered as the gimmick they are.
I`m 51 years old and I love this group. I hate that this is the first song that everyone is introduced to. It doesn't show Suzuka's INCREDIBLE vocal abilities. The great part beyond the great mix of J-pop and metal, Is their diversity in that metal. There can be elements of jazz, middle eastern, progressive, dubstep, rap, techno, djent, Western pop and even Nordic music. Their diversity, in my mind, is unmatched. They use studio musicians in-house and have basically (it gets complicated) TWO live bands. A western live band and an eastern live band. I assume because of scheduling issues as their eastern live band is also studio musicians. And their live shows are generally absolutely flawless. These girls and their band(s) have been called "the hardest working band in metal" and obviously for good reason. When I saw them in Nampa Idaho (opening for Korn), it was outdoors, it was 105° F, and they didn`t miss a beat even with all the dancing. They are like highly trained athletes. Suzuka went as far as asking the crowd (in English) if everyone was okay out there...I`ve seen them four times now from the largest venue on the last US tour (LA Forum) to the smallest (Portland Oregon`s Roseland Theater), and they blew me away every time. All in all, the Japanese metal scene is mind-blowing TBH. Looking forward to see you dive into more BABYMETAL though as they are pioneers of this genre.
@@mergedsyrups There are SO many great ones...Karate, Megitsune, Akatsuki, Syncopation, Distortion, Pa Pa Ya, Shanti Shanti Shanti, Mirror Mirror, Metalizm, BxMxC, Monochrome, Road of Resistance, Yava, Brand New Day, Night Night Burn, Starlight, Shine...Some are VERY heavy and some slightly lighter. This song just doesn`t show how diverse their music really is.
Here are some fun facts about this song and the group 1. Gimme Chocolate was named one of the most important metal songs of the last 10 years 2. Dragon Force performed this song with BabyMetal 3. The Red Hot Chili Pepper performed this song with them. 4. They are buds with Metallica and Slipknot 5. They had a cameo in Corey Taylor's video 6. They performed the Judas Priest classics Pain Killer and Breaking the Law with Rob Halford of Judas Priest 7. They are the only Asian group to ever hit #1 on Billboards Top Rock chart. 8. BabyMetal and Black Pink are the only albums by girl groups in history to enter the Top 10 of Billboard’s World Albums Year End Chart. 9. In a recent interview Corey Taylor of Slipknot was asked who he listened to at home and he said "BabyMetal" 10. In 2015 Vogue Magazine Japan named them Women of The Year. As for what to watch next: 1. Head Banger - Legend of 1997 - your will have to change your entire concept of audience reaction. Your headphones will fly off your head. 2. Road of Resistance Live in Japan - Generally considered one of the finest recordings of a live performance ever by anyone. 3. Pa Pa Ya feat. F. Hero When Metallica saw them live they said they were astonished by their awesomeness
Babymetal is a delightfully weird band, saw them live with Sabaton just over a week ago in Stockholm. Don't know much about them, but they were fun to see live.
Their concert DVDs are God level. I highly recommend them. Or daily motion has Metrock 2015. It's a fabulous concert and only 37 minutes. I've probably watched it 20 times. I think there is also Yokohama 2015 which is longer but equally fabulous but entirely different. Metrock is an outdoor daytime rock festival and Yokohama is an indoor nighttime Babymetal arena show.
Went to Scotland (Glasgow) from Malta to see them live with Sabaton. After their gig I had no more energy for Sabaton. Of course I managed to recharge once they started :D . However Babymetal are so good and such an experience to see them live. You should see other stuff from them especially the Live Versions. Their backing band are amazing and the girls are phenomenal!
If you want to check out their more recent material, I would recommend Mirror Mirror off the new album. Thankfully, the new stuff seems not to be getting blocked!
That's good to hear. One wonders if they didn't look around and finally recognize the worldwide growth of other Japanese rock and metal artists via the YT reactor route during the pandemic. Several are touring the states and Europe this year. I just wish more would come north. Free touring artist visas in Canada, in case anyone's listening 😉
Great first reaction! 🤘🦊🤘Thank you for giving BABYMETAL a chance!!! BABYMETAL started back in 2010 and since then have performed with, toured with, or opened for Metallica, Korn, Sabaton, Bring Me The Horizon, Dragonforce, Guns N' Roses, Lady Gaga, Rob Halford of Judas Priest (there's a great youtube video of their performance with Rob at a metal award show), and Red Hot Chili Peppers (there is a youtube video of them performing Gimme Chocolate with RHCP, as well as with Korn, and DragonForce), to name a few of many. They have performed at large metal events/concerts in front of 65,000+ skeptical metalheads in Europe (Glastonbury, Download, Sonisphere, etc), US, and Asia. They are the first Japanese band to perform at Wembley arena in the UK. Also, 20+ awards have been given to them. They have 60+ songs and each one is different from the other, so I hope you give the other songs a try. By the way, they have some really great heavy songs too, and I hope you like guitar solos, as well as bass and drum solos, like I do, because they have them too.🤘🦊🤘
What a great surprise! I didn’t expect you to feature BABYMETAL. I have thought about recommending them many times, but I didn’t expect such a recommendation to get through to you. And I wasn’t sure whether you would like them, either. Actually, I still don’t know, because I couldn’t wait before posting. :-)
Rondo Of Nightmare with Mischiefs Of Metal Gods Intro - Su-Metal takes her performance to new heights. With multible time sig.s, it is one of BM's most complex music compositions. th-cam.com/video/tmMocP99QkQ/w-d-xo.html
So glad to see you finally found your way to Babymetal, Doug! It usually takes a few listens to get past the WTF(?) factor but you will be happy that you did! Gimme Chocolate is most people's introduction to the band but there are many better examples. They've just released a new album and now have a more mature, polished sound. You should delve into one of those soon. Thanks, Doug 🙂
Excellent first reaction and analysis - welcome to the BABYMETAL Foxhole.🦊I knew you would be able to see through the shock factor of this song, but it wouldn't have been my recommendation for a first listen as the main reason this video does have so many views is that shock factor with the brutal metal instrumentals and overly sweet JPop vocals clashing - deliberately so in this song. They have about 60 songs now, each one different to the last. They have songs in virtually every metal genre (thrash, nu-metal, djent, black and death metal, Prog, folk etc) and they will mix or blend in so many other musical styles and genres with the metal - not just JPop, you will find Latin, Bollywood, reggae, ska, EDM, trance, Finnish polka ... actually you name it they have probably done it. A couple of songs more in your ball park would be 'Tales of the Destinies' followed by 'The One' (these are both Prog Metal and go together) and I will suggest 'Shine' all live of course - BABYMETAL are a live performance act and the visuals play a huge part in what they do. You asked about the instrumentalists. They are the Kami Band, some of Japan's very best session musicians. They first appeared in October 2012 and were gradually phased in over the next year or more playing at a couple of festivals and the encores in some concerts (including the one in December 2013 where the Gimme Chocolate video was filmed - they were not on stage yet in this one, the guys in skeleton suits - Babybones - were miming the instrumentals to a pre-recorded backing track and they were just there for show, BABYMETAL didn't always have the budget for live musicians. The vocals were live in the live performance of course). There have been many musicians play with the Kami band - they all have their own bands and projects and there are musicians whi will swap in and out depending on their availability. They have had the same hard core of about half a dozen musicians play the vast majority of concerts since they became the full time support for all live shows in March 2014 - they are; Guitarists (2 for each show) - Mikio Fujioka (RIP January 2018), Takayoshi Ohmura, Leda Cygnus and ISAO. Bass - BOH Drums - Hideki Aoyama Since 2019, for the lengthy tours of the US and Europe, the Kami Band of the West (American musicians) have supported BABYMETAL. They are guitarists Chris Kelly and CJ Masciantonio, bassist Clint Tustin and drummer Anthony Barone.
@Simr Khera So you are here to paste copy the same answer everywhere ? at least second time I see your useless take. If you are not here for sharing, please pass your way on an other channel. Thanks.
The comparison I like to make between JPop and KPop is this: KPop is made for export. The whole point of KPop is that everyone will like it. JPop is made for a Japanese market. They genuinely don't care if people outside Japan get it.
A perfect summary of the JPop/KPop distinction, one that IMHO and experience is somewhat reflective of the respective cultures. Korean culture tends to place a high value on recognition of excellence and external validation of status, while Japanese culture is often more focused on a more personal sense of accomplishment and improvement.
I heard a guy in a convenience store in west Texas tell the cashier that he was a professor, teaching classical music and musical theater. I told him that he should look these girls up, because he is equipped to appreciate everything that is going on in there shows (which are extremely theatrical, as well as very accomplished musically).
