nullmoon

Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?!

U FORGOT TO INCLUDE GANGSTA!!
Otherwise, GANGSTA would be the worst album ever.

Kisou and Macabre are in a similar boat for me in one regard. Their periods were excellent and full of a lot of fan favorites. The albums are quite jank, especially Kisou.

I think a huge part in the Uroboros to DSS sales slump was that the popularity of weeb shit was sinking fast and the promotional machine falling apart by the seams. The optimism for the foreign market must've been massive after 2008 and I'm sure tons of money was spent on promoting Deg overseas with next to no return to that investment. That must've been very disappointing both for the band and management once it was finally realised that they peaked in American and European venue size already back in 2006 and it's only going to be downhill from there no matter what they do. I consider this band entering their old man phase right around when Sukekiyo was formed and Arche was released. The ambition that went to DSS is obviously on a different level to Arche and TiW, but whether that's a good thing depends on what you think of their Monster energy drink-pig squeal-core-Mike Patton-time signature wanking era. To me the band that made everything from Missa to Vulgar ain't the same band as this one. Sometimes when I put on a track like 24k Cylinders or Macabre in the right state of mind I go like fuck, what a fucking band that was. It's the same guitarists farting that fucking dial-up modem sounding chug that made egnirys and 304? I cannot believe it.
 

 
thank u
 
 
 

Lets be real. Uroboros >>power gap>>everything else they've done>> TIW.
 
I don't know why marrow of a bone get's so much hate. It's about as good as most their other stuff and has really good tracks spaced throughout. It's a much smoother listen than their longer albums too.

@Zeus As somebody who is borderline obsessed with tracklists, I'll try out a few of these you've made, particularly MARROW, kisou, and MACABRE. I find it quite interesting that you'd open MARROW with THE PLEDGE. I'm glad you agree that 腐海 could should have been on VULGAR; it actually would have fit nicely between DRAIN AWAY and NEW AGE CULTURE. Some things I highly disagree with: snubbing 蛍火 and embryo; and most of all, listing the Japanese version of GLASS SKIN as UROBOROS' 3rd worst; it should have been 我、闇とて, with the Engrish version of DOZING GREEN as #2. As for your top 3 picks, I pretty much agree with them.
 
Unpopular opinion confessions: I prefer the album version of CLEVER SLEAZOID, and I don't really care for ain't afraid to die.
 
I'm gonna rank these albums too! I'm basing the ranking on the number of favourites from each album. Deducting points for "objectively" bad songs, adding extra points for true classics.
The Well-Insulated Room (5, -1 for Values of Bullshit) DUMB SPIRO SPERO (6) ARCHE (7, -1 for Sustain the unshit, +1 for 輪郭) 鬼葬 (7, -2 for the first two Shinsou tracks, +2 for Bottom of the death valley and 蟲 -mushi-) MACABRE (4, +4; title track gets double points and cancels out any bad songs) THE MARROW OF A BONE (7, +2 for CONCEIVED SORROW and 艶かしき安息) Withering to death. (7, -1 for Jesús Crust, +3 for dead tree, 悲劇は, and 鼓動) GAUZE (8, +2 for Cage and アクロの丘) UROBOROS (9, +1 for VINUSHKA) VULGAR The lower ranking albums are still not bad, in my opinion. At worst, The Insulated World is an above average album.

Guess I wrote it somewhere in this forum already, but...Arche is my favorite, and I love it to the extent that I would dare to say it is my favorite album ever. I agree with the flop tracks you mentioned (although Inferno is the only track that I really think is not fitting into the album). But all the other tracks I love soo much, they speak to me on a personal level and I think Shinyas drumming is particularly well-fitting. Everything on this album sounds so perfectly well-matched, I guess to some people it is too ‚perfect‘?
Dum spiro spero is my 2nd favorite, I just like the long tracks, like a symphony that takes you through different places. Not too much into the mix though.
I don‘t really get the hate for marrow of a bone...it has some really nice tracks with raw emotion, which is what dir en grey fans like I guess? And Uroboros is great, too...it‘s gloomy track Bugaboo made me their fan!
I don‘t listen too much to withering, though musically I think Insulated is their worst album. However, I do enjoy live performances of its songs, so I guess in the end you cant do else but have slight  for anything they do.

