Popular/Legendary/Respected Japanese bands that you've NEVER listened to...(and probably should)

[Number Girl 48]

I've also never heard anything by cali≠gari, but I am kinda interested in them . . . 

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

Any legendary band with a humongous discography.

 

So Buck Tick, Cali=gari and so forth. 

 

I also never listened to ALL of X Japan's discography but have heard all the usual popular songs like Rusty Nail, Silent Jealously and Weekend.

[YuyoDrift 1540]

Well off the top of my head:

 

MUCC

X Japan

GACKT

MALICE MIZER

MOI DIX MOIS

L'ARC EN CIEL 

KAGGRA 

 

I recently listened to Kagerou . OMG did I miss out on some music. Too bad He passed away.

[jduv86 224]

Probably will get maimed for this...

 

Japanese

 

Buck-Tick

Luna Sea

Baiser

 

Other:

 

The Beetles

The Who

The Clash

Sex Pistols

 

 

That's one's I can think of right now...

[greeeeen 49]

Hmm. Let's see. X Japan, Luna Sea, BUCK-TICK, MUCC (although I believe I once listened to and liked one track from them, I just can't seem to recall the song...), Moi Dix Mois, GACKT, Kaggra,, Glay, Acid Black Cherry, Janne Da Arc, Siam Shade, Psycho Le Cemu, Dead End, Tokyo Jihen, Dir en grey (only listened to UROBOROS and their latest release I guess, though I don't remember much of it)... that's all I can think of. I'm sure there's a lot more, but I'm too lazy cause they're tooo much to handle.

[The Bread Wolf 231]

In short: all of them.

 

Okay I heard like two songs by Diru and decided they're shit and ever since then I've listened to nothing. Nothing at all. I live in a vacuum. I don't even listen to myself.

 

No, really. I just never cared about what someone thinks I SHOULD listen to. I don't need to listen to anything if I don't want to. And frankly, I don't.

[Zeus 7997]

In short: all of them.

 

Okay I heard like two songs by Diru and decided they're shit and ever since then I've listened to nothing. Nothing at all. I live in a vacuum. I don't even listen to myself.

 

No, really. I just never cared about what someone thinks I SHOULD listen to. I don't need to listen to anything if I don't want to. And frankly, I don't.

Cool. Back button is that way.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Preemptive victimization

[miyuu 40]

i have no clue about the indies japanese. but  i am not interested in this genre anymore.so i am not going to try.

i haven't listen to 9mm Parabellum Bullet but just went curious because of this thread.(but i don't like so much this song that has been posted.)

i haven't listen to MR CHILDREN.i once heard about them and thought to try but never did. are they famous?

 

i decided to write in this thread because of @ゆうぎ's post to be honest.

i do the opposite.if i like i genre at the beggining i get obsessed and try almost everything in it. not the whole discography but pvs and few songs of almost every at least famous band. i don't think i can say i listen to them but i know the basics.

and then decide if i am interested in more .

sometimes bands i gave up in few songs, suddenly i listen from someone songs i haven't noticed and decide to have all the discography.

 

actually i am impressed like 80% of the non japanese how people haven't try them at all since it's everywhere.

 

edit: does this tread mean you try but didn't like? or never try at all?

[Number Girl 48]

^ I think it means you've never tried at all or have tried very little, but might be interested. 

 

For people interested in Gackt - Mars, Crescent, and Rebirth are good, solid Gackt classics. Mars is an especially great choice if you liked Gackt in Malice Mizer because his vocal style was still a bit similar to when he sang in that era. Everything else afterwards is either hit or miss; a lot of the music post-2008 is just outright bland and soulless in my opinion. 

 

@jduv86

 

For Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks is basically their only studio album so that's not too difficult, lol. 

 

I downloaded "The Essential Clash" just out of curiosity from iTunes a long while ago and ended up enjoying them, though I haven't heard much else. If you don't want to shell out $15 for a digital album, I'd probably look for a smaller compilation. 

 

The Beatles is a new one for me as well. This kid at my school gave me their whole discography on a flash drive last year and I haven't listened to everything yet, but so far my favorites have been Abbey Road and Magical Mystery Tour. 

[CAT5 9075]

In short: all of them.

 

Okay I heard like two songs by Diru and decided they're shit and ever since then I've listened to nothing. Nothing at all. I live in a vacuum. I don't even listen to myself.

 

No, really. I just never cared about what someone thinks I SHOULD listen to. I don't need to listen to anything if I don't want to. And frankly, I don't.

