CAT5

Dir en grey. They're the most accessible and easiest to get into.

haha, I like Dir en Grey, but I dunno...it actually took me QUITE a while to get over Kyo's vocals.

With that said, if one can dig Kyo's vocals, they'll be well prepared to bite into a good chunk of VK.

I dunno...I don't mind loud/noisy/harsh stuff, but there is something that really turned me off about this band...I'm almost positive it was the vocals, but I'd have to listen again to be exact. xD

^ lol, seriously, though. Virtually everyone I know who's heard that band loves them. I've only seen one person express any kind of distaste for them.

I dunno...I may have to give their album another listen. If I remember correctly, I was extremely put off by the vocals. =S

??????を殺???????? by 神????????????ゃん (Shinseikamattechan)

this is one band whose appeal I fail to understand (sorry Aion) ={

Eugene Wakamikito from eksperimentoj is fluent, but then again I don't know if he's even fully Japanese judging by his name. Same goes for Robin Aoki from downy. The guy from UNCHAIN is good, though I wish he sang more in Japanese because his English lyrics are sort of pointless fodder. I can understand what he's singing though, unlike with Kent from Lillies and Remains for example. Sato from 54-71. Hiroshi Kyono from The Mad Capsule Markets. Many that I now forget...

I'm not really an UNCHAIN fan, but from the songs I've heard...I'm not too sure about his English...seemed more engRish-y to me xD

Completely forgot about Eugene/Aoki

I doubt anyone knows this band, but the lady from sighboat has perfect English...and she looks full Japanese too. xD

There's the old rock/grunge artist AYA.

A lot of Japanese singers in the Jazz and Club scenes have pretty good English too. Aoki Karen, akiko, Yurai (featured on a lot of Jazztronik stuff), Arvin homa aya (though her ethnicity is HIGHLY questionable xD). Monday Michiru (though she's like half-Japanese). The lady from FRIED PRIDE is also quite good. Lots more...

So who are some Japanese singers that can sing in good, intelligible English? I'm not talking about vocalists that utter a few random things in English, I'm talking about vocalists who have sung entire songs in English...or at least enough to know that their English is legit. I know of quite a few, but It'll be nice if we could construct a list of sorts...

Off the top of my head, there's the guy from OCEANLANE (though their music is plain boring)

Emi Meyer...though she's not entirely Japanese

Shiina Ringo has pretty good English on record, but I've seen some live clips of her English that were...sketchy

Now I can't think all of a sudden...will return later xD

What bands would you first introduce to people who are new to Visual Kei or J-rock as a whole?

I'd have to say that I'm currently in love with a seemingly obscure jpop artist named Chiaki Seike (清家??晶). She hasn't released anything since 2006, but her last album "Sensitive Doll" and the album prior to that, "Tokyo Escape Music" are both wonderful. I'm quite surprised that I've never heard this girl mentioned in any jpop circles before. Her voice is amazing...kinda reminds me of Salyu but more hefty and soulful.

I usually listen to music like a robot - listen to one album and then move to the next, but Seike's music has broken that mold for the time being. I mean...I can't recall the last time I had 47 plays for one artist in the same week. For a lot of you, that may seem normal, but for me and my robotic listening habits, it most definitely isn't! xD

have all the gazette fans dissapeared!!?? What does everyone think about RED? I like it personally, but I have a feeling their next album may fall pretty short of DIM. Judging by RED and SHIVER, they seem to have reverted back to a more atypical VK style. Also, the PVs for both are nowhere near as "cool" or stylized as the PVs for DIM were.

I won't rank but the top for me so far have been. And I'll just do japanese.

This is the Japanese music forum, so I'd expect everyone to do Japanese...

Um...I dunno, it's a bit too early for this topic....ling tosite's and EGO-WRAPPIN's new albums aren't even out yet, and they have a high change of being exceedingly awesome.

I can probably list my fav. Japanese albums so far, though...

I wonder why they mocked Amano Tsukiko...from what I understand, she was never even that big. And she can actually sing =/

^ lmao, indeed. Every thread is turning into a Dir en Grey shitfest. c'mon people. They're not worth excessive praise nor do they warrant so much hate.

