AnimeSuki Forums

Fighter Volk · 2004-09-30, 19:50

I've seen a few threads here on the Music forum recently about, say, AKFG, or comparing AKFG to L'arc. So I was thinking - how about create one main thread to discuss everyone's favorite JRock, and all of it? I'll begin by listing some of my favorites and, more importantly, explaining why I like them.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation - Not my favorite J-Rock band, but these guys are lots of fun nevertheless. They have lots of rocking songs, a great guitar, and an *excellent* vocalist. They're probably best known for Haruka Kanata, the Naruto opening. My personal favorites are:
Loop and Loop
Rewrite
Flash Back
Kimi no Machi Made

L'arc~en~Ciel - Probably the best known of all the modern J-Rock bands. They had their first american concert at Otakon in Maryland recently, and I heard from a friend who was there that it was amazing and they played with lots of energy. I don't know a lot of their songs, but I hope to get into them soon. My favorites:
Ready Steady Go
Under Star
Coming Closer
Ibara no Namida

Cool Joke - I have very, very high hopes for this bands. They have only debuted on a major label recently with the Undo single. Undo is the third opening to Fullmetal Alchemist, thus giving them a whole bunch of popularity from the start. They are my second favorite J-Rock band already, even though I have only heard four songs. Favorites:
Undo
Bukkowakeru Tsuki
Ai no Chikara

Porno Graffitti - My favorite J-Rock band. The music is amazing always, often with a ska feel to it and very often some orchestral instruments. The lyrics are really well written and I can often relate to them. I simply can't get enough of them. They've gained a small fanbase in America (very small) thanks to doing an opening for GTO and the first opening for FMA. Favorites:
Agehachou
Saudaji
Apollo
Vintage

Hopefully, this thread will introduce me to more excellent J-rock bands

sarcasteak · 2004-09-30, 20:42

Before FMA I was kind of a j-pop nazi, but I've always liked Tetsu69's songs; after watching FMA openings so many times, I think I'm starting to love j-rock as well.

Out of all those you listed, I like Ready Steady Go and Undo the most.

JubeiYamazaki · 2004-10-01, 02:13

Dir en Grey - I've loved them since their first indie single got popular, I'll. Lyrically they're dark and disturbing, but have very odd up-beat chorus' that are just so catchy.

Best albums: Gauze, Macabre, and Kisou.

Malice Mizer: Ever heard of Gackt? Well, the more you listen to Jrock/pop you eventually will, and MM was the band that he broke it big with. Their costumes are a mixture of 15-16th century France with a hardcore Jrock touch. They excel at combining their rock with classic orchestra sound, making it a beautiful and unique sound, although their band has been plagued with misfortune from the beginning, MM still stays strong.

Best Albums: Merveilles, Gardena, Beast of Blood.

hide (Hideto Matsumoto) - My all time favorite j-rockstar, a young man who was the guitarist of the extremely popular X Japan, he broke solo with a band known as Spread Beaver, he was a pink haired demon with a heart of gold, his unique vocals gave him a huge range, from a loud incoherent headbanging singer, to a soft sensitive folk singer, his voice and music covered it all. Outragous and uncensored hide was went the way he wanted artistically and fashionally. His life ended too soon, as he died in his hotel room.

Best albums: All of them.

Pierrot - A french word for clown mostly assoicated with a "sad clown". Their music is anything but. Pierrot is what I consider a "fashion" band, since their beginnings they've slowly evolved in their fashion becoming more slick and smooth with their look, just like their music, even during their "crazy jrock fashion" era, they were very clean and straight forward. They started in clubs and quickly moved up, their style is a very clean western type of rock with a touch of Japanese lyrics and style, in someways their music could be considered "angsty" but I don't think so.

Best Ablums: Private Enemy, FINALE.

That's all I can think up now, I was going to add Gackt, but he's such a popular figure nowadays, you can easily find info on him.

