Japanese rock music might seem like a weeb thing, it's easy to see any facet of Japanese culture embraced by a westerner as a weeb thing, and it's understandable. Japan has it's fair share of westerners romanticizing and fetishizing their culture in weird ways. One of my favorite bands in the history of ever is X Japan, probably all time favorite behind 80s British rock supergroup Asia, and you may say it's a weeb thing to like them. X Japan though have sold 30 million records and wide recognition and got praise from publications in the west like Loudwire, Kerang, Metalhammer and more. Compare this to Japanese groups talked about online like Fishmans or Les Rallizes Denudes, I'd say it's more of a weeb thing going out of your way to find some super underground Japanese band or listen because music nerds on forums (I visit one of these same forums (RYM forums) so I am not totally infallible) told you to, especially passing it off as amazing when in reality it's just a Japanese version of the same types of weird rock and pop subgenres many other bands are doing in the west. Or maybe I should point to another example like Asian Kung-Fu Generation, a band who's popularity in the west is almost entirely off the backs of the various anime they have soundtracked. For comparison Loudness was the first ever Japanese act to break through to the west by signing to major American and European record labels in the 80s. While most famous for pioneering the Japanese heavy metal scene admittedly western sounding first wave, they got big success in America and had a couple minor hit singles and one album that in the west is seen as an 80s metal classic, being held in high regards by many rock publications and still touring America to this day. (I'm actually supposed to see them live on Mothers Day) They fit right in to the American 80s rock scene and have some songs being played on classic metal radio here in the west. At the same time they are still releasing hit albums in Japan and selling out arenas over there. Now explain to me why liking Fishmans and Asian Kung-Fu Generation makes you less of a weeb than if you liked Loudness or X Japan?
Sorry for the confrontational attitude of the first paragraph, but it is very much needed to defend Japanese rock music proper and to differentiate weeb music and actual Japanese rock music. I don't deny that there is a lot of western influence in most Japanese rock music pre Visual Kei, and yes Loudness is not terribly unique if you can listen to a classic Loudness album in the same session as a classic Ratt album and not discern much musical difference, but many of these bands are quite great and some even fill such interesting niches. The point of this is to try and introduce more people to Japanese rock. I'll break down some good places to start, various types of Japanese rock, and some big names to check out in some of varying genres of rock incase one genre is more to your liking than the other.
Think about some big rock bands, Van Halen, Kiss, Guns n Roses, Nirvana, Imagine Dragons if you want to get modern. Some of these bands have amazing albums and have great music, (not Imagine Dragons though, I don't like them) but they wish they could have the success of B'z.
B'z has sold over hundred million records world wide, with an estimated 86 million being in Japan alone and an estimated 20 million internationally. They are a band that eclipses literally every other artist in the entire continent of Asia, and this is with zero exaggeration, look it up for yourself if you don't believe me. They were Aerosmith's favorite group to play with live, and they transcended all genres. They have had hits crossover into the dance charts (Bad Communication), the metal charts (Dinosaur), the pop charts (Easy Come, Easy Go), and they've even had entire albums rooted in blues rock. They are a band that continues to sell out the biggest venues, continues to get number 1 charting albums, continue to get number 1 charting hit singles (they have had a streak of number 1 hit singles since the early 90s that as of now remains unbroken) and continue to get gold and platinum certified albums. Their new album Highway X hasn't even been out six months as of writing this and it's already certified gold, these guys are outselling and outperforming on the charts most of Japan's young and relevant pop and rock artists while continuing to fill Japan's largest venues at max capacity. I guess that's just what happens when statistically 70% of the Japanese population owns at least one of your records. If you need any place to start a deep dive of Japanese rock music in general and no particular subgenres the definitive place to start is B'z. I'd personally recommend listening to Loose (their most popular and successful album), Brotherhood (considered by many hardcore fans to be their best), The "Bad Communication" EP (their biggest hit song of their entire career) and then Dinosaur or Highway X so you get a feel for their modern sound, and then from there you can jump around to anywhere you want in their discography or tackle it head on in chronological order. I never expected this to be the case, but I am enamored with their early new wave and dance music they did for their first 5 albums. Tak is a god on the guitar, and Koshi's voice seems ageless because he is a better vocalist now than he's ever been because of how well he's worked to preserve it and expand it's range. Where other bands fall off with age, B'z laughs at the question of age and plays music like no time has passed since they debuted, except for the fact the band is still building off 35 years of musical evolution and growth. One of the world's best guitarists; Steve Vai has collaborated with B'z and said they are one of the greatest bands in the world, Aerosmith and guitarist Slash from GNR have both said similar sentiments while another GOATed guitarist Marty Friedman has not only touted them as an all time great band, but Koshi as quite possibly the greatest vocalist in the entire world. Why haven't you heard of B'z? I suppose you could chalk it up to prejudice against Asian artists in the west, but I think a big part of it is that they are Japan's band. Japan heralds these guys as just as good as, if not, better than any of America and Europe's top rock acts and for good reason, this was a band that rose to stardom on their own, and are so huge there that these two are basically like heroes to them, and a big part of why Japan is the world's biggest market for rock and metal nowadays. Even if western success has evaded these guys, they don't need it considering they are bigger than the majority of western artists anyways.