Merzbow

I'm not particularly a fan of noise, but I do respect and appreciate his music. I've always found the ideology behind noise to be fascinating. However, I'm willing to call merzbow "overvalued" because for some reason, people think by listening to him (and noise period), that it somehow enhances their taste and makes it more "sophisticated" or better than the taste of others. Hell, some people who make noise don't even consider it music, so why do people feel so musically elite for listening to it?

I can't even count the number of times I've seen people namedrop merzbow in some kind of music related argument. It's pretty ridiculous. Just because it's something that MTV would avoid at all costs, does not make it the pinnacle of coolness lol. Merzbow is not a god.

I think this would make an awesome band:

Music Style - Jazz/Math-rock/Indie-rock/Hardcore/Soul hybrid with some electronic (idm/breakbeats/glitch) elements xD

Vocals (female): Nobie (Uni-Birth, Alma Plus) or chihiRo (JiLL-Decoy association) - chihiro's voice is a bit stronger, but Nobie is MUCH more diverse

Guitar: TK (Rin Toshite Shigure)

Guitar: Yoshimitsu Taki (9mm Parabellum Bullet)

Bass: Kameda Seiji (Tokyo Jihen)

Piano/Keys: Suga Dairo (Suga Dairo Trio)

Horns/Brass: Tabu Zombie & Motoharu (Soil&Pimp Sessions)

Drums: Kashikura Takashi (Toe)

Electronics/Programming: Himuro Yoshiteru

A band like this would FUCK MY EARS INSIDE OUT UPSIDE DOWN AND ALL AROUND TOWN

alas, it'll never happen .__.

I like post-rock...was addicted to it for a time back in 2008. Though I've become rather selective in the post-rock I choose to listen to nowadays. Don't know why, but I find a good amount of it unable to hold my attention these days.

Pierre Nakano is pretty baddass

^ Yep yep. Regarding Japan's metal scene - It's nowhere near as broad or diverse as the "western" metal scene. Geography alone should tell you that one.

To somewhat go back to the main topic, I will say that Japanese music was the first foreign music I'd heard where the language didn't sound "foreign" to me. I'm not exactly sure why, but the language seemed to comply with my ears. I think this is one of the reasons why I stuck with Jpop instead of kpop back when I was still getting my feet wet in foreign music.

I have to agree with the points Champ, Subliminal, and Zesshoku brought up.

There is wonderful music to be found everywhere. Just look for it...it's surprisingly easy to do.

I'M TOO MUTHAFUCKIN' COOL TO CRY TO MUSIC

However....

Hearing this song can make me sad/nostalgic, as I was infatuated with it when my father died earlier this year.

I'd say that these are some pretty "must-hear"/definitive albums J-rock albums that should be heard at least once.

Album names (from left to right)

D'espairsRay - Coll:set

Rentrer en Soi - Sphire Croid

the GazettE - DIM

Tokyo Jihen - Kyoiku

AYA - Kinjirareta Uta

trico - Musics

TRANSTIC NERVE - RAISE A FLAG

toe - For Long Tomorrow

9mm Parabellum Bullet - Termination

sleepy.ab - palette

SADS - THE ROSE GOD GAVE ME

Rin toshite Shigure - Inspiration is DEAD

OGRE YOU ASSHOLE - Alpha Beta vs Lambda

Midori - First

LITE - Phantasia

Kiyoharu - Mellow

kacica - MOSAIC

HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT - VARY

GO!GO!7188 - Tategami

Eternal Elysium - SEARCHING LOW&HIGH

101A - one day

ah, I see. thanks =)

Please, no ridiculously big pics. Make this thread pleasant to view at least.

And can you elaborate on what you mean by definitive? Are we just posting our favorite J-rock albums, albums that we think define the sound of J-rock, or albums that have defined our own personal journeys through j-rock? xD

someone always has to start a thread like this when say there's a hate thread or something. lol

A thread to counteract all of the hate ;')

Here we talk about bands/artists that we absolutely love, and why.

GO!

I'll post a bit later

I hate everything :'(