Yadora

I didn't realize he had a Youtube channel! His videos are hilarious. I like how he uses his experiences to make fun of the vkei scene now. x3

There's a special place in my heart for Man man ha ni, so I'll have to go with that... 1. ナイトメア - Fly Me To The Zenith 2. rice - 樹々 3. Kra - 幻灯機械 4. the GazettE - HEADACHE MAN 5. EXO-M - Machine (Chinese Version) 6. 仙台貨物 - 紅い旋風のバラード 7. Plastic Tree - ピアノブラック 8. Panic Channel - Together 9. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Suki Sugite Kire Sou 10. SPYAIR - BEAUTIFUL DAYS Wow, a very varied list, and I like pretty much all of these songs. No Kagrra, though... I'll go with 幻灯機械 because it's one of Kra's best songs.

Here is my review. --- MALFORMED BOX: The most amazing thing about this intro song is how seamlessly it transitions into the next song, but that's about it. I don't mind intro songs when I'm playing the album from start to end, but it's not like I will listen to this intro by choice. ?/10 INSIDE BEAST: At first I really hated this song because of the lyrics. I felt like this was just another song written for shock-value, like DEVIL ON THE BED and FORBIDDEN BEAVER. But after a few listens, I must admit I like the way it's composed. The female voices don't bother me either. 8/10 UNTIL IT BURNS OUT: Wow, this song is so boring I can't even say anything about it. I just feel sorry for Kai, he's drumming all violently but it doesn't go with the rest of the song at all. 3/10 DEVOURING ONE ANOTHER: Yay, another 'I have no idea what you're saying but it's English, right?' It's an entertaining song, but not a favorite. 5/10 FADELESS: Okay, I already heard this on the single, but coming after the previous not-great songs it sounds much better. Or maybe it's already grown on me? I also love the exaggerated way Ruki rolls his 'r' here, reminds me of much older songs where he did that all the time... I hate the guitar solo, but that bass part at the end is pretty cool. 7/10 REDO: I like this song quite a lot, but mostly because of the lyrics. This is purely personal taste, but I just love songs about rain. The melody itself is pretty bland, but Ruki's voice seems to hold enough emotion to keep it interesting. 8/10 LAST HEAVEN: This song just makes me cry and I have no idea why but it probably means it's genius. 10/10 LOSS: Like UNTIL IT BURNS OUT, this song is all violent instrumentally but pretty slow and boring vocally. It really doesn't work in my opinion. 4/10 THE STUPID TINY INSECT: I feel like they already have a lot of songs like this, but I don't really dislike any of them, so it's okay. At least here the instrumentals and vocals fit together. And it's not too long, so it ends before it gets boring. 6/10 IN BLOSSOM: Another ridiculously boring chorus. Were GazettE's choruses always this boring? 2/10 鴉: This song is pretty cool at first, but gets repetitive really fast. I don't know how to feel about it, it's pretty hard to listen it until the end... Maybe if it was shorter...? 4/10 黒く澄んだ空と残骸と片翅: How many heavy songs does this album need? Once again, boring chorus. 4/10 TO DAZZLING DARKNESS: I feel like I could really like this song, but there's something off about the melody and it doesn't feel finished somehow. Still okay though. 6/10 CODA: This is a really beautiful outro. Almost makes me forget about all the average songs that came before it... 7/10 --- I haven't been able to get excited over The GazettE's for quite some time now, and sometimes I feel like I only listen to their songs because of nostalgic reasons, but I'm glad I gave this album a chance. Although I didn't really like most of the songs, I liked some of them and that's enough for now. Also, I feel this might have to do with me as well. The past few years I've started listening to much calmer music, so the more metal-like songs really don't appeal to me anymore. But I know a lot of GazettE fans do like metal, so they might like those songs more. For me, an album filled with ballads like REDO and LAST HEAVEN would have been great, but I can't expect that from them. I can't say I'm disappointed though, because I had no expectations to begin with, and so in that sense it was better than expected.

*dramatic sigh* Well, this single was pretty much what I expected it to be. Sadly my expectations weren't very good to begin with. I call myself a Nightmare fan but I have to admit, their recent releases are just boring and predictable and I feel like there's no way to go back to how they used to be. Dizzy: The intro actually sounds somewhat cool, but then the typical boring Nightmare-chorus hits and as soon as the song ends I can't remember what it sounded like. I'm a High Roller: The guitar, drums and some parts of the verses sound pretty cool, but again the chorus disappoints. It's better than Dizzy though, but that doesn't mean much. Killed in Summer: Honestly this is not an impressive song, but it does flow better than the other songs. The main problem I have with these songs, and most of Nightmare's recent songs actually, is that after listening to them I have no desire to ever listen to them again. They don't actually sound bad technically, I can't say Yomi is a bad singer or the other members can't play their instruments, but there's just... no feeling? I don't know it's just me, or maybe all their fans just keep listening to them out of loyalty?

