Lestat

This immaturity does nothing to impress me.

^ I agree with you fully. Personally, I am not quite interested in major and big bands (i.e. The Gazette, SuG, Alice Nine, etc.) because those sound and look exactly the same to me. I haven't the slightest clue how these bands were 'chosen' to become popular or why people overhype them so extremely whereas their performances are bland.
There are only a few big bands I like, but most of those derive from the late 80's and early 90's like X JAPAN or BUCK-TICK. They are icons, real rock stars, they lived the lifestyle in poorness and now luxury because they deserve a way on the top. But those silly boybands? I have clue what's attractive about them, it's probably just my personal taste but there are hundreds of indie bands out there that deserve a lot more than whoever is on the rise now.

I have no desire to live or work there, however I would like to learn some basic Japanese to keep a conversation with someone if I'd ever manage to save enough to go on vacation there.
However I am uncertain whether or not my favourite artists will still be active when I actually manage to get there.

Nice look

Artist: Sadie Album: GANGSTA Score:
The musical equivalent of the human centipede, where genres are held hostage and stitched together ass to mouth so shit flows in one end and out the other. Except one of the genres is emaciated, another is dressed in drag, and a third took five too many Xanax and huddles unconscious in the corner. Making heads or tails of what GANGSTA wants to be is fruitless. A convoluted mess of bad ideas, worse ideas, and terrible execution, the best thing about it is how little the name has to do with anything. If you like your clouds with silver lining, it's not the visual kei equivalent of Sasuke Uchiha's mixtape, but the turntable scratching and rapping still rears it's ugly head when Sadie is done violating all the other genres they think they can handle.
 
The beginning of the end of my expectations starts with MODE OF GANGSTA, which kickstarts this thirteen track tour de force of all the ways to not juxtapose genres. Evoking feelings of a coked out futuristic dystopian cyberpunk electro-rave punctuated with gang vocals, it's about as good as DEATHGAZE's Japanese Meliorism. And by that, I mean it's cool for eight measures and then it needs to stop. But by this point, you've already ventured into the ectosphere and are being pulled towards the gravitational singularity that is this album whether you like it or not, and the only question you should have is why.
 
One of the few constants within this album is how any attempts to extinguish the flaming wreckage only makes things worse. Lead single DEAD END's intro may give you hope - as a formulaic Sadie rock number they're in familiar territory - but even here there are signs that things are going to go wrong fast. Not only do I feel like I've heard this song before - probably because I have - but the song feels like a disjointed collage of half-executed ideas that don't play well together. There's some sugar, some spice, a funky guitar line or two, a chorus with complex delivery, token heavy sections, and harsh vocals that feel like an after thought, thrown about to take up eight measures worth of time. There's some good and some bad, but it's the most consistent track on here.
 
Differences in opinion over the first two tracks can be summed up into "at least they're trying!" and "diversity!", so I can't knock this band for having no ideas. But at the end of the day, the inability to execute a vision even with a multitude of ideas is not a matter of opinion. It's a fatal shortcoming that births tracks like WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND, which is the most clumsy jazz-kei attempt of the last decade. It also marks the point where the album crosses the event horizon and there's no coming back. They keep up their cabaret pretenses for three minutes before sliding back into their trademark metalcore sound so they don't feel too out of their comfort zone, but the awkward focus on English lyrics and inappropriate guitar tuning betrays the band's intentions. The left-field metalcore section sports harsh vocals poor even by Mao's standards, and the aggression displayed near the end is at odds with the rhythm in the beginning. If they had held consistent, it would have been an amusing LIPHLICH imitation at best. Instead, this is a muddled mess.
 
But it's not just WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND that sounds like a spiked cocktail of ill-executed concepts. The second constant of GANGSTA is that Sadie doesn't know what it wants to play. A puree of shit banded together by interludes forms whenever Sadie tries to coax ideas into places they don't fit, and a majority of the album falls into this category. Whenever they stumble onto an idea that might work, they suddenly switch gears before it can get going. It would be more prudent to highlight all the songs that stay the course - wherever that course may be headed - from beginning to end. For that, I give props to Tokyo Gypsy, MESSAGE FROM HERE, and the piano outro PHRASE OF LIFE. I would never say any of these three tracks are "good". Singling one out as the best song is deceptive; it's like comparing a turd to twelve less smelly turds. What we have here are three tracks that didn't elevate my blood pressure, and thus I'll take the road less traveled and talk about the few positive aspects of this album.
 
