JimHarper

When I heard Karyu had joined a new band, I immediately checked out the first album with him (Babel), and was less than impressed to discover that it's bland melodic rock with occasional nice riffs, so I immediately forgot about them. Last year I was checking out the sale boxes at Futaba and found the very first Angelo album (The Freak Show) and since it was 100 yen I figured I'd give it a go. Pleasantly surprised to find it's full of gritty and loud Marilyn Manson-style guitar riffs, so I rented the rest of the early albums and really enjoyed them. Ever the optimist, I decided to try the Karyu/Giru albums and discovered that while Babel is still pretty awful, the rest of them are much better. It's not D'espairsRay (but then, nothing else ever could be), but each album (especially Faith) has its fair share of punchy, driving, hard-edged guitars and pounding bass and drums. I don't honestly care too much for the ballads, but I've heard worse. I'd like to hear the other mini-albums (can't find them) and I'm interested in their forthcoming album. I'd like to see them live, but they're not coming to Hiroshima. I'll have to be satisfied with Defspiral in March.

I would definitely start with Dogma, their last-but-one album. Their earlier albums are all fairly dark and heavy, although saddled with the drummer's occasional pop tunes. Division, Beautiful Deformity and Ninth all have their heavy moments, but they're all more varied too.

I can understand questions regarding the appeal of this band, because to be honest they really didn't appeal to me much until around Toxic. By the time of Beautiful Deformity I came to see that they're actually a decent band with some good ideas and a desire to keep pushing their music in new directions. I'm still not on board with everything they do (the really early stuff is so sloppy and limited compared to their later material, while Dogma didn't grab me a great deal), but now I consider them one of my favourites. Really enjoyed Ninth. Having said that, I'll shed no tears if they announce that the drummer isn't going to be writing any more songs... But that's just me ;)

Apologies for resurrecting another old thread, but I wanted to the chance to throw in my contributions. In alphabetical order: Ali Project: Coppelia's Casket (Noir) Bana: Shell (Witch Hunter Robin) Buck-Tick: Kuchizuke (Shiki) Granrodeo: Decadence (Demon Prince Enma) Granrodeo: Rose Hip Bullet (Togainu no Chi) Granrodeo: Trance (Black God) LM.C: Rock The LM.C/Oh My Juliet (Red Garden) Nana Kitada: Kesenai Tsumi (Full Metal Alchemist) Nana Kitada: Tsukihana (Hell Girl, 3rd season) Origa/Yoko Kanno: Rise (GITS:SAC 2nd Complex) Suilen: Magnolia (Hellsing Ultimate) All three Suilen tracks on that show are excellent, but that's the best one. X-Japan: Forever Love (X: The Movie) There are others- Ready Steady Go is the only L'Arc-en-ciel song I actually like (likewise the Galneryus OP theme for Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne), Granrodeo could fill a list by themselves, and that's before we even get started on Yoko Kanno and Yuki Kajiura/Kalafina- but those are my favourites. The Dress remix is okay, but it's just not in the same league as the original. It was tempting to squeeze Mell's 'Red Fraction' in there somewhere too....

Hello! Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I've taken pictures of the both the SB and the Schaft CDs, but this forum requires a URL for pictures, which I don't have. I can send them via Twitter, so let me know if that's cool. The price of the Schaft album would be £7, with £2.50 for p&p. I can also email the photos too., obviously

I don't now if this fits the bill entirely, but the new Vamps album 'Underworld' has gone in a very industrial rock vein, much darker and heavier than their first three albums. There are various western rock guests on there, including one of the guitarists from Rammstein, the singer from Motionless in White and Apocalyptica. It might not be to everyone's taste, but I'm enjoying the big riffs and industrial crunch.

Sorry for lateness in replying! I'll get some pictures taken tomorrow and post them. As the title suggests, it's all from the Earth Born, Document and Ai to Heiwa era. There's a lengthy essay and full track details (in Japanese) as well as a lyric booklet too. I'm thinking £6 plus p&p. Paypal's fine and I don't mind shipping anywhere. Before we agree on anything I'll get an accurate p&p figure from the post office. Just out of interest, would you be interested in Schaft's Switchblade album? I think I have Suilen's Dawn around somewhere too.

