Japan Rock Music

[LuckDem12]

Omg, guys...Are u really noobs? He was searching for something similiar to Ellegarden! Not some X Japan stuff or Gazette, Girugamesh etc... It's not the same style, u know. Ellegarden was an epic band, I love this band maybe more than all of my j-rock bands in my pc ^^ And I was serching for something similiar for 2 years so I can really tell you what IS and what ISN'T similiar.

CHECK OUT Asian Kung-fu Generation, One Ok Rock, No Regret Life, Unison Square Garden, Inoue Joe, FLOW, RADWIMPS.....

[El1Piri]

I dont know if anyone has said it, but check out Luna Sea, you won't regret it!

[MagnusRulerHardt]

I've never heard of a guiter before.

[tkmyr]

Speaking of pop-punk ,try an old Japanese band, the Blue Hearts.

[bubblestripes]

Roach - Scarlet ;)

[Rodney17302]

you should check out Kabuki Rocks.

[Cl0udyDayz]

some suggestions: Spitz, Mr. Children, B'z, X Japan, Alice Nine, Beat Crusaders

[yellowvizard]

I highly recommend ONE OK ROCK!

[Jackiechan39]

Mad Capsule Markets!!

[bubblerei]

listen to Ｘ　ＪＡＰＡＮ!!! WE ARE X! YOU ARE X!!!!

[azuki2]

abingdon boys school

[snakee5]

u should try One Ok Rock dey'er grate rock band

[Endurancefan121]

you should check out the band SuG, they are amazing! {opinion}

[CrimsonxStain]

You should try The Gazette. They are awesome!!!

[aaronAHmazing]

Miyavi, L.M.C. , the gazette, An Cafe, SID, girugamesh, there are really so many good japanese rock bands out there, you might wana check out a magazine called "Cure" it is a jrock magazine and has new and old popular rock bands and there show listings =]

[ryuu304]

Hey, listen to X Japan. It is an absolutely AMAZING and EPIC band, est the 1980s, basically THE BEATLES of Japan!

They are awesome!

[yuta874]

Ｉ　ｈｏｐｅ　ｙｏｕ　ｌｉｓｔｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｓｏｎｇｓ　ｏｆ　Ｘ　ＪＡＰＡＮ．

Ｏｒ　Ｖｉｏｌｅｔ　ＵＫ

Ｒｕｓｔｙ　Ｎａｉｌ（Ｔｉｔｌｅ）

Ｗｈａｔ　ｄｏｅｓ　ｉｔ　ｓｔａｎｄ　ｆｏｒ（Ｔｉｔｌｅ）

Ｐｌｅａｓｅ　ｒｅｓｐｏｎｓｅ　ｍｅ　Ｍｒ．

Ｆｒｏｍ　Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ　Ｙｏｓｈｉｋｉｓ　ｆａｎ．

[OtakuXDiruXFan]

I have been listening to ONLY japanese music for years and some really good rock band are: Dir en grey, quaff, MUCC, Buck-Tick, X Japan, Hide, Miyavi, girugamesh, heidi and vistlip. Those are just some pretty famous japanese bands. If you want to learn about more non-mainstream bands with very crazy costumes then look up visal kei. Thats what I listen to and most of the bands i listed are a lighter form of it, or former visual kei.

[loung747]

@OtakuXDiruXFan versailles -the red carpet, D asagi -alice

[loung747]

@OtakuXDiruXFan

unsraw -9-

versailles -the red carpet day

dir en grey - ain't afraid to die

[shadownights99]

i love japanese music x japan is a cool jrock & miyavi & my favorite is LM.C

[SoundDetour]

check out Mucc- Chain Ring and lots of Dir En Grey. lot of the Jrockers feed off of metal pop rock and funk

[wilbwri]

Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Pillowssssssssssssssssssss! Awesome band! FLCL ftw!

[peco13poco]

oh you talked about ellegarden

i love the band :)

[bleachedmoments]

oh and The Pillows too. ^_^

[bleachedmoments]

Asian Kung Fu Generation - Hands down.

