Vitne Eveille

I've bought some downloads, but the last really significant buy was a bunch of GACKT cds from Amazon (yes, they were real and not fakes). WOW they are amazing! They make regular CD releases look totally insignificant, lol.

I second the SSD comment, its great!. My Windows 8 desktop PC has its primary drive as just a 64GB SDD, and it runs like lightning. My macbook air also has an SSD, also lightning. Before, I had an ACER desktop and a macbook pro both with standard HDDs, and the difference between the standard and SSD is pretty big. I've always loved the Macbook touchpad, which is really the primary reason I have stuck with macs for laptops. Once pc laptops started releasing as ultrabooks, they seem to be getting their act together, and I've seen some really sweet ultrabooks. And glad everything is working now!

Your issues sound like hardware issues. Was this an inexpensive PC from like, Best Buy, or a higher end ASUS/Dell/etc? Reason I ask is because in the past I had some cheaper ones I bought just off-the-rack from Best Buy or Circuit City...sometimes things would just stop working. For no reason. The whole front USB hub just stopped working on my last PC. I love Windows 8. I had one PC crash about a week after I bought my new ASUS, but I think that was due to me running an old registry-cleaner (STUPID me...you don't even need those!) - ever since I did a totally fresh install of the OS, its been running flawlessly. Windows 8 may be catered toward touch screen, but once you learn it, its super fast with a mouse and keyboard. I love it! I would recommend, if you have a Windows 7 disc, try totally reinstalling the OS. This really does, sometimes, eliminate problems. But if you are looking at upgrading, Windows 8 is great. Also, if upgrading, don't go for the bottom-line pcs from stores. There's nothing wrong with buying one from a store like Best Buy, just do research beforehand. Stay away from AMD processors, and stick to Intel i5 or i7, ideally. Also get at least 4GB RAM, ideally 8 or so, depending upon your needs.

For my radio stream, I use a host called Radionomy. The good thing about them is that as long as you personally buy the music that you play on your station, they pay royalties. It is not allowed to play music you downloaded for free from a torrent, etc. Their funding seems to be backed in this manner: the more popular you become, the more interested advertisers are in your station. Thus, in order to stay free for you (the broadcaster) and for the listeners, once you become "viable" i guess, they may start adding ads to your stream. Sounds good to me. Better than Live365, because they make the broadcaster pay regardless. The backend of the website software was pretty confusing though! Still is With radionomy, you can add podcasts, and I believe even live broadcasts. Maybe something to look into if you all really want to get that rolling, but it is a lot of work!

I got the album to add to my Visual Kei FEVER radio station after hearing "Aftermath" and "Mama" and as a whole, I really like it! I am, admittedly, not super familiar with DEG (random off-note, but "deg" means "you" in Norwegian). This MUST change, I know I know! I know some stuff, but I haven't really "jumped in" so to speak, yet. Same way with me and Nightmare, though honestly Nightmare is off to a much worse start with me because I do not like the SCUMS album, which I randomly bought as an attempt to get to know them better. I've gotten some recommendations from some of you about which ones to check out though, because the consensus seems to be pretty negative toward SCUMS. But yeah, I like Sukekiyo! And for some reason I REALLY like "Aftermath" and find it intriguing they would use that as their first single. The whole dress-code thing intrigues me as well, being an artist myself. Pretty ballsy, and pretty cool.

Welcome to MH!! Your English is much better than my French Though, I'd love to study French at some point down the road

Certainly not a dumb introduction!!...I mean, this thread is listed as "Hot!" !! Not a bad start I'd say () Weclome, I feel your frustration. No one around me is into this kind of music either. Luckily I found MH as well, it's just the best forum, period! I've been on some other music forums, and its just people talking crap to eachother. MH actually is very supportive and nurturing to its userbase.

Yo! Welcome I'm not into the screamo metal stuff either

Good morning to you too! ()

Yep, FFX is still my favorite, no question. For some reason my friend always said how much he liked FFXII, but I couldn't get into it. Maybe one day... I liked the Last Remnant a lot, but I got to a point where I couldn't beat a battle. I must have played that battle 10-20 times and couldnt do it. I gave up lol. Another game I really liked was Infinite Undiscovery. It was getting mediocre reviews, but it was one of the first RPGs of the (last) generation on 360, and I thought it had a lot of heart and a nice storyline. Damn, maybe I shouldn't have sold my 360...I wanna play those again!

Geeze, I need to actually beat Final Fantasy VIII - never did, lol. I'm playing FFX again now (HD), and its made me want to replay (or play for the first time) the classics. I've never even played FFII, III, V, or IX

Original Saku, is Metro 2033 anything like Fallout 3 in terms of gameplay and exploring, etc? I saw yesterday it was released on Xbox One, may be something I'm interested in. I've been playing the new Wolfenstein, I dig it, its got similar mechanics as Fallout 3 (Bethesda made it), but a linear storyline like normal Wolfensteins. I've loved Wolfenstein ever since the original Wolfenstein 3D, I played that TONS as a kid!

