nullmoon

LOL.
 
But to the topic.
 
(Unfortunately) you can't really define a band in it's entirety within a certain genre. I think the only way you can get away with this to some degree is defining each band album into a genre - which isn't a part of any music software that I know of.
 
As Arith said, do whatever works for you. There really is no right or wrong in this matter, it's something that will help you identify a bands sound and relation to others.
 
I personally tag 99% of my stuff as just "J-Rock" to keep it separate from my other music (which isn't that much honestly). I do this only because I like being able to listen to just Japanese music at times, and it's easy to just select the J-Rock genre and hit play.
 
But people, for the love of god please stop tagging the genre as visual kei. kthxbai.

A lot of these are a mix of genres, which is why people tend to say "you can't really call something one genre" or "there's no one specific way to define a genre of a band." What I can say, though, is that visual-kei isn't really a genre even if there are typical things that really say "this sounds like a vkei band." Our very own Zess wrote a very nice post in another thread discussing how vkei isn't really a genre, nor a scene, nor a movement, while still actually being all three at the very same time. What the fuck, Japan.
 
 
The Piass, for example, had several genre changes. They started out as, and for the most part remained, a punk rock band. They had some thrash metal in there as well, and their 2nd album had some happy / pop punk mixed with melodic rock that was en vouge from 1995~1999 (while still having very aggressive guitar work that Takayuki is associated with). Compare "Never Say Die" with "Over Again," and you'll see what I mean. Their third era changed genres again: here they got a bit more -core , slightly crusty, and even a bit nu metal here and there but still had a "punk" feel to them. Today, who knows what they sound like. They've added a 2nd guitarist, changed vocalists for the 3rd time, and haven't released anything in almost 6 years. For the sake of simplicity, it's just easier to say "The Piass were hardcore punk and have been around for forever" even if that is a broad, sweeping description of their discography which, compared to many other vkei bands, was very volatile.
 
 
From the bit of Diru I listen to, they were pretty typical to what was going on around 1998--they were just more creative about doing it, and since they're worshipped today they're often credited for inventing a lot of typical visual-kei styles (which, from an objective standpoint, is fairly accurate for their post-Gauze work). From the time period I like most, they were what was more or less pioneered by Kuroyume. Actually, a lot of late 90s bands fall under this genre which doesn't really have a name--it's a mix of post-punk, gothic rock, new wave, with black metal influence sprinkled on top (the manic laughter, "outbursts of emotion" a la Madeth Gray'll, frantic mumbling, bizarre gagging noises, pata-pata-pata drum structures, etc). Kuroyume started this with their first demo, then their first mini-album, but moved on from this with later releases. This style was more solidified with bands like La:Sadie's, Madeth Gray'll (who upped the gothic influence) and Aliene Ma'rriage (who added more an industrial spin to it), with other groups making their own variations like Due'le Quartz (Miyabi was awfully progressive and technical in his compositions) and DAS:VASSER (who seemed to be more into adding punk influences than adding harpsichord and pipe organ).
 
See how this is hard to really pin-point?

I just have all of my visual kei music labeled as visual kei on my iTunes haha. Makes life easier.

with the bands changing the style of their music with each album or even release its hard to catogorize them.

The only thing that sounded strange was the mixing,I think they tried to put the vocals too much in front.
IMO,Kamijo's solo debut is a lot better than Jupiter.

I'm going to be in the minority here but I thought Quiet was the best track on here! Heck, even Forbidden Beaver wasn't bad! Although it starts off as a shameless Love Addict rip off, the guitar work is nice. The solo is far superior to the one in the title track.
Fadeless is far too generic; although it's tighter than Forbidden Beaver, it's lacks any kind of wow factor that's usually associated with A-Sides.

In other words "we know the single sucks but we'll just say that we didn't even try so that we can trick people into thinking we aren't completely burned up yet (and this is all we can still do) and that they'll buy BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY anyway".
 