[DuckHeadlolz]

i really reckon you'd like qururi

[hadcoreflo]

Ellegarden!!!

all albums of ellegarden are great!!

knotlamp,glory hill ,Nothing's Carved In Stone and the Hiatus are also very good especially the Hiatus this is the new band of the ellegarden singer!!! :)

[DQ15]

veltpunch

[reikai2184]

hm. if you want to find Indie japanese rock then i suggest if you ever make it up to Osaka go to the store like a edison. They carry a majority of indie bands. I myself listen to these bands Sadie Matenrou Opera Girugamesh Vidoll Dolly Screw Uverworld Downer 12012 deluhi hiedi. SuG Para:noir really though the best is to hang out around all the live houses you'll find some good indie bands there.

[mkmcr06]

Asian Kung-Fu Generation

[YuffieCloudstrife]

I like--

The GazettE

Miyavi

L'Arc~en~ciel

HYDE

Antic Cafe

LM.C

[xIFighter1]

<3 your list. xD

[aznsmiley117]

yay! Gazerock is not dead! ^ ^

[Mobbs1]

Malice Mizer on top of Gackt. Unfortunately split up now. I discovered this group called 'Access' or 'AXS', If you happen to stumble across them in a store, I'd love to know because I'd love to know how popular they are, I seem to only be able to find a single song which I LOVE. It's kinda, J-techno rock?

[SamusViolance]

goddammit only visual kei bands here on the comment list, do you search japanese rock or visual kei? if you search japanese rock then you must listen ( The Back Horn - Cobalt Blue ) .

[Darknigh60]

The Pillows are something you should really check out.

[technovidiomaster20]

My sister is obbsesed with the gazette

[makiyaza]

X Japan is a real rock !!

[POCKiiYuKOSHii]

And if you'd like to know some song recommendations about these bands, then you are more than welcome to send me a message! ^.^

[POCKiiYuKOSHii]

Here are some of my recommendations that I think you'll like:

-LM.C

-Miyavi (Solo artist but he use to be in a band called Due Le Quartz)

-girugamesh

-Nightmare

And the final band I want to recommend is

-the GazettE (They are the reason that I got interested in jrock, I absolutely think that every song they write is amazing and the lyrics are meaningful and beautiful that go so well with the incredible music)

Hope you enjoy my recommends~

[MonteCristoRecords]

If you like Power Pop and Rock, try X Japan (originally formed in 1982 with breakthrough coming in 1989 with the release of the CD BLUE BLOOD).

[confuzuledgirl7]

haha ya, it helps me so much to learn the lyrics to songs i like. Personally some favs are Monkey Majik, ONE OK ROCK, ikimono gakari, Mongol800, back-on, skankfunk etc etc. (pretty sure skankfunk is japanese)

[katsumijp21]

listening to their songs got me curious about what they were singing. so i looked up the translations in english and that's how i got to learn many japanese words. mixing pleasure with work ^^ besides , most of their songs are pure poetry. look up eng translations for "chizuru" or "without a trace" by the Gazette , for example

[katsumijp21]

wooooo i also love the Gazette , Gackt , Miyavi , DIO (distraught overload) , maximum the hormone ..... to many to list but those are my top fave. i can't remember exactly how i came accross jrock but i can't remember my life before it. that is i can't remember what i listened to before it.

[DavePerry2012]

Hee hee, the only Japanese group I listen to is Morning Musume. :P

[DavePerry2012]

I don't know about your Japanese but your Canadian is excellent! :-)

[dooorayaki]

9mm Parabellum Bullet, Grapevine, Straightener, RIZE, THE BACK HORN, AnalogFish, ACIDMAN, 8otto, Syrup16g, Superfly, love psychedelico, monobright, Base Ball Bear, Kimura Kaela, Sadistic Mikaela Band, ONE OK ROCK, Number Girl, Fujifabric, THE NOVEMBERS

[renolvr]

Not sure if any of these will fit to what you like, but they're kinda my list of faves, and about the only ones I can get to listen to, JRock is hard to come across in Ireland.

Malice Mizer, Gackt, Dir en Grey, X Japan, hide with Spread Beaver, Miyavi, LM.C, D'espairsray, the GazettE, Girugamesh, L'Arc~en~Ciel

Hyde

Moi Dix Mois

Loudness

DTR

Cloud Nine

[deidara0507]

those are all really good bands

[degrees40201]

YES!

