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The Other One (Babymetal album)

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The Other One
Studio album by
Babymetal
ReleasedMarch 24, 2023 (2023-03-24)
Genre
Length41:11
Label
ProducerKobametal
Babymetal chronology
10 Babymetal Budokan
(2021) 		The Other One
(2023)
Singles from The Other One
  1. "Divine Attack (Shingeki)"
    Released: October 20, 2022
  2. "Monochrome"
    Released: November 17, 2022
  3. "Metal Kingdom"
    Released: January 19, 2023
  4. "Light and Darkness"
    Released: February 23, 2023
  5. "Mirror Mirror"
    Released: March 23, 2023

The Other One is the fourth studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal. It was released on March 24, 2023, by Babymetal Records, Amuse, Toy's Factory, Cooking Vinyl America, and 5B Records.[4] Babymetal announced the album on October 11, 2022, and revealed it as a concept album.[5][6] It is the group's last album as a duo, with Momoko Okazaki (Momometal) joining the band shortly after the album's release.

Background and release

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The Other One is presented as a concept album based on a year-long hiatus that the members of Babymetal took from music, as well as the group's ten-year anniversary.[7] According to a press release:

Last year Babymetal were 'sealed' from the world after a successful 10-year journey. In April 2022, The Other One restoration project began to recover the Babymetal we never knew existed within a virtual world called the Metalverse. A total of 10 songs have been discovered within The Other One restoration project, with each song representing a unique theme based on 10 separate parallel worlds that they have discovered. The upcoming concept album features these all-new tracks for us to experience the other Babymetal story that no one ever knew about.[8]

According to the album's story line, each song describes a parallel world encountered by Su-metal and Moametal during a journey through alternate realities.[9] Su-metal described the album as an attempt to move beyond stereotypical beliefs about the group.[7]

The first single from the album, "Divine Attack (Shingeki)", was released on October 20, 2022. This is the first Babymetal song for which all lyrics were written by singer Su-metal.[10][11] The second single from the album, "Monochrome", was released on November 17 with a lyric video, a first for the band.[12] On January 19, 2023, the group released the single "Metal Kingdom", along with revealing the track list for the album.[13] The fourth single, "Light and Darkness", was released on February 23, 2023, with a music video from one of their live shows. Their fifth single, "Mirror Mirror", was released with a lyric video one day before the full album release.[14][15] Babymetal released a music video for the song "Metalizm" on April 21.[16]

Critical reception

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Upon its release, the album received generally favorable reviews from critics. Kerrang! noted that "There’s not as much on their fourth album that will raise eyebrows or provoke a laugh, but Babymetal could never iron out all their eccentricity completely." The magazine concluded that "it’s hard not to have fun when every track here feels suitably like its own adventure, and impressively still, Babymetal sound like they've been steering the ship through these parallel universes not for the first time, but for years."[17] DIY Magazine criticized some of the album's glossy production methods, but concluded that it "is mostly a fun, noisy collection [that] does also offer an infinite rabbit hole to dive down."[18]

Distorted Sound noted that the album "might just be Babymetal's best work yet" while serving as a showcase for "what Moametal and Su-metal can do as a duo".[19] Metal Hammer described the album as continuing Babymetal's ongoing experimentation, and while those experiments can get out of hand, the magazine called the album "unquestionably their strongest compendium of delirium to date."[20] According to Punktastic, the album "is another notch in the cap of the duo and their band, an album that manages to wrangle some form of focus from the group's experimental chaos with more comprehensive songwriting and production."[21] Alec Chillingworth from Louder said that "Time Wave" sounds like a Basshunter with metal sound.[22]

In June 2023, Alternative Press published an unranked list of the top 25 albums of the year to date and included this release, calling it "the metal version of falling into a weird and wonderful internet wormhole".[23]

Track listing

[edit]
The Other One track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Metal Kingdom"
  • Kitsune of Metal God
  • Tatsuometal
5:51
2."Divine Attack (Shingeki)"
3:39
3."Mirror Mirror"
  • The Other Metal
  • Ryu-metal
  • Megmetal
3:50
4."Maya"
  • Mayametal
  • Kanametal
  • Megmetal
3:23
5."Time Wave"
  • Mk-metal
  • Tmetal
  • Tatsuometal
4:50
6."Believing"
3:47
7."Metalizm"
  • Metalian
  • Ryu-metal
  • Megmetal
3:34
8."Monochrome"
  • Mk-metal
  • Yuppemetal
3:57
9."Light and Darkness"
  • Mk-metal
  • Takemetal
  • Tatsuometal
4:04
10."The Legend"
  • Kitsune of Metal God
  • Ryu-metal
  • Megmetal
4:18
Total length:41:11