Jibun no Hana isn't really a favorite Nightmare song of mine, but I also get really nostalgic when I listen to it... Their old songs are so different from what they've been making lately. The rest of your list seems a bit too heavy for my taste (I do like Gorillaz though). 1.ナイトメア - Aquaria 2. Panic Channel - 829 Service 3. ナイトメア - message 4. Tomoko Sunazaki - Kamimu 5. DEAD END - Seiren 6. The GazettE - 生暖かい雨とざらついた情熱 7. Tomoko Sunazaki - Midare 8. ムック - アルカディア 9. sleepy.ab - 現実の箍 10. Plastic Tree - 眠れる森 This is a really weird combination of relatively old visual kei and traditional koto music and...well...sleepy.ab and MUCC. I had no idea which song I was going to choose but then Nemureru mori came on, which is one of my favorite Plastic Tree songs~

I've heard of all of those bands, but haven't listened to any of them... x-x 1. rice - again 2. ポワトリン- 二年メビウス 3. The GazettE - GABRIEL ON THE GALLOWS 4. Plastic Tree - Fiction 5. Nightmare - Over 6. Serial⇔NUMBER - 桜サイダー 7. Nightmare - ジャイアニズム罰 8. A - Viva La Casta! 9. MUCC - 球体 Instrumental 10. Yeti - ju-sin I have never heard that second song before, but it's really terrible, wow. It was on an Omnibus album. I think I'm just going to delete it from my ITunes and forget about it... Besides that, this is a pretty atypical playlist for me, I think. None of these songs are really my favorites... I guess I'll go with Gianism Hachi since it's a pretty cool song.

I figured I'd try this album out. I haven't listened to Miyavi for a while but I remember liking some of his songs years ago... but I was unimpressed. I used to be somewhat impressed by his guitar-slapping and his talent of making songs sound 'fun' despite his not-so-great voice, but this album just bored me. His English pronunciation is good, but the lyrics are so bad I wish I couldn't understand what he's singing. The music itself seems kind of all over the place, like he tried being cool and adding all sorts of elements but didn't think of how they went together at all. Honestly though, it's not horrible, it's a listenable album, I just can't think of any reasons to listen to it again.

Yay!~ I already knew about a new release in september, but now it's official and I can pre-order it soon. I have no idea which type I want though. I usually buy regular edition because I prefer having more songs over PV's, but those live MC's seem interesting, Keiyuu is really funny so I'm sure they'll be entertaining... Or should I actually buy both types for once?

I'm only familiar with that Gazette song, and although I can't say it's my favorite, it's interesting... I might check out that French band though, I usually like French music! 1. Nightmare - Traumerai 2. The GazettE - Oni no men 3. MUCC - LIBRA 4. Plastic Tree - Mujin Eki 5. A (エース) - LOVELESS 6. Plastic Tree - エーテルノート (Rebuild) 7. MUCC - G.M.C 8. A (エース) - MASQUERADE 9. Kra - Circus 10. Nightmare - 36.7° Okay, this is really weird. I have many bands in my Itunes, but I get 2 songs from the same band 4 times? And they're all pretty big visual kei bands too. Choosing a favorite song out of these is pretty hard. They're all songs I really like, but not so much that I'd choose them over the others... I guess I'll go with the Kra one, it's one of the first songs I heard by them so it's special in that way...

Wow, this announcement is way too late. It's only a month from here, there's no way I'll be able to cancel work and plan out how to get there now... I just hope they have a good experience, and they will come back for a proper concert/tour.

Really looking forward to this. I wanted to buy only one CD, but my favorite songs are spread evenly over the 2 albums, so I guess I'll have to buy both. :C @seikun: You could ask your questions in the Nightmare thread, or make a new topic I guess~

I actually think this is a pretty interesting thing to think about. As I read the topic title, I thought 'how is it possible to love a band, but despise them at the same time?'. And then I thought 'but why not, the music has nothing to do with who plays it, right?' Of course it isn't the case that I love music because the people playing it are great, but I don't know if I could fully love someone's music being aware of them being 'bad people'. However, in the case of the artists that I love, I either like their personalities or I don't know anything about them. I can't think of any examples of band members I dislike for some reason. And the few bands I have read bad things about, I also happen to not like their music, but I don't think those 2 facts are connected in any way. But if I suddenly started liking a new bands and later found out that all/some of the members are terrible people... I don't know what I would do actually. I think I unconsciously would take their music less seriously? Especially if they make very happy/romantic music, I wouldn't be able to listen to it without thinking about those things, and it wouldn't be the same. But they'd have to have done some really bad things for me to completely avoid them, especially if I really loved them before. And it's not like, if there's information about a members losing temper or being very drunk and shouting at everyone that I would suddenly dislike the band for that. In the end they are just people, they make mistakes like everyone else.

