violetchain

^Oh really? I hope that becomes a bit more common. I'm not so fond of having my room filled with CDs anymore, but I do miss booklets.

It depends on which CD you're buying and where you're getting it from, I guess, but for most of the Japanese releases I've bought it was more like a $15-20 difference in price once you factor in shipping (at least in Canadian dollars), and you also get the music immediately instead of waiting weeks for it to come, so I do think it is worth it to buy off iTunes if you don't have that much money to spare. I bought THE BEATMOTORS' mini-album "Subarashii ne" off iTunes for about $6. It would have been $20 with the cheapest possible shipping off CDJapan, and taken 3 weeks+ to get here. I just wish iTunes purchases came with booklet scans.

Just found this performance by Suck a Stew Dry while I was skimming through Twitter. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/47099173?utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=ustre.am/:3bCE5&utm_medium=social&utm_content=20140505190834 ^They play their new single "I Don't Love You" around 14:00, and it's adorable. Not what I was expecting from the title at all - especially since they tend to be pretty angsty. Their singer also does random Twitcasts where he performs acoustic in his bedroom sometimes, which is super cute. http://us.twitcasting.tv/shinoyamakosei/movie/56926816

Oh man, I keep forgetting to check that one out.

Went to the first show of the Next Music from Tokyo tour. Unfortunately, I had to leave before jizue came on because I didn't want my friends to miss the subway and get stranded, but the other four bands were all pretty good. Really happy that I got to see Kinoko Teikoku again, and they seemed so much more confident and relaxed this time. Happy!Mari were definitely the biggest surprise of the night for me, though. They're so much better than their Youtube videos make them look. Three pairs of glasses ended up on the floor while they were playing, and the entire band just looked so incredibly excited to be there. I'm glad there was a goofy, energetic band on the bill, because Uchuu Conbini were kind of boring. People seemed to love them, and I could see the appeal, but it's not music that you can move to at all, so most of the crowd was just standing around awkwardly during their set, which is kind of a buzzkill for me.

^Looks way too young for me to even think about hotness.

I've been listening to a lot of Good Morning America recently. This song in particular:

I'm kind of sad about it, since I loved them so much in my teens, but AFI. I really didn't like Crash Love, and after that album I completely lost interest in hearing new stuff from them. I still like a lot of their older songs--The Art of Drowning-era stuff, in particular, holds up pretty well--but some of their lyrics just sound so cheesy now.

Just remembered how surprised I was when I first looked up the lyrics to Missile Girl Scoot's "Big Mouth" and saw it was completely in English, with lines like "That frickin' idiot told everybody something I kept a secret. / Why is he a fuckin' big mouth? What a jerk!" and "Don't spread gossips around, you nerd!"

I'm still not sure whether these lyrics for WHITE ASH's "Would You Be My Valentine?" are actually correct or not--that's how incomprehensible their singer is. Lyrics: http://petitlyrics.com/lyrics/923906 It's a shame, since he has a lovely voice.

I'd pick the Galneryus song from that list. Yama-B's vocals make me smile. 1. POSSIBILITY - I like it 2. The Birthday - Shachi 3. THE BEATMOTORS - God Only Nou 4. Faith No More - Take this bottle 5. Faith No More - Death March 6. LIGHTNING - Declining For Beginning 7. Demolition23. - The Scum Lives On 8. Thee Michelle Gun Elephant - Electric Circus 9. SBK - revibubble 10. Thee Michelle Gun Elephant - GT400 ^Not the greatest list. I like all of these artists, but none of these songs are really standing out. I'll pick "Death March", since it's been years since I first heard it and the intro still makes me laugh. "95 cents!"

I'm cheating pretty hard on this because it's not anywhere near their VK era, but: GLAY - Koukai Also, Psycho le Cemu - Omoide Aruki

I majored in visual art, and I'm working as a copywriter while I try to figure out what I want to do. The work I'm doing right now actually fits my skills and personality really well, and I like doing it, but I'm looking for something a bit more stable and fulfilling.

Not Japanese, and not that anyone on this forum would buy it, but Tigertailz's "Bezerk" album. I like their debut album "Young and Crazy", but then they changed singers and made this piece of shit: I'm amazed that there are actually people in the world that like that song.

I think at the end the girl he's waiting for shows up late, and she's supposed to be standing where the camera is, which is why he has a sort of relieved expression when he looks up?

^I know a track or two from about half of those artists, but not those particular songs, so I can't really pick one. 1. Domoto Tsuyoshi - TALK TO MYSELF 2. Mr.Children - Ame nochi hare 3. Thee Michelle Gun Elephant - Get Up Lucy 4. MIYAVI - I love you, I love you, I love you, and I hate you. 5. THE BEATMOTORS - Barairo no sekai 6. THE SOUND BEE HD - Ritual 7. The Birthday - SUPER SUNSHINE 8. Suck a Stew Dry - Proletarier 9. Shotgun Messiah - Enemy in Me 10. LIGHTNING - Ride on the Wind This is a tough one for me, but I'll say "Ame nochi hare", since I haven't heard it in ages and wanted to stop to listen to it when I was making the list.

I think the nazi stuff is just an attempt to be edgy and shocking, just like it was for Western punk bands. I'm sure there are some VK bands that are just copying older groups as well. A lot of Japanese rock musicians were influenced by Sid Vicious and/or the Sex Pistols, and well: Also, Siouxsie Sioux:

Skid Row's "Wasted Time", for sure. They used to be one of my absolute favourite bands, and Slave to the Grind was my favourite album from them. 1. Hanoi Rocks - Visitor 2. J - Vida Rosa 3. Bang Tango - It's All Ok 4. immi - STEP UP! 5. THE BACK HORN - Yasei no Taiyou 6. Hanoi Rocks - Self Destruction Blues 7. Jay Chou - 困獸之鬥 8. BALZAC - I See Nothing, Hear Nothing 9. THE BEATMOTORS - Chiku Chiku Chiku 10. Jay Chou - 困獸之鬥

I'm more of a chest person, but from those options I'll go with arms. I think six packs are overrated, and I don't really look at a guy's ass much unless it looks like Christopher Daniels' or something.

The first thing that's coming to mind is 04 Limited Sazabys' mini-album "monolith". HAN-KUN's new single "With me" is adorable too, although I'm not crazy about one of the B-sides. I haven't had time to listen to much new music yet, though. Still catching up on stuff from 2013.

^Ah okay, that makes way more sense.

It's great if they can, but personally, I don't believe that a singer has to be able to write lyrics. The thing that matters to me is whether or not the singer connects with the emotion of the song. I think if you can't write (good) lyrics, it's perfectly okay to let someone else help you. Some people struggle to express themselves with words, and IMO it's better to let another band member or outside writer take care of it than it is to ruin good songs with awful, half-assed lyrics.

Well that was fast.

I don't really care. If the music is good I'll listen to it.

^I don't know any of those songs, but I like one song by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas, so I guess I'll go with the one by them. Enuff Z'nuff - In the Groove L'Arc~en~Ciel - Dune GLAY - Kuchibiru Saigon Kick - When You Were Mine The Birthday - Muddy Cat Blues Thee Michelle Gun Elephant - Hotel Bronco THE SOUND BEE HD - Hana GLAY - Ikiteku Tsuyosa SBK - Tokio LV Stiv Bators - Tell Me (live) Seems like I can't do this without getting at least two GLAY tracks and two Chiba Yusuke-related songs. Surprised I keep getting L'Arc as well. Tough call between Muddy Cat Blues and Ikiteku Tsuyosa, but that cat banner is adorable, so Muddy Cat Blues it is.