Speaking of bands who were denied success in America, let's move on to a band with a story full of so much crazy stuff and controversy you'd have a hard time believing it all as real: X Japan
.jpg)
X Japan is one of the most wild bands in all of rock and metal, and they forever changed the musical landscape of Japan, having sold 30 million records domestically and an unknown amount internationally. Kamijo from the famed Visual Kei band Versailles said it best when he said "You can't really find a band in Japan who wasn't influenced by X Japan in some direct or indirect way." That's right this band is that ubiquitous among Japan despite only selling 30 million records. The band is perhaps best remembered for being the driving force in the spread and creation of the genre known as Visual Kei. Their story is wild and contains suicide, betrayal, brainwashing at the hands of an evil cult, blacklisting by the Japanese media, and fashion so crazy that hair metal bands would say it's too much. Despite this X Japan pressed on and became the most influential band in Japan during their peak, and they would even support other major rock bands in Japan and help prop them up to mainstream success, such as Glay (who has since outsold X Japan) and Luna Sea. The band was formed as part of drummer, pianist and bandleader Yoshiki's goal of challenging conservative Japan musically and stylistically with the most wild band and music possible. Aiding him in his quest was his best friend since he was five years old: Toshi, on lead vocals, Pata on Rhythm guitar, Taiji Sawada on bass whom were both famous for their work in some club bands, and Hideto Matsumoto on lead guitar. Under the name Hide he would go on to become the biggest rock star in all of Japan before tragically taking his own life in an accident he had while drunk. I cannot overstate how huge Hide was. When he died their were multiple suicides done by teenage girls surrounded in his merch, and multiple copycat suicides. They closed the major roadways in Japan because they were filled with mourning fans, and his funeral had so many people attending they needed a military escort for his hearse to keep back fans. (they football tackled a few of them who tried lunging for it) It's wrong to say Hide was the Japanese Kurt Kobain, because his fame, influence and impact in Japan alone eclipse of all Kurt Kobain's world wide. X Japan's music early on was speed metal that was compositionally influenced by classical music and punk rock. Then they moved towards a mix of heavy metal and classical crossover in their final years to the point of even using a full on orchestra and continued doing it when they reformed in 2008 too. They struck a chord with people who didn't like heavy metal and crossed over into the mainstream with the emotional resonance and power in their songs, even earning them a reputation as a band that "makes songs about depression that get you out of depression". While they only have five albums, all five are great. The sixth album has been in development hell for a decade with Yoshiki barely giving any updates on it, and has thusly given the band and Yoshiki himself many hate listeners when it comes to new stuff. If you want to get into X Japan I'd say where you start is up to preference. If you want kick ass heavy metal than start with Vanishing Vision and then go chronologically. If you want to see the emotional side of this band that made Japanese audiences fall in love with this band than check out the singles "Jade" and "I.V.", because the former shows the mix of metal and classical crossover well, then when after that check out Dahlia or Art of Life and then work your way around in whatever order to the rest of their discography.
While this next band has not sold as many albums domestically as X Japan has, with only 29 million sold domestically, they sold an estimated ten million records internationally. I'm talking about L'Arc～en～Ciel.