Love them or hate them, almost everyone's got an opinion about Dir en grey. The scene stops to listen whenever Dir en grey announce a new single or album. As a long time fan of the band, I think it's the perfect time to express how I feel about all of their albums. My feelings will differ from album to album. Some albums have had the benefit of twenty years and others only a few months, so that's always going to be a factor in how I rank things. I will cover this from my least favorite album to my most favorite album, but by no means take this as a definitive list for Dir en grey. Everyone will have their own rankings and their own suggestions for where to start. I happen to think that this also a great order to introduce someone to this band.
 
This is a perfect topic for those that don't listen to Dir en grey or don't know where to start, current fans looking for spicy opinions and a pot to stir, or even old fans looking for a reintroduction into their new era. Not only have I included a PV for each album as a sampler, but I also put together suggested playlists for each album. The playlists are the order that I would have arranged the band if I were them. The songs are the songs that I believe are the best from each period. Some will require more effort than others to construct. To make it simpler, I have included my favorite three tracks and one music video from each album.

I will not consider the mini albums MISSA and six Ugly in this analysis, but some of those tracks will appear in the playlists I create.
 
DUM SPIRO SPERO
 
Album No: 8
Released: August 2, 2011
Length: 67:31
 
 
鬼葬 (kisou)
 
Album No: 3
Released: January 30, 2002
Length: 69:57
 
THE MARROW OF A BONE

Album No: 6
Released: February 7, 2007
Length: 50:05
 
ARCHE
 
 
Album No: 9
Released: December 10, 2014
Length: 68:01
 
🎖️The Insulated World🎖️
 
Album No: 10
Released: September 26, 2018
Length: 50:27

🏅Withering to death.🏅
 
Album No: 5
Released: March 9, 2005
Length: 51:14

🥉MACABRE🥉
 
Album No: 2
Released: September 20, 2000
Length: 72:57

🥈GAUZE🥈
 
Album No: 1
Released: July 28, 1999
Length: 64:47
 
🥇UROBOROS🥇
 
Album No: 7
Released: November 11, 2008
Length: 58:54

👑VULGAR👑
 
Album No: 4
Released: September 10, 2003
Length: 57:02

That's everything folks! Thanks for reading all the way to the end! Did you like it? Did you agree? Do you have your own rankings? Leave them below! I'm interested to know what everyone's opinions are, especially since Dir en grey is one of my favorite bands ever. So many people are passionate about this band like no other. If enough people liked this, I may follow up soon with one for the GazettE.
 

Until next time

i know its technically a movie but since its a sequel and in a ways something that wrapped up the events of breaking bad i figured posting here works as well. wont be spoiling anything but just finished El Camino and wow it was nothing like i was expecting. something about it feels very odd as though its missing something (could be the fact it feels a bit rushed or that the ending kind of came out of nowhere and then the movie was just over) but otherwise i find it to be a very satisfying conclusion to Jesse Pinkman's character, if you watched breaking bad this is a must watch, if you havent seen breaking bad then idk what youre doing with your time go watch that first. 

So I matched with a girl who I knew a few years back on Tinder and we’re meeting up in a couple of weeks! Safe to say I’m pretty excited about it! 

Realizing that nothing is ever random has definitely helped change my perspective, and allowed me to see the significance in a lot of things that I would have otherwise overlooked. It's also helped to spur along my gratitude and opened my eyes to the magic inherent in every day life.

I didn't mean praying, I meant simply sharing your pain and empathize in my thoughts, just so that you are not suffering alone, I haven't suffered your loss and I'm not hurting a fraction of what you are, but you are not alone, and I'm just a fraction of the people rooting for you. Sorry if I sound condescending or naive

They have released a single and an EP on Spotify USA version.
 
Album cover looks ugly tho.
 