Welcome to the wonderful world of "happy metal" that is Babymetal! To see just how varied they get in their music, check out another of their early releases, "Iine!" (pronounced "EE-neh" and often mistitled as "Line!". Iine! Is their manifesto telling the world that they will NOT be pigeon-holed into a single style or genre of music, and they still hold true to that with their 4th studio album. Yuimetal left the group in 2018 due to undisclosed health issues. Su-metal and Moametal continued as a duo, supported by backup dancers who danced in Yui's spot to fill out the choreography until this past April when Momoko Okazaki (a.k.a. Momometal) was officially made the permanent 3rd member. After a few more songs, you will be ready for "Everything you need to know about Babymetal - A Babymetal guide (Updated)" By Cryptic Misery to get all of the answers to your burning questions (at least through their first 10 years). Kitsune Da O! 🤘🦊🤘
Road of resistence live on japan, Catch me of you can, Megitsune, karate(live version from 2016 Download festival), Ijime Damme Zettai live and of course, AKATISUKI
Okay, as a musician and songwriter myself, I suggest that you peruse BABYMETAL'S "Tales Of The Destinies". As far as current music you should do just about anything from the new Album. Kitsune dao!
Doug I'm so happy about this! I've thoroughly enjoyed all your reactions to my favorite band of all time, Dream Theater. As for Babymetal, I became a fan about half a year ago and I've gotten so hooked, they've skyrocketed to my second band ever. I haven't even watched your reaction yet but I'm excited either way. Gimme Chocolate isn't really the best first time experience for newcomers, but it IS an experience ❤ Here's hoping you can get past the Amuse copyright monster better in the future .. this band is truly a wild ride that I think/hope you'll enjoy! There is so much more than just the music. The choreo is one of a kind.. most songs tell a story and the choreo acts it out as Su sings ...and well, the Kami band is Dream Theater level skilled musicians!
I actually gave this band a miss for a couple of years because I wasn’t a fan of Gimme Chocolate, but when I heard some of their other stuff it really clicked. Headbanger especially is a great song! I know some out there don’t like them, but if Sabaton, Rob Halford and Rob Zombie are happy then I have nothing to complain about from an ‘old-school’ perspective.
Same happened with me after watching Gimme Chocolate back in 2014. But after watching "Akatsuki live at Budokan Black Night" a couple years later, I started becoming a fan. I have been listening to BABYMETAL literally DAILY since 2018.🤘🦊🤘
Also same. Gimme Chocolate I found to be a cute oddity but it didn't draw me to check out anything else. Then, a few years later I heard Headbanger, which lead me to Catch Me If You can. Then I saw the live version with the band solos for the intro, and I was hooked. Not a fan of their new stuff, but it was to be expected. No one could keep up that kind of high energy stuff for their whole career. Also doesn't help with the missing members.
The thing about Give Me Chocolate was it is one of their first tracks when they were just starting out. The message of the song is from Su Metal loving chocolate but knowing its bad for you (at one point Moa and Yua "shoot" her with their fat gun). Babymetal started off as part of Sakura Gakuin, which was a large girl group that did the cute school girl thing (In fact, the premise was that they were part of this "middle school", and Babymetal was the "metal" club of the school). If you notice you don't really see the musicians (before Kami, their backing band was Baby Bones) - that's because they are basically playing "air guitar" and pretend playing their instruments. In fact, this song was on a DVD given out at Sakura Gakuin concerts. It was only after the creator noticed that people were really into the group that he decided to have them evolve into an actual metal band and being able to perform live. This song is basically aimed at the young girls (and surprisingly middle aged men) that loved girl groups in Japan.
They used a backing track for this song performed live at Legend 97, on some other songs they used musicians to back them up. Funny thing is, Babymetal is touring at this moment with some members from Galactic Empire as the main musicians. They're called the Western Kamiband, because you also have the Eastern Kamiband from Japan, all excellent musicians. This song "Gimme Chocolate" was I hate to use the term Gimmick, but it stood out and got the attention from the metal music scene as planned. The lead singer has a few solo songs, Akatsuki, No Rain No Rainbow, Rondo of Nightmare (Live at Budokan) that are certainly worth checking out, you'll be surprised by the production and musical quality during the live shows, all from a few years back. For newer material, please check out the Trilogy of Lights Live, the songs and the band have matured, and the songwriting is very interesting, new, and very original and powerful. Love your reactions and to be honest, I was surprised you chose this song from Babymetal. Mostly the follow-up song to react to Gimme Chocolate is Road of Resistance, the Live version, with real musicians of another level !! :)
c.2014 I saw BabyMetal on a "streecorner" in Shinjuku. They were just a few dozen people watching. The stage was super small and I don't remember if it was just the 3 singers. I only watched for a minute but found it quite shocking. Incredible how big the band got. The band has chops and the kids are very professional.
Babymetal's backing band is called the Kami Band (not seen in this video, the guys in skeleton costumes are actors pretending to play over backing track and have not been used since 2013) which is a rotating cast of some of the best session musicians Japan has to offer. I see you did a reaction to Galactic Empire for May the 4th. Fun fact! Galactic Empire opened for BM a few years ago and then some of the members of Galactic Empire became members of the Kami Band of the West, backing Babymetal on U.S. and European shows (they are already used to wearing masks on stage! Lol). Kami means Spirit or god, they are the gods of guitar, bass and drums summoned by the Fox God to support Babymetal during live performances. They do not perform on studio recordings (with the exception of guitarist Leda Cygnus who does have a few recording credits).
i just saw a different live baby metal video that blows this one away...."catch me if you can". it starts with each band member getting featured before the girls come out.
The bands original lineup consisted of of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal", Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal" , and Yui Mizuno as "Yuimetal" . In October 2018, Babymetal announced that Yui Mizuno had decided to leave the band due to poor health, following her absence from live performances since December 2017. After her departure, the band performed with one or more backup dancers at live performances. One of those dancers, Momoko Okazaki (a former member of Sakura Gakuin), joined Babymetal as the third core member in April 2023, under the name Momometal.
You seem to have a good attitude and open mind to new music. With BABYMETAL you definitely found one of the most fun, talented, humble, and unique bands ever. Enjoy the journey if you jump down the Fox Hole. 🤘🦊🤘
Some say that BABYMETAL is a band that measures the music level of those who listen to them. 😊 Also, all the songs are completely different and could be described as different genres. I believe that every time you listen to the same or different songs, they will give you new discoveries and joy. And when you realize it, you will be stuck in a foxhole! The more you know about music, the deeper you will fall.😆 From Japan🦊
Their live performers have been over the years, mostly: Boh - Bass Hideki Aoyama - Drums Isao - Guitar Takayoshi Ohmura - Guitar Mikio Fujioka - Guitar Leda Cygnus - Guitar With the guitars switching among two of them. They are not recognized as official members of Babymetal, they are called the Kami Band and are support artists for Babymetal (the three girls). The music is written by several renowned japanese music writers in the pop and rock scenes, and overseen by their producer, Key Kobayashi, that's the creator and mastermind behind the project, the guy who thought about merging idols and Heavy Metal. The Kami Band lost Mikio Fujioka when he passed away due to an accident in 2018, and they also lost one of the dancer girls, Yui Mizuno, that decided to leave the group in 2018. After using some temporary replacements finally in 2023 a girl named Momoko Okazaki has been confirmed as her substitute. BABYMETAL is now Suzuka Nakamoto, Moa Kikuchi and Momoko Okazaki. Stuff from their last album, for example, check Mirror Mirror.
I love baby metal! Been a fan sine 2011. Found their first album at an FYE with my kiddos. Had no idea who they were or what they sounded like. So we hop in the car, pop in the CD. First track is Gimme Chocolate. My kids and I are flabbergasted. Such hard hitting metal and anime soundtrack sounds combined!
Babymetal is the innovator of this genre. Every album has been more incredible than the last album. Babymetal has become a staple of mine and of my friends. I enjoyed your analysis of the song very much. I cannot play any instrument but I love good music . I don't understand what they're singing about but music is international. Do more on Babymetal.
As an amateur in music analysis, I'm always amazed in the way you show how all those pop songs are built out of very well knowned music devices, even if adapted to moods or regional traditions. Pitaghoras and all in ancient time showed that music is made of sounds related to each other by strong relationsips (octave, third ...). And the more those relations are respected, the more music is felt as "pleasant" ... In what you are saying about this peculiar song, I find connections with what my organ teacher ( I play the organ) calls "modified chords", when one or two notes of a chord are sifted a whole or a half step up or down. Tonality remains centered, but the feeling changes in a subtle way. Thank you again for the cleverness of your videos!
Love this band! And you know, since I discovered them accidentally on TH-cam one day, I've seen a whole lot of people with a whole lot of diverse specialties listen to and watch Babymetal. And no matter how it matched their personal taste, I have never heard a single critique about the quality of their work from anyone with musical expertise of any kind. They are simply one of the best acts around, which for something that started with 3 girls between 10 and 12, really says a ton about them.
You sort of mentioned it in the video, but I'd still like to point out that this particular song is probably mostly known for its shock value and I don't think it's a great representation of Babymetal, at least not anymore. I'd recommend something more current like Karate live in Budokan or No Rain No Rainbow in Hiroshima. Their latest album has some of their best work, but there aren't many concert videos yet, and that's where Babymetal truly shines But now that you have started reacting to japanese metal, you'll probably be flooded with recommendations for many different bands anyway haha
When Babymetal began, all three girls were part of the Japanese Idol group Sakura Gakuin - a very cute school girl concept. In fact part of their story was they all were in this middle school created for tv and would sing and dance cute songs (if you see Sakura Gakuin, the dance that Moa and Yuimetal does is based on the choreography from that group). Babymetal actually started out as the "metal" club of the school. This song was performed at Sakura Gakuin concerts, which is aimed at their young girl and middle aged men fans. It was only after there was a lot of interest from the audiences that the creator decided to make Babymetal an actual metal group and changed their songs.
