Traxan

I've washed my hands of Aldious. I'll just listen to the first two albums and Raglaia until Yoshi comes to her senses and boots Re:NO Thanks. It's bad enough that Aldious's music has suffered so much since Re:No More joined but now covering this bad Avril Lavigne song from her failed solo career was the end of it for me. FLiP are nice but too soft for my tastes.

Shadow (Japan) and Nevermore (US)

Fans of Loudwire have voted X Japan the best live act. http://loudwire.com/x-japan-win-best-live-band-tournament/ This is no small accomplishment. Loudwire is a US site with virtually no Japanese band coverage, and yet in a fan vote, starting with 32 artists and whittled down to a final 2, X Japan beat Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot and Pearl Jam. That's pretty good.

Actually I don't. What else is going on? I can see running out of ideas when you have 3 mouths to feed. Besides, wasn't Kyary supposed to work with European pop writers?

I guess that's another major contrast between the US and Japan. No club provides staff to help offload and setup. Major arenas do because they are staffed with union goons and there will be hell to pay if anyone else does the work. But at clubs and theaters, nope. The band is on its own. Part of it is legalities. Clubs don't want employees messing with band gear because if they break something they get sued. And bands don't want non-band staff touching their stuff for fear of theft, which happens regularly. Yeah, Japan has us beat in the civility department. Again.

If the two new songs from Aldious are any hint (I refuse to listen to "die for you" ever again), we need to add Marina to the list. I thought Aruto would be tough to replace but boy did they do it. Just goes to show what you can find when you take your time and don't rush, Yoshi.

Ah hell, turns out that episode is from 2011. http://www.nhk.or.jp/j-melo/nhkworld/english/broadcast/index.html

They had another band, GazettE, on tonight. Lotta hair flying around in that mostly-female audience. So does anyone ever watch this show? It's on AT&T UVerse. Not sure of the other cable companies.

$32 for a CD. Do Japanese really pay that kind of money? I'm amazed they don't have a worse piracy problem than we do in the States.

I was much more disappointed by "Pikapika Fantajin." For starters, 4 of its songs had already been released as singles. The rest were meh. As for other disappointments, do I even need to mention Cyntia's latest or Aldious post-Rami? Nah, I think the latter is well known.

Here's why I ask. In this video, Aldious appear to have no crew at all. Two arrive at the location in a van while three arrive in a taxi. I see no roadies with them. They do their setup and soundcheck, then it's just the five of them in the dressing room, helping each other with hair and makeup. So I'm wondering, did they just hide the road crew from this camera crew, or do the clubs provide help that would be done by roadies here in the US?

Interview with the girls in English. Confirms the rumor that one of them actually did work in a Maid Cafe. http://jrock247.com/2015/07/band-maid-interview-2015/

The band just uploaded partial instructional videos on how to play this song. Naturally there is all kinds of silliness, especially from Reona who is credited with "Keyboards/vocals/sexy." Also, one of the dancers (green outfit) is leaving the band. She's only 17 and wants to focus on school.

Just found this live video of Takaeita. Looks like Armmy still has some energy in her. Wearing a lot more clothing than before though.

Music video This video disturbs me a little. Rami looks lifeless and devoid of any energy. Her singing along with the song is without any force, while her band is playing like they were on stage before an audience. If she hadn't been previously sidelined with health problems I wouldn't think much of it. I hope it was an off-day, although really, she shouldn't have approved this. She looks beautiful but she also looks like a zombie.

Awesome news. Nice and aggressive. And I see they dropped the matching white look.

Because it's new news. The old thread was on the first Raglaia single. This is about a new one. It wouldn't make sense to talk in an old thread about new news. And I know human nature. Fewer people would read it. A new thread on new news will get more interest.

I'm kinda hoping the next Aldious album tanks and Yoshi decides she's had enough, Rami is healthy, and brings her back. I'm curious about something. When Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson were out of Priest and Maiden, fans were calling for their return and just flat out refused to accept their replacements. Now, Rami was out of sight for 2 years with her health issues, but now that she is back, do you think there will be noise among Aldious fans for Rami to return? Or are the Japanese too polite to say that out loud?

