Blue-skying anime ownership

This crackpot post was motivated by another industry panel where piracy was brought up. It's a discussion of what amounts to a business model that is currently not possible for a variety of reasons. From a content production view, it calls for anime licensing companies to integrate with anime licensor companies at an unprecedented level, an effective amalgamation in all but name. On the technical side, much of the technology already exists. What's lacking is the will. Brace yourselves, this is a bit of a head-scratcher, after these messages.

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Problems with personal storage of any kind

The problems associated with delivering the so-called R1 release are numerous and ought to be well known by this time. First, a licensing company has to step up to the plate at all, and take on the risk of licensing a work. Following that, the script has to be translated, voice actors hired, recording studio time put in, post-processing and disc stamping, promoting the work in the target market, the list goes on. A frequent complaint among anime buyers is the giant time lag between licensing agreement and first volume release. Even then, there may be spelling errors in the subtitles, or the video quality may be inferior to their R2 counterparts.

A personal quibble for me is that DVD (english) subtitles are inevitably yellow and single-line. Maybe it's because I use MPC as my DVD player as I haven't tried others. Regardless, it's ugly.

No matter what, you've bought the product and you're stuck with whatever problems are present. Then there is the problem of storing them. For one thing, if you really want to go all out to support a series and get the collector's box, it takes up more space than just the regular box. For another, the discs may not last forever.

I am hesitant to store anime these days. I may be technically inclined, but that doesn't obviate the fact that I'm also lazy. Burning DVD's is time consuming and they may not last forever (we'll see). Hard drives, despite being cheap and plentiful as external drive solutions, fail and you're not about to try and recover that data. I'm also not desperate enough to construct a RAID system out of multiple drives to back up my anime. What I want, and I suspect a lot of other people would like this as well, is someone to store my stuff for me.

Outsource your storage!

A trend today is that we want to, at least physically, own less and less. Pictures? Put them on an image host. Who needs CD's when that same music can go on to a bit of storage that may or may not have a player with it? Some things we don't even want to keep on our own computers now. Like images, we put our e-mail, our calendars, our feed readers, etc. on servers.

In a roundabout way, I have just cast my vote in favour of anime streaming. I won't have to back up episodes. I don't have to use up existing hard drive space or obtain new drives. Better yet, streaming is flexible. If the player application supports soft subs, I won't have to see ugly yellow subtitles. Video and audio quality can be broadcast grade or better.

There are caveats, though. Obviously I'm going to have to pay money. The question is whether such a service is worth the money as-is. The answer is no. While the service is nice, I want to own the series and all the rights that go along with it. If I want to download it to watch on the airplane, I should be able to. In short, no DRM. If I decide that I want to sell the series, I should be able to. That one's a little trickier to deal with.

Content production

This topic is a bit easier to deal with. Companies with already established licenses for long running series (Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, etc.) would probably have a much easier go at this. To reduce the time lag between japanese release and, say, english release, translation has to start as soon as possible. The shortest time reasonable is only attained if translation commences as soon as the script is released.

Close proximity to the source is also beneficial. Put translators in the same time zone as the original script writers. If they can be put in the same building, on the same floor, even better.

Use soft subtitles. In addition to the flexibility gained by dictating position, colour, font, and special effects for text, they do not force the video to be re-encoded, preserving the original video quality. Any errors can be quickly corrected without a re-encode as well.

Like the current trend in software development, emphasis should be placed on putting out an initial product first and then adding features and even subtitle corrections. Subtitles are all that is required first, followed by dubbing at a later point, and then special music videos and the like. Any consumer who purchases the initial release should be entitled to these future updates and features.

Content protection

While there can't be any DRM, there can be digital watermarking. Watermarks will probably find most success embedded in the video content itself. They must not degrade video quality, and must be robust to attacks via video filters. Such developments are now in progress and may be ready for commercial use.

Content delivery

Any of these companies will either have to retain the services of a content distribution network like Akamai, Limelight Networks, or Google (lol?), or develop their own distribution network capable of providing high, sustained, bandwidth, like a much speedier incarnation of Stage6 if they want to stream HD resolution. The need for a one to one correspondence between watermarked video and owner necessitates the need for individual video streams. That is to say, multi-casting at the router node or using peer-to-peer networks, in their current stage, will not work.

