Laputa

[geist 227]

 

Laputa was a Japanese nagoya kei rock band, active from 1993 to 2004. The band chose its name from the flying island in Gulliver's Travels and tried to portray a similar unrealistic view of the world with their performance. Their 1997 album Emadera was named one of the top albums from 1989-1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.

 

I had never heard of these guys before and stumbled across them after listening to Dir en grey's "Ash" and their song "舌" was queued afterwards. What is everyone's thoughts on this band? Like them? Hate them? Favorite releases? They seem pretty interesting and I was looking to check them out later!

 

 

 

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Their early stuff is some of the best nagoya kei ever.

 

This is such a classic.

 

[Kiryu999 3336]

Never listened to their entire discography but most of what I heard is very good. 

This is probably my fav from them:

 

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

iconique and wonderful

 

 

 

I haven't listened to everything by them, but I'm familiar with them enough to know that how they sounded when they started ( @Takadanobabaalien's post) is drastically different from how they ended. I prefer the angsty gawf early stuff + melodramatic middle-career material to their later, more trance-y albums, but there are consistently gems throughout their discography. 

 

 

Early: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecfl1tJX8Ic

 

 

Middle:

 

Late:

 

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by Peace Heavy mk II

[r... 720]

I love them. Have almost all their albums, except the post-EMI stuff (still working on that), but this is seriously one of my absolute favorite Laputa songs:

 

 

this song rules.

[Keiyuu 745]

3 hours ago, Takadanobabaalien said:

Their early stuff is some of the best nagoya kei ever.

I definitely agree.

Their early stuff is godly.

 

 

[r... 720]

early Laputa was the shit:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

mid-era Laputa was the shit:

Spoiler

 

 

 

such a pretty song! my favorite ballad. the aki + Kouichi tag-team was amazing.

 

 

 (JOY! JOY!)

 

late Laputa was the shit:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Favorite albums:

 

翔〜カケラ〜裸 

their most accessible and incredibly solid all the way through. The only stinker is Refrain Limit / Drug Habit.

 

絵〜エマダラ〜斑

the one-two-three punch of ALKALOID, LOWSPIRITED and MONOCHROME is better than whole discogs of lesser bands.

 

眩めく廃人

the ultimate version of 奈落の底 is here. plus, an eternity and Vertigo.

 

God, they were good.

[saishuu 3220]

For some reason, Laputa was one of the first bands I discovered once I decided to truly deep into classic visual kei back in mid 00's. "Sadness" was the first song I heard and it was instantly a favorite. 翔〜カケラ〜裸 ended up becoming one of my all-time favorite albums too; like @r...said, Refrain Limit / Drug Habit is probably the only song on it I don't care about that much (weird structure/guitar riffs, but I still like the chorus), but the rest I love. Very few visual kei songs make me ~feel stuff as both "Breath" and "Feelin' the sky" do.

 

Out of their electronic period, I really like HEAVEN and the Material Pleasures mini. "Gorgeous", "OΦΦ", "Silent on-looker", "I Cry Dance" and "Borderline" are all incredible, but nothing still is as iconic as this:

 

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by saishuu

[geist 227]

19 hours ago, r... said:

Favorite albums:

 

翔〜カケラ〜裸 

their most accessible and incredibly solid all the way through. The only stinker is Refrain Limit / Drug Habit.

 

絵〜エマダラ〜斑

the one-two-three punch of ALKALOID, LOWSPIRITED and MONOCHROME is better than whole discogs of lesser bands.

 

眩めく廃人

the ultimate version of 奈落の底 is here. plus, an eternity and Vertigo.

 

God, they were good.

Thanks for the recs! All I have so far is the 3DISC Best and Coupling Collection and thought those two would be a great entry into the band. I'll make sure to dig into these soon! I've really been enjoying Kouichi's guitar work so far, definitely a highlight for me.

[jaymee 405]

I think Laputa is just one of those bands that will always be appreciated more in the Japanese VK scene than the overseas one, and there's not too many VK shows I've seen in Nagoya where the band didn't mention them at some point while joking/MCing.

 

My fave songs by them are "Yurenagara..." and "Eve ~last eve for you~". But for the latter, it sounds nicer on the album with the piano intro imho.

 

Aki has one of those really unique voices in VK, so if you're feeling it, might be worth checking out his solo work after Laputa disbanded.

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2018 by jaymee

[deedlitmurata 86]

This is definitely one of the best VK bands to have ever existed, it was among my favorites for a long time. Anyone remember this master piece?  Aki was really an amazing singer, I was not able to get into his solo stuff afterwards, it was too experimental for my taste.. but this is definitely a band i will always miss

 

 

[Zalemu 236]

I can't believe you guys don't like Refrain Limit/Drug Habit, what the fuckkkk. That song was always a bop to me! Anyway, my favorite albums are 翔〜カケラ〜裸  and  絵〜エマダラ〜斑. I own the former and it's honestly one of my most prized possessions.

