Music: J-Pop/J-Rock

[Terracosmo]

Hey, we're anime nerds.
Logically some of us will listen to japanese music such as visual kei bands.

What I like about japanese rock is, besides the wicked image some of them use (I swear to god some of the guys in j-rock bands are sexier than MANY girls when they have their make-up etc on) is that their rock is a lot harder than the rock we have in many english speaking countries; in fact, many many rock bands are closer to metal than rock. Which of course attracts me.

X-Japan for example is clearly a heavy metal band. They are very good btw and have done some of the best ballads I've ever heard, you know a ballad is good when swedish girls who hate the japanese language still likes to make out to the songs.

A band I've listened to for a long time is Luna Sea, which is closer to rock than metal. They have some nice tunes, for example Anubis & Virgin Mary.

Right now I'm into Dir En Grey! Their music is really hard (for a j-rock band) and have many industrial elements. There is even fragments of death metal in some songs (insane screams & blastbeats).

So yeah, any other fans of j-rock around?

[PSJ]

hmm i have heard some dir en grey and i gotta say it doesnt impress me all that much but its decent maybe i should try x japan and luna sea. since im in search for new music i cuold give dir en grey a second chance to.

im expecting to see reita in here with a long ass post about this so hopefully he got some suggestions to.

[TwisT]

I've listend to X-Japan.. they are pretty good.. I've seen a few of there music-videos to.. they look crazy ^^

But they have some good songs.. It would be fun to get a few more names of simular bands so this was a good thread..

I'm Twist, and I'm gay

[Terracosmo]

I thought you liked that song I sent ya [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[Terracosmo]

X-Japan look pretty normal compared to many of the other visual kei bands though.

[Elite Hentai]

I like some Asian Kung Fu Generation. My favorite songs are Haruka Kanata, Reraito, Kimi to iu Hana and Mirai no Kakera.

I also like Flow. I loved their CD "Game" so I also tried to download their earlier CD "Splash" but there are no seeders [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]. That was 2 months ago and it is still in my download queue.
Is there anybody willing to send it to me?

[Winged Dancer]

Ooooh, I like K-Rock! I don't know if what I listen to is heavy, but I like Asian KungFu Generaion and THE STAND UP.. those are my favorites.
Also, the guy who did the Naruto Fifth ending (I think), Ima Made Nandomo, I love the way he sings... I think the group's called The Massmissile.

[Terracosmo]

Indeed, that guy has a pretty nice voice.

And YAY finally it works to upload avatars on the profile for me. </offtopic>

[ShinobiNeko]

X-Japan and Luna Sea are good good. Also like L`Arc-en-ciel, Siam Shade (1/3 junjou na kanjou from R.Kenshin), Asian KungFu Generation, and Mass Missile (ima made nandomo)

[Winged Dancer]

I've never quite liked L'Arc en Ciel, but X-Japan has some good songs. I like neXt Dream and Crucify my Love (viva the engrish!), as well as Endless Rain... can't say I have listened to much of them though.

Has anyone heard anything from ORANGE RANGE? (whats with japanese and the caps, I wonder?) They are the guys who made the third Naruto closing, Viva Rock. Its more of rap/rock, I'm guessing, but I like them too.

BTW Terra, your avatar has made me curious now. Which show is it from?

[Elite Hentai]

Yes, I heard of them and I like them too (Chesuto rocks and the Lokolotion video is great hehe) but I didn't mention them because it's rap/rock.

[SK]

guys dressed as girls=bad.

[Swallow Your Soul]

Dir En Grey are well ace, their last single Saku (with Machiavellism as the B-Side) is well good...I got mp3s of their new live DVD and they're getting more aggressive as they go along...only been into them since around the time of their last album but their older stuff is pretty cool as well (Pink Killer, Zan and Hydra are all cool). Another band I've just been getting into fairly recently are D'espairs Ray...they're darker than Dir En Grey in a lot of ways, and their songs are more...um...gothic (goths don't shout at me...I can't think of a better term [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]). Those two are probably my favourite bands right now behind Mad Capsule Markets, and both singers have really good voices and they can scream/growl pretty good too...

Theres a few other bands worth listening to as well like 12012 and a band called Phobia were ok when I tried their album out.

[Terracosmo]

WD: It's Yzak Jule from Gundam Seed, that too. Just a better pic of him.

Swallow: Yeah I heard some Despairs Ray too they are indeed more gothic. I want to get more of 'em...

[kooshi]

Me, I haven't really gotten into Japanese music that much. I pretty much got the songs from the openings and endings of a whole bunch of anime. From that, the only rock I have listened to are from Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Flow, and Orange Range. Everything else is pop (ex. Gundam Wing, FMA), so it really doesn't count in this topic.
I do plan on getting some more music by those rock bands, particularly AKFG. Heh, that group is so good, although their music videos for Haruka Kanata and Riraito are a little on the boring side (yeah, they just play music the entire time, no excitement). Any possibility that I can d/l any of their CDs from the net, or is that not allowed here to post a link? I would try supernova.org, but I'm at school now and class is about to start.

[Swallow Your Soul]

Originally posted by: Terracosmo
WD: It's Yzak Jule from Gundam Seed, that too. Just a better pic of him.

Swallow: Yeah I heard some Despairs Ray too they are indeed more gothic. I want to get more of 'em...

I think theres an entire discography still here...thats how I got most of their stuff http://torrents.theppn.org

[jing]

i used to listen to l'arc en ciel, but their songs just bore me now... so now i listent o asian kungfu generation, and PIERROT.

[Board of Command]

I don't listen to Japanese music.

[Harakiri]

Personally, i wouldn't find J-Rock hard. It's normally quite soft, melodic, and plus the bands live on the two uppermost guitar strings. Anything based around high pitch will have trouble being considered heavy.

Also, they wouldn't be recognised as heavy music artists in the Western world, because they're so image-based. That's not what Western rock is about, traditionally. Hell, it's the opposite.

I doubt Dir En Grey will get any moshpits - i have no problem with cross-dressers - but i won't mosh to a bunch of pretty boys dressed like chicks.

[Terracosmo]

Originally posted by: Harakiri
Personally, i wouldn't find J-Rock hard. It's normally quite soft, melodic, and plus the bands live on the two uppermost guitar strings. Anything based around high pitch will have trouble being considered heavy.

Also, they wouldn't be recognised as heavy music artists in the Western world, because they're so image-based. That's not what Western rock is about, traditionally. Hell, it's the opposite.

I doubt Dir En Grey will get any moshpits - i have no problem with cross-dressers - but i won't mosh to a bunch of pretty boys dressed like chicks.

NORMALLY quite soft yes. But not always.
They wouldn't be considered heavy music? Dir is about as heavy, in fact, mostly heavier than X-Japan which is considered a heavy metal band in the Western world. Dir en Grey doesn't get moshpits? Download a live video. Sounds like you didn't even hear the band to me.

Finally I've been listenening to metal since I learned to walk so I think I know what I'm talking about.