Recently, I have been listening a lot of Scandal, to the point that they are now my #1 Last.fm band, and I noticed something as I compared their recent album with their old stuff.
Their style changed a lot, Queens are Trumps has a different feel from the other albums, it still feels like Scandal, but not the old Scandal. Back in the day, their songs got a "happy schoolgirls playing happy schoolgirly music" vibe, and in this album I think they are being, by a lack of a better word, more "serious" than they ever were. And I sincerely think this is awesome, they are showing their talent way more than they did in the early albums.
What do you guys think? Do you agree with me and think this a beginning of a new chapter in Scandals history? Do you disagree and think I am just talking nonsense? Please, let's discuss!
And sorry if I didn't make myself clear, this thought just came to me and I didn't have the time to think things through, maybe you will help me out!

Misinterpretation of your title, I thought it was some rant that SCANDAL has lost their sound and other stuff. But no, which is good.

Ummm I feel that SCANDAL has changed in every single, album or anything they've released. In a show featuring SCANDAL, after QAT (or before... anyway around that promotion time) they wanted to improve themselves as a band, they've tried improving their image but it didn't work out as well... so they've decided to concentrate on expressing it through music. A factor of the change could be the fact they had been asked by people if they actually played their instruments. Which I believe would come as some offence to the girls; people think good looking girls can't be in a band, etc.

They're not showing talent as such... (no I don't mean they aren't talent). But seriously you can't be making each single or album sound the same.... through practicing, your skills have got to improve no matter what....

I would say Queen Are Trumps album shows more of a variety than any of their previous albums. You may say its their talent, but I believe its the diversity in the album which shows off more of their skills and abilities to play their instrument and as a band.

Its not a like a huge step forward... they always starting a new chapter. :0

Bands have to evolve or they die !
If you listen to any band each album is usually very different from the one before.
I liked 'Queens are Trumps' but to me it had a very 1980's sound.
I would love to see them rock a little more ( like "Space Ranger" ! )

@tonymiller
Yes, bands have to evolve. A great exemple (because I like Metal) : Metallica. Their album "St Anger" is very different of the others, but I like it (the track "Some kind of Monster" is just awesome !).

A factor of the change could be the fact they had been asked by people if they actually played their instruments. Which I believe would come as some offence to the girls; people think good looking girls can't be in a band, etc.

Woww ! I can't believe someone asked that question to them. For me, there is no doubt, of course they play live.

Nice topic.

Yes I agree, with QAT they girls have outgrown their old selves and are ready to be considered to be a "proper" band now. They abilities as musicians have shown marked improvement from before and they can pull off more mature, more complex stuff now. They are now more than up to it, technically.

When I listen to QAT, I feel that this album is so vastly superior to their earlier stuff in all aspects they are not even in the same league.

I do understand if some people miss their old raw simplicity. I sometimes do too. Despite that I approve of their changes and they can only get better from now on. I have no wish for them to return to their old sound. That's all history now, to me.

Looking forward to more and more from our young ladies.

EDIT: Oh yeah, that thing about them being asked about whether they really played their own instruments. I watched that interview.

In a way, I think the way they are now may partly be driven by the desire to prove that they indeed can play. They are definitely up for it now, just listen to songs like Bitter Chocolate and Rising Star with all the triplets and the off-beat drumming and the time changes. Some of their new stuff is actually really tricky. I've seen them play these live too in KL, they are really, really good now.

This just show that their band grew and improved more~ Bands evolve or else it will die~ As long as they're happy about it~ I'm truly happy to support them~

I can not talk about evolution .... I think it's very good now, but I also love the old songs.

Yeah I miss the old Scandal ... songs like Beauteen, DOLL, Sakura Goodbye never gets old ... but when I compare them to the new ones ... I must say that I like their songs now

But I don't really see it that QAT is the end of the 'classical' Scandal ... it's just an improvement of their old style... their songs are still cheerfully-sounding as ever but the maturity is just over the top....

This is why respect them so much ...

macdyne73 wrote:
Yes I agree, with QAT they girls have outgrown their old selves and are ready to be considered to be a "proper" band now. They abilities as musicians have shown marked improvement from before and they can pull off more mature, more complex stuff now. They are now more than up to it, technically.

