J-Pop/J-Rock Thread

[Konatalzumi]

Post your favorite songs in this genre

 

[Antilocal123]

 

[pistazien]

Post automatically merged: Mar 2, 2025

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

 

[bjork]

 

[DunkeyKong]

My favorite band

Post automatically merged: Mar 2, 2025

 

[destroyer_44]

I wish they had more of their music on youtube, but it's all on spotify and I think apple music

 

[miguk miguk]

 

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

 

[naizou's icon naizou naizou]

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

Were some of the first VK -visual kei- music I've heard, seen from Japan in the early 2000s. My favorite Rock band (mix of genres) from Japan in no particular order:

Spoiler: 01-50

ムック [mucc] (seen them live @Taste of Chaos Tour 2007)
DIR EN GREY (seen them live @INWARD SCREAM 2004)
デーモン小暮 [demon kogure]
ジャンヌダルク [Janne Da Arc]
THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS, Wagdug Futuristic Unity
UnsraW
Psycho le Cému
ギルガメッシュ [girugämesh]
RADWIMPS
凛として時雨 [Ling Tosite Sigure], TK from 凛として時雨
蜉蝣 [kagerou]
L'Arc~en~Ciel, HYDE
BEAT CRUSADERS
AA=
アンティック-珈琲店- [an cafe]
the GazettE
Tommy february6, Tommy heavenly6, the brilliant green
東京事変 [Tokyo Jihen]
D'espairsRay
零 [zilch]
スキマスイッチ[
Pay money To my Pain, GUN DOG
Oblivion Dust, FAKE?
ロードオブメジャー [Road of Major]
B'z
MONKEY MAJIK
スネオヘアー [Suneohair]
ELLEGARDEN
PLASTICZOOMS
メトロノーム [metronome]
deadman
スピッツ [spitz]
マキシマム ザ ホルモン [Maximum the Hormone]
12012
Phantasmagoria
銀杏BOYZ
X JAPAN
Galneryus
D
黒夢 [kuroyume]
ポルノグラフィティ [porno graffiti]
9mm Parabellum Bullet
ドラゴンアッシュ [Dragon Ash]
THE BACK HORN
sleepy.ab
サディ[sadie]
L.I.V. [押尾 学]
ナイトメア [nightmare]
UVERworld
J

 

[NeonKnights]

 

[Deleted member 884]

https://youtu.be/Rji72MJ5G6U

 

[destinyduelist]

 

[Deleted member 884]

 

[TropicalFreeze3499]

So glad I managed to get School Girl Distortional Addict on vinyl in Tokyo years ago. I saw online sellers trying to sell it for $100+ when Disk Union had it for a reasonable $25.

 

[Egg (McMuffin) Man]

Some of my favorites:

 

[Mini_Man.XW]

 

[hitsugi]

I like Ayumi Hamasaki. She's so great she even has her own PS2 game lmao.

 

[NeonKnights]

 

[Parasite_Steve]

Oh god this is going to be impossible to communicate in under 50 comments. I’m a huge fan of the Japanese music scene. From the poppy to the crazy. It’s probably the most creative scene I’ve witnessed first hand, so there’s about a million bands that could qualify for this thread.
To begin with, I have a huge soft spot for 2000s visual kei. D‘espairsRay was my favorite band for a while and they were genuinely amazing live. I still miss them:

D (most unfortunate band name for search engine optimization) is afaik still going strong. The level of creativity and technical ability in their songs is astounding.

These two songs come right after each other on the album. The next song is a ballad. A western band would have never dared to use such contrasting styles, at least back then. Discovering a new VK band was a total gamble. They could sound like anything from a cheesy anime intro, to Dimmu Borgir or a mixture of the two.

Dir En Grey was never my favorite but they have their share of classics. I think they lost a lot of what made them special when they started to focus on relatively generic metalcore like music:

Alright, to recover my nerd cred a little bit after all this pop shit I mean these relatively famous bands:

 

[hitsugi]

Oh god this is going to be impossible to communicate in under 50 comments. I’m a huge fan of the Japanese music scene. From the poppy to the crazy. It’s probably the most creative scene I’ve witnessed first hand, so there’s about a million bands that could qualify for this thread.
To begin with, I have a huge soft spot for 2000s visual kei. D‘espairsRay was my favorite band for a while and they were genuinely amazing live. I still miss them:

D (most unfortunate band name for search engine optimization) is afaik still going strong. The level of creativity and technical ability in their songs is astounding.