It's 18 months too late, but I have the Soft Ballet 'Singles 89-91' album available if it's of any interest. It has a couple of straight album tracks (same as the album versions) and a couple of single edits (just cut down to radio size), but the interesting stuff is two non-album singles, both of which I rate pretty highly, and a string of alternate versions. Some of them are actually quite a departure from the originals and surprisingly good. I don't know if it's of any interest to you.

I can agree with a lot of that. I love X-Japan, but Zilch was the first for me. It's definitely one of my most-listened albums of all time too. Losing Raven back in 2007 was such a big loss not just because I'm a huge Killing Joke fan, but because he was part of Zilch too. I still think that album stands as a fine legacy for both of them.

This slice of magnificent French awesomeness never fails to lift my heart:

Great, thanks for getting back to me! Breaking up after two albums seems something of a shame, especially given the quality of their material. I'll try and check out Orcalade, and I'll certainly be paying attention if EYA are planning more releases.

Okay, I know I'm a little late to the game here. Can anyone fill me in on exactly what happened to Eat You Alive? I got The World is Mine (Yours?), thought it was a pretty good effort with some excellent tunes. There was a gig advertised in London (this would be about 2012) that I was seriously considering checking out. But a few weeks later it was cancelled (allegedly because of poor ticket sales) and I don't recall hearing anything more about them after that. I figured they broke up, but does anyone have any more details concerning the situation? What else did they release in the way of albums? Thanks for your time!

My list hardly compares to these others, but I'm still proud of them all: 1. D'espairsRay, 18/07/09, the Garage, London. My first J-rock gig and it was absolutely amazing to see one of the first Japanese bands I loved. They absolutely rocked. 2. Girugamesh, 18/03/11, o2 Academy, London. I hated the GO album, but the gig was fantastic. The band were feeling pretty rough; the 3/11 earthquake had just happened and they all wanted to go home, but all flights to Japan were grounded, so they went ahead with the the tour. To their credit, they played really well, finishing with a version of 'Kowarete iku sekai' that I will never forget. 3. LM.C, 23/05/12, the Garage, London. A stupidly hot day, and it was a bloody nightmare getting to London for the gig. By the time I got there I had a splitting headache and figured I would probably leave quickly and go home and rest. Then they started playing. The volume was incredible. It was like a physical wall hitting you. I couldn't feel a damn thing, including the pain in my head. Loudest gig I've ever been to. By the end my headache was completely gone. Halfway through Maya started asking the crowd for requests. For the next forty minutes they played whatever the crowd asking for, singles, album tracks, b-sides, whatever. It was very cool. 4. Vamps, 07/10/13, o2 Academy, London. Fantastic party gig atmosphere. They played pretty much everything from their two albums, including their great version of 'Trouble'. My standout memory; partway through the gig, someone threw a very large purple bra on to the stage. Ju-Ken picked it up, put it on his head, tied the straps beneath his chin, and played the rest of the show with this big purple bra tied to his head. It was a classic rock moment. 5. Girugamesh, 09/06/14, o2 Academy, London. This time it was the MONSTER tour, and the material was all fantastic. They were loud, passionate and damn amazing. 6. MUCC, 18/05/15, o2 Academy, London. I really didn't like the SHANGRI-LA album, but they played plenty of the cooler older stuff too. Pretty much the first thing the singer said was: "Fucking jet-ragu." which got a big laugh. Good gig. 7. Buck-Tick, 10/12/17, Hiroshima. Given that BT have only ever played two gigs outside Japan, I'd pretty much given up any hope of ever seeing them live. So when I got to Japan and my girlfriend (who really doesn't like like my 'weirdo makeup music') said she'd got tickets to see them in a couple of days, I was pretty much in a state of ecstasy. They were amazing. They played a good mix of classics, early stuff, and later-period songs. Opened with a fantastic version of 'Dokudanjou Beauty RIP', as well as 'Speed', 'Iconoclasm', 'Angelic Conversation' and a stunning version of one of my favourites, 'Memento Mori'. An unforgettable night. Now, I just have Dead End, D'erlanger, the Gazette and X-Japan on my list to see...