[Aion 184]

Just as the title says. What well-known bands have you never bothered listening to? You know, the bands that everyone likes to talk about and/or

dick-ride. The bands you're committing "blasphemy" by not listening to, ahaha. ; )

 

X Japan

 

I have no idea why, but I've never been remotely interested in these guys. I've heard a few of their songs on turntable.fm, but nothing that made we want to go grab an album...

 

Supercar

Eastern Youth

 

These 2 bands in particular are very popular amongst Japanese indie-heads, but I suppose I never tried them because when I first started exploring indie, I had a very hipster-ish mindset and avoided the big names. I'll have to get around to it one day, heh...

 

Some others:

 

THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT

AKFG

Ging Nang Boys

BLANKEY JET CITY

Fishmans

54-71

 

 

I suppose I should at least try a few of these bands out...Funny, because I'm sure they probably have some tunes that are worth hearing too...

Wut, not even ART-SCHOOL is listed on that one, or did you actually try them  lately?

and a shame you haven't treid supercar. as they are awesome =)

 

As for your list, also haven't treid BJC, TMGE and Eastern Youth

 

For my own personal list:

 

though I own WTD by Dir en Grey, I never really tried them as it's not really my kinda music. Got that album with a total package.

 

Almost all bands that had an oricon hit actually, I listened to a lil'bit of AKFG, Spitz, and Orange Range but never enough to really know what they sound like...

[evilcoconut 109]

I've listened to everything mentioned lol and if I don't listen to them regularly, it's because I don't like them. ;p  As for OP's list, I do recommend BJC.  I like GN Boyz, but it's more of preference, they're really nothing special overall.  Don't bother with X though.  A more boring band in Japanese music I've never heard lol.  When I was first getting into Japanese music they were everywhere and I kept trying their stuff and was just like, wtf this sucks why does everyone like them?  Fortunately I found other bands, rest is history, etc.

 

 Oh, also, I never cared for Supercar, but have you tried iLL? The singer Koji Nakamura's solo is quite good.

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

I think if someone is a fan of indie Visual Kei, then they really should give Dir en grey a chance. If the fans are what is turning you off, seriously just ignore all the batshit nonsense that comes from the fanbase. However their influence is just undeniable when you listen to some indie bands, whether it's the kote kei indie rawk they pushed out in their early days or the br00tal faux metal they do now. The influences they had and still have and will probably have for many more years to come is just undeniable.

Also if you don't like Dir en grey at the end of it all, I think that's fine. I don't love everything that band does either, especially some of their newer material. Yet if you're avoiding trying the band because of the fanbase you really shouldn't do that. Give it a chance, completely disregard the fans and what people say and just listen to them.

@evilcoconut ~

That's why I haven't listened to anymore from X aside from their popular songs everyone knows. My thing with them is they're okay powerheavyhair metal and I can just listen to a Western band that does it better. I get that most of their popularity is probably due to the fact that they're probably the first popular Japanese metal band that had such an outrageous mind blowing style, especially for the mainstream Japanese music at least.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Vouching that Arithmetica is why I tried Diru.

[JukaForever 758]

I think if someone is a fan of indie Visual Kei, then they really should give Dir en grey a chance. If the fans are what is turning you off, seriously just ignore all the batshit nonsense that comes from the fanbase. However their influence is just undeniable when you listen to some indie bands, whether it's the kote kei indie rawk they pushed out in their early days or the br00tal faux metal they do now. The influences they had and still have and will probably have for many more years to come is just undeniable.

Also if you don't like Dir en grey at the end of it all, I think that's fine. I don't love everything that band does either, especially some of their newer material. Yet if you're avoiding trying the band because of the fanbase you really shouldn't do that. Give it a chance, completely disregard the fans and what people say and just listen to them.

@evilcoconut ~

That's why I haven't listened to anymore from X aside from their popular songs everyone knows. My thing with them is they're okay powerheavyhair metal and I can just listen to a Western band that does it better. I get that most of their popularity is probably due to the fact that they're probably the first popular Japanese metal band that had such an outrageous mind blowing style, especially for the mainstream Japanese music at least.

 

 

but you wont get the english/japanese interchange in the lyrics, its quite a charm when sang.

[miyuu 40]

i understand when some people say they don't like DEG. because i  thought their music was always strange and not for everyone. me being snob.

i have talked to people that seem open minded in trying. and loved bands like sadie  and deluhi or nega etc and didn't like deg except maybe the final. that made me think the above.

but i think people who can't understand them are missing so much. it's like a feeling or a secret they will never know.

about x japan i don't listen to them either .i agree with @Arithmetica probably it was because they were pioneers  in vkei. the first  popular who did something different

[flikflak 41]

I've also never heard anything by cali≠gari, but I am kinda interested in them . . . 