Hatter · 2004-10-02, 13:59

Man... I'm interested in some of these groups, but I just find it so intimidating to get into Japanese pop music. For one, I don't have a Japanese music video channel, so I'm faced with a blind purchase that can be up to $50 for one imported CD. And all of these bands have SO MUCH material out there! English artists don't put too much emphasis on Single releases, but Japanese sure do.
Also, it's a big step to go from musicians who do songs for anime, to musicians who have no connections to anime.

Usually, for one of these groups, should I start with their first album, or their most recent? Problem is, with many groups, their sound either gets better or worse as time passes. So it's different for every group, and I have no idea where to begin.

It's all so overwhelming!

Fighter Volk · 2004-10-04, 19:03

I know what you mean. It really is tough to be a J-music fan when you live far away from Japan. You don't really have to buy the singles, ever, unless you're aiming for an artist's complete discography, because usually all the songs that are released on singles appear on the following full-length alubm.

As for your question about where to start... if you want to try L'arc~en~ciel, you should definitely begin with their most recent stuff, because their newer albums are a lot more listener friendly. It takes time to get into their older stuff, say early to mid 90's unless you're already a fan. So pick up Smile from anywhere (Tofu Records released an english version, and I've seen it in a few stores already - don't know about Canada) and then work your way backwards.

As for Porno Graffitti, try picking up Best Red's and Best Blue's which compile all their most popular songs. After that, check out individual albums in whatever way you want. Porno are much more easy listening than L'arc, though, because their songs differ in style, while L'arc just delves really deep into a single style. The diversity of Porno's songs is what makes me like them more than Laruku, but check them both out anyway!

Blue Siren · 2004-10-05, 12:28

I recently broke out of my anime ops and endings shell and bought a few Jpop albums. I love Gackt! I also bought some Glay, but I'm not very impressed.
L'Arc-en-ciel is awesome, but I been having a hard time finding full lengh albums, as it is, right now I have a bunch of singles (any suggestions where I might be able to get them)... They rock though. I'm going to try some Porno Graffity, this is not the first time I hear they'e good.

phoenixfire92983 · 2004-10-06, 16:00

Here's some good bands that you wanna check out:

*Asian Kung-Fu Generation - Some people say their music is kinda punkish, but I consider it to be just good old rock

Their latest stuff if really really good. Check out:
-Kimitsunagi Five M (first full album) - CD Japan calls it Kunkei Five M
-Sol-Fa: Their newest album, coming out October 20th!!!! It has Rewrite from FMA, Loop and Loop, Kimi no Machi Made, Siren, and 8 new tracks!

*B'z - They've been around for over ten years and are pretty darn good. I've only listened to their single, Arigatou, but it is excellent!!! I'm def. gonna check out some more of their stuff.

*Takui - He's not very popular, but his stuff is very very good. He tends to do classic rock and ballad songs. What's really good is his voice! OMG, it just makes you melt. He has probably one of the greatest voices out of all JPOP and JROCK singers. I really like some of his newer songs like Re-set, Sonzai, Punk, It's Gonna be alright, etc....

*Janne Da Arc - This is another great band that's been around for a while. Their stuff is a little more metal than rock I guess, but its quite good. Their songs have great driving beats and vocals are pretty good too. Definitely check out:
-Arcadia: its their newest album, a little more hard rock than some of their other stuff.
-Singles Collection: two albums of their singles....all of them are really good. Highly suggested!

*Cool Joke - This band is brand new and I think they only have two singles out right now. But their stuff has been excellent so far. They did the FMA opening Undo. I like the Undo single the most so far out of the two lol

*HY - HY isn't really rock or pop or rap....its a mixture of like everything

They were originally a Indies band, and now they are finally getting recognized. Oricon even bumped them to their regular japanese rankings page. The band is a girl and guy duo plus instrument players. Some songs feature duets, while others just have one of the two singing. But yeah, they're stuff is pretty darn good and worth a try. Definitely check out:
-Street Story: its their first album...i like it more than the second cause this one has some very good upbeat songs.

j1m0ne · 2004-10-07, 02:33

There are hundreds of great J-Rock bands out there, only if you take the time to explore and listen. There are the obvious ones like The Pillows , The Brilliant Green and Laruku and there are some not so prominent bands worth checking out.

