ShanethVarosa

I'm excited regardless of how his past music has been, every album is a chance to improve or at least innovate so I'm at least excited to see what it is he comes up with. That being said I didn't care for Real? and Let Go was pretty catchy, but not his best work. So I'm hoping that the album material isn't going to be represented by those singles.

I really like this a lot, they're proving to me again that they're one of the best if not the best newer band of the last few years. I think Zero One will be hard to top, I just love that album so much, but at this rate I'm optimistic that it will at least come close.

Can't wait! Hope this is an improvement from their last album cycle.

Div and Jupiter that are confirmed (and Madonna's too, but I guess I already have it seeing as how I have 33 demos *shrug*) But of ones that aren't totally confirmed yet, I'm super excited for X as well as BoA and Rihanna and the possibility of a full Schwarz Stein album seems inciting as well.

@X-Marc oop I had no idea. Well I suppose I'll just not have my hopes up for an XMSG DVD altho I would love to relive that night again and again. @Wonrei yeah they actually shot a music video for it back in August or September and then played it at XMSG.

Great performance. Come to think of it I wonder how the XMSG DVD is coming along...

Well it's exciting that they have a release month but I thought it was gonna be April? Anyway, I hope it actually comes out in August. At the end of the day, I dont fucking care what people are thinking and saying about them. I fucking love them. Can't wait to hear these new songs.

Awesome! I love when they get super electronic. Even more excited now!

They generally sound pretty good, but they're too LQ for me to really have any favorites yet. But I loved the PV preview.

Hopefully they perform a new song! And maybe announce the official album release date...? Am I being to optimistic?

Not one to shy away from releasing albums, it's been really unusual to not have heard a full LP from D in over three years. The years have seen a staggering nine singles, three best albums, and two EPs from the boys which is quite the achievement. Being that there were so many singles, when Kingdom was announced I became worried that the album would be primarily pre-released singles. I was very pleasantly surprised when only four singles made the album and D gave us a whopping 11 brand new tracks. In a world where bands begin albums with 30-second instrumental introductions, D starts their 7th studio album with "Blood Moon," a visual kei spectacular. This song really captures the overall theme of the album and sets the tone for what to expect throughout: big choruses and big melodies. The song uses a liberal amount of a synth that sounds like it's trying to be a violin, but doesn't sound bad. In fact, this aspect of the song is what proves it's overall 'Visual Kei'-ness, if you will. "Dark Wings," admittedly, was not my favorite song released prior to Kingdom but in the context of the album it makes sense. While the intro to the song lacks anything special, the chorus is huge and leads into a second verse that makes you forget about the lackluster intro. Possibly the most interesting song on the album is "Mother Doll" which has some of the best guitar work in D's career and one of Asagi's best vocal performances in recent years. The song begins with some pretty intricate metal guitar riffs and works its way through deep verses leading up to a catchy and powerful chorus. "Tsuki no Sakazuki" was my personal favorite single released for Kingdom. It was the total package, from the catchy German hook to the chorus which really reminded me of older D songs (and how good were those b-sides, though, I mean really). "Tsuki no Sakazuki" gives way, however, to another one of my favorite songs: "Chi ni Nureta Ikkaku," which shows in 4 minutes and 41 seconds exactly why Hiroki is one of the best drummers around. What we've seen so far on Kingdom primarily is Asagi's supreme vocal ability and how well he works with the band as a whole. "Chi ni Nureta Ikkaku" is really driven by the drums in particular which is pretty atypical of D's usual style which focuses on big band compositions rather than focusing on one instrument over another. The third single choice for Kingdom is "Danzai no Juushi (Gunner)," a song that was lackluster on it's very own release a la "Dark Wings," but comes into it's own in the context of the full album. In fact, it actually ends up standing out quite well with it's extremely-catchy chorus and harsh vocals which, when used as sparingly as on this song, are a real asset instead of a detriment. "Secret Hangar" is the heaviest song on the album. Using a lot of rhythm in both guitar and drums instead of focusing on big guitar solos and powerful choruses. It's a nice change from the general pace of the album being so dramatic to change direction and now have a song that's really made for cutting loose and losing yourself in a song. "Anökumene" is an interesting anomaly in and of the fact it's less than three minutes in length and entirely instrumental. The song's overall purpose is apparently to break up different segments of the album, but doesn't exactly stand up as it's own number. Nothing about the song is particularly impressive, and I mean that not out of a sense of negativity, but just in the fact it left no impression on me. "En'ou no Koshikake" is definitely on the heavier side and sticks out in my mind in particular because of it's Arabic influence. One of the things I've learned about D after being a fan of them for so, so long is that they never shy away from using musical styles of other cultures in their songs and their continuous use of the Arabic style is one of their most unique characteristics and "En'ou no Koshikake" really drives that point home. Following in the same vein as it's predecessor, "Kaze ni Totsuita Bailaora" is very influenced by another country. This time, that country is Spain. The song certainly has a nice beat and melody, but fails to stand out as it's own song. The best part, in fact, is the Spanish guitar in the beginning. "Binetsu ~Ame no Fantasia~" is a song on which D made some interesting production choices. It begins with the sound of rain and Asagi singing through a vocal filter of some kind. As the song progresses, it becomes heavier and utilizes harsh vocals more and more before switching gears completely mid-song for the chorus and then returning to the heaviness and harsh vocals. Overall the song feels like the song was initially supposed to be a few other songs and they picked the best parts of those songs to turn into one full song and they called it "Binetsu ~Ame no Fantasia~." This is then followed up with the other instrumental song, "Another Kingdom" which I'm fairly certain is just "Anökumene" with a different title if I'm being totally honest. Again, the song leaves no lasting impression on me. The absolute climax of the album comes in on "Kurobara no Kishi", which brings us back to the style of song on the first segment of the album. Once again, D shows us how to effectively use the pseudo-choir as a bridge and properly scream a hook. The song goes on for 5 minutes and 15 seconds without losing intensity or interest. The fourth single choice for Kingdom is "Rosenstrauss", a song that is really more pop/rock than anything. After the acoustic piano intro, the song kicks up the pace in a big way creating an extremely exciting environment. Finally, the album closes out with the absolutely massive power ballad "Shuuen ~Sora he no Kaiki~." Not only does this song sufficiently some up the story of Kingdom but it feels like it's the goodbye D fans deserve after such a long and magnificent career. Additionally, the music video for this song is epic in every sense of the word. They spared no expense on the production value and costumes, that's for certain. This particular song inspires a sense of hope rather than finality. As we know, D is going on a hiatus for a while rather than disbanding altogether. The message of "Shuuen" overall, I think, is hope and promise for the future. Overall, I would highly recommend D's "farewell" album Kingdom. If there's one thing D does better than any visual rock band, it's putting together a cohesive theme album. Every song on Kingdom makes sense in the overall context without getting boring or repetitive. In fact, I may even dare to say this is their best album to date. Please support this artist by buying the album here from our friends over at CDJapan This was my review published over on VKH, you can view the original article here: http://www.visualkeiheaven.us/2014/12/review-d-kingdom.html#more t

