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J-Rock bands?


Amorphous
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[color=crimson][size=1]Well this is what I've been curious about for some time now. But I've never really been able to get into the Japanese music, because mostly all I've heard is songs that I like but I can never seem to get a name of the band. So what I wanted to know is if someone could give me some recommendations for some J-Rock bands, or something bit more loud. Anyways yeah that's my plea, any help would be appreciated, I mean I like the random music played on Animes and I can usually just find them. But I want stuff that isn?t on Anime, something new to try out. So yes once again thanks to anyone in advanced. [/color][/size]
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[b]Indies Bands:[/b]
As'Real
Baroque
Blam Honey
Blast
Das Vasser
Deadman
DespairsRay*
Due le quartz*
Duel Jewel*
Earl Grey*
ElDorado*
Gill'e Cadith
Kagerou*
Kagrra*
Kemuri (ska)
La'Mule
Madeth Gray'll*
Moi Dix Mois
Phobia
Pride of Mind
Shulla
Sophia
Syndrome*

[b]More popular bands/singers:[/b]
Buck-Tick
Chisato*
Dir en grey*
Gackt*
Glay
Hakuei*
hide
Janne da Arc
Kuroyume
Laputa (not so much their newer stuff)
L'Arc~en~Ciel* (newer stuff is poppy/rock)
Luna Sea*
machine* (Idustrial Rock)
Malice Mizer*
Noi'X
Penicillin*
Porno Graffitti* (poppy rock)
Psycho le Cemu
Siam Shade
S.O.A.P. (Sons Of All Pus*ies)
Takui*
Tetsu69
Transtic Nerve
X-Japan
Yukihiro

There's a pretty extensive list of J-Rock bands. Keep in mind some of, if not most, of those indie bands will be very hard to find. They also tend to be the more harder rock of them. The rest are mainstream, of have been mainstream, and music tend to get more poppy while they are mainstream (except Dir en grey who's music continue to be very experimental hard rock). Case in point: L'Arc~en~Ciel, Luna Sea, etc. The Star (*) is for the bands I particularly like. It all depends on what kind of J-Rock you're looking for. And alot of these bands have broken up and/or no longer make music.
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How can you really get into the music without being able to understand what they are saying? I assume that most of us cannot understand a lot of Japanese, am I wrong? I can only appreciate Japanese music a little when i watch the super-silly music videos on International channel.

There was this one song where they used the music from ghostbusters though, it was pretty fantastic. I would like to have that music if just for the novelty of it.
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I've not tried a lot of Japanese music, but most of it just sounds so dated to me. Based on what I have heard, I don't see the appeal of it over many similiar bands around here, but that's me. And no, I'm not wanting to debate that... so just leave it as it is: my opinion.

Out of the twenty or so that I've personally tried (not a couple songs... at least a dozen apiece off various releases), the only J-Rock band that has ever stood out was the Pillows. I found out about them about two years ago now, I believe. I had some MP3s way back, but they're long gone.

I finally got some CDs of theirs in the mail the other day. Another Morning, Another Pillows and something else I forget the name of.

To me, they are what I'd be interested in. The fact that they sing in Japanese doesn't really matter because I can get into the music and the harmony side of the vocals, rather than the words themselves. I assume many others feel that way about the other music. Some things just transcend language. I just can't get into most other Japanese stuff I've tried like that personally.

I don't feel that they sound dated, but I wouldn't call them on the fringe of music either. They're at a really good place, where they can really show off their talents without getting too ahead of themselves. I find most of their music I've tried very enjoyable.

I'm still trying to find something out about Inugami Circus-dan, but I've had no luck.

I like random other Japanese stuff. Guitar Vader is a good group from what I have. Of course there's all that stuff they put in games too. Hideki Naganuma is a good example... but he doesn't really do rock music.
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[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by satan665 [/i]
[B]How can you really get into the music without being able to understand what they are saying? I assume that most of us cannot understand a lot of Japanese, am I wrong? I can only appreciate Japanese music a little when i watch the super-silly music videos on International channel.