Watermarks will be generated and inserted into the video content on the fly, so the host will not need as many copies of the video as there are owners. However, there is no escaping the need for an incredibly large pipe. Bandwidth must be dirt cheap, and to maintain the streaming experience, users should probably have downlink speeds at or better than DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem standards.

Fibre-optic would be nice, in other words.

The user may opt to download an episode and walk away, or stream a lower resolution version which can be generated on the fly using a hardware rescaler. Modifications to the existing TCP/IP protocol, or the development of a completely new standard, would be desirable in order to maximize the payload bandwidth.

Distribution costs could be decreased via the use of next-generation codecs such MPEG-4 AVC, packaged in a subtitle-friendly video container such as MKV. The processing demands on the user would increase, but tough luck. The world is moving to 720p and 1080i anyway, and will require either dedicated hardware such as graphics cards, or processors with SIMD/vector processing instruction sets.

Bridging ownership in the physical and digital worlds

I forget where I first saw this, but it must have been from one of the figure collectors such as TJ Han or bj0rn. Rather than support a series by buying the DVD's, they preferred to buy figurines. They're more compact than a DVD set, you can take photos of them, and they're probably marginally less fragile than a bunch of DVD's.

Why not implant a security token in each figurine?

Each figurine would contain a private key — a digital certificate. The token could also be implemented using a pseudo-random number generator with a secret seed, but a private key coupled with wireless USB, Bluetooth, or RFID would probably be more seamless. In conjunction with an account number or password, the user would use two-factor authentication to access an anime series.

An example scenario

Suppose I want to buy Code Geass (I'm just throwing out an example. Don't brick me if CG is not your cup of tea). Because the licensing company put their translators in the same room as the script writers when they were still writing the script(!!), an initial, english subtitle only, release for the first four episodes is available for streaming or downloading. I go to the purchase page, where a number of character figures, as well as Knightmare Frame models, are on sale. I select one and pay for it. In doing so, not only do I get the figure of my choice, I get access to all episodes and any bonus features once they are released.

A couple days later, my figure arrives in the mail. Using my account number or password or whatnot, and the figure (via RFID), I gain access to the streaming site and player. The video is mine. I can have the player save the video container file instead of deleting it once another episode is run or the player closes. If I so choose, I can back it up to hard drive, or put it on my portable video player.

What if I want to sell the series?

So you want to sell the series, or give it to someone else. The first step is to actually hand over the physical figurine. This might be a sore point for collectors, but hey, if you really didn't like the series you ought to reconsider collecting figures from that series in the first place.

The second step is to transfer access ownership. The buyer will have to have their own account. A possible method is to have the buyer provide you with their account information, a publicly exposed piece NOT used to authenticate. Through an update page, the seller can inform the company that ownership has changed to a different account.

Note that these two steps may be performed in any order. The seller would probably want to confirm receipt of funds before transferring ownership of either the access rights or the figurine. Escrow services and the like exist today to provide seller protection.

I want to share my anime / Thwarting the evil-doers

Share away. Just make sure your buddy doesn't get caught with your video, because that watermark can and will be traced back to you. Consumers will not be treated like criminals, but discovered criminal actions will have a trail. As noted before, the robust watermark will discourage piracy to some extent.

If you have not willingly lent out your copy of the video (i.e. your account and your figurine were stolen), the situation should be treated in the same way as if you've lost your credit card. Your existing account will be suspended and a new one issued. Unfortunately, you will likely be responsible for the cost of replacing your figurine, although maybe the company will give you a break and strike the cost associated with the access rights.

Challenges

In this current legal (copyright) climate, one would have to be crazy to trust any company with their property, especially property that they'll likely pay in excess of $10 for. For this to work, the consumer must trust the company not to be evil and won't one day change the terms of the agreement to extract more money.

On the content provider side, they would have to accept that most of their customers are not crooks, and that they are willing to pay for convenience and timely delivery.

On the technical side, a lot more people have to be willing to make online purchases. The bandwidth must be there on both sides. Everyone needs contemporary systems to play the video. Companies must have a the necessary infrastructure to manufacture or order these figurines, and any manufacturer needs to be able to embed a digital certificate into their products. I think RFID would be the way to go, although that necessitates the use of an RFID reader. Current secure authentication RFID tags are expensive, although their cost should come down in line with insecure RFID tags.

I want my pencil board!

