jrock not popular?

[RazrAsh]

j rockers are few and far between in sg..
and mayb, yes, just mayb some ppl are in it to be cool.. cuz j rock, especially the vkei bands wear really loud costumes!!
as a musician, i personally find that, half the fun in playing j rock is in the dressing up.
its different from many other scenes and i find that the music is technically more challenging, especially since u have to tab a majority of the songs out cuz there aren't many tabs available online.
even for originals, look at our local band REI.. they write japanese originals.. and u dont have to understand the language to appreciate it.. it is about the music.. though to prevent being flamed as poseurs, we do try to find out the meaning of the song or what the song is about.

jrock isn;t just about the music, its a way of life also.

 

[Zazenbeats]

Finally registered, just so I can share my views in this thread. Yes, been lurking a few months and Jrock discussion is definitely limited around here.

Been listening to Jrock for some years, but I check out Western bands too. Maybe because I like the Japanese culture, so I'm interested in things Japanese, but seriously the language barrier doesn't restrict me. Singing may not be just to tell a story, it adds another layer of melody to the song which I could appreciate. If I need the lyrics I just check out translations. I've to admit though that it's not my habit to check out the lyrics of the songs I listen unless I really like them.

Anyway, meaningless lyrics are common in rock songs of any language, I listen to metal, but I'm not in the least interested in the gory stories which the death metal vocals are screaming. Then we have great bands like Radiohead. Some of their lyrics doesn't make sense, fans try to decipher their meaning but it's up to anyone's interpretation, perhaps Thom Yorke have no idea what he's writting too. Anyway my point is, I'm flexible and I think there's no problem even if I like the music but not the lyrics, or I like the music but not fanatic enough to go extra length to understand the lyrics. Sometimes the music or just the title is enough to convey the story and we even have them in a category called Instrumentals.

p/s: only few jrock bands are good, most of them have problem balancing their visual appearance and the music.

dont you think most of the jrock out there have the same vocal tone? damn boring man.. only a few big names are good ones.

Sorry if I misunderstood, but I find this statement untrue. Sounds like you have been listening mostly to Visual Kei? I was strictly visual kei too and X-Japan is still one of my favourite band, but no, the Japanese rock scene doesn't revolve around Visual kei alone. Some of them are still cool but imho the style is becoming very stale with many copycats (No offends to visual kei fans). I still check out some new visual kei sometime, but I find more surprises when I'm picking up good Jrock bands from other genre. Bands like Number Girl and Blankey Jet City (yes I'm whoring two of my favourites) are very good but only less known because they are not visual or had visual kei roots. It annoys me a little because it misrepresent that Japanese rock is 90% visual kei and people who despise the costumes or guys who dress up feminine stay away from Jrock. Anyway I recommend anyone to go youtube and see some Number Girl or Blankey Jet City and judge for yourselves. Oh yeah check out Coaltar of the Deepers, Zazen Boys and Boris too, they are actually quite well-known and established Japanese band outside of visual kei.

 

[RazrAsh]

the vkei thing in sg is really limited.. not many ppl bother.. we're usually classified as weirdoes by the general public.

but in sg, vkei is popular among the music scene, as its the whole visual aspect which is something new for the masses... besides, woul du rather listen to a band who only sounds good compared to a band that looks AND sounds good??

 

[edder]

xjapan is not jrock, cut my head if you can find any J-ROCK band that plays like xjapan

xjapan - scandivanian/classical

:smt120 :smt119 :smt100

 

[edder]

Boris rocks.

Also MONO rocks. I love the fact they don't dress up like ugly drags. :lol:

 

[sLapshock]

Sorry if I misunderstood, but I find this statement untrue. Sounds like you have been listening mostly to Visual Kei? I was strictly visual kei too and X-Japan is still one of my favourite band, but no, the Japanese rock scene doesn't revolve around Visual kei alone. Some of them are still cool but imho the style is becoming very stale with many copycats (No offends to visual kei fans). I still check out some new visual kei sometime, but I find more surprises when I'm picking up good Jrock bands from other genre. Bands like Number Girl and Blankey Jet City (yes I'm whoring two of my favourites) are very good but only less known because they are not visual or had visual kei roots. It annoys me a little because it misrepresent that Japanese rock is 90% visual kei and people who despise the costumes or guys who dress up feminine stay away from Jrock. Anyway I recommend anyone to go youtube and see some Number Girl or Blankey Jet City and judge for yourselves. Oh yeah check out Coaltar of the Deepers, Zazen Boys and Boris too, they are actually quite well-known and established Japanese band outside of visual kei.

yeah, what i mean was visual kei. to be exact those indies, alice9, baroque, raphael.. damn it i hate those (doesnt mean i hate those, you all got to hate, dont get me wrong).. even kaggra has his own voice.. but a voice that i dont like.

