CAT5

Dir en grey

j/k lol...But nah, cornelius is cool if you like bright, quirky and playful electronic music. Tokyo Jihen...I guess it depends on how much you like Shiina Ringo. You're either gonna love her or hate her tbh. But if you can dig the vocals, I think you'll be able to dig TJ's eccentric amalgam of jazz, rock, and pop. It's too bad they've disbanded because they were one of the best mainstream bands in Japan if you ask me. If the spirit ever moves you, check out "point" by cornelius and the first 2 albums by TJ (yes, both of them!).
 
I think if you just want to be more musically knowledgeable, then you should check out The cure, Bowie, Black Flag, Slayer, TGD, and even The White Stripes to an extent....but personally, I don't think BMTH, marina, and lana have made any kind of significant impact musically. I don't even get the hype around Lana to be honest lol...

I just got into Marina, actually. I saw her in concert with my boyfriend and hoards of teenaged girls / gays.
 

is one of my favorites by her. And I'm fairly certain was written about my life. 
I've also recently been getting into The Cure. These are some places you could start: Just Like Heaven ,
, Close to Me, and probably their most recognizable song:

Okay, Zess.

@Cat5: For X Japan, I recommend blue blood. It probably is one of their best albums to start from - its mostly 80's hair/speed metal and a couple of power ballads in between. At least it was the album that got me hooked on them. As for BJC, I recommend trying to see if you can find their two best of CD's "1991-1995" and "1997-2000." Pretty much that should be most of the BJC you'll ever need.

For everyone who asked about Luna Sea, I highly recommend the Mother album as it seems to be very popular among new listeners from my experience. This album was somewhat their transition between being an exclusive visual kei band to completely losing the visual image. This was also the period when their music kinda changed from having the standard 80's/90's visual sound to a more mainstream/progressive sound.
It also has some of their best, well-known songs such as "Genesis of Mind."

@Gazerocksnob: As for Kuroyume, I recommend the Feminism album. It is more accessible than anything they did earlier in their indie days or their later punk-ish sounding music. I also personally think it's better than their new stuff which I think is boring and awful.

Not to impose but I think a good idea to go along with this thread is to give to those that are interested the best release to check out from the list of bands they listed. Of course, if you don't want it that's all cool too. I just find myself that bands I haven't gotten into I didn't get into because they have so much to go through and I don't have a good starting point.

You're missing out on not listening to Eastern Youth, TMGE and Supercar dude

I've only been a listener of THE NOVEMBERS and Tam Tam since their supposed "better" periods, but it's nice to hear they're steadily improving.  I definitely enjoyed Tam Tam's newest mini-album more than their album.  Really excited to hear how these bands continue to develop.
 
Fellow UNiTE fan
 
Glad to hear, because I was NOT impressed with the first single either.  I'll have to check out Oasis and Afterglow when it's released.  I see they have a show coming up with Dear L'Novel AND Scarlet Valse, both bands that I enjoy, so maybe I'll become an AO fan too.

I have two.
Sigh was always an eclectic band. They started off as a black metal band and slowly began including more and more avant-garde influences. On some albums, the result of all their experimentation was cheesy but on their last full-length, In Somniphobia, they went all out and created a really good album.
Onmyo-za is another band that's been around for forever and keeps improving on their craft. Their last effort Kishibojin was a combination of all of the things that made their early works great and none of the cruft that seeped into their last few works that lowered the awesome. Not many bands could pull off a concept album that well.

HERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPP DERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP
 

COME AT ME BRO

[edit] PANDA UR HELLO KITTY PYAMA IS CUUUUUUUUWWWWWWL. <3
 
 
me with plunklock & calmando qual, my nervous face www
 

 

 
That shirt <3 www

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vlfspokgihfk;fejoihr hirgburkviutv45783895yer vygugbeug hdfkjbfkl ngow[aw;z/jx;’[/]’/’[]
 
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whegdstfv is this i cna’t breatttheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttttttt imshititng right noooww im gonnanathrow upppp
 
 

 
 

 
(I’ll probably have a serious one on my “serious blog” in the next week or so tho).
 
