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Disclaimer: This is all Laurelgand and Moonsong's fault. If not for them I'd never be writing this stuff on this page. Blame them and especially Laurelgand for the corpse tea. [version 31] The legendary band Luna Sea. From left to right: Ryuichi, Sugizo, Inoran, J, Shinya. Guitar is Sugizo's ESP Eclipse S-V. Lyrics from Into the Sun, the last song that Luna Sea ever wrote and one of their best: pulsing, primordial, enveloping you in the rhythm of an ancient beat.
now we cut it away and run towards the birthplace of the gods into the sun until you are destroyed burn on stronger still
[Gerald talking to Lyra on IM at 1 in the morning]
Gerald: i hate studying
I made a commemorative wallpaper for Malice Mizer. The 800x600 version is here and the 1024x768 version is here here. Neesan has also used the smaller version of it for her blog layout...*sniffles sadly*
ger flew into the sun at 0122 hours
On my note about Garnet and the lack of a farewell song below in my last entry.
Scratch that.
I don't know if this theory will hold any water at all, but Moonsong has already mentioned this, so I will expound on it. Garnet sounds almost exactly like Au Revoir, one of the Malice Mizer songs from the Gackt era. Garnet is also almost exactly half as long as Au Revoir, besides being only...half a song. There's one verse and one chorus, and that's it. I don't know if this version if the correct version or if there's a longer version somewhere, but this is very fishy.
If you listen carefully, you'll notice that it also carries the sounds of other past Malice Mizer songs. Egee, Je te Veux, and Beast of Blood come to mind, and the recording style makes it sound ever-so-faintly like an indies recording. The chorus also is reminiscent of Gardenia.
So maybe I was wrong. Maybe Garnet IS Malice Mizer's farewell song, a combination of EVERYTHING they've ever done wrapped up into one song, which is why it sounds so...weird. After all, when you take fifty-odd songs and combine them into one, it's bound to get a little strange. It's like Garnet is a reprise of Au Revoir. And we all know that reprises of songs usually come...at the end of an album. And we also all know what "au revoir" means.
Mana...you idiot.
ger flew into the sun at 2243 hours
Well, if you've talked to me or neesan in the past two days, you probably know.
Malice Mizer disbanded yesterday, December 11, 2001.
I suppose it really isn't that big of a deal and shouldn't be to me, but when neesan told me, I thought she was joking. But there it was, on their site. I didn't know what to think. I still really don't.
There's the obvious response for people who don't follow Malice Mizer, jrock, or music in general: "so what? They're just a band." But Malice Mizer is more than just another band to me. I've been a loyal fan for more than year; perhaps not as fanatic as some, but Malice Mizer has been so much of an inspiration to me. It might seem ridiculous to some people for fans to get upset over "some band," but I'll just say that I take my music very seriously, and for people whom I've never met and music that I've never heard played live, they've touched me tremendously. I haven't always agreed with what they've done, but I've never stopped listening and believing.
I first heard of Malice Mizer online. I wasn't a very big visual jrock band fan at the time, but the sites that I visited spoke highly enough of them that I decided to give them a try. At that time, Gackt had been absent from the band for about a year and activity was slow. I downloaded most of their Merveilles songs and then went and bought the CD. I couldn't have made a better choice. Merveilles is one of the best albums I have ever heard and one that I still listen to regularly. The music in it has made me laugh, cry, and tears at my soul like very few pieces of music have ever done.
When I heard that Klaha had joined the band, I eagerly looked forward to more songs, and was surprised and oddly shocked at first at the "new sound" that I heard from Malice Mizer. Looking back, I realize that Gackt's direction was very different from Mana/Klaha's, and that I shouldn't have assumed that they would keep making the same kind of music with Gackt gone. And they didn't. It took a while to sink in, but I remember when it struck me that Klaha fit in with Malice Mizer much better than Gackt had. And that his songs were different in a wonderful way.
And really, it's not about what vocalist sings what song, but about the overall message. And I think that through their nine years of making music, Malice Mizer has carried their vision admirably. I wasn't a fan when Gackt left. I wasn't even a fan when Kami passed away. But it doesn't mean that they and all of the former and present band members haven't passed on their vision.
I suppose it's different for me because Malice Mizer is the first band to disband that I actually followed while they were active. Luna Sea and X Japan and the ones of the past...yeah, they disbanded, but I wasn't there. I didn't experience it. This...this is real.
I don't know how it happened, and quite honestly, all of us who are Malice Mizer fans are shocked, because we never saw it coming. There wasn't a hint, not anything on their site about solo work, nothing. That's pretty understandable, because Malice Mizer is one of the most reclusive and secretive bands I've ever known, but it would have been nice of them to warn their fans. Then again, maybe Mana thought it would be easier to break it all at once, but I would have thought there would be something. As romantic as they are, maybe a farewell song? X Japan had their The Last Song and Luna Sea had Love Song/Into the Sun. The last single Malice Mizer released was Garnet. It's a nice song...but it's a disappointment for a last release. That makes me believe that something must have happened that lead to this breakup. That it wasn't a planned incident.