@@jamesrawlins735 thank you! I did know about their past roughly, about them being a subgroup of Sakura Gakuin, but I hadn't considered how young their target audience was at that time. It's still unfortunate that this is how most people get introduced to Babymetal. It's not a bad song, but it's so jarring watching this one after having watched Metal Kingdom or listened to Divine Attack lol
It's awesome you tried them, but from musical side and song building perspective, I think there are much more complex songs that you will enjoy from this band. Try "Rondo of Nightmare" live at budokan black night! :)
It's so satisfying when a Babymetal virgin peeks unknowingly into the foxhole, begins by "Gimme chocolate" and the surprised face when Moa and Yui do their "ata ta ta tata ta ta kyun!"😃 Welcome to The One, it's always nice when a professional does a review/reaction 💯 Since there are 200+ comments already, I guess the flood of Babymetal lore has begun, along with the suggestions to react to the Best Su-Metal solos, etc... please bear with us 😮
A little backstory... The song Gimme Chocolate is about the addiction of a certain band member to chocolate. No surprise that the tempo is pretty much the same, and the pedal notes in the song are pretty much the same, as the Metallica song Master of Puppets - which is also about addiction.
I strongly recommend their song "Catch me if you can", not only does the live version start with a series of great solos from the band, but the song combines the singers' young voices with growling =)
This is the most brutal heavy song for a chocolate.😂 They also have one song for chewing gum, another for papaya salad. There are many male or female J-metal bands, but the genre Kawaii metal, unfortunately, Babymetal is the only band in the world. Babymetal music is not only metal plus j-pop, but also well meshed different music elements into one song, so no song sounds alike. Looking forward to your next reaction.
it's been a year, and you haven't reacted to anymore babymetal! i would have never known about them if it hadn't been for someone suggesting them to you,and now i'm obsessed with them! there is so much more to them than "gimme chocolate". please give them another shot.i have so many favorites it's hard to pick one to suggest,but "road of resistance live in japan" is a very popular video. it's from their earlier days,but it shows the level of audience control this band has,especially the lead singer su-metal. if you want something more current watch "monochrome",but any live performance will not disappoint.
Great reaction BABYMETAL has been a great fun for me They made the days during the lockdown mush fun Today I’m at the hospital because on Sunday I had some memory loss But this reaction made my day Why? Because you about to learn that BABYMETAL is a very unique and special band The best live performers in the world The biggest metal band ever from Japan They love and admire by every metal musician they had performed with So you should check to songs next one is very important for the girls It is fun and very insane HEADBANGER LEGEND 1997 The same concert that GIVE ME CHOCOLATE IS THEN You need to see the FIRST TAKE PERFORMANCE OF MONOCHROME PIANO VERSION I think you are going to love this one It is amazing Also happens to be about HIROSHIMA as SU is from that city So thanks for the happy moment Hope you do this two songs I’ll be waiting From LA John
That monochrome version from THE FIRST TAKE is about 100x better than the original studio version. Fell in love with the whole THE FIRST TAKE "experience" with that, and damn this channel is good and has some serious gems in it. Anyway, take care, and get well soon.
Babymetal's discography is akin to a theatrical feast. Gimme Chocolate is THE sugary appetizer which - depending on your taste buds - could be awesome or awful. I myself find Gimme Choco insanely addictive. The main course comprise of a more than 50 dishes of various flavors, borrowing from all sorts of musical cuisines and heritage. You ask what is the accompanying drink? Easy...Babymetal Death. 😂😂😂
Babymetal is of the genre "cute-metal" (Kawaii = cute) but following along with the tradition of Japanese "idol" style of presentation. They have been around for over 10 years now, all the girls are in their 20s. And there's been one member that was recently replaced. Their style covers lots of geres and it's not just metal mixed with cute girl voices. They do rap, indian folk music, rock, ballads, but largely metal.
The entire band is amazingly talented, but Su-Metal is just in her own universe as a singer. I hope you go down the foxhole in a rough timeline to see their natural progression - it's worth it to see them grow into the powerhouse of a band they become, and Su-Metal surprises with more power and precision virtually every new song. I've never been so impressed with a singer as I am with Su-metal, I hope you continue the journey, they are fantastic.
The paradox thing is "Gimi Chocolate" may be their most viewed video (and, by the way, it is not their debut single, which would be "Doki Doki Morning") but it isn't even nearly the most loved song amongst their fans. In fact, most polls are usually won by "Megitsune". Which has a very nice official music video - just to give a hint - and also predates "Gimi Chocolate" as a single release...
oh there are tons of different japanese metal out there .. Ningen Isu, Broken by the Scream, Unlucky Morpheus, Jupiter, Otoboke Beaver ( I lied they are Punk) , PassCode, Iron Bunny, Maximum the Hormone , Mary's Blood, Band Maid... dozens more... Also, there are NO bad Babymetal tunes they are all excellently done! If you want a newer Babymetal .. BxMxC is a real romp :)
There are no bad Babymetal songs, but damn that last studio album is seriously badly engineered soundwise imo. Songs are good, but not the recording. Can't wait to hear the best songs performed live at this point. And yes indeed that Japanese metal scene is INSANELY talented. And I love you SO MUCH from not going with 2 of the most "promoted" bands in reaction channels first (aka LOVEBITES, and that you gave very good takes before adding Band Maid to the mix) Pretty sure since you mention many oldre bands, you also include NEMOPHILA in the "dozens more" bands. If you never heard of them, you should check them out. Pretty hit or miss, but most likely hit for you I guess due to your very good list. (Damn I love Unlucky Morpheous)
I love Babymetal, dude. They are super fun and enjoyable. Watch any of their live shows and you'll see the hard work put into action. Intense chorography and wildly skilled band, who call themselves the Kami Band. They are so fun.
This was a transitional concert where the earliest tacks used studio recorded backing with actors dressed as skeletons - Gimme Chocolate, and other slightly newer pieces with a real backing band called the Kami Band - two lead guitarists, a bass guitarist, drummer and additional recorded music. Soon afterwards it was always this live band
Welcome to the Foxhole and BabyMetal journey 🦊🤘🌐 Cool to hear you got all the info you need for your first BM reaction and i hope your metal monday becomes BM monday. You still need to know a couple of more things such the Kami Band (which they not here) and the new official member MomoMetal since last month, but don't worry, you'll get there, eventually. Just careful with these ladies they can drag you into the Foxhole and you don't wanna let it out.🦊🤘🍫
I've been struggling to find awesome music made in the 21st century., besides Radiohead, Rammstein Bonamassa and a few others . But when I stumbled on Babymetal a few months ago I was as perplexed as so many others have been by them. What a breath of fresh air these girls and guys are! More importantly- they are pure fun :) I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I do .
Finally you have arrived at my 2nd fav after Rush haha. Every song is different and they will amaze you. For YOU I would recommend the live version from "Tales of the Destinies" which is a bit similar to Dream Theater. I bet you will love that...Greets from germany. If you wanna have a short look what they did in Sakura Gakuin - th-cam.com/video/tvjXi6X5EP8/w-d-xo.html - all three are in the left group btw. Enjoy.
I absolutely love when people with formal musical training react to this group! I'm sure you'll have a lot of other comments, packed full of facts about this group, so I'll keep this short. I hope you do more Babymetal reactions!
Such an awesome band! This song is what usually gets people interested, it's so different. But when you start going deeper, they have some reaaaaally cool stuff. I'd recommend watching a lot of their live performances, especially Road of Resistance live in Japan, and Syncopation [Live compilation HQ].
The guy who designs their sets is the best in the business. I think their Budokan stage was his best work. That or Yokohama 2015 with the giant fox statues.
Finally getting into babymetal ? It was long overdue. There's a lot to cover with this band, as they adapt all kind of metal genres. You should check Rondo of Nigthmare, certainly one of their most interesting piece (although not the most popular).
Well, gotta add a second comment after watching, since on the iPad I can’t edit comments for some reason: You are probably going to experience first hand that BABYMETAL are polarizing. There will probably be comments cursing you for featuring this band that destroys Metal. People like me, on the other hand, believe that branching out like this is essential for Metal to stay relevant. For me personally, they dethroned Dream Theater, who had been my favourite band for about two decades. This band is just so incredibly entertaining and fresh, I can’t get enough of them. And the positivity they ooze is a welcome change in Metal. Their total spectrum of music is very wide, from songs that are even more playful than this to others that are very heavy and (almost) pure Metal. And of course everything in between and a lot of stuff on the sides. You‘ll find influences from Hip Hop, Waltz, Reggae, Ska, EDM, Dubstep, Latin and Indian tunes and more, and all that is fused with various sub-genres of Metal. There’s also a song that could come straight out of Dream Theater‘s book. One would think that this couldn’t work, but I guess that you have already gotten an idea that it actually does. And it only gets better once you see past the initial weirdness. Add to that other unusual facets like a dance choreography for every song, the positive aura, insane stage production, and amazingly talented musicians, great interaction with the passionate crowd, and you get a pretty complete package of entertainment. I have always been a metalhead, and I certainly wouldn’t have accepted dancing in my Metal back in my teenage years. Thankfully, I have grown up, and it can hardly be denied that it adds a lot to the entertainment value. Gimme Chocolate certainly isn’t the most sophisticated song, both musically and lyrically. But it is very entertaining and still makes me smile every time. Their lyrics are often open to interpretation, so a simple song about chocolate and fear of gaining weight might actually be criticizing social pressure, which I think is probably an even more relevant topic in Japanese society than it is here in the West. I‘m sure you‘ll get heaps of recommendations for other songs. But since you asked for something recent, my recommendation would be „Monochrome“ from the latest album. It’s going to be less weird, though. :-) The band comprises of session musicians, but there has been a relatively stable cast over the years, most notably Hideki Aoyama on drums, Takayoshi Ohmura and LEDA Cygnus on guitars, BOH (Daisuke Bohte) on bass. Another guitarist, Mikio Fujioka, passed away after a tragic accident in 2018 at age 36. Technically, only the girls are marketed as BABYMETAL, although many fans would love to see the band move out of the shadows some more. You might notice in future reactions that all of them are outstanding musicians.
