BABYMETAL won the "Best Worldwide Act" on the Land Of The Rising Sound Japanese Music Awards 2014 along with the ex Sakura Gakuin Ayami Muto who won the "Best Major Debut Album". Read the reviews to know why BABYMETAL and Ayami Muto won the Awards.
BABYMETAL is the "Best Worldwide Act" of 2014
The growing music site Land Of The Rising Sound published the winners of their Awards for 2014 were BABYMETAL and Ayami Muto were highlighted. Other winners were: Oomori Seiko on "Best J-Pop Act", Dempagumi.Inc on "Best Idol Act", Sakanaction on "Best J-Rock Act", Tofubeats on "Best Electronic Act", Curumi Chronicle for "Best Indie Act", Perfume on "Best Live Act", FEMM on "Best New Act".
Below, the reviews of BABYMETAL for "Best Worldwide Act" and Ayami Muto for "Best Major Debut Album".
BEST WORLDWIDE ACT | BABYMETAL
"This really comes at no surprise. These three little girls rocked the world in 2014, and everyone from any part of the world talked and is still talking about the Japanese phenomenon of the year, BABYMETAL. It all started with Gimme Choko!!, a video and song that got viral in no time and got caught in its web millions of people, including well known acts of the rock/metal scene that shown immediate appreciation and sympathy for SU-METAL, MOA-METAL AND YUI-METAL, something that played a pretty important part in their success as well. Because they did something that’s even bigger than them: They broke through a difficult and “inhospitable” genre like Metal, brought a much needed breath of fresh air in it, introduced metalheads to Japanese music, and got even accepted by it: No other Japanese group in the past ever had such a global success and consideration inside a music niche. And if at the end of the year your photo album features pics with groups like Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, Trivium, Carcass, Deftones and more huge artists of the metal scene, you know you’ve been doing it right.
BABYMETAL gained an enormous and unprecedented success not because watching three teenagers singing and dancing to brutal metal sonorities is “super cool”, because when they hit the stage with those boots and the Kami band raises hell on stage with their instruments, it’s simply a show you can’t escape from. BABYMETAL is one of the rare and few cases of viral artist that got recognition for the talent shown instead of the fact of being a “WTF Japan” two-months phenomenon. We want to see them raising their fox sign around the world as long as possible, and we’re sure they’re gonna rock the world once again in 2015. Kitsune up!"
BEST MAJOR DEBUT ACT | AYAMI MUTO
"After two years performing covers of her beloved 80’s Idols from which she clearly takes inspiration from, the lovely Ayami Muto, former Sakura Gakuin leader, has finally made her long awaited and well deserved Major Debut with an album that surprised more than one person in the J-pop/Idol world. Eien to Shunkan is one of the most convincing albums of this year, and except for some quick, nice reference to recent Techno-pop, its main and clear inspiration is 80’s Idol music filled with synths and melodies, making this album a pleasant listen and, despite its shortness, a very solid one, showcasing great talent in the production team and a lovely and precise singing by Ayami that never goes beyond her capabilities, but instead refines her ability to patiently improve it, something that gave even better results in her most recent live shows. Her years in the Sakura Gakuin unit and the training by well known choreographer MIKIKO (Perfume, BABYMETAL) gave clear results as well, as this girl can dance and sing at the same time with perfect synchronicity, definitely not a dote all the idols out there can claim. Plus, her pure image and lovely personality made of a funny and never too cheesy attitude just makes this girl impossible not to love.
In this first year as Major artist, Ayami did everything perfectly and with great effort: She sings greatly, dances greatly, and it’s backed by a talented production team that delivers great music, making her the best Major Debut Act of 2014. While waiting for her upcoming second studio album coming out in January, we hope to see her popularity increase even more soon as she definitely stands above a lot of the most famous acts for both talent and personality."