Hope you're all having a good day I wanted to start a tread about your favourite VK/JR guitarists. It doesn't really matter what the criteria are for you, whether it's jaw-dropping technical ability, songwriting, versatility, influence, originality, sound or just looking really damn cool. The guys or girls who can start playing and have your attention from the first note, or who can crank out that favourite riff that makes your heart open up like a flower. Tell us who and why In no particular order: 1. hide (there's a shocker!). For just about all the reasons above. For sounding cool and passionate whether he's doing early X-Japan speed metal, Zilch-style industrial metal, groove-laden rock tunes like 'Pink Spider' or just high quality pop like 'Tell Me'. For throwing in technically flawless neo-classical harmonised leads, twangy country licks, 50s-style rockabilly phrases or even dipping into reggae, ambient and drum'n'bass. Such a wealth of talent and creativity. 2. You (Yuji Adachi) from Dead End. A very underrated player from a band that's influenced just about everyone. A mountain of cool metal tunes, as well as eastern-flavoured emotional ballads like the incredible 'Serafine', and some simply jaw-dropping effects-laden rippling guitar lines in 'Good Morning Satellite'. He can shred with the best of them, but saves it for when the song needs it. Successfully updated his sound into a hard-egded contemporary metal crunch full of complex riffs and squealing harmonics. 3. Cypher from D'erlanger. Despite being early icons of the VK scene, he doesn't get much credit for his raucous blend of rock, glam. punk and goth that sounds like he's fighting with the guitar rather than playing it. And he does look damn cool while he's doing it. 4. Kaoru from D'espairsRay. A master of industrial metal crunch, constructing pummelling but sometimes almost funky big rock riffs, but fully capable of bringing in the melodies where necessary, as well as cool high-register synth-inspired lead parts. 5. K.A.Z. from Vamps. Not a flashy player or prominent lead guitarist, together with Hyde he turns out big rock riffs that stay in your head for days. It's mostly fairly straightforward 5th chord, drop-D stuff, but even a few ill-advised ballads can't hide the fact that he's got a big flair for huge choruses and an overdriven but melodic sound. You could dismiss it as party rock, but it always gets me in the mood. Of course, there are plenty of others- the criminally overlooked Pata, post-punk-inspired masters like Hikari from Der Zibet and the guys from Buck-Tick (and on and on)- but these guys would be my top five. I'd love to hear what other people think!

Hello everyone! I'm getting ready to move so there's some things I could do with moving on to better homes The item in question is the band score book for the first Vamps album, VAMPS. It includes full guitar and bass tab, as well as keyboard, drum and vocal notations. It's in mint condition. It's actually still in the wrapper. It cost me £30 originally, but I'd be happy to sell it along for £15 plus p&p. I'm flexible on the price for foreign currencies and happy to ship it anywhere. I can provide pictures if you want, and I'm happy to accept PayPal payments. If you 're interested let me know. As a general guide for guitarists, the songs inside are mid-level difficulty. Beginners will find it challenging, especially if you're not familiar with contemporary rock guitar playing. The songs are almost exclusively in drop-D tuning, so they're not pick-up-and-play stuff. However, anyone with a couple of years' experience on guitar (or someone who puts in a few months' effort) will keep the hang of them pretty quickly. There's nothing really technically challenging here; you'll pick up 'Love Addict' a lot quicker than most X-Japan stuff! P.S. The book also includes the tab for their (rather fantastic) version of Shampoo's Trouble, which was including on some Japanese editions of the album but not on the European one (except on the four-track DVD that accompanied the special edition). That was one of the reasons I bought the book in the first place, so I thought I'd mention it Thanks for your time!

