Mr Bacon

I still think this band is boring compared to otoiro and ShaGirl. Props to them for actually doing live harmonized vocals though, most VK bands just use a backing track.

Good luck with everything, Trombe. You will be back again soon though, I hope?

Yea this isn't my cup of tea haha. They're still awesome vocalists though, I love their harmonized vocals.

Shit I totally missed this, that really sucks WHAAAAAAAAAAAT I so need to hear this

Yep. Mind of the Sun is a really well-thought out album with some great songwriting. I guess the guitarist and drummer who left after that album were the main songwriters, as their sound really changed after their departure. The first few singles after MOTS were still pretty good though, but everything after Breed of the Sun was horrible.

I'm not sure but I thought Miya(Mucc guitarist) and Masayoshi(Tokyo Heroes drummer) were also related... But like I said, not sure.

What is the music like then? I mean, if they're joining Art Pop they must be intending to release music, right?

Why can't Masashi just rejoin Tokyo Heroes instead of this?

I guess Monster. Not my cup of tea, but not the abomination that was Music either. I fall into that category of people who stopped listening to girugamesh when Music came out. God, that record was awful. Goku, 13's Reborn and Reason of Crying are their best works to date. Although I have to say that Gravitation didn't sound bad at all.

I liked Suicide Ali way back when. Their first mini was pretty good. And I appreciate Calmando Qual for what they are. Not a bad band, just not something I'd listen to often. The rest, don't do anything for me.

I'll have to go with NIL. I might be biased because it was one if the first VK albums I heard, but still. DIM is a strong album overall. NIL, however, has some of the band's best songs(Taion, Baretta, Nausea&Shudder) and some other good songs(Bathroom, DLN, Cassis). I just love the compositions on NIL.

For most people, nothing really. If you live in a country where your education is being paid for, sure. But over here it is not, and I see a lot of people majoring in Japanese because they like anime or visual kei or whatever(okay, I kind of fell into that category 5 years ago, to some extent), without even thinking about job prospects. Some of my friends now live/work in Japan(only a small handful), all the others either spent €6000 or more on an education with which they cannot get a job and are trying to get retrained in a different field at the last minute, or are lucky enough to find a decent job in a completely different branch. In the Netherlands, majoring in Japanese is a train bound for disaster for 80% of the students, but most don't realize it until it's already too late. (This sounds kind of pessimistic lol.)

I started studying Japanese language and culture at uni in 2009. I wanted to learn the language, learn about the country, do all things Japanese. However, after one and a half year the realization struck me that in order to be able to speak a decent bit of Japanese I'd actually have to go there(which I didn't and still don't have the money for), and that (at least here in The Netherlands) there is little to no job market for graduated students of Japanese. Yes it was interesting, but I'd rather do something else and make a decent living(which is working out pretty well). Unless you are certain that this is your one true passion and that you will be able to make a living doing it, I advise against actually studying Japanese(as a major). I have too many friends who have their university certificate after having done Japanese and now cannot find a job. If you want to spend your free time on learning the language in a different way, by all means do because it is a beautiful and (socio)linguistically interesting language.

Depends on the kind of songs. Annoying pop songs I will be able to remember after one good listen, sadly. I tend to like music that I have to listen to ten times before remembering them, because that's the kind of music you can infinitely listen to and still discover new things in. If I can remember a song in one go it usually means it's bland and there's nothing interesting about it.

This, pretty much. However since I'm a pretty busy person, I don't always want to make time to flip records, haha. That's why my main format is still CD because you still get the artwork (albeit smaller) and those are easier to convert to digital files. If I love a record, however, I will buy the vinyl for sure. Cassettes aren't my thing. Inferior audio quality, hardly any artwork, etc. Sure it has its charms, but if I have the choice I won't buy cassettes.

This is the band with Kiri on drums, and Oisuke from otoiro on bass right?