Originally formed as a Visual Kei band in the club scene, they abandoned VK when they got signed to a major label and gave us the album Tierra. Since then they have not only pioneered the J-rock genre of music, but have become one of Japan's most famous bands internationally, even being the first Japanese band to ever headline Madison Square Garden, and on the same tour playing concerts in Honolulu (the same city where the Pearl Harbor attacks took place) and being honored by the mayor of Honolulu with May 31st becoming a local holiday called "L'Arc～en～Ciel day" in honor of the bridge of friendship between Japan and Hawaii that they helped to build with their concerts in Honolulu. As of now the band is on a sort of hiatus since 2013 because they just got tired of the success and the level of work that comes with maintaining it, now just doing the occasional tour and new single every now and then. I'd describe L'Arc～en～Ciel's music as quintessential J-rock. They are a perfect example of the kind of commercial alternative rock that is popular in Japan, and that's not a bad thing. They pioneered the J-rock genre after all, so where better to get it than straight from the source? There's a certain eclectic feel and diversity in some albums like "Ray" and "Butterfly", the latter of which being one of my favorite albums by L'Arc～en～Ciel. They have also have had numerous soundtrack deals, including Gundam 00, Devil May Cry 4, Full Metal Alchemist and Resident Evil 7. This only reinforces just how successful they are. If you need a place to start that all depends. "Ray" and "Arc" were released at the same time and are their two most successful albums of their entire career, representing this band really well and even some songs experimenting into genres they haven't done since like trip hop and techno. "Butterfly" is a good album to just get an idea of all the different sides of this band, and if you want to see their early days where they were very much inspired by post punk and such you should start with "Tierra" and work your way forward from there. They actually wrapped up a 30th anniversary tour in 2022, and gave us two new singles in 2021, so it seems like more may still be on the horizon from them yet.
I realize I'm probably not scoring any points with zoomers or millennials naming only artists from before the 2000s, so let's move on to a younger icon of the visual kei scene, that being the Samurai guitarist Miyavi.
Miyavi was originally one of the many disenfranchised youth who got into Visual Kei as a way of expressing himself stylistically and musically in a way he couldn't otherwise. He joined the visual kei band Due Le Quartz who broke up shortly into their career on the indie music scene. Miyavi would go solo doing industrial rock and industrial metal before changing to pop rock and developing the style further over the years by incorporating elements of electropop. Miyavi's signature mix of electro pop and visual kei is defined especially by the guitar playing style he has innovated. Miyavi is credited as the inventor of and is known as the innovator of the slap guitar style of playing, where he plays guitar like a bass, and he uses this to basically shred on the acoustic and shred noise rock guitar riffs when either of those things would be kind of absurd. You would be hard pressed to find anyone on any corner of the globe who uses their instrument like an extension of their body and soul in the same way Miyavi does. Even in the electronic and noisy soundscapes presented in his music the sound of his fingers slapping against those guitar strings in a way that faintly sound like bass can still be heard, often accompanied by him using that whammy bar to manipulate noise rock riffs in a way that sound like synths. This man can adapt his guitar to basically any genre and I don't mean that lightly, just go to his YouTube and see how he adds guitar to songs by Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino. In the last decade Miyavi has since earned a cult following in America and makes music with both his Japanese and American fanbases in mind, doing both English and Japanese both in his songs, often switching between the two. Miyavi is one of Japan's most serious talents and on his own he has only flourished. Being an artist peaking in popularity in the age of the internet and music streaming has kind of neutered his chances at ever reaching a big number of albums sold, but being one of the only Japanese artists to achieve success and a fanbase in the much sought after American market is proof enough of the appeal and power of his music and his talent. If you want a good place to start with the Samurai guitarist's discography, I would say to first check out one of his newest singles "Strike It Out" and then his album "Holy Nights", and if you liked what you heard then feel free to jump around to whatever catches your interest in his discography, or start a full on discography binge starting with "MYV POPS".
There's only a few more bands left on the agenda before I'm done. In Japan's alternative rock scene there is one band who has dipped their toes in many genres like post punk, shoegaze, gothic rock, art rock, punk, dream pop, hard rock, jangle pop, pop rock and proggressive rock. This band is the legendary visual kei group Luna Sea.
Luna Sea started as an independent visual kei band on Japan's club scene before being discovered by Hide from X Japan. Hide loved the band and had Yoshiki sign them to his independent label Extasy Records, where the band debuted and stayed until being picked by a major label and moving on to greater and greater success throughout the nineties. They broke up in 2000 because they wanted to keep from treading the same musical ground again, and then reunited in 2010. I love this band because of just how well they represent the bold and diverse nature of visual kei. Luna Sea has a bit of their own sound, but it's all very much under the umbrella of alternative rock. However the diverse and large lists of genres they've at least dipped their toes in or have taken inspiration from is what makes them unique. Like their biggest hit song Rosier, where Sugizo said he wanted to make a shoegaze song but said that Ryuichi is too good of a singer to even attempt shoegaze vocals so they made it faster paced and turned it into some mix of shoegaze and J-rock. Or on their first original album since reuniting "A Will", where they decided to end the heaviest album of their career with a classical instrumental. No there's no catch it's literally just a classical instrumental performed by a whole orchestra. When they got back together in 2010 reuniting after ten years broken up, the first thing they did wrote was an out of nowhere 23 minute proggressive rock epic and release it as their comeback single. And no, that song has not appeared on an album or even had any real impact on the band, they just did it because Sugizo wanted the band to do something new before going on to make a new album in earnest. The fact that this band has tried so many things while still sounding like themselves is just great. Sugizo and Inoran are one of Japan's most creative guitar duos and continue to prove that fact, while Shinya keeps time perfectly while adding his own personal touch with the drums to everyone's songs, and Ryuichi's wonderful voice delivering the message of each song and presenting it beautifully. All the while the beautiful touch of Sugizo's violin adds a new element and sound to every song it's used in. Seriously Sugizo is a wicked talented violin player in addition to guitar player. If you're one of those people who like their rock music weird or alternative and different, then Luna Sea is your band, combining the experimental approach with the approachable and inviting sounds of J-rock to create a best of both worlds. While the ten million records sold may seem meager next to some of their countrymen like X-Japan, it's incredible that a band as out there as Luna Sea even broke the eight figure range. I'd recommend you either start with "Style", "Mother" or "Cross" (your pick) and then jump around from there, or you can listen to the rerecording they did of their debut album in 2010 (it is way better than the original version, trust me) and then binge the rest of their discography from album 2 onwards.