Ah yeah! I hope you get to Band-Maid also. They are another great band from Japan. Much more western influenced tho. Think you would really enjoy them. They’re all incredible musicians
A block for a reaction to Gimme Chocolate is very rare, it had to be a YT gremlin error. It's been reacted to probably more than any song in Babymetal's repertoire. Babymetal does dip into less happy-go-lucky themes, even on their first album with Akatsuki and Rondo of Nightmare. Babymetal is also always better live, and their mixing on the first two albums is a bit loud which drowns out some of the details. The mixing on the two following albums is far better. Babymetal's sound has always involved experimentation, and each song is different from the next, as is each album.
Great first reaction! Babymetal invented kawaii metal and the combination of jpop and metal works so well when executed correctly, which only Babymetal can do 😂 Next suggestion: “Headbanger” from the same show, or “Karate” live at Download 2016, please. 🤘🔥🦊
I first heard Babymetal several years ago, and have enjoyed some of their stuff. I recognize that this song has by far the most views of any of theirs on TH-cam, but I really dislike this one. Part of it is the video game sound you noticed, but also the repetition of phrases throughout. Unfortunately, they do that in several of their songs. Otherwise, they sound good, and the instrumentalists are top-notch. Hands down my favorite song is Road of Resistance (live - th-cam.com/video/zTEYUFgLveY/w-d-xo.html or studio - th-cam.com/video/epv4UVrq6rQ/w-d-xo.html), although Pa Pa Ya (th-cam.com/video/oO7Y8NsnkRg/w-d-xo.html) is also good. You might be interested in seeing how they include a guy who raps through part of that one. Also, Megitsune (th-cam.com/video/cK3NMZAUKGw/w-d-xo.html), Headbanger (th-cam.com/video/2IzR_ClTE8Y/w-d-xo.html), and Karate (th-cam.com/video/GvD3CHA48pA/w-d-xo.html) are pretty good, but all have that same repetition that I find annoying. Metalizm (th-cam.com/video/Gz9_j1SpX5E/w-d-xo.html) is interesting because they appear to be including some Middle Eastern sounds. It's much different from their other stuff, although not a great one IMO. You may especially enjoy No Rain, No Rainbow (th-cam.com/video/pDgqo6fcliY/w-d-xo.html) since it's a slow song which includes a string section and piano.
BM are really fun live - I saw them with Sabaton and Lordi last month, three bands that all put on highly theatrical shows in different ways. They have amazing energy - it sometimes feels like watching a metal ballet - and Su's vocals have matured a lot in the last decade. If you ever feel like doing a double, the _Monochrome_ music video and First Take piano version work really well side by side.
Good reaction 🤙Welcome to the foxhole 🦊🤘 Funny you mentioned video-game because this was used, as well as Megitsune, in Tiny Tina's Wonderland trailer which is how I fell into the foxhole. Keep the Babymetal party going 🤘🔥🦊
If Japanese metal interests you have a listen to Maximum the Hormone and I highly recommend the song Yoshu Fukushu (the video is on tube and it is utterly glorious)
When I first heard this group I thought it was just a gimmick. The more I listened I realized just how well it really works. Catchy, crunchy, and chaos all together. Watch one of their live shows on TH-cam and the crowds reaction is insane. Plus the musicians are basically an Japanese All-Star band.
When I first heard about them around 2014 I though the same. But I got hooked in no time and could appreciate how they got better and better over the years
It is a gimmick, but you're right, it goes really well together. Kobametal is a genius for coming up with the idea of taking two almost opposite genres and mixing them together and essentially creating the concept of kawaii metal. They sound so good together. Megitsune is in my top 10 of best songs ever.
This is the song that gets a lot of people introduced to Babymetal. It goes back to when they were very young. Check out some of their later stuff. They really have matured and gotten better while keeping all the fun stuff too.
Hey Doug, If you are a "Chart Watcher", their first 3 albums made a steady progression in the USA on the Billboard Charts. Their First self-titled album broke into Billboards "Hot 200" Album chart at # 187. Their 2nd album, "Metal Resistance", debuted at #39 on Billboards "Hot 200" Album chart (first Asian group to break into the Top 40). Their 3rd album, "Metal Galaxy", debuted at #13 on Billboards "Hot 200" chart and at #1 on Billboards "Top Rock Album" chart!! And as I said, that was the USA Charts! They had similar, if not better, results in the UK charts and other European charts! Thanks for the reaction and as always.... Put your Kitsune UP!! Po!
I’m a 70 year old metalhead. Been a metalhead all my life. I like BABYMETAL, because it puts a smile on my face. And I’m always happier after listening to the young ladies. The band is awesome some of the best musicians.
...I used to listen to a band named "Loudness". They were a Japanese metal act. from the 80s.Do you remember them?..The Japanese are a very technical people, it shows in their musicianship...But, yeah,"Babymetal "is fun...Rock on ,Omneil
Too bad the girls don't play instruments
@@metalmark1214 Well, if they played instruments, they wouldn't be able to dance, which is one of the things that makes them so fun and unique!
@@funnytoss I have to hand to the promoter that thought up this concept. Take three girls that sing and never knew metal before, recruit accomplished musicians and voila you have a concept as good as the boy bands. I listen to bands that all the members, except maybe the singer, play instruments and compose the music. But everyone has their own likes and dislikes.
@@metalmark1214 At a certain level, "let's try and do something weird and fun" is easier when there are absolutely no expectations for success! Glad it worked out well for them, but their success was by no means guaranteed. Certainly, their talent agency didn't invest a lot of money or resources into the project at first; that came later after they saw how it was blowing up in popularity.
The instrumentals: ☠️⛓️⚰️💣💥💢
The vocals: 🥰🍫🍭💓💖🦊
These girl rocks so hard.
Road of Resistance is an absolute anthem. The band absolutely rips on that one
I suggest you "Rond of nightmare".
This is interesting song,perhaps.
RoR gets my upvote here. Live in Japan is their iconic video that converted many a people from "its a gimmick" to "wow, this actually is a metal band for sure".
@@robxsiq7744 they aren't a metal band. They are a heavy metal Idol Group. Heavy metal is boring. It's not 1968. They aren't Black Sabbath. Being the very first heavy metal Idol Group is much better. Babymetal is the Black Sabbath of heavy metal Idol Groups.
@@赤ちゃんポッポ I hard agree on both "Road of Resistance" and "Rondo of Nightmare" being amazing songs and live performances.
@@KenjaTimu I enjoy Babymetal, but heavy metal is certainly not boring and bands Black Sabbath will be around long after Babymetal is just remembered as the gimmick they are.
I`m 51 years old and I love this group. I hate that this is the first song that everyone is introduced to. It doesn't show Suzuka's INCREDIBLE vocal abilities. The great part beyond the great mix of J-pop and metal, Is their diversity in that metal. There can be elements of jazz, middle eastern, progressive, dubstep, rap, techno, djent, Western pop and even Nordic music. Their diversity, in my mind, is unmatched. They use studio musicians in-house and have basically (it gets complicated) TWO live bands. A western live band and an eastern live band. I assume because of scheduling issues as their eastern live band is also studio musicians. And their live shows are generally absolutely flawless. These girls and their band(s) have been called "the hardest working band in metal" and obviously for good reason. When I saw them in Nampa Idaho (opening for Korn), it was outdoors, it was 105° F, and they didn`t miss a beat even with all the dancing. They are like highly trained athletes. Suzuka went as far as asking the crowd (in English) if everyone was okay out there...I`ve seen them four times now from the largest venue on the last US tour (LA Forum) to the smallest (Portland Oregon`s Roseland Theater), and they blew me away every time. All in all, the Japanese metal scene is mind-blowing TBH. Looking forward to see you dive into more BABYMETAL though as they are pioneers of this genre.
tell me you're a pedo without actually telling me.
Please recommend me your favorite songs of theirs :’)
@@mergedsyrups There are SO many great ones...Karate, Megitsune, Akatsuki, Syncopation, Distortion, Pa Pa Ya, Shanti Shanti Shanti, Mirror Mirror, Metalizm, BxMxC, Monochrome, Road of Resistance, Yava, Brand New Day, Night Night Burn, Starlight, Shine...Some are VERY heavy and some slightly lighter. This song just doesn`t show how diverse their music really is.
