CURRENT LAYOUT

Dir en grey: Kaoru (g), Die (g), Kyo (v), Toshiya (b), Shinya (d). Image from GIGS magazine, 2003.

JROCK BIRTHDAYS

APRIL BIRTHDAYS 4/2 YUU [Merry, guitar] 4/3 CAIM [Zephyr, vocal] 4/6 ITSUKI [Zephyr, bass] 4/7 EMIRU [Lareine, bass] 4/7 KAZUKI [Raphael, guitar] 4/8 NENE [Amadeus, vocal] 4/12 KOJI [La'cryma Christi, guitar] 4/12 REN [Gackt Job, bass] 4/13 IZAM [Shazna, vocal] 4/15 TAKA [Transtic Nerve, vocal] 4/16 CLUTCH [Sex Machineguns, drums] 4/20 RAY [Aliene Ma'riage, bass] 4/24 TANUMA [SADS, bass] 4/25 MASAKI [Transtic Nerve, drums] 4/26 SAKITO [Due le Quartz, vocal] 4/28 ANCHANG [Sex Machineguns, vocal] 4/29 YUYA [Duel Jewel, guitar]

JROCK TRIVIA

THE JROCK FAMILY TREE If you've ever wondered who was in what band with who and performed where with what, here it is. This is nowhere near complete and I'm sure that there are thousands of little ties that we left out, but here are the main connections between people in the jrock world.

NEW RELEASE MP3

Spotlight on recently released songs. This is a rotating mp3 list and will be changed regularly to make room for newer songs, so get 'em while you can! [Janne da Arc] Rainy ~ai no shirabe~

LINK TO US

http://jrock.pitas.com

RECOMMENDED SITES

Amethyst Purple Aozora [Shiina Ringo] As It Is [Siam Shade] Blue Sky Complex Bois de Merveilles B'z Online Music Site Chris and Katrin's X Japan Page Dreamless World [Siam] Eternal Extasy Fallen Angel Fourth Avenue Cafe Fukuyama Yoshiki Glad to be Glay Glay Dictionary: Jiro In Forest [La'cryma] J-ENT! Japanese Channel Jhisbe Network Jikan no Hizumi Jrocker.com JRock Dimension Jrock NYC Jrock Sphere Kurai's Translations Lighter Shade of Black Luna Sea Enterprise Monophobia [PuraTuri] Pierrot HQ Sakura Tokyo Sawasdee Gackt Secret World of Malice Mizer Stare [Janne da Arc] Stop! the Gogatsubyou Tattered Cloth [DEG] Terra Firma [TBG]

Wednesday, April 23, 2003

SEX MACHINEGUNS DISBAND I'm not a fan, but this is for those people who are. The Sex Machineguns have decided to stop activity and will be holding their last live on August 13 at the Budoukan (isn't that kind of far from now? >.>) As of right now that's all there is on the announcement at the official page. Maybe they'll put up prices and stuff later. Thanks to Perdita for the heads up. - Gerald - - Comment - It's 03:29 p.m., and Kaoru's still playing air guitar.