also, i am one of those who think visual kei is very cool, but the more im expose to visual kei, the more rotten things i found about them. yeah you know, like you said, "stale and many copycats".

another thing i find about jrock society/fans OR people who CLAIMS to be a jrock fans is that, they evolve around the same bands concept, err how to exlain eh? ok...let me give you some example:

larc en ciel <-- i dont need to say how good they are, its simple the most creative jrock band ever, once you heard the voice, you know its hyde
dir en grey <-- good band.
siam shade <-- damn this daita really got skill, good voice.
malice mizer <-- very very original, altough i dont relaly like, but their music ORIGINAL.
raphael/la cryma chrstie/la sadies/ <--- no comments.
kaggra <--- very original, i dont like, but still their music very original, and damn many copycats.
luna sea <-- one of VK pioneers.

ask any jrock freaks, confirm + chop they know about the band i list above, but, they claim to know jrock but damn they left out this few which is REALLY good:

onmyouza <-- neat band, kimono's.
sex machine guns <-- heavy metal, good skill.
loudness <-- THEY ARE LEGEND YOU KNOW, LEGEND LEGEND.
concerto moon/seikima II <--- goooooooooooood.

so you get what i mean?

anw, visualkei really lots of copycats... only a few band that can balance image and music.. you know xjapan, luna sea, dir en grey.

ok i go sleep first, anw, your post well written, good english.. not like mine.

 

[sLapshock]

xjapan is not jrock, cut my head if you can find any J-ROCK band that plays like xjapan

xjapan - scandivanian/classical

:smt120 :smt119 :smt100

not true? ok.. xjapan is a band from japan ... what i mean was nowadays people refer jrock to one kind of music, forgotting those good ones....

for e.g: when people say jrock, bands like luna sea, diru, laruku, comes to their mind...

but what about loudness? concerto moon? seikima II, the back horn, onmyouza, bla bla bla..all this. get what i mean?

 

[sLapshock]

Boris rocks.

Also MONO rocks. I love the fact they don't dress up like ugly drags. :lol:

Lucky not BORAT.

 

[RazrAsh]

omg!!!! seikima!!!! seikima pwns!!!! and onmyouza.. i like the song, kouga ninpou chou!!!

sex machineguns, loudness and x japan are all similar in terms of music..
bloody good vocals and v kei going on..

 

[sLapshock]

omg!!!! seikima!!!! seikima pwns!!!! and onmyouza.. i like the song, kouga ninpou chou!!!

sex machineguns, loudness and x japan are all similar in terms of music..
bloody good vocals and v kei going on..

finally i found someone !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they all are too good to be categorize under jrock... haha...

a band from japan.....

 

[RazrAsh]

the seikima demon kogure all stars one where they did jack the ripper is damn cool.. 4 guitarist, 2 bassist and one drummer..

 

[I_M_Ken]

yeah! finally someone remembers Seikima II!
awesome stuff man. Love them more than X-Japan and Loudness.

good to know there are people with the same tastes in music here!

 

[KuroKupo]

sLapshock

Is Siam Shade well known? Cuz it doesn't seem so......to me.

lol Daita is awesome man.

 

[musicrevolution]

Hi everyone,

I'm YJ from L Cube Music Studio. I used to play Chinese rock since 10 years ago. I listen to all type of music, and I love listening to Jrock too.
Started off with Xjapan, followed by luna sea, Siam Shade, Larc en ciel.

Actually, I'm thinking of doing a Jrock gig somewhere begining of January at L Cube Suite room, can accommodate up to 50 pax. Want to sound out if I'm in the right forum to gather Jrock bands.

We had one Jrock band named Kazama who played at our grand opening last Sun (3rd Dec). So I believe there are alot of more Jrock bands around in Singapore.

So, if there's any Jrock bands who wish to play in the upcoming gig, please send an email to lcubemusic@yahoo.com.sg. If the response is good, the Jrock gig will be ON! 8)

IT WILL BE FREE FOR ALL! :wink:

Cheers
YJ

 

[visa]

love l'arc~en~ciel

 

[RazrAsh]

lol!!! i'm the guitarist from kazama!!! u can alwayts ask me for help in organising jrock gigs!!! pm me!!

 

[sLapshock]

sLapshock

Is Siam Shade well known? Cuz it doesn't seem so......to me.

lol Daita is awesome man.

yes, they are well known

 

[KuroKupo]

sLapshock

Is Siam Shade well known? Cuz it doesn't seem so......to me.

lol Daita is awesome man.

yes, they are well known

I probably have too little jrock friends :roll:

 

[sLapshock]

nvm la.. me also (i think?)..moreover..i got ATTITUDE you know..lol

 

[gsonique]

wipe your self pity off ...my fren !!