I am 100% going to NYC for this, I can't believe he's really coming to NYC on a solo tour! and playing Versailles songs! I just need to know when the NYC date ends up being and how much tickets are. But just so I can budget time and money because I'm going no matter what.

Wow, four new songs. I really hope they see the light of day soon... I miss this band.

This is really, really unfortunate news. I loved them when they first started out and I was so happy when they came back from hiatus because the music they made then felt very special, like they really had vamped it up a lot. Ride-Hazard still blows my mind to this day. Ugh. So sad. But Hopefully this last live limited single is good and makes its way here sooner rather than later.

About half new songs, that's pretty good. But the cover art is really, really impressive. I don't know what it is, but I find it stunning!

Okay well I guess I'll buy myself the digital edition on the day of release and then check hot topic and fye periodically to see if I can get a physical edition. I will just have to resist listening to it if it gets uploaded here first.

Does anyone happen to know if this will be available to purchase in American stores like... As a physical copy? I know that Hot Topic and FYE carries their music typically but I didn't hear about this one. Otherwise I will just buy it on iTunes I guess.

Awesome news. Her newer singles are an improvement from her last album but still nothing has topped her debut album. So I really hope this album is a great piece.

Hmm... Half the album is old material. Which is fine, I guess. But I can't help but to wonder why they would put Taste of Life and Golden Kinema Gekijou on here and not on their previous album. In any case, solid track list. I can't wait to hear the new material.

It doesn't say that it's only one new song and 10 rerecordings. And it likely won't be considering it'll be technically-speaking new songs. Like in my mind it will be Born to Be Free, Hero, and Beneath the Skin... Possibly IV and Jade, but not certainly. The original mix of Scarlet Love Song. So if it's at that then we have 6 old songs and it'll be at LEAST 4 new songs if not more. I honestly don't know if I believe them or not, but I want to because I want this album so bad it hurts.

Really cute video! Basic ass song, but the video is adorable.