The Libertine

much better than good!!! It has some amazing tracks and very calming feel throughout. I quite liked dona dona too but this album felt more complete.

I think I can go!! This is exciting. Never seen either band and I quite like both.

Their MAMA performance pretty flawless. I'm so excited I get to see them in 2 days at YG Family concert! I have really shitty seats, but at least lucky enough to be going!

hmmm I quite like devils in bedside and is one of the best debut releases I've heard but I like black rain and Tanatos more. Black rain for me is more perfect from start to finish, while Tanatos has a few of their best songs on it (despite having a few filler). Also, sleeping beauty single 甘美な死骸 from draw single are some of my favorite songs as well. I think they have really proved themselves with each release and will continue to do so.

seeing them in 2 weeks YG concert. Be jealous : PPP

looks pretty cool. Want to see setlist

Found this thread accidentally and must say, that it describes at some parts the truth IMHO, because "good vocals in visual kei" is now virtually very close to an oxymoron. They always sound annoyingly whiny Here are some examples:

- all of Undercore and oshare kei

- Otogi (Awoi) - granted that they have good music (guitars and drums), but the vocals are just awkward, the main reason why I couldn't get into them.

- Tatsurou (Mucc) - Just NO!!! He sounds really gross for me! The basic reason why I'm not into this band. I remebmer giving a shot some of their albums, coz I've read on the net how good they are. Maybe he didn't sound always bad, but for example, when I hear the Libra chrous I imeddiatly want to puke.

Also even if I enjoy Sadie's music, Mao's vocals sometimes annoy me too.

Overall I think that for me that's another good reason to be glad moving into non-VK indies and other Japanese music.

wow of all the people to pick... but your opinion. I think Tatsurou and Awoi's vocalist are pretty great. And Mao is pretty boring and uninteresting singer but never had any issues with his voice.

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Also the vocalist from D'espairs Ray he's pretty bad sometimes.

Really? Your homework is to find an example of where he sounds pretty bad. And no a D'ray demo tape doesn't count. good luck! : P

My list, the order is pretty rough. Probably my opinion on some of the list will be different tomorrow hehe,

10. BUCK-TICK Kurutta Taiyou

One of the most important VK bands. To pick one of their 15+ albums (which are all near perfect) as a favorite is no easy task. However kurutta taiyou was a really important step for the band, finally stepping out of their "80s sound" and moving to new era with new styles. Includes some gems like speed and jupiter and is really perfect from start to finish. Early 90s in general was BT's most prolific era imo as all albums 90-96 are among my favorite.

9. Kagrra- San

While I perhaps would choose ouka ranman or nue as favorite release, San is by far my favorite full album. It really is the culmination of their career imo. San is THE neo japanesque album. It captures what the band had done so well in their previous release with traditional japanese instrumentals/chanting and turning their incredible sound into more catchy pop tunes. With clean production, much improved vocals, and the song satsuki San represents what Kagrra did amazingly.

8 MUCC- Shion

If I look at my last.fm top 2 played songs (by a far shot) are fuzz and libra. Fuck these are good songs. This album was a real departure in sound for the band, however they had been experimenting a lot more with each album since kuchiki no tou really. This album was heavy at times, disco, pop, sweet ballads, and even a little metal thrown in. Its really successful at keeping my interest, has a great flow (despite the flop song flight), and blends styles beautifully. 梟の揺り篭, shiva, shion, libra, fuzz, game are standouts for me!

7 Plastic Tree- Traumerai

Plastic Tree took me quite a long time to warm to (many years from first listen to becoming fan). It seemed I had only listened to random songs and their worst album still for me (shiro chronicle). After giving Traumerai a listen years later I was won over. Top tracks; Glider, aoi tori, gerbera, hello, 雨ニ唄エバ

6 Guniw Tools- Dazzle

In my opinion Guniw Tools is probably the most underappreciated bands among vk/japanese music fans. For a band to have such creativity and beautifully diverse music to be so unpopular is always a surprise to me. Dazzle marked a huge change for GT. Previously they were a trio with most music written by Jake. They had a much more ethereal, nature derived sound I could only define as whimsical. Dazzle was their first album as duo and you could really tell it was different! Dazzle is a fantastic electronic album. Much darker and more eerie than music they had released before. Border of taboo sets the mood perfectly. tooi toori, pictures of utopia, drop an oar are other favorites. Fickle boon and Niwlun are right behind Dazzle in terms of quality and I could recommend them almost as strongly.

