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My favorites are/were from Danger Cure. I do appreciate the fact that they acknowledge the international fanbase.

First of all, let me clarify what I mean by the title. In my 10+ years in the online jrock community I have more than once experienced how people drastically change their tastes in music within a very short time, often only a few months. And by "drastic" I don't necessarily mean that they start to listen to music that is completely different in style (quite often it's just one variety of rock/metal to another variety of it), but the way that they suddenly regard bands they once loved with nothing but disgust.
 
 
The most obvious example in jrock is that people listen to vk for a while, then suddenly change rather abruptly to something else, and subsequently start to hate all or at least many of their old favourites, feeling embarrassed for what they listened to just about a year ago.
 
 
I never really understood this kind of fickleness, and I don't recall when it last happened for me. It's one thing to keep expanding your musical horizons, but it seems odd to me to do such an 180° turn. That's not expansion, it's replacing one thing with another. 
I guess there's some stuff I listened to when I was 10-15 that I'm not exactly proud of, lol. But I can say with confidence that any band or any song I truly loved since about that age (15/16) is still dear to me in some way. I may not listen to them anymore, but I can usually still understand what I saw in those bands/songs at that time. And never has my love turned into hate or embarressment. As you could say, I'm completely at peace with my musical history of the past 15 years.
 
 
So I wonder....
 
Is it an age thing? Something that just may occur naturally when growing up, and may happen any time between 15 and, dunno, 22, but rarely after that? Basically, you just give up on music that was part of your childhood/teenage age in exchange for something that is perceived as more "adult"? Most people where I witnessed this change were probably between 20-22 at that time.
 
Is is something specifically about vk? Maybe something about the way that many binge-listen to vk for several years up to the point that they literally get sick of it? (And often listen to it very indiscriminately too.) Or maybe because vk is considered "immature" and has to be left behind when changing to a more "adult" taste? Or does this happen with other genres as well?
 
Has such drastic change ever happened to you, and why do you think you suddenly feel hate/embarrassment towards something you loved not too long ago?

If I had to pick solely based on those lists of artists posted by Re:pli:cant up there, DC wins for me personally by a major landslide. They have a much more appealing lineup of artists, which are (mostly) solid in terms of musical output as well. Like, I can sort of vaguely see how bands like Screw or D=out could appeal to people, but I personally feel like they don't deserve to be on a semi-major label at all.
The fact that DC actually embraces their foreign fanbase instead of trying to push them away, as PSC seems to be so desperate to do, also helps to establish DC as the superior label in my eyes..

Well, it's pretty simple for me.  UNiTE is one of my absolute favorite VK bands.  DIV is also a new favorite and Kameleo is pretty good.
I don't really follow the rest of the bands, but based solely on these 3 DC bands and the fact that I don't listen to or care about ANY of the PSC bands, I have to go with Danger Crue.

Plus, as Ricchu mentioned, DC a really active YouTube channel which I appreciate.  Kameleo's PVs are even translated into Korean, Chinese, English (and possibly other languages), so it's nice to see they have overseas fans' interests in mind!  I wish UNiTE's and DIV's videos were translated too,

I don't care for both labels. Each of them probably only has one or two artists I like. Tastes differ. I am sure the managing policies for different bands differ too. You don't like something but that doesn't mean it's not good in some other fans' eyes. It still attracts fans and that's what matters to the company.
 
I am not surprised that PSC acts like some idol agency or something and doesn't allow bands to reveal their relationships. It's reasonable for Japanese music/entertainment industries. Not allowing bands to have relationships? I don't think so. Bands from other labels also don't tend to reveal their relationships. Not being relevant or their partners not being public figures is a very good excuse.
 
I am actually curious about the Kra story. Where did you get that information? If it wasn't from the band, I doubt whether it's reliable. Even if the band was indeed forced to record that in one day, isn't it strange that they are allowed to broadcast this kind of negative stuff about their company?

PSC:

Danger Crue:

For Danger Crue, there's a lot of artists, so I don't know who is still around, switched labels later or whatnot -- the label has been out a LOT longer than PSC (1981 vs 1999?), thus the more extensive list. I put the ones that were mentioned in the post I found, and I have no idea if this is even a full list of all bands signed to each label...
 
