Truly crappy Western "visual kei" inspired music

[coffee000 14]

When I first heard Origin of Symmetry by Muse in 2001/02, I wondered whether some of the melodies, which were not often found in Western rock, had been inspired by J-rock. I wasn't quite sure since I wasn't really a huge fan of J-rock back then. Wherever they got their inspirations from, Muse have made a few albums with genuinely good music. And they wrote good lyrics in their own language. Isn't it a good enough example for younger bands to follow?

 

Here is an interesting discussion on the difference between J-music and Western music (especially rock) on AnimeSuki forum: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=97468 I tend to agree with most of what those people said on that topic.

 

Seriously, those whatever-kei wannabe bands should stop. I don't care whether they actually get signed to a label or not. They should stop trying to be cheap knock-offs of all the shitty generic nu-metal/fake metal Visual Kei bands. But shitty generic nu-metal/fake metal VK bands seem to be the most popular type among Western fans, especially young ones. That's why they all form those whatever-kei wannabe bands. Cheap VK image knock-off is even worse than just music. And what's with all those cheesy fake Japanese band names? Maybe they start a band to pick up the VK fangirls. Maybe they are successful at that. lol

 

Do they realize that there is a lot of good Japanese music existing outside of all the generic nu-metal/fake metal/metalcore J-rock bands and the Visual Kei scene? I do think it's high time that Western pop/rock learnt from J-music, became more experimental and put more effort on the instrumental and melodies like J-musicians, instead of being boring, simple and confined to conventions like a lot of mainstream rock bands. Don't forget that rock music originated and once flourished in the West. You could become an "it" band like the Strokes were in 2001 and why not? I am not saying the Strokes were experimental but bands like that were "new" and refreshing back then. It's 2013 now and bands certainly know they shouldn't do the same things as bands in 2001 did.

[Umi_Niwa 31]

Oh jeez, that article? Really?? Hahaha I forgot all about that. I didn't know it was Kiwamu rumored to be the one that was interviewed but it wouldn't surprise me if it was him.

Wait how could he be an executive in the 90s when back in the 90s was he even in a band or even taking part in the VK scene? Or was he in just a bunch of shitty sinking ship indie bands like Blue Berry before forming the clusterfuck that was BLOOD? Wait the fuck I don't even care...

@Umi_Niwa

Anyway, it's just pretty poor discussion to post a vague one liner with no backing to explain your reason and then the only defense is a link to an old and debunked article.

You know what? I'm sick of you. Why don't you just go harass somebody else? This is what I think and if you have a problem then it's your problem.

[Pandabear 414]

^ you might be overreacting there a little. 

 

And I read the link you posted and I'll have to disagree with you on the reason western vk bands fail. It's not because of how the Japanese music industry works. I don't know how authentic that interview is you posted, but even if everything in it was 100% true, which I'm sure isn't, it wouldn't explain why western vk bands don't work out.

 

Vk western bands not working out is not due to the connections to business people they lack, access to studios, producers, marketing or because they don't have a pimp label to get them out there. It's because of the reasons people have already mentioned here. They're young, inexperienced, sing in Japanese, don't know to dress VK, and lack any originality, basically knocking off bands like the gazette. When you can't sing/play your instrument properly, have a unpleasant image, don't appeal to your native speaking audience, and are a near carbon copy of some foreign band, how can you not expect disastrous results? 

 

Added to this is the fact that most western vk bands will further comes across as trying to hard or "weebos" to people who are familiar with the Japanese music scene and do low budget production studio recordings or cheaply made music videos. Plus if they only listen to horrible indie vk bands, then how can you expect something good to come out?

 

When you put out subpar or crappy music regardless of what genre you play (vk or not), you better expect to have people call you on it and be prepared for all the criticism. 

