Looking for good j-rock [Archive]

View Full Version : Looking for good j-rock

sanzo813

2004-03-25, 21:09

i am looking for some good j-rock to listen to and since i'm kin dof new to the genre i looked here for help. I really like the 2nd op to naruto by asian kung fu generation and the op & ed to Peacemaker Kurogane, so if u no any other songs/band like that it would help me out.

Prince of Chronics

2004-03-25, 22:13

I am no expert at this stuff... but looking at my directories... I can recommend Orange Range who did Viva Rock for Naruto... and Foot Stamp who did the intro for Gokusen.... there are probably more good bands...

Yamano667

2004-03-25, 23:45

there are several excellent jpop artist in japan ..try them all and see what is the best for you

p3psi

2004-03-26, 00:32

I dont know much about Jpop/rock, but i went to suprnova and just went to music->music vids, and just sampled every kind of asian pop vid i could get, there are some pretty decent ones too.

Hotaru

2004-03-26, 00:43

Check out this site

http://www.jpmp3.com

Chiaki Nozomi

2004-03-26, 02:40

What kind of J-rock are you looking for?

If you like J-punk then I reccommend Bump of Chicken and Takui. Takui is the only punk artist I like, but his sound is more of a mixture of classic rock and roll and punk. I love Takui.

If you want screaming rock, then I suggest you look up some bands such as Nightmare and Dir en Grey (to an extent)

If you want Visual Kei then just type in the word and you'll get more bands than you can deal with. The most popular with oversees fans is Malice Mizer. Mana is responsible for popularizing the Gothic Lolitas you see running around at cons.

Although I hated his poppy work, you might like Gackt. Another artist that sounds like American rock is Hyde. There's also the punk artist hide from X Japan fame. Can't forget Glay and L'Arc~en~ciel who might be the most popular rock bands out there in Japan.

Can't talk about rock without talking about my boys, Janne da Arc. Their songs are high paced with killer guitar solos. You is amazing. ^_^.

And.. bah... it's 3 am here. O.o;; I need to go to sleep and I have school tomorrow. If I wake up and remember any I forgot, I'll edit this post.

shinr

2004-03-26, 03:50

I really like the 2nd op to naruto by asian kung fu generation and the op & ed to Peacemaker Kurogane, so if u no any other songs/band like that it would help me out.

I'd say stuff like Dragon Ash, Mad Capsule Markets, Missile Girl Scoot and possibly RIZE, based on few samples, could get the job done.

Dorfl

2004-03-26, 04:29

Chiaki Nozomi

2004-03-26, 09:06

Interesting. I'm always looking for new J-rock to listen to as well. Which bands might (might) I possibly like if I loved Luna Sea, Laruku, X-Japan, sorta like Dir En Grey and sorta like Glay? Btw, is B'z jrock? I soooo love B'z....:love: Asian Kung-Fu Generation isn't that good, all their songs sound exactly the same and they just scream the same lines over and over again. >_< yah, whatever.

B'z are the classic jrock. Yeah, I can't believe I forgot them and Luna Sea in my earlier list. See what 3am does to you? (Of course, now I'm running on four hours of sleep.... O.o;;)

Hmm.... I might be able to reply to your query later today. My brain is so dead right now all I can think of is Guitar Wolf. And that's only because they're what's on my playlist right now. Sleeeeeeeep is goooooooood.

[edit] I posted this and artists just jumped into my head.
Siam Shade is another classic Jrock artist. The Brilliant Green is good as well. Shiina Ringo has so many different sounds, she can't be catagorized. You might like her, you might not. But you have to listen to her at least once.

For the first girl -

SADS and Kuroyume and Kiyoharu might satisfy you as well. They all have the same lead singer, and Kiyoharu is solo now. Their sound is completely different with each band. Perriot is another pop rock jrock band.

Kenji

2004-03-26, 10:20

Siam Shade
Hide
X-Japan
Concerto Moon

sanzo813

2004-03-26, 15:02

thanx for all the suggestions and if u think of any other ones tell me please, any that are more punkish(not a hugh fan of the screaming rock). BTW what is Visual Kei, i keep seeing it everywhere.