As for label vs label, I don't totally pay attention to that type of stuff. But the list of artists currently or that were on the two labels mentioned should help out a bit if making a decision. =)

My favorite band is from DANGER CRUE, so...
 
Also PSC is kinda harsh to oversea fans...
I think DC is behavior is awesome (like translating stuff and uploading PV's on Youtube) and it will make their bands get more and more popularity (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

Hey guys,
 
I have been thinking about the differences in how acts seem to grow or be hindered by record labels... I don`t know the whole story of course, but off my observations:
 
Artist Growth:
 
I really think Danger Crue is the GOAT label right now, all of their main active acts are growing, even newer acts like UNiTE and DIV have been skyrocketing to popularity, Kameleo and ALSDEAD are becoming more prominent fast, and Girugamesh has made a MONSTER comeback (I never was that into them, but INCOMPLETE and MONSTER have been on loop at full blast since they came out for me).
 
On the other hand, a lot of PSCompany`s bands are either going stagnant or downhill.
I don`t know the story behind Alice Nine, but I don`t like their new stuff at all, pretty much since 9 (didn`t like half of it). And KRA, despite gaining what I think is one of the best guitarists out there now (my personal favorite) Taizo, have not really grown, despite putting out a huge amount of great material, including their last album, which they were forced to record in ONE DAY (except the track with piano arrangement done by a session musician, which they got one extra day for.
 
I think Kra should be one of the premiere VK bands now, but they haven`t had a chance to grow. When Taizo left Zoro for KRA it was supposed to be a huge jump for him because KRA are on a slightly major deal, but they really aren`t given the support they should have.
 
Youtube Channels:
 
DangerCrue puts up pretty much every PV in great quality, has comments enabled, puts up all sorts of teasers and comments, and listens to the fans. (When DIV was uploaded out of sync people commented and Danger Crue fixed it).
 
PSCompany takes down most PV`s of bands, and uploads hardly anything. When they do, they upload multiple 30 sec. videos that could have been put together as one, just making  a hassle for fans. I guess they think it will hinder sales to give away PV`s that come with physical copies, but I disagree, esp. when you can`t even follow a band properly.
 
Company Image:
 
Danger Crue seems to be getting more and more loved. Their acts also have a sense of unity, and when you are a fan of one, you end up learning about the others.
 
PSCompany is hated by many, there are conspiracy theories and tales of artists not allowed to have relationships, etc... 
The way they are set up is really disjointed due to the size of them, and there isn`t really one place to hear them all.
 
All in all, there are artists I actually wish went to Danger Crue instead of PSCompany, such as BORN and KRA (on a major deal with DC managing, like MuCC).
 
What are your thoughts on these two labels, and other labels such as Resistar, BandAid, etc?
 
 
 

Hey guys,
 
I have been thinking about the differences in how acts seem to grow or be hindered by record labels... I don`t know the whole story of course, but off my observations:
 
Artist Growth:
 
I really think Danger Crue is the GOAT label right now, all of their main active acts are growing, even newer acts like UNiTE and DIV have been skyrocketing to popularity, Kameleo and ALSDEAD are becoming more prominent fast, and Girugamesh has made a MONSTER comeback (I never was that into them, but INCOMPLETE and MONSTER have been on loop at full blast since they came out for me).
 
On the other hand, a lot of PSCompany`s bands are either going stagnant or downhill.
I don`t know the story behind Alice Nine, but I don`t like their new stuff at all, pretty much since 9 (didn`t like half of it). And KRA, despite gaining what I think is one of the best guitarists out there now (my personal favorite) Taizo, have not really grown, despite putting out a huge amount of great material, including their last album, which they were forced to record in ONE DAY (except the track with piano arrangement done by a session musician, which they got one extra day for.
 
I think Kra should be one of the premiere VK bands now, but they haven`t had a chance to grow. When Taizo left Zoro for KRA it was supposed to be a huge jump for him because KRA are on a slightly major deal, but they really aren`t given the support they should have.
 