(except Alice Nine)

[0n35h07]

Also another good band is THE PILLOWS

[0n35h07]

Also what i have found to help is watch TV or anime with Subtitles so you can hear and still understand. but problmatic you do not understand how to word them

[JrockXavieR]

I suggest D'espairsray. Absolutely awesome.

[YatsukeSan]

Girugamesh

;)

[APOKALYPSE34]

Now I have to make a video responses to for you BusanKevin I have done one yet and after watching this I have to .

I may be in the states but do plan to leave this summer. I do know alot of Heavy Metal, Rock so i will do my best!

Ganbatte!

[soildsnake4]

The GazettE well if you want to here some gazette just go on my chinnel i have some of there vids up lol and i also have up one luna sea vid Dir en grey unsrewa 12012 -OZ- exist+trace

[Gosling3]

BusanKevin, I am a Japanese. there are just too many of them. but one that had influenced are.

-YMO (yello magic orchestra) Tehcno pop

-Ryuichi Sakamoto...he is a genius

-Loudness...Metal in 80's style

-Guiter wolf...Guiter guys.

-B'z, most selling band

-Tomoyasu Hotei, Good Guiter..made Kill Bill music.

cheers

[BusanKevin]

Thanks a lot :) I'll check some of them out!

[Thisnamekills]

don't really think these bands fit your preferences too well, but these are the Japanese bands i've been listening to for the same reasons you are, that and I just like them: The Gazette Dir En Grey Sigh Boredoms Loudness Boom Boom Satellites Coffins The Gazette Anthem Blood Stain Child hope it helps, some are pretty heavy, others not so much.

[smbridge]

Also, I like the mix of modern style with classical Japanese instruments.

1. Yoshida Brothers are incredible with the shamisens.

2. Rin' (song name to look up is Sakitama) is great on the koto.

3. HeavensDust... look it up on youtube... pretty heavy stuff.

Good luck!

[smbridge]

BusanKevin,

Nice post. Was stationed in Japan back in the '80s. Miss it terribly. A very, very cool place to be stationed. My wife of almost 20 years is Japanese. Unfortunately, not very stereotypical. Cross an Italian with an Irish and you get the idea of her temperament.

Anyway, music from Japan. Check out:

1. Eikichi Yazawa - old school, a mix between our Clint Eastwood, Steve Tyler and the Steve Miller band.

2. Southern Allstars (Kuwata Band). Classics that you should hear.

[Sonytimergogo2]

Japan Rock Music?

hmm,check my fav.

[Restinpeace5]

YES!!!!!! MTH!!!!!

[nosferdo]

Alice Nine =)

[borded619]

dir en grey, the gazette,...

[espguitarist01]

Ellegarden is a great band but it probably wont help you learn Japanese since most of their songs are English lol Some of famous Japanese rock bands: UVERWORLD Aqua Timez GLAY Acid man X Japan (pretty old) ORANGE RANGE Asian Kung-Fu Generation Dir en Grey Nightmare Maximum the Hormone (マキシマムザホルモン)

[kbjli]

Looks like no one suggested Kuroyume yet. Anyway, Kuroyume is my favorite Japanese band. If you're into something really fast (180 bpm and above), check out the last 2 albums of Kuroyume. However, they also make some slow and soft tunes.

[BusanKevin]

nope....don't care for the jpop....some hip hop is alright

[otacon718]

Most guys aren't into the visual kei style of music so here's some true j-rockin' bands I enjoy and hopefully you will too: Base ball bear, Hearts Grow, Yui, Zone, Nana Kitade (love her!), Snowkel, Home Made Kazoku, Maximum the Hormone, Nanase Aikawa, and I'm sure I've got a lot more. In terms of more metal sounding stuff try Galneryus or Blood Stain Child. Also if you're into some very electronic j-pop try kawada Mami, capsule, perfume, or KOTOKO.

[BusanKevin]

Cool. Thanks a lot :)

[garnetd]

x japan is the best band ever ;) others like luna sea and mucc are great too

[BusanKevin]

Thanks. I'll check them out!

[KrankeTante]

you should check x-japan!