5 Deadman- No Altnernative

Best Nagoya-kei album by the best nagoya-kei band. Many people prefer in the direction of sunrise... from what I can tell but no alternative is always my favorite. Aie's guitar and Mako's vocals really make this album quite memorable. 盲目の羽根と星を手に, 苦悩の中の耐え難い存在, ドリスからの手紙. The new 2.0 version I anticipated quite greatly and I really appreciate the sharper sounds.

4 D'espairsRay- Mirror

My favorite D'espairsray album!! (take that coll:set). While coll:set does have some of the bands best songs, it can't touch mirror in terms of a cohesive album. It's great start to finish. I had this on repeat for months. Damned is a strong opener, going into trickster and mirror both with similar feel. SIXty∞NINe has an almost marilyn manson feel and groovy grunge. 凍える夜に咲いた花 and screen are 2 of the bands most beautiful songs to date. 凍える夜に咲いた花 single was special to me as I saw them in concert live the first time they played this song/wearing promotion outfits from it. Lost scene is the only missing link for me on the album, fairly skippable. Hollow makes you want to sing along. Last 3 songs on the album are among the best. First angeldust is the highlight of the album for me. Heavy, melodic, with almost fantasy feel to it. The vocals are some of Hizumi's best. Squall is an amazing pop song that drew ire of many fans but I think people grew to love it. Last kaleidoscope closes this nearly perfect album!

3 MUCC- houmura uta

Swim taiyaki-kun! zetsubou, mama, mae e, suimin, zuta zuta. This album is schizo and incredibly delicious. Has the best of heavy and raw early MUCC with a few quirky songs. Zekuu is also a great early mucc album, but is not quite as diverse as homura uta and also not as fun to listen to despite having some of MUCC's classic songs. I really recommend it.

2 Dir en grey- Macabre

Another album that took me some time to really appreciate it. For a while I always appreciate kisou and vulgar more to it. A few years ago I had a real listening epiphany and since I have always been in love with this album. It is DEG's most experimental and diverse album for sure (though kisou also is up in the running). Perhaps Uroboros is a better album (and since its not VK I wont consider it here) but Macabre is fun to listen to, and keeps me more interested with its insane mix of songs. Myaku is the only song I don't too much like. Deity is a really great opener, starting like normal DEG song, with some fantastic russian chanting, and chaotic noises. Riyuu and audrey are both quite beautiful slow pop/rock songs. A bit ballad heavy, hotarubi, macabre, and zakuro are all 3 really heavy hitting ballads. They are really dense, sad, and complicated. My appreciation for them only increases on each listen. I love the shit out of hydra (but enjoy hydra 666 more sorry original!). What makes this album so great are songs like berry, taiyou no ao, kr cube, and egnirys cimredophy. These are the quirkiest and most uncharacteristic songs Deg has released (along with jessica on kisou). I love hearing people bitch about taiyou no ao. If you didn't know Deg's early music and checked out the video you'd be a bit shocked, but I think it's a beautiful pop song and great close to the album.

1 Luna Sea- Mother

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Mother of all that is good and holy. Image and style also came to mind when making this list. But I could only choose mother. Luna Sea is the most important VK of the 90s imo. Rosier, genesis of mind, and mother are really the highlights of this album. However every song is perfect. It's really quite special. Go listen!

Other honorable mentions- 9goats- Tanatos, Rentrer en Soi- Rentrer en soi, MUCC- gokusai, Dir en grey- kisou, guniw tools- fickle boon, cali=gari - Dai 6, Sel'm- Brilliant force, Plastic Tree- nega to poji, (every album by) Buck-Tick- six/nine, Buck-Tick darker than darkness, heidi.-kasou

the new EP is my favorite of theirs. But the Japanese versions suck so bad. Big Bang in Japanese is ok, as is shinee, etc but 2ne1's fierceness is lost in Japanese. It just ain't a fierce language. And the English lyrics in I am the best is terrible.

my only advice is spend as little time in Tokyo as possible (maybe catch a concert or 2 and gtfo). You won't regret it. Head to kansai or kyushu most of your trip. Since you are tourist you can get railpass I'd recommend it. Also if you buy the railpass then staying in Tokyo is also wasting the money you paid. That time of year is quite nice, but going much more North of Tokyo will be colder if you don't mind? Also business hotels are always great place to stay. Almost always have space and affordable. Kyoto/Nara, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka are all great cities to visit.

