Jrock Introduction

Figured Id do one small update before I went to bed. This is a relatively new band and one I was surprised I liked so much.

The Sketchbook
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So The Sketchbook is actually a band that was put together through means of a contest (by means of being the real life version of a band in an anime). This is why I was surprised I liked them. It instantly reminded me of American Idol, which is absolutely garbage IMO. But these members all seem to have genuine talent. Also, Im usually not too big on three piece bands. But they have more depth than I thought they would.

Pretty much a rock band with some other musical influences thrown throughout so far. Not many songs as of this point.

Michi

Clover

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I myself look forward to hearing more from the band. The only thing I kinda dont like is that the vocals have a filter on them. Which, I think the singer would sound better without it.
 
another pop/punk style. i do agree all those shows though not just american idol are trash. if these guys were put together via a contest it would be interesting to see how their longevity will be as most bands done that way never really last. also what takes away from these bands.. yes they are very talented, but behind the scenes, some one is writing the music for them to play.
i am not gonna take anything away from them though. i dig them. i would buy their stuff, they are very talented. so for me.. its the future for them that holds how true of a band they really are.

p.s. girls with guitars = sexy!
 
yeah, it was some contest where there were three positions open and people just came in and tried out for each part. But yeah, someone is writing their music for them. No clue how long they will actually stay together or if it's just a temporary thing to promote the anime.
 
and a good thing too though. promote anime. would be great to have them do some conventions here in the states, really push the popularity.
 
LM.C
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LM.C is interesting to me. Originally I didnt like them. The vocals kinda turned me off of the band but after a while, they grew on me a good bit. Best way for me to describe them is sort of an electro punk band. But they also have alot of other influences thrown in like hip hop, funk, and some industrial influences. Lyrics tend to be more about never giving up and believing in yourself

Rock the LM.C - Never cared for this song

Little Fat Man Boy - Pretty decent song

Oh My Juliet - Definitely like this one

Boys and Girls - Fun little song

Liar Liar - Like this one too, sorta melancholic

Sentimental Piggy Romance - Kinda cute and melancholic at the same time. Lyrics are kinda silly

Bell The Cat - Jazzy and weird

JOHN - Another quirky weird song, but kinda cool

Punky Heart - I really like this one

Ghost Heart

Let Me Crazy - good one

Super Duper Galaxy

Hoshi no Arika

The LOVE SONG
 
ok.. i am just gonna chalk them up to not being my style. props they are good. but i feel they are trying to throw any and every element in the music.. which is good if you do it right, but i feel they fell short on the mark. of all the videos you have shown so far. i would rank this at the bottom.
not gonna lie. i watched the videos twice and musically they have a good concept. but i can't grasp it to like it. sorry about this post. just not my thing.
 
XD no need to apologize. That's what I want with this thread. I want people to listen and comment saying what they feel about the band. That being said, now it's time for one of my favorites.

One OK Rock
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So, like I said. This band is in my top 5 bands of all time. Changes depending on my mood so right now Id say they are number 2.

They first started out as a rock band with the guitarist rapping and then having a singer with clean vocals. Two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. Then they moved more to a punk based sound but dabbled in a couple other styles as well. But they still had some rap vocals. Their bassist and drummer are both really good. Guitar work isnt amazing but not bad by any means either. Over time, their sound and lyrics have matured, which makes sense since then they started out they were pretty young. Plus they sing in english alot of the time too.

Nowadays for their last two albums Id say they are more of an alternative rock band with punk influences. Their last two albums, while I liked them a good bit before hand, I think really solidified the band for me. They do have one less guitarist now though. The guitarist that is gone was actually American but moved to Japan when he was younger and lived there since. But he ended up getting drunk and got arrested for touching a woman on a train. They then kicked him out of the band. Unfortunate but just.

Keep it Real - Subbed

Naihi Shinsho - subbed

Yume Yume - Good song. Kinda funky

Et Cetera - Subbed

Koi no Aibou Kokoro no Cupido - Great song

Kanzen Kakaku Dreamer - without second guitarist now. Awesome awesome song.