Oh! I've got a good one. The other day, I got a Neo Geo emulator to work (kinda) on my OUYA, so I was playing Sengoku 3 and Super Spy. Any other Neo Geo fans here?

I started watching Rambo First Blood the other day but had to stop to do something with the fam. I had actually never seen the first one, just the fourth one, hahah. I need to finish it!

Blink was a big part of my early teenage years. I loved Dammit and the entire Enema of the State album. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket was pretty good also, but I wasn't a huge fan of their stuff after that. Still love listening to the old stuff sometimes!

hullo from Norway Welcome to MH! It's fun here

You are right, digitalbounce, and probably about most musical genres/scenes honestly. Once one group makes a unique statement, others try to adopt that formula. The notable ones I feel may take a formula and then skew it a bit and make it their own, while others just straight up copy something. I'm also a fan of glam metal and 80s stuff, and in Scandinavia it is decently popular, its got a great underground scene. But you can definitely tell there are a number of bands that think putting on some ripped-up jeans and a t-shirt make them "hair metal" - it just makes them blend in with the rest.

The shock value thing is interesting here. I think Yoshiki describes visual kei well here in this MetalSucks interview from 2010: I like Yoshiki's definition of VK, it allows you to be whatever without the feeling of being judged. There's no specific look. As for the shock value disappearing, think about the glam metal and hair metal era of the 1980s. Bands like Twisted Sister and Motley Crue and WASP started it and had really visually different styles, but then as the music became more popular, all these bands came and took on a poppier image and began all looking the same. Sounds familiar in terms of VK. I don't see why so many bands think that in order to be VK they have to have one member dressing like a doll, and one member must be wearing a mask. That's like cookie-cutter VK now, and its not shocking at all. Or different. Perhaps different to those who are unfamiliar with VK, but that (to me) isn't what VK is about.

A side-note to what Shmilly said about how many people are busy and won't even take the time to like a video... this is so true, but I've only really noticed it on Facebook so far. On my official musician facebook page, I have asked serious questions that sometimes would only require a simple "yes" or "no" answer, and I would get 8 LIKES...no answers! Talk about frustrating, lol. I've begun to feel like a personal facebook account is much more powerful, because you can better interact with friends and fans. The FB Pages are so one-sided and money-thirsty that it is almost not worth using. Kinda off-topic, but kinda relevant lol

Replying to Tetora, excellent post! You elaborated on some things I didn't. I think it really comes down to bands and artists must find their way. My personal opinion, I think bands should do everything. Put videos on youtube, do limited edition CD+DVD packages (if they have the money), etc. But if something is wasting their money, like if they print 500 CD packages and only sell 50...maybe that money is best spent elsewhere. Measure your market. And just because one thing works in Japan (CDs, for example), it won't necessarily work elsewhere. Also, bands can't expect to be "enigmatic" anymore like they used to be able to be. Well, I suppose they can, but success based on that is probably quite slim.

I agree with those who said perhaps it is because the bands want to encourage fans to buy the special ediition CD + DVD with their PV rather than go to YouTube. It is probably because Japan, up until just recently, has had high CD sales due to its lack of digital "interest" by the record labels. CDs have had a high price traditionally, and the price is usually printed on the CD like a book to discourage price changes (ie. DROPS). Recently though, the labels allowed artists' catalogs to be released internationally on services like iTunes (Gackt was a big deal when he released nearly his entire catalog on iTunes. Was that last year?). And now, aside from collectors, why buy the DVD of only a PV when you can watch it on YouTube? (if the label or artists are thinking, they would set up their YouTube videos to gain royalties through something like VEVO or Rumblefish). I feel Japan is beginning to go through what much of the rest of the world has gone through with the decline of CD sales. Sure, CDs are cool to have, GACKT's CDs particularly are the most impressive CD packages I have ever seen, but it is a dying medium. Instead of CDs, why don't artists make other stuff, like T-shirts instead? T-shirts aren't going to be a dying thing until we can just put a hologram of a shirt over ourselves using some device...and that doesn't seem like anytime soon I don't know these artists personally, but I wouldn't go saying that VK artists are getting greedier. What if they came back and said "VK fans are getting stingier/cheaper"? Each is a radical point of view, but its not addressing the underlying issue - Artists need income in order to survive and create. It has always been this way, even painters back in the 1600s (just throwing out a date there). How they act about it is a different matter There are rude artists, and there are grateful artists. The rude artists push push push and expect people to buy their music which no one has ever heard. Me, I'm just grateful for anyone to hear my music.

hahah, now I feel better about not liking that album! I'll def. check out the stuff you mentioned and I'll get back Thanks!

I had heard some NIGHTMARE randomly here and there, so I decided to buy their newest album SCUMS, and I'm not a big fan of that album admittedly. I should check out some of their older stuff. SCUMS has too much going on sometimes I feel, lol.

Just realized they've got an impressive number of pressed singles (CDs). The CD is still strong in Japan...interested to see how that goes. I'm a media dork

freesia, I might check out barakaman. I'm in the mood for something lighthearted