Psycho-Pass ED2 Single – All Alone With You – Review
| Album Title: | All Alone With You |
|---|---|
| Anime Title: | Psycho-Pass |
| Artist: | EGOIST: chelly & ryo |
| Catalog Number: | SRCL-8240 |
| Release Type: | OP/ED Single |
| Release Date: | March 06, 2013 |
| Purchase at: | CDJapan |
| Track Title | Artist | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 01. All Alone With You | EGOIST | 5:50 |
| 02. elbadaernU | EGOIST | 4:11 |
| 03. All Alone With You (TV Edit) | EGOIST | 1:33 |
| 04. All Alone With You -Instrumental- | EGOIST | 5:50 |
| 05. elbadaernU -Instrumental- | EGOIST | 4:11 |
| 06. All Alone With You (TV Edit) -Instrumental- | EGOIST | 1:31 |
Review: Every episode of Psycho-Pass takes me down sobering alleyways and dank corridors that become more frightening as they build a sense of dread for what’s to come. The world, already shown in an increasingly harsh, unforgiving light, becomes that much darker and leaves me empathizing with the hapless cast as the struggle turns away from opposing an unrelenting, uncompromising ideologue to one that opposes society’s cold judgment altogether. As this gloomy atmosphere lingers, chelly’s voice bubbles forth, propelled by ryo’s (of supercell) lyrics and composition. Together, the two drive the point home in the ED theme, “All Alone With You,” in a manner that is starkly bleak and absolutely mesmerizing.
From the haze that shrouds Psycho-Pass’s twists and turns, a lonely piano line emerges, its tone plaintive and filled with a great longing. Chelly’s voice then joins in, murmuring a lament as she expresses an existence in an uncaring, indifferent world bereft of warmth, love, and hope, doing in so in a way that’s captivating and profound. The sadness lingers in the verses as chelly navigates the despondent road leading up to the chorus, and from her tone, she’s weighted down by the indifference, letting loose a quiet sigh as she feels resigned to her fate.
With a short pause, the feeling of stress and desperation that’s built up in the singer are unleashed in a cry that resounds with anguish, calling out to anyone who even feels or displays the slightest trace of empathy towards her. She channels the loneliness nicely and while I do think the use of the electric guitar in the chorus distracts from the melancholia, the song as a whole is hauntingly beautiful in light of chelly’s heartfelt struggle to rail against apathy as she trudges onwards.
In light of how well “All Alone With You” stirs my emotions with its sublime, tragic aura, the next song, “elbadaernU” (or “unreadable” backwards) is nothing short of an unmitigated disaster as it jerks me from that pool of melancholia into something far more unpleasant. I’ve never been a fan of the kind of high-energy electro-synth pop dubstep stuff that other people seem to be into these days, so when I listen to “elbadaernU,” the only word that’s fit to describe it would be “obnoxious”: obnoxiousness in the form of synthy bumps, wails, and grinds, and obnoxiousness in the form of a dull, lackluster vocal performance. Where “All Alone With You” bitterly mourns an existence in a world that lacks emotion, “elbadaernU” ironically makes the misstep of being the very thing its preceding track protests against as it’s content to toss a barrage of sound that contribute little to the creation of something wonderful and meaningful.
Oh well. It’s not like I’ve had high expectations for B-sides anyway. But the A-side, “All Alone With You,” allows the Psycho-Pass’s sentiments to sink in in a way that’s thoughtful, but intense as the feelings of loneliness and desperation linger on, leaving me to wonder just how far they can build up within the characters before the characters snap altogether.
Rating: Decent
Psycho-Pass ED 2 – All Alone With You
Wow I was reading this and remembered I had downloaded this release…it made me wanna go check out that B-side…but I’m glad I read this review first, I would have been disappointed. Anyways the main song is great.
@Eric
Doesn’t the B-side just strip you out of your element? At least, that’s how I feel when I listen to it. A smooth, heartfelt song with no bells or whistles, but is wonderful, followed by something so manic, yet dull? Ugh.
I don’t know about the B-sides, but the audio for the main track doesn’t sound right. It’s a bad recording/mastering and it’s pretty noticeable in my opinion. Which is a shame since I like the song.
@random
Can you expand on that? I’m not quite catching what the reference might be to. Is the synth not right or the piano muffled?
Yeah, the electric guitar really seems unnecessary and makes it sound more dramatic than it should be. I didn’t think much of it then but now that you’ve spelled it, it really seems like an excess.
And boy, the B-side seems to have greatly affected the overall score of the single. That sucks, but that’s what it deserves for using dubstep. I don’t dislike dubstep in general but you cannot escape it these days and I’ve really had it up to here with its incessant overuse in every entertainment medium.
@vanthrevolution
I do have a love for more tragic/heartfelt tracks powered by the artistry that a ballad-like piece can provide. The guitars just don’t quite match that. They’re good at expressing rage though, but I don’t feel the rage coming from chelly.
There’s engaging dubstep that’ll make me interested in the rhythm and beat assemblages and wonder what the artist was trying to achieve. Here? I get turned off and kinda pass on it in favor of better fare. Oh well.
I’ve always liked Psycho-Pass OPs and EDs, especially the visual art style. But the music, while great and very well suited to the show, never entirely got into my top list, without any particular reason. Maybe it was eclipsed by the art styles?
@frx
My procession:
Finish anime -> Feel the tingles caused by the suspense that leaves me on edge -> ED theme comes in -> Feel the depths of despair that the song sounds out and really marvel at how well it matches the lingering mood of an anime. That’s what some of the best ED themes do 😀
^This– very much this! Steins;Gate ED was able to do this and I believe Zzeroparticle has already stated that Shin Sekai Yori’s ED1 was able to achieve this. Hyouka’s EDs are another example. This is the sole reason that compels me to sit through certain EDs every week considering I usually skip them.
Totally agree with you guys! It’s always a pleasure when I hear a great new ED, you’re thinking the episode has ended and then it shows off some more!
Yeah, I like this. A good anime closes nicely. Whether it’s the annoying but catchy track from Chobits or the weird closer from LAIN, it’s something that I find quite consistent in Anime in general. Good music!
All Alone with You does sounds good if you already watched the anime, but if you didn’t even know the anime, it sounds horrible. From personal experience here, I only appreciate it once I watched Psycho Pass. I suppose some songs just need context.
Context bias is pretty alive and well in certain parts of the anime music fandom. And then there are people who just kinda love a certain artist no matter what.
I thought Ryo whacked his head or what when I first get the song. Context bias alive and well, alright. Although now I admit the song fits the anime. At least more than Namae no Nai Kaibutsu. Or maybe it’s just the ED animation that did the trick. Or maybe, again, it’s all thanks to the bad quality of the first file I got my hands on.