Listen to beyond the happiness. He does some real cool stuff with his voice like he is choking on something that I've haven't heard anybody else do ever LOL. 
 
These Japanese vocalists man... They seems to be on war with eachother like who can make the most weird kind of noises smh.

when i was younger in my teens i remember watching a show where they re-decorate rooms/houses and the teen girls bedroom of one of the houses had Kyo/Dir en grey posters everywhere. they never mentioned anything about them though, but it was the only instance i've ever seen of vk on canadian tv.

>makes live limited CD
>makes it available at a single live, inaccessible for a good chunk of fans
>overseas fans resort to downloading it to listen
>band wonders why their inaccessible music is being downloaded and complain about it 
 
I’m sorry but Retsu can’t sit and whine about their INACCESSIBLE music being downloaded by fans who don’t wanna pay crazy second hand prices. I notice it’s only Retsu making these complaints and being loud on social media whilst Hiroshi and Sho keep quiet on the matter

a little less whining please, i’m getting tired. two English posts in a row just to complain? why not spend the energy appreciating the foreign fans who came to see you and/or bought stuff.

while i don’t necessarily promote promiscuity i do think some healthy experimentation is good for you to find your likes and dislikes and generally get more comfortable with vulnerability in the bedroom tbh. 

I don't think there's anything to be gained from hook ups or one night stands.
 
Call me old fashioned if you want, but I don't necessarily look down on promiscuity. I know it's something that's not for me because sex without passion for the person whose guts I'm inhabiting is as pleasurable as burnt toast. Let's forget about the "cold pizza" analogy altogether. But I do believe there is something to the idea that you give a bit of yourself to someone when you have sex with them, and they give a part of themselves you in return. It is harmful to send emotions out and not have them reciprocated, especially during something as vulnerable act as sex. I've yet to meet a person who was promiscuous in their young age and doesn't regret it now, and I know quite a few people who have body counts over 100, 200, even 300. (body count = number of sexual partners) They all recommend not being promiscuous and describe the experience as short term pleasure but with a long term lack of satisfaction.

On the other hand, I'm not a total prude about it. I'm not into slut shaming. Sex before marriage is generally a good idea, because sexual compatibility and being able to coexist is important for a long term relationship. How you enjoy it is equally as irrelevant to me. I just suggest not rushing it, because your first sexual experience can effect how you approach it for the rest of your life.

This is RAW as fuck.
 
I lost mine at 16 and since then i've had good, bad, and anything in between type of experiences when it comes to sex. I do believe sex is best when you do have a connection/relationship with that person. But I also believe that its totally ok to hook up as well, whether its a friends with benefits or a one and done type thing. Just be safe about it mentally, emotionally, and physically. If you are still a virgin in your 20's, who cares. Its your life and fuck anyone who is or may be giving you pressure. While i don't agree that sex is as big of a deal as religion and others may make of it, I understand that is not the case for everyone. Do it when you're ready. And most importantly don't be an idiot about it. Last thing you want is some nasty disease, incurable or not or some damn kids running around. 

lost it in my early 20's to a 35 year old man into home renovations and missing half his thumb from a sawing accident which i found hot at the time. you're welcome. hope y'all have better standards than my dumb ass. 

I can understand some of you who are frustrated with being virgins or whatever, but in my opinion sex really isn't that important. What the fuck is sex anyway? Two people mashing body parts against each other and getting sweaty. haha. For me, I'm relatively well experienced I would say, and to be honest in the last couple of years I find myself caring less and less about sex, there are plenty of other things you can focus time on, like doing the things you love, focusing on studies, learning to drive, learning a new language, WHATEVER, there are far more productive and to be honest, useful things you can be doing than mashing body parts. haha. So I guess what I'm saying is not to be hung up about not being too active, focus that energy into something more productive and achieve the things you want to achieve with all you got. + I'm sure I'm not alone here when I say that sex can lead to a lot of very weird and awkward situations you don't want to be involved in and may even be ashamed of, just for a bit of fun with someone, was it worth it? Probably not.