I know this list said "Japanese rock music" and not "Japanese metal" but metal kind of falls under the rock umbrella and this band is so important to rock and metal as a whole in Japan that I can't leave them out of the discussion. I'm talking about Loudness.
Loudness was not only the first Japanese metal band to ever get major label releases and support in America, but they were the first Japanese band to ever get into the American market period. They did internationally what most Japanese rock and metal acts can only dream of doing, and they did it all in era were rock and metal were new to Japan, securing positions in both markets easily. Let me take you back to the seventies during the Heisei era. Japan is still a country steeped in tradition despite the presence of western influences coming in. A pop rock boy band by the name of Lazy was made up of boys who wanted to take their own spin on music by artists such as Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Eventually fed up with management they made the album they wanted and were broken up by their management as retribution for daring to step away from the music of Japan to embrace such heavy rock music. The guitarist and drummer hired a new bassist and new vocalist and thusly they became loudness, the first Japanese band performing proper traditional heavy metal. They influenced pretty much almost every rock band in Japan during their reign of peak success in the eighties, including B'z. Out of every band on this list Loudness is the most famous in America, because they got an American record contract while making their fourth album with the deal that vocalist Minoru Niihara sings in English and they get a push to the mainstream markets. Loudness has since done many tours in America and Europe, with many hit singles in America such as "Crazy Nights", "Let it Go", "We Could Be Together" and "Rock n Roll Gypsy". They broke off from the American market in the 90s during their switch to Grunge and nu metal, and didn't return until the mid 2000s when they resumed touring and album releases here. Loudness's sound on the first 5 albums are very traditional heavy metal with "Thunder in the East" being considered a classic here in America and in Japan. Their sixth is a bit more commercial than Thunder in the East, and their seventh is full on glam metal. Albums eight and nine were done during a time where Minoru Niihara left and was replaced by American vocalist Mike Vescera. Both are excellent. Then everything from the 90s-2000s is a mixed bag. If you like grunge, groove metal or nu metal you might dig some of those albums. They even did a doom metal album around that time too. I'd recommend you start with Thunder in the East and then go to whichever of the eighties albums you want. If you like all that you can from there check out their albums from the 2010s and 2020s or go through everything including all the weird stuff from the 90s and 2000s. Even if you don't like metal, the rock and metal scenes in Japan owe a huge debt to Loudness for what they did, and they are too important to not mention.
I praised Luna Sea for being diverse and eclectic, an alternative rock band with their reach and influences spanning many genres. Let me tell you about a band that doesn't care about genre, that being visual kei pioneers Buck-Tick.
