sixnightmares

Some more La:Sadie's stuff and magazines. This means that the following La:Sadie's shows have been released sometime ago:
 
[the first three were allegedly sold for the first time on 20.12.1996, that could explain the different CD pictures]
13.08.1996 - Maebashi Ratan (no pics available)
14.08.1996 - Kumagaya Vogue (one song leaked)
16.08.1996 - Niigata O-DO
20.08.1996 - Ichikawa CLUB GIO (two songs leaked)
29.08.1996 - Osaka amHall (completely leaked, often mislabeled as LS' last live)
30.08.1996 - Osaka amHall
 
 
I've also added La:Sadie's to setlist.fm: https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/lasadies-7bd6c2b0.html
Some entries even have setlists, but most are empty, of course^^

I think it was on the PV for 「羽花」and someone asked who was the female vocals during the chorus 
> Getting butthurt whenever the word 'girl' is anywhere near your fav bandomen and acting like they're not testosterone filled men with plenty of girls at their disposition.

Well, Rozz Williams (Christian Death) kinda did something  similar back in the 80s/early 90s
 

 
But this might just be a coincidence. Rozz had some sort of influence on VK though. I think there was an interview of Baiser's Yukari where he stated that he was very much into Alien Sex Fiend and Christian Death and some of VKs root sound and looks can be traced back to deathrock music and fashion. But Kiyoharu, Kon and Co. might have also come up with that stuff all by themselves.
 

Based on the oneman tours D'espairsRay could do before their first disbandment, I think it's fairly safe to say they had a decently large fanbase in Japan.
Also, as for being the target of dislike overseas, I'm not sure if we were in different circles or what but I distinctly remember them being quite hyped from an early stage, just the fact that they were one of the earliest bands to come to Europe back in 2004 should be proof that they received popularity fairly early here, the shows sold very well too.
 
I think bangya circles are kind of misleading often as well, because most people have one or at most two bands they hardcore follow and don't usually care much for other bands, so you can often end up thinking that it's representative of the VK fanbase as a whole. Sort of like how overseas VK fans have no idea who GLAY is since they don't have any fans, but in Japan they're one of the biggest VK bands around. It becomes a closed group culture of sorts, just like there are bands that are/were hyped on here that had next to no following in Japan.

I still like D'epsairsRay. I think everything before Mirror is great, and about half of Mirror is amazing as well. The rest is boring as fuck. However, after Mirror they only have one song I like and that is Love is Dead, a long I disliked, loathed, hated and so fucking on to begin with. But in time it's grown on me a lot.

Not entirely sure if this is an unpopular opinion, but I'm pretty sure it is:
I really like cali≠gari's 11, maybe more than 12. I still haven't heard 10, but I don't think I'll like it as much as 11.

This.
 
Mirrors is my favorite D'espa release too. 
coll:set was good but I wouldn't say it's as incredible as people always say it is. 
I personally find most of their pre-coll:set releases really hard to get into. 
I really haven't given Redeemer and Monsters a proper listen so can't state an opinion on them. 
 
That's all I have/want to say.

I really miss A「エース」Anonymous Confederate Ensemble, I think they had a lot of potential and they were so special in the vk scene. 
 
 

Deadman, PIERROT, Laputa, Malice Mizer, The ROMEO...
 
Especially The ROMEO because their lives were really fun and I haven't found a lot of people doing their style of music. SiXX is kind of like the softer incarnation of them, but not quite the same.
 
 

Nightmare's Yomi new band TAKE NO BREAK
 
>be Yomi
>start damaging your vocal chords around 2014
>restrain your vocal range and performance for Nightmare while it does worse
>get a polyp around 2016
>get barely any treatment
>go back to touring and recording and definetly ruining your voice for good
>band decides you are a fucking jerk and decides for you that they are going to have an hiatus so you can fucking heal
>get a new band
>call it TAKE NO BREAK because hah! who needs that!?
>it sounds unbeareable
>not all the vocal filtering and programming cand mask how awful vocals sound
>master everthing so instruments and effects are also very loud
>still unbeareable to hear
>"it's BOOM BOOM SATELLITES influence"
>Nobody buys that
>now hitsugi sings better than you
>now Sakito sings better than you
>be grateful the other 2 nightmare members arent opening their mouths to sing and probably embarassyou further
>continue touring and ruining your throat  for nine months until you will have to retire
 
I can not stress how awful it sounds.
 

That was a long, long time ago though.

First of all: second "vk sucks nowadays"-topic of the year? You already have one from earlier this year.
 