[BusanKevin]

Cool! Thanks :)

[sirsanuk]

mate, i recommend a very famous Japanese band called The Pillows... their entire discography is available on torrents right now..

[BusanKevin]

Awesome. I'll check them out.

[Shryke2010]

Oh yeah, also "Hare-brained unity" and "Alice Nine".

[BusanKevin]

thanx

[Shryke2010]

I recommend "Abingdon Boys School"

[BusanKevin]

Great! Thanks a lot :)

[MugEdge8]

Also a recent Anime them song

Distance by Long shot party. Check out the funny video too

[MugEdge8]

Try the song LUCY by Anna Tsuchiya

That's kind of POP/PUNK rock

[sheepance]

I recommend you "eastern youth"

[BusanKevin]

Thanks!

[BrokenVai]

Ooh! How about Checkers.

[BusanKevin]

Thanks for the suggestion :)

[Archronos1]

Check out Boowy. An 80's punk/rock with a bit of funk band that made legend and started rock in japan and made rock cool. Just youtube some of their songs like 'Justy', 'Sensitive Love', 'Memory', 'Miss Mistery Lady', 'Blue Vacation' and a whole lot more im too tired to remember right now. Ask anyone who knows their way around japanese rock they'll tell you who and what they were in Japanese rock history.

[BusanKevin]

Thanks a lot!

[lon21]

wow I just looked up Ellegarden and they're pretty good! I think I'll be listening to more of them..thanks!!

I don't know much japanese music apart from Maximum the Hormone, and Nightmare, they're more of the goth rock genre that punk-pop, but some songs are ok!

[BusanKevin]

Cool! Glad you liked Ellegarden I dig'em. Thanks for your recommendations too!

[BusanKevin]

Cool. Thanks for the advice. I definitely want to get my hands on one of their cds

[xxJaicy]

I would check out Maximum the Hormone , and Rip Slyme

[BusanKevin]

Great, I will !

[jemerb18]

You should really listen to 'acidman' (or アッシドマン in katakana）, really cool funk/punk/rock/jazzy rockband!

[BusanKevin]

Thanks a lot. I'll check them out!

[tripleraven]

Immortal Technique

[BusanKevin]

Thanks :)

[ElevenColors]

Got a video response coming up in a few minutes. Polysics have already been mentioned, so to give you a heads up, I'm going to try to talk about bands you might not have heard of.

;-)

[BusanKevin]

Cool....sweet!

[JamieDanger]

I dunno if you know this already, but in Japan you can rent CD's, so that you don't have to buy those expensive Japanese CD's. I always went to TSUTAYA to rent CD's, but I dunno if that's across the country.

If you rent some CDs, I would recommend: Number Girl, Mongol 800, Zazen Boys, Shiina Ringo （椎名林檎）, Ginnan Boys （銀杏ＢＯＹＺ）, and... that's all I can think of now. Let me know what you think!

[JamieDanger]

OH! I forgot about YuraYura Teikoku （ゆらゆら帝国）! They're fun, too.

[BusanKevin]

No...I had no idea I could rent cd's....first time I heard of it!! Wow...i should try. How much does it cost to rent cd's??

[JamieDanger]

It's AWESOME!! Especially for poor exchange students (like I was). Well, I'm not sure how it is anywhere else, but in the TSUTAYA in Kumamoto, you could rent CDs for a certain amount of days, and they'd be pretty cheap (200 yen a day or something, or at least a lot cheaper than buying it), so you can just rip them and return them! Of course, I know you would never do that... ;)

Have fun!

[At0m5k]

Hey Kevin, I have a few suggestions for you.

Quruli (くるり)

Supercar (スーパーカー)

Bump Of Chicken

The Pillows

Boom Boom Sattelites

Supercar and BBS are rock with a bit of electronica mixed in. Quruli has some more alternative rock as well as some philharmonic rock. The Pillows is an awesome rock band that has a real homegrown noncommercial feel to their music. And last but not least, Bump of Chicken has somewhat of a folk / acoustic sound that is quite unique.

[hikotalk]

Kevin mate - Elevencolors would be the guru on this, but for what its worth, I've just put up a bunch of youtube links in the info to my response of some songs I like, that you should at least be able to get hold of at any Tower or HMV shop.

