When SF Symphony announced a few weeks ago Yoshiki, band leader, drummer and pianist for X Japan will come to SF in April I was so excited, I immediately bought my ticket! X Japan was the first of its kind in Japan introducing Glam Rock and Metal. Yes, Yoshiki was inspired by the American Hard Rock, Heavy Metal band, KISS. X Japan's music genre/style became known in Japan as "Visual Kei."
X JAPAN
Yoshiki today
Whether classical or rock, Yoshiki creates awesome ballads and rock songs. I became aware of X Japan in the mid 90's when I heard their song on a commercial promoting their new single release on TV Japan. Like Micheal Jackson is the King of Pop, Yoshiki is the father of Visual Kei in Japan. If you ever have time to read about X Japan's story, you will realize how their type of look and sound was new to Japan outside of what was known in the media from Western rock musicians like David Bowie, Kiss and Iggy Pop. While not exactly Glam Rockers, Queen and Elton John were also well known in Japan at the time for their outfits, hair and songs. In Japan, there are certain expectations for how Japanese expect other Japanese citizens to look and act to show their national pride as Japanese. When X Japan came out in the 1980's, visualize shock and avoidance from the everyday Japanese person. It was quite the culture clash. The 1980's and X Japan prompted many Japanese youth to begin rebelling against Japan's expectation of them. The 1990s-present day Japanese youth culture reveals the many type of sub cultures like Goth Lolita(1980's -present day), Ganguro, a form of Blackface some youths used to embrace Black culture/ resemble some Hip Hop and/or R&B artists or the youth had a very dark tanned face with light hair and white lipstick/other white makeup over the tan( height of this sub culture was in the early- mid 2000's).
Back to Yoshiki's influence on Visual Kei: He produced Dir en Gray (1997, Death Metal), originally they dressed in Visual Kei but began using traditional rock gear in the mid 2000s. Like Yoshiki. they do look to expand their International audience and come to perform in San Francisco during the Summer months. Look for them if you are interested in one of their popular (and my favorite!) songs below, "Kodou." Even though there is very little English in their songs, they still have a good fan base in the United States that enjoys their music and concerts. Please support them with me at one of their concerts when they return to San Francisco!
Dir en Grey in traditional Visual Kei
A Dir en Grey recent look
Yoshiki and X Japan was greatly influenced Versallies' (1994, Symphony/Progressive Rock) lead Kamijo. This band dresses in Visual Kei but their outfits are modeled after the GothicVictorian Era. From the awesome guitar rifts to the classical ballads you will enjoy a day or night at the symphony! They are on a break at the moment and involved in solo projects but when they are back, I am sure they will tour Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America again because like the other Visual Kei bands, they have International fans.
Versallies
The GazettE (2002, Alternative Metal) dresses in an updated Visual Kei/Punk style. Because I am a regular Anime and Japanese music television viewer, I found out about this band. Anime has opening and ending songs by popular artists and usually features their most recent single release. It is a great marketing tactic both nationally and Internationally.
SID, (2003, Pop Rock) is another Visual Kei band with great guitar rifts and ballads I discovered through an anime, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Check out their song below, for those of you who love Ed and Al's adventure you will recall this song. Enjoy!
SID
Other rock bands that are not Visual Kei but have multiple songs featured on anime, video games and top charting singles over the past two decades and are well known Internationally are Gackt (1994, Symphonic/Hard/Alternative Rock) and Hyde of lead singer of Larc en Ciel or Laraku (1991, Pop Rock/Alternative Rock) and VAMPS (2008, Hard Rock/Alternative Rock) with K.A.Z. the lead guitarist. Gackt and Hyde constantly recreate their image so I will only feature two of their looks...otherwise this entire post will be filled with pictures!
Gackt
Gackt
While Gackt does not come to the U.S. as frequently, Hyde and K.A.Z. often bring their rock to major U.S. cities. Yes, I was there when they came to San Francisco! Their lyrics mix Japanese and English that is easy for non Japanese speakers to understand the overall meaning of the songs. Kawaiiso Hyde trying to talk to the audience. He said all he knew without appearing too nervous, "Herro San Furanshisuco!!! I love the AISUKURIMU... ICE CREAM!! GHIRADELLI! Hai..Yes... ok that's all! Sore dake...My English...Gomen..." His lyrics have meaning that has drawn many U.S. audiences to his songs. Check out two videos below from his bands.
Larc en Ciel (Hyde in Center)
Vamps: K.A.Z. (left) Hyde (right)
For those of you who are familiar with Japanese 80's rock bands, I have not forgotten to mention Luna Sea* Mr. Children and Glay*. These bands have also made their mark in the Japanese rock scene since late 80s. Japanese television dramas and anime featuring their songs have repeatedly drawn Japanese International audiences to their songs as well. While I love all of these bands I have previously mentioned, these three bands were special for me during my high school years in Japanese class because their songs were always on the radio, featured in Japanese news online, a commercial, anime, video game or television show. I could rock out to Glay and Luna Sea and dance and smile to the songs of Mr. Children \(^-^)/!!
*Luna Sea and Glay began their careers as Visual Kei and were also influential like X Japan on this movement in Japan's 1980's. In the 1990's, both groups shifted away from the Visual Kei hair, makeup and dress styles in exchange for more mainstream rock looks.
Luna Sea
Mr. Children
Glay
In closing, each band from Japan allows a space for non Japanese speakers to connect to the messages in their songs whether through lyrics, tone and beat. 2014 has allowed JRock and Visual Kei to be just as relevant as Western Rock, Metal and Punk because different technology media has allowed not only more access to these bands to new Western listeners but also a space to see where the West and East meet, diverge and create something awesome ignoring language, national, International and cultural boundaries. Also, I cannot wait to see Yoshiki share his music April 28th! For me, this is the equivalent of seeing MJ in concert. As for my MJ connection, with Thriller, he showed how to create and use music videos as a form of artistic expression and storytelling by breaking boundaries and creating a grey space between fantasy and reality. If you watched through the videos and live concert clips I included above, you will see MJ's influence is in Japan. Each song has a story being told using their own style as Japanese musicians looking to not only tell their story to their fellow Japanese but expand and share their voices with the West. The same story telling can be applied to Japanese Neo Soul and Hip Hop videos. I chose to represent Visual Kei and JRock because my school agers heard me listening to an X Japan song when I was heading on break. They were interested in Yoshiki since I played clips of both his ballads and rock music. Many of the school agers enjoy Linkin Park so they were able to enjoy Yoshiki's music.
How do I prevent children from hearing bad language in the music I play? Easy. I do not play it around them and when I show clips or music videos I always preview the video and song first by myself. One awesome quote from Yoshiki's live performance at the Grammy Museum is when the producers wanted him to shorten his songs for radio and he stated, "Who the F--k has a radio??" Seriously Yoshiki is awesome for speaking the truth! He stays current and is so well spoken. If you are unable to make it to see Yoshiki check out these videos. Enjoy!
Just for fun if you are still reading: Can you take a guess on which band(s) from the United States influenced which Visual Kei or JRock band?
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