 

For cali gari I recommend dai 5 jikkenshitsu (Shuuji n°1), dai 7 jikkenshitsu (Shuuji n°2) and 11 (latest release).

 

 

 

Wut, not even ART-SCHOOL is listed on that one, or did you actually try them  lately?

and a shame you haven't treid supercar. as they are awesome =)

 

As for your list, also haven't treid BJC, TMGE and Eastern Youth

 

For my own personal list:

 

though I own WTD by Dir en Grey, I never really tried them as it's not really my kinda music. Got that album with a total package.

 

Almost all bands that had an oricon hit actually, I listened to a lil'bit of AKFG, Spitz, and Orange Range but never enough to really know what they sound like...

 

I just uploaded most of Spitz' discography here because there only was a broken link for Togemaru on MH.

I'd recommend CYCLE HITS (Best of), Souvenir (11th album) and Togemaru (13th album) as a start.

[flikflak 41]

Oh, I guess I should add more Japanese bands I've never actually tried:

 

Glay, Acid Black Cherry, Psycho Le Cemu, Dead End, Base Ball Bear, Kagerou, Kagrra,, Vasalla (although, I don't think they were all that big), Hide's anything but X, Buck-Tick, After Image, Janne da Arc, Siam Shade, NoGod (aside from their Kakusei single), ....does Sel'm count?

 

 

Well off the top of my head:

 

MUCC

X Japan

GACKT

MALICE MIZER

MOI DIX MOIS

L'ARC EN CIEL 

KAGGRA 

 

I recently listened to Kagerou . OMG did I miss out on some music. Too bad He passed away.

 

Hmm. Let's see. X Japan, Luna Sea, BUCK-TICK, MUCC (although I believe I once listened to and liked one track from them, I just can't seem to recall the song...), Moi Dix Mois, GACKT, Kaggra,, Glay, Acid Black Cherry, Janne Da Arc, Siam Shade, Psycho Le Cemu, Dead End, Tokyo Jihen, Dir en grey (only listened to UROBOROS and their latest release I guess, though I don't remember much of it)... that's all I can think of. I'm sure there's a lot more, but I'm too lazy cause they're tooo much to handle.

 

For Kagrra,, Miyako and San are their best albums.

[bukimi_heishi 62]

I am not sure how popular/legendary some of these bands are. However, they are all bands that I have seen pop up many times since I have been a fan of Japanese music.

 

Kuroyume (or anything else that Kiyoharu has done)
Dead End
Sex Machinguns
Loudness
Siam Shade
Mr.Children
B'z
AKFG
Aliene Ma'riage
ANTHEM
Blankey Jet City
Boowy
Boom Boom Satellites
The Blue Hearts
deadman
Due le quartz
DuelJewel
ELLEGARDEN
Guitar Wolf
Janne Da Arc
Lareine
OBLIVION DUST
Raphael
Rice
Shonen Knife
The Stalin
SERPENT
Zi:kill
Die in cries (or any of Kyo's other projects)
 

aaaaaand I think I shall just stop it there >_<

[Lestat 2167]

L'Arc~en~Ciel

PENICILLIN

VAMPS

Merry

MUCC

cali≠gari

B'z

Kaggra,

Kagerou

 

There's probably a lot more of them somewhere, but these are the ones I can name out of the top of my head that could be classified as 'you have had to have listened to them at least once in your life'.

[Number Girl 48]

For B'z, definitely try The 7th Blues album. It's a two disc set and contains a mixture of both their 80's style pop and Aerosmith-inspired rock n' roll. If you liked the former style, I'd recommend going back chronologically in their discography and trying albums like Run and In the Life. If you liked the latter style more, I recommend going forward and trying Big Machine or The Circle. 

 

Loudness' Thunder in the East is pretty essential for them, especially when it comes to their older music. Their most recent music is a bit different, I don't like it as much.

 

The Stalin's Stop Jap is a phenomenal album and definitely their most definitive work. 

 

For Anthem, I highly recommend the album Tightrope for their sampling their older material and Overload for their post-reunion stuff. 

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

I was really shocked to see a B'z flyer posted in a local dive bar a few months ago. I'm like, wait B'z North American tour and hardly any press from weeaboos :C

[Number Girl 48]

B'z aren't pretty/cute enough for weeaboos maybe? LOL :'( 

[evilcoconut 109]

I was really shocked to see a B'z flyer posted in a local dive bar a few months ago. I'm like, wait B'z North American tour and hardly any press from weeaboos :C

 

Wait what, another one?