Oh, wow this is actually really difficult. I guess I'll go with 7 songs for every band, otherwise I'll be tempted to type down half their discography. ^^" Kagrra, - あまふらせたんまいな - し、み、め、ゆ、き、さ、あ - 春麗ら - 神謌 - 忘却の果ての凍えた孤独 - 鬼灯 - 妖祭 Bergerac - 東京ナイトパーティー - Butterfly - 雪の降る季節、刻む鼓動 - 夜空に咲く華 心に咲く君 -re:recording ver- - Clock Work Rhapsody - 花桜 - - 碧- Nightmare - 自傷(少年テロリスト) - シアン - 惰性ブギー - Cherish - Can you do it? - 砂 - ジャイアニズム痛　～生涯皆殺し～ Kra - 無拓と無択と - 肌寒い季節の夜明け - 恋歌 - 彷徨えど夜 - 時間-ジカン - カラスノマクラ - Marry

Well, of course I voted for Kagrra,; they're my favorite band. Actually I tried listening to Kiryu after Kagrra, disbanded, because I was looking for other bands with a similar sound and... let's just say I was very disappointed. I don't hate them, some songs are listenable, but their way of incorporating traditional sounds into their chaotic music really doesn't do it for me, and their vocalist's voice isn't that pleasant to listen to either. They're an interesting and original band, but not my style.

I usually get more items because the shipping is proportionally too high to just buy one or two things. If there's only one new release I want, I usually just wait until there's more things I want. I'm a pretty patient person. ^^

Oh my god, you're Belgian AND a Kagrra, fan!? We need to be friends! : D Welcome~

I just read Banana Yoshimoto's 'Kitchen', it was really good but short. I don't mind short stories but it's sad when I start to get into them and then they're suddenly over.