Thank you for your kind words! Much appreciated!
Sincerely,
~Yui-Metal
(See you soon) ;)
Here are some fun facts about this song and the group
1. Gimme Chocolate was named one of the most important metal songs of the last 10 years
2. Dragon Force performed this song with BabyMetal
3. The Red Hot Chili Pepper performed this song with them.
4. They are buds with Metallica and Slipknot
5. They had a cameo in Corey Taylor's video
6. They performed the Judas Priest classics Pain Killer and Breaking the Law with Rob Halford of Judas Priest
7. They are the only Asian group to ever hit #1 on Billboards Top Rock chart.
8. BabyMetal and Black Pink are the only albums by girl groups in history to enter the Top 10 of Billboard’s World Albums Year End Chart.
9. In a recent interview Corey Taylor of Slipknot was asked who he listened to at home and he said "BabyMetal"
10. In 2015 Vogue Magazine Japan named them Women of The Year.
As for what to watch next:
1. Head Banger - Legend of 1997 - your will have to change your entire concept of audience reaction. Your headphones will fly off your head.
2. Road of Resistance Live in Japan - Generally considered one of the finest recordings of a live performance ever by anyone.
3. Pa Pa Ya feat. F. Hero
When Metallica saw them live they said they were astonished by their awesomeness
BIllboard made sure that will never happen again with how they've changed their weighting.
Babymetal is a delightfully weird band, saw them live with Sabaton just over a week ago in Stockholm. Don't know much about them, but they were fun to see live.
Same in Glasgow! I’m a fan of Babymetal anyway, but I was shocked at how much energy they had in those clothes under those lights, very impressive!
Stoked to see them live in the coming months.
Their concert DVDs are God level. I highly recommend them. Or daily motion has Metrock 2015. It's a fabulous concert and only 37 minutes. I've probably watched it 20 times.
I think there is also Yokohama 2015 which is longer but equally fabulous but entirely different. Metrock is an outdoor daytime rock festival and Yokohama is an indoor nighttime Babymetal arena show.
I'm going to St. Louis!
Well, unfortunately they absolutely butchered the sound in Berlin.
Nice stage presence, but the sound mixing made the singing horrible to listen to...
You haven’t seen/heard anything yet! Please continue with more BabyMetal reactions. Every song is unique and they cover a wide range of styles.
I often describe them, especially a lot of their early stuff, as a sort of metal music sampler pack.
found the pedo
Went to Scotland (Glasgow) from Malta to see them live with Sabaton. After their gig I had no more energy for Sabaton. Of course I managed to recharge once they started :D . However Babymetal are so good and such an experience to see them live. You should see other stuff from them especially the Live Versions. Their backing band are amazing and the girls are phenomenal!
The Kami Band are some of the most talented musicians on this planet. RIP Mikio Fujioka.
If you want to check out their more recent material, I would recommend Mirror Mirror off the new album. Thankfully, the new stuff seems not to be getting blocked!
That👆
I second this motion
That's good to hear. One wonders if they didn't look around and finally recognize the worldwide growth of other Japanese rock and metal artists via the YT reactor route during the pandemic. Several are touring the states and Europe this year. I just wish more would come north. Free touring artist visas in Canada, in case anyone's listening 😉
I would recomend Monochrome 😁
Great first reaction! 🤘🦊🤘Thank you for giving BABYMETAL a chance!!! BABYMETAL started back in 2010 and since then have performed with, toured with, or opened for Metallica, Korn, Sabaton, Bring Me The Horizon, Dragonforce, Guns N' Roses, Lady Gaga, Rob Halford of Judas Priest (there's a great youtube video of their performance with Rob at a metal award show), and Red Hot Chili Peppers (there is a youtube video of them performing Gimme Chocolate with RHCP, as well as with Korn, and DragonForce), to name a few of many. They have performed at large metal events/concerts in front of 65,000+ skeptical metalheads in Europe (Glastonbury, Download, Sonisphere, etc), US, and Asia. They are the first Japanese band to perform at Wembley arena in the UK. Also, 20+ awards have been given to them. They have 60+ songs and each one is different from the other, so I hope you give the other songs a try. By the way, they have some really great heavy songs too, and I hope you like guitar solos, as well as bass and drum solos, like I do, because they have them too.🤘🦊🤘
What a great surprise! I didn’t expect you to feature BABYMETAL. I have thought about recommending them many times, but I didn’t expect such a recommendation to get through to you. And I wasn’t sure whether you would like them, either. Actually, I still don’t know, because I couldn’t wait before posting. :-)
Rondo Of Nightmare with Mischiefs Of Metal Gods Intro - Su-Metal takes her performance to new heights. With multible time sig.s, it is one of BM's most complex music compositions.
th-cam.com/video/tmMocP99QkQ/w-d-xo.html
There's a version of this on the For The Fox God channel that's 4K and has subtitles.
So glad to see you finally found your way to Babymetal, Doug! It usually takes a few listens to get past the WTF(?) factor but you will be happy that you did! Gimme Chocolate is most people's introduction to the band but there are many better examples. They've just released a new album and now have a more mature, polished sound. You should delve into one of those soon. Thanks, Doug 🙂
Excellent first reaction and analysis - welcome to the BABYMETAL Foxhole.🦊I knew you would be able to see through the shock factor of this song, but it wouldn't have been my recommendation for a first listen as the main reason this video does have so many views is that shock factor with the brutal metal instrumentals and overly sweet JPop vocals clashing - deliberately so in this song.
They have about 60 songs now, each one different to the last. They have songs in virtually every metal genre (thrash, nu-metal, djent, black and death metal, Prog, folk etc) and they will mix or blend in so many other musical styles and genres with the metal - not just JPop, you will find Latin, Bollywood, reggae, ska, EDM, trance, Finnish polka ... actually you name it they have probably done it.
A couple of songs more in your ball park would be 'Tales of the Destinies' followed by 'The One' (these are both Prog Metal and go together) and I will suggest 'Shine' all live of course - BABYMETAL are a live performance act and the visuals play a huge part in what they do.
You asked about the instrumentalists. They are the Kami Band, some of Japan's very best session musicians. They first appeared in October 2012 and were gradually phased in over the next year or more playing at a couple of festivals and the encores in some concerts (including the one in December 2013 where the Gimme Chocolate video was filmed - they were not on stage yet in this one, the guys in skeleton suits - Babybones - were miming the instrumentals to a pre-recorded backing track and they were just there for show, BABYMETAL didn't always have the budget for live musicians. The vocals were live in the live performance of course).
There have been many musicians play with the Kami band - they all have their own bands and projects and there are musicians whi will swap in and out depending on their availability.
They have had the same hard core of about half a dozen musicians play the vast majority of concerts since they became the full time support for all live shows in March 2014 - they are;
Guitarists (2 for each show) - Mikio Fujioka (RIP January 2018), Takayoshi Ohmura, Leda Cygnus and ISAO.
Bass - BOH
Drums - Hideki Aoyama
Since 2019, for the lengthy tours of the US and Europe, the Kami Band of the West (American musicians) have supported BABYMETAL. They are guitarists Chris Kelly and CJ Masciantonio, bassist Clint Tustin and drummer Anthony Barone.
@Simr Khera So you are here to paste copy the same answer everywhere ? at least second time I see your useless take. If you are not here for sharing, please pass your way on an other channel. Thanks.
mucho texto
New reactor to Babymetal... where's the @Grinton300 lore comment? ah, here 🙃
The comparison I like to make between JPop and KPop is this:
KPop is made for export. The whole point of KPop is that everyone will like it.
JPop is made for a Japanese market. They genuinely don't care if people outside Japan get it.
A perfect summary of the JPop/KPop distinction, one that IMHO and experience is somewhat reflective of the respective cultures. Korean culture tends to place a high value on recognition of excellence and external validation of status, while Japanese culture is often more focused on a more personal sense of accomplishment and improvement.
jpop >
I heard a guy in a convenience store in west Texas tell the cashier that he was a professor, teaching classical music and musical theater. I told him that he should look these girls up, because he is equipped to appreciate everything that is going on in there shows (which are extremely theatrical, as well as very accomplished musically).
Welcome to the wonderful world of "happy metal" that is Babymetal! To see just how varied they get in their music, check out another of their early releases, "Iine!" (pronounced "EE-neh" and often mistitled as "Line!". Iine! Is their manifesto telling the world that they will NOT be pigeon-holed into a single style or genre of music, and they still hold true to that with their 4th studio album. Yuimetal left the group in 2018 due to undisclosed health issues. Su-metal and Moametal continued as a duo, supported by backup dancers who danced in Yui's spot to fill out the choreography until this past April when Momoko Okazaki (a.k.a. Momometal) was officially made the permanent 3rd member.
After a few more songs, you will be ready for "Everything you need to know about Babymetal - A Babymetal guide (Updated)" By Cryptic Misery to get all of the answers to your burning questions (at least through their first 10 years).
Kitsune Da O! 🤘🦊🤘
If in the future, you feature Baby Metal again, check out Karate. It's awesome. I love Baby Metal! Thanks for this reaction! Loved it.