Anyway, try out other bands as well, there's tons of great bands in the scene. It's pretty common that bands who keep going for 10-20 years don't put out the same quality as they did when they were younger, even outside of VK.
 

Because I have no life, here have a small list of visual kei artists available for listening over spotify. Some have full discographies some only few albums or singles. there are also instances on several artists from all over the world being grouped together on one page, because of shared name.
 
What is spotify? - to put it short, a digital music streaming service. It comes in two flavors - free with ads, and paid via subscription, with no ads and few useful perks. Sign up, log in, most likely download their application to your computer or mobile and you're set.  
Isn't that piracy? - no it's completly legal and artists and/or their label (we know how that goes...) are getting paid for each listen.
 
For the start I cut this list into two categories. First one is the bands that retain their japanese song tags even on spotify - for all purists who want their last.fm scrobbles accurate 
 
Amber Bullet
Angelo - mixed with different artists
Anli Policino
Annie's Black
Black Gene For the Next Scene - mixed tags
BUCK-TICK - region locked
Calmando Qual
Capella - mixed with different artists
Cløwd
CULT the Movie
D - ??? they used to have few albums, like Vampire Saga there, but it seems to be gone now. Perhaps region locked.
Daizy Stripper
Das:Vasser
Fixer - several different artists mixed together on that page
girugamesh - mixed tags
GOLDEN BOMBER
Gossip
GPKISM
Grieva - romanized name, but correct song tags
Insanity Injection
Kamijo
ラヴェーゼ (Labaiser)
La'veil MizeriA
Liv'ert
L-Lotus-
Lost Ash
lynch.
Luna Sea
Magistina Saga
Majolica
MirialD
Misaruka and their other profile ミサルカ
Miyavi
最上川司 (Momigawa Tsukasa)
NEU
Nightmare - some albums seems to have romanised tags
Nocturnal Bloodlust
NoGoD
nue  - mistagged nüe, also different nue releases on the same profile
Orochi
-OZ-
Rose Noire
砂月-SATSUKI-
Scarlet Valse
SCHWARZ KEIN (シュヴァルツカイン)
Sirene - mixed with different artist
Synk;yet
Suicide Ali - mixed tags
SUGIZO
the fool - mixed with different artists
The Sound Bee HD
the studs
Tokami
Under Fall Justice
VAMPS
Versaillies
Velvet Eden
vistlip
yazzmad
Zombie (ぞんび)
 
 
And now artist with no japanese tags
 
12012
176BIZ
9GOATS BLACK OUT
ADAMS - mixed with different artist
Amber Gris - mixed with different artist
An Cafe
And - eccentric agent-
Awoi
Ayabie
Birushana
Blood - sharing profile with other Blood band
Chanty  - again, releases mixed with other artist of the same name
Chariots - 3rd era only
Creature Creature
Croix Allcine
DEAD END
DELUHI
D'espairsray
Diaura
Dio ~distraught overlord~
Dir en Grey
DISACODE
DIV
Dunkelheit
D=OUT
exist†trace
Gackt
glamscure
heidi.
Hizaki
I-ai-
Inoran
Inugami Circus Dan
Jilled Ray
JILLS BLUE ROSE
JokArt Au Legal
Kameleo
Kagerou
Kiryu - depending where you are, you might have two different kiryu's there
Lacroix Despheres
L'arc en Ciel
Lix.
LM.C
Luzmelt
Matenrou Opera
MARRY+AN+BLOOD
Megamasso
MERRY
Merveille Magique
MeteoroiD
MUCC
Otogadead
Pan-d-ra
Plastic Tree
R-shitei
RED universe
Rentrer en Soi
Rides in ReVellion
Sadie
Screw
Shiva - releases mixed with other artist of the same 
SID
SuG
Sukekiyo
THE GALLO  they also have another seemingly empty profile ギャロ
The GazettE
the riotts.
TRA TRA TRA
umbrella - mixed with different artists
UNITE.
Un=(xag)
UnsraW
Waive
Vallquar
Vaniru
Vidoll
Vivalet
XodiacK
ZIg+Zag
ZORO - mixed with different artists
V-Anime Rocks compilation
 
 
Obviously this is a work in progress not an absolute complete list.

BUCK-TICK is the only band I've enjoyed their entire career's discography. Sometimes what they release as of late doesn't appeal to me right away, but I usually go back to it later and like it a lot. They still goin', goin'.
 
