Memoire (album)

Mémoire was given a limited release of 3,000 copies on July 24, 1994 by guitarist Mana's own record label, Midi:Nette. It is their only official material released with original vocalist Tetsu, besides "Speed of Desperate" for the 1993 omnibus Brain Trash. The album was reissued on December 24 of the same year as Mémoire DX, containing an additional track and an expanded booklet. He also said the technology was still in its early stages at the time, and he had trouble getting the timing right because the MIDI signal had a slight delay. ==Themes==

Mana stated that the goal of the instrumental first track, "De Mémoire", is to revive nostalgic memories. Fellow guitarist Közi revealed that they initially tried adding a bunch of different sounds, but ultimately decided that just the piano felt sad and lonely, like an Italian horror movie. Wanting to try something new, Mana gave "Gogo no Sasayaki" a bossa nova rhythm. Yu~ki said it has a live acoustic feel, and that he added effects to his bass for the latter half of the song. Kami assumed bossa nova would be easy, but said it was very difficult. Közi referred to the song as the "coffee break" when listening to the album. Kami said he likes the strong chorus and aggressive vocals on "Miwaku no Rooma", and described it as very rhythmic. Közi said he had a hard time getting the sound of a real violin with his synth guitar. He described the violin part at the chorus as having a medieval European feel. Wanting "Seraph" to sound unlike any other band out there, Közi said Malice Mizer added a lot to the song, and as a result it is the thickest sounding song on the album. They used synths to thicken the sound of Közi's guitar, but there are more keyboards and piano than synths. Tetsu said that "Seraph" tells the happy ending of the same man from "Kioku to Sora", but said he planned to continue the story in later songs. ==Reception==

Writing for Mikiki, Naoko Kato described Memoire as primarily a rock album, albeit one with the addition of strings and other elements. Motohiro Maikaino of Re:minder concurred, describing "Kioku to Sora" as fusing pipe organs with a rock band sound while heavily incorporating gothic elements such as irregular time signatures and grandfather clock samples, and "Miwaku no Rooma" as blending violin arrangements with a "pop sensibility". But he cited "Baroque" as the album's best track; "a sprawling, seven-and-a-half-minute epic [...] incorporating elements such as shifting time signatures, waltzes and an interpolation of 'Für Elise', it stands as the definitive culmination of Malice Mizer's first era—a bold experiment in fusing rock music with classical traditions." ==Track listing==

Malice Mizer • Tetsu – lead vocals, classical guitar on "Gogo no Sasayaki" • Mana – synth guitar, synthesizer on "De Mémoire" • Közi – synth guitar, synthesizer on "Seraph" • Yu~ki – bass • Kami – drums, percussion Other contributors • E~da – female voice on track 2 • Miyuki Takahashi – sequence programmer • Mr. Kokado – recording and mixing ==References==