When I listen to QAT, I feel that this album is so vastly superior to their earlier stuff in all aspects they are not even in the same league.

Yes, you got my idea right.Talking about technical aspects and playing skills, they evolved in all of their albums and singles, but in this album they seem to have become more mature. That's what I meant with "happy schoolgirls playing happy schoolgirl music" when talking about the early Scandal.

bleachnlife wrote:
A factor of the change could be the fact they had been asked by people if they actually played their instruments. Which I believe would come as some offence to the girls; people think good looking girls can't be in a band, etc.

This is also truth, they are not in it just for fun anymore, they are becoming serious and want us to know that.

It's clear, a band must to elvove, a lot of exemples can be find, Linkin Park for me is a good exemple...

By the way, for me, it's just an evolution, we I hear Doll then Bitter Chocolate, I can say "there is a difference" but nothing negative, I can cleary say "this is SCANDAL Style" even my friend etc... can say "this is the same band !", and I find this evolution a bit positive, you can say when you listen Doll "This was the time of Schoolgirls" and then Bitter Chocolate "Now they are womans"... "but they still are SCANDAL"

Eeeeh it's hard to explaim

By the way, for me it's not the end of classical SCANDAL, we just had one beginning, the beginning of SCANDAL band, but we don't have any ends yet, we will see in the future ! (the only end for me is if they disband)

well... i think they had said it since a long time ago. and i don't really realize it 'cuz i start really love them on baby action days, which is the days they're starting to change to be more serious.

i think it's good though.
for me, they're writing their journey from they was a high school girls until now in their singles and albums. it's really... #cry... touching. it's a beautiful journey, and that what makes me wanna start a band man life too someday, either in just a small indie band or in a really big famous band.

nice topic btw!

I don't think they are that serious yet but they are grown ladies now, so they should at least try to sing songs that reflect their age

Hmmm... Quite an interesting topic.

Well I guess it kinda depends on the definition of 'Classic SCANDAL'... In every single and album like others have said, they have always continued to evolve from the 'Classic SCANDAL' which is not a bad thing at all. This band likes to experiment with new things and techniques which eventually led to a member solely composing a song on her own. Soon after, Mami followed Rina's footsteps and also started to compose a couple of songs which I think are all great and show the 'MAMI-ness', especially with Want You's lyrics. This then led to Hikare which I belive is a song completed with just SCANDAL members— lyrics, composition and also arrangement. Composition and arrangement is a big step along with the lyrics as well which I think continues to reflect on their growth as not only individuals but also as a band. I truly do believe that one day they could release an album with everything solely written, composed and arranged by the members without any assistance.

In their indies and also Best Scandal, they had that raw, carefree style. Im Temptation Box, they started to experiment a little with diverse songs and more special effects. Baby Action instrumental wise also shows their progress with more difficulty. It was also the first album that featured a song— Very Special which I believe was written by TOMO and RINA. Queens are Trumps show that they developed as women as well, delving into deeper subjects like Kill The Virgin's lyrics as an example even though it wasn't written by the members themselves. Pin Heel Surfer also showed off their ther talents; dancing—which I have nothing against. They were merely trying something new; I believe that was the first time they danced without their instruments in hand. Besides, they came from a vocal AND dancing school so it was to be expected one day.

Where the definition of 'end' and 'classic' may differ, I think that we can all conclude that the girls maturing into women also affected the music styles which I think is great. I would like to think of it as a 'different' continuation rather than an 'end' from the 'classic' SCANDAL. Bands must evolve in order to continue!

I only partially agree with you. Scandal sounds very different on Queens Are Trumps than they did on Best Scandal, but this is not a new development. So far, Scandal changed their style a little bit with every album. In Fact, I believe Baby Action was more unlike Temptation Box than Queens Are Trumps is unlike Baby Action. That's why I think the earlier mentioned comparision to Metallica is a little off, their albums Kill 'em All, Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets and arguably And Justice For All as well had more or less the same style, Scandal hasn't displayed such consistency. If there ever was a 'classical' Scandal

I personally think it's good for Scandal to experiment, and the heavier and more technical (relatively speaking obviously) sound of Queens are Trumps should be a keeper. But I also think it would be better to ditch the string arrangements and synth-sounds on the background of their songs. They rarely add anything to their songs and make them sound overproduced.