Hope you find some stuff there that you like!

Peace

[BusanKevin]

Awesome....i just checked out and commented on your video response....it was just what the doctor ordered! Some good stuff in there for sure :)

[rockerholic]

Alice Nine, Miyavi, Plastic Tree, The Gazette, Malice Mizer, L'Arc en Ciel, Hyde (from l'arc en ciel I think).

With alot of the bands I've mentioned you may have to sift through a few songs to find good ones cause some of the songs are really bad in my opinion =P but for each band they have a good collection of really great songs too x)

Enjoy!

[BusanKevin]

Great! Thanks a bunch. I'll check some of your suggestions out.

[runnyrunny999]

How about Ziggy? It's more Rockn'Roll style band. I don't think they still play any more but some song are pretty good. I'm not sure if you like them. I use their music in my vlog sometimes.

[BusanKevin]

Thanks....I'll check them out. How's the training?

[runnyrunny999]

I ran 20km non stop last night but my legs still start hurting after around 15km. I do have to increase the distance more. I still can't imagine 42km..._ _;

[BusanKevin]

Last week was a bad week for me for running. I only ran twice! This week is off to a good start....2X10km runs another tonight and tomorrow. Saturday will be another long run. I'm scared about it....42km seems so long! I know how you feel!!!

[atomicboyx]

One of my fave j-rock bands is GLAY, they have been around for a while, their latest single also included a cover of U2 with or without you (major mangle of engrish)

Monkey Majik is a good gaijin group half english half japanese music. a new album JUST came out.

Someone i love is TAMURAPAN, she is indie piano girl music, u may or may not like her but check her out.

I found K-pop-rock english has been far superior to j-pop-rock english

asian kung fu generation OLDER stuff, new stuff is MEH!

[BusanKevin]

Awesome...thanks. I totally have a great list of artists to start sifting through :) Thanks for watching and giving me a few names!!

[ElevenColors]

woohoo! thx!

Power pop... Bean Bag is the first name that comes to mind. Some of their videos are up on the channel BC10Eureka. Tokyo Million (東京ミリオン) is probably their first and only video right after they came back from major to indies.

I listen to a lot of loud music... Electric Eel Shock, Bleach (Bleach03 in the States), Kokeshi Doll, Suns Owl... It's 8 AM now and I got home two hours ago. Will come up with more later. ;-)

[BusanKevin]

Cool...Awesome....get some sleep and let me knwo more!! I'm making a list :)

[Einhander1251]

I'll second L'arc en ciel and Asian Kung fu Generation. Also Beatcrusaders are pretty cool, though they sing in english. On the more metal side Maximum the Hormone is cool. Check out the Samurai Champloo OST's for funk/groove. Also check out Kanon Wakeshima for something else entirely.

[ughat]

RC Succession and Blue Hearts are the two classic japanese rock i like.

[a012345]

I also think that Japanese women is the greatest motivation for learning Japanese (unless you're married or with someone).

[a012345]

I agree with jay2122ss. Hikaru Utada is good. I would recommend L'Arc en Ciel, Do as Infinity...maybe B'z. Just stay away from SMAP.

[BusanKevin]

I'm on it!

[jay2122ss]

Oh! I also recommend Utada Hikaru. Although she is a pop singer, Shes actually quite good!

watch?v=NMmu41UQHAs

watch?v=6RefdhRjRSM

[BusanKevin]

cool....

[jay2122ss]

Hey! You must check out Tokyo Jihen and The Back Horn!!

They are pretty cool :-)

watch?v=JWDyh4hLpTA

watch?v=anJU1or6_L8&feature=re­lated

watch?v=n7bxfBpDQHc&feature=Pl­ayList&p=BCA33B9FAE9CEC79&inde­x=6

watch?v=q7HssqyOO2g

These are my favorite!!

[BusanKevin]

Thanks...I'll check them out tonight :)

[fatblueman]

Ok, I am just gonna desperately hope 11Colors doesn't see this, because I have watched his videos and I know he'll think I am total geek, but here is who I am listening to the most lately: Odani Misako. She's from somewhere down your way and what I like is that she is a real poet. She writes lyrics that are good to study, and make you go "hmmm". Get the song "Who". I think she's on iTunes. Also I like Sasagawa Miwa, another soft rock, almost worldmusic, possibly uncool choice...