Dorfl

2004-03-26, 16:48

Hmm.... I might be able to reply to your query later today. My brain is so dead right now all I can think of is Guitar Wolf. And that's only because they're what's on my playlist right now. Sleeeeeeeep is goooooooood..

[edit] I posted this and artists just jumped into my head.
Siam Shade is another classic Jrock artist. The Brilliant Green is good as well. Shiina Ringo has so many different sounds, she can't be catagorized. You might like her, you might not. But you have to listen to her at least once.
Guitar Wolf, huh? I can't say I've ever heard of them, but I'll check them out in a bit, and Brilliant Green. Siam Shade I already know and love a lot of their songs, especially Love Vampire. ^_^ As for Shiina, I hate chick singers, except in a duet with a guy or sth, so I think I'll pass on that one.

daliinn

2004-03-26, 17:17

thanx for all the suggestions and if u think of any other ones tell me please, any that are more punkish(not a hugh fan of the screaming rock). BTW what is Visual Kei, i keep seeing it everywhere.

One of my favorite bands of all time are The Pillows. If you havn't heard of them they do all the music for the show FLCL. They are sorta their own punkish genre, but a band that practically any one can enjoy. i know people who don't even like anime that love the pillows. Also there is the Trigun soundtracks, That are mostly rock, some techno, some pop. And if your looking for jazzy/rock maybe check out the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks.

Chiaki Nozomi

2004-03-27, 00:38

thanx for all the suggestions and if u think of any other ones tell me please, any that are more punkish(not a hugh fan of the screaming rock). BTW what is Visual Kei, i keep seeing it everywhere.

Visual Kei is visual kei. It usually involves a rock band and costumes. Malice Mizer and X Japan are the most popular overseas. I like visual kei because they go for an entire entertainment business, the sounds, visuals, moods, ect. I can't say I like Malice Mizer's music though, except for Beast of Blood.

Anyway, if you see a band with men crossdressing as females, or wearing elaborate costumes, its visual kei. It might also be angura, but I don't think that anyone here would know any bands in that catagory.

Gold_Rogers

2004-03-27, 05:48

My favorites would have to be:

Judy & Mary
B'z
X-Japan
L'arc~en~ciel
Do As Infinity
T.M. Revolution (more dance then rock I suppose)

niidel

2004-03-27, 10:53

Mm, J-rock.

I have to say that Siam Shade is by far the best J-rock band I've listened to so far - and I have listened to quite a few bands :P Anyway - I recommend, of course,
Siam Shade, and some others:
wyse (I think it's very much like Siam Shade),
Janne da Arc and
Pierrot (Pierrot has it's own... weird style in some cases, but I like it. Paradox and Creative Master are very good songs, anyway)
Chisato has some good songs too... Like Dengeki Missile 2000.
/\ucifer is also one of my favorites. Datenshi Blue, Midnight Crow... yeah.

I don't like Shiina Ringo. She wails too much. I think she sounds like someone is torturing her :P (Although Gamu is a crazy song XD)

Dorfl

2004-03-29, 22:11

baka

2004-04-03, 06:21

this i would think goes in the same thread .... if anyone knows any bands that are more of a mix of jpop/rock that they could turn me on to . What i mean is like jpop/jrock mix sounds /bands .... so there isn't any confusion

Chiaki Nozomi

2004-04-05, 17:26

Graaaar! I was deceived!! The Brilliant Green is a chick rock band. I hate them!! Iyaaa, you don't just get the same feeling when the chicks sing. Graaaar! Actually my real beef is that none of their songs were particularly good, and they all sounded the same. And the lead singer has this really annoying nasal voice. Ugh, ugh, ugh!! :mad: :mad:

Wow, you're the first person I've met that didn't like the Brilliant Green. Seriously. O.o;; Perhaps the people I meet have the same tastes, but, wow.

this i would think goes in the same thread .... if anyone knows any bands that are more of a mix of jpop/rock that they could turn me on to . What i mean is like jpop/jrock mix sounds /bands .... so there isn't any confusion

In other words, you want pop-rock bands? Hmm...