There was this one song where they used the music from ghostbusters though, it was pretty fantastic. I would like to have that music if just for the novelty of it. [/B][/QUOTE]

Cause music has nothing to do with singing. Or lyrics. Music are instruments being played to create harmony and melody. Lyrics are words put into a song that most of the time don't make any sense anyway, so why does it matter? I don't listen for American lyrics, I'm certainly not going to care about Japanese ones.
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[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Transtic Nerve [/i]
[B]Cause music has nothing to do with singing. Or lyrics. Music are instruments being played to create harmony and melody. Lyrics are words put into a song that most of the time don't make any sense anyway, so why does it matter? I don't listen for American lyrics, I'm certainly not going to care about Japanese ones. [/B][/QUOTE]

[size=1] You are [i]dead[/i] wrong Transtick.

Lyrics and instrumentals mesh together in a song to form a beautiful living, breathing catharsis. They are both equally, if not congruently, important to me personally; and they are both important to one another to an extent.

And yes, almost [b][i]all[/b][/i] song lyrics do have a meaning. It's just those people, such as you, that don't understand these meanings. Poetry and lyrics are pretty closely related in my opinion.

To discredit lyrics is to not truly feel the truety of music.[/size]
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Sure music has meaning on its own, but I grew up with rock music, not classical. Lyrics add depth. I think both are important because I like to listen to music actively and not casually. I guess different people listen to music for different reasons, but some sytles of music would be nothing without lyrical content. Rap is all about content, and would be really pointless for the most part if you couldn't understand it. Great bands like Radiohead sound great musically, but are truly amazing because of their lyrics.

I guess in pop music the lyrics are usually all cliche or meaningless, so I can understand pop music fans liking J-pop.

(this is so of topic)
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[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Mitch [/i]
[B][size=1] You are [i]dead[/i] wrong Transtick.

Lyrics and instrumentals mesh together in a song to form a beautiful living, breathing catharsis. They are both equally, if not congruently, important to me personally; and they are both important to one another to an extent.

And yes, almost [b][i]all[/b][/i] song lyrics do have a meaning. It's just those people, such as you, that don't understand these meanings. Poetry and lyrics are pretty closely related in my opinion.

To discredit lyrics is to not truly feel the truety of music.[/size] [/B][/QUOTE]

Well I'm sure they have meaning. I didn't say they didn't. I said they didn't make any sense, and they don't. Most Japanese rock band's lyrics don't make much sense (Have you HEARD Dir en grey's lyrics yet? my point exactly). Lyrics and music don't mix, the tone in which you sing the song mixes with the instruments being played. I've heard some absolutely terrible lyrics, but they were sung very well and therefor mixed well witht he song, making the overall song fairly good. (T.a.t.u. for example) and I've heard some reallly great written lyrics, which are preformed horribly, which completely ruins the song (GLAY for example)

I personally don't pay attention to lyrics and I really don't like singing. I like MUSIC, not singing. If I wanted to hear singing I'd listen to Opera or Soul or any sort of genre associated more with singing ability rather than the music played. But I don't, I listen to rock music cause I like the music, not the singing. However, like stated, the way someone sings a song can help or completely ruin a song. This is also the reason I tend to like songs which DON'T contain any lyrics (Instrumentals, trance, rock songs without lyrics, etc etc)
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[size=1] I wasn't referring to Japanese music; I was referring to music in general.

It's probably because most Japanese music could be classified as "J-Pop," which I would place with the American equivalent, "Pop."

Most songs do have meanings...and Japanese songs aren't an exception at all I'd say.[/size]


[quote] Lyrics and music don't mix...[/quote]

[size=1]Yes, they do.[/size]
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Just listen to Dir en grey, and if you don't like them, give up. Everyone who has ever listened to Japanese rock music has some crazy obsession with this band, so if you don't like them, it's probably just not for you.

But Semjaza's pretty much right. Most of it is outdated and bad. Don't feel like you need to get into j-rock just because it's currently gaining popularity (actually, Dir en grey is gaining popularity). Most of it is just a rip-off of Western **** anyway, and the stuff that isn't is just garbage most of the time. There's some great music that comes out of Japan, but you aren't going to like it.

