After getting the release version a good blast on my sound system, I can say that I really like this song, it's a nice contrast to Stamp! I like both a lot so I can't pick a favorite.  Overall I am happy with this release.

Listening to Flashback No.5, it gave me rush listening to it. Stamp made me chill in my car with my roof off. .clap.

Now that the single came out and we all can listen to the full version of the new songs in high quality, I must confess I'm missing TOMOMI's sweet and high-pitched voice more than ever. Happy to see I'm not the only one. Let's launch a "I wanna hear TOMOMI singing some verses of Flashback No.5" campaign. Man, this beat is almost asking for her to sing.

Still about the b-side: it sounds incredibly better in HQ, the beat is very addictive. I simply love the "sanhankikan takanatte" lines on the choruses. Now I see how previews can be so unfair to a unreleased song. But "Stamp!" remains as my favorite from this single. When HARUNA hits the high notes on the chorus, it's like I could reach the blue sky of summer.

Ono Sasazaki wrote:I don't see why some ppl say it feels incomplete or w/e. It feels like a perfectly good song to me.

Yeah, to me it's almost perfect. The thing I guess some people might be saying about how it's recorded might be because it *does* sound a little different than the sort of stripped down, extremely clear recording they did on what seemed like the more recent songs on HW. It seemed like they had settled on a sound where all the instruments were very distinct. I liked that sound too, but on Flashback No. 5 they're back to a more traditional sound where the drums and bass are a bit buried in the mix.

I gotta say though, I listened to the song about five times in a row before leaving for work this morning. (I don't yet have it transferred to my phone, so I knew I couldn't listen to it after that.) I really love it. Haruna sounds like a badass on it, the way she used to on many of their early songs (I like it when she sounds like she wants to punch something). And it really sounds uniquely Scandal in a way that I don't think Stamp does. It sounds exactly like the kind of song I was talking about earlier; this is what I look to them for. I just can't imagine any other band I like playing Flashback No. 5.

Still not a fan of the auto-tune but I can overlook it for this song.

spacecadet wrote:I don't think their songs need to be more complex. They're not Rush...

I'm pretty sure there's a big difference between being more creative and being more complex. To be honest, Rina hasn't really been stepping up her playing since STANDARD and the offbeat pattern in Flashback No.5's chorus is so similar to SO MANY songs they've done in the past. It's getting old and repetitive. With the members having more control of their music, I was hoping that
Rina could put in more skills in songs but it hasn't happened yet.

raynsity wrote:

spacecadet wrote:I don't think their songs need to be more complex. They're not Rush...

I'm pretty sure there's a big difference between being more creative and being more complex. To be honest, Rina hasn't really been stepping up her playing since STANDARD and the offbeat pattern in Flashback No.5's chorus is so similar to SO MANY songs they've done in the past. It's getting old and repetitive

maybe it's her style and what she feels right for the song, I mean it's like criticise AC/DC because they have some of the most basic drum beats ever and the song are all the same, or David Gilmour because all of his solos are being played with the same style,(I'm exaggerating, I love both)
all artist have the tendency to end up using the same pattern, it's sort of a safe zone.
another example is Led zeppelin, John Bonham was an amazing drummer, but to be honest he kept using the same pattern in the majority of the songs but not for this you say "oh god, another bonham triplet.."
I think we, fans, expect to much from them, we want them to change and improve, but on the other hand we don't want them to change that much.
for me the only thing that I care is that they are happy and satisfied as artist, and for that they can keep doing the same stuff or experiment every time with a different style.
we don't have to forget we are just end users, and we can't expect they'll change for us just because we "pay their paycheck"
(I'm sorry..it ended up just as a rant...)

While I disagree with the statement that Rina hasn't stepped up her playing (she played some amazing stuff on Hello World), I've also noticed how there's a sort of inconsistency in the way she plays depending on the song. Some of the singles before Hello World had some extremely basic and boring patterns (like "Departure" and "Yoake no Ryūseigun"), but other songs from the same era were so much more interesting and exciting, like "Image", "Your Song" and some of the new songs on the album.