Spitz - Great, great band; what you'd call a classic J-rock similar to Mr Children in style. You know they're influential when they've got a tribute covers album. Check out their greatest hits Recycle for a taste of what they can offer.

Bump of Chicken - One of the newer, hotter bands around. They had their first No.1 single recently with Only Lonely Glory and their latest album Yggdrasil is definitely one of the best I've heard this year. Like The Pillows? Check them out.

Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen - Now here's one artist who is real HOT. Eclectic is the only real way to describe Shiina's stuff; one minute she can be crooning a pop melody and the next minute she'll be screaming. Too bad she's now formed a band with some other musicians. Tokyo Jihen's single Gunjo Biyori is quite cool, but nowhere near Shiina's best.

There are loads of other bands worth listening to; GO!GO!7188, Core of Soul and if you like AKFG, there are loads of other sound-a-like bands : Art-School, 175R, Road of Major and B-Dash to name a few.

But yeah, there are loads and loads of bands out there if you really wanna find them. And Porno Graffitti are, whilst not really rock, very cool.

Eion · 2004-10-11, 15:55

I'm pretty new to the J-Rock genre.
A few months ago I picked up a few cds at a local record store, and now I'm a big fan of both X-Japan and Hide (Hyde?). ^^
Both of the bands play in different styles, sometimes the play fast and hard, and sometimes the play slow ballads. All songs are great but the ones I listen to the most are probably:

X-Japan -
Dahlia
Rusty Nail
Blue Blood
Scars

Hide (Hyde?) -
A Story
Blue Sky Complex
Tell Me
Honey Blade

If any of you know any other great bands let me know. ^^

furigana · 2004-10-11, 17:17

I'm also new to J-Rock, so I can't comment much. Hell, I've only listened to albums by The Pillows, Guitar Wolf and L'Arc en Ciel. Of course I've heard some J-Rock from miscellaneous anime too, but who can remember all those...

Anyway, of those three I like The Pillows the most. They make exactly the type of rock music I like -- very melodical, yet without synthesizers (at least I can't notice any), alot of imaginative guitar play. Maybe I've listened to the wrong songs by Laruku, but compared to the Pillows they seem to make softer rock music, which I don't like that much.
Guitar Wolf is pure madness, lo-fi punk-whatever-rock. They have some good songs, but I don't listen to them very much.

And of course I can't let my favourite songs go unmentioned:
Hybrid Rainbow, Moon Margaret, Last Dinosaur, Beautiful morning with you, One Life... and lots more by the Pillows.

Hurricane rock, Jet Generation, Kaminari one, Motor cycle leather boy and the cover version of Rolling Stones' Satisfaction by Guitar Wolf.

diabolistic · 2004-10-11, 18:22

Bump of Chicken.. Sailing Day is an awesome song

and who could forget TM Revolution?

AnimeFangirl · 2004-10-11, 21:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fighter Volk

L'arc~en~Ciel - Probably the best known of all the modern J-Rock bands. They had their first american concert at Otakon in Maryland recently, and I heard from a friend who was there that it was amazing and they played with lots of energy. I don't know a lot of their songs, but I hope to get into them soon. My favorites:
Ready Steady Go
Under Star
Coming Closer
Ibara no Namida

Umm, either you're mistaken or you're talking about another song. As far as I know, L'Arc~en~Ciel never released any song called Under Star. If you're thinking of the Hajime no Ippo OP, it was done by a group called Shocking Lemon.

AnAlPedoFileMan · 2004-10-11, 22:43

anyone here listen to Penicillin??

