Monday, February 25, 2002

VARIOUS NEW RELEASES Thanks to Moonsong for the spiffy new Janne Da Arc layout. I don't think I want to know what Yasu is wearing. XD Anyway, here are some upcoming new releases. Most of them are scheduled to come out on or around March 6. BUCK-TICK: Kyokutou I Love You Release date: 6 March 2002 An 11-track album following their new single Kyokutou Yori Ai o Komete. FAKE: Fake? Release date: 27 February 2002 Ken Lloyd and Inoran's new project/band/thing. Has three tracks. Should be interesting. HYDE: Roentgen Release date: 27 March 2002 It's never too early to advertise, though most of you probably already know that this is coming out. J: Go Crazy Release date: 20 March 2002 J's first single in 2002. He's opened an official site that has an English version, so go explore. ^_^ LA'CRYMA CHRISTI: & U Release date: 6 March 2002 Their frist album in 2 years following their new single Jounetsu no Kaze. Has 11 tracks. LUCIFER: Element of Love Release date: 13 March 2002 The Kaikan Phrase guys have really grown up since their anime tie-in debut in 1999. This new album has 12 tracks, all written by the band members and there's also a tour planned to go along with the album release. Lucifer also released a new single a few weeks ago on Feb 6, Regret. PIERROT: Kowareteiku Kono Sekai de Release date: 27 March 2002 New album. There's not much information on it anywhere yet. SIAM SHADE: A-side Best Collection Release date: 6 March 2002 Siam Shade Best album to be released just before their last live. TOMOYASU HOTEI: Scorpio Rising Release date: 6 March 2002 Hotei's new 13-track album. The CD Japan description makes it sound like a lot of fun, but then again, everything Hotei does is always a lot of fun. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 03:41 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Sunday, February 24, 2002

KLAHA UPDATE Well, looks like Klaha will be the first to update fans on his activities after Malice Mizer discontinued activity. Klaha fans can read up on him on his official website at Klaha Info.Com. Nothing much there yet but it's more than I've heard from the others! I believe Mana is busy with his shop. - MS - hide: "Oi! It's 06:32 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Wednesday, February 20, 2002

LARUKU FANS! ROUTE 666 has two new files from the Flying L'Arc Attack radio show from February 18 and 19, featuring all the members. It's just them being silly again (as usual) but it's been a while since they've all been on the show at the same time. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 11:16 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Tuesday, February 19, 2002

DIR EN GREY EVENT Oh, to live in Japan... looks like ESP Guitars is hosting a Dir en grey fair February 16-28. Those who purchase selected goods will either be entered into a lottery for or receive tickets to a special talk event on March 3rd with Kaoru, Die, and Toshiya. The flyer is here for those interested. ESP Guitars makes Kaoru's signature Ganesa and Die's DDT, both of which are listed in the Artist's Index section of the site. - MS - hide: "Oi! It's 09:29 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Sunday, February 17, 2002

JUST FOR KICKS If you haven't discovered it already, go take the Which Jrock Band Should You Belong To? online test. Loads of fun. In case you're curious, Moonsong got Dir en grey and I got Luna Sea. Surprise surprise. ^_~ - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 01:22 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Wednesday, February 13, 2002

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR Yes, I know I'm late and I should be celebrating Valentine's Day but I don't have any jrock-ish Valentines pictures and I forgot to put up New Years Messages anyway. So here they are: Happy New Year from DIE Happy New Year from HISASHI (and Pikachu) And just a little bit of random insanity from TRANSTIC NERVE which really has nothing to do with either the New Year or Valentine's Day (it's a promo thingy for their 2001 tour) but hey, it's fun. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 11:30 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Wednesday, February 13, 2002

PREVIEW: SHALLOW SLEEP [HYDE] Before I start, AsrunDream.net has been incredibly slow this past month or so. I don't know what the problem is. I thought it was bandwidth at first, but even when I moved some of the files to another server, it was still slow. I'm trying to get this resolved, but for now, you can still get to the site, just be prepared to wait a while for things to load. Hyde's Shallow Sleep comes out officially on Feb 27, but as with everything else, copies are already out on the internet. I haven't been able to get the mp3 copy yet, but Helayne was nice enough to send me a radio edit in Real Player format. If I was to choose a favorite of Hyde's solo songs, I think this one would definitely be it, and I think a lot of people will agree with me. It starts out softly enough, just like Evergreen and Angel's Tale with acoustic guitar, but after the first few seconds, an electric guitar also enters in the background. Hyde's voice is the same as the last two singles (low, breathy, etc), but the song already sounds more lively with the addition of the electric guitar and keyboard. In the second verse, the drums enter softly, building up towards the chorus When the chorus starts, you could almost mistake this for a Laruku song. For the first time in almost half a year, Hyde sings at full volume. The melody just really "floats" as well with the accompanying drums and keyboard orchestration in the background. Hyde is a wonderful songwriter and lyricist and it really shows in songs like this one. I think the one thing that will make people most like this song is that it could be a Laruku song. Hyde may be a solo artist, but technically he's still the vocalist of L'Arc~en~Ciel, and Laruku hasn't released anything in a long, long time. This is a lot more melodic than anything Laruku has done, and you really miss Tetsu's bass line and Ken's guitar solo, but I can really imagine Laruku doing something like this. All that aside, this is a good song that inches closer to the "jrock" side of things than Hyde has been doing in the past, solo-wise. Hopefully we'll see more of this on his album. This song really also reminds me of Hakuei (ex-Penicillin)'s ballad Epilogue, especially the chorus. The radio edit I have has Hyde talking with two? radio commentators who, like all commentators, have various irreverant and funny (at least they think they're funny) things to say about the single, but there are a couple of relevant things that Hyde says in the interview. Shallow Sleep is, according to him, about dreaming while taking a nap or "sleeping lightly" ("asai nemuri"...he translated the English title into Japanese for the DJs). It was recorded in London just like the other two singles. At the end of the interview you can also hear Hyde speak English (he says "ok...see you later.") You can't even tell he has an accent! I guess the English lessons paid off. If you'd like to download the Real Player file, it's here. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 03:33 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Wednesday, February 13, 2002

HEADS UP For Gackt fans anyway. New single scheduled for 2002/04/24. Title has not been determined. - MS - hide: "Oi! It's 11:27 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Tuesday, February 12, 2002

SOMETHING TO PONDER The songs Wind of Gold, White Feathers, Perfect Blue, Vivid Colors, Brilliant Colors, Dive to Blue, Evergreen, and A Drop of Colour are all sung by Hyde, who is colorblind. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 06:27 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Monday, February 11, 2002

MAINTENANCE I archived. Apparently, both our sites midnightrevolution.org and asrundream.net are down, which is why none of the graphics are loading on the blog. We're trying to get this resolved right now but it might be a while. We'll keep you posted. - Gerald - hide: "Oi! It's 09:52 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O