D'espairsRay

infection is the perfect opener for a fantastic album. just impeccable :pinched_fingers:t5::pinched_fingers:t5::pinched_fingers:t5::pinched_fingers:t5:

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I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a D’espairsray album from start to finish. I gotta do that this week.

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The second half of Coll:Set just…hits. Do it!!

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All this coll:set talk is making me wanna do an appreciation post.

This is one of my favorite physical releases ever.

The cover (regular edition) might be my favorite of all time, the overall graphic design, photography, and layout is clean and aesthetically pleasing, and of course the music is great.

The limited edition comes with a sturdy textured slipcase and unique artwork. It also comes with an extra booklet titled “the world in cage” which has extra photos and text. The CD booklet also features alternate artwork, which is less compelling in my opinion. Lastly, the CD artwork is in red instead of white.

Despite the extras though, I’m inclined to recommend the regular edition as it also includes “Garnet” and “Fuyuu shita risou”. It’s criminal that they were removed from the limited edition but the remix tracks allowed to stay.

In addition to the missing tracks the song order is slightly altered and, in my opnion, weaker. Using “forbidden” to lead into “the world in a cage” isn’t nearly as effective as using “Tainted World”. Stacking the two ballad-esque tracks of the album smack in the middle back-to-back is also not as fun to listen to.

But no matter how you listen to it, it’s a phenomenal album and holds up extremely well even after all these years.

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I’d love to see more of the booklet images, if you have more pics!

I’ve been thinking of 00’s vkei vs current vkei aesthetics this morning, and I thought how recognizable the monochromatic minimalism in this album is (white-petrol blue-black). Except for Love Is Dead and Redeemer which in my mind are red-brown, I think they always leaned towards cool tones, right?

I’ve tried buying this album a few times and got defeated by shipping company shenanigans every time :cry: . One day I’ll own it! I have a strong hunch they’ll do a reprint soon.

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Made a coll:set key chain :slight_smile:

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Thanks for sharing this! I have the regular edition, and never knew of the differences between that and the LE. Regarding the limited addition — I agree — The cover art is absolutely iconic. Not only does it cement itself firmly in your mind, it’s thematic, and represents the sound of the album perfectly.

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this is super cute i would totally do this for some of my fave album/album arts omg :heart:

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Hey there I uploaded a bunch of pics on discogs for you. It’s everything but the jewel case booklet, but you can view that on the regular edition listing (they’re practically the same) :

https://www.discogs.com/release/5379860-DespairsRay-Collset

Also, in terms of brown/reddish color palettes, “Born” and “terrors” comes to mind! And the 2nd pressing of “maverick”.

They’ve actually used red with darker colors quite a lot. Both presses of “Sexual beast”, “gemini”, and “genwaku” as well. The limited edition of “monsters” is also all brownish/yellow.

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Yeah! I love talking about physical stuff ^^ Exactly! It’s strong imagery and captures the underlying theme of the album. The limited edition cover is reused art from the booklet and just not as compelling. Although, not bad at all in itself.

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Thank you so much! :heart_suit: The booklet design oozes 00s in the best way!

And yes, seems I mainly thought of Kogoeru/Monsters/Terrors (second repress) color schemes

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