Personnel

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Charts

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References

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  1. ^ "Reseña: Babymetal - «The Other One» (2023)". cuarteldelmetal.com.
  2. ^ Chillingworthpublished, Alec (March 15, 2023). "Babymetal's ambitious concept album The Other One proves the band have truly come of age". louder.
  3. ^ "BABYMETAL - THE OTHER ONE album review: The Skinny". www.theskinny.co.uk.
  4. ^ DiVita, Joe (March 24, 2023). "Babymetal's Track-by-Track Breakdown of Epic Concept Album The Other One". Loudwire. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  5. ^ Kaufman, Spencer (October 12, 2022). "Babymetal Announce New Album The Other One". Consequence. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "Babymetal、来年発売の初コンセプトアルバムから新曲「Divine Attack - 神撃 -」先行配信" [Preview Babymetal's First Concept Album with "Divine Attack - Shingeki - "]. Natalie.mu (in Japanese). October 21, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Babymetal Returns: Su-Metal & Moametal Feel Like a New Band, Talk First Concept Album The Other One". Billboard. March 24, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  8. ^ "Babymetal release new single and share album tracklist". Kerrang!. January 19, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  9. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (October 11, 2022). "Babymetal Gets Conceptual on New Album, The Other One". Spin.
  10. ^ Moore, Sam (October 20, 2022). "Listen to Babymetal's new single 'Divine Attack – Shingeki'". NME. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  11. ^ Carter, Emily (October 20, 2022). "Babymetal unleash brand-new single, Divine Attack – Shingeki". Kerrang!. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  12. ^ Krol, Charlotte (November 17, 2022). "Babymetal share first ever lyric video for new single 'Monochrome'". NME.
  13. ^ Wilkes, Emma (January 19, 2023). "Babymetal share thunderous new single 'Metal Kingdom' and reveal album tracklist". NME.
  14. ^ Nishibiro, Tomokazu; Tanaka, Kazuhiro (March 24, 2023). "Babymetal「The Other One」特集｜初心者でもわかるニューアルバム解説＆WWEプロレスラーASUKA特別寄稿 - 音楽ナタリー 特集・インタビュー". Natalie (in Japanese).
  15. ^ Carter, Emily (March 23, 2023). "Babymetal share final song ahead of new album The Other One". Kerrang!.
  16. ^ "BABYMETALがぴあアリーナワンマンの映像で構成した「METALIZM」MV公開、UK&EUツアーの開催も". Natalie (in Japanese). April 21, 2023.
  17. ^ "Album review: Babymetal – The Other One". Kerrang!. March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  18. ^ "Babymetal – The Other One". DIY. March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  19. ^ Marshall, Will (March 20, 2023). "Album Review: The Other One – Babymetal". Distorted Sound Magazine. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  20. ^ Chillingworth, Alec (March 15, 2023). "Babymetal's ambitious concept album The Other One proves the band have truly come of age". Louder. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  21. ^ Johnston, Fiachra. "Babymetal – The Other One". Punktastic. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  22. ^ Alec Chillingworth (March 2023). "Babymetal's ambitious concept album The Other One proves the band have truly come of age". Louder. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  23. ^ "25 best albums of 2023 so far". Alternative Press. June 23, 2023. ISSN 1065-1667. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  24. ^ a b "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 3 April 2023". The ARIA Report. No. 1726. Australian Recording Industry Association. April 3, 2023. pp. 7, 10.
  25. ^ "Ultratop.be – Babymetal – The Other One" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  26. ^ "Ultratop.be – Babymetal – The Other One" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  27. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Babymetal – The Other One" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  28. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2023-04-03" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  29. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Combined Albums: 2023-04-03" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  30. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of March 29, 2023". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  31. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  32. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Babymetal – The Other One". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  33. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  34. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  35. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  36. ^ "Babymetal Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  37. ^ "Babymetal Chart History (Top Current Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  38. ^ "Babymetal Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  39. ^ "Babymetal Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  40. ^ "Babymetal Chart History (World Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  41. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2023-03" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  42. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums Year-End 2023". Billboard Japan. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
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