Youtube Channels:
 
DangerCrue puts up pretty much every PV in great quality, has comments enabled, puts up all sorts of teasers and comments, and listens to the fans. (When DIV was uploaded out of sync people commented and Danger Crue fixed it).
 
PSCompany takes down most PV`s of bands, and uploads hardly anything. When they do, they upload multiple 30 sec. videos that could have been put together as one, just making  a hassle for fans. I guess they think it will hinder sales to give away PV`s that come with physical copies, but I disagree, esp. when you can`t even follow a band properly.
 
Company Image:
 
Danger Crue seems to be getting more and more loved. Their acts also have a sense of unity, and when you are a fan of one, you end up learning about the others.
 
PSCompany is hated by many, there are conspiracy theories and tales of artists not allowed to have relationships, etc... 
The way they are set up is really disjointed due to the size of them, and there isn`t really one place to hear them all.
 
All in all, there are artists I actually wish went to Danger Crue instead of PSCompany, such as BORN and KRA (on a major deal with DC managing, like MuCC).
 
What are your thoughts on these two labels, and other labels such as Resistar, BandAid, etc?
 
 
 

Hey guys,
 
I have been thinking about the differences in how acts seem to grow or be hindered by record labels... I don`t know the whole story of course, but off my observations:
 
Artist Growth:
 
I really think Danger Crue is the GOAT label right now, all of their main active acts are growing, even newer acts like UNiTE and DIV have been skyrocketing to popularity, Kameleo and ALSDEAD are becoming more prominent fast, and Girugamesh has made a MONSTER comeback (I never was that into them, but INCOMPLETE and MONSTER have been on loop at full blast since they came out for me).
 
On the other hand, a lot of PSCompany`s bands are either going stagnant or downhill.
I don`t know the story behind Alice Nine, but I don`t like their new stuff at all, pretty much since 9 (didn`t like half of it). And KRA, despite gaining what I think is one of the best guitarists out there now (my personal favorite) Taizo, have not really grown, despite putting out a huge amount of great material, including their last album, which they were forced to record in ONE DAY (except the track with piano arrangement done by a session musician, which they got one extra day for.
 
I think Kra should be one of the premiere VK bands now, but they haven`t had a chance to grow. When Taizo left Zoro for KRA it was supposed to be a huge jump for him because KRA are on a slightly major deal, but they really aren`t given the support they should have.
 
Youtube Channels:
 
DangerCrue puts up pretty much every PV in great quality, has comments enabled, puts up all sorts of teasers and comments, and listens to the fans. (When DIV was uploaded out of sync people commented and Danger Crue fixed it).
 
PSCompany takes down most PV`s of bands, and uploads hardly anything. When they do, they upload multiple 30 sec. videos that could have been put together as one, just making  a hassle for fans. I guess they think it will hinder sales to give away PV`s that come with physical copies, but I disagree, esp. when you can`t even follow a band properly.
 
Company Image:
 
Danger Crue seems to be getting more and more loved. Their acts also have a sense of unity, and when you are a fan of one, you end up learning about the others.
 
PSCompany is hated by many, there are conspiracy theories and tales of artists not allowed to have relationships, etc... 
The way they are set up is really disjointed due to the size of them, and there isn`t really one place to hear them all.
 
All in all, there are artists I actually wish went to Danger Crue instead of PSCompany, such as BORN and KRA (on a major deal with DC managing, like MuCC).
 
What are your thoughts on these two labels, and other labels such as Resistar, BandAid, etc?
 
 
 

Hmm... I don't think there's any particular "road", but I suppose there are a few different tiers. These only apply to VK bands in Tokyo, so I don't know how it'd be for others.
 
Tier 1:
This one is the lowest of the low and are where bands you've never heard of play at. This includes venues such as Urawa Narciss, Ikebukuro Cyber and Birth Shinjuku(formerly Holiday Shinjuku).
 
Tier 2:
Bands who play these venues generally(but not always) have a slightly bigger audience. Venues in this tier would be ones like the Ruido venues(K2, K3, K4), SHIBUYA-REX, Takadanobaba Area and Ikebukuro EDGE.
 