 

I'm not saying it's impossible for there to be a good western vk band, it's just no one has done it properly. You would need people who know their instruments, have some basic knowledge of theory and composition, actually write lyrics in their native tongue and have a good sense of how to dress. And they would also have have to some originality and not just sound like X vk band. I know bands/musician who listen to j-music in general and are inspired by it, but they don't blatantly rip off the sound/image of another band. They do their own thing in their own original band/project.

 

So far, I only know of 2 western vk bands that actually are decent. And the reason they more or less have succeeded where others have failed is because they avoided the common pitafils other western vk bands have fallen into.

[Champ213 1858]

The thing about many western vk fans is that they are rather opinionated about not only "western vk", but western music in general. Yes, many western vk bands also happen to be very mediocre and unorginal at best, but there are many equally mediocre and unorginal japanese vk bands that get a lot more praise and hype. But if you cater to a fandom that often enough very specifically turned their backs on "western music" then obviously you are fighing an uphill battle, even if you try to "disguise" your music as japanese (and probably badly so). It's like trying to sell vegetable-shaped steaks to a bunch of vegetarians.

 

 

A western vk band, with decent talent and equipment would probably be more succesful if they just target the "normal" western underground goth scene.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Vegetable shaped steak--I think you're on to something.

[usuxorz 30]

Awww man! I really wish I had something to post about my former band! XD But we sucked so much that the band only lives on in memories, ancient social media profiles, and a handful of pictures from practice/meetings (and, I think, one silent video). Now imagine THAT level of suckage for a band!!!

 

For the long, boring story then continue reading (otherwise ignore ):

My best friend/roommate (vocalist, bassist, and "Leader-sama" ) started a band with one of her friends (drummer). She knew I played guitar and bass, so she asked me to join... at least until she found someone else to join permanently. I thought I would play guitar so I declined (I only ever played acoustic), but it turns out that she can't sing and play bass at the same time so I was to play bass. I agreed to be their temporary bassist because my daughter was still a toddler back then and I had a lot of "free" time to practice and whatnot.

During our first meet up they told me more about how they were inspired by jrock bands, were thinking of being a vk band, yada yada yada. I'm only a "temp" member and was planning on hiding my identity anyway so none of it mattered to me. What did matter was that the kind of music we liked and were interested in playing were all similar. Sadly, my opinion wasn't shared with them; the drummer only talked about what kind of "costume" he should get, how much it'd cost, whether or not we should have matching outfits as a band, et cetera. My friend normally dressed oshare kei style, so she was planning on wearing the same stuff for the band. I admit that I got quite excited while designing masks for myself. ;;

 

While practicing cover songs I also started writing out music that came to mind (despite having no prior knowledge/experience with songwriting). Within 5 months I had completely written 2 songs (music and lyrics) and had partial music/lyrics for a handful of other songs. The drummer loved the songs and helped a lot with the drum lines. Vocalist listened to the computer generated music, read the lyrics, and gave me a thumbs up with comments like, "I love this part! It sounds just like An Cafe!" I told her that it felt awkward writing the words that were supposed to come from her, but she insisted that she wasn't confident enough to write her own lyrics (besides, I was "doing fine!" ). She finally broke down and started writing her own lyrics for a single song, but that was because I refused to use Japanese and she wanted to sing in Japanese. I also kept trying to get her to sing for me so I could know her range/style (it's kinda important to know that when it comes to writing music and lyrics) but she'd make one excuse after the other. The drummer said she sounded "like an angel" because she used to sing at practice before I joined, but that wasn't helpful for me. And we still didn't have a guitarist!!!

A month later I was informed that we had a guitarist! Awesome, right?! I thought we could finally have an actual band practice (at that point it was only ever the drummer and I practicing together because the vocalist never felt like singing), but it turns out she was too busy with university to meet up with us. I spoke with the new guitarist a lot online and found out that she picked up guitar that year, wasn't interested in joining a band but our vocalist pressured her, and that she had over a decade of vocal training. Behind "Leader-sama's" back the three of us got together to discuss the band, it's future (or lack-thereof), and if we should drop her as a member. In those 6 months as a band I had NEVER heard my best friend/roommate sing, I honestly had no idea what my vocalist sounded like! That was a deal-breaker of a bad sign for me, so I said that if she wouldn't sing at the next band practice that I'd agree to the member shuffle.