Raglaia (the new band by former Aldious singer Rami) will release its 2nd maxi single on 8/12 Source: https://www.facebook.com/raglaia.official?fref=nf Raglaia、2ndシングルのリリースが8/12(水)に決定。 4月にリリースした1stシングル『ブレーキング・ドーン』がオリコンデイリー13位/週間20位にランクイン、そのリリース後に行われた東名阪クラブク アトロでのワンマンツアーも大成功に収めたラグライア。そのライヴでも演奏された3曲を収録した2ndシングル『プロミシーズ』のリリースが 8/12(水)に決定しました。 また、そのシングル発売記念ライヴが8/15(水)、東京キネマ倶楽部にて開催が決定しました。 CD+DVD【DVD付限定盤】 RAMI-005　￥1,500 (tax out)　 カラオケ2曲含む、全5曲収録/歌詞付 CD収録内容： 1. Aching Memories 2. Promises　 3. Strings of Fate 4. Aching Memories (Instrumental)　 5. Promises (Instrumental) DVD収録内容： ・Aching Memories (Music Video) CD【通常盤】 RAMI-006　￥1,200 (tax out) カラオケ2曲含む、全5曲収録/歌詞付 CD収録内容： 1. Aching Memories 2. Promises　 3. Strings of Fate 4. Aching Memories (Instrumental)　 5. Promises (Instrumental) ※各法人特典やイベントにつきましては現在、調整中です。 　決定次第、お知らせいたしますのでお楽しみに！ ------------------ Bing translates it to 5 songs, 2 are instrumentals of the 3 new tracks. It will come in a CD/DVD package with a DVD for the video "Aching Memories." Price is 1200 Yen, there will be a show on 8/12 to celebrate the launch.

The complete (I think) history of Gacharic Spin: http://www.jpop-idols.com/en/gacharic-spin/ And here's a treat I found: TOMO-ZO, Koga and Hana looking real girly.

She was the original guitarist. TOMO-ZO replaced her and is still there.

I did a lot of checking and found nothing on this here. Apparently, Armmy, Gacharic Spin's original singer and keyboardist, is making a similar comeback as Aldious's Rami, only Armmy is going much lower profile. Anyway, Armmy is now going under her real name, Takae Ashitomi, and her band is just two people, her and Eita from Seven Seas. The band is called Takeita. Band web site: http://takaeita.webnode.jp/ Takae's Twitter: https://twitter.com/takae_ashitomi Boy does she look beautiful. new song Man that bass player is good, whoever it is.

Heh. Well I don't know what's going on in Yoshi's head. The July 8 release is a maxi single, 3 songs, and it could be they just made videos for all 3 songs.

Don't forget Cyntia in addition to ET. Cyntia's new single "Kiss Kiss Kiss" sounds like second-rate Scandal. Why should Yoshi leave when it's her band? She formed it with Rami in 2008. Toki is the songwriter for this atrocity, but she also wrote "Megalomaniac" on the last album, and that was Testament-style thrash, so she has it in her. She just channeled Green Day for this song. If this album tanks, I'm hoping Yoshi will realize what the problem is: Re:NO. She's a good singer. Hell, she's far better than Rami. But she's the WRONG singer for this band. She should be doing pop, not wimping out a great metal band. Aldious's last album, their fourth, sold less than their first album. And the band owns its label, so Yoshi knows what's going. She's seeing the numbers. What really gets under my skin is the video. Re:NO is acting like a kid half her age over a breakup in a room that looks like it was designed by Sebastian Masuda (he designs the sets for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's insane videos). I just found this new track, also from the maxi single, and it's much better. Marina really shows her skills, which I expected given her stepdad.

Oh definitely. Re:NO ruined that band. She was a pop singer before joining. But I also blame Yoshi for letting it happen. Thank God Rami stayed hard, and she battled a severe ailment. You'd think she'd slow up but nope. I have zero interest in the new Aldious album now. Maybe if they bounce Re:NO and get Rami back I'll regain some interest.