Also tbqh I don't think Aoi should compose any more than he's doing already because out of all the songs Aoi's songs are usually the ones I find the dullest. Also is Reita ever going to compose anything again?

no in order...i would go for these ^^
 
Agony
Crucify Sorrow
The Suicide Circus
Hyena
Chizuru
Vortex
Defective Tragedy
Headache Man
Before I Decay
Derangement

TWO NEW ALBUMS FOR 2014. You heard it here first 

they might have a better deal royalties wise or sony offered some extra perks with the contract (their marketing and promotion materials for both toxic and division are a+);
 
sony might have better relations with gig organizers, and touring is where their money currently is.
 
even if they album sales dropped, they're still more profitable as a band, thus they aren't trying as hard
 
and idk, derangement was perfect, it's everything else that came with it was shit.
they should have stayed with blip-blop-wubs and cut album fillers off, that would make them relevant again.
 
 
//staying on topic, this single is garbage but how that wasn't obvious from the previews idk

^ Pretty much
 
People make that paint by the numbers composing process joke a lot, but here I feel it's especially fitting. Even as good ol' gazerawk I don't feel Fadeless is on par with Shiver, Ibitsu, Derangement, Pledge etc. etc. The wubs were good for them. At least it was that something extra that was gravely needed ever since their songs became more formulaic after DIM.
 
And I still find those SONY conspiracy theories funny/bs considering their sales went to hell after DIM, which is when they went to SONY. If they are innit for the moneez shouldn't they force poor Ruki&cru to make more DIM's instead of these poorly selling bleepetybloops? If I recall correctly DIM opened with nearly twice the sales of DIVISION. They aren't idiots. Unless what people are implying is that the reptilian  zionists of hollywood are behind this somehow...
 
Spoiler: The reason they suck now is the shit taste of the band itself. 

Oh please. Takeru is the clown that made SuG even remotely interesting with his overly campy personality and gay faux gangsta dances. If you look at SuG as a parody vk band then it all kinds of makes sense because none of them are really all that skillful and the songs aren't that creative. Even when Takeru "raps" he looks like he is poking fun at other rappers. (Not to mention that weird part in the MAD$HIP PV where they have someone dressed like Deadmau5) Usually the things that are interesting are the lyrics and Takeru promoting that whole Club Kid vibe of Fashionable Party Addict. Plus the name is ridiculous. SuG = THuG. I mean come on. They even said they made Love Scream Party to get more over seas support. (And it worked rather well.) Not surprised one bit at this guy going solo when I normally saw SuG as his own little art project to begin with. At the end he was going as far as directing some PV's. Wonder what SuG and this new Solo will do next~. 
 
Oh look at that he even has his MILLION$ORCHESTRA line coming back. 

Nah, MASTURBATION is too mainstream... everyone is doin' it nowadays. Come up with something like HIZAKI and the Dick Palmer Quartet.

Let's see...
 
1. FADELESS
A classic "gazerock" track. I am pretty surprised since expected a lot worse!
7/10
 
2. QUIET
This song gets boring quickly.
4/10
 
3. FORBIDDEN BEAVER
Another one which gets boring quickly,but a bit better than the previous one.
5/10
 
 
Overall
Well,I expected a lot worse,but a part of me was expecting a lot more. FADELESS is the only decent track.
I think that Gazerock is now dead.
5/10

9Goats Black Out is one heck of a strange name

I don't think anything beats DIET COKE HEAD BARBIE DREAMS

Imo there's nothing wrong with someone asking you to share a specific release, however, the fault can be at two sides. I've seen cases where the purchaser acts like an elitist dick, and I've seen cases where the purchaser nicely said that they didn't want to share, which resulted in over-dramatic reactions from the requesters.
 
Imo everyone has the right to request a rip of a CD, but that doesn't mean you're automatically entitled to it. As long as nobody acts like a dick/elitist snob interaction should be just fine.

As someone else touched on and I'm not positive it's unpopular, but it might be... I don't consider "illegal downloading" theft.  Theft is the deprivation of something from its original owner with no intent to return it.  IN this case, nothing is being stolen because someone bought the item in the first place and is simply sharing it with others...albeit a lot of others.
 