Garnet Crow (but in case you're like Dorfl Garnet Crow has a female lead as well)
The Brilliant Green is pop-rock.
Janne da Arc because they are my favorite band and I recommend them to everyone.
ZONE is a pop 'band' if you can call them that. They were an all girl group, then their producer got this 'brilliant' idea. Have singing girls with instruments dance!
TOKIO Hm... I don't really like them, but they fit your wants. I believe 'Yakitate Japan!" was a big hit last year.

Hmm.. check my above posts for more bands, cuz I'm drugged out with Nyquil and am too lazy to go through my playlists.

dpb

2004-04-06, 07:09

If you want Visual Kei then just type in the word and you'll get more bands than you can deal with. The most popular with oversees fans is Malice Mizer. Mana is responsible for popularizing the Gothic Lolitas you see running around at cons.

Although I hated his poppy work, you might like Gackt. Another artist that sounds like American rock is Hyde. There's also the punk artist hide from X Japan fame. Can't forget Glay and L'Arc~en~ciel who might be the most popular rock bands out there in Japan.

Could point out that Gackt was in Malice Mizer, before he went solo, and Hyde is in L'Arc~en~ciel.

Dorfl

2004-04-07, 14:17

I tried some Pierrot recently, but I think they're still on probation. Definitely not one of my favourites, but I don't think they're actually BAD. Also tried some The Pillows, comme-ci comme-ca. Some of their songs are okay, others are just bleh.

EDIT: It is with great sorrow that I announce that I have parted ways with both Guitar Wolf and Pierrot. While neither band really meets my needs at this point in time, I do recognize that they are supremely talented and I wish them the best of luck in future endeavours. (I always wanted to write something like that)

CerealKiller

2004-04-08, 16:57

ASIAN KUNG FU GENERATION
that's all I had to say

Longinus

2004-04-08, 18:50

Yaida hitomi... I dunno if she counts as Jrock.. to my knowledge she did do a song or two for Inuyasha.

JubeiYamazaki

2004-04-09, 19:29

Listen to Chiaki, her/his taste in Jrock = ownage.

I recently re-discovered my Dir en Grey CDs, and listening to Kisou, so I suggest Dir en Grey. :)

phoenixfire92983

2004-04-11, 01:54

ASIAN KUNG FU GENERATION
that's all I had to say

asian kung fu generation is the best! i'm also surprised that no one has mentioned nanase aikawa. she's one of the strongest and best jrock female singers i can think of.

Chiaki Nozomi

2004-04-11, 02:16

asian kung fu generation is the best! i'm also surprised that no one has mentioned nanase aikawa. she's one of the strongest and best jrock female singers i can think of.

Nanase Aikawa has always been like a second rate Shiina Ringo to me. I like her, she expirements sometimes, but she doesn't have a set path. She tries to be the middle and it just doesn't sound right to me. I like some of her singles and her earlier albums, but I can't sit down and just listen to her without some other songs meshed inbetween.

Mr. Tadakichi

2004-04-11, 19:58

Ok, here's my two or three cents:

My favorite band in the world is POLYSICS. They are most often compaired to DEVO, but POLYSICS are much more spazzy and very synthy, which is saying something. I love DEVO too, but POLYSICS really takes it all to totally new levels, both musically and visually. They are easy to find on the web. Very complicated yet very catchy songs. I think of POLYSICS as being DEVO fighting Godzilla during a beach party. I'm very happy to see that they are trying to do more shows in the U.S.

My other favorite band in the world is SUPERCAR. They are also a bit on the electro-side, but they come from a more indie-rock background. They a pretty mellow, a bit RADIOHEAD-ish at times, but not as depressing. Lots of guitars with electro undertones. Really simple/beautiful songs.

As far as divas go, I think that SHIINA RINGO kicks AYUMI HAMASAKI's ass. SHIINA can play just about anything (or so it seems) and can easily jump from a monster guitar part to a soft piano bit, all-the-while screaming or whispering her words. A bit TORI AMOS, a bit JULIANA HATFIELD, a bit BJORK, but still really original. Her songs tend toward the big and flashy side with a big and flashy band backing her up, but she's got some nice little tunes too.

For good ol' emo rock, you can't do better than EASTERN YOUTH. The lead singer sings like it's the end of the world and he's got to get the word out to everyone. All of their songs are huge powerful rock monsters, but not your usual bar band by any means. He sings in place of screaming, even when he IS screaming.