I've come to the depressing realization that I'm approaching my thirties and that's hindering further my ability to form close friendships, since everyone around me is more and more invested in their significant others/offspring and is making it really difficult to form close friendship bonds when their priorities clearly lie somewhere else. The whole inherently sexual dynamic around interactions makes it really difficult to form the kind of bonds I need, be it because I can't provide it or because people are getting it elsewhere and thus forming closer bonds elsewhere.
I think I might have depression and it's embarrassing to even get to the point where, despite being and extremely independent person, loneliness has me sinking further and further (and thus further devoting time and resources to mild coping mechanisms such as VK).
I'm pissed movies and books lied to me about close friendships and I feel I face deep suffering one way or another, either by depriving myself of the emotional connection I need, either suffering from "giving in" to someone else's needs in order to have said emotional connection.
 
I don't think I can live my whole life like this.

@Kabukichoatmidnight
 
I'm doing much better now. I think I was just going through a moment. Also, I think age has to do with part of it. I'm on the older side and not finding someone has made me anxious about it. But I'm realizing more and more it's not uncommon for people my age (or even older) to not have found someone yet. And I'm coming to terms with that.
 
And the person I had an interest in, I've since lost my interest in them romantically. For me I think amongst friends that kind of relationship should come naturally. In this case it felt very one sided so I got the sense she wasn't into me at all that way. I'm also all about getting to the point and hate love games. But I also have to feel a connection with the other friend.
 
When it comes to strangers though, I have no issues letting them know I'm interested. Hell, I asked someone on my morning bus route to work a couple months ago 😂

I've been going through more or less the same kind of thing myself and know it isn't easy. Sounds like you're suffering from more than just "being single" though, as in, it's making you depressed as well? If that's the case I highly recommend you see a GP and tell them you're struggling with every day life and these thoughts (anxiety probably) are holding you back and they may refer you to see someone about it and probably give you some medication which will keep your emotions more balanced. Wont make everything perfect but that should help to some degree. The pills will take longer than 24 hours to kick in though unfortunately.

As for nobody not liking you, well, I could probably write an essay on this topic but will just throw out a few brief ideas which hopefully you can gain something from. Firstly, I tend to think subconciously people can sense that negativity in you and to be fair, people aren't usually attracted to negative people, people like happy, fun, confident people.... Not to say that if you're not these things (hell I'm definitely not, haha) nobody will ever find you attractive but by being so negative and having expectations that noone will be interested in you I think, accidentally you're keeping people a certain distance away from you in which case aren't able to build a close enough relationship with them in order to progress to anything further than simple friendship. Which is great, as making friends is really good and not every girl/guy/whatever you make friends with has to be a romantic interest. As far as finding out if people are interested in you or not, I mean, it's better to just be forward and to the point sometimes, which I know sounds a bit scary but just being like "look, I really think you're attractive, do you wanna hang out sometime?" is much better than subtle hints which get mistaken for tokens of friendship or generally cause confusion, "does this person fancy me? Seems like maybe they do. But if they're only being a friend, that was really sweet of them." so from that you can grow closer in some way, maybe just as friends, maybe things will become more than that. But main point here is don't be subtle, if you're interested, tell them you're interested, if you get rejected, it's not fun but "oh well" life goes on and you know not to waste time with that person anymore. Maybe that person meant a lot to you, but once you've made it clear, either things progress in a positive way for you or you can move on and forget about trying anything with that person and avoid all confusion.

Just a few of my thoughts.

"If she's one in a million, there are 37 of her in California."

I don't remember where I heard this quote but it changed my perspective on life. Dating too, but life.

I've been in a relationship for almost seven years, so I've been out the dating game for some time. Even if I was single, I'd have no tangible advice to give. I wasn't exactly attracting throngs of women to me for being myself, and that may have been a blessing in disguise for me. As I grow older, I realize just how toxic and damaged so many people are, and inviting that kind of energy into your life only brings negativity. The only thing worse than feeling single and alone is feeling lonely in a shit relationship.