 

post haircut selfies

Looks a bit weird. O__O

HERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPP DERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP
 

This song has been stuck in my head lately
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARv9zoNl2po

HERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPP DERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP
 

LMAO...this was taken yesterday. And yes, I've kept that dinosaur of a monitor for a loooooooong-ass time. Had it since...'03 LOLOL

I've been single for about 4 or 5 years now. I've missed out on some amazing opportunities because I made myself to busy to be in a relationship.  I've been known to ignore a girl or two in the past because of working on projects. I'm currently trying to change that. I just have really high ambition and work towards it.
 
Relationships are good for the soul I think especially if you find someone who motivates or inspires you to go for your dreams and brings out the best in you despite minor flaws in the relationship. A lot of people seem to have this delusion that a perfect relationship is where there is no arguments and everyone gets along all the time. Relationships are a constant working progress. You need to bump heads every now and then to let them know 1. you're an equal in the relationship with your own opinions 2. to let them know that you care. Also, if everything was all sunshines and kittens, the majority of women would get bored with it. To be honest, IMO a certain amount of drama is needed to make a relationship work otherwise, it gets boring. I'm not saying abuse or something though...thats not needed.

*quietly excuses self from the thread*

For fans of school food punishment, Yumi Uchimura's new band just put out their newest demo. It's pretty awesome.
 
http://youtu.be/7kEZYnqOIc8

I don't know any of the songs listed, but I do know most of the artists. Apart from BIG BANG, they don't really stand out to me.
 
1. DEAD END - 虚無を超えて
2. Plastic Tree - あバンギャルど
3. UVERworld - SPARTA
4. トクマルシューゴ - Decorate
5. Kagrra, - 闇に散りけり…
6. AYABIE - 善悪の彼岸
7. 凛として時雨 - a over die
8. Boris - Statement
9. アルカラ - はじまりの歌
10. NoGoD - Downer's High
 
Most songs I like on here (some I forgot about lol) but of course Shugo wins. This one is one of my favourites of his most recent full-length.

Ehhhhh, aside from the traditional Japanese elements these bands are like apples to oranges. Sure they're both fruit but the similarities end there. Both use traditional Japanese elements but that's kinda where it ends and they're two totally different bands. It's hard to explain why one is better than the other because they excel in completely different areas and it just comes down to personal taste.
 
Personally I prefer Kiryu since I like the chaotic, heavier, messier sounding style they have that can be easily compared to bands from Matina or KEY PARTY. Yet they become fairly bland and samey after awhile, I realized sometime ago after their second album that all my favourite Kiryu songs were basically structured identically. Just change a rift or two, lyrics and the synth and now they have a new song.
 
Kagrra, is good too but not so much my cup of tea. I enjoy them here and there but I guess the soft easy listening not so much for me. I bet if I spoke fluent Japanese their music might appeal to me more since I'd have lyrics to possibly keep my attention. Yet I haven't listened to Kaggra, for over a year or two now. Maybe I’ll give them a spin when I get home and check out some things I may have missed, might change my mind.
 
So basically just going with Kiryu for now. More familiar with them and prefer their chaotic, heavy and messy music.

東京酒吐座(tokyo shoegazer) new album "turnaround" will be released at 2013/05/15 (2,000yen)
 
[participating guest artists]
ミヤ(miya) (MUCC) (mix engineer)
成田忍(narita shinobu) (4-D mode1) (supervisor, Gt.)
Atsuo (Boris) (Dr.)
イチカワマキコ(ichikawa makiko) (ex-COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS, now in BP.) (Vo.)
石井秀仁(ishii shuuji) (cali≠gari, GOATBED) (Vo.)
尾苗愛(onae ai) (禁断の多数決(kindan no tasuuketsu), POLTA, ROCKET K) (Vo.)
miyu (ex-Royal Cabaret) (Vo.)
桜井青(sakurai ao) (cali≠gari, LAB.THE BASEMENT) (lyricist)