Another great rock band is GO!GO!7188. Like EASTERN YOUTH, this is a trio, but GO!GO! has two women fronting the band on bass and guitar. Very catchy stuff, and pretty fun. They can play and rock like mad, unlike your SHONEN KNIFEs and 5678's.

THE PILLOWS are good most of the time, and pretty boring for the rest. All their best stuff is in FLCL, so if you like the rock music in that one, just pick up any of the albums listed in the liner notes to the DVDs.

If you like the FOO FIGHTERS, then look for anything by STRAIGHTNER. They are the Japanese FOO FIGHTERS. I try and avoid saying things like "the Japanese xxx" but these guys really ARE the FOO FIGHTERS (with higher pitched vocals). And they are really good too. "A Song Run Through the World" is an awesome song.

YOUGURT POOH is good geek-rock, BURGER NUDS are more progressive rock, BUMP OF CHICKEN are nice, NUMBER GIRL are really trashy indy-rock, LOVE LOVE STRAW are grunge, GOING UNDERGROUND are rock, SPITZ are middle of the road pop-rock, PUFFY are are poppy dance-rock, and YELLOW MACHINGUN are three small women that sound like three 15 foot giant monsters pounding out speed metal better then most male bands I know of. I didn't even know they were women until I saw a video. Boy, was I suprised!

Speaking of speed metal, MELT BANANA is the best noise/speed-core band ever, and MERZBOW is the god-father of noise.

There are tons of mega pop bands like GACKT, AYUMI HAMASAKI, MINI MONI, MORNING MUSUME and many many more that should be easy to find. These are the people you most often hear in anime themes.

Obviously I'm more into the electro/indie-rock/metal side of things, so if there's anything I can help out with, just let me know! :D

whyrph

2004-04-11, 20:28

TOKIO Hm... I don't really like them, but they fit your wants. I believe 'Yakitate Japan!" was a big hit last year.

Yakikate Japan . . .that wouldn't have anything to do with the manga Yakikate, would it? The one about baking bread? What genre is Tokio?

EDIT: Ahh ..YakiTate. Not YakiKate. Methinks that's an important difference.

boneyjellyfish

2004-04-11, 22:31

I'm a personal fan of PENICILLIN. I'm not really sure why, though.

Chiaki Nozomi

2004-04-12, 09:21

Yakikate Japan . . .that wouldn't have anything to do with the manga Yakikate, would it? The one about baking bread? What genre is Tokio?

EDIT: Ahh ..YakiTate. Not YakiKate. Methinks that's an important difference.

TOKIO is a Johnny's Band. If you don't know about Johnny's, it is a male idol pop factory. That said, TOKIO is their 'rock' band. Thus their music is considered 'pop rock'.

Dorfl

2004-04-12, 14:49

OhJustSomeRandomGuy

2004-04-12, 14:50

Ok, if your definition of J-Rock is more Asian Kung-Fu Generation, you may want to look into:

Surface: .5 (Half) Pretty rockin' tune. I think they fell apart, though.

e.mu: Summer Day's Drive, and Love Around are both good tunes. I know they've broken up, though.

Space Combine: They're a bit harder to find, but they rock so hard, they got invited to play in NY at CBGB. Nowhere is their bast track. They're also broken up. (Such is the way of the J-band life.)

So, if you can't dig up those more obscure groups/tunes, you might want to look for the more major groups:

Road of Major was huge the last couple years, until the "indie rock" sound started losing poularity. Similar groups to them are 175R, and Mongol 800.

If you're looking for women who rock, my personal favorite is Okakita Ayu because I've seen her live. She's smaller, but she rocks just as hard as the mainstream groups. I like "Saite" best out of her tracks. She also has a lot of catchy lighter songs. Plays and composes all her own music. Shiina Ringo and Yaida Hitomi are similar, but Shiina Ringo has just been putting out weird stuff recently.

If you're looking for softer stuff let me know, and I can hand out recommendations for that, too.

Chiaki Nozomi

2004-04-12, 17:27

I thought their big hit last year was Ambitious Japan?