How much does Japanese music add to your life? Nowadays not much. I still listen to bands I like(d) every now and then but that's it. If I suddenly would have to without, I'd miss a handful of bands but I'd survive. Would there be any benefits to not having it, like a heavier wallet or bigger bank account? Or is it just plain worth it? Not really since I hardly spend any money on it anymore. Only the odd Tokyo Heroes release, who are on a hiatus now, so yea. Do you have irreplaceable friends you found through Japanese music? I have met some great people through Japanese music. I do only speak to a few of them regularly, but that's because I'm already struggling to keep my IRL social life alive with all the stuff I'm busy with. Has it opened up your life more? Gave you an interest in Japanese culture? How would your interests change if you didn`t have this music? I guess so. It made me try out more diverse genres of music, and partially led me to where my music taste is at the moment. I started studying Japanese 5 years ago, which I kept up for a little less than 2 years, but still. My interests would hardly change at all without Japanese music. The ratio of Jap music to "Western" music I listen to nowadays is about 1:8 or so.

No! Bad Furik! I read the thread title and I immediately thought, I have to post that ReS track as it is one of the best closers I have ever heard, and then you go and ruin it for me I couldn't find Roach's Haru to Yume, eight's Yuganda Seishun, Werkmare's -13- or Tokyo Heroes' Fuyuuta on YT so these will have to do: Still one of their best songs, and a great closer at that. Technically this is from an EP, but still, man what a way to end that EP.

Oh man I forgot about Audience Killer Loop, that is definitely a great first song. Also I can't seem to find a YT link, but Inori from Oto-Oni's full-length is an amazing opener as well.

Yesss Cat, that LTS track is definitely an amazing opener. Here's some more: kamomekamome - エクスキューズミー This is such an epic start to this album. Starts with the a capella bit and then goes into a frenzy, and eventually end up in that beautiful chorus. D'espairsRay - Infection Does it get any better than this? Such an eerie beginning to this dark album, and the percussion adds so much to the atmosphere of the song. The chorus sets you up for what is to come after this. And finally, one of my faves: √eight - illational of the people That opening riff is so powerful, and then that slapping bass after it just gets me so stoked. And it's pretty ballsy to start an album with a full song without a proper chorus, haha.

I love old Crows (before their hiatus), but like Jig said they weren't really active anyway and the only single they released after getting back together was decent at best.

Definitely agree with Loveless and Sink. Just wanted to mention that, can't think of good ones at the moment.

I have nothing against moshpits. When I go to a concert to see musicians do their thing, I leave the moshing to others so I can just watch the band. However, if I go to a concert just to have fun, I have no problem jumping in. I had one of the best moshpits ever during a Reel Big Fish show, it was great fun. Oh and when at a festival and the mood is right, I love me a pit. That said, I agree with Rocketeer about J-rock concerts and moshpits. I also dislike hardcore dancing. A guy wearing spikes on his boots was kicking them all over the place and someone got it in his arm(just like in Rocketeer's case), but the guy didn't apologize and didn't seem to care whatsoever. If you don't want to be in a pit, move to the side. It's simple as that. As long as it's all good fun, who the hell cares. Also I've never seen a pit form in the first 2 or 3 rows, so the remark about losing your good spot does not apply.

I still have no idea what ungloud(rock) is supposed to mean lol. They talked about it back when they were L-seven, and even the one single released by Shouwa Glammy Kai/Bio Glammy has references to it.

I think what made Gazette stand out early on is that they started out as a crossover between oldschool VK and punk, and slowly started adding more influences to their music. Their releases from 2003-2006 are pretty versatile and have many influences, and the songs range from pop ballads to jumpy punk songs to stuff bordering on the progmetal. In short, because they didn't stick to one genre, they could gather fans from all kinds of rock genres. Those guys are(/can be) solid songwriters, like it or not. Sadly, after 2007 their songwriting became a bit stale (to me at least, I know other people won't agree with me), even though I admit there's still some good efforts scattered throughout their releases.