Asian Kung-Fu Generation is a Japanese alternative rock band formed in Yokohama in 1996. For its entire career, the band has consisted of vocalist Masafumi Gotoh, guitarist Kensuke Kita, bassist Takahiro Yamada, and drummer Kiyoshi Ijichi. Starting out as a college band, Asian Kung-Fu Generation released a series of independent EPs featuring lyrics mostly sung in English. In 2002, they released their major-label EP debut Hōkai Amplifier, from that point singing their lyrics in Japanese. The band's musical style is influenced by seminal Western alternative rock acts as well as their own local Japanese indie rock and punk scene. Their songs incorporate various aspects of the genres, most typically expressing fast tempos and prominent power chord guitar riffs in addition to rhythmic groove and emotional lyrics. Despite the indie nature of their music, the band has enjoyed worldwide commercial success in addition to critical acclaim. Asian Kung-Fu Generation has been cited as one of the best, most balanced modern rock bands to emerge from Japan in the 2000s.
Kumiko Kōda, known professionally as Koda Kumi, is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs.
Orange Range are a 5-member Japanese rock band, based in Okinawa, Japan. Formed in 2001, the band began with Spice Music and later signed with Sony Music Japan's gr8! records division in 2003. The band left gr8! records in 2010 to start their own label, Super Echo. In 2012, they signed with Victor Entertainment's Speedstar Records label.
Ai Otsuka is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Suminoe-ku, Osaka, Japