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So I'm new~ Hello! I've been into VK for about 3 years and listen to just about everything. Lately my favorites reside in early 80s/90s jrock/metal. I'm not too picky so feel free to chat old or new bands with me~

Just like the title says this is an attempt to bring back the m-h jrock awards for the year 2017 which last took place way back in 2012 and apparently ended do to lack of participation. Awards were given for best album, single, new band, etc. And all of this was decided by user votes. So I asked about reviving this and here's what @Zeussaid, Judging by all of the yearly best album/single reviews I would hope there's still some interest in something like this. So if you want to see the "Monochrome heaven J-Rock Awards 2017" then help me get this topic 50 likes and/or 50 comments by the end of the month.

It may be a small contribution, but watching their music videos on official channels rather than xoxVisualHeadRushBRxox's reuploads so they can at least get some ad revenue to offset production costs.

Hey Guys so last night I saw Virge live for the first time and they were amazing! So I thought I would come here and talk about their live on their Artist post but they didn't have one So I thought I would start one and talk about the live I went to last night! For starters here is their new Look and list of their current discography! 遼-ryo- 紫月-sizuki- 沁-shin- 或-aru- Discography 1st Mini Album ~ UTOPIA [2017.05.03] 1.琥珀 (Kohaku) 2.恨ミ言 (Uramigoto) 3.夜明け、灰色の呼吸 (Yoake、haiiro no kokyuu) 4.ボクノ悪イ癖 (Boku no warui kuse) 5.蓮華 (Renge) 6.ユートピア (UTOPIA) Like an Edison: Bonus CD 「暁」(Akatsuki) 1.暁 (Akatsuki) Live-limited and Like an Edison CD ~ 不透明な雨 (Futoumeina ame) [2017.07.26] 1. 止マヌ雨 (Tomanu Ame) 2. 凶夢 (Kyoumu) 3. 二枚舌 (Bonus Track) (Nimaijita) Ikebukuro Black Hole Live-limited CD ~ 紅いドレス [2017.10.21] 1. 紅いドレス (Akai Dress) 1st Single ~ 夜想 [2017.11.01] CD 1.夜想 (Yasou) 2.お人形遊び (Oningyou Asobi) 3.泡沫 (Utakata) 4.凱歌 (Gaika) DVD 1.夜想 (Yasou) Music Video Like an Edison Version Bonus CD: 「fated」

らせん (Rasen) (the La'Veil MizeriA x Crucifixion continuous side project) will be selling their new "winter single" "想失 (Soushitsu)" on December 1st. On that day, they will be performing at Oosaka FANJtwice. They have not yet provided a track list nor any pricing information.

You know what. It can be difficult, but the only advice that I can give to that is to stop thinking about it. People love to categorise themselves, I know, but when you seem to fit multiple lockers or none at all, stressing about it is just not beneficial. I've often wondered myself whether I'm bi or pan or whatever, even being told by gay people that I'm gay (which is not true, being that I'm married to a member of the opposite sex), but I get most happiness out of just not trying do define it and go along with what feels alright. Sure this can strip you off of any community you might want to be part of (especially LGBTQ+ community can be so fucking toxic within itself and discriminate against people they don't feel are queer enough to fit with their little niche), but it's better than fitting yourself into a group and constantly being aware that you aren't truly a part of it.

Find their secret yahoo auctions!/mbok account and buy all their tereko/cheki/bootlegs/2nd hand cds.

buying merchandise is the best way to support a band. Still if the band is under a label you don't know how much they receive themselves. But it's the no.1 money income. And they get most money from selling "cheki" (10 cheki cost them only about 700~800yen) However, even if the money goes to the label, I think you still need to support the artist. How more a label get, how more they support their artists. And for disbanded bands, it's hard to tell how much they get from the royalties, it really depends on the contract they signed. Also for visual bands it's very important that they sell their CD's and merchandise good, if they wanna stay alive. with or without a label. If the selling won't go well enough, a band also disbands (often). Just check the DL part of this forum to check if you find anything you look for. Otherwise you always can request what you are looking for and maybe someone is willing to share the love with you. So, just support the artist you like. It's never a waste of money.

The Samidare cover has a 2005 Girugamesh vibe in it. Such a precious legacy track from my boys.

DVD Tracklist: 01.4 minutes for you　 02.The Screamers　 03.asymMETRY　 04.赤いマフラーを巻いた女の子 05.Good morning Tokyo!　 06.V_V GIRL　 07.JapanesQ　 08.懺劇　 09.Marry me,’cause I hate U 10.恐想ロワイヤル　 11.アカネとアイ　 12.レインフォール　 13.DramaQueeN　 14.SHE LUVS “POP STAR”　 15.Director's cut　 16.撃愛　 17.Brilliant days　 18.Samurai dreeeeeam breaker　 19.JUSTICE　 20.遺書　 21.Qtie　 22.Gotcha6ka　 23.The Lyrical Jet Sky　 24.Diary　 25.Ash　 26.Hydrag

you could take advice from this guy:

Hey! I don't think of this like an introduction, since I've been here since the forum was called Tainted World with Champ213 and a lot of other guys that I don't remember their names anymore lol. Anyway, I actually stopped listening to japanese music in general around 2009, since I started college and needed to expand my music universe. Last year I started reminiscing a lot of memories after I came across some old songs, so I started listening japanese bands again, and omg I missed it haha. I've been checking on the forum for the last year but didn't really had the time to participate in it but I think I can now. My favourite bands are mostly from the 90's and mid 00's, and I think there has been a notorious change in music since 2007-08 that really turned me off, so now I mostly follow Kiryu, lynch., DEZERT and Uverworld, but I'm really open to try new things. TL;DR: I have been here for a long time but left and now I'm returning to VK/Jrock, trying to recover the lost time and maybe contribute to the forum however I can. Not that anyone cares about this but is nice to be back.

Their new single will be released on 2018.02.07. Limited edition : 2200 yen + taxes CD : 2 songs DVD : MUSIC CLIP +撮影密着オフショット(off-shot) +2017.11.22 ペンタゴン 47都道府県 JAPAN TOUR「WONDER:LAST」 TOUR FINAL&眠花バースデー日本青年館公演より3曲収録 Regular edition : 1500 yen + taxes CD : 3 songs A tour called 「GA-CHA HEAD-CHA-LA」 will begin on 2018.02.11 and will end on 2018.04.25

Their new single 「Ray」 will be released on 2018.01.24.

They tweeted the cover art for ANIMA.

This single is now their best selling single. It's also charted longer than any of their previous singles. Although the opinions here are lukewarm on the single content itself, let's put that aside for now... They haven't been able to top MIRRORS in sales for 6 years, and they've done it with a release whose premium edition was essentially a full-length live blu-ray with a bonus single attached -- this is pretty impressive because DVD/BD sales are usually harder to push. With their top single being their most recent and their top 4 selling albums all being from their return to their more visual kei roots in 2014 onward (AVANTGARDE, GALLOWS, D.A.R.K., SINNER-EP) they've really made a comeback after their slight downturn in 2012/2013.

Back in 2010, they went major and did a couple 'anisongs' for the 'Kaichou wa Maid-sama' anime. Both singles were on 'Senkou Mellow' album. Despite this being their most popular period, I think this (and the album that came after it, 'Alpha') was actually their weakest sounding era as a band, and they were demoted to indie status from what I recall from talking with fans at the time. As for popularity, I mean, they've played in the US at least 4 times and even did a European tour, but their fanbase always seems to stay relatively the same size (even in Japan, from what I can tell). At one time, they were popular enough to be doing the Hide Memorial Summit and headlining on VA albums, etc. It's really quite sad, because you can tell the guys really love what they do and have a really unique sound – Like you said, they haven't even had any member changes after 11 years playing together. I think they're honestly together because they know they have something special, not for any monetary reason (that's for sure) Since then though, I really think they've been focused on the quality of their releases. Ignoring the last single (which was a little generic IMO), 'Human' and 'Kaikou' (their latest albums) have some really good, solid material and rival their first 2 albums as far as replay-ability goes, for me personally anyway. And I LOVE those first 2 albums. I would say so. They play with other VK bands, and while they have a toned-down look, Nao is always the most angura out of the four of them.

Have you guys listened to MERRY's version of 家路 yet? And if you did, did you like it? Personally, I really liked it. It's one of the highlights of the MUCC tribute album for me. That got me thinking that with all the stuff MERRY released in 2017, we finally have enough material for an entire MERRY album of covers from other artists. (chronologically) 2002 - Strength Beyond Strength 2007 - PRECIOUS... 2009 - 伊勢佐木町ブルース 2009 - 学生街の喫茶店 2010 - 皆殺しのメロディ 2010 - 新宿ナナ 2010 - オデッセイ・1985・SEX 2011 - Schweinの椅子 2012 - 悪の華 2017 - SO... 2017 - 家路 That's quite a lot! I think only MUCC got them beat for "official" studio version covers. At least as far as V系 bands go. There's also the debatable inclusion of シャ乱Q's 上・京・物・語, but that one doesn't count, right? Anyway, which one is your favorite cover version? Which ones do you dislike? Personally, I think it's reallyyyy hard to beat 伊勢佐木町ブルース, but I love 新宿ナナ and オデッセイ・1985・SEX. The ones I'm not really hot about are Strength Beyond Strength and Schweinの椅子, and I think that's about it. MERRY usually does really well performing other people's songs. I kinda wish they did even more covers, MERRY almost always leave their personal mark and that's pretty cool. The next single could use a brand new b-side and another old-school cover.

Only 2 days left to do this! If anyone still wants to see the "Monochrome Heaven Jrock Awards" brought back for 2017 please give this topic likes. Only 2 more days and we need 33 more.

in order: 1- buying official merchandise 2- going to the concerts as much as possible] 3- buying CDs 4- listening stuff legally on streaming plataforms OR something similar 5- spreading the word. if you can't help your favorite artists using the first 4 options, then try recommending them to as much friends as possible. the more people know and get into them, the more people might be able to help support their craft. and that includes sharing .mp3s/videos, etc..

Kinda wish a few more VK dudes were out and about, if only to satisfy my irrational curiosity. I have this vision of peak VK being like '80s UK synthpop, where like 90% of anyone good was gay/bi.

CDJapan is a just a retailer. So they would just take a typical cut that any store would take and then it goes to the distributor/label and all that business. I'm sure whatever the percentage is varies a bit from store to store, but it probably wouldn't be much different than any other shop (physical or not). It's safe to assume that a band with an official webshop would get a much higher cut from sales, but then again they could still have a lot of middlemen if the band is notable enough to require extra people to handle shipping.

Whichever you are, it's normal and you should not feel pressured to be anything else. You can also be asexual and straight, meaning that you just feel very little sexual attraction to the opposite sex, or the attraction requires a lot. If you feel like finding out is too taxing, you do you. It's perfectly normal to be happy without "that special someone" everyone keeps ushering you to find asap. This, I feel, should be normal where it's not. I think a relationship is your business and whether you wanna disclose it with family members or relatives is up to you. I certainly hated it whenever my family had some sort of fucking massive gathering and all half-relatives and whatnots were asking: "So do you have a boyfriend yet? Are you interested in anyone?" No, great aunt or who the fuck ever you are, none of your fucking beeswax. Not to mention I absolutely disliked the fact that they were expecting me to like guys instead of girls, but that's beside the point. I never liked fitting into a mould. That's a lot of swearing. Sorry about that.

Bands on major labels usually get a salary, so buying CDs from them helps keep the labels afloat and helps keep bands employed. The absolute best way is definitely going to shows and buying merch, but obviously that's not terribly feasible. But besides that, your best bet is probably just buying CDs and merch (new of course). It might not go directly to them, but in theory it helps keep the label afloat which in turn helps the band out.

Jealous of you dude. D:

I think you pretty much answered it yourself! Supporting the artists by buying their merch directly off their site or (in the case of music) any music sites they link to for purchase would probably be the ones giving them the most royalties. Like you said, it may have to be through a third party if they don't ship overseas and/or you're not confident enough in your Japanese to order by yourself. If that isn't an option, may I recommend ordering from a VK/j-rock CD supplier? Even if it's a secondhand purchase of something out of print that the band may not benefit from themselves, the monetary profit these stores make help support and keep the scene alive within Japan, providing talk/event opportunities, promotional opportunities, and more. I don't think there's any kind one answer fits all regarding whether artists receive royalties for old releases, short-lived bands, etc. and how much... I would assume most of them do since that seems pretty standard, but how much would depend on their contracts with whatever label it was released under. However, it is pretty safe to say that if it was released on a band's own personal/independent label, they would still receive a good chunk of profit from any music sales or new music pressings. If there's something you're particularly looking for, you can always request it on the upload request thread. In that regard, the forum seems to take the "try before you buy" or "might as well upload it if it's out of print so more fans can enjoy it" approach to uploading VK/j-rock music, so I don't think you have to really worry about getting reported over piracy. I'm not sure of another website database of mp3 like that myself... Maybe another poster can help.

this is the DILFs thread tho

heidi, was really good and popular at their peak. I don't really know exactly what happened; even in Japan their popularity seems to have stagnated (not to say decreased) for a while now. They were growing ridiculously fast back when they started and all of sudden it just stopped. I'm always surprised to see a new release by them as well lol but it's cool that they're still going, even though I don't check out their stuff anymore.

I agree up to a point but thought their last album was actually a real return to form, beautifully produced and sounded much harder and heavier than their other stuff.

except SIXTH SENSE though, that was pure gold.

I meant the latter sorry.

Y e s! Same (Also, aye, I'm new here and stumbled across this thread xD Loona is my current bias group so I had to comment~)

My skit starts at 29:40, I hope you enjoy even though I sucked ass!

I met my first boyfriend in my driveway when he came to drop his sister off, and my last ex I randomly met on the sidewalk. Sooo as far as meeting someone goes.. it quite literally can happen anywhere? I'm honestly wondering how to get back into dating myself. lol I haven't met anyone who's made me think I want to try going on a date with them in the past year and it's kind of annoying. At the same time, it's hella nice finally feeling comfortable with being single and being by myself. I'm not really into dating casually but I don't meet anyone, don't have any friends near me to introduce me to anyone, etc. Dating sites don't work for me because I start trolling tf out of people. lol I have severe dating apathy because my last relationship was abusive. Weird gut feeling, but for awhile now I've felt like there's someone really special for me but I just haven't met them/don't live near them currently, and that I'd meet them when I'm 24. I kind of laughed it off but the feeling won't go away and it's hella weird because I don't believe in soulmates. I turn 24 next year so I'm kind of wondering what'll happen. I feel like I'm nuts because it's such a strong feeling. I felt this during my last relationship, especially when we were planning on getting married, my gut sank and I just immediately thought, "This isn't the person I'm meant to spend my life with". I have a lot of stuff planned for next year after my birthday which is even weirder. Should I question it? I'm pretty sure if I told my friends they'd tell me I'm cray.

Better than the original 👌

Hello. Just joined a little while ago. I've actually been seeing/browsing this site for years but just joined XD I've been into VK for almost 10 years now and my favorite bands are Symphonic/"Tanbi" bands. (Versailles, Lareine, Chanton L'amour, Lacroix Despheres, VAMPIRE ROSE, La fleur de l'ange, Ambrosia -Neo Gothic Opera-, Anti-Alice, Merveille Magique, etc.) and also old school bands (Arege, As'REAL, En:nesia, Baiser, Gu:Laymu, M E L U S I N E, Radifia, Variable Messiah, etc.) errrrrr, don't know what else to say but.... hi XD

Who is Yukika?

is this @The Moon's undercover twitter account

LOONA just dropped their 9th member and whoa. Love it. The video and the song.

today i finally hit a new milestone of 900 CDs - at 1000 i can finally stop this shit... ...not really! ;D

i want to have a kid just so i can abandon it at a mall

I think that what he means to say is that while they mainly cater to a female audience, maybe there's some photos that would subconsciously appeal to the straight male audience and OP is asking if that would be something bands would exploit to gain more fans. I'm also pretty sure OP wasn't being offensive towards the LGBT community in any way.