The next band meeting would be our last because the guitarist had to study for exams (or something) and our vocalist ditched us to go on a date. The drummer wanted to kick the vocalist out (that wouldn't make homelife awkward for me at all! *eyeroll* ), make our current guitarist our songwriter (since she didn't even want to be in a band), and take over the band's social media profiles (which were being managed by the vocalist). He had picked the band name and I had created all the songs, so he saw no reason to change those. I thought completely disbanding would be best (remember, I was only supposed to be a temp member to begin with... but I got addicted to creating songs). When "Leader-sama" was told about the secret meetings and the band members' feelings, she rage-quit the band. The drummer soon found another band (but this time it was metal instead of vk/jrock) and the guitarist stopped worrying about learning how to play guitar. XD I secretly worked on the unfinished songs (for my own satisfaction) and continued practicing bass, but the disbandment marked the decline in my relationship with my best friend/roommate.

I know of two separate Japanese-inspired bands that she tried to join (as a bassist) after our disbandment, but she wasn't chosen for either band. One of the bands was geist.

To this day I still haven't heard her sing.......

[Ikna 1225]

I just leave this here (to revive the thread):

 

 

Found this through the facebook of some guy who also has various other Luna Sea/ old school visual kei-inspired music projects...

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

isnt that lunaria. wow so much nordic people making shitty vk inspired music

[rebelstrik 111]

oh i remember one latvian dude (chuu) who was singing his own song in japanese. he said that he learned the language from listening jap music and having skype convos with cousin (she was/is living in japan).

 

i found a record here: http://www.purevolume.com/popout_player/album/99608623 song "untitled"

 

and now there is his new band:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zemBdU8w_JU

[StriderSubzero 53]

The "Untitled" thing isn't bad. I don't speak Japanese so I have no clue if his accent is terrible or not, but otherwise it sounds fine... kinda like a poor man's Plastic Tree.

 

That video though—truly wtf.

[ficsci 50]

Awww man! I really wish I had something to post about my former band! XD But we sucked so much that the band only lives on in memories, ancient social media profiles, and a handful of pictures from practice/meetings (and, I think, one silent video). Now imagine THAT level of suckage for a band!!!

 

For the long, boring story then continue reading (otherwise ignore ):

My best friend/roommate (vocalist, bassist, and "Leader-sama" ) started a band with one of her friends (drummer). She knew I played guitar and bass, so she asked me to join... at least until she found someone else to join permanently. I thought I would play guitar so I declined (I only ever played acoustic), but it turns out that she can't sing and play bass at the same time so I was to play bass. I agreed to be their temporary bassist because my daughter was still a toddler back then and I had a lot of "free" time to practice and whatnot.

During our first meet up they told me more about how they were inspired by jrock bands, were thinking of being a vk band, yada yada yada. I'm only a "temp" member and was planning on hiding my identity anyway so none of it mattered to me. What did matter was that the kind of music we liked and were interested in playing were all similar. Sadly, my opinion wasn't shared with them; the drummer only talked about what kind of "costume" he should get, how much it'd cost, whether or not we should have matching outfits as a band, et cetera. My friend normally dressed oshare kei style, so she was planning on wearing the same stuff for the band. I admit that I got quite excited while designing masks for myself. ;;

 