Tier 3:
Once bands have made it here, they are usually pulling in much larger audiences(these venues hold 500+ capacity). The big venues here would be Shibuya O-West, Shinjuku LOFT and Shinjuku BLAZE.
 
Tier 4:
There's probably a lot of mixing inbetween tier 3 and 4, but I'll consider tier 4 to be venues with 1000+ capacity. The livehouses here would be ones like Shibuya O-East(~1300), Akasaka Blitz(~1300), SHIBUYA-AX(~1500) and Zepp Tokyo(~2700).
 
Tier 5:
God-tier. If you've made it here, then you've pretty much made it as a band. This includes the biggest venues like Budokan(~14,000), Saitama Super Arena(~37,000) and Tokyo Dome(~56,000).
 
This is by no means a definitive guide, but should at least give you an idea on "how far" a band is along that road

i just cant anymore. 
Purple Ratio, Ai and this PV. I just can't. They're too perfect ashrgatahtjakt
 
Im lovin this all. Really. This album gonna be epic

I loved it!!! Can't wait to have the album in my hands *__*

can't believe Keiyu from Kra hasn't been mentioned not even once oO" or Yuki from Raphael/rice
or Aoi from Ayabie
My biased top three would be Mao (SID), Jui (Vidoll) and Asagi of course
And among the others that have not mentioned yet I might note Yuu (176biz, ZUCK) and Mitsu (Dolly)

Time to make myself a list:
- Takanori Nishikawa (TMR/abingdon boys school)
- ASAGI (D)
- Atsushi Sakurai (BUCK-TICK)
- Hayato (DuelJewel)
- Ryuuichi Kawamura (LUNA SEA)
- Yoshiyuki (heidi.)
- Isshi (Kagrra, though not the very best due too his operations, he still has a very comforting sound which results in me adding him to this list)
- Satsuki (ex-RENTRER EN SOI)
- Mao (SID)

The usual:
Tatsurou (MUCC)
Daisuke (the studs & kagerou)
Gara (Merry)
ryo (9GOAT BLACK OUT)
Takanori Nishikawa (Abingdon Boys School & T.M.Revolution)
Atsushi Sakurai (BUCK-TICK)
Hyde (L'arc~en~ciel)
And also Taka (ONE OK ROCK), Takeshi Hosomi (Ellegarden & the hiatus) and the best: Ta-ma (ROACH)

Atsushi Sakurai
HYDE
Ryuuichi
Tatsurou
GACKT
Nishikawa Takanori
ryo
Satoshi
Toshi
Daisuke

My first choice would definetely be Hizumi (D'espairsRay), his voice has exactly the kind of tone I prefer and he has an awesome mixture of emotion and technique.
Technique-wise I would say Gackt, no matter what people think about him, he is an amazing singer and has the most powerful vibrato I have ever heard outside operatic music.
Others would be:
Daisuke Ochida (Kagerou, the studs)
Ryo (9GOATS BLACK OUT)
Tatsurou (Mucc)
Satoshi (girugamesh)
Toshi (X JAPAN)
Hatis Noit (Mutyumu)
Ryuutarou (Plasti Tree)
Satsuki (Rentrer En Soi)
Otogi (Awoi)
??林太郎 (although his voice is not really "clean" ;D)
There are certainly lots of good singers outside of VK, but tbh not many come to my mind right now, maybe also the guy of The Novembers.

Here's the full version!




Damn, those were some chuggy riffs!

Something was off-putting about the PV though.  The dark sky and the super windy scenes of the band playing made the PV seem a bit ominous, haha.

Anyway, looking forward to the full album!

very int. Topic! well imo the Vk Scene has the best vocalists (no matter if singing, screaming, growling, what ever the f****) on the planet. and here's why: all Vk bands just do it the way they want! they don't give a shit if there's a certain technique to make it "right". sure ever now and then someone is getting Trouble with his throat but compared to how many bands there are its really not that much as most People try to make it look like. and because Vk singers pull everything off the way they feel like the screams/Growls etc. Sound soo much heavier and more appealing to me cuz for example american deathcore or death metal bands... - if you listend to 3-5 bands you know them all! not necesserily because of the Music but for the voice! every guy uses the same screaming and growling technique and therefore they Sound the same - thats at least my opinion. and don't say like: you have to listen to more U.S. bands etc.... i was a deathcore/death metal etc. fan for about 3-4 years. then i discovered Vk and so for me Vk is def the best Music ever.