Tokyo Gypsy is a slower rock song, which in the hands of a different band could have worked a lot better. It's the first song on the album that isn't a total disaster, but the band refuses to let it's hair down and get into the groove. This creates unneeded apprehension in the atmosphere. Nothing about this song screams "Listen to me again!", but the greasy back alley male strip club vibe I get from listening to it gives it a place of distinction in my mind. MESSAGE FROM HERE is a six minute ballad driven by a piano where only the rightmost five keys work. There's a feeling of the piano sitting on top of the music instead of integrating itself to it, and feels at odds with the prominent bass line. It deserves brownie points because it doesn't have a section of asinine songwriting to ruin the flow, but it doesn't captivate me either. It's far too long for what little ideas they're toying with, and could have been four minutes and delivered the same impact. The fact that it follows another ballad and leads into a piano outro means that while the album takes a sonic detour into consistency near the end, it's sinks into obscurity in a sea of similarity.
 
I won't mention much of PHRASE OF LIFE, except it's a nod to Kisou and STACKED RUBBISH - a disjointed album ending on a pleasant note.
 
Once the piano from PHRASE OF LIFE twinkles it's way to an understated ending, my hopes are crushed. I've listened to the entire album but I don't know what the purpose was. How can GANGSTA be justified as the product of hard work and musical creativity, when corners were cut and questionable choices were made at every turn? When the band wants to play metalcore, I'm bombarded with rave synth, embarrassing gang vocals, bars of absolute shit songwriting, demented gerbil sounds that are supposed to pass for harsh vocals all held together with derivative pop hooks so recycled the logo is visible. How can one rectify the disparate influences that pull tracks apart rather than brings them together? Take bleach as a four minute excursion into all the things wrong with this album. There's prominent DJ scratching, more bad gang vocals, random unexplored changes in riffage, and melodic metalcore over a house beat held up by Sadie's favorite musical crutches. None of these things go together either on paper or in practice, but the band insists that they do. I can't find any redeeming qualities in this album, and additional listens of GANGSTA reveal more flaws and no hidden gems. If there are any in the music, it's hidden deeper than it's worth to find them.
 
There's trying, trying too hard, and then having no idea what you're doing anymore. Sadie has always been a straightforward metalcore band. The contention with their sound in the last few years is that they're using the same formula to come up with their tracks and they need a way to distinguish them. Thinking outside the box, gathering all of these ideas, and then leaving them outside the box defeats the purpose of gathering those ideas in the first place! If these ideas can't be used, they should be discarded. Instead, the box is as empty as it was before, the ideas are neglected like a child whose mother doesn't love them, the presentation is messy, and it's left to the listener to puzzle out what the band's true intentions were.
 
I'd rather vomit on tinfoil and eat it than listen to this again.

^ Finding someone's opinion stupid solely because of it being a negative opinion, now that's stupidity. Just saying, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

^ I think you are somewhat behind? They've already released material and done enough lives with the second lineup.

In for the head-tilt, though. And I suppose he only always looks the same to people who don't give him much thought. 
To me he always looks gorgeous.
 

These 'announcements for an announcement' get a bit annoying to be quite honest. But it's good to see him back.

マーディレイラ can't be missed in this thread. The cheap forest-y location, some deserted shrine, chaotic shots and simply all the kote-kote screeching.
 


 
One of the worst yet best (in the cheese-category) PV's out there by 藍華柳. I always loved just how terrible this one was.

I hate it when I discover amazing bands and they disband so quickly :/

己龍.
 
I find Royz to be utterly boring — 己龍 is unique, both in music and in visual appearance. Their music had me hooked since I first heard them whereas with Royz I couldn't be more possibly uninterested as they sound just like any other generic J-Rock band that doesn't stand out in any way.

In for the head-tilt, though. And I suppose he only always looks the same to people who don't give him much thought. 
To me he always looks gorgeous.
 

I just finished my first Vault of Glass raid in Destiny with an amazing group of guys after about 7,5 hours. So rewarding now that we've finished it.

Their self-titled has really become my favourite 12012 album, despite the massive change from their UCP-repertoire. I cannot help but feel a sting each time I am reminded that they'll soon be gone...
 
Also can I just say how much I love this little forum-game? It's nice to see how much diversity there exists between Visual Kei/J-Rock fans, still. I feel the genre has spread itself over so many possibilities, musical genres and sub-classes that attract different varities of people with individual interests. 
GOTCHAROCKA - 2032 LUNA SEA - Stay BORN - Innocent Bullet Dali - Homesick Dio - Distraught Overlord - GOD forsaken ～僕は君の着飾った身体を共有する世界の隣人などでは無い～ BUCK-TICK - Romance RedruM - INITIUM Sleep My Dear - Breath of Air ネガ - GOODBYE HUMAN Lillies and Remains - Lasting Feast Not really one of my favourite shuffles, but there are two gems in there, so that's fine. 

