Well, the number of SH songs are pretty big, and I always find myself having a hard time choosing which song I'll show to a friend, in order to convince him that SH is awesome, as we all know.

So, the question is:

Assuming that you have a friend that never heard J-music in general before, and never heard anything similar to SH, which song would you choose that would have more chances of being "accepted" by newcomers? Which song summarizes the whole SH style, if there is any?

Because I really can't decide, and I always end up showing small parts of many songs, in "desperate" mode, trying to show as many songs as I can before my friend gets bored or decides that he doesnt like SH at all.

I end up showing small parts of a pack of songs as well, because SH's style isn't condensed into a single song. And even then it depends on the person I'm showing it to; I showed Yoiyami to a friend of mine the other day because he likes darker songs, rock, and classical music; to one of my more easy-going friends I showed Endia.
But really I think showing bits and peices is the best way to go, though is pushed I'd pick... Asa to Yoru, Istoria or Ark.... I guess... Damn this si hard.

I'll say only one:

Conquistadores

My non-Japan fan friend absolutely loved it.

Interesting!

And also, it depends on your friend will, right?

But let's consider that you will show to someone that tends to decide things in life based on "first impression".

In that case, you better choose the song well, otherwise he may discard the possibility of enjoying the band from the very start.

I personally struggle trying to find THE ONE... for example: I like the catchy violin parts on Asa to yoru, BUUUT... the one singing is Revo, and I love the fact that SH is full of awesome female singers, so I can't show asa to yoru anymore, because my friend will think all the songs are sung by a male vocal (remember that my hypothetical friend may not want to listen to many different songs...). And this goes on forever, on my obssession to find the song that shows everything, I can't really decide.



And let's add another question to the topic: Would you rather show your friend only the music, or the live video?

The good part of showing Live is that people I'm showing to normally get more interested, because they have more things to pay attention to. But the bad part is that they may be picky to some integrant of the band, and don't like it for that reason.

A classic example was from before I knew SH... I was into Versailles quite a lot, and I decided to show to a friend. It was going smoothly, and he liked the song. But I was showing a PV of them(or live i dont remember), and he said : "What a beautiful guitarist"(refering to Hizaki as a girl). The problem is that Versailles is a Visual-kei band, and "she" was actually a "he". But after I said it to him he felt embarassed, and decided to don't like the band anymore >.<





Sooo, comment on this *_*, video or music? and which song to show? (I'll try conquistadores and ark later, and I may post the result here ^^)

I think that Ishidatami no akeki akuma is a good way to begin with SH... Like, you have a lot of harmonies, the folkloric style Revo loves, you have his singing, but NOT as the main singer really, since the gitanos sisters sing more than him. You have the narration, discretly... And I think that Ishidatami's PV is the easier to see when you don't know at all about SH.
For the live, it's... well, more difficult to find a thing to not make your friends run away if they are desesperated by the cosplay-ish side of the Live version. I think that the lives versions of Endia and the Knight are the better, if I had to choose. But anyway, it's my tastes and my way to see things, unfortunaly xD The thing is that in general we always share the things we like the most to our friends for them to discover, so it can be different between each person.

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I don't have the feeling that my comment was useful...
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Sorry, I really speak to say nothing in fact x'D

I told a friend (who is not into Japanese music and doesn't understand Japanese at all) to listen to Elysion without telling him anything about the plot of the album or anything, so that he only paid attention to the music and decided if he liked it. And yes, he did like it a lot, but when I gave him translated lyrics and started to tell him about El, Abyss, the five girls, the murders, Heaven, Hell and everything surrounding the album, he got depressed and said "I've listened to it in a terribly wrong way!". In other words, I traumatized him U>_>. He promised me he would watch Moira live, though .

Nowadays I would probably recommend listening to Asa to Yoru no Roman, mainly because the violin melody that sounds all the time makes it "easy" to listen to and there's nothing... errr... "disturbing" in it. At least not as disturbing as a dying 8-year-old girl that speaks to his father's corpse about heaven =|. Other songs I would show them could be... dunno... Istoria... Hikari to Yami no Märchen, maybe... or some from the doujin era, such as Koibito wo Uchiotoshita Hi, Kowareta Marionette, Hiiro no Hana, etc., etc. Oh, and I make sure to show Seisen no Iberia and Conquistadores to every Spanish friend I have. They find the "Dioooooos Reconquista!!" part really funny xD.

And yes, I would definetly show people the lives. They make songs clearer for non-Japanese speakers, they are funny to watch, they are pretty spectacular in general and there are songs that sound muuuuuch better live (almost everyone in Moira, from my point of view). So yes, undoubtedly.

@Yin: Funny, Elysion would be one of the last I'd show to a non-Japanese-fan person ^^;;;

The lives I'd hold off for a while... To someone who doesn't like/appreciate costumes the outfits are a bit outlandish. Yes, they help show the story but I found some of the outfits to be acquired tastes (like Elef & Misia's).

Ummm in the end I guess I'd second Tsumeokami, except that I'm mortified of Ike's narrations in that one. The rest of the song, though, is absolutely gorgeous and shows off a lot of SH's flair.

At least my sister (who doesn't like Sh, orz) said 'no' to vid. Also to the friend I played Conquistadores with my cellphone, haha, so she didn't see any video. It gives nice effect when you say 'and oh, this is live btw, not a recording'. ..Or at least in some cases haha.

Maybe it is a good idea to get them hooked to music before showing any lives. Also, I think some of the amazingnes from how much work Revo does. Maybe don't mention he's a king and such, but tell how much work he does for it and such. Maybe.

My advice would be to avoid Jimang(although I love him) and Ike, naturally. But if you think that your friend can deal with Ike, I'd second Ishidatami no Akeki Akuma, that song even my adamantly not-Laurant friend likes. xD (And if you think they can handle Jimang, Hi iro no Fuusha also seems to go over well. Kaori's voice is easy to accept as great, and the song is lively, so I think most people can appreciate it.)

I thought Conquistadores would go over well too, but then my friend just ridiculed it! Sheesh. Again depending on your friend, there are songs that aren't so shocking or different like Utsukushiki Mono... But I'd only use them as traps to lure people into SH's snare, as they don't really encompass the total style at all. Actually, I guess to choose only one song to show, I'd pick Kono Semai Torikago no Naka de. There is not too much narration, Joelle's singing is simply lovely, and there isn't really a sudden change in musical style, which I think newer listeners can find jarring.

For the lives I'd only show it to a friend if they don't mind cosplay, and even then there are ones I'd never show (even if I myself love them). But the TTE III live of Endia would be one I'd recommend, as there's nothing shocking in it and it's really, really nice while showing off many of the vocalists.

I agree to say it totally depends on the person. If he's more a metal / rock fan, I'd start by Hikari To Yami for sure.

I agree I'd also avoid Jimang at first. His voice is really special, and for sure not everybody will like it. Same goes for Aramary. People who aren't used to listen to Japanese music often don't like high pitched voice like hers.

Asa To Yoru is a good song to start with I think.