The aforementioned preview thingie, if anyone missed it.
 


 
I think it sounds quite okay.

FLASH-FAB-SUPAA-REVIEW~! SUTAATO~!
 
TRACK ONE: VANISH: A cathartic dirgey ballad with powerful vox. It's an interesting starting point for an album honestly. It almost feels like a song that should be at the end. It's very very very very good~. 4.9 SUTAAZ OF LOVE.
 
02: ZERO-ONE: Welllllllll welll this is the pv song and it's nice. Chiisa is such a DIVA at all times and it is nothing but LOVE. 4.5 sutaaz~!
 
SURII: Natsu no Yukue: This song is weird but I like it. As Fitz Earz has stated, the b-side Hotarubi has an extremely similar chorus to this song from the single and like like. It's totes true you guys. I almost feel like Hotarubi was written before Natsu no Yukue and then they made Natsu no Yukue after it to make a more single sounding song and buy into the summer romance song. The lyrical content between the two songs, if read seperately and the music unheard, you wouldn't imagine it was done by the same band~. I like this track though u gaiz~! FOAA SUTAAZU.
 
FOAA: Sekira RARA: WHAT A DISCO POWER HOUSE DIVA TRACK OH MY LAWD FIVE STARS FIVE STARS. Oh I'm using stars now? BETTER GO BACK AND GIVE STARS TO THE OTHERS.
 
FAIBU: Hmmmm.... 0.0
 
666: ASTERIOS: PERSONALLY I THINK THIS IS THE BEST TRACK ON THE ALBUM. IT'S MY FAVORITE.
 
SEVENTH: TEDDY: This track is almost like if the opening track Vanish was turned into a dancey hard rock song. Totally fits the vibe of the album with it's catchy chorus and auto-tuned vox. This is a really great song that will probably be great live and pump the crowd up~. THERE IS NO LIMIT~! THERE IS NOO LI~IMIT~!
 
88: CHOCHOLATE PLAYER: This song is just cute but it's not all that great but it is pretty cool~. Picks up around the chorus. Pretty great track~.  4/5
 
NEIN: PRACE: This might be the first track that's a 3. It is pretty though just... Meh.
 
BEN10: MISEINEN: This song is just delicious to the ear holes. <3 4.7/5 sutaaaz.
 
11:11: I SWEAR: This song is pretty. Really pretty. Heart wrenching pretty. ;O; <3 OMG IT'S SO PRETTY~. PRETTIEST BALLAD OF THE YEAR. <3 <3 <3
 
TELFTH: SEASONS is pretty. 5/5
 
THIRTEENTH: ANSWER rocks. 4.5/5
 
​GREAT DEBUT. Lots of Disco Diva Dance Rock and it's really nice on the ears and so pretty and flamboyant~. One of the best debuts in a while~! Soooo pretty. ;O;
 

This subject deserved its own thread. We've been trying to discuss this on too many different places.
 
Here I thought we could try to understand the whole history behind visual kei(and along with it, japan's 80s and 90s rock and pop come along, I guess). For years we've had really bad wiki texts trying to write about visual kei and failing along with it. To abridge the entire scope of the visual kei scene to only "a bunch of guys influenced by glam metal" like every copy-pasted lastfm biography says means next to nothing. Here we had for the late 80s and 90s bands playing speed metal, gothic rock and new wave and they were all part of the same scene. Some bands mixed these genres, others played only one of these, and there were even bands that introduced other stuff in the mix - but all of them using the strong visual element as the way to hit their message. As much as I tried to find, it's hard to see a scene as convoluted and intriguing anywhere else in the world.
 
My idea is to mostly focus on late 70's, 80's and 90's japanese music and the western influences, trying to guess how it became what it was and what it is today. Maybe to try to answer a question that never really goes away on japanese music boards: A scene or a genre?