AnimeFangirl · 2004-10-11, 23:52

Me! Me! Me!! Even though I only started this week.

I like them.

phoenixfire92983 · 2004-10-12, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by diabolistic

Bump of Chicken.. Sailing Day is an awesome song

and who could forget TM Revolution?

TM Revolution is way awesome too

He's kinda a mix cause some of his songs are rock and others are more pop. His last album, 7th Heaven, was incredible! I def. suggest it.

JubeiYamazaki · 2004-10-13, 03:22

Lastier is pretty cool, and Shazna is so-so, imo.

I'd also like to add a few more bands to the fray.

------------------------------------------------------------
Dragon Ash - Not traditional rock, but more rock and rap, sorta like Limp Bizkit, but Dragon Ash is still good.

Their first major debut Viva La Revolution (I think) was an amazing arrangement of dope hip-hop beats with exellent rapping and great rock to back it all up. Now they're going for a more rock sound, and slowly dropping their deep hip-hop roots for a wierd hybrid of both. But to me, nothing will ever top Viva La Revolution, that was as good as they'll ever be in my imo.

Best Albums: Viva La Revolution.

Yaida Hitomi - Not much I can really say about her, but she's a female rock artist with a very unique voice. She has a spunky and horse singing voice, that's sugarcoated in a pop-rock style. She's like a bottle rocket, as soon as the candy hits your tongue, it explodes in your mouth, and leaves a sweet after taste. She has a lot of great songs, I've loved all her albums, actually. On a sidenote she's had a song on Konami's Guitar Freaks and I think "Darling Darling" is on DDR- Extreme.

Best albums: All of them.
-----------------------------------------------------

I'll add a few more later, I can't believe there hasn't been a mention of Luna Sea yet.

Jrock is a wonderful genre, weither its underground indies or huge "sellout" bands, if you take the time to look and explore, I think you'll be amazingly surprised. Jrock has been one of the most major influences in my life. As a young kid barely out of junior high, I accidently exposed myself to X Japan, then shortly after stumbled upon hide and because of him, he opened my eyes to awhole new world of music, and taught me that what's on the radio isn't all the music there is in the world. From Jrock I was able to expand my horizons into blues, hip-hop, rap, jazz, SKA and other genres. Not just Japanese, american, german, whatever the country, it doesn't matter, all that matters is what moves my soul or gets me moving at a concert.

Jrock showed me how powerful music is, and how truely great it is to enjoy a favorite song, weither its a sad and depressing, or an up-beat just get up and lose control of yourself type of song, the whole genre taught me to appericate music in general. Thats why I can't stand people who bash rap, rock or anytype of genre. Music is music, where it comes from doesn't matter, its what it does to you that counts.

What I'm trying to say is there's whole worlds of music out there waiting to be discovered, don't let it slip past you.

yimmy · 2004-10-14, 17:00

anyone heard of The Pillows?? They kick ass. Their musics on FLCL.

AnAlPedoFileMan · 2004-10-16, 04:23

i heard of The Pillows havent listened to their music yet, i should too one of these days...

Dorfl- yeah, a friend let me borrow a couple of her cds and one of them happend to be the Union Jap album from Penicillin and the past 2 weeks ive diggin their music quite nicely

Scrumhalf · 2004-10-16, 04:34

Has anyone watched Battle Royale II? I was wondering if anyone could catch the J-rock song when the ending credits were displayed.

eean · 2004-10-16, 23:48

I like the Asian Kungfu Generation, so I was hoping to see other suggestions but then I read this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fighter Volk

Cool Joke - I have very, very high hopes for this bands. They have only debuted on a major label recently with the Undo single. Undo is the third opening to Fullmetal Alchemist, thus giving them a whole bunch of popularity from the start. They are my second favorite J-Rock band already, even though I have only heard four songs. Favorites:
Undo
Bukkowakeru Tsuki
Ai no Chikara

You serious? I dunno. Its just that I've seen the music video for the song that opens FMA and they look lame. There's this one guy with a scarf ("scarf guy") and another one with an afro. They look like they're trying too hard to be cool. Taking themselves way too seriously. Granted, Mt. Fuji exploding is nifty, I'll give them that.