Good evening everyone! As I've mentioned before, Zilch were my gateway into visual kei and Japanese rock and general, so I wanted to start a thread about them and get some discussion the 3.2.1. album. I'm no fan of Skyjin, not just because it's a poor album but also because it was (IMO) a blatant attempt (orchestrated by Ray McVeigh) to cash in on hide's fame and his death. That's why original bassist Paul Raven wasn't involved. He was invited, but rejected any possibility of playing again as Zilch without hide. Obviously Zilch was hide's plan to create an English-language band but also a more industrial rock-inclined one than his solo works. Picking Paul Raven as bass player was an ideal choice, not just for his aggressive playing style but also for his background, including British post-punk legends Killing Joke and industrial metal favourites Prong (later on he would play and record with several other legendary bands, including Ministry, Godflesh and Treponem Pal). Danzig drummer Joey Castillo has since become a major figure, playing with Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal and Nine Inch Nails. Rhythm guitarist Ray McVeigh's claim to fame was briefly playing in a band with two members of the Sex Pistols called The Professionals, but has attracted little other fame or success that hasn't resulted from his association with hide. One of the main contentions levelled at 3.2.1. is that it relies heavily on English versions of previously released material, but the issue isn't quite as clear as that. Although it wasn't released until July 1998, the album was recorded in 1996. When I talked to him about the album, Raven told me that despite hide's desire to release material and tour in the US, their attempts to find a North American record label were completely unsuccessful: hide had no 'name value' in America and his vocals were considered too bizarre and incomprehensible. Anyway. Out of the 12 tracks on the album, 5 have appeared in a different form: Inside the Pervert Mound (a.k.a. Leatherface), Swampsnake, What's Up Mr. Jones? (a.k.a. Drain), Doubt and Pose. We can leave aside the cover version of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's Swampsnake obviously What's Up Mr. Jones? previously appeared as Drain on X-Japan's final album Dahlia, released in 1996. According to Wikipedia, that album was recorded between July '93 and July '96, so it's possible it was written at roughly the same time as the Zilch material, which would make it seem less of a rehashed old track. However, it could also have been written years before, so that's impossible to determine without further evidence. Inside the Pervert Mound would later appear in a reworked, Japanese-language version on hide's final album Ja, Zoo, eventually released four months after the 3.2.1. album. According to Raven, he was present at the writing session when the track was developed as a new song, it's title inspired by a Killing Joke song Raven appeared on, called Inside the Termite Mound (other Killing Joke connections can be found: KJ singer Jaz and guitarist Geordie both appear on Fuctrack6; Psyche is also the title of a famous KJ song; guest drummer Chris Vrenna has also played with them, meaning that one entire lineup of KJ appear on the album!). If Raven is correct, then Inside the Termite Mound is almost certainly a Zlich track that was later reworked for Ja, Zoo. Given that hide was under pressure to complete that album, this is not impossible. Pose was first released on hide's second album Psyence, released in September 1996. This timing places it close to the writing and recording of the Zlich album. It's possible therefore that it was conceived in two versions, a more industrial rock version for 3.2.1. and a more expanded, electro-influenced one for Psyence. The Zilch version has a simpler structure that appears to have been added to and built upon for the Psyence version, which could indicate the solo version is essentially a remix of a Zilch original. This is only one possible interpretation however. We do know that Zilch were involved in the Psyence sessions. They're credited with backing vocals on the song Bacteria. A PV for this song was prepared (although it wasn't released as a single), but as we can see here, it's not Spread Beaver or the musicians credited on Psyence performing the song with hide, it's Raven, McVeigh and Castillo of Zilch: This video has been titled as a Zilch track, but Bacteria was only ever released as a hide song. And finally, since it was first released in a Japanese-language form as a b-side (to the 50% & 50% single) in 1993, Doubt is the only song we can firmly date to before the Zilch era. I think the rather long-winding point I'm trying to make is that not necessarily all of the Zilch tracks are simply reworked versions of Japanese originals, and that the dividing line between solo hide and Zilch is a lot more blurred and 'shades of grey' that you might think. It will always be a favourite album for me regardless, but I thought it was worth doing some research into the issues surrounded its production. Thank you for your time and patience, and I'd love to hear what anyone has to say about both band and album. Much appreciated!

First song in my head will always be, because of its sheer magnificence:

This, the first single off the last album from legendary German punks Die Toten Hosen. German-language speaker or not, it's an amazing anthem. Crank it.

First band was Zilch. I'm a huge Killing Joke fan and got to know their bass player Paul Raven (RIP), who got me a copy of the album he'd recorded with hide. Loved it, so I started looking for other Japanese bands. The first major discovery was D'espairsRay, who just blew me away. They were my first J-rock gig too. After that it was Girugamesh and LM.C (second and third J-rock gigs lol). Not entirely comfortable admitting that Gackt's 'Diabolos' was an early treasure too..