Jibun Rock

Liar - another pretty good one

Answer is Near

Remake

No Scared

Chaos Myth - really good

So what does everyone think? Most of these songs I like a good bit, but arent my favorites of theirs. Most of my favorites are are their albums or mini albums.
 
i like these guys a lot. they got a nice sound, something that i could see them doing shows over here in the states with bands like H2O, murphy's law, trust company and etc..

as for their music style changing, as a musician that's them becoming better at their music and evolving a band and maturing. i like the alternative sound. more to it musically. a much better sound than what you posted yesterday. :) these guys i am gonna look up on itunes.
 
They may actually have some stuff on Itunes. Not sure though. But I agree, they could definitely play in the US if they wanted to. They are great live too. The singer sounds almost exactly the same as on cd. I always for whatever reason could see them touring with like Hoobastank and Trust Company like you said.

EDIT: and if anything would be on Itunes I would think their two newest albums would be, especially since they have an english site now. The two albums are:

Niche Syndrome
Zankyou Reference
 
i just read up on these guys. they have a very diverse background.. none of them really have a rock music background. the vocalist was in a boy band and the guitar and bass player were in hip hop groups.. talk about diverse coming together and getting that sound.
 
I really do like the above band. I've been a big fan of jrock for awhile(Mostly listen to Maximum the Hormone, but I digress). If you'd like I have quite a few bands that I listen to as well, anywhere from the alternative, to the pop/punk side of jrock.
 
Sorry for the delay in the next post. Im actually in my last week of college ever so it's been kinda hectic. Im going to do a quick update though and then have a bigger update hopefully Wednesday

Satsuki
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So the next band/artist is Satsuki. He was well known for the band he was in previously, Rentrer en Soi. Interestingly enough, Rentrer en Soi was more of a heavy band with screaming vocals for a good bit of songs. In his solo work, it's completely different. It's a more easy style to listen to, but filled with much emotion.

His most defining feature is by far his voice. He can sing very deep if he wants to and very high if he wants to as well. This is what makes him one of my favorite vocalists. Overall the music is more of a pop/rock or just plain rock. But it definitely has a lighter feel besides a few songs. Kinda interesting too that in his previous band and sometimes he takes more a female role visually. Not sure if it has to do with the subject matter of the songs or not though.

Raindrop - Awesome song. Still my favorite of his. Emotional and rocks at the same time. Great vocals

You - Emotional piece with great vocals

Ryuushi ni toketenagareru namida to memai no sou ni ranhanshasuru saisei no koe- Actually this song reminds me more along the lines of Enya or something

Awake - I didnt like this song at first but it grew on me some

Sympathy - decent song, subbed too

Romance - just came out recently. I havent even heard it all myself

And thats all of his music videos. He has more songs but all are on singles. I dont believe he has actually released a full album yet. He actually just released a new digital single that can be bought on the US itunes as well.
 
i was wondering..lol but its all good. i remember my last weeks of school.. everything due all at once.

well onto the music.
Ryuushi ni toketenagareru namida to memai no sou ni ranhanshasuru saisei no koe, i am not a fan of. his voice is a bit too much for the music. but the other songs i did.. his voice does have some serious range, almost operatic to a point like roy khan. in all these japanese bands i am noticing a pattern in the music. j-rock def. has a style of its own. but i will get into that later.. his music though in general has a 90's feel to it. i dig the 90's sounds :)
 
I agree with you. On that song, the vocals go out of range and dont mesh well. Jrock bands definitely have a different style, even within the Rock genre. Most rock bands in Japan definitely do rock, but the good ones do different flavors of said rock. There are a bunch of generic bands too, but that's why this thread exists. To cut those ones out XD

So the next few posts Im going to do in a series. Im starting with this band since it is a starting point for one of the musicians that has gone through a series of two bands after this one. Also, this band was spawned from a much larger band in the past too that I will eventually get to. So without further ado.

Moi Dix Mois
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Moi Dix Mois is a gothic metal band that is the solo project of Mana, formerly one of the co-creators of the legendary visual kei band Malice Mizer. Even though this is a band, it really is a solo project. Members come and go. The original bassist, vocalist, and drummer are no longer part of the band and a second guitarist, a new bassist, a new drummer, and new vocalist are part of the band. My personal opinion is that the guitar work, drumming, and bass work all got better in the process, but vocals became worse (though screaming vocals improved).