It is quite entertaining I'll admit (I've shown it to many of my FMA-watching friends) though not as intended. Which was I guess what I was hoping for when I downloaded the music video, since I've never liked the song.

But then again, I'm downloading an anime about bread right now. So maybe you shouldn't listen to me either.

2004-09-30, 19:50	Link #1
Fighter Volk Thanks sakurabatou @ LJ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NYC	The JRock of today I've seen a few threads here on the Music forum recently about, say, AKFG, or comparing AKFG to L'arc. So I was thinking - how about create one main thread to discuss everyone's favorite JRock, and all of it? I'll begin by listing some of my favorites and, more importantly, explaining why I like them. Asian Kung-Fu Generation - Not my favorite J-Rock band, but these guys are lots of fun nevertheless. They have lots of rocking songs, a great guitar, and an excellent vocalist. They're probably best known for Haruka Kanata, the Naruto opening. My personal favorites are: Loop and Loop Rewrite Flash Back Kimi no Machi Made L'arc~en~Ciel - Probably the best known of all the modern J-Rock bands. They had their first american concert at Otakon in Maryland recently, and I heard from a friend who was there that it was amazing and they played with lots of energy. I don't know a lot of their songs, but I hope to get into them soon. My favorites: Ready Steady Go Under Star Coming Closer Ibara no Namida Cool Joke - I have very, very high hopes for this bands. They have only debuted on a major label recently with the Undo single. Undo is the third opening to Fullmetal Alchemist, thus giving them a whole bunch of popularity from the start. They are my second favorite J-Rock band already, even though I have only heard four songs. Favorites: Undo Bukkowakeru Tsuki Ai no Chikara Porno Graffitti - My favorite J-Rock band. The music is amazing always, often with a ska feel to it and very often some orchestral instruments. The lyrics are really well written and I can often relate to them. I simply can't get enough of them. They've gained a small fanbase in America (very small) thanks to doing an opening for GTO and the first opening for FMA. Favorites: Agehachou Saudaji Apollo Vintage Hopefully, this thread will introduce me to more excellent J-rock bands

2004-10-01, 02:13	Link #3
JubeiYamazaki Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003	Dir en Grey - I've loved them since their first indie single got popular, I'll. Lyrically they're dark and disturbing, but have very odd up-beat chorus' that are just so catchy. Best albums: Gauze, Macabre, and Kisou. Malice Mizer: Ever heard of Gackt? Well, the more you listen to Jrock/pop you eventually will, and MM was the band that he broke it big with. Their costumes are a mixture of 15-16th century France with a hardcore Jrock touch. They excel at combining their rock with classic orchestra sound, making it a beautiful and unique sound, although their band has been plagued with misfortune from the beginning, MM still stays strong. Best Albums: Merveilles, Gardena, Beast of Blood. hide (Hideto Matsumoto) - My all time favorite j-rockstar, a young man who was the guitarist of the extremely popular X Japan, he broke solo with a band known as Spread Beaver, he was a pink haired demon with a heart of gold, his unique vocals gave him a huge range, from a loud incoherent headbanging singer, to a soft sensitive folk singer, his voice and music covered it all. Outragous and uncensored hide was went the way he wanted artistically and fashionally. His life ended too soon, as he died in his hotel room. Best albums: All of them. Pierrot - A french word for clown mostly assoicated with a "sad clown". Their music is anything but. Pierrot is what I consider a "fashion" band, since their beginnings they've slowly evolved in their fashion becoming more slick and smooth with their look, just like their music, even during their "crazy jrock fashion" era, they were very clean and straight forward. They started in clubs and quickly moved up, their style is a very clean western type of rock with a touch of Japanese lyrics and style, in someways their music could be considered "angsty" but I don't think so. Best Ablums: Private Enemy, FINALE. That's all I can think up now, I was going to add Gackt, but he's such a popular figure nowadays, you can easily find info on him. Last edited by JubeiYamazaki; 2004-10-01 at 04:33.