Some people are saying that this is temporary and that they'll get back together. If so, I'll be looking forward to it. I'm trying to ignore the little voice inside my head that tells me that bands are never as good as they once were after they get back together after a hiatus. We'll see what happens.
I'm saddened by their loss from the jrock community. Many of the newer visual jrock bands have more looks than they did talent. Malice Mizer was one of the few that had the talent and the vision to reach out and explore. Even though I believe that their height was during their Merveilles period, and that they were never the same after Gackt left (and I know many fans will agree with me), Klaha's addition to the band was probably one of the best things that could have happened to them at that point. I know I speak for everyone when I say that we were all looking forward to the band's new direction, and this is an incredible loss.
I for one can say that their message was heard. Through Japan, throughout the whole world. I think Mana would be pleased.
To Mana, Klaha, Közi, Yu~ki, Tetsu, Gackt, and...yes, even Kami...until we meet again. Because even though we have not met in person, we have been together in spirit.
I believe that.
I've translated Malice Mizer's farewell message from their site. You can find it up at Shiroi Heya if you're interested.
ger flew into the sun at 2218 hours
OK so I'm majorly procrastinating on my paper here.
Moonsong: You know... the problem with DEG fic in script format, besides the obvious, is when someone walks over to Die...
ger flew into the sun at 1822 hours
*smirks at neesan* I see you finally discovered Happy Swing Space Site and Teru Me Night Glay. *dies* When I say Glay English is the most amusing thing in the world, I'm not kidding! *hugs* I'm glad you're feeling better anyway today. And did you know that you posted some of your entries this morning twice? And there's one entry that's blank. XD Must be the pitas server.
I actually had a very productive weekend. School's out, but I had to get up on Saturday anyway to help out at the 14th annual Coats for Kids, which is a charity event to hand out coats for underprivileged kids for winter. We did security, so we wore our BDU's there. I didn't know that we were going to be outside, but I got put outside handing out tickets to people so they could go stand in line to get into the building. The line was freaking LONG and when we got there at 7 AM (the thing started at 8) the line was already down the block wrapped around the building. The volunteer coordinator told us that people had been lining up since 5 PM the PREVIOUS night. -_-
Anyway, it happened that Saturday morning was also when it decided to get cold and start to rain, and we were stuck out in it. I didn't really mind though. It was worth it to see those people get their coats and stuff. It's a different experience doing stuff like that, and I'm glad I did it. You get a glimpse at how the lives of other people who are less fortunate than yourself, and I really hope that some of those kids get to break out of it and go to college. I got to brush up on my Spanish too, though I dunno if the people actually understood me. ^^;; It's been a few years since I've spoken it...been busy with Chinese and Japanese.
For the tachi...especially whoever was in the chat at the time when we were discussing...you-know-what...thank you. For listening. ^^;;; I might not be the most with-it person in the entire world, but I know I'm richer for having friends like you guys. We were all meant for something great, I know it. I believe that.
I can play Be With You on acoustic guitar!!! ^____________^
Anyway, I am on page 4 of my monster Air Force paper. 2 more pages to go! *dies*
ger flew into the sun at 1715 hours
Jen: I was in my Japanese lit class today and we were reading a short story called "The Bloody Sword" where this Buddhist Deity kills some guy with a sword
Gerald: heee
Lyra: Maybe you'll invite Ger to talk to us in Music Class, Ger? We can have Jrock day. XD
ger flew into the sun at 2224 hours
New layout! Was thinking about Luna Sea today while blogging at Shiroi Heya and got inspired...so here they are in all their uh...really dim glory. XD I actually got the pictures off of one of my wallpapers for my computer. It's a really nice picture with the 5 of them kind of lit by stage lights from the top, fading to black. A kind of eerie, spooky look.
Last week of school...and the countdown is on: 4 days! We have PT tomorrow but that's not so bad, since it's the last one and it's a 700 workout. We better not do anything dumb. >< I plan on going to all my classes this week. We'll see how that works out. ^^;; I have a tendency to sleep in.
Been having really weird dreams lately. I won't share on the blog since they're rather...explicit. As in the sex and violence kind of explicit. ^^;;;; It's not really disturbing me, I just wonder what I'm doing these days to warrant these kinds of dreams. *snrk* Maybe I don't wanna know.
I can kind of play the chorus to Be With You on acoustic guitar. -_- Here's hoping that I'll be able to practice during finals. And Lyra, I'll see what I'm doing that weekend...it'd be nice to come and see you again! We have to watch Galaxy Quest! XD XD
ger flew into the sun at 2014 hours
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luna sea
Name |:| Gerald Tarrant
Rebirth.
INTO THE SUN
it's time to go
tsukiageru rhythm osaekirezu ni
if you feel the pumping rhythm
sabaku wo yuke kimi wa kagayaku
gingo into the desert you're shining
get the freedom
taiyou made ato mou sukoshi sa
just a little farther to reach the sun
kimi wa honou ai wa moumoku
you are a flame love is blindness
karamitsuku noise
the noise twisting around us
into the sun kieru made
until you disappear
ima umarekawaru
now we are reborn
doko made mo tsukinukete
keep piercing on forever
it's time to go
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