Road of resistence live on japan, Catch me of you can, Megitsune, karate(live version from 2016 Download festival), Ijime Damme Zettai live and of course, AKATISUKI
Okay, as a musician and songwriter myself, I suggest that you peruse BABYMETAL'S "Tales Of The Destinies". As far as current music you should do just about anything from the new Album.
Kitsune dao!
tales of the destinies is an amazing babymetal track
Hah, when I first saw Babymetal I didn't realise I needed Japanese idols signing and dancing to metal music in my life but here we are.
Doug I'm so happy about this! I've thoroughly enjoyed all your reactions to my favorite band of all time, Dream Theater. As for Babymetal, I became a fan about half a year ago and I've gotten so hooked, they've skyrocketed to my second band ever. I haven't even watched your reaction yet but I'm excited either way. Gimme Chocolate isn't really the best first time experience for newcomers, but it IS an experience ❤
Here's hoping you can get past the Amuse copyright monster better in the future .. this band is truly a wild ride that I think/hope you'll enjoy!
There is so much more than just the music. The choreo is one of a kind.. most songs tell a story and the choreo acts it out as Su sings ...and well, the Kami band is Dream Theater level skilled musicians!
I actually gave this band a miss for a couple of years because I wasn’t a fan of Gimme Chocolate, but when I heard some of their other stuff it really clicked. Headbanger especially is a great song! I know some out there don’t like them, but if Sabaton, Rob Halford and Rob Zombie are happy then I have nothing to complain about from an ‘old-school’ perspective.
Same happened with me after watching Gimme Chocolate back in 2014. But after watching "Akatsuki live at Budokan Black Night" a couple years later, I started becoming a fan. I have been listening to BABYMETAL literally DAILY since 2018.🤘🦊🤘
Also same.
Gimme Chocolate I found to be a cute oddity but it didn't draw me to check out anything else.
Then, a few years later I heard Headbanger, which lead me to Catch Me If You can.
Then I saw the live version with the band solos for the intro, and I was hooked.
Not a fan of their new stuff, but it was to be expected. No one could keep up that kind of high energy stuff for their whole career. Also doesn't help with the missing members.
The thing about Give Me Chocolate was it is one of their first tracks when they were just starting out. The message of the song is from Su Metal loving chocolate but knowing its bad for you (at one point Moa and Yua "shoot" her with their fat gun). Babymetal started off as part of Sakura Gakuin, which was a large girl group that did the cute school girl thing (In fact, the premise was that they were part of this "middle school", and Babymetal was the "metal" club of the school). If you notice you don't really see the musicians (before Kami, their backing band was Baby Bones) - that's because they are basically playing "air guitar" and pretend playing their instruments. In fact, this song was on a DVD given out at Sakura Gakuin concerts. It was only after the creator noticed that people were really into the group that he decided to have them evolve into an actual metal band and being able to perform live. This song is basically aimed at the young girls (and surprisingly middle aged men) that loved girl groups in Japan.
They were in mid-early teens when they filmed this!
They used a backing track for this song performed live at Legend 97, on some other songs they used musicians to back them up.
Funny thing is, Babymetal is touring at this moment with some members from Galactic Empire as the main musicians.
They're called the Western Kamiband, because you also have the Eastern Kamiband from Japan, all excellent musicians.
This song "Gimme Chocolate" was I hate to use the term Gimmick, but it stood out and got the attention from the metal music scene as planned.
The lead singer has a few solo songs, Akatsuki, No Rain No Rainbow, Rondo of Nightmare (Live at Budokan) that are certainly worth checking out, you'll be surprised by the production and musical quality during the live shows, all from a few years back.
For newer material, please check out the Trilogy of Lights Live, the songs and the band have matured, and the songwriting is very interesting, new, and very original and powerful.
Love your reactions and to be honest, I was surprised you chose this song from Babymetal.
Mostly the follow-up song to react to Gimme Chocolate is Road of Resistance, the Live version, with real musicians of another level !!
:)
c.2014 I saw BabyMetal on a "streecorner" in Shinjuku. They were just a few dozen people watching. The stage was super small and I don't remember if it was just the 3 singers. I only watched for a minute but found it quite shocking. Incredible how big the band got. The band has chops and the kids are very professional.
Maximum the hormone surely must be next, they're the Japanese system of a down to me. Super eclectic and genre bending stuff that has ripped for years
You beat me to it. Seconding.
Oh my god yes
I knew them because of death note, but i still listen to them because they are awesome!
wait till u see ROAD OF RESISTANCE
One of their bst songs is Pa Pa Ya. It features some rap ontop of the rest of the sounds.
Babymetal's backing band is called the Kami Band (not seen in this video, the guys in skeleton costumes are actors pretending to play over backing track and have not been used since 2013) which is a rotating cast of some of the best session musicians Japan has to offer.
I see you did a reaction to Galactic Empire for May the 4th. Fun fact! Galactic Empire opened for BM a few years ago and then some of the members of Galactic Empire became members of the Kami Band of the West, backing Babymetal on U.S. and European shows (they are already used to wearing masks on stage! Lol).
Kami means Spirit or god, they are the gods of guitar, bass and drums summoned by the Fox God to support Babymetal during live performances. They do not perform on studio recordings (with the exception of guitarist Leda Cygnus who does have a few recording credits).
i just saw a different live baby metal video that blows this one away...."catch me if you can". it starts with each band member getting featured before the girls come out.
The bands original lineup consisted of of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal", Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal" , and Yui Mizuno as "Yuimetal" .
In October 2018, Babymetal announced that Yui Mizuno had decided to leave the band due to poor health, following her absence from live performances since December 2017. After her departure, the band performed with one or more backup dancers at live performances. One of those dancers, Momoko Okazaki (a former member of Sakura Gakuin), joined Babymetal as the third core member in April 2023, under the name Momometal.
You have to listen to Tales of the Destinies. It’s BabyMetal goes prog metal.
Rob Halford has said that BABYMTAL is the future of heavy metal
From the album my favourites are Monochrome, Divine Attack and Mirror Mirror. That last one has very interesting guitar compositions.
"However you want to pop" 😂. This song is bizarre at the onset but definitely becomes an earworm. I love your channel Doug.
You seem to have a good attitude and open mind to new music. With BABYMETAL you definitely found one of the most fun, talented, humble, and unique bands ever. Enjoy the journey if you jump down the Fox Hole. 🤘🦊🤘
Some say that BABYMETAL is a band that measures the music level of those who listen to them. 😊
Also, all the songs are completely different and could be described as different genres.
I believe that every time you listen to the same or different songs, they will give you new discoveries and joy.
And when you realize it, you will be stuck in a foxhole! The more you know about music, the deeper you will fall.😆
From Japan🦊
The drummer just kills it. So powerful.
Their live performers have been over the years, mostly:
Boh - Bass
Hideki Aoyama - Drums
Isao - Guitar
Takayoshi Ohmura - Guitar
Mikio Fujioka - Guitar
Leda Cygnus - Guitar
With the guitars switching among two of them. They are not recognized as official members of Babymetal, they are called the Kami Band and are support artists for Babymetal (the three girls). The music is written by several renowned japanese music writers in the pop and rock scenes, and overseen by their producer, Key Kobayashi, that's the creator and mastermind behind the project, the guy who thought about merging idols and Heavy Metal.
The Kami Band lost Mikio Fujioka when he passed away due to an accident in 2018, and they also lost one of the dancer girls, Yui Mizuno, that decided to leave the group in 2018. After using some temporary replacements finally in 2023 a girl named Momoko Okazaki has been confirmed as her substitute. BABYMETAL is now Suzuka Nakamoto, Moa Kikuchi and Momoko Okazaki.
Stuff from their last album, for example, check Mirror Mirror.
I love baby metal! Been a fan sine 2011. Found their first album at an FYE with my kiddos. Had no idea who they were or what they sounded like. So we hop in the car, pop in the CD. First track is Gimme Chocolate. My kids and I are flabbergasted. Such hard hitting metal and anime soundtrack sounds combined!
Babymetal is the innovator of this genre. Every album has been more incredible than the last album. Babymetal has become a staple of mine and of my friends. I enjoyed your analysis of the song very much. I cannot play any instrument but I love good music . I don't understand what they're singing about but music is international. Do more on Babymetal.
As an amateur in music analysis, I'm always amazed in the way you show how all those pop songs are built out of very well knowned music devices, even if adapted to moods or regional traditions. Pitaghoras and all in ancient time showed that music is made of sounds related to each other by strong relationsips (octave, third ...). And the more those relations are respected, the more music is felt as "pleasant" ...
In what you are saying about this peculiar song, I find connections with what my organ teacher ( I play the organ) calls "modified chords", when one or two notes of a chord are sifted a whole or a half step up or down. Tonality remains centered, but the feeling changes in a subtle way. Thank you again for the cleverness of your videos!
Love this band! And you know, since I discovered them accidentally on TH-cam one day, I've seen a whole lot of people with a whole lot of diverse specialties listen to and watch Babymetal. And no matter how it matched their personal taste, I have never heard a single critique about the quality of their work from anyone with musical expertise of any kind. They are simply one of the best acts around, which for something that started with 3 girls between 10 and 12, really says a ton about them.