 

I also really love how emotive Aki is in their PVs and live performances. Just look at his eyes.

 

 

 

 

[saishuu 3220]

20 hours ago, Zalemu said:

I can't believe you guys don't like Refrain Limit/Drug Habit, what the fuckkkk. That song was always a bop to me!

I've actually grown to really like it these past few months. lol

[YuyoDrift 1540]

Man you guys made me binge their 翔〜カケラ〜裸 album for days now haha.

God I love this band.

[setsuha_ 4]

Can't believe they were being discussed here and I came to know now. I am familiar with nearly their entire discography, at least of what was released by them (I haven't listened to Darkside Nightmare yet). But it has been only five years since I know them. Even with such experience, I believe I can say this: New Temptation and  OΦΦ are the worst releases (in my opinion). Anyway, I can't even select a favourite album. @Zalemu Refrain Limit/Drug Habit would have been in my favourites had it not had that chorus. I love everything else about it. It is hard to believe it is not liked much.

 

From their later sound, 深海 is worth listening to. B.C., Crash boy, 木漏れ日, 君の声, borderline, masquerade and 舌 are some others. If you wish to listen to something old, Sadistの夢 is better than 私が消える (again, in my opinion). If you wish to listen to buy an entire album, try Cakera instead of Emadara and Jakou. (If you have time, try them too). I guess I can call these my favourite releases.

 

Something I wouldn't really recommend you to watch but should be shared: (restricted to their FC but someone yet uploaded it)

Spoiler

Saddist no yume

 

 

I have nearly all of their albums. That's my modest collection. Thinking of getting more soon, especially some VHS.

 

@geist I have noticed that many fans of Laputa also like Dir en grey, including me. @jaymee They talk about them?! Mind giving an example you might remember? I used to always argue that they are still popular in Japan and nobody believed me. But they have lost a lot of support from overseas. I seriously drew a fan art and posted it on a group on Facebook with nearly 7000 members and no one recognised them.

 

If you like them, please follow their solo projects too. Poor Kouichi (their guitarist) has not updated his website in 6 years. Guessing he must have left the music scene. The others are still active. The vocalist's solo project seems to be going really good. You may check out the previews uploaded on YouTube by Khaos Number if you like his voice. You can purchase his works on Zoisite if you like them too.

[deedlitmurata 86]

On 6/28/2018 at 2:45 PM, setsuha_ said:

Can't believe they were being discussed here and I came to know now. I am familiar with nearly their entire discography, at least of what was released by them (I haven't listened to Darkside Nightmare yet). But it has been only five years since I know them. Even with such experience, I believe I can say this: New Temptation and  OΦΦ are the worst releases (in my opinion). Anyway, I can't even select a favourite album. @Zalemu Refrain Limit/Drug Habit would have been in my favourites had it not had that chorus. I love everything else about it. It is hard to believe it is not liked much.

 

From their later sound, 深海 is worth listening to. B.C., Crash boy, 木漏れ日, 君の声, borderline, masquerade and 舌 are some others. If you wish to listen to something old, Sadistの夢 is better than 私が消える (again, in my opinion). If you wish to listen to buy an entire album, try Cakera instead of Emadara and Jakou. (If you have time, try them too). I guess I can call these my favourite releases.

 

Something I wouldn't really recommend you to watch but should be shared: (restricted to their FC but someone yet uploaded it)

  Reveal hidden contents

Saddist no yume

 

 

I have nearly all of their albums. That's my modest collection. Thinking of getting more soon, especially some VHS.

 

@geist I have noticed that many fans of Laputa also like Dir en grey, including me. @jaymee They talk about them?! Mind giving an example you might remember? I used to always argue that they are still popular in Japan and nobody believed me. But they have lost a lot of support from overseas. I seriously drew a fan art and posted it on a group on Facebook with nearly 7000 members and no one recognised them.

 

If you like them, please follow their solo projects too. Poor Kouichi (their guitarist) has not updated his website in 6 years. Guessing he must have left the music scene. The others are still active. The vocalist's solo project seems to be going really good. You may check out the previews uploaded on YouTube by Khaos Number if you like his voice. You can purchase his works on Zoisite if you like them too.

I remember when Laputa disbanded, it was also one of my favorite bands at the time; I tried following up the vocalists (Aki)'s works, but it was very experimental when he first started and I really forgot to do some follow up on him!  I'm going to check out his latest works, if you have any recommended song, let me know

 

And I am very sad to know that Kouichi might have left the music scene.. he was so talented..

[Reiko 75]

I've had some Laputa songs in my library for a bit now, but after seeing this thread, I grabbed their discography. Took a minute to grow on me, but I'm starting to really love them ... Thanks y'all!
 

[deedlitmurata 86]

4 hours ago, Reiko said:

I've had some Laputa songs in my library for a bit now, but after seeing this thread, I grabbed their discography. Took a minute to grow on me, but I'm starting to really love them ... Thanks y'all!
 