I was really pleasantly surprised with Plastic Tree's last single. I wouldn't say they ever lost their spark, because honestly I really don't like some of their earlier work or some of their most popular songs.. aha. But I love them as a whole. 

Yeah, BUCK-TICK are still up there!

I agree with Metronome! Dare I say their newer stuff has rivaled or even outdone some of their older stuff. Still wish I'd been able to see them with PLC.
 
As for PLC, I agree they've had a few not-so-great songs post-reunion (but they've always had random filler-ish stuff in their past albums so I guess that's par for the course), but what's wrong with "Mirai Shounen x Mirai Shoujo"? The lyrics are cute and the MV is about a queer/trans couple where the trans girl (played by trans personality Haruna Ai) finally gets her sex change operation at the end. It makes light of the "hospital/major illness" drama trope, is cute, and overall pretty progressive for not only starring but showing trans people in a positive light.
 
Other VK bands I don't think have lost their "spark":
 
- D'ERLANGER - Their last album was great and they rocked live. Looking forward to whatever they come out with next.
 
- BUCK-TICK- Some people might disagree, but I've enjoyed them expanding into different genres over the years. While I don't always enjoy their new music as much as their older music, I've never hated an album they've put out.
 
- LUNA SEA - They've given some great performances, even rivaling some of their older ones, since they got back together and I feel like "Will" was one of the better post-reunion albums by a VK band to straddle the hard line of old sound vs. new.
 
- sukekiyo - I see so much potential in this. I don't think they've had a bad release yet.
 
- lynch. - Every time I see them live they're been better than before. My live impression of them over the years has gone from "every song sounds the same" to " I would actually consider buying a CD of theirs/keeping up with them more". I think musically/technically they have room for improvement but I see them sticking around and only getting better.
 
- Considering how I never really was a Nightmare fan, I'm surprised at how much I've been liking Jakigan Meister and Gremlins.
 
- Visually Zombi/Zombie doesn't do much for me, but I've enjoyed a lot of their releases so far, and think they have potential.
 

The band still has their spark , hmm ... For me , there is only one band I will choose , DIR EN GREY .
Although Kyo already has lost his ability to do some performances like the past , but for me , Kyo is always my KAMI , and the whole band is still fucking amazing !
 
And the new band this year I keep an eye on is ... DIMLIM , Sho's voice is just like the drug for me , I really love Sho's vocal , and same as a DEG fan too xDD , of course other members are very cool too , I mean they all have their own "personalities" ! Especially Tsubasa , he is really cute , and Issei, love him since he was in D.I.D. ! 
 
BTW , I seem to focus on vocal side too much ...lol

This TV show sounds interesting I hope will have subs for understand more some parts, I'm not really surprised at Kiryuin Sho knowledge of this subject.
When they talked about the 10's I'm ok with them about the trio Nightmare/SiD/The GazettE , I can understand why they add An Cafe on theirs list but the the presence of SuG leaves me perplexed even if they did op/ed anime they never had the same boom and popularity like An Cafe had or Nightmare/SiD/The GazettE

They gave a shoutout to Minpha at 40:55, so clearly his #impact is far reaching + concerning 

that golden bomber person is on every other recent collab/cover album too
 
well... golden bomber happened. I appreciate the humblebraggedness of her appearance tho.

NIGHTMARE- To be or not to be: That is the question tour final 2014 at Tokyo International Forum hall A Limited Edition DVD+CD 
 
Vib Ribbon - PlayStation 1(Largely music based game and I believe you can play the soundtrack so it's music related I guess)
 
Merveilles - Malice Mizer. I like 'Au Revoir' so I thought I'd invest xD 

I don't really care. It's only a two-day stint and it's not happening outside Japan. Cool for those who can go, distinctly meh for the rest of us.
 
Releasing a collaborative single at the same time would make so much sense from a marketing perspective, but perhaps the tour is too short-lived to be worth that much effort. The most I expect is yet another fanclub-exclusive Blu Ray.
 
I'm most excited about hearing those new songs. Utafumi has grown on me massively since I first heard it.

I also (unintentionally) was at that concert, as I was part of the lolita meetup at Sugar Factory. it was AWESOME! and I wasn't familiar with May'n at all.

Last weekend at Anime Central, I went to see May'n concert. It was held outdoors which was the first for the convention and thankfully the weather didn't ruin it. I'm not big into her stuff other than Macross Frontier songs, but for the most part, there wasn't a single performance I disliked.
 
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUb6gZDlSngsahfY_UrJPcVe7KJkebXki7qa1s0/