You sort of mentioned it in the video, but I'd still like to point out that this particular song is probably mostly known for its shock value and I don't think it's a great representation of Babymetal, at least not anymore. I'd recommend something more current like Karate live in Budokan or No Rain No Rainbow in Hiroshima. Their latest album has some of their best work, but there aren't many concert videos yet, and that's where Babymetal truly shines
But now that you have started reacting to japanese metal, you'll probably be flooded with recommendations for many different bands anyway haha
When Babymetal began, all three girls were part of the Japanese Idol group Sakura Gakuin - a very cute school girl concept. In fact part of their story was they all were in this middle school created for tv and would sing and dance cute songs (if you see Sakura Gakuin, the dance that Moa and Yuimetal does is based on the choreography from that group). Babymetal actually started out as the "metal" club of the school. This song was performed at Sakura Gakuin concerts, which is aimed at their young girl and middle aged men fans. It was only after there was a lot of interest from the audiences that the creator decided to make Babymetal an actual metal group and changed their songs.
@@jamesrawlins735 thank you! I did know about their past roughly, about them being a subgroup of Sakura Gakuin, but I hadn't considered how young their target audience was at that time. It's still unfortunate that this is how most people get introduced to Babymetal. It's not a bad song, but it's so jarring watching this one after having watched Metal Kingdom or listened to Divine Attack lol
It's awesome you tried them, but from musical side and song building perspective, I think there are much more complex songs that you will enjoy from this band. Try "Rondo of Nightmare" live at budokan black night! :)
the band are all professional music teachers
It's so satisfying when a Babymetal virgin peeks unknowingly into the foxhole, begins by "Gimme chocolate" and the surprised face when Moa and Yui do their "ata ta ta tata ta ta kyun!"😃
Welcome to The One, it's always nice when a professional does a review/reaction 💯
Since there are 200+ comments already, I guess the flood of Babymetal lore has begun, along with the suggestions to react to the Best Su-Metal solos, etc... please bear with us 😮
Would love to see what you think of their take on a prog anthem (Tales of the Destinies).
A little backstory...
The song Gimme Chocolate is about the addiction of a certain band member to chocolate. No surprise that the tempo is pretty much the same, and the pedal notes in the song are pretty much the same, as the Metallica song Master of Puppets - which is also about addiction.
" Live BABYMETAL is Life "
love the detailed analysis. keep up the good work! It's the happy side of metal music and I love it!
I strongly recommend their song "Catch me if you can", not only does the live version start with a series of great solos from the band, but the song combines the singers' young voices with growling =)
This is the most brutal heavy song for a chocolate.😂
They also have one song for chewing gum, another for papaya salad.
There are many male or female J-metal bands, but the genre Kawaii metal, unfortunately, Babymetal is the only band in the world.
Babymetal music is not only metal plus j-pop, but also well meshed different music elements into one song, so no song sounds alike.
Looking forward to your next reaction.
"Most brutal"? You clearly haven't heard "We Love Sweets" by Hanabie yet 😀
Two and a half minutes of "WTF was THAT?!"
@@normanweaver7935 Chocolate could be sweets, unless it's sugar free, but sweets do not equal to chocolate, right?😊
@@craigwang7857 Fair lol. Was mostly trying to get more ears and eyes on Hanabie. They're utterly bonkers and I love them 🤪
@@normanweaver7935 👍
Opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Guns N Roses, KORN, Stone Sour, "Painkiller", "Breaking the Law" (with Rob Halford), Etc ...
it's been a year, and you haven't reacted to anymore babymetal! i would have never known about them if it hadn't been for someone suggesting them to you,and now i'm obsessed with them! there is so much more to them than "gimme chocolate". please give them another shot.i have so many favorites it's hard to pick one to suggest,but "road of resistance live in japan" is a very popular video. it's from their earlier days,but it shows the level of audience control this band has,especially the lead singer su-metal. if you want something more current watch "monochrome",but any live performance will not disappoint.
This X💯. 🦊 🖖❤
Great reaction
BABYMETAL has been a great fun for me
They made the days during the lockdown mush fun
Today I’m at the hospital because on Sunday I had some memory loss
But this reaction made my day
Why?
Because you about to learn that BABYMETAL is a very unique and special band
The best live performers in the world
The biggest metal band ever from Japan
They love and admire by every metal musician they had performed with
So you should check to songs next one is very important for the girls
It is fun and very insane
HEADBANGER LEGEND 1997
The same concert that GIVE ME CHOCOLATE IS
THEN
You need to see the FIRST TAKE PERFORMANCE OF MONOCHROME PIANO VERSION
I think you are going to love this one
It is amazing
Also happens to be about HIROSHIMA as SU is from that city
So thanks for the happy moment
Hope you do this two songs I’ll be waiting
From
LA
John
That monochrome version from THE FIRST TAKE is about 100x better than the original studio version.
Fell in love with the whole THE FIRST TAKE "experience" with that, and damn this channel is good and has some serious gems in it.
Anyway, take care, and get well soon.
@@haileene703
Thanks
I’m ok
But BABYMETAL always makes it better
@@johngiaccardi2299 they do bring that smile and energy back for sure 😉
Babymetal's discography is akin to a theatrical feast. Gimme Chocolate is THE sugary appetizer which - depending on your taste buds - could be awesome or awful. I myself find Gimme Choco insanely addictive. The main course comprise of a more than 50 dishes of various flavors, borrowing from all sorts of musical cuisines and heritage.
You ask what is the accompanying drink? Easy...Babymetal Death. 😂😂😂
Babymetal is of the genre "cute-metal" (Kawaii = cute) but following along with the tradition of Japanese "idol" style of presentation. They have been around for over 10 years now, all the girls are in their 20s. And there's been one member that was recently replaced. Their style covers lots of geres and it's not just metal mixed with cute girl voices. They do rap, indian folk music, rock, ballads, but largely metal.
The entire band is amazingly talented, but Su-Metal is just in her own universe as a singer. I hope you go down the foxhole in a rough timeline to see their natural progression - it's worth it to see them grow into the powerhouse of a band they become, and Su-Metal surprises with more power and precision virtually every new song. I've never been so impressed with a singer as I am with Su-metal, I hope you continue the journey, they are fantastic.
Totally agree.
Only the Fox God knows..
Two of the guitarists that has helped this band is Takayoshi Ohmura and Marty Friedman of Megadeth.
BABYMETAL - Ijime,Dame,Zettai - Live at Sonisphere 2014,UK (OFFICIAL) - Please?
The paradox thing is "Gimi Chocolate" may be their most viewed video (and, by the way, it is not their debut single, which would be "Doki Doki Morning") but it isn't even nearly the most loved song amongst their fans. In fact, most polls are usually won by "Megitsune". Which has a very nice official music video - just to give a hint - and also predates "Gimi Chocolate" as a single release...
oh there are tons of different japanese metal out there .. Ningen Isu, Broken by the Scream, Unlucky Morpheus, Jupiter, Otoboke Beaver ( I lied they are Punk) , PassCode, Iron Bunny, Maximum the Hormone , Mary's Blood, Band Maid... dozens more... Also, there are NO bad Babymetal tunes they are all excellently done! If you want a newer Babymetal .. BxMxC is a real romp :)
There are no bad Babymetal songs, but damn that last studio album is seriously badly engineered soundwise imo. Songs are good, but not the recording. Can't wait to hear the best songs performed live at this point.
And yes indeed that Japanese metal scene is INSANELY talented. And I love you SO MUCH from not going with 2 of the most "promoted" bands in reaction channels first (aka LOVEBITES, and that you gave very good takes before adding Band Maid to the mix)
Pretty sure since you mention many oldre bands, you also include NEMOPHILA in the "dozens more" bands. If you never heard of them, you should check them out. Pretty hit or miss, but most likely hit for you I guess due to your very good list. (Damn I love Unlucky Morpheous)
LOVEBITES is #1.
I love Babymetal, dude. They are super fun and enjoyable. Watch any of their live shows and you'll see the hard work put into action. Intense chorography and wildly skilled band, who call themselves the Kami Band.
They are so fun.
This was a transitional concert where the earliest tacks used studio recorded backing with actors dressed as skeletons - Gimme Chocolate, and other slightly newer pieces with a real backing band called the Kami Band - two lead guitarists, a bass guitarist, drummer and additional recorded music. Soon afterwards it was always this live band
Welcome to the Foxhole and BabyMetal journey 🦊🤘🌐
Cool to hear you got all the info you need for your first BM reaction and i hope your metal monday becomes BM monday.
You still need to know a couple of more things such the Kami Band (which they not here) and the new official member MomoMetal since last month, but don't worry, you'll get there, eventually. Just careful with these ladies they can drag you into the Foxhole and you don't wanna let it out.🦊🤘🍫
I've been struggling to find awesome music made in the 21st century., besides Radiohead, Rammstein Bonamassa and a few others . But when I stumbled on Babymetal a few months ago I was as perplexed as so many others have been by them. What a breath of fresh air these girls and guys are! More importantly- they are pure fun :) I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I do .
Would highly recommend Band-Maid, Rolling Quartz and Nemophila. All great female bands.
Go down the deep rabbit of J-Metal and J-Rock. There is so much more talent and great music coming out of Japan.