I thought SEVEN album was so much better than the diarrhea fest that was mar maroon. However I'll admit SEVEN wasn't that memorable and I don't go back to listen to it ever. But I should check it out again, remember liking it a bit.

I can honestly say I adore all their albums but shiro chronicle

I enjoyed plastic tree, Ryuichi, and Sadie's covers, did not like any others really.

While not perfect, I quite like the production/mixing of both Uroboros and DSS. There are places I'd want louder ____ or more ___ but I'm quite satisfied with both and how they sound. Though I always love hearing re-recordings and comparing them.

Angelo started really great with some awesome releases. But they've become quite boring to me with Design... Freak show and rebirth of newborn baby= amazing.

lol my initial list was like 20 long...but limiting to 5 (in no particular order) 1. embryo 2. ain't afraid to die 3. amber 4. vinushka 5. inconvenient ideal. Their ballads and mellow songs are usually my favorite I suppose.. obscure, kodou, saku, toguro, filth, jessica, bottom death valley are also up there and Diabolos is becomming a favorite from new album.

it's to call the attention in an ironical way.

the swastika for sintoists means good luck or life, so it's obviously sarcasm, since nazis were not so in favour of life (remember the holocaust...? XP ).

if i was jewish i wouldn't get offended, i'll take it as funny paraphernalia.

This thread has come up recently before, but have the same opinion now. First, it's a Buddhist symbol not shinto or 'sintoist?' When VK bands wear it I find zero obvious sarcasm, rather just a tacky fashion sense at the expense of the memory of millions of people who died. And what a shitty image to try to be sarcastic about?? It's not clever or thought provoking. In Buddhism it is a lucky symbol and has been used for ages, but their meaning is obviously clear when they're wearing it accompanied by german military uniform.. I'm not offended by it as much as I feel sorry for the ignorant people who think wearing it is ok, especially involving trend for Japanese to ignore their past and crimes in WWII.

nope, they have 2 twitter,

one in Japanese and the other one for the translation of it

and some exclusive news only for International fans.

original message post in Japanese: https://twitter.com/#!/DIRENGREY_JP/sta ... 3481676800

Kyo's Osaka-ben absolutely threw me off lol.

he's from Kyoto though right? And he only uses like a few words of kansai-ben...

Anyhow, sad that the Wacken fest sucked so hard for them. Looking forward to seeing them in November. Really need to hear some of these DSS tracks live. : )

surprised to hear so many disappointed. A solid 9/10 for me. Very fun and heavy at same time. This and underworld make up for the few mediocre albums before them.

^ pretty much what I thought. Blossoming Beelzebub was the only preview that sounded disappointing. The others sounded quite awesome

generally prefer spending all my "music" money on shows, t-shirts, posters, and dvds. Buying albums come dead last and shows in my tiny cd collection. Plus I only buy domestic releases if I do buy a cd. Hells to the no on importing a cd.

I've never had anything against the use of nazi-symbols, to be honest. I quite like it because so many used to dislike it. And when we are on that, they (the nazis) DID have a fashion sense out of this world. Pretty fucking amazing, if you ask me.

eh I think the problem is that it's ignorant Japanese people doing it who often have issues with admitting to WWII crimes or just are seriously oblivious to its significance. But most VK do it to be shocking. Not that shocking really... nice try. And then there's the Buddhist use of swastika. Those monks are just shaking their heads.

heir looks have never set them apart from the rest. They've always had an average visual kei dress code.

hmmmm... I've always liked/never been disappointed with their releases but TBH I've gotten pretty bored with them. Though always hoping for them to try out some new sounds...

maybe they'll stop releasing shit..... maybe?????? The bar has been set pretty low with last two singles. They can only really go up lol.

Did someone just say shit 2/3 albums? If you are referring to RES/ Bottom of chaos then wow, you have BAD taste. : )

But I agree with Satsuki being completely hit or miss. I'd say there's more miss and the ones that suck are super cheesey, but the few songs that are good are quite good. I'd welcome a revival I suppose... but I first want to see solo projects from Takumi and I'm looking forward to forbidden days rhapsody 2nd release.