5 posts tagged “gackt”
龍の化身 (Avatar of the Dragon) is Gackt's upcoming photobook and the man himself will soon be performing at the Japan-China Culture and Sports Exchange Year grand finale concert in Beijing on Nov. 29.
Am I the only one who sees something really wrong about 龍の化身, Gackt, and China in the same sentence? This has some serious potential for trouble if the Chinese press decides to go into this. The possible backlash won't be insignificant.
The Chinese have long thought of themselves as 龍的傳人, the descendants of the dragon. Indeed, in China, "Chinese" and "descendant of the dragon" are synonymous. For Gackt to claim to be the AVATAR of the dragon (I can only assume that's what he meant since he named his photobook 龍の化身, even though he was in the role of a character from a historical drama) is really troubling because he'll be performing in China. It's like Gackt declaring to the Chinese people, "Well, I'm your ancestor."
Oh, lord. Let's just hope I'm being paranoid.
(By the way, alice nine.'s new "Alpha" album disappoints me to bits and pieces. It completely fails to live up to my expectation set by their first album, "Zekkeishoku". I doubt I'll review it, so I thought to tack this on. I want to pretend the new album never came out.)
"Ah, I knew it!" says me.
During his performance for the first night of JRock Revolution, miyavi confirmed the members of Yoshiki's "super band" that so many have speculated about. The members are Yoshiki, Gackt, miyavi, and Sugizo!
My original post last year speculating about miyavi's plan to join YOSHIKI's project was seriously the most linked entry ever. I kept on seeing this blog being referenced or linked to in various J-Rock communities, blogs, and even Wikipedia. So now, it's been confirmed. miyavi is indeed the 4th member of YOSHIKI's band.
And according to Wikipedia, the band's name is SKIN. SKIN will be performing at the Anime Expo convention in Long Beach, CA on June 29 (already? what about a bassist?!). Gosh, why do the Californians get all the cool J-Rock events? *headdesk*
I'm seriously tempted to move to the West Coast.
YOSHIKI says he loves Deg, thinks he's still working on Violet UK, teases us more about the superband, but then gets all angsty over the X Japan revival. For the full blog entry, see his MySpace.
On Dir en grey
Overall the show was great…… full of energy, and….. every time I see them perform, it makes me want to rock……
Anyways…… after the show, the entire band came to my house, and celebrated Shinya's (the drummer's) birthday party. Back then….. well, when I was producing Dir en grey, we used to hang out pretty much every day…… It was so nice to hang out with them again.
Last night we ended up drinking together until the morning,
I hope they're all OK for the show tonight.
On stage they were very charismatic, but off stage they are some of the sweetest people I know…… HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THEM!!!
Yeah, except Deg barely even acknowledges their fans most of the time. Though from the US meet-and-greet news I've been reading in live reports, the band has taken a step in the right direction. So, did Deg perform with a massive hangover?
On Violet UK
He THINKS he's still working on Violet UK, or does he think it's going to blow us away? Oh, YOSHIKI, please just release the album already. >_<OK….. I'm still working on Violet UK……I think….. but for the first time in many years, I'm confident that some of these songs will be able to blow your minds away……
On the superband
Half of the J-Rock fandom shouts "miyavi!", while the other half shouts "hell, no!"And…… some people have questions about "THE BAND".
Yes, Sugizo from Luna Sea came here to LA several times last year, and last month Gackt came to town, and we both went to dinner…..
Sugizo and Gackt are such talented people, also having such an amazing vibe. Actually, they are all going to come here next month with one more person that I can't reveal yet.
On the X Japan revival
OK, and X Japan…..
I'm like…….Why now? ..... Why, why, why……
To be honest….. it took years to conquer the pain and sadness….. maybe not yet, I still cannot listen to…… or watch X Japan's videos….. without tears…..
" MY OWN GODDAMN BAND" ….. I can't listen to it without crying…… HOW CAN I BE IN IT AGAIN? …… IT HURTS SO MUCH…… TO EVEN TALK ABOUT ...... X JAPAN…..
Yes, I can play the drums. I think I can play them even harder than before…… of course my injured neck and wrists hurt….. but SO WHAT!!! ….. I don't give a fuck about that kind of pain…..
But mentally….. I don't know if I can take it….. I'm not saying if I'll do it or not….. I talked to Toshi (vocalist)……. He called me almost towards the end of last year….. for the first time since we went our separate ways……….