So anyway, point is: if you're comfortable with what you're already listening to, don't bother with Japanese music. If you, for some reason, want to listen to Japanese rock music, just try Dir en grey. They're all anyone cares about anymore.
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dir en grey is awesome, but there are many bands up there that are just as great, or more.
ive read the lyrics to kisou, and they make sense, in a perverted sort of way...yummy^^
yeah, from what ive heard plastic tree is really awesome. ..ive only listened to two songs, but hey.
malice mizer's really good, never heard a band that used organs before, what a surprise that was...
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[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Transtic Nerve [/i]
[B]Cause music has nothing to do with singing. Or lyrics. Music are instruments being played to create harmony and melody. [/B][/QUOTE]
I couldnt agree with you more man. Sure, Lyrics are important to a song, but not as important as the actually instruments being played. Thus is the reason why I usually like Instrumentals over the regualr full song any day. But if I cant find an instrumental, I'll get the actual song, and the majority of the time, I dont even pay attention to the lyrics(about like yourself).
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If someone prefer instrumentals, that's one thing... but music isn't like that for everyone. Someone can't just be wrong because they think vocals are a vital part of music. I don't agree with that. You can look at the voice as nothing but an instrument as it is, depending on the song. I don't buy into that idea whatosever. Music and singing go together, how anyone can attempt to totally seperate them... I have no idea. It has nothing to do with personal interests. You may like just singing, you may like just music... but I still think that's a really odd thing to say.

Based on the stuff from Japan I've gotten to listen to, I'm not even sure what the interest in the actual music is anyway... I might as well be listening to 80s hair metal bands most of the time. Poison and White Lion are long gone, I'm afraid. Japan seems to be stuck in the Wayback Machine.

That said, like I commented before, some things transcend language. Good foreign music does that. Japanese, Indian, German or otherwise. If I like something I like it... but that's generally because the song adds up well altogether. If the song is about something incredibly stupid and has nothing but a good beat... then fine, but it's not something I'm going to crap myself over. There are reasons that well written songs can get people worked up. They're not all about "nothing" or pointless.

Good music brings it all together, in my opinion. It makes a singular thing that meshes many things into one entity. It shouldn't be disjointed to the point that I should have to ignore one part just to enjoy another. I feel that the Pillows manage to do this, despite me not understanding any of it. Just like I feel the same about other random bands that sing in langauges I'll never know.

Whateve though. Music is subjective. I'm not going to pretend that I'm more right than someone else about what they personally want to listen to.
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[size=1] Don't think vocals and music aren't mixing well together? Psh. Listen to [b]Ode to Joy[/b] by Beethoven. [the real thing, not the crappy revised versions middle school orchestras play]. Originally, orchestral muisc was played alone with no vocals, but if done right, it [i]will[/i] sound really great. And most music today was branched off of classical music one way or another.

Anyways, the language of the lyrics in a song don't really matter to me. It's the sound, melody, rythm, harmonics, etc. that matter to me.[/size]
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The Pillows, one pumped up band, that was on on f`ed up anime. I personally don't care if you cant understand the words to songs, like the ending theme to Inuyasha (the one in the early part of the series) was just really cool. Plus, allot of american bands that i listen to like slipknot, mudvayne, static x, ect, some times you can't tell what they are saying, but it's still awesome.
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I like to go with...

Glay (Just Great Music)

Spitz (For Relaxation)

I also listen to various others, but then again, you'd say that it's useless to listen to something where the words are far from English. My two picks are just an opinion. But if you want, I suggest trying them out.

I saw other posts containing great J Rock. All J Rock is great...
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[i][color=crimson][QUOTE]I personally don't care if you cant understand the words to songs, like the ending theme to Inuyasha (the one in the early part of the series) was just really cool.[/QUOTE]

---------------

That is I think "Heart of Sword" by T.M.Revolution. He also does the opening for Gundam Seed "Invoke" I love both of those songs. Personally I dont listen to anything but J-rock. I refuse to listeng to american made music. And Dir en Grey's lyrics do have a point. If you have their new album "Vulgar" You should hear "R to the core" kyo talks about his problem with his left ear, as of late he did have a prblem with his ear, having to call off half of a tour. And for somereason I cried when i first heard "Kasumi". If you do have the "Vulgar" album, inside of the little booklete is a smaller one, it tells the bands history and has all of the song translations. And all of them make some kind of sence.
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[i][color=crimson]I just hate it so much. Its just annoying to me. They sound so....blah! Crappy like to me. I just hate it. I dont know why, my parents think im strange but they dont mind it one bit. [/color][/i]
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