2004-10-07, 02:33	Link #8
j1m0ne Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malaysia	There are hundreds of great J-Rock bands out there, only if you take the time to explore and listen. There are the obvious ones like The Pillows , The Brilliant Green and Laruku and there are some not so prominent bands worth checking out. Spitz - Great, great band; what you'd call a classic J-rock similar to Mr Children in style. You know they're influential when they've got a tribute covers album. Check out their greatest hits Recycle for a taste of what they can offer. Bump of Chicken - One of the newer, hotter bands around. They had their first No.1 single recently with Only Lonely Glory and their latest album Yggdrasil is definitely one of the best I've heard this year. Like The Pillows? Check them out. Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen - Now here's one artist who is real HOT. Eclectic is the only real way to describe Shiina's stuff; one minute she can be crooning a pop melody and the next minute she'll be screaming. Too bad she's now formed a band with some other musicians. Tokyo Jihen's single Gunjo Biyori is quite cool, but nowhere near Shiina's best. There are loads of other bands worth listening to; GO!GO!7188, Core of Soul and if you like AKFG, there are loads of other sound-a-like bands : Art-School, 175R, Road of Major and B-Dash to name a few. But yeah, there are loads and loads of bands out there if you really wanna find them. And Porno Graffitti are, whilst not really rock, very cool. __________________ I Write a Blog. Read it?

2004-10-11, 18:22	Link #11
diabolistic pythagorean≠python gorax Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: look behind you...	Bump of Chicken.. Sailing Day is an awesome song and who could forget TM Revolution? __________________ <Pabs> kcl, you sure do put out a lot of Naruto eps

2004-10-11, 23:52	Link #14
AnimeFangirl Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The dog gossips too much.	Me! Me! Me!! Even though I only started this week. I like them. __________________

2004-09-30, 20:42	Link #2
sarcasteak WAHA~ Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: World overloaded with fun Age: 39	Before FMA I was kind of a j-pop nazi, but I've always liked Tetsu69's songs; after watching FMA openings so many times, I think I'm starting to love j-rock as well. Out of all those you listed, I like Ready Steady Go and Undo the most.

2004-10-02, 13:59	Link #4
Hatter Never Knows Best Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Age: 39	Man... I'm interested in some of these groups, but I just find it so intimidating to get into Japanese pop music. For one, I don't have a Japanese music video channel, so I'm faced with a blind purchase that can be up to $50 for one imported CD. And all of these bands have SO MUCH material out there! English artists don't put too much emphasis on Single releases, but Japanese sure do. Also, it's a big step to go from musicians who do songs for anime, to musicians who have no connections to anime. Usually, for one of these groups, should I start with their first album, or their most recent? Problem is, with many groups, their sound either gets better or worse as time passes. So it's different for every group, and I have no idea where to begin. It's all so overwhelming!

2004-10-04, 19:03	Link #5
Fighter Volk Thanks sakurabatou @ LJ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NYC	I know what you mean. It really is tough to be a J-music fan when you live far away from Japan. You don't really have to buy the singles, ever, unless you're aiming for an artist's complete discography, because usually all the songs that are released on singles appear on the following full-length alubm. As for your question about where to start... if you want to try L'arc~en~ciel, you should definitely begin with their most recent stuff, because their newer albums are a lot more listener friendly. It takes time to get into their older stuff, say early to mid 90's unless you're already a fan. So pick up Smile from anywhere (Tofu Records released an english version, and I've seen it in a few stores already - don't know about Canada) and then work your way backwards. As for Porno Graffitti, try picking up Best Red's and Best Blue's which compile all their most popular songs. After that, check out individual albums in whatever way you want. Porno are much more easy listening than L'arc, though, because their songs differ in style, while L'arc just delves really deep into a single style. The diversity of Porno's songs is what makes me like them more than Laruku, but check them both out anyway!