Toshi and I..... we grew up together…........ I don't know ….. I don't know…. I don't …… know …….
Yes, there are lyrics of the song "WITHOUT YOU" ….. That, I wrote, right after Hide's death….. also, I had to do so many takes of piano recording, because of the tears falling down and flooding the piano keys, and my fingers kept slipping again and again.
If there's somebody to sing this song ….. I think it should be Toshi….. but …… I don't know….. I don't know….. I don't fucking know….. It's too painful to……
I'm sorry, I don't want to make you feel depressed or anything like that….. but so many people have been asking me about this, so I had to say something…… just let me….. have…… a little more time……
Oh dear. X___x I remember watching an interview with YOSHIKI from around 2001 where he reminices about X Japan and hide, made me all teary-eyed.
I wrote about YOSHIKI's announcement of forming a band with Gackt way back in August. By now, everyone should know that yes, SUGIZO (ex. LUNA SEA) has signed up for this project too (article translation here). In certain J-Rock fandom circles, tongues are wagging and excitement is building.
Now, there are two more spots left in this super J-Rock band of the century. Who will be the bassist and the second guitarist?
I, along with many others, have been thinking that whoever YOSHIKI end up inviting to the project, they must be of the older era J-Rocker crowd. Since YOSHIKI's X Japan, SUGIZO's LUNA SEA, Gackt's Malice Mizer were all bands that reached their prominence in that late 80's to 2000 time span.
But, something that happened just yesterday made me reconsider.
Enter miyavi.
Here, I will quote the wonderful LJ community masakarasu's translation of miyavi's video message from his blog entry yesterday (December 30). He had just returned to Japan from Los Angeles.
He said that he has something he wants to tell everyone, but not in a text, rather in a comment, in person, right there as he's tired, as he's wanting to tell everyone.
He said it's been four years since his old band broke up, and he debuted as a soloist in 2002. Being in a band was amazing, as it was said in magazines as well, but it didn't work out and he had to go solo. And now it's been four years, and it's all thanks to everyone. He said he's really feels that from his heart.
He said he thought that soccer and being in a band were over for him, but that next year, he's thinking of being in a band, playing guitar. He found an amazing guy (older than him), and he thought he'd like to try screaming in the background once again (laugh), so he hopes we look forward to it.
He can't say who's going to be in the band yet, but he hopes that they can in the new year. He's sorry for making everyone, especially Comiyavi, wait for so long this year, so that's why he decided to make a comment.
But of course, he still wants to continue his solo act as a solo artist, so he wants everyone to look forward to it.
He said he'll be working on pre-productions and he's thinking about going back to Los Angeles again, and he knows everyone's going to miss him but he's still going to play guitar, doing neo-visualism.
Los Angeles? An older musician? 2007? Right after the announcement of SUGIZO's involvement in the YOSHIKI+Gackt project? This is too much of a coincidence to be coincidental. Meeves, you're up to something!
Before you think, "has YOSHIKI lost his marbles?", consider this further. Yes, miyavi would be like a pipsqueak next to J-Rock legends YOSHIKI and SUGIZO. But the man is damn talented on the guitar. And let's not forget YOSHIKI's shrewd business sense. With the project's current lineup, the band will draw a huge audience from the mainstream pop world because of Gackt. YOSHIKI and SUGIZO will attract the fans of the older era J-Rock bands nostalgic to experience the magic once again. And if miyavi joins the fun, he will bring to the table the younger, visual kei-following crowd. The project won't just be a "let's resurrect the J-Rock dinosaurs", but "let's create a band that will encompass and appeal to all tastes and ages". It'll be the supreme band of the century.
Of course, many also worry that by having so many prominent musicians on board, the entire world is not enough for their egos combined. It'll be like a powder keg, ready to self-destruct at the smallest spark. Yet, I'm comforted by the fact that the band members themselves are aware of this and will work to overcome such obstacles. I remain optimistic about the collaboration and look forward to the final product.
In SUGIZO's words, “Look out for high-impact, explosive rock music." (tsukinoshita)
News from a Livejournal community
gekka-no-neko translates it: here.
Essentially, YOSHIKI (formerly of X Japan, currently producer) and Gackt (formerly of Malice Mizer, currently solo artist) will begin a project together later this year and recording will take place next year. A live tour is planned and will occur first in the US.
I want to weep in happiness at this news. I'll give up an arm to see them on tour in the US.