There was Arakawa-san from zoisite taking photos. She's already posted some of them on twitter and hopefully will publish some more soon. But I doubt there'll be a video. I saw no other cameras.

Tracklist: 1. 蟲聲 2. デルタ (Type-A only) 2. 六花の歔欷 (Type-B only) - Love them or hate them; but don't do either based on this single I was able to put into words the biggest reason why I’ve liked 儿 (Jin) ( The Black Swan/ Nega) while attending The Black Swan’s one-man live in June of last year. I realized while Jin was pouring his heart into one of their trademark overwrought, overlong ballads that no one else is able to tread the line between embracing the tropes of Visual Kei and mocking them like Jin has. He doesn’t just tow that line, he and his bands have taken up permanent residence there for some time now. Take 2015’s “I’m Shit Noodle, But…” off The Black Swan’s 失愛と依存、その感触 single as a prime example of this ability to live the VK lifestyle, tongues firmly in cheek. VK is a genre so built on the idolization of characters that it is downright scandalous when it’s publicly revealed that band members have engaged in mostly innocuous activities like having girlfriends or smoking some weed. The Black Swan wrote a banger turning this image of the impossibly virtuous band member on its head by shouting about their enjoyment of sex, drugs and money; a value system that is traditionally accepted in rock’n’roll but rarely espoused by people in the VK community. I enjoy Jin’s nasal warble; I appreciate uniqueness and passion more than a traditionally ‘good’ singing voice…which Jin certainly does not have. I think it’s often unnecessary to have two guitarists playing downtuned/seven+ string guitars and a bassist basically occupying the same sonic space, but all the guitarists are competent. I also thoroughly enjoy that the drummer has achieved a slight amount of separate-from-the-band fame by being a scary looking VK dude who adopted a tiny, stray kitten. With all that being said, I was disappointed when The Black Swan announced recently that they’d be disbanding next May after more than three years together as a band. They have not announced any other releases, though this being VK, I assume we’ll get a best-of release with a new warmed-over B-side or two, so 蟲聲 might be the last gasp of this particular band of VK provocateurs. The title track “蟲聲”--after it gets the acoustic intro from “Chop Suey!” out of the way--is the kind of song that Jin and The Black Swan will be remembered for; a little all-over-the-place compositionally, a riff that sounds like the guitarist would be walking toward the camera in the video, a plethora of vocal styles (some squeals, slightly flat singing, deathcore-inspired growling, some gang shouting), there's slightly haunting piano to highlight the sombre mood, the chorus that Jin uses for about 30% of his songs. All-in-all this is probably the least interesting track on this single. This being a VK single, of course there are multiple versions to buy to get all the songs. The A-Type version of 蟲聲 contains “デルタ (Delta)”. Critics would say this song sounds a lot like someone took a solid Dezert song and sprinkled some fart-sounding drop-A riffs and strained vocals throughout; to which I couldn’t make much of an argument except to say the chorus is deliciously catchy no matter if someone else would’ve done it better or not. I like the gravelly whisper in one channel under the singing that Jin does to end the song too. The B-Type song "六花の歔欷" would seem to be a very lengthy track by VK standards, but Jin fans will be unfazed after epic-length experiments like “虚しき「生」の寓意≒「死」の真意” and “Ousia”. This track pales in comparison to those other 7+ minute songs, mostly by not differentiating itself enough (all the usual ingredients are there: piano, acoustic guitar, etc.), but it does have a pretty stellar falsetto wail right before a smart guitar solo @ 3:50 and it gets points for not trying to scare the listener with unexpected guitar explosions, but rather is simply a solid, longing ballad throughout. The Black Swan will go down as being mostly a logical evolution of Jin’s sound during the latter days of Nega that continued their quest as one of the more polarizing bands in VK. Love him or hate him, Jin will get you to have some reaction. But don’t take my word for any of this, my favorite Jin project is freakin’ Perestroika ;).

It isn't rock but the last concert I went to was to see SZA.

Another one from 甲府。首吊りロンド！

Question: is there a time in history that Kisaki lost his mind, or has he always been a special kinda guy??