Who's to say that RFID tags, which are flexible, can't be embedded into the middle of a pencil board? But the point is well taken. With the disappearance of DVD's, physical bonus features will for the most part disappear. That is the disadvantage of jumping into a series early, as variety will be limited. A possible solution would be to sell non-RFID versions of those items at a reduced price. I don't think most companies would let you trade up to a newer item.

Conclusion

Large pipes and peering agreements. Advances in digital watermarking. Advances in strong authentication. Advances in RFID technology. Advances in video encoding, decoding, and production. Secure transaction frameworks and fraud mitigation systems. All of the components exist if even in a limited form, today. Technically, this system is possible. The real question is, can both the consumer and producer come to an understanding of what it will take to move into the next phase of media distribution?

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Lucky Star - Episode 13

This episode deserves special mention because it stands out, which is ironic but only if you ph33r the 13. I think it was loaded with more ah-ha! moments than any other episode that came before it, or it might just be that I understood a higher proportion of what was there. A few of what I picked up on after these messages.

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Beyond the usual rapid word-play and smack talking, and the universal kinds of send-ups that don't require much prior background (such as having to play a dating sim) to understand, there were references to more recent series such as:

Jigglypuffed? (Could be anything, though)

Yu-Gi-Oh

Kanon (Uguu!)

Kanon (Ichigo jamu?)

lol? I just threw this one in

Haruhi (obligatory)

Geass hax

Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann

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Moonlight Mile - Lift Off

Moonlight Mile is dark. The in-capsule scenes from episode 9 expose the weak contrast ratio of my external monitor, and I have to turn to my laptop, which is situated off-angle, to get at the outlines.

Darker than black. Seriously.

Even though at this point I still have two more episodes to go before finishing this first season, it has been evident for a while now that Moonlight Mile wasn't going to meet expectations, and maybe it's partly my fault. Elaboration after these messages.

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When Moonlight Mile was first announced, comparisons were immediately drawn to Planetes. By now it's apparent that Moonlight Mile is weaker than Planetes. A large part of that disappointment, for me, was caused because I fell into the OP trap: that the scenes from the OP sequence might actually take place at one point or another within the following 12 episodes. What I realized too late was that they might take place in the second season.

The first episode only reinforced the belief that we'd see some real conflict break out and the exposure of a conspiracy. All evidence of a conspiracy vanished in subsequent episodes and when they eventually surfaced, there wouldn't be nearly enough time to pursue that story, pre-occupied as the series is with resolving the current cover-up plot.

In terms of actual comparisons to Planetes, the two series share an episodic structure. Related to this, obviously, is that you can't expose a space conspiracy and resolve it within the same episode. Where the two differ is how they use this structure. Moonlight Mile takes the tried and true shounen, We Are Training/Leveling Up path. In Planetes, there is a minimal amount of training and then we're into the fray.

Where side characters in Moonlight Mile are generally an impediment to the protagonists' progress, mainly Goro's, or are in need of rescue to drive the story forward, Planetes features side characters with somewhat more fleshed out back stories. They either have an effect on the main cast, or pose moral questions to the viewer. Either way, their interactions with the main characters are generally not hostile.

Bailing out in progress.

You could say that Moonlight Mile, as it currently stands in its first season, is a really typical shounen dressed up with sex, hints of more mature themes, technological plausibility, and GAR-ness. Here's hoping that the second season does one better.

Riyoko chokes on her LIES.

For those who have seen episode 10, Riyoko's actions seem to be inconsistent with previous behaviour. There's only really one way to reconcile it, which is to say that she's being insincere. This, despite little hints to the contrary throughout the series. There just wasn't enough screen time given to support this turn of events.

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Music as an evolutionary product

melody.'s latest, READY TO GO! is pretty forgettable, I won't dispute that. It reeks of cynicism to say this, but melody. and her production team are just doing their job. That there is a market for this kind of music must say something. Whether that something is positive or negative I leave up to you. Speculation as to what that something is, after these messages.

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Memorable were the last two tracks, Shine and Dangerous, the former a decent upbeat pop track, the latter a stronger dance offering than Finding my Road. But in general, this album is safe, capable of being mindlessly consumed.

You can rag on people and the music they listen to until you're blue in the face, but the truth is some people just need something to consume, like food. I can and have eaten instant noodles for lunch for a week or two straight and haven't given it a second thought.