While practicing cover songs I also started writing out music that came to mind (despite having no prior knowledge/experience with songwriting). Within 5 months I had completely written 2 songs (music and lyrics) and had partial music/lyrics for a handful of other songs. The drummer loved the songs and helped a lot with the drum lines. Vocalist listened to the computer generated music, read the lyrics, and gave me a thumbs up with comments like, "I love this part! It sounds just like An Cafe!" I told her that it felt awkward writing the words that were supposed to come from her, but she insisted that she wasn't confident enough to write her own lyrics (besides, I was "doing fine!" ). She finally broke down and started writing her own lyrics for a single song, but that was because I refused to use Japanese and she wanted to sing in Japanese. I also kept trying to get her to sing for me so I could know her range/style (it's kinda important to know that when it comes to writing music and lyrics) but she'd make one excuse after the other. The drummer said she sounded "like an angel" because she used to sing at practice before I joined, but that wasn't helpful for me. And we still didn't have a guitarist!!!

A month later I was informed that we had a guitarist! Awesome, right?! I thought we could finally have an actual band practice (at that point it was only ever the drummer and I practicing together because the vocalist never felt like singing), but it turns out she was too busy with university to meet up with us. I spoke with the new guitarist a lot online and found out that she picked up guitar that year, wasn't interested in joining a band but our vocalist pressured her, and that she had over a decade of vocal training. Behind "Leader-sama's" back the three of us got together to discuss the band, it's future (or lack-thereof), and if we should drop her as a member. In those 6 months as a band I had NEVER heard my best friend/roommate sing, I honestly had no idea what my vocalist sounded like! That was a deal-breaker of a bad sign for me, so I said that if she wouldn't sing at the next band practice that I'd agree to the member shuffle.

The next band meeting would be our last because the guitarist had to study for exams (or something) and our vocalist ditched us to go on a date. The drummer wanted to kick the vocalist out (that wouldn't make homelife awkward for me at all! *eyeroll* ), make our current guitarist our songwriter (since she didn't even want to be in a band), and take over the band's social media profiles (which were being managed by the vocalist). He had picked the band name and I had created all the songs, so he saw no reason to change those. I thought completely disbanding would be best (remember, I was only supposed to be a temp member to begin with... but I got addicted to creating songs). When "Leader-sama" was told about the secret meetings and the band members' feelings, she rage-quit the band. The drummer soon found another band (but this time it was metal instead of vk/jrock) and the guitarist stopped worrying about learning how to play guitar. XD I secretly worked on the unfinished songs (for my own satisfaction) and continued practicing bass, but the disbandment marked the decline in my relationship with my best friend/roommate.

I know of two separate Japanese-inspired bands that she tried to join (as a bassist) after our disbandment, but she wasn't chosen for either band. One of the bands was geist.

To this day I still haven't heard her sing.......

Cool story, bro X'D X'D X'D X'D X'D

[Velovelo 18]

I just leave this here (to revive the thread):

 

 

Found this through the facebook of some guy who also has various other Luna Sea/ old school visual kei-inspired music projects...

 

WOW, THAT SHIT IS A REAL MESS. Even the bass can't keep up. Wow. His vocal tone actually isn't unpleasant, but why is he forcing himself into Japanese?

 

UGH, THE INSTRUMENTS. Not even my bass playing sounded that awful when I first picked it up. This is just a pile of rubbish.

 

I can tolerate music when the vocals aren't quite up to par. But when even the instruments fail to do their deed, things get really bad. I've heard worse, yeah, but the bass being out of rhythm is a really big part. Man, this is irritating.

 

The singer may not be able to sing properly, but at least the tone of his voice MIGHT be able to provide some acceptable results. He just needs practicing. The rest is just a huge mess.

 

God, this makes my balls hurt in a bad way.

 

[Gaz 1097]

DAS NEUE WEEABOO FAGGOTS FROM GERMANY:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNfehHDK8C4

[Ikna 1225]

Oh dear... first Cinema Bizarr and now this. And lol at how uncreative they are for naming their band and song. The vocalits is so bad and sounds so bored, holy fuck. I had to skip through this whole shit.