Maybe it was. In my first post I put "I think the name of it was..." because I didn't know, and I still don't now. I don't really like TOKIO, I just know of their existance.

Let me add ZARD and Mr. Children to that pop rock list.

Dorfl

2004-04-17, 03:19

I've been listening to some Hound Dog recently, he's pretty good. Maybe because I'm listening to the Best of Hound Dog, don'tcha know. A shout out goes to Flying Kids: they have a couple of great songs and a lot of clunkers, but I sorta like them anyway.

GacktLover

2004-05-02, 13:52

Malice Mizer's a good band, if you like dark gothy stuff, they rock!

Dorfl

2004-05-02, 21:49

I've become very fond of Glay over the past week. It's just too bad that none of the band member are hot, you know? Hotness improves the music 10x, I always say. :p

OhJustSomeRandomGuy

2004-05-03, 14:27

I've become very fond of Glay over the past week. It's just too bad that none of the band member are hot, you know? Hotness improves the music 10x, I always say. :p

They used to be. Well...as far as guys go. They didn't do anything for me, but my ex totally dug them.

Medievalchimp

2004-05-05, 20:49

Ok, here's my two or three cents:
Speaking of speed metal, MELT BANANA is the best noise/speed-core band ever, and MERZBOW is the god-father of noise.

Did somebody here just say Melt Banana?! Holy Sh....*shakes your hand and gives you +5 props ;)*

I think Miyavi is preety good too. Still cant belive somebody even BROUGHT UP Melt Banana hahahah thats awesome

evilgumby

2004-05-09, 04:09

Though the band has ended for good....X JAPAN!!! They were not afraid to rock for the sake of rocking. And I mean that. It sounds like I'm being vague but I'm not. I have their Blue Blood Tour DVD and they wear neon colored mohawks and spikes, and the whole thing is like one big aggressive screaming heavy metal kick in the pants that makes Van Halen sound like p*ssies.

MY FAVE! no question about it. They rock.

FIRST POST! :heh:

AnAlPedoFileMan

2004-05-13, 03:05

im sumwut surprised no one mentioned Sex Machineguns... think like AC-DC and Metallica combined through sum un-holy fusion

Fighter Volk

2004-05-13, 05:34

I like Asian Kung Fu Generation, but also have been listening to the new Flow and Cool Joke singles. I don't know about you, but I like 'em.

CNF666

2004-06-28, 04:56

Malice Mizer. Beast of Blood. That's all you need...well not really but you would be a fool to pass this song up.

El Diablo

2004-06-28, 09:22

FAKE? - Most of their songs are in english, but DAMN they're good.

Try listening to the Beck tribute to greatful sound album, particularly the song by Furouto/Nice marbles (i'm not sure which is the song or artist name)

I also really like Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, a lot of their songs have a jazz feel to them, and i really like it.

As for other bands/artists people have mentioned, i like Hyde's solo stuff more than the stuff by L'arc. I'm also a big fan of Siam Shade, AKFG and Bump of Chicken.

Art-school haven't been mentioned, they're somewhat similar to Bump of chicken, but the vocals can be hard to hear sometimes.

Chun-Li

2004-06-29, 00:21

Psycho le Cemu!! YAY!! PLC Rocks!! i recently saw them in concert and they're sooo kewl! i LOVE their music!

if you don't have ne of their music yet..lemme know.. i can host them for you to try out~!

check out their site here:
http://www.psycholecemu.jp/

Dark_Sun

2004-08-09, 16:14

dir En Grey

Dorfl

2004-10-09, 20:06

New discovery! New discovery! I started up an episode of Sugoi yo Masaru-chan, and the opening song was by Penicillin. Quickly I dled some more of their music and I must say, they're so good. How come I hadn't heard of them before? The lead singer's voice sounds rather like Kyo's in Dir en Grey, but more overwrought. I like that. :)

Big shout-out to The Yellow Monkey. Scrolling through this thread I noticed that no one has given them a mention. They're truly fantastic. More than fantastic, super-duper-extra-ultra fantastic!! I really love their eclectic style.

Spineshanked

2004-10-17, 22:06

bwa ? No Hawaiian6 ? Shameful.

I have yet to hear anyone say Number Girl or Zazen Boys (also Number Girl) Shameful x2.