2004-10-05, 12:28	Link #6
Blue Siren Yuki is MINE!!!!! Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Lurker's corner	I recently broke out of my anime ops and endings shell and bought a few Jpop albums. I love Gackt! I also bought some Glay, but I'm not very impressed. L'Arc-en-ciel is awesome, but I been having a hard time finding full lengh albums, as it is, right now I have a bunch of singles (any suggestions where I might be able to get them)... They rock though. I'm going to try some Porno Graffity, this is not the first time I hear they'e good.

2004-10-06, 16:00	Link #7
phoenixfire92983 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: California Age: 40	Here's some good bands that you wanna check out: *Asian Kung-Fu Generation - Some people say their music is kinda punkish, but I consider it to be just good old rock Their latest stuff if really really good. Check out: -Kimitsunagi Five M (first full album) - CD Japan calls it Kunkei Five M -Sol-Fa: Their newest album, coming out October 20th!!!! It has Rewrite from FMA, Loop and Loop, Kimi no Machi Made, Siren, and 8 new tracks! *B'z - They've been around for over ten years and are pretty darn good. I've only listened to their single, Arigatou, but it is excellent!!! I'm def. gonna check out some more of their stuff. *Takui - He's not very popular, but his stuff is very very good. He tends to do classic rock and ballad songs. What's really good is his voice! OMG, it just makes you melt. He has probably one of the greatest voices out of all JPOP and JROCK singers. I really like some of his newer songs like Re-set, Sonzai, Punk, It's Gonna be alright, etc.... *Janne Da Arc - This is another great band that's been around for a while. Their stuff is a little more metal than rock I guess, but its quite good. Their songs have great driving beats and vocals are pretty good too. Definitely check out: -Arcadia: its their newest album, a little more hard rock than some of their other stuff. -Singles Collection: two albums of their singles....all of them are really good. Highly suggested! *Cool Joke - This band is brand new and I think they only have two singles out right now. But their stuff has been excellent so far. They did the FMA opening Undo. I like the Undo single the most so far out of the two lol *HY - HY isn't really rock or pop or rap....its a mixture of like everything They were originally a Indies band, and now they are finally getting recognized. Oricon even bumped them to their regular japanese rankings page. The band is a girl and guy duo plus instrument players. Some songs feature duets, while others just have one of the two singing. But yeah, they're stuff is pretty darn good and worth a try. Definitely check out: -Street Story: its their first album...i like it more than the second cause this one has some very good upbeat songs.

2004-10-11, 15:55	Link #9
Eion Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Space Age: 37	I'm pretty new to the J-Rock genre. A few months ago I picked up a few cds at a local record store, and now I'm a big fan of both X-Japan and Hide (Hyde?). ^^ Both of the bands play in different styles, sometimes the play fast and hard, and sometimes the play slow ballads. All songs are great but the ones I listen to the most are probably: X-Japan - Dahlia Rusty Nail Blue Blood Scars Hide (Hyde?) - A Story Blue Sky Complex Tell Me Honey Blade If any of you know any other great bands let me know. ^^