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

REVIEW: PUNK DRUNKER [HIDEKI] Since Siam Shade broke up, the respective ex-members have slowly been starting on their own solo works. Everyone seems to be taking their time except for Hideki, who is already releasing his second solo mini-album, Punk Drunker II. I finally got the chance to listen to the original Punk Drunker (what a title) and was actually really impressed by it. Here's my very late review, but hey, it's better late than never. XD [1] DIGITAL MASTER A throbbing bass beat, some heavy drums, Hideki screaming. Always a good start to an album, and actually I was expecting the entire album to sound something like this song. Hideki isn't exactly someone who I'd expect to go pop like a lot of jrock vocalists do after they go solo, so I'd say this was a good start. This song features some semi-rap from him, lots of voice distortion, and actually sounds a lot like some of the American rock being put out today. Surprisingly, the guitar part is very melodic (though it just ain't the same without Daita). [2] THE SECRET I think this song is all in English. Hideki's English isn't the best, and I can't really hear the words over the beat anyway, so I suggest you just listen to the music. This is more of a Siam Shade-ish style song, again a very heavy-style song, but with a faster punk-style beat (I KNEW there was a reason the album was called Punk Drunker! ^_~). It features Hideki shouting again and reminds me of Don't Tell Lies. A good song to headbang to. [3] KOE NI... After the first two harder rock songs, you'd expect the entire album to be along the same lines, but surprise! Hideki IS a versatile musician after all. Koe ni... branches into speedy pop-punk/rock with happy guitars and does a great job of it. It's a really happy song almost entirely in English except the chorus, with such stirring lyrics such as "Take me I'm your cowboy!" But before you laugh, take a listen...I guarantee you'll be addicted to this tune before Hideki's out of the introduction. [4] SHINY DAY Finally a true punk song. Lighter fare than the first two songs but definitely not as pop as Koe ni..., Shiny Day is still just as addictive. With a chorus like "shiny day/ shine away/ ai ga afuredasu," how can you resist? The middle of this song sounds VERY much like a regular Siam Shade song, but again we're missing Daita. So sad...*snuffle* [5] MARMALADE No, it's not a Gackt rip-off. Gackt's Marmalade was happy, upbeat, pop...Hideki's is, surprisingly, a ballad! This is a beautiful slower song that somehow reminds me of one of those 50's oldies hits, but definitely in a good way. Actually, I take that back...it reminds me of Tomoyasu Hotei's ballad Nobody's Perfect. Siam Shade never put out anything like THIS, and it definitely took me for a loop at first listen, not because it's a bad song but because it's so different. The more I listen to it the more I love it - Hideki singing slow and sounding GOOD. If I had to pick a favorite song I think I'd be stuck between Koe ni... and Marmalade, which Shiny Day coming in a close second. The only thing I had to say about this album is that it's short, but definitely one of the better offerings from mini-albums that I've heard yet, and probably one of the most overlooked offerings of 2002. Definitely a surprise coming from Hideki, who I guess I underestimated musically. Get it if you can - it's worth the money! All I can say right now is if Punk Drunker II is as good as its predecessor, I'm going to have to shell out some yen to see Hideki live when I get to Tokyo in September. =P Album Information PUNK DRUNKER Release date: 02.09.10 Catalog #: JROCK-001 Price: 1800円 Also Punk Drunker II Release date: 03.04.23 Catalog #: JROCK-002 Price: 2000円 Check out some sound samples of both albums at Hideki's official website. Also, Jrock is an indies label, but you can still order both albums at HMV. - Gerald - - Comment - It's 06:38 p.m., and Kaoru's still playing air guitar.

Saturday, April 12, 2003

SHELLY TRIP REALISE What do you get when you put together a whole bunch of ex-visual rock musicians? Something like this. vo. sarino (ex-Aioria) gt. mai (ex-As'Real) ba. kikasa (ex-Due'le quartz) dr. shion (ex-Syndrome) There's more on this at the thread on Inertia's visual kei board if you're interested. Also, not related to this at all, Hyde's new single Hello comes out on June 4. New single from Gackt Tsuki no Uta on June 11. Gackt has apparently also decided to expand his horizons and has signed on as a seiyuu for the new Fist of the North Star OVA scheduled for release on July 24. Lu:na and Oasis are the OP and ED themes for it. Exciting stuff. More info at Sawasdee Gackt. - Gerald - - Comment - It's 02:19 p.m., and Kaoru's still playing air guitar.

Friday, April 11, 2003

BLACK LOVE This is a pretty random note, and everyone it matters to probably already knows. But I found it interesting that Yukito of Raphael has apparently started a new band, called Black Love. The official site is here. All I can say right now is that they're DEFINITELY not a visual band. XD There are some song samples for download in mp3 format if you want to sample them as well. From the one I downloaded (Nice Boys Don't Play RXR) they have a VERY Red Warriors-ish sound - guitar-heavy 80's rock (that song even sounds a lot like one of the Red Warriors songs - King's Rock n Roll). Thanks to Yolande for the link. Check 'em out if you're interested. - Gerald - - Comment - It's 10:24 a.m., and Kaoru's still playing air guitar.

