That one time when Puffy AmiYumi performed in Dallas earlier this year. I kinda wanted to go because they were my gateway to Japanese music, but I didn't feel comfortable going alone, and I have no friends anyway so :)))
I missed D'espairsRay when they came to Atlanta in 2008 for the Taste Of Chaos tour with MUCC and The Underneath (formerly Transtic Nerve, now Defspiral). Unfortunately, that was my only chance to see them before they disbanded!
I constantly miss out on shows, cuz I'm an antisocial twat who changes his mind at the last minute about going to a gig (and then I hear later that the particular live was awesome, lol). My latest in this long line of regrets is passing on Bob Log III's gig, even though I've been excited about him coming here again for months... screw my brain I guess.
I missed seeing Vidoll when they toured overseas. I hadn't even known about them at the time, but I still regret not going (or knowing about it) since they disbanded a couple of years afterwards.
Whoever you heard this from straight up lied to you. I saw them in NY and Ruki was quite pleased, surprised at how "crazy" the crowd was and mentioned it several times during the performance lol. Even in the interviews there's clear interest that they want to come back.
I missed DIR EN GREY the last time they were in the states due to financial reasons and probably not being able to get the time off of work. I can't really remember anyone else VK related. There's quite few american bands i regret not seeing for more or less of the same reasons.
@PIZAZ late but i finally got around to translating the live version on yt! i got stumped on one line, but anyway here's what i got. it starts around 4:12 of the video.
Guniw tools sound wasn't always incredibly unique(plagiarism accusations), but certainly unusual and experimental for vk. Full's voice is an acquired taste and the songs range from folk inspired pop to industrial, so I've noticed that they tend to be pretty polarizing when I try to introduce people to them.
Guniw tools sound wasn't always incredibly unique(plagiarism accusations), but certainly unusual and experimental for vk. Full's voice is an acquired taste and the songs range from folk inspired pop to industrial, so I've noticed that they tend to be pretty polarizing when I try to introduce people to them.
3Gatsu no Lion might seriously be one of my favorite series ever.... this second season just raised my enjoyment of it to a whole new level. I can't wait for it to return. I urge people to please go try it, honestly one of the best shows I've seen in a very long time.
I missed out on the gazette when they did an american tour, I wasn't paying attention to vk at the time. I regret it even if I was unaware though, it doesn't seem to have gone over too well, I heard the band was unhappy with the conduct of overseas fans and as a result I guess they're unlikely to come back. Seeing them next time I visit Japan is always an option, but I'd prefer to see a smaller band/s.
| Dir en grey's tenth album is something special indeed.
Few artists can bring the scene together and elicit responses from everyone the way that Dir en grey can. They can make you pause your habitual listening routines to check out their newest single or album, even if you don't like them. This is because Dir en grey is one of the few bands where we can sense the progression and self-improvement from release to release. I don't think that Dir en grey aspires to impress anyone but themselves from three years ago, and now more than ever I see and feel a band that has graduated from copying trends to setting them. As a concept, and after listening to the album several times, I believe The Insulated World refers directly to them, their view on the world, and the inspiration for where the music they wish to create comes from.
The Insulated World feels like a journey into oneself, and the album feels separated into two parts. The first half of the album feels like a turbulent descent into madness, while the second half feels like the madness has yielded to tranquility as the listener floats towards personal understanding. I prefer the second half to the first half. This is a far cry from literally every other album of theirs, where tracks were arranged haphazardly and the experience suffers for it. I can hear various influences from each of their previous eras and albums - some more than others - but one of the most redeeming points about The Insulated World is that it doesn't sound like anything in particular.
In the past, I've felt that Dir en grey bit off more than they could chew, and failed to deliver on their own expectations. I felt this most when listening to DUM SPIRO SPERO, where the band used progressive elements for the sake of being progressive. The Insulated World has the progressive elements applied more sensibly, similar to ARCHE. Songs morph and change direction on a whim, but there are hooks and motifs that the band returns to that gives each song coherency. Vocalist Kyo reminds us once again that he's the king of vocal manipulation - just in case you had doubts - but he's embraced his mid range more. Focusing on the extremes of his vocal techniques leaves an immediate and lasting impression at the expense of it sounding very binary. I prefer the vocal extremes for specific emotional climaxes and using other vocal techniques for specific feelings at the appropriate times. "Values of Madness" is the best example of what I am describing, where we get screeching, rapping, singing, and more in a compact four minutes. The re-recording of "The Deeper Vileness" is another great example, and also highlights how well some of the ideas they explored in The Marrow of a Bone translate into their new style ten years later.
Complaints about the terrible production job for the singles "Utafumi" and "Ningen wo kaburu" were founded and make more sense in hindsight, with the new versions sounding less congested. Die and Kaoru no longer compete with Toshiya for total control of the low end frequency, Shinya's drum kit sounds less robotic, Kyo doesn't feel tacked on top of the mix, and there's plenty of room left for the guitar distortion techniques and electronic samples to breathe. For the most part, I like the tone chosen for the guitar and the way everything comes together in each song, and I would rank this among both their best and least obnoxiously mixed albums to date. I wish they could get their singles to this quality.
The Insulated World is not a perfect release. "Devote My Life" is not listenable due to the piercing, unrelenting tone of the guitar. Sticking it in the second slot does a lot to turn away people who only have once chance to give Dir en grey. They should have gone with a guitar tone closer to "Downfall". "Ranunculus", while a great song and a good note to end the album on, has an atmosphere which doesn't fit with the album. I get the impression this track was conceived either very early or very late in the production cycle, because it stands well on its own. I also am unable to find the hook in the album opus, "絶縁体" (Zetsusentai), which I find difficult to wrap my head around. They've done this style of track more effectively with "Vinushka" and even "Diabolos", and it doesn't hold a candle to the pure atmosphere of "MACABRE". Speaking of Macabre, I also find the new version of "理由" (Riyuu) slightly inferior to the original version. The cover of the song does justice to the original by not straying too much from the melody, but they reined in the emotion of the song and the guitar solo with only a cleaner sound to compensate, and the original version of the song sold itself on its emotion. They didn't ruin it, but they didn't improve it much. The new version of "鬼眼" (Kigan) falls into the same camp, but the much better production values edges it out ahead in the end. For the record, I much rather these safe reinterpretations than ones that butcher the song beyond recognition.
These interpretations are subject to change as I spend more time with The Insulated World, and perhaps catch them live one day to experience these songs in person. Even a month later, I still think I wrote this review prematurely, as there are songs still growing on me and others that I am unsure if I like or not. I am pleased overall with how this album turned out, and I can see myself listening to this album in a few years without the songs wearing thin. Dir en grey did well, and this is an album I can recommend to both long time fans and the curious, but if ARCHE did nothing for you then this won't either.
Hey guys, I found a table of connections (from an old Cure issue, vol. 12, 2004 ) that includes some of the biggest labels which existed during the "golden age" of vk.
There's also a list with some of the most important bands of said labels next to it plus a timeline of the bands on the other side.
I find it pretty cool so I thought you guys might be interested in seeing it too! (sorry for the lame pictures but I couldn't scan the document cause it's a weird format and it won't fit in my scanner).
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