2004-10-11, 17:17	Link #10
furigana Eurekaaaaaa!!! Join Date: Apr 2004	I'm also new to J-Rock, so I can't comment much. Hell, I've only listened to albums by The Pillows, Guitar Wolf and L'Arc en Ciel. Of course I've heard some J-Rock from miscellaneous anime too, but who can remember all those... Anyway, of those three I like The Pillows the most. They make exactly the type of rock music I like -- very melodical, yet without synthesizers (at least I can't notice any), alot of imaginative guitar play. Maybe I've listened to the wrong songs by Laruku, but compared to the Pillows they seem to make softer rock music, which I don't like that much. Guitar Wolf is pure madness, lo-fi punk-whatever-rock. They have some good songs, but I don't listen to them very much. And of course I can't let my favourite songs go unmentioned: Hybrid Rainbow, Moon Margaret, Last Dinosaur, Beautiful morning with you, One Life... and lots more by the Pillows. Hurricane rock, Jet Generation, Kaminari one, Motor cycle leather boy and the cover version of Rolling Stones' Satisfaction by Guitar Wolf.

2004-10-11, 22:43	Link #13
AnAlPedoFileMan hey there lil girlie Join Date: May 2004	anyone here listen to Penicillin??

2004-10-13, 03:22	Link #16
JubeiYamazaki Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003	Lastier is pretty cool, and Shazna is so-so, imo. I'd also like to add a few more bands to the fray. ------------------------------------------------------------ Dragon Ash - Not traditional rock, but more rock and rap, sorta like Limp Bizkit, but Dragon Ash is still good. Their first major debut Viva La Revolution (I think) was an amazing arrangement of dope hip-hop beats with exellent rapping and great rock to back it all up. Now they're going for a more rock sound, and slowly dropping their deep hip-hop roots for a wierd hybrid of both. But to me, nothing will ever top Viva La Revolution, that was as good as they'll ever be in my imo. Best Albums: Viva La Revolution. Yaida Hitomi - Not much I can really say about her, but she's a female rock artist with a very unique voice. She has a spunky and horse singing voice, that's sugarcoated in a pop-rock style. She's like a bottle rocket, as soon as the candy hits your tongue, it explodes in your mouth, and leaves a sweet after taste. She has a lot of great songs, I've loved all her albums, actually. On a sidenote she's had a song on Konami's Guitar Freaks and I think "Darling Darling" is on DDR- Extreme. Best albums: All of them. ----------------------------------------------------- I'll add a few more later, I can't believe there hasn't been a mention of Luna Sea yet. Jrock is a wonderful genre, weither its underground indies or huge "sellout" bands, if you take the time to look and explore, I think you'll be amazingly surprised. Jrock has been one of the most major influences in my life. As a young kid barely out of junior high, I accidently exposed myself to X Japan, then shortly after stumbled upon hide and because of him, he opened my eyes to awhole new world of music, and taught me that what's on the radio isn't all the music there is in the world. From Jrock I was able to expand my horizons into blues, hip-hop, rap, jazz, SKA and other genres. Not just Japanese, american, german, whatever the country, it doesn't matter, all that matters is what moves my soul or gets me moving at a concert. Jrock showed me how powerful music is, and how truely great it is to enjoy a favorite song, weither its a sad and depressing, or an up-beat just get up and lose control of yourself type of song, the whole genre taught me to appericate music in general. Thats why I can't stand people who bash rap, rock or anytype of genre. Music is music, where it comes from doesn't matter, its what it does to you that counts. What I'm trying to say is there's whole worlds of music out there waiting to be discovered, don't let it slip past you. Last edited by JubeiYamazaki; 2004-10-13 at 03:35.

2004-10-14, 17:00	Link #17
yimmy Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: virginia...blech..	anyone heard of The Pillows?? They kick ass. Their musics on FLCL.

2004-10-16, 04:23	Link #18
AnAlPedoFileMan hey there lil girlie Join Date: May 2004	i heard of The Pillows havent listened to their music yet, i should too one of these days... Dorfl- yeah, a friend let me borrow a couple of her cds and one of them happend to be the Union Jap album from Penicillin and the past 2 weeks ive diggin their music quite nicely

2004-10-16, 04:34	Link #19
Scrumhalf Ed & Winry? :O Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 42	Has anyone watched Battle Royale II? I was wondering if anyone could catch the J-rock song when the ending credits were displayed.