I'm glad this thread help revive some interest for Laputa and his members   they were definitely one of the greatest bands in visual kei history. On my side, I checked the vocalist's (Aki) recent works and it sounds very decent, so i ordered the latest album called "Revolve" , looking forward to it.

[EzraEroguro 174]

Can any one direct me toeards Everlasting-K and Aki's solo stuff? I used to have Conflict/Live into Conflict, but lost them due to storage crashing.

[paranoia 23]

this band is... omg i love this band

[saishuu 3220]

18 minutes ago, paranoia said:

this band is... omg i love this band

your nickname... is it starting?

[paranoia 23]

3 hours ago, saishuu said:

your nickname... is it starting?

hahahaha, no...long story about my nickname

[setsuha_ 4]

On 7/11/2018 at 2:37 PM, deedlitmurata said:

I'm glad this thread help revive some interest for Laputa and his members   they were definitely one of the greatest bands in visual kei history. On my side, I checked the vocalist's (Aki) recent works and it sounds very decent, so i ordered the latest album called "Revolve" , looking forward to it.

I was going to recommend you the same album! The truth is that I am really glad to speak about them with other people (though I sound too emotional) and to see people talking about them. Aki will be releasing another album this year and, after listening to a live recording, I can't wait for it. Surprisingly, his voice hasn't changed much. But at times, especially when he is saying thank you, it is easy to understand his age. My favourite track on this one till now is Revolve. The album itself has been spoken well of. I am happy I decided to try his work too. And he is celebrating his 25th year on the 8th of August. If you are in Japan, maybe you could attend this live as the setlist seems good. Do tell us what you think of Revolve.

 

And this account... I doubt it is authentic. Here Kouichi says that he wants to study art in greater depth, talking something about DADA. Do you know who this person is? But, if the account is real, could it be that he has found something in art? Unlikely but I hope he is happy with whatever he is doing. It is his birthday in a few days by the way. And I drew this for the said occasion. I do not know if he does look like this but I don't have any chance of seeing him nor does he have any chance of seeing this. I hope more people drew them now as they used to do before. If no one does, the fan base seems non-existent.

Spoiler

 

Edited July 29, 2018 by setsuha_

[deedlitmurata 86]

9 hours ago, setsuha_ said:

I was going to recommend you the same album! The truth is that I am really glad to speak about them with other people (though I sound too emotional) and to see people talking about them. Aki will be releasing another album this year and, after listening to a live recording, I can't wait for it. Surprisingly, his voice hasn't changed much. But at times, especially when he is saying thank you, it is easy to understand his age. My favourite track on this one till now is Revolve. The album itself has been spoken well of. I am happy I decided to try his work too. And he is celebrating his 25th year on the 8th of August. If you are in Japan, maybe you could attend this live as the setlist seems good. Do tell us what you think of Revolve.

 

And this account... I doubt it is authentic. Here Kouichi says that he wants to study art in greater depth, talking something about DADA. Do you know who this person is? But, if the account is real, could it be that he has found something in art? Unlikely but I hope he is happy with whatever he is doing. It is his birthday in a few days by the way. And I drew this for the said occasion. I do not know if he does look like this but I don't have any chance of seeing him nor does he have any chance of seeing this. I hope more people drew them now as they used to do before. If no one does, the fan base seems non-existent.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I'm also very happy to be able to talk about them.. honestly I don't know anybody else who likes this band the way I do, so i understand the feeling lol  the previews for this album sound awesome, my mailing service says the album will arrive this week, so I will definitely publish my opinion on it ^^  I can't wait to hear new music with Aki's voice which I always liked so much. A few days ago I got nostalgic, and I watched the "Heaven to perfection" DVD, that is such a great concert, I love the set list.  Unfortunately I'm not in Japan, but I'm planning to go by the end of the year for some other concerts I'm interested in, so I will be checking Aki's schedule in case he has something planned around those dates.

 

Thanks for sharing the Kouichi account, I don't think someone would fake him.. since he is not that famous now, so maybe it is legitimate. About DADA, the only DADA I know of is the vocalist from the band Velvet Eden, I haven't seen them much active recently, so maybe Koichi is working something with this person? interesting..  and thanks a lot for sharing the drawing! it looks amazing you have very good drawing skills, maybe you should draw Aki too, or maybe you have done it already? if so, please share too

[setsuha_ 4]

On 7/11/2018 at 9:36 PM, EzraEroguro said:

Can any one direct me toeards Everlasting-K and Aki's solo stuff? I used to have Conflict/Live into Conflict, but lost them due to storage crashing.

Though I am not the least experience when it comes to Everlasting-k, Khaos Number has a Youtube channel where many trailers of aki's works are uploaded. I recommend the recent releases over the earlier ones. I don't know if it is just me or if the trailers really are boring compared to the whole songs. There is indeed one whole song there but it is a live recording. If you find anything interesting enough, you can buy it on Zoisite's shop, which was the only place I could find.