But their main style is gothic metal. Recently some more electronic elements were added in but mainly you hear guitar, orchestral elements, and some electronic elements. Mana (guitarist) writes all the music and lyrics, and is highly influenced by bands such as Iron Maiden and composers such as Bach. They have zero music video's so I will be posting live performances.

Dialogue Symphonie - With the first vocalist, Juka, I will say when they switch to the second

Tentation

Pageant - Awesome, awesome song

Vestige - Another really good song - Second guitarist was added in during this concert

The Prophet - Epicness

Perish

Unmoved - New vocalist, bassist, drummer - technically I think they got better. Personally I think the clean vocals became less emotional and subdued, but either way this song is awesome.

Xanadu

Vain

So I like this band but they arent my favorite for many reasons. I dont think it holds up to Malice Mizer and my biggest problem with them is that their music, if you listen to all of it, sounds similar. But, they are decent. But Juka, their first singer, who I will be profiling next, went on to do some pretty decent work.
 
very european sound. i can tell you this is not whats big in japan at all..lol but they hold it down well. i dig the gothic metal sound as it has elements that most bands have trouble or just can't have. kinda bahaus -esc if i may compare them to a band.
 
Juka
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So the next singer is Juka. After Moi Dix Mois (their first vocalist), he started his solo career and hanging out with the likes of the amazing guitarist Hizaki (who will be featured soon too) and Kamijo of the band Lareine (Both of these members are now in a band called Versailles who are amazing and will be featured).

But Juka started with some solo releases. He did more of a rock/metal type thing but then started to write his own music before he stopped his solo career. So this will actually feature two "separate" bands:: The last of his solo career, and then his first band after getting surgery on his throat (polyps) and coming back into the music scene.

One reason why I like Juka is because his voice is different. Sometimes there can be too much vibrato for my tastes, but he tends to take an operatic approach to vocals (and has been partially trained by a opera coach).

Fall of Leaves

Saint Croix

I actually didnt care for these two songs. Probably the two weakest of his solo career, but the only ones with pv's.

So like I said, after this, he had to have throat surgery and didnt even know if he would sing again. But, he came back in a different way with another person in the music industry on guitar.

Xover (pronounced Cross Over)
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So Juka came back, under the name Shaura, which is what he goes by now. Along with Kouichi of Laputa/Everlasting K, they made a sort of mellow rock/rock group. They arent too bad. They released a mini album and full album before going separate ways. Which was probably a good thing. Some of their songs were pretty good but a good bit were mediocre too. I couldnt see them doing much more after this due to the music kinda staying the same style. But what they did was pretty decent.

Mezame

Curse of Life - Never cared much for this song

Souten - Pretty decent song


So next on the list will be the band Shaura is in. Well, they just announced disbandment but they had great potential. Awesome musicians in the band. They start out kinda rough but got better as time went on and their last release was really good.
 
i love talking music and giving my review and opinion on things. i will never say no a musical thread :) i am actually gonna be playing some one ok rock on my radio show tonite
 
have to say moio dix mois were so much better when juka was their singer and not seth... also id like to say that x japan used to be awesome... but hidetos death ruined the band for me
 
Awesome. The more followers the better. I like spreading good music.

And pretty cool about the radio show Seddy. Hoping people like One Ok Rock.

So onto the last band in the series of Juka/Shaura

VII-Sense
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So this was Shaura's newest band. He was actually planning on starting it before he found out about getting throat surgery so it was put on hold at the time. Personally, when they first started out, they were pretty rough. But they had a cool concept. Three guitarists have been done before, but I always find it interesting. Not everyone can pull it off. I felt like they did. Sometimes three guitars just sounds too messy and jumbled.

Style they did was more of an operatic metal. Id say I like overall half of their material.

Black Bird - Wasnt really hot about this song. Vocals werent the best, especially the falsetto and I kinda dont like the tempo of the song, but I gave the band some time since he just got back from surgery and they were just starting to play together

Not VIDE ID - liked this one more. Vocals were better, and musically it just flowed much better. Plus the solo's in the song are awesome. Only lame part is right after the solo's where it sounds like somewhere over the rainbow -__-

Revelations - decent song, once again, great solo's

Silent Assassin - their best song I think IMO. Kinda sucks they end on a high note since they could have been pretty good.

They arent my favorite band or anything, but they showed awesome potential and looked like they were starting to come out into their own at the end.
 
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