These two songs come right after each other on the album. The next song is a ballad. A western band would have never dared to use such contrasting styles, at least back then. Discovering a new VK band was a total gamble. They could sound like anything from a cheesy anime intro, to Dimmu Borgir or a mixture of the two.

Dir En Grey was never my favorite but they have their share of classics. I think they lost a lot of what made them special when they started to focus on relatively generic metalcore like music:

Alright, to recover my nerd cred a little bit after all this pop shit I mean these relatively famous bands:

I love D’espairsray! Coll:Set is THE album from them lol. And D was active until last year. They’re on hiatus now…But DEG will always be a favorite imo. I feel like everyone needs to listen to them at least once. Such an amazing band, I’d like to see them live someday!

 

[DunkeyKong]

Oh god this is going to be impossible to communicate in under 50 comments. I’m a huge fan of the Japanese music scene. From the poppy to the crazy. It’s probably the most creative scene I’ve witnessed first hand, so there’s about a million bands that could qualify for this thread.
To begin with, I have a huge soft spot for 2000s visual kei. D‘espairsRay was my favorite band for a while and they were genuinely amazing live. I still miss them:

D (most unfortunate band name for search engine optimization) is afaik still going strong. The level of creativity and technical ability in their songs is astounding.

These two songs come right after each other on the album. The next song is a ballad. A western band would have never dared to use such contrasting styles, at least back then. Discovering a new VK band was a total gamble. They could sound like anything from a cheesy anime intro, to Dimmu Borgir or a mixture of the two.

Dir En Grey was never my favorite but they have their share of classics. I think they lost a lot of what made them special when they started to focus on relatively generic metalcore like music:

Alright, to recover my nerd cred a little bit after all this pop shit I mean these relatively famous bands:

That's a really detailed explanation, cool stuff man

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

Oh god this is going to be impossible to communicate in under 50 comments. I’m a huge fan of the Japanese music scene. From the poppy to the crazy. It’s probably the most creative scene I’ve witnessed first hand, so there’s about a million bands that could qualify for this thread.
To begin with, I have a huge soft spot for 2000s visual kei. D‘espairsRay was my favorite band for a while and they were genuinely amazing live. I still miss them:

D (most unfortunate band name for search engine optimization) is afaik still going strong. The level of creativity and technical ability in their songs is astounding.

These two songs come right after each other on the album. The next song is a ballad. A western band would have never dared to use such contrasting styles, at least back then. Discovering a new VK band was a total gamble. They could sound like anything from a cheesy anime intro, to Dimmu Borgir or a mixture of the two.

Dir En Grey was never my favorite but they have their share of classics. I think they lost a lot of what made them special when they started to focus on relatively generic metalcore like music:

Alright, to recover my nerd cred a little bit after all this pop shit I mean these relatively famous bands:

I feel you! I'm also a huge fan of the Japanese music scene. From Jrock, v-kei, indie, various style. True, plenty creative artists pushing the envelope. I also seen D'spairsray live, they're still a regular play for me today. Phantasmagoria is another solid band next to D.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

I love D’espairsray! Coll:Set is THE album from them lol. And D was active until last year. They’re on hiatus now…But DEG will always be a favorite imo. I feel like everyone needs to listen to them at least once. Such an amazing band, I’d like to see them live someday!

Despa put out a lot of great work but the build up to coll set was something else. It’s unfortunate they ended their career with Monsters, a comparatively mediocre album by their standards. I’ve not given up hope for an eventual reunion.
Their singer Hizumi is back with a new band:

The rest of the members have a live cover band where they play a couple of Despa songs too and they sound pretty solid:

Their drummer has also had a stint in the Enka genre as Tsukasa Mogamigawa. I may have drunkenly crooned this song at several karaoke bars in Japan, though I will neither confirm nor deny it

Speaking of good karaoke material for my vocal range:

Atsushi Sakurai definitely had a unique voice and presence that will be sorely missed. I got to know him through a semi-forgotten industrial rock project named Schwein (not to be confused with the visual kei band of the same name) which him and buck-tick guitarist Hisashi Imai did with a couple of current and future kmfdm members.

The whole album is a bit of a slow burn and it’s in dire need of a remaster/remix but it’s a unique artifact.

Dir en grey is a great live band. I once had the privilege to see them at a festival in an almost completely empty hall. The reason it was so empty: Metallica was playing on the main stage at the same time. Not a hard decision for me.