With the advent of epic quantities of disposable income following World War II and the subsequent baby boom and sharp rise in post-war standard of living for countries who weren't bombed back to the stone age, comes all these neat things such as disposable cars *cough*GM*cough*, disposable clothes (but only in the sense that they're unfashionable; few actually try to keep a lid on the size of their wardrobes), disposable technology through built-in obsolescence and making gadgets as fashionable (or unfashionable) as clothing. Why couldn't the western industrialized nations have disposable entertainment? And so they did, and through cultural hegemony, the rest of the world embraced the concept.

Disposable entertainment is not new, as evidenced by the likes of the Brill Building and its predecessor Tin Pan Alley, but it's only been recently that people have thought to link it to, say, capitalism, or the ruining of modern society, and then complain bitterly about it.

For those who like their music only semi-dignified

So, about that something, maybe it's as mundane as evolution. We may complain about how pop music all sounds the same, but we really just see the trees in the forest. The revolution may happen overnight, but it's decades in the making. In that time span, people need something new. It doesn't have to be different, it just has to be new.

Some things just don't change. It's a sore point among classical (era) music lovers to claim that all of their music sounds the same, but in many ways it was just as predictable as today's pop structure. When the predominant structure back in the day was the Sonata-Allegro form, you really did know when the performer was modulating. This distressed Debussy to no end, and breaking away from that form was a hallmark of Impressionism.

As with most other things, it is technology that is the great differentiator. Where there was only one Haydn or Bach capable of cranking out prodigious amounts of music, a few stars like Lizst or Beethoven, and the obscure guy like Franz Schubert or Mozart (he died broke), there are any number of cookie-cutter producers, great live acts, and obscure indie bands. The music video has displaced the live concert as a promotional tool as well as an experience mechanism. Accurate digital audio synthesis has replaced sheet music, which had varying quality directly proportional to skill and orchestral organization. Back then, sometimes it was literally only possible to listen to music when the composer themselves delivered a concert, because it was just too hard to play.

If anything, technology is accelerating the progression of musical styles. Consider yourself back in the 1800's. You would have heard classical music your entire life. Full stop. In this day and age, we've had a jazz revival, a latin fad, a classical blip (in the form of Celine Dion and Titanic), the age of boy-bands and girl-bands. This all occurred in the span of just over 10 years.

I myself want to experience the music I listen to. Experiencing is a lot like going to a concert, and it takes a bit out of me, and so I don't listen to as much music as the average consumer. But I have no overriding disdain for the average non-fanboy or non-fangirl. Yes, mainstream music continues to sound the same at the same time, but take comfort in the knowledge that it does not progress at a glacial pace.

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FictionJunction YUUKA - circus album redux

I never mentioned which tracks I prefer. I had completely forgotten, actually, but the truth is I will prefer different styles at different times, much like most people. What I can say is, there are definitely some tracks I will only listen to on occasion, if at all.

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Kouya Ruten has really nothing to gain by the extension of the song. I would stick to the single version if I need an epic cowboy Japan dose. yorokobi is worth the occasional listen if only because it's eclectic, but the contrast is so strong it can be jarring. I think I made it somewhat clear that I'd be avoiding the likes of romanesque and angel gate, and rokugatsu ha kun no eien requires a very specific mindset, and specifics generally don't occur all the time.

At the moment, I like aikoi the more I listen to it. Yuuka's voice has a really nice punch in her accented attacks, in particular to bridge into the chorus. It's emphasized by the elimination of everything but the beat leading up to the accent, the synth interjection in sync with the accent, and then only the beat in the accent's aftermath. What results is a vocal and instrumental rimshot effect that's a staple of genres like big band jazz.

This is not earth-shattering in its originality, but it's been a while since I've heard this technique pulled off with such clarity. You may chalk that up to me not listening to much new music from any genre, so I have a limited sample size.

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Lucky Star - Drinking the Kool-Aid

Lucky Star QUALITY

KyoAni is still executing, just on their terms. The animation can be fluid and detailed, but only when they really want to make a point, as in the car chase, MariMite parody, the sprint-video game analogy, etc.

Just as the source material has no continuity, the series doesn't either. Each episode is like an anthology of gag scenes strung together by a sometimes jarringly minimal amount of transition time. Episode structure accepted, moving on.

