Artistic emancipation of two idol singers - A review of The Idol Formerly Known as Ladybaby's Beside U

After Ladybeard's sudden departure from Ladybaby, remaining singers Rie Kanako and Rei Kuromiya decided to continue as a duo. Instead of continuing under the Ladybaby banner, the idol group re-branded itself as The Idol Formerly Known as Ladybaby which is clearly inspired by a similar move by American pop singer Prince in the nineties. The duo had perhaps lost its most unique member and decided not to replace him by a similar artist. Instead, the band rather adapted a sound comparable to other Japanese rock and pop idol groups with only very few metal influences in form of occasional guest musicians or background singers. The image of the duo also changed quite a bit, moving away from quirky, lighthearted and creative elements to a more serious, profound and emotional tone. The two band members were portrayed as very close friends in the music videos of that era and there were even a few hints at a possible romantic relationship. This direction was certainly inspired by Russian duo t.A.T.u. that had received a lot of controversial attention in the beginning of the millennium.

The same can't be said about The Idol Formerly Known as Ladybaby. Even though the three singles released under that moniker performed surprisingly well on the Japanese charts, the duo had certainly lost its unique identity. The duo was never really able to find a new consistent artistic direction. Rei Kuromiya left the duo after a little bit more than a year. A few months later, the greatest hits compilation Beside U, featuring nine songs from three singles as well as one brand new track, was released and also managed to enter the Japanese charts. Sadly, no video album of that era has been released to date. 

The compilation shows that the duo was trying to find a new niche as the different songs are stylistically diverse. ''Pelo'' for instance is a vibrant rock song with a dynamic rapper on guest vocals and a surprising vintage piano break in the middle section. ''Me! Me! Me!'' on the other side is an uplifting pop punk song with a childish but energetic chorus. ''Easter Bunny'' goes back to the group's origins as it mixes cute pop vocals with growls by an unknown backing singer while the music varies from metal over rock to pop influences with even a few slightly jazzy elements. ''Lady Baby Blue'' on the other side is an elegiac, emotional and inspiring alternative rock ballad that enables the two singers to show their skills in five haunting minutes. New song ''Shibuya Crossing'' however is much colder and could be described as trendy danceable electronic pop track with a few dynamic metalcore interjections.

Beside U might not have a clear guiding line but it's incredibly entertaining and offers multiple soundscapes varying from death metal over metalcore to alternative rock as well as electronic pop music and even even jazz and rap elements can be found. The only guideline are the two vocalists who are obviously much more in the spotlight than before when most people only focused on cross-dressing growler Ladybeard. This record can be seen as the artistic emancipation of Rei Kuromiya and Rie Kaneko and shows how talented they really are. In my opinion, this release represents the group's most interesting and most underrated era and it would have been interesting to see what this duo could have become if it had ended up finding its very own niche.

This compilation might therefore even be more interesting than the previous output because it includes ten diversified songs with a running time around forty-one minutes and features a generous booklet with forty-eight pages as well as a poster. The release also comes in book format and looks much better than the previous One Year Best 2015-2016.

In conclusion, if you like Japanese idol music meandering between metal, rock, electronic and pop music, you should certainly get this great compilation. If Ladybeard was the reason why you initially fell in love with the band, you should listen to some songs and watch some music videos first to verify whether the new material pleases you enough to purchase Beside U. In my humble opinion, both greatest hits records are highly entertaining but I slightly prefer Beside U because it has been crafted with much more attention, care and love.

Final rating: 85%