According to my iTunes, the J-Rock tracks I have listened to the most are as follows: Zilch- Inside the Pervert Mound D'espairsRay- Love is Dead Buck-Tick- Zangai Zilch- Doubt Zilch- Electric Cucumber Zilch- What's Up Mr. Jones? The GazettE- Malformed Box (mainly because I always listen to it before Inside Beast) The GazettE- Inside Beast D'erlanger- La Vie En Rose Soft Ballet- Body to Body Girugamesh- Zantetsukan Zilch- Pose Girugamesh- Incomplete The GazettE- Until It Burns Out Dead End- Serafine Vamps- Evil Girugamesh- Antlion Pit Girugamesh- Drain Zilch- Swampsnake Zilch- Hey Man So Long Vamps- Revolution Girugamesh- Voltage Vamps- Lips Der Zibet- Blue Blue Buck-Tick- Buster Vamps- Devil Side D'erlanger- 1999- Shyboy Story D'erlanger- Dummy Blue Soft Ballet- With You The GazettE- Fadeless D'espairsRay- Garnet Girugamesh- Zecchou Bang! Girugamesh- Bit Crash Girugamesh- Patchwork Dead End- Good Morning Satellite Not surprised that it includes almost the entirety of the Zlich album lol

Thanks for the kind thoughts I'm sorry you're struggling at the moment. Getting into Japan really isn't easy, with the only acceptable ways being a pre-arranged job or educational position, a £350,000 bank balance (!) or marriage to a Japanese national. I do understand the deal with Japanese parents too; as the man, it is often expected that you'll support their daughter, not the other way round. They don't really get the idea of freelance work over there yet, so I've had to experience a fair number of wisecracks about being a 'kept man' or a himo, as my father-in-law likes to say. Thankfully I've been able to show enough proof that I do actually work and bring money in, although we've been 'diplomatic' concerning which of us makes the most money I understand what your girlfriend is going through too. When things are tough here for me, she often gets upset that she can't be here looking after me and giving me moral support. My health isn't too good and she worries greatly that she's not being a good wife by leaving me to cope with illness here on my own. At times like that I just to do my best to assure her that just having her in my life, even at the end of a phone line, makes things a good bit easier for me, and that whatever else is going wrong, I'm always thankful that I have her. She's my star. Will you be seeing her for Golden Week? All I can say is, hang in there. Things change, situations improve. Currently there's a lot of major business groups campaigning to make it easier for foreign workers to get into Japan, because the native born population is shrinking so rapidly. In 2017, for the first time, there were more foreigners living in every single district of Japan, so things are improving. Anyway, if there's anything I can do to help, let me know. I'm available on here or through Twitter, and I think my email is on my profile. Best of luck to you, mate.

I'm currently in a LDR, with me in the UK and her in Japan. We've been together for about a year and a half now. We got engaged NYE 2016. Technically we've only met four times; the delights of the Japanese working schedule mean that she can only manage five-day visits to the UK, but I'm freelance and can work anywhere, so I've been able to spend some four-week periods with her in Hiroshima. We're getting married in May (the whole traditional Japanese process), and then I will be applying for long-stay visa to remain in Japan with my soon-to-be wife. I am definitely very very happy, but I wouldn't say the whole process has been easy. Time difference and work schedule make it very difficult for find time for some serious conversation, especially if there's something important that needs to be said. You end up grading everything into one of three categories: 1) it can be said in a text/Line/Skype message etc; 2) it needs to be said in a video chat; or 3) it definitely needs face-to-face communication time. The important thing is to be make sure you set aside regular time for video chats or the like. It doesn't need to be every day, but checking in and keeping the connection going does really help. For anyone just getting involvedin one, give it your best shot, because it can definitely be worth it.

Sensible suggestion. I'll edit the post to include a few more illuminating details. I agree with your later point too; these things change on an almost daily basis. I once tried to come up with a Top 100. Within 3 days I had a list of another 30 that I thought should have been in there :)

If you enjoyed Confessions, you should check out the other films based on that author's works: The Snow White Murder Case, a slightly more light-hearted murder mystery, and Penance, a six-hour mini-series directed by horror legend Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It's long and involved but one of the director's best works of recent years, and well worth seeing.

The excellent Cteepy is available on UK BR and HK DVD with English subs. Keep an eye on a Hong Kong DVD website called DDDHouse. They have an impressive stock on Asian films for reasonable prices, most of them with English subtitles. I've been filling my shelves with their DVDs for years, Jim Harper.