Wednesday, April 9, 2003

REVIEW: ANOTHER STORY [JANNE DA ARC] The idea of the "concept album" has long been an intruiging one to music groups: the chance to combine a book and an album and perhaps even a sort of film script into one. It's like opera for rock bands, choreography for instruments, a musical combined into one tight package. It's not something that's very hard to DO, considering the many albums that have been marketed as "concept albums" by bands, especially in jrock with visual bands, where stories about vampires, gothic fantasy, and other weird and supernatural creatures and happenings have become so common that they are pretty much standard fare. What's hard about making a concept album is, like most other things, doing it well. The one album against which all concept albums should be measured is probably Lareine's Fierte no Umi to tomo ni Kiyu, a breathtaking combination of music, art, story, and style that really defines what the concept album should be. (and no I haven't reviewed it yet, but it WILL get done! ^^;;) Fierte brings the definiton of "concept album" up another notch, sweeping the gamut from hard-pounding rock numbers to cute and bouncy children's music to the orchestral rock ballad that is the album's title track. Other concept albums will be hard-pressed to emulate such a masterpiece. So how does Janne da Arc's new album Another Story stand up to this scale to which concept albums are measured? First of all, it definitely is a concept album, marketed by both the band and the company as such. Yasu even has an essay up on the main site detailing the evolution of the story that started the album and the reason why they decided to take the plunge. Because it is a plunge: not everyone likes concept albums. Concept albums are full of weird musical experimentation and uncommon instrumentation, and Janne da Arc is borderline visual enough that mainstream fans might not appreciate their experiment. Before I start the review, I need to mention that I do not know the story that the album is based off of, so I'm purely going off what I hear in the lyrics and music and what I read in Yasu's essay. I HAVE seen the lyrics booklet but have not had a chance to sit down and look at it in depth, much less translate it. Hopefully I will get to do so in the near future. [1] 1/5 NO OTOBAKO As with most concept albums, Another Story starts out with an instrumental track. 1/5 no Otobako begins as an eerie, atmospheric piece with lonely echoing sounds reminiscent of wind through hollow pipes and some other New Age-y effects. Above that then enters a music box playing a sweet, haunting melody. A female vocal joins in hesitantly towards the end. [2] IN THE STORY This throbbing, majestic song comes directly after the music box fades away, and fits perfectly as the opening song to the album. The orchestral violins of Kiyo's keyboard create a forceful, strong melody line with bass and drums supporting. It actually sounds a lot like something you'd find on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack until about 1:07, when the rhythm abruptly shifts and the song takes on a syncopated hard-rock edge that makes the rest of it sound a lot like an overhauled, reworked, and overall more mature rocking version of Age from Gaia. There's also a really awesome all-instrumental in the middle of this song that is worth listening to. [3] MARIA NO TSUMEATO This was their last single before the album came out. It's fast-paced and pretty much what you'd expect from a Janne da Arc single. I don't have much to say about it, and if you like JDA you've probably already heard it. [4] OASIS This seems to be a popular song title lately. Kiyo's keyboard at the beginning brings us back a little to In the Story, but this song is much more serious and heavy in a minor key. Ka-yu and You are really tearing it up on the bass and guitar with power chords, and I really like Yasu's voice on the lower notes of this song. Between the verse and chorus, there's an abrupt shift that brings the song up to a major key before becoming minor again for the next verse. Overall an excellent rock song with an "epic" touch to it. [5] AKAI TSUKI A mellower, middle-tempo song to follow the three faster numbers before it, Akai Tsuki starts out with some really nice acoustic guitar and a few breathy "ah"s by a female vocal over the intro. Shuji's drumming style is flowing and not too heavy, perfect for the atmosphere this song is trying to create. The guitar solo in the middle is also very listener-friendly and fitting. Despite what you'd think from the title (I know, we've all been corrupted by those visual bands!) the song is actually quite upbeat. [6] UBAWARETA CHIE This is an 11-second or so connecting rack between tracks 5 and 6. Lots of static, whispery voices, etc. [7] SUICIDE NOTE And just when I thought the JDA I knew and loved was entirely absent on this album, we have Suicde Note. The static noises from the previous track are followed up here by more electronic effects from Kiyo, and then You comes in solo with a few chords before the familiar JDA-style beat and chord progression kicks in. Yasu even sounds happy to be singing in his usual style, though the melody is anything but happy. This song is what you would expect from a medium-heavy JDA song - the chorus is quite bouncy also. [8] WHAT'S UP! Uh...what's up!? ^^;; Are any of you 80's music fans? Well here's your song, complete with bad synth, handclaps, bouncy beat, and all. You could almost imagine Yasu with big hair if you tried. On second thought, don't try. That's scary. The chorus of the song is a little less 80's than the overall track, but on the whole, that's the effect they seem to be going for. Extremely addictive, catchy track with audience cheering at the end a la L'Arc~en~Ciel's I Wish or Glay's I'm in Love. [9] PARADISE The two songs are close enough in style that Paradise can be considered a continuation from What's Up!. I really don't find anything particularly special in this song. You has some nice acoustic-y type chords behind the keyboard in the verses in the right channel, contrasted smartly with electric guitar runs in the left channel. One thing I do like about the chorus here is that we get to briefly hear Yasu's falsetto, which he doesn't