I do like punk and HxC, I just never really give myself the time to step into it more often. Exploring it is difficult seeing as especially early punk from the 80's to early 90's is hard to come by nowadays, both as actual physical copy as well as rips. I did some exploring not too long ago and found two bands I really like. 
 
GASTUNK
 


 
The Execute
 


 
They probably weren't that deep down in the underground though. 

jupiter could never

摩天楼オペラ - Helios.
 
Easy

Artist: Jupiter Single: ARCADIA Score: A band haunted by it's ghosts tries their hand at an exorcism with mixed results.
Before I begin the review, I must note that there is a lot of bias in this review. The final score is a direct result of this bias. I will remain as neutral as I can in my assessment of the single, but I should explain where it comes from and why I ultimately can't get rid of it.

As you may have guessed, this is because of Versailles. I don't like everything they've done and I have some choice words to say about their last two albums, but I like enough of their music to call myself a fan. Their disbandment tore through my emotions like a chestburster from the Alien franchise ripping through some poor sap's chest. When I look at pictures of Jupiter I get irrationally upset. I'm looking at four of the five faces of Versailles wearing almost the same outfit scheme, yet I can't connect with their music. I know that they are two separate bands and should be treated as such, but this is one of those continuations (like school food punishment and la la larks) where the similarities are so numerous that I can't accept that. The way the band mobilized after the dissolution of Versailles, announced a new vocalist and started releasing music suggests to me that they jumped into this band with no intention of stopping activities or reconsidering their approach to music. They are in their own world, releasing their music, yet sometimes I don't know if they truly consider Jupiter to be it's own entity or a continuation of Versailles without Kamijo. This confusion bleeds into their music.

I first blamed my lack of enthusiasm on the new vocalist Zin, who has all of the makings of a good power metal vocalist but none of Kamijo's charisma. After listening to ARCADIA, I think it's something different. In order to become their own entity, Jupiter has to make music that shatters the ghost of Versailles. Right now, there's spark missing from Jupiter that was snuffed when Jasmine You was buried and extinguished when Versailles called it quits. Jupiter has tried very hard to recapture the magic with CLASSICAL ELEMENT, but lightning rarely strikes the same place twice. Even with all the boisterious riffs, regal pomp and technical dazzle that prove the members of the band haven't missed a beat, I don't even think I cared enough to finish the album. There was an element of inventiveness when Versailles attempted this first that Jupiter doesn't have now and it's a detrimental force that I don't see them working past easily. The title track ARCADIA takes some steps towards this, but ultimately it's not enough. It's another Hizaki styled power metal song that flows through the same tired canyons and grooves. There's a distinct Jupiter twist in it that is hard to put into words but easy to hear in the music, but that twist alone is not enough to differentiate this song. Combined with a vocalist unable to leave a lasting impression, this comes off as "just another power metal track" and the tunes will fade from your memory sooner rather than later. I can see this working well within an album but not as a single. Previous Jupiter fans will eat this up. For me, this is a continental breakfast.

And then there's Darkness, the example of "shattering conceptions" I alluded to earlier. As a track with entirely harsh vocals, the band moves in a direction they could have never executed well under Kamijo's direction. It's a good experiment with mixed results. Zin does well enough to get by but I do not think he sounds any more or less appealing whether he sings or growls. The clash between vocalist and music is what makes this track an interesting listen at first but once it loses it's novelty for being different there's little else to differentiate it from the wealth of other tracks Jupiter has made and will continue to make. This will disappear off of my radar even faster than Arcadia.

So once again Jupiter leaves me at a crossroads of doubt unable to puzzle out what I want from them. My score of average reflects how I feel about this band: great ideas, average execution. This band may have gotten all of the members, but Kamijo has all of the magic. Jupiter have made no moves to reveal their trump card. They can only ride on Versailles' coattails for so long before they fizzle out. To recapture the magic that they no longer seem to have, they have to take a look at themselves as a band and find out what inspires them and how they can channel these emotions differently. They're in a race against time to do so before my interest in them fades away.

We'll see what my opinion is when the second album is here.

D'aw, I love threads like this. 
 

Jon BON JOVI X Munetaka Higuchi LOUDNESS
from: http://www.trio-magazine.com/product/7222

Well, Robin is a wife abuser and drug addict. I have no respect for him.

Zin must be the reptilian shapeshifter of vk, but I'm feeling the stoned rococo xtina look

Can U2 just pick up their bags and stop invading people's privacy? If this is the only way they can still reach publicity, then that's really fucking sad. I don't want their crap on my phones.

it is announced at Lament. live at Ikebukuro CHOP at 2014/07/31 that their new one-coin single "CALL" will be released through their official web-shop and at their live since their presents live "Lamentation of "Canvas" -Scene 6-" at Nishikujou BRAND NEW at 2014/10/10 (1 song, 500yen)