I'd like to say that she's able to adapt her playing to the song, but at the same time I agree that "Flashback No. 5" would have benefited a little variation (although I haven't listened to it enough to notice everything -- except for the lack of Timo).

I also kinda disagree with the idea that it's a Scandal-type song that no other band could pull off. I've always found those kinds of songs to sound like your typical J-Rock stuff with very little character except for Haruna's voice.

^ might I join this debate. I've always wondered why Rina purchased double pedals and as I see her as more of a hands drummers, drum fills and cymbal crashing. Her doing so was quite a dream come true purchase when I saw it on the STANDARD tour's set up but then again, like that picolo snare, I've yet to see her incorporate it into SCANDAL's more recent composition. Somehow I have a feeling that Rina bought the pedals for her own use rather than what the band's music requires. I always have my fingers crossed that the next release will have a double pedal fill or something like that. Just use the damn thing. 

Old sound, new sound urgh whatever. Its SCANDAL's sound.

But I had bought Flashback No.5 off iTunes. And I love it.

raynsity wrote:

spacecadet wrote:I don't think their songs need to be more complex. They're not Rush...

I'm pretty sure there's a big difference between being more creative and being more complex.

I was replying to somebody else who said they wanted Scandal's songs to be more complex.

Anyway, lots of creative drummers use a single pedal. Just adding a bunch of stuff to a song is a crutch; it's just showing off. A song's gotta stand on its own. Kudos to Rina for recognizing this.

Also, to be honest, Scandal's got a pretty crazy good rhythm section, and a slightly less good guitar section. I'm sure neither Tomomi nor Rina want to show up Mami or Haruna, which from what I've heard both on albums but especially live, they almost definitely could. A group like Rush, which puts ridiculously complex stuff into every song, works because all three members are equally skilled on their instruments. That's not really true of Scandal. Mami and Haruna are skilled in other areas that Tomomi and Rina might not be, but in a straight musicianship competition (which is what it turns into when you start throwing complicated instrumentals onto a recording), Tomomi and Rina are going to overshadow the other two. And nobody wants that.

^Exactly my thoughts as well. That's why I am feeling whenever Tomo and Rina perform they somehow hold back(I am not sure of the proper term) and not overplay everything. As to the double pedals thing, maybe one of these days we might hear it. 

Anyway, my order of the single will arrive today... Oh yes

spacecadet wrote:Just adding a bunch of stuff to a song is a crutch; it's just showing off.

Is it really? I don't think I could interpret it that way. As in the case of SCANDAL, who at first, didn't know how to play their instruments, I'd react to it in a positive, complimenting way. Some of us older fans who have witnessed them surprisingly skyrocketing their musical skills in just a short period of time would be glad to see how far that would take them, and it's just sometimes it seems the drums section feels stagnant. Like in Flashback no.5, the song is more on rhythm and there's not much of Mami there, I think that'd be nice to demonstrate Rina's skills there. A pattern of this type doesn't seem to hurt


maybe im just expecting too much. I dont mind if they will make songs in their own way or anything

Second day『 Stamp! 』still on 5th place.

Listening to the instrumental version of Stamp! made me appreciate the song in a completely different way.

hapihapi wrote:Some of us older fans who have witnessed them surprisingly skyrocketing their musical skills in just a short period of time

I am an older fan also. It's not really a short period of time that they've had to learn their instruments at this point. They're celebrating their 10 year anniversary this year. After 10 years, they *should* be better than competent players. With the amount they work and play live, they should have better chops than almost any band out there by now. It would be more surprising if they didn't.

They don't need to prove that to anyone anymore. They just need to make good songs.

Flashback NO.5 is much more my cup of tea than Stamp! I like it very much. .clap.