really use in this album. ;_; [10] EXPLOSION Squealing guitar riffs open this X Japan-esque song, complete with shouting in the background. I swear they ripped this off of Easy Fight Rambling or Give Me the Pleasure. Not to say that's bad or anything, because there's no harm in trying to emulate X Japan, and it kind of gives you a nostalgic feel, though this is definitely a departure in style for JDA. The bass is especially powerful in this song - listen for Ka-yu's driving basslines. [11] KASUMI YUKU SORASE NI SHITE Another song that's closer in style to the regular JDA style - fast, catchy, bouncy, and fun. I really love Yasu's vocals in here. He uses his entire range and you can really see how good he is, especially in the chorus when he reaches for that high B. Other than that, not much to say about this song. [12] VAMPIRE This song sounds almost like a cross between Explosion and Maria no Tsumeato. There's the X Japan style beat, but the melody line is pure Janne da Arc. The addicitively pulsing quality of this song, complete with its darker quality, is a fresh take on JDA's usual work. I don't have much to say for this song either. Kasumi Yuku Sorase ni Shite and Vampire are the two songs which seem to me a little out of place in this album. I believe the album as a whole could do without them because they sound so similiar to a few songs that have already come before. Not saying they are BAD songs, because they definitely aren't - both are very good - but for a concept album, they feel unecessary. [13] OTOME NO KOORI TO JOOU The reprisal of the melody from track 1, sung by a woman and a child. The child is a bit out of tune and keeps stopping, laughing as if embarassed, but the woman carries the song along. There is a faint piano accompaniment in the background, and the voices have an echoey effect that sends goosebumps up the spine (in a good way, however, not a frightening way!) [14] RASEN A medium-paced song, very mellow. In the instrumental parts of the song there are people talking in English, though you can't really hear the words above the accompaniment. The song itself has nothing that immediately catches my attention, but it's very relaxing. As the instruments fade away, the spoken words can be heard - talking about the future and searching for something. The last words that fade away with the music are "forever...and ever...and ever..." Maybe JDA was on a Luna Sea kick. Who knows? [15] RAINY ~AI NO SHIRABE~ The theme and pretty much the song which the entire album has been leading up to. Almost 8 minutes long, this sweeping rock ensemble is definitely one of the best things Janne da Arc has ever done. I wouldn't exactly call it a ballad, though it has qualities of that (I don't think JDA has ever done a true ballad), but it's definitely a song that takes the band farther than they've ever been before and shows how far they've evolved and developed as musicians. The melody and song structure remind me faintly of Heaven's Place, but in a more abstract, mature, and far-reaching way. The song begins with Kiyo playing a floating ensemble of chords with the keyboard set to strings, and then Yasu enters, singing the chorus. It's probably no surprise that the melody he begins to sing is the one that was played in instrumental tracks 1 and 13. Then the guitar, bass, and drums enter, and the song transforms into a mid-tempo almost-ballad. I said on the Gaia review that JDA's mid-tempo songs are always very well written, and this one is certainly no exception. It continues in the same fashion to the instrumental bridge at around 4 minutes in, when Yasu drops out, Shuji changes to 6/8 time on the drums, and Kiyo and You have a great solo/duet grand showcase. As the instruments fade away, Yasu comes in a-cappella, and he's excellent, hitting every note. The chorus of the song repeats with instrumentation, then a chorus of "la la la" (think Gackt's Kono Daremo Inai Heya de or Luna Sea's Love Song) enters to carry the song to conclusion. Rainy ends with the music box of the first track playing the chorus over and over until it runs out. This is a wonderful song, and if I were to recommend one song off this album, it would be this one. Granted, it's no Art of Life or Fierte no Umi to tomo ni Kiyu, but it is a very beautiful piece of work and, for Janne da Arc, it's one of their masterpieces. Incidentally, Rainy is being released as a single on May 8. Everyone go buy it. [16] SHINING RAY Their single that came out after Gaia and the last song on the album. To be perfectly honest, I don't think this song belongs here. I think they should have ended the album with Rainy, with the music box bringing it full circle to conclusion. I don't know why they decided to put Shining Ray here - maybe they decided they needed an epilogue, or maybe they thought it would serve as a good "closing credits" song, because Rainy is definitely the ending song as far as the cencept album is concerned. Whatever the case, I like Shining Ray, but I don't like its position on the album. Overall, I would give Another Story a definite two-thumbs up. There were some weak points, but it gets the job done as a concept album, even for someone like me who doesn't know the story. I do feel that as a concept album, the song styles were still a little limited, but JDA is a more mainstream band and definitely no Lareine or Malice Mizer, so for them, this is a major feat. If they will continue to put out songs like Rainy ~ai no shirabe~, I see their music growing and taking them in an entirely new (and good) direction. So, as an answer to "did Janne da Arc succeed with their concept album?" I would say yes. It's not a stunning success, because JDA isn't the type of band that you'd expect to put out something like a concept album. But Another Story is lightyears ahead of Gaia, which was a very good album in itself. In Another Story, the band demonstrates their potential, and I'm looking forward to Janne da Arc's next album with great expectation. ALBUM INFORMATION ANOTHER STORY Release date: 03.02.13 Catalog #: AVCD-32006 Price: 2913円 Rainy ~ai no shirabe~ information: Release date: 03.05.08 Catalog #: AVCD-32013 Price: 1000円 Preorder from CD Japan or HMV - Gerald - - Comment - It's 10:04 p.m., and Kaoru's still playing air guitar.