[BusanKevin]

Awesome! I'll look for your recommendations! There are a few tunes I dig from Ellegarden, that I'll need a translation for...the titles are in Kanji....I'll send them along in romaji tomorrow...

Thanks for the fast relies! :)

[fatblueman]

You say you don't speak much Japanese....

And you say i speak very well...

sadly for me I know there is a close relationship between those first two statements...

:-)

Good advice on going to the listening stations. I will give that a try. i tried searching around on iTunes, and that was a big fail. Advise me on what you think are Ellegarden's best songs...

[kansaiPJ]

Hey Kev! It's been ages. How's life? I like Ellegarden a lot. But of course, my favorite band is THE MUSIQUE, as you know. I am putting up a PV from their last live show in a couple of days.

How's the running going?

BTW, I am in Kobe Tues & Thurs evenings, so if you are up for a late drink one of those nights, let me know.

[BusanKevin]

Damn right I'm up for drink! hehe.....

Running is going well. I've officially decided that after this marathon...I'm off the running for awhile and back to the weights!! hehe

[kansaiPJ]

I started back on weights last week and it feels great to be back in the gym.

For J rock, I'd recommend looking at: くるり, Aqua Timez, ハナレグミ, 19, アンジェラ アキ, and Mr. Children.

[BusanKevin]

Thanks for the recommendations.

I've decide that after my marathon, I'm back to the weights again as well! I'm looking forward to it!

[akaiYaMa9]

Favorite Japanese artists: Shing02, 椎名林檎, ときょじへん, and Nujabes!

I've been studying Japanese for around 9 months now! One thing that annoys me is I spent the first 7 months learning how to read, so my speaking ability is weak. My study sources are books, Learning Japanese CD's you can listen to in the car(for pronunciation), watching Japanese dramas and Movies(not Anime because Anime characters don't speak like real Japanese people do!), and listening to Japanese music to learn Japanese slang.

[BusanKevin]

Thanks thanks...I'll be searching for those tunes tomorrow!

I need to watch more Japanese tv to work o my listening....I suppose I need to buy a tv though...hehe....it would help!

[MaTToLife]

You should try out a group called "Radwimps". If you like Ellegarden you might also like them. Let me know what you think of it.

[BusanKevin]

Thanks....that one gets jotted down on the old notepad :) I'll check them out!

[JasonsinJapan]

OK - here are some to get you started:

Ulfuls ウルフルズ- Their album ベストだぜ!!

HY - album "Street Story"

Oresakband - オレスカバンド - album "Wao"

Pizzicato Five - any album

B'z - album "The Circle"

The Blue Hearts - any compilation with "Linda Linda"

and even tho they are sorta J-pop, I'll recommend

Greeen - they have two albums and I really enjoy both

[BusanKevin]

Awesome!!! Thanks....that's a great list...I'll start doing my research and listening now :)

btw...how are things?? When is Sports Day?

[virusone25]

Can those be imported to the States?

[fatblueman]

I'll try some of those too. I love Husky Voice by the Blue Hearts ex-member's band, The High Lows.

[JasonsinJapan]

There are certainly CD shops in cities like San Francisco and NY that would have these CDs. You can also go to websites like j-list(dot)com and buy iTunes prepaid cards for the Japanese store that would allow you to buy and download Japanese music.

[BusanKevin]

Right on! I'll check around online...problem is my computer doesn't have a Japanese keyboard so it's hard to search for much online...I'm limited to cutting and pasting things only! hehe I'll for sure be hitting the cd shops soon after all the suggestions I've been given by everyone! btw....how are ya?

[virusone25]

I like Yuki Kimura. She doesn't sing anymore but you could find some of her old CD's.

[BusanKevin]

Thanks a bunch....I'll have a listen :)

[LeoTokyo]

my fav singers are Nana Mizuki, and Morning Musume, u should check them out, its just a suggestion, cus i listen to ALOT of J-pop and Jrock, so yeah if u want check them out, cus i used to not like their songs but i got used to em :D lol

[BusanKevin]

Thanks a bunch...I'll Youtube her right away and check her out.