Leaderboard

The irony here is simply astounding. Saying that you don't believe in illegal downloading is silly. You believe in it whether you choose to admit it or not. Without illegal downloading, neither this forum nor the vast majority of the VK/J-rock/Japanese music fanbase would exist overseas. Whether you choose to purchase music or not is your own perogative, but keep the following in mind: 1) Purchasing music doesn't make you any more or less than a fan. 2) If you know beforehand how people are going to react to you talking/gloating about what releases you've bought, why talk about them in the first place? If you're going to get angry at people for requesting releases from you, then you can solve that problem by simply ceasing to talk/post about those releases. That's like waving a steak in front of a lion and acting surprised when it attacks you. Regardless of your intentions, what you're essentially doing is teasing. 3) If you're an overseas fan that purchases Japanese music, there's a damn good chance that your purchase won't do much to "support" whatever band you're buying from. This is ESPECIALLY true if you're purchasing music released through major labels. Hell, most bands make their real money from performing live, not CD sales. I know you want to feel special like you've done some kind of good deed for buying music instead of downloading it illegally, but I'm sorry, you don't get a cookie for spending your hard-earned cash on ridiculously overpriced Japanese CDs. To be honest with you, you'd probably be supporting these bands more by distributing their music digitally.

I doubt vk bands have much money from the foreign sales. Foreigners are also ignored by many bands (there are CDs or services available only in Japan), while people in Japan can go to the instore when they buy the CD, for example. Foreigners don't get anything else, than the physical CD and bonus items sometimes. It's so easy to complain about people who don't spend money, but these bands totally don't care about any other market, than Japan, so the sales outside of Japan probably don't matter to them. I've seen many bands open to foreign audience and happy people all over the world listen to them, but Japanese are so closed about everything. Sometimes I feel like a worse kind of a fan, because I can't even participate in everything fun.

As someone else touched on and I'm not positive it's unpopular, but it might be... I don't consider "illegal downloading" theft. Theft is the deprivation of something from its original owner with no intent to return it. IN this case, nothing is being stolen because someone bought the item in the first place and is simply sharing it with others...albeit a lot of others. Downloading music on the internet is exactly the same concept (just a lot easier) as going to the library, checking out a CD and then ripping it and keeping it or re-burning it. Or, back in the day, using a double cassette recorder to copy one cassette to a blank one. The only difference now is it's a LOT easier to do this type of copying, sharing, etc. It's a giant myth perpetuated by governments and record labels, stepping on our rights and no one should be buying into it. If I buy something, pay MY hard-earned money for it, no one, NO ONE, should be able to tell me what to do with it. If I want to share it with one person or dozens of persons, that's my right dammit.

Not everyone really has money to buy the music and I very much believe in sharing the wealth but also as juka was saying, attitude makes all the difference. maybe im too nice a person, but the reason i stepped out of the jrock/vkei scene was because of snotty elitist prats being all high and mighty about what they owned and refused to share... idk thats just me tho.

ダリス(dhalis), SOMATIC GUARDIAN, M & hysteric will revive for one-day at SEVEN presents live at Doutonbori SHRIMP at 2013/09/23

lol no it's not. you don't have to share if you don't want to, but smh @ this elitism. you can be a fan of any artist/band without having bought their music, merch, etc.

Naw, it's quite understandable and common knowledge there are v-kei/j-rock fans without jobs or barely make ends meet so they can't afford to purchase any Japanese music. It can get very expensive with shipping costs, etc. I just feel like, "Hey, I saved up the money to purchase this, because I like to do my best to support my favorite artists and it's the only way I can being a foreign fan." Then it bugs me when I am excited about purchasing something etc., share that info on a forum, and people bug me about sharing it and I say no. Then they treat me like shit. Sorry that I don't believe in illegal downloading? Does that make me better than anyone else? No. I am no better than anyone else. I just won't share, and there are other people like me with probably similar opinions.

Supernova, the only way one can 'steal' music is when they either steal a physical copy of a cd or vinyl record OR when they claim a certain composition as their own creation when it's in fact someone else's. The first could be discribed as plain old theft of physical goods and the second as plagiarism. Downloading (thus only copying) music is NEITHER of those. An artist should be glad that people are enjoying his creations. The internet is the greatest medium in the history of mankind that allows the sharing of art and knowledge. Let's just use it to the fullest and stop worrying about money so much. When art is liked, the artist is bound to get money anyway. It's a natural process. People are willing to give money to those who make things they enjoy. Even if we assume that an artist loses out on money due to free downloads (this will always remain impossible to measure, because the free publicity might be worth a lot more to them), then it's still no use for that artist to start complaining about that because that'll not only mean the loss of money, but also the loss of their artistic value (which could in turn backfire and lead to the loss of even more money!). Also, try to use paragraphs to prevent a so-called "wall of text".

^your wall of text hurts my eyes.

Flash-Fab-Supernova, on 08 Aug 2013 - 00:27, said: I don't think people that don't buy any VK albums should be allowed to criticize or complain about band qualities when they aren't doing anything to help the genre economically. Oh boo-hoo. I haven't bought a VK CD in ages and still my opinion matters just as little as yours. Why on earth shouldn't I be able to praise or criticize ( both sides of the same coin ) unless I belong to this elit3 VK-consumers club. How does one gain entrance? One CD a month, year, week? I bought a couple some years ago, so am I a lifelong-member?

after departure of Ba.LENA at 2013/05/31 & Gt.遊季(yuuki) at 2013/07/03, support Ba.鈴(rin)(ex-う゛ぁんきっしゅ(vanquish)) has officially joined FUNNY at their one-man live "to be continued "FUNNY" Re:start→" at Ikebukuro RUIDO K3 at 2013/08/14, and they have changed their band name to "F@NNY" and have joined label "PRIMAVERA RECORDS" at the same date their new maxi single "Heaven's Gate" will be sold in advance at their presents live "Relime～Special Route【Harvest festa!】～" at Ikebukuro BLACK HOLE at 2013/10/12, which will include CD+DVD (including "Heaven's Gate" PV) [CD track list] 01.Heaven's Gate 02.花蘇芳-hanazuou- their new maxi single "make you smile" will be sold in advance at their presents live "☆Happy Night☆～Merry×2 FUNNY～" at Ikebukuro BLACK HOLE at 2013/12/24, which will include CD+DVD (including PV) their new album "Rainvow☆Color→" will be released in 2014/03, although details have not yet been announced btw they will hold their one-man live "Tokyo Rainvow☆Trip→" at Ikebukuro EDGE at 2014/04/26

Like i said in the description of the video, is you watch my videos, you know that my screams are horrible XD Anyways, i hope you enjoy this ^^

Imo there's nothing wrong with someone asking you to share a specific release, however, the fault can be at two sides. I've seen cases where the purchaser acts like an elitist dick, and I've seen cases where the purchaser nicely said that they didn't want to share, which resulted in over-dramatic reactions from the requesters. Imo everyone has the right to request a rip of a CD, but that doesn't mean you're automatically entitled to it. As long as nobody acts like a dick/elitist snob interaction should be just fine.

When someone brags about a release being good to a group of people who didn't listen to it, what are they supposed to say about it anyway? They don't have any opinion, so the only thing they can say is to ask for it, so they can listen to it and tell you if they like it too, or not.

I was a huge fan of SID in their indies days. I still like their music because I think they have a crazy amount of flair, but somehow after they majored their music became more unattractive to me. I don't think the reason is them "becoming more mainstream" (or at least not entirely because of that) - I don't know - but they hardly write songs like Aikagi, Alibi and those from their "Ren'ai" album anymore

I know purchasing music doesn't make me more or less of a fan. And for fans that don't/are unable to purchase music are no less or more of a fan either. I apologize for not expanding or articulating my thought process better. I see it has been misunderstood due to my own fault and no one else's. I used to download illegally. Without it I wouldn't have known about visual kei. Without Internet most of us fans wouldn't know about visual kei and without sharing music or music videos on youtube etc. I wouldn't have discovered the bands I've come to love. I know that... I'm not dumb. I know that a lot of artists (if not most) make their money from lives as opposed to CD sales; being that I don't live in Japan, the only way I personally feel I can support my favorite bands is purchasing their music. Yes, it sucks that it is expensive and overpriced and that my "contribution" most likely doesn't help boost their profits. I like to have the CDs for the lyrics, having been studying Japanese for a few years and wanting to improve and understand my favorite songs. And I've also just been the type of person that prefers physical copies--the same for me goes for books--and this addiction, one could call it, has developed over the years greatly. Probably unhealthy for my wallet, to be honest. I appreciate you for pointing out my unwise actions in sharing information on forums (i.e. "I just preordered so-and-so release" etc.) I honestly just get into fangirl mode, because I get excited to listen to new music and so on and want to tell someone. Where I live there are no other fans that I know of. I only interact with fans online. I've realized as much as I may want to fangirl over such things, it is not wise. I don't do it on purpose to cause a ruckus. I am just an idiot. It is my fault for any way I react when I reveal such information and fellow fans would like me to share the music. It is my fault for feeling angry and/or upset towards fellow fans that do not purchase music etc. for whatever reason. Maybe to a certain degree (or a lot) I have subconscious elitism that says, "Well, why don't you buy it instead of begging me to upload it?" And that's something I need to work on.

keep up the good werrrrk

silent hill 2 is where japanese horror peaked artistically tbh. get the ps2/xbox version if you can, recent hd remakes are very fucked sh3 is good too & I like the depressive atmosphere of sh4, the game itself is quite bad though. sh shattered menories was good gameplay wise, but gaijin modellers can not reproduce the brill Japanese characterwork -- the characters r quite ugly to me, and it's really difficult to have any empathy with those dead eyed manequinns to be frank. silent hill 2 characters more often than not feel alive, although mostly really mentally unhealthy.

If only record lables thought like Des.

Requesting something because you're interested in hearing it is one thing. Demanding you share it because you're entitled to have it is another. Tact makes all the difference.

dream theater-core

Ones that haven't been mentioned. The Human Abstract Blotted Science The Evan Brewer Project Guthrie Govan Tool Coheed and Cambria Intervals Pomegranate Tiger Red Seas Fire Enslaved These ones have more screaming and growling although they still employ clean vocals sometimes. Born Of Osiris The Faceless Volumes

Liquid Tension Experiment is another instrumental prog band, but if you don't like Dream Theater you're not going to like them.

Myriath Symphony X Stormental Angra Dreamtheater BioMechanical Daath Opeth Porcupine Tree Protest the Hero Stratovarius Its hard to list just 'progressive' bands without breaking into the other sub genre's prog rock/metal and power metal

Animals As Leaders (instrumental prog) Chimp Spanner (see above) Ever Forthright (some of the most far-out trippy random stuff I've heard) Monuments (kinda regular djenty prog) Fellsilent (this one might be a bit heavier) ...these are some of the bands I dig. I'm no expert tho - it just happens that I listen to these bands, but dunno/haven't tried any of the ones you listed (well ok, except for HAARP). xD

I'm determined to spark a shitstorm with my opinions sooner or later. BABYMETAL isn't the spawn of Satan Sexism at it's finest, really. BABYMETAL has succeeded at doing what the visual kei scene has failed at repeatedly - juxtaposing music and appearance in such a way as to confuse the listener. It's unorthodox, it's original, it's exactly the same reason why plenty of people say they listen to visual kei...and yet they get lambasted for it over and over and over again. BABYMETAL plays the same kind of music that's popular within the visual kei scene, which is deathcore mixed with pop hooks and a ton of electronic influence. I would expect the same people that like those kinds of bands to at least tolerate their existence, if not enjoy them as something familiar yet different. But once again the hivemind takes over. Since one person decided they didn't like it, everyone else hops on the bandwagon without listening for themselves. Inevitably, I come across someone that says that they don't like their style of music, yet has in their collection plenty of bands that use the same formula. Oops. True facts right here, if Black Gene For The Next Scene or REALies covered メギツネ (which sounds exactly like what they've tried to do and have failed at for the last forever and a half), I would bet my bottom dollar nothing but praise would be lobbed at those bands for getting back in shape, improving their squeals and writing actual riffs. Disclaimer: BABYMETAL isn't the greatest band to squeal into a breakdown or three. They just get a lot more hate than they deserve because people care too much about what other people think of their music taste and in the visual kei world it's easy to hate "pop music" or anything associated with it.