Downloading music on the internet is exactly the same concept (just a lot easier) as going to the library, checking out a CD and then ripping it and keeping it or re-burning it.  Or, back in the day, using a double cassette recorder to copy one cassette to a blank one.  The only difference now is it's a LOT easier to do this type of copying, sharing, etc.  
 
It's a giant myth perpetuated by governments and record labels, stepping on our rights and no one should be buying into it.  If I buy something, pay MY hard-earned money for it, no one, NO ONE, should be able to tell me what to do with it.  If I want to share it with one person or dozens of persons, that's my right dammit.

silent hill 2 is where japanese horror peaked artistically tbh. get the ps2/xbox version if you can, recent hd remakes are very fucked
sh3 is good too & I like the depressive atmosphere of sh4, the game itself is quite bad though.
sh shattered menories was good gameplay wise, but gaijin modellers can not reproduce the brill Japanese characterwork --
the characters r quite ugly to me, and it's really difficult to have any empathy with those dead eyed manequinns to be frank. silent hill 2 characters more often than not feel alive, although mostly really mentally unhealthy.

The irony here is simply astounding. Saying that you don't believe in illegal downloading is silly. You believe in it whether you choose to admit it or not. Without illegal downloading, neither this forum nor the vast majority of the VK/J-rock/Japanese music fanbase would exist overseas. Whether you choose to purchase music or not is your own perogative, but keep the following in mind:
1) Purchasing music doesn't make you any more or less than a fan.
2) If you know beforehand how people are going to react to you talking/gloating about what releases you've bought, why talk about them in the first place? If you're going to get angry at people for requesting releases from you, then you can solve that problem by simply ceasing to talk/post about those releases. That's like waving a steak in front of a lion and acting surprised when it attacks you. Regardless of your intentions, what you're essentially doing is teasing.
3) If you're an overseas fan that purchases Japanese music, there's a damn good chance that your purchase won't do much to "support" whatever band you're buying from. This is ESPECIALLY true if you're purchasing music released through major labels. Hell, most bands make their real money from performing live, not CD sales. I know you want to feel special like you've done some kind of good deed for buying music instead of downloading it illegally, but I'm sorry, you don't get a cookie for spending your hard-earned cash on ridiculously overpriced Japanese CDs. To be honest with you, you'd probably be supporting these bands more by distributing their music digitally.

Naw, it's quite understandable and common knowledge there are v-kei/j-rock fans without jobs or barely make ends meet so they can't afford to purchase any Japanese music. It can get very expensive with shipping costs, etc.  I just feel like, "Hey, I saved up the money to purchase this, because I like to do my best to support my favorite artists and it's the only way I can being a foreign fan." Then it bugs me when I am excited about purchasing something etc., share that info on a forum, and people bug me about sharing it and I say no. Then they treat me like shit. Sorry that I don't believe in illegal downloading? Does that make me better than anyone else? No. I am no better than anyone else. I just won't share, and there are other people like me with probably similar opinions.

Not everyone really has money to buy the music and I very much believe in sharing the wealth but also as juka was saying, attitude makes all the difference.
maybe im too nice a person, but the reason i stepped out of the jrock/vkei scene was because of snotty elitist prats being all high and mighty about what they owned and refused to share...
 
idk thats just me tho.

If only record lables thought like Des.

I doubt vk bands have much money from the foreign sales. Foreigners are also ignored by many bands (there are CDs or services available only in Japan), while people in Japan can go to the instore when they buy the CD, for example. Foreigners don't get anything else, than the physical CD and bonus items sometimes. It's so easy to complain about people who don't spend money, but these bands totally don't care about any other market, than Japan, so the sales outside of Japan probably don't matter to them. I've seen many bands open to foreign audience and happy people all over the world listen to them, but Japanese are so closed about everything. Sometimes I feel like a worse kind of a fan, because I can't even participate in everything fun.

^your wall of text hurts my eyes.