Finally you have arrived at my 2nd fav after Rush haha. Every song is different and they will amaze you. For YOU I would recommend the live version from "Tales of the Destinies" which is a bit similar to Dream Theater. I bet you will love that...Greets from germany. If you wanna have a short look what they did in Sakura Gakuin - th-cam.com/video/tvjXi6X5EP8/w-d-xo.html - all three are in the left group btw. Enjoy.
X Japan are a really cool Japanese hard rock/metal band.
I absolutely love when people with formal musical training react to this group! I'm sure you'll have a lot of other comments, packed full of facts about this group, so I'll keep this short.
I hope you do more Babymetal reactions!
Such an awesome band! This song is what usually gets people interested, it's so different. But when you start going deeper, they have some reaaaaally cool stuff. I'd recommend watching a lot of their live performances, especially Road of Resistance live in Japan, and Syncopation [Live compilation HQ].
I'm not into Metal or J-Pop music but for me this band just works! I'm a fan. Also, whoever art directs their videos is a genius.
The guy who designs their sets is the best in the business. I think their Budokan stage was his best work. That or Yokohama 2015 with the giant fox statues.
Ladies and gentlemen, WE GOT HIM.
Finally getting into babymetal ? It was long overdue.
There's a lot to cover with this band, as they adapt all kind of metal genres.
You should check Rondo of Nigthmare, certainly one of their most interesting piece (although not the most popular).
Babymetal - "Metali". Awesome!
Dont miss rondo of nightmare live at budokan black night
More BabyMetal. Ijime dame Zettai live at Sonisphere 2014
Ijime Dame Zettai is very underrated. I wish they performed it more live nowadays. So as No Rain No Rainbow.
Well, gotta add a second comment after watching, since on the iPad I can’t edit comments for some reason:
You are probably going to experience first hand that BABYMETAL are polarizing. There will probably be comments cursing you for featuring this band that destroys Metal. People like me, on the other hand, believe that branching out like this is essential for Metal to stay relevant. For me personally, they dethroned Dream Theater, who had been my favourite band for about two decades. This band is just so incredibly entertaining and fresh, I can’t get enough of them. And the positivity they ooze is a welcome change in Metal.
Their total spectrum of music is very wide, from songs that are even more playful than this to others that are very heavy and (almost) pure Metal. And of course everything in between and a lot of stuff on the sides. You‘ll find influences from Hip Hop, Waltz, Reggae, Ska, EDM, Dubstep, Latin and Indian tunes and more, and all that is fused with various sub-genres of Metal. There’s also a song that could come straight out of Dream Theater‘s book. One would think that this couldn’t work, but I guess that you have already gotten an idea that it actually does. And it only gets better once you see past the initial weirdness.
Add to that other unusual facets like a dance choreography for every song, the positive aura, insane stage production, and amazingly talented musicians, great interaction with the passionate crowd, and you get a pretty complete package of entertainment.
I have always been a metalhead, and I certainly wouldn’t have accepted dancing in my Metal back in my teenage years. Thankfully, I have grown up, and it can hardly be denied that it adds a lot to the entertainment value.
Gimme Chocolate certainly isn’t the most sophisticated song, both musically and lyrically. But it is very entertaining and still makes me smile every time. Their lyrics are often open to interpretation, so a simple song about chocolate and fear of gaining weight might actually be criticizing social pressure, which I think is probably an even more relevant topic in Japanese society than it is here in the West.
I‘m sure you‘ll get heaps of recommendations for other songs. But since you asked for something recent, my recommendation would be „Monochrome“ from the latest album. It’s going to be less weird, though. :-)
The band comprises of session musicians, but there has been a relatively stable cast over the years, most notably Hideki Aoyama on drums, Takayoshi Ohmura and LEDA Cygnus on guitars, BOH (Daisuke Bohte) on bass. Another guitarist, Mikio Fujioka, passed away after a tragic accident in 2018 at age 36. Technically, only the girls are marketed as BABYMETAL, although many fans would love to see the band move out of the shadows some more. You might notice in future reactions that all of them are outstanding musicians.
WAY TO GO DOUG.🤟 Yes more babymetal and more Zappa❤😊
I really need to see a reaction to babymetal's "Tales of the destinies" and after that "the One" the two songs belong together
That would be awesome
Ah yeah!
I hope you get to Band-Maid also. They are another great band from Japan. Much more western influenced tho. Think you would really enjoy them. They’re all incredible musicians
Check out Mirror Mirror, or Monochrome from The Other One.
Looking forward to seeing them live here in Melbourne in 2 weekends time.
Babymetal do also have more serious songs. An early one is Ijime, Dame, Zettai (No more bullying, forever).
I love the synth. It evokes uk rave, late 80s when the Juno Hoover patch dominated.
A block for a reaction to Gimme Chocolate is very rare, it had to be a YT gremlin error. It's been reacted to probably more than any song in Babymetal's repertoire.
Babymetal does dip into less happy-go-lucky themes, even on their first album with Akatsuki and Rondo of Nightmare. Babymetal is also always better live, and their mixing on the first two albums is a bit loud which drowns out some of the details. The mixing on the two following albums is far better. Babymetal's sound has always involved experimentation, and each song is different from the next, as is each album.
Great first reaction! Babymetal invented kawaii metal and the combination of jpop and metal works so well when executed correctly, which only Babymetal can do 😂
Next suggestion: “Headbanger” from the same show, or “Karate” live at Download 2016, please. 🤘🔥🦊
I first heard Babymetal several years ago, and have enjoyed some of their stuff. I recognize that this song has by far the most views of any of theirs on TH-cam, but I really dislike this one. Part of it is the video game sound you noticed, but also the repetition of phrases throughout. Unfortunately, they do that in several of their songs. Otherwise, they sound good, and the instrumentalists are top-notch. Hands down my favorite song is Road of Resistance (live - th-cam.com/video/zTEYUFgLveY/w-d-xo.html or studio - th-cam.com/video/epv4UVrq6rQ/w-d-xo.html), although Pa Pa Ya (th-cam.com/video/oO7Y8NsnkRg/w-d-xo.html) is also good. You might be interested in seeing how they include a guy who raps through part of that one. Also, Megitsune (th-cam.com/video/cK3NMZAUKGw/w-d-xo.html), Headbanger (th-cam.com/video/2IzR_ClTE8Y/w-d-xo.html), and Karate (th-cam.com/video/GvD3CHA48pA/w-d-xo.html) are pretty good, but all have that same repetition that I find annoying. Metalizm (th-cam.com/video/Gz9_j1SpX5E/w-d-xo.html) is interesting because they appear to be including some Middle Eastern sounds. It's much different from their other stuff, although not a great one IMO. You may especially enjoy No Rain, No Rainbow (th-cam.com/video/pDgqo6fcliY/w-d-xo.html) since it's a slow song which includes a string section and piano.
BM are really fun live - I saw them with Sabaton and Lordi last month, three bands that all put on highly theatrical shows in different ways. They have amazing energy - it sometimes feels like watching a metal ballet - and Su's vocals have matured a lot in the last decade. If you ever feel like doing a double, the _Monochrome_ music video and First Take piano version work really well side by side.
Good reaction 🤙Welcome to the foxhole 🦊🤘 Funny you mentioned video-game because this was used, as well as Megitsune, in Tiny Tina's Wonderland trailer which is how I fell into the foxhole. Keep the Babymetal party going 🤘🔥🦊
If Japanese metal interests you have a listen to Maximum the Hormone and I highly recommend the song Yoshu Fukushu (the video is on tube and it is utterly glorious)
When I first heard this group I thought it was just a gimmick. The more I listened I realized just how well it really works. Catchy, crunchy, and chaos all together.
Watch one of their live shows on TH-cam and the crowds reaction is insane. Plus the musicians are basically an Japanese All-Star band.
When I first heard about them around 2014 I though the same. But I got hooked in no time and could appreciate how they got better and better over the years
It is a gimmick, but you're right, it goes really well together. Kobametal is a genius for coming up with the idea of taking two almost opposite genres and mixing them together and essentially creating the concept of kawaii metal. They sound so good together. Megitsune is in my top 10 of best songs ever.
Great reaction! We want more BABYMETAL 🔥🔥🔥🤘🦊🤘
The "backup" musicians are quite famous in Asia with long histories.
BABYMETAL - Rondo of Nightmare (w/ Mischiefs of Metal Gods Intro) LIVE at Budokan
th-cam.com/video/tmMocP99QkQ/w-d-xo.html
I discovered them way to late , like last year . Downloaded entire catalog, jpop and metal , works so well apparently .
This is the song that gets a lot of people introduced to Babymetal. It goes back to when they were very young. Check out some of their later stuff. They really have matured and gotten better while keeping all the fun stuff too.
Hey Doug,
If you are a "Chart Watcher", their first 3 albums made a steady progression in the USA on the Billboard Charts. Their First self-titled album broke into Billboards "Hot 200" Album chart at # 187. Their 2nd album, "Metal Resistance", debuted at #39 on Billboards "Hot 200" Album chart (first Asian group to break into the Top 40).
Their 3rd album, "Metal Galaxy", debuted at #13 on Billboards "Hot 200" chart and at #1 on Billboards "Top Rock Album" chart!!
And as I said, that was the USA Charts! They had similar, if not better, results in the UK charts and other European charts!
Thanks for the reaction and as always....
Put your Kitsune UP!! Po!