Hope you enjoy XD

In NO Order my TOP 10 at the moment , base on the songs that I have been listen to , and I don't skip their tracks (most tracks are addicted listenable) . MEJIBRAY （Obviously , the speedy tempo , their instrument's skills , epic compose and 綴's death voice !） SCREW （Without a doubt my Top 10 as I like most of their tracks (except the recent singles) , and their album is very good .） グリーヴァ （No need to explain how I Love the 90's style of VK industry , and they are incredible .） RedruM （The electricish Metal , and their skills are brilliant , and I Love their compose as well .） Xepher （One of the Best New band from the 2012 , 2 singles , 5 tracks I'm in Love with , it's very rare to have a band can created all tracks that are great !） 己龍 （Still in Love with their 和製ホラー (Japanese Styled Horror Metal) , epic composers , Love 参輝 'n 武政 from クララ零式, and 准司's drums is Superb.） Avidit. （Not much to describe , simply because their music , and リゼ voice is very special .） レイヴ （Their music are great , compose and style are very fresh , + レン's voice is unique .） ダウナー （Downer is another 和風 band that is outstanding and sadly , underrated ,but still , I am in LOVE with 杏's voice since マルル <3） メガマソ （涼平 , I LOVE YOU <3）

1. xTRiPx 2. UNiTE. 3. the GazettE 4. DIV 5. Kameleo 6. Royz 7. DOG inThePWO 8. LUCHe. 9. DaizyStripper 10. RoNo☆Cro These are the first that came into my mind. Besiddes the first three, they're not in any particular order.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Active and Visual Kei only? I don't listen to a ton of music these days though :C CELL is the only real band that I am following. Oh boy! I have the live DVD coming in the mail! Now that PV DVD WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? Ugh, I don't know who thought that was a good idea but guys seriously please stop. Zig Zag: I fucking love Zig Zag but I haven't listened to their new album, it's kinda annoying to buy so I've been putting it off. Like using a shopping service or asking my buddy to grab it and all that. Ru:natic: Oh boy they're finally releasing something with songs I've heard already thanks to Peace ripping the tracks off YouTube <3 Grieva: I was liking these guys but after this last mini, if their next release is just redone Dir en grey songs I'm going to just stop bothering with them. About a day after owning their mini I was bored and rather just listen to the better original Dir en grey songs. Vallquar: I thought an album was going to be released but I haven't heard much regarding that since it was annouced. Oh well, that's why we have Vampire Rose. Vampire Rose: Oh boy! Cheesy dumb vampire gothic indie trash. Gotta love it! At least we get Vallquar songs without Hikari's awful vocals! Gauzes: Pretty sure they're going to disbanned soon. OH BOY TALK ABOUT TR00 VKKK KVLT! Release album and break up! Lulu: I thought Taa OD'd but I guess not and I was digging the recent PV they put on YouTube. It's different from their earlier material, no denying that but I still like it. Kiryu: I want to like Kiryu more but I also don't want to buy all 50 versions of their singles. I just wait until an album is out and get the one with the most songs. D: Ehhhh lately I either hate or love what they do and I feel like I tend to hate it more than love. I hope this label change is for the better but since it's major I guess we're gonna get a bunch of awful Day by Day songs. Jupiter: The single isn't even out yet but it's HIZAKI. I've liked him since his wee early days when he teamed up with Hisui and everything else he's done. It'll be frilly gay HIZAKI metal and hopeful Zin will be up to the challenge. I hope Teru composes more songs too! Okay coming up with 10 bands wasn't that hard!

Here's my list : Other than my favorite visual kei band the rest of em are pretty much all in the same category as for how much i listen to em/like em etc XD 1. ViViD 2. DaizyStripper 3. HERO 4. UNiTE. 5. カメレオ 6. DIV 7. REALies 8. Royz 9. xTRiPx 10. ν[NEU] There are a few more bands i could replace any of the bands other than ViViD with but well judgin of how often i listen to each band's music i got on my pc these must be the the top 10 ones ;p And i have left out every heavy/dark? sound band i listen to like DIAURA/R指定/己龍 (i dont give a shit about what you think as heavy but for me these bands kind of music is the definition of heavy, im not metal shit type of guy but i can enjoy any kind of music as long as for some random reason it appeals to me ♥)

That will make their 9th singles in a row, without any album release between (Yeah, VIGOUR, I know, but since it's a 100% new songs album). They can almost do a best album with all the main tracks… I REALLY like them, but yeah, they need to slow down a little…

Just stop, BORN, for your sake, please, just stop.

I'm single, but....