featured list B-side appreciation - L'arc-en-ciel

[tetsu_sama69 1119]

 

Taste the rainbow

 

For a band with 20+ years of activity and plenty of hit singles along with great albums it's hard to pick an area to to focus on when it comes to the work of L'Arc~en~Ciel. They are my favorite band of all time and I thought it would be great to share some of the variety of music they've released throughout their career. This mainly focuses on the b-side tracks from the many singles they've released and these usually are not featured on albums either. There was a compilation album for re-mixes and P'UNK~EN~CIEL but those were from a few years back I thought I would share my favorites from their b-sides.

 

P'UNK~EN~CIEL (2004 - 2012)

P'UNK~EN~CIEL started in 2004 where members swap their traditional roles in the band to play "punk" versions of their songs. Instead of their typical line-up they change to tetsuya on vocals, hyde on guitar, yukihiro on bass, and ken on drums. It's definitely one of my favorite "alter ago" bands if you can call it that, mostly because my favorite member takes over on vocals and he's already a very outgoing, fun dude and it definitely shows when he takes over during lives. Originally they started the idea with their first line-up with original drummer Sakura with the name D'ARK~EN~CIEL but record label issues at the time prevented the single they were featured on to not be released until a much later date.

 

First up on the thrill ride is the most classic of classics "DUNE" and it's a revamp that's a punch to the face of tasty pop-punk flair. The song already has a very memorable guitar riff that has a heavier twist to it in this particular version  and gives it new life. It shows when the song reaches the guitar solo taking you a ride of it's own. 

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"HONEY" is already a very energetic and upbeat song on it's own so throwing it into the P'UNK blender gave it an interesting result. It starts with a slower paced rhythmic dance through the verses that almost makes you think that this song is sticking to it's more melodic source. That is until it surprises you with a sucker punch of fast punk style delivery of the chorus that makes it difficult to not get up and mosh to or at least head-bang happily to at your desk... WHAT? DON'T JUDGE ME....

 

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L'Acoustic (2011-Present)

Instead of a role swap L'Acoustic is pretty much as it is shown, redone versions of previous tracks played with acoustic style. It began when they stopped P'UNK~EN~CIEL for a much different and smoother type of b-side. There aren't many tracks they've done in this style but I do like it a lot. It's some of their best lesser known songs in a really chill style. Some of them haven't been released on singles yet but they're still nice to hear from the live versions.

 

"Kasou" is already a very chill song but the studio version has more a dark vibe to it given the funerary nature of the song. Making it a purely acoustic track seems to bring it more to life, making it feel like a song that could be played at a wake. It brings you closer to the emotions of loss that are sprinkled throughout the lyrics and instrumentals.
 

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The acoustic version of "I'm So Happy" gives it a very lounge vibe with very gentle instrumentals and vocals that sound very unclean. As you listen to it you almost feel as though it's being played in a smoky room with a soft jazz quartet playing a beautiful love song that touches everyone who listens to it.

 

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yukihiro remixes

When yukihiro took over drums for the band in the latter half of their career he showed off his technical skill by making fantastic remixes of their releases. Most of the tracks have a very psychedelic feel to them but are sometimes the perfect mood setters.  They're not entirely my cup of tea but if you're into trippy remixes/tencho/dub then these might interest you.

 

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B-sides (1991 - present)

Sometimes there is no variation/remix track and instead a regular b-side track is featured like most releases from any band in circulation. Some of them are my favorite tracks and I feel they are special little gems hidden in the rough, especially bravery which is possibly my favorite song from their entire discography.

 

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[evenor 1655]

 

 

Personal favorite!

[r... 720]

1 hour ago, evenor said:

 

 

Personal favorite!

 

Awesome song.

Always dug Brilliant Years too:
 

 

Not a fan of P'UNK~EN~CIEL, tho. The yuki remixes are a mixed bag. Some are ok. Most of it aren't.

[Hakari 282]

Their b side album is terrific. I believe this band creates the best b side songs. 

[Pretsy 1343]

Only if they were still sticking to creating new B-sides as some sort of "what if this were the sound of the album we are releasing soon" kind of spoiler:

 

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Where did Metropolis fans go? It's like one of their most essential B-sides lol

 

 

Kinda anecdotal choice I have here since even the band itself has no clue about this song anymore (honestly, look up to interviews from particular L'arc fanpages haha). A real shame though - I love the vague shibuya kei-ness here...

 

 

 

 

 

As for L'arcoustics, latest HONEY L'acoustic version is pure awesomeness for lounge aficionados like me  - works better here than with " I'm So Happy" where I cannot help but rule it out as an outtake from Hyde's drunk sessions haha lol.

 

Let's not forget about "album b-sides"...well, technically they are b-sides in the light of album's a-sides, a.k.a single songs, amirite?

 

Won't URL because L'arc is sensitive about YT uploads but namely (and chronologically) Entichers, Blame, Garasu Dama, Fare Well , LORELEY, Cradle, Ibara no Namida, TIME SLIP,  Coming Closer, Hoshizora, Sunadokei and Shade of Season are among my all-time favorite album b-sides - and of course my choices are not exactly all "most popular" ones but personally speaking this palette is what exactly describes L'arc's rainbow-ish diversity to me...

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2016 by Alroy

[r... 720]

Do you guys consider album deep cuts as b-sides? I always separated between the two.

 

B-sides are part of singles (or released first in a single)  and album songs are album songs, and L'Arc~en~Ciel has plenty of amazing deep cuts throughout the albums. Even in their current sucky incarnation.

[Delkmiroph 1649]

I am definitely with b-sides <3

[herpes 1597]

l'arc's b-sides from the mid-90s are legendary. punk is and always was trash, l'acoustic same so.

 

 

 

[Komorebi 2193]

As much as I adore L'Arc, half of their old b-sides always seemed kinda boring to me (metropolis and a swell in the sun for example), while some others were really good.

I'll have to pick P'Unk en Ciel for this one because there's not one song in that bunch that I didn't like (Dune and Natsu no Yuutsu were da best).

Their current acoustic arrangements are pretty but haven't blown my mind yet.

[Reiko 75]

B sides are untouchable. Yasouka, Brilliant Years, Sai wa Nagareta, I'm so happy, those are some of their best tracks ever.

Edited June 18, 2018 by Reiko