This is Kra's latest album, and personally I absolutely adore it. I wrote a review for it right after I got the album, so I'll just paste that one here. 1. Clown's parade This is just an instrumental intro song, but it's extremely catchy and pulls you into the album right away. It starts with marching drums, and then a very circus-like melody kicks in. Kra really seems to have a talent for making intro songs, GURICO's intro was also amazing. Even though it's just an intro song, I consider still consider it an extremely good, worthy song. 2. Alice This was sort of the main song, the one that was previewed all the time to promote the album. So I'd heard it a few times already in varying qualities before hearing it on the album. It's honestly a great, typical Kra song. It's cheerful but a little bit melancholic, and has a memorable chorus. The piano parts and the part near the end where Keiyuu talks instead of singing make it unique. 3. Bastard Okay, so I have a weakness for cool bass lines, therefore this song automatically wins. It's not just that though, this is a great upbeat rock song. It's not unique, Kra has done this many times before, but it's done well and... you know... that bass line... I also love the guitar solo in this song, and I don't usually like guitar solos. 4. Kakusei Distortion This was a single, released September last year if I remember correctly. At that time I really loved this song and I still do. It's hard to review because I've listened to it so many times now, but basically it's an awesome upbeat song with a great message. It makes me want to jump around, and that's exactly the intention of the song. I'm also impressed at how Keiyuu is kind of yelling half of the time, but he still seems to have good control over his voice. 5. Tokoyo no Kimi Okay, I freaked out (in a good way) when this song started. It starts with a jazzy piano solo, I almost thought it was going to be a really slow dramatic jazz song or something, but then the bass and drums kick in and it becomes, well, a Kra song. There's still some prominent piano parts though. While it's upbeat, there is a dramatic-kind of feeling in the way the chorus is sung ... Keiyuu's voice in the chorus is absolutely beautiful in the chorus. ALSO THAT BASS SOLO OMG 6. Resistance Okay I just want to start out by saying this song reminds me so much of Muse. I never expected to think a Kra song sounds like Muse, but it's just... the mood is exactly the same. Keiyuu uses his 'rough voice' in this song, and while I can't say he sounds sexy (I'm sorry Keiyuu is adorable no matter what he does), it really fits the song. Besides that, it's a real rock song, loads of heavy guitar riffs and yelling and so on. Oh, and matching the title, it really has a feeling of revolution/ protest. 7. Regret After Resistance this song is a bit calmer, and Keiyuu's normal voice is back. The most memorable thing about this song is the guitar during the intro and outro, even thought it's a bit repetitive. The guitar also makes some interesting sounds during the chorus, but for some reason its volume is very low and you can hardly hear it over Keiyuu's voice. This is a good song, but I don't have much more to say about it. 8. Honne This is the second single song on this album (by the way, this is the regular version I'm listening to, the limited edition doesn't have Kakusei Distortion or Honne). So once again, it's hard to review because it was released a while ago and I've heard it so many times now. Basically, I find the first part of this song a bit boring, but after the BASS SOLO and guitar solo and the bridge there's a piano a capella part and it breaks my heart a little bit every time, and the chorus after that is so empowering for some reason. 9. Joker Yeah! This song is very jazzy and danceable, exactly how I like my Kra songs. The bass in this song is sexy (even more than usual), and for once the guitar is not all over the place but actually pretty plain (besides the solo of course). The vocals are really cool too, but the 'Baaaka' part at the end of the first chorus always makes me laugh for some reason. I adore this song, maybe it should have been the main song used for promotion instead of Alice. Out of the entire album, I think this is the song I'm going to listen to the most. I can already imagine myself thinking ' Oh, I want to listen to that Joker song now'. 10. Hoshi no Sakyuu A bit like Regret, this is a good song, but it's a pretty typical Kra song and there isn't much to say about it. It's a bit sad and dramatic but still very upbeat. The verses are a bit plain (musically, that is, lyrically is another story) but the chorus is quite memorable. 11. SMLT Okay this song is all over the place, but the best way the describe it would be 'playful'. Both the verses and chorus are great, and then there's that weird chipmunk voice near the end... really creepy when you're blasting the song through your headphones. There's also the sound of bells chiming throughout the song, which is unusual but pretty cool. I'm not going to start about the lyrics... 12. Utopia This is a great ending song, with harmonica parts and acoustic guitar and this kind of starry night, campfire feeling. I think this is the only song that could be considered calm, but the drums are a bit too loud for that probably. Anyway, it's a good song to end the album. --- This album is very typically Kra, but it brings enough variety and exciting songs. Kra has existed for 11 years now, and they're a PSC band, so I keep expecting them to become boring and make generic pop-rock-visual kei-whatever, but they didn't! I'd give this album a 9/10. So has anyone else listened to it? What are your thoughts?

Thanks everyone!~ It was fun talking on the chat too, I'll definitely drop by again. @wsp: Oh, thank you! I was so surprised when someone added me! @Aion: Jrock is pretty popular in The Netherlands, maybe? Yes, I'm from Flanders. It's cool to meet people who live so nearby! @Manic: Tatsuha, actually. He's still my favorite, even though he's already left visual kei for good it seems.

Dying inside is actually the only song I know from that list, but I really like it too. It's a cute, melodious but also sad song. Of course I know Blondie, Marilyn Manson and Led Zeppelin, but I'm not too familiar with their songs. I'll give this a try, I hope nothing too embarrasing shows up... 1. Kagrra, - Miyako 2. Sendai Kamotsu - Umanamide 3. Serial Number - SQUALL (Live at Akasaka Blitz) 4. The GazettE - 32 Koukei no Kenjuu 5. Kagrra, - Shigatsu Tsuitachi 6. Hiroe Yonekawa - A Bridal Doll (Hanayome Ningyo) 7. Goro Yamaguchi - Moon Over the Desolate Castle 8. Panic Channel - Kodoku Mousou (Live) 9. rice - Lovers 10. Kra - Wakatteru Oh no, two of my favourite Kagrra, songs... I'm going to pick Miyako, it's just an instrumental intro, but it's awesome.

Nice to meet you! I'm new on this forum. I was surprised to find an active Jrock forum, since most places seem to be deserted... So I hope I'll be able to talk about music with many people here! I live in Belgium, and I'm currently a university student. The bands I like the most are Kagrra,; Nightmare, Kra, Bergerac and Plastic Tree. But I listen to many other bands, and I'm always looking for new bands to try out. I'm mostly active on tumblr as ponyindreamland. I translate Nightmare's tweets (sporadically) and I've also done some interviews and lyrics. I also have a fast.fm account but I haven't been using it for very long. Um, yeah, that's it I guess, if you have any questions, ask away! ^^ Please be nice to me~