I like trains

Lucky Star has its moments. I suspect that the older you are, or the more series you watch from back in the day, the more moments there will be. I think comedy is generally lost on me, with the exception of really stand-out acts, like Russell Peters, and even those are funny only because they're just crazy and offensive (to the politically correct) enough to be true.

Lucky Star's moments are not crazy nor offensive, but they are true, and they elicit that kind of warm smugness that you get when you share an inside joke. It's as if the hook offered by the series is along the lines of empathy: We've all been there and done that, too, gotten the shirt while we're at it.

Lucky Channel is more of the same. Most of the (attempted?) humour was lost on me after the subversion of moe via Akira was reused over and over again. Then again, Lucky Channel is all about showing Akira's two faces, and incidentally commenting on the show itself, or promotional events on websites or magazines.

Lastly, the karaoke credits, like much of the episode content, is a salute to veteran watchers.

Kommander Konata

In terms of characters, I find a bit in common with perhaps their sorest points. I'm skeptical like Kagami, absent-minded and prone to losing things like Tsukasa, slack and play games but not nearly as many or as well as Konata, and know things that no one really cares about like Miyuki. Yep, you're reading the writings of one of the finest specimens humanity has to offer.

I freely admit that I'm watching as a mostly clueless observer, given that I'm essentially green when it comes to number of shows watched, and most are recent shows at that. But for veteran watchers, this is a perfectly fine show to rally around and reminisce about the Golden Age.

Admittedly, this was pretty awesome

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FictionJunction YUUKA - circus album

Notes on the latest album from Yuki Kajiura and Yuuka Nanri follow. Some of the tracks I've commented on before, and have added the appropriate reference links.

I wrote these entries out of order, and it probably shows. As per Yuki Kajiura's style, there is a lot of overlap in the elements that get used. I've saved the most description for particularly stand-out tracks.

The executive summary: where Destination did not have many stand-out tracks in the new material, circus contains well-written songs that can and do stand out from each other. Another great vocal performance from Yuuka Nanri.

All romaji conversions performed by — what else? — Romaji Translator. Great little service.

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circus has a 3/4 bar division, a bit of trivia given the dominant 4/4 time that the vast majority of pop songs are written in. Given the moderate waltz tempo, appreciating all the vocal and instrumental layering is a breeze. The rich texture is not to be taken for granted. Yuuka doesn't get much solo time in this one, as choral lines seem to stalk her everywhere she goes. Fun and flighty.

Question: do those held cadences end on tonic and dominant only? I get the impression that there is a hollowing out of the chord due to a dropping of the third/mediant.

aikoi is oriental pop/electronic distortion fusion. The melody is instantly interesting because it uses a non-western scale, and it's in these moments I hang my head for recalling pushing only black keys on a piano to get a pentatonic scale and then saying that I'm playing Chinese music.

Violins and choral are present to add distortion and dissonance, enhancing the club atmosphere put forth by the heavy bass drum back beat. This is pretty good in its original form as club music, but definite re-mix material.

Silly-Go-Round [PV] is a strong classical rock track. When I say classical, I mean the introduction of classicist elements. There is Yuki Kajiura's trademark inclusion of floating choir in otherwise instrumental-only passages, for instance, and the use of old instruments such as acoustic piano and an oriental stringed instrument that I tend to lump into a generic er-hu category out of ignorance. While the er-hu is not a western classical instrument, it is nonetheless a nod to history.

One gets the sense that running, movement, is a strong theme in Silly-Go-Round. Tempo is a big factor, but movement is also generated by typical rock elements like strong back beat in the snare, as well as the flowing minor key melody in the verse section, with piano emphasizing the harmonic progression. Yuki, no doubt due to her operatic influences, writes a really tight recitative-like line as demonstrated in nowhere and other songs. Yuuka Nanri, meanwhile, delivers the necessary performance with precision and poise.

This is not an over the top performance. Composition, and the symbolism of history, keep this track grounded. There is rocking out, but something is held back for the sake of ornamentation. This is one of those tracks that I can loop for quite a while, enjoying the little details over and over again.

blessing is another 3/4 time track, and served as the Kouya Ruten single's b-side track. There is zero modern instrumentation, unless you want to count the accordion as relatively modern. This song has strong Nutcracker vibes and waltz vibes in general: very light texture, strong general emphasis on all beats of the measure in the chorus, almost march-like with the inclusion of snare and bass percussion.