Buck-Tick fall under the "forget genres we make the music we want" umbrella. The only thing I can say about Buck-Tick definitively is that they are rock, I can't tell what kind of rock because the band is constantly transitioning to new genres with every album. Starting out as an independent power pop band in the eighties using wild hair cuts, make-up and business suits to set them apart from their contemporaries. Then after imposing demands giving them freedom to the major label that wanted them they went to new wave and post punk, then gothic rock, then industrial and noise rock, then techno, then alternative rock and industrial, back to gothic rock, then garage rock, then dance rock, then neo psychedelia, back to alternative rock, then electronic rock as of their most recent works. Does that sound hard to keep up with? Try being one of the fans who have stuck with them from their independent days. Buck-Tick isn't for everyone, but they have done so many different types of music across all their albums that I find it hard to believe you couldn't find one to enjoy. The fact this band has made this many types of music across 22 albums is just insane. They just make whatever it is they feel like at that point and for that they deserve respect. They aren't big sellers in Japan, but the fact that have only left the top ten on the charts three times since they got their first album up their should just show the staying power they have and the interest in them. They are one of the most influential rock groups in Japan's underground, and they've never truly left the mainstream public's conscious either judging by the fact their last two albums charted at 2 and 3 respectively. If you want a good place to start with Buck-Tick I recommend either doing a full deep dive of their discography, or looking at each album and deciding which one you want to listen to first going off of it's genres, artwork and whatever singles it may have. I also did a Buck-Tick album ranking list on Rate Your Music that you can find here if you want a couple in depth explanations of each album. My personal favorite is "Razzle Dazzle", which is a dance rock album combining pop and dance production and style with rock instrumentation. They do neat things with the synths and their drummer uses electronic drum pads to recreate the sound of the drum machines omni-present in dance music and pop music, but it sounds way more spirited and alive being a real person behind an actual drum kit. I'm also big on both their gothic rock albums, especially their second one "十三階は月光", which unlike their first gothic rock album is actually more inspired by the various developments in Japan's gothic rock scene, including elements of cabaret and neoclassical darkwave, very much inspired by Malice Mizer. Those are just my favorites though. Please go ahead and pick one for yourself that interests you.
Final entry and I saved the best for last, or at least the most interesting. Someone today (as of writing this) told me am I like an anime protagonist in real life, and to that I think that's nothing because I know an actual anime protagonist made real life and that is the visual kei legend Gackt, the living example of the phrase "reality is much stranger than fiction".
Gackt got his start as a drummer for a local house band at a Casino he was an employee at. Then he met a man who told him to take his music career seriously. From there he learned as many instruments as he could and joined gothic rock band Malice Mizer before he left due to clashes with the other members' toxic atmosphere. He got Malice Mizer's contract transferred to as solo contract for him and he quickly became the best selling male solo artist in Japan. The government held a poll and revealed 97 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 60 know who Gackt is making him the most well known male celebrity in Japan, and Gackt has won a monthly gameshow poll for sexiest person in Japan 62 times in a row. Gackt has not only become one of Japan's most famous musicians, but he is a famous actor, playwright, radio drama host and writer, as well as a sex symbol. He was the inspiration for the main protagonist of Final Fantasy 8, he collaborated with Square Enix on Final Fantasy VII Dirge of Cerberus to make the game's villain based directly on himself even voicing him and using his likeness, personality and interests as the basis for the character. There is also rampant rumors in Japan that Gackt was the main inspiration for the protagonist from Persona 5. No I am not making any of this up. He was Japan's biggest poker champion at one point, he claimed to be a 500 year old vampire born in Europe and when it started being accepted as fact and reported as real he had to dox his actual birth information to keep his good public image in tact. Gackt was saved from drowning by the desire to have sex at least one more time before he died, he claims the number of women he slept with is in the three figure range, but people close to him claim it's in the four figure range, Gackt is a blackbelt in Taekwondo, he's fluent in five languages and is huge nerd and fan when it comes to the Gundam franchise. Gackt is the most larger than life celebrity you will ever find and I will fight you on that point. Now on to his music. Gackt is considered in Japan as the master of the concept album. His music is a mix of visual kei, neo-proggressive rock, hard rock and J-pop. All this comes together in the form of his many concept albums. He has a set of albums about the story of a vampire and his journeys, and two albums telling the story of experimental nazi cyborgs sending people to extermination camps and the friendship of two Japanese soldiers working with the Nazi military and discovering the cyborgs. Gackt's albums get a pretty bad rep here in America for their weirdness and the weirdness of the man making them, but as someone who speaks Japanese pretty well I can safely tell you that Gackt's delivery and presentation of the stories presented in his albums is beautiful. His music may be a bit challenging to the untrained ear, especially with the language barrier, but Gackt is the master of the concept album and has earned his status as Japan's biggest selling male solo artist. Where to start with Gackt's discography is a tough question. I recommend you either listen to his debut album Mars, the Moon saga (a set of four albums he did about vampires), or the two albums he did set in world war 2 Re:Birth and Re:Born. Just make sure you listen to the concept albums in the order intended so you can somewhat follow the stories presented.
Well that was my sort of guide, you don't need to check out all eight or most of these, but I hope you enjoy one and that this list encourages you to go on and find more bands and artists from the country. There was a few bands I considered for this list like TM Network, but they are too pop music for this list and I went over them in my article on Tetsuya Komuro. Anyways I best be getting to bed, hope you enjoyed this week's article.
No comments:
Post a Comment