Gaki-san2001 wrote:Flashback NO.5 is much more my cup of tea than Stamp! I like it very much. .clap.

I strongly agree with you 

My copies of Stamp! got here early yesterday surprisingly. Seeing as they were sent out the night before, I wasn't actually expecting to get them exactly the next morning haha.

After hearing a full and clear version of Flashback No. 5, I really like the song. The intro is nice and it really does have a more 'aggressive' feel to it I guess you could say. I like songs like Flashback a lot and I'm always happy to see SCANDAL releasing them.

I'm really fond of both Stamp! and Flashback since they're both genres I typically like. It was a different type of single but I think it worked out well. Pretty happy with the results of the single.

Just finished watching both DVDs, very emotional if you have seen them on the World Tour, it definitely brings some nice memories back.

I just received mine 1hr ago, I must say DVD's contents are awesome!!
I almost cried!!! I was really excited
Graduation is the best in my opinion, TOMOMI's bass lines are amazing.
The only thing I dislike about the CD, is that the art is really simple. In the back part of the CD there is nothing but the tracklist. Inside the CD, the same, is really boring.

I was listening to flashback no. 5 at work all day and I was so pumped! I ended up getting so much more work done lol

3rd day 『Stamp!』 is on 3rd place with 3536 sales

Another debate? I hope you don't mind me, giving my piece of mind about the matter you're all talking about
About Rina's drumming- I liked how Rina made much use of the fills (tom-toms), honestly I love the whole drumming in this song. It's very fitting.
I don't want to think that Rina is only making use of these same drum patterns because this is what their music is, this is their style in our eyes. Like one user said, it is getting too repetitive.
I hope they would take another leap and go for something new. If Rina is learning new drum patterns and making use of the double pedal in her free time/practice time, I think it's about time she steps up and let the members know for her to use it.

About Timo's bass line- I could actually hear it, not as loud as before but there is no forcing-my-ears needed. It is getting buried sometimes by the effects. I'm sure it'll sound differently and louder when they play this live.

Overall, i'm still happy about this song. I just hope in the future release, there would be something different and still bring more solid rock (?) sound. Crossing my fingers that Sisters would be a rock song but it sounds like a ballad's title. Although I liked Flashback no.5 than Stamp, I'm not really excited hearing this in Instrumental as there are too many effects (mix? synthesizers? idk the term)

As for the DVD's, I really like "Hon wo Yomu". Mami really gets into it! And she sings and plays it really well, and looks really cute doing it. "Graduation" and "Kan Biru" are both good but they feel a little slow to me - these songs may need to be slightly sped up live to carry the same energy as on the album. "Oyasumi" really fell flat for me. I don't think you're actually even hearing the live guitars during the heavy parts (there are a few telltale signs), and Rina's singing with an obvious backing track.

Of course the older songs sound like they almost always do, which is great.

I wish I could have this on Blu-Ray but I like these little in-between live discs when they do them. They're a little less overproduced than the standalone live discs. They have more of a feel of their early live DVD's. There's not as much auto-tune, it's a smaller show, and it's more about the music than being flashy. I wish they had released the whole show, but this might be all we're gonna get from it.

I thought about Mami singing Hon wo Yomu and got teary eyed so I decided to rewatch both DVDs. Cried during Hon wo Yomu and a little during Oyasumi. Just thinking about Hon wo Yomu is enough to make me teary eyed so I am as I am writing this as well. No other song has this effect on me, it is so magical.

Tomomi and Mami getting really close to Haruna during SCANDAL BABY will never get old, such a cute scene. The litte head bump between Haruna and Mami is super sweet.

This second viewing was about three times better than the first viewing, I probably was more in the right mood for it this time.

Kan Biiru has been always my favorite. In the DVD, it's much slower compared to what I remembered in SG or HK which gives the song a more sentimental feeling. I love it more when it's played like that especially with Tomomi's sweet vocals.