Damn, why am I trying to conduct this in front of my computer monitor? I should stop.

Kouya Ruten [PV] I have commented on before, and don't really have anything to add. It's a solid, period inspired work, that sounds just a bit like from out of an old western (i.e. cowboy) movie. The album version is extended by an intro section before getting into the song proper, as well as an outro section.

yorokobi was disconcerting as I got lost trying to find the beat, having just come off 4/4 time. Yep, it's another 3/4 track. Incidentally, verse material is pulled from blessing to construct the chorus. Sleigh bells, electric guitar, drum kit, are used to brighten the previously delicate melody.

The verse melody itself is modal, and so contrast is generated in part by a transition from modal to tonal harmony. There is more movement and layering in this verse section compared to blessing's, the acoustic guitar making the most impact. There's nothing wrong with atmospheric east/west fusion, but I don't think it's for me.

hikaru sabaku is almost like the obligatory ever-sunny pop song embellished with Yuki's choral touch. I retract that, actually. Maybe it's more accurate to say that it's a healing song, like Christian rock, which I had the pleasure of listening to a couple weeks ago. Walking pace, lyrics written in quarter notes, up-lifting, strong harmonic progression and equally strong backing vocals. One would have to be pretty jaded not to feel something.

That said, is this just an easy play on the heartstrings? It's not the most original or compelling work, and this is not the first foray into this kind of music, Seiya being more to my liking. But hikaru sabaku sounds quite dignified, without understanding the lyrics.

romanesque [PV] suffers from sounding too long, even though something like Silly-Go-Round is longer in absolute terms. I was initially tricked into thinking that the opening section was the verse since, as previously noted, the arrangement is sparse enough that, without another section to reference against, it could pass for a verse section. Another reason was because it was quite long. This slight inversion of the typical song structure weirded me out at first, as the conclusion of the chorus naturally transitions into the contrasting verse section. Except, when you're expecting the chorus to be up next, the reality is rather jarring.

I suspect it's this tension that makes romanesqueappear to be longer than it is, which is good if you can latch on to a hook. I couldn't, as the melody and style aren't the kind of things that resonate with me.

I might sound inconsistent, and I am. I can't articulate why I kept thinking that the opening was the verse whereas for other songs, like blessing I could quickly recognize that it was opening with the chorus.

piano, trio for vocalist, piano, and cello. Chamber music on a Yuki Kajiura album? Not unexpected. Not unexpected at all. Being chamber music, it's kind of (just a tad?) to difficult to appreciate without having that kind of background. What is easier to appreciate, and therefore probably a more likely metric to be used by most people, is Yuuka's vocal performance.

On that front, her sudden transitions into the upper ends of her range are effortless. One of my friends has complained that her voice tends to have a nasal quality, especially in the upper register, but nasal timbre is greatly softened throughout the album. This song, whose arrangement leaves her much more exposed, is direct testament to that fact.

rokugatsu ha kun no eien is by far the slowest song of the album. Indeed, it's the only lounge ballad. Ballads are hard, the contemporary judge of vocal ability. Yuuka has no cover at all, with only the piano to keep her company. To get a ballad right takes a lot of power and dynamic range at both ends of a vocalist's register.

She's airy trying to get her dynamic range down, and her nasal timber is most noticeable in the chorus, when she tries to inject more power into her upper range. The moment she backs off towards the end, the nasal quality fades. Despite timbre troubles, she continues to be expressive.

The track is short, second only to piano, and Yuuka's singing time is even shorter. It's worth your while to listen at least a few times, if only to soak in the atmosphere. On that tack, here's an alternate look at the song that might account for some of my initial misgivings. I did say it was styled for the lounge, not for the concert hall. Is intimacy bordering on the edge of airiness in keeping with the style? Perhaps. It stills conflicts with what I usually hold to be good singing qualities. This is one of those songs that I have to be in the mood for before playing.

honoo no tobira [PV], meanwhile always puts me in a 1-3 mood.

angel gate is movie credit music: slow anthemic rock, doesn't really make much of an impression nor is it original, but hey— most people get up and leave when the credits roll. Is this listener's fatigue setting in? I don't think so, but angel gate's placement as the last track is kind of convenient, and does reinforce that image, desired or not.

circus is a much more consistent (in strength) and varied (in style) album than Destination. I like the majority of the new tracks, something that can't be said for Destination.

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