Oh and I found something new too:

 

 

I actually think it's not that bad. It sounds also a lot better than their stuff from 2006 (I know those are lives and this one is studio). Still your average cheesy Malice Mizer-ish old school VK. But at least these guys have mexican lyrics and I think the language goes well with the typical visual kei melodies and rhythms.

[Champ213 1858]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNfehHDK8C4

 

It wasn't so bad until the guy started to "sing".

 

Seriously, why do people with a vocal range of like 3 notes think they should be vocalists? This makes me facepalm a lot more than a vocalist being off-key at times, like the one Ikna linked. I can live with that. And I know quite a few vk vocalists that are far from perfect from a technical standpoint, but their voices have charisma and uniqueness.

 

But if the vocalist just sings the same 3 notes over and over again, and has a highly unremarkable voice at that... I really don't get it.

[Velovelo 18]

That vocalist should probably do stuff that builds upon monotone voices... Like... Reading a cheesy poem over boring gothic ambience sounds. But this stuff has not even a single hook, it's pretty sad. The music itself is alright, despite the generic and pretty boring build-up... Nah, that guy should not sing.

[otterley_ 192]

This is a original song of ours:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBgbRqVBiWw

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Oh dear... first Cinema Bizarr and now this. And lol at how uncreative they are for naming their band and song. The vocalits is so bad and sounds so bored, holy fuck. I had to skip through this whole shit.

Oh and I found something new too:

 

 

I actually think it's not that bad. It sounds also a lot better than their stuff from 2006 (I know those are lives and this one is studio). Still your average cheesy Malice Mizer-ish old school VK. But at least these guys have mexican lyrics and I think the language goes well with the typical visual kei melodies and rhythms.

 

Aside from the super messy drumming, this is pretty much a typical demo tape of bands that were around for like 10 minutes at the turn of the century in VKei.

 

I like how they looked like BLOOD

 

 

And then decided to try and be like X mixed with Bret Michaels 

 

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

Aside from the super messy drumming, this is pretty much a typical demo tape of bands that were around for like 10 minutes at the turn of the century in VKei.

 

I like how they looked like BLOOD

 

 

And then decided to try and be like X mixed with Bret Michaels 

 

Wait are you shitting me? Did they really go from poor gawffy to like some sorta AION thrasher hybrid look?

 

I actually dig the music though, it's not great but not terrible either. MOST NEUTRAL RESPONSE EVER!! I tried the other songs and Lune and Crystal Dreams is really the only two I like, it's the most canned 90s VK sounding song of theirs. Also Crystal Dreams has no vocals. The rest are boring ballad sounding stuff I ain't interested in >:V

[Augie1995 325]

IS VII ARC supposed to be some horrible rip from VII-Sense's name? 

[Champ213 1858]

I'm not sure if VII-Sense are important enough to be ripped off....

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

Well for some reason westerners think Juka is a good singer for whatever reason.

[Velovelo 18]

For some reason I actually wish he'd be talking singing in Japanese, just to ramp up the weabooness of his speech singing.

Would make it fun to laugh at.
 

Looks like they also posted 2 more songs to their Facebook page. I haven't heard them yet, but I presume his vocal range won't be changing much.

 

http://youtu.be/i4aiIalKbn4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCOtzddRV8c

 

WAIT IS THIS JUST A JAPANESE TITLE OR IS HE SINGING IN JAPANESE

 

EDIT: Disappointed. But I dig his German accent and this useless, terribad vibrato. "Reash de sky!"

wtf is up with the lyrics though: "Don't deny the power of your [really weird falsetto] imagiinnnnaaaaaiiiiiiitiotitotinranfasd"

[Crube 585]

I always assumed that glam metal was one of the things that inspired the VK bands nowadays. So, what the "western VK" bands are doing is very similar to the bands back in the 80s... just more feminine and weebish.

[Sakura Seven 593]

why do they always have to copy the absolute worst "style" of vk ever

 

not even japanese ppl look good in it hosts are gross