hiroki

The songs aren't too bad, but I really wish they deal with those moments when the vocalist goes glaringly out of tune ><

I've loved all I've read of him till this point. I have more of his books back in Belgium (including 1Q84), waiting for me to be read but I won't be getting there anytime soon. It makes me sad they're just lying there. Loved Norwegian Wood, The Elephant Vanishes, and Dance Dance Dance though.
Thanks!

another best of album judgin by the title ;p hope it has the songs they released online that were available for download only in japan

I think that's 3 new songs in addition to the digital singles released over the past few months. They've done this in the past - in fact "GUILDED" was entirely a collection of their live-limited singles before (iirc). In any case I'm delighted they're finally coming up with another album - can't wait for it

^ personally, his growls are kind of cool and they add some heaviness to their music that the instrumentations can't, but the growls in this song sound very hollow and echo-y and I don't like it. Sounds like those vocals were badly produced

I was hoping that they would finally come up with something that's at least 20% the quality of their first 3 or 4 singles - then I saw that this too is slated to be an anime opening, lol.
 
Well we'll see - but they're walking down the same path as SID, and five times as fast.

I was hoping that they would finally come up with something that's at least 20% the quality of their first 3 or 4 singles - then I saw that this too is slated to be an anime opening, lol.
 
Well we'll see - but they're walking down the same path as SID, and five times as fast.

I was hoping that they would finally come up with something that's at least 20% the quality of their first 3 or 4 singles - then I saw that this too is slated to be an anime opening, lol.
 
Well we'll see - but they're walking down the same path as SID, and five times as fast.

I hope they don't ruin the song because I'll kill them.

^ It's easy go over here: http://flipout69.deviantart.com/art/JAM-v1-2-407758948 and download the zip file and then extract it. There will be a pdf. file with instructions on how to install it and get it up and working.
 
Seriously though it's so easy, I installed it within 5 minutes and then took only another 10 minutes for me to get it configured correctly. if you need any help feel free to PM me about it

Day 1 - ALSDEAD - Separator

Release Date: 2013-04-24
Label: Danger Crue
Genre: Alternative Metal
nostalgia.'s take

Linh-san's take

Sample song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX8Ao5hC9Eo
Buy the album:
CDJapan | YesAsia | iTunes

Oh. My. God.... All of my yes...

These are all of my favorite tracks from them... *drools*
 

 
*currently fanboying to an extreme degree* 

To be clear, I'm quite the Juri fanboy so even if he starts covering Justin Bieber songs (god forbid) I'll probably still buy them :'D
 
I agree with RpgRiser that if we measure his music against DELUHI we're just setting ourselves up for disappointment. If I listen to this as I would listen to pop music, it's actually quite enjoyable. I've always felt that Juri has a kind of singer's instinct that makes his vocals blend with the instrumental in a way that doesn't require too much effort (both on his part and on the audience's part). I'm not sure how else to describe this - it reminds me of ALvino's Shota whom I also feel is an amazing vocalist (incidentally ALvino does a similar kind of a music). For me, this quality is even more valuable than any kind of uber vocal technique that can be gradually honed. In any case, it's nice to see him having the heart to pursue what he wanted to do - he was quite matter-of-fact in his interviews/trailers about his concept/vision for the individual tracks, which I prefer over some bands (that shall not be named) who half-heartedly come up with a bunch of tracks and we make what we will of them.
 
The one complaint I have is that instrumentation could have varied more. Good pop can and should be more eclectic than just varying the same backing instrumental and replicating them for every track - something that's disingenuous for anything longer than a single.

An ex-member of one of my favorite bands,DELUHI, finally started his solo career...
I was sooooo waiting for this!
Let's take a look,shall we?
 
1. Let's get together now
I was really expecting something heavy with awesome guitars and drums and powerful vocals...
Nope ._.
I could not believe it...
He turned to pop music...
Why's is it,I cannot say.It a real letdown at first, but the catchy melody made me change my mind.
Not bad for an opener.
7/10
 
2. Blanche
I was really expecting something heavy after the first track,but unfortunately no...
It's the same as "Let's get together now",catchy melody and beautiful vocals.
7.5/10
 
3. You'll never walk alone
This one's a ballad...and a beautiful one.
I really love this song,it's very soothing.
My favorite from this mini.
9/10
 
4. Michi
The instrumental reminds me a bit of Persona 4,and I don't dislike this feeling -w-
7/10
 
5. Mirai no Hikari
Probably the one I like the least.It sounds a bit like a song from "Back-On".
It would make a good ending song for an anime.
6.5/10
 
6. Shade (DELUHI cover)
From what I heard from the previous track,I was pretty impatient to hear how he rearranged this song.
It's a piano version of "Shade".Must I say more than that?
8/10
 
7. Remember the Rain (DELUHI cover)
I really don't know what to say about this track,so here's a smiley :/
7/10
 
Conclusion:
I was really surprised,in both a good way and a bad way.
I was really expecting a solo debut pretty epic,like Kamijo,but the new musical style Juri took is not displeasing.
If you want to appreciate this mini,you'll have to discard the expectation of something close to DELUHI and think of Juri as completely new musician.
7/10

Looking forward to this. I would be delighted if they incorporate some of their earlier sounds (although unlikely). Of the recent releases, a total of 0.5 of them caught my attention (Daybreak from the start up to the chorus XD).

There're more than a few I miss, but I'll only mention one: NEGA.
 
They were my favorite band, being their fan brings so many nice memories to me, especially their live. I was very, very lucky I could see them, and in order to get there (to the Netherlands) I achieved something in my life I've been trying to make for years, just because seeing them was a very good motivation to me. Without them and their small tour, it wouldn't happen. The concert itself is also a very nice memory, they will always have a place in my heart and I still hope these guys will come back and make some more music.

For me, disliking a band because of its fans is rather silly, since a band has no direct control over fan behavior in most cases. Of course, I'll  be deeply relieved to find fans of my favorite bands having enough sense to conduct themselves in a proper manner. But even if they don't, it is tangential to my enjoyment/distaste of the band's music, since I would rather focus on evaluating the band on its own terms. Not doing so is simply unfair. Granted, this might be a bit difficult for people who are particularly steeped in "fan communities" - but I'm not, so I shall not comment on that.
 
On the other hand, I don't particularly find anything wrong with having 2 pages on a band's new look, mainly because aesthetics constitute a part of the overall experience of any vk band. I would rather have bands invest some time/effort to pay some attention to their own presentation than disregarding them completely. So having fans who are sensitive to those stuff is a good thing (even as aesthetics may not be my primary criterion for judging if a band is "good").

they had better come up with a better album art than their last single's.

^ Juri introducing his songs.
 
So pop-rock now XD

ahahahahah oh god
what is this
thank you vkei, for giving me a terrible case of laughter

i know right :'D
He's too cute to have such a powerful voice...
it catches you off guard. 

yeah naoki looking gd although, somehow i've always had trouble "fitting" his looks with his voice, lol.

Awesome, I'll be sure to spread the word

After well over a year's worth of work, I'd like to present to you all: RarezHut! This is one of the first international store for used visual kei music. Myself, along with my two associates, have been working hard to deliver a store to meet the needs of the international visual kei community, offering a wide selection of products at a reasonable cost. At the moment, RarezHut has over 600 items for sale, each of which includes a listenable/watchable sample! We've got a total inventory of well over 2000 items and will be working hard over the coming months to deliver updates(at least once a month) with as many items as we can stuff in there. Currently available are a multitude of CDs, DVDs, cassette tapes and VHS spanning over 200 bands.
 
Features of the store include:
"Fuzzy search" system: when you search for a band, it'll pull up any other items available by bands with members from the band you searched for in addition. Listenable/watchable samples for every item to give you a little idea of what to look forward to. Newsletter: If you create an account, you can opt-in for our newsletter which details all of the recent additions and will be sent out the moment they're added to the site, allowing you to get first dibs on any new goodies! Remember: once they're gone, they're gone for good~ Digital copies: along with any cassette/VHS purchases, we offer high-quality digital copies free-of-charge. We realize that not everyone has the means to play these aging formats, but we aim not to let that get in the way of you being able to enjoy them! In an effort to make sure that buying goes smoothly, all items added will have the digital copies ready before addition so that packages can be shipped out on the next business day.  
Thanks for taking the time to look at this and we sincerely hope you enjoy the store(and whatever goodies you buy from it )! Given the small nature of the visual kei community, we rely on word-of-mouth for most of our advertising, so any friends you can tell about the store will help us immensely <3
 
If you've got any questions/comments/feedback, feel free to post them here or send me a PM and I'll try to reply ASAP~
 
Update 3/13/2015
So we've finally joined the 21st century and started a facebook and tumblr! You can follow us on either(or both if you really love us <3) for product spotlights, updates, corgi pictures and more! To celebrate this, we're running a special 10% off sale from now(3/13) until next week Friday(3/20). To get in on this sale, just enter the code SOCIALSALE10 at checkout and you'll be on your way to (even) cheaper rarez in no time!
 
In addition, I'd like to welcome Rob(robkun) to the RarezHut team! He's been a huge supporter of our store since the very beginning and we're honored to have him as part of the staff! He'll be writing the product spotlights on both our facebook and tumblr pages, so definitely go check them out because they're really awesome