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CD bonus track

全知全能 (romanised as "Zenchizennou") was the first full album released by the Japanese rock band POLKADOT STINGRAY. I've been listening to this band for quite a while, since at least the age of 13. It wasn't until recently though that I started ordering their albums from overseas (I had previously been using Spotify). In fact, this record is the first album I ever imported from Japan.

POLKADOT STINGRAY's first two albums feature CD-only bonus tracks, which was incredibly exciting for me. Until I started collecting these records, I'd never even known this content existed. So to suddenly discover a bonus track on an album I thought I knew front-to-back was mind blowing.

The CD bonus track on 全知全能 is an acoustic rendition of their song ポルカドット・スティングレイ (Japanese spelling of "Polkadot Stingray"). This song was the first track on the band's debut EP of the same title, which I had heard before. But that didn't mean that I was less excited about the bonus track; if anything, that made it better.

I am almost embarrassed to say how overjoyed I was listening to this bonus track for the first time. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was squealing and stimming and rolling around in my bed. It's the same way I get every time one of my special interest bands release new music, but it was particularly strong here for a couple reasons. Both the sense of discovery, because of the fact that this song had always existed despite my oblivion to it, and the novelty of the track. POLKADOT STINGRAY doesn't do acoustic songs aside from the CD bonus tracks, which made them feel particularly special to me.

I hate to pick favourite albums, because I do uphold that all art is of equal merit. But it is undeniable that this record will always have a particularly fond place in my heart, because of the personal stories accompanying it and how it stands in relation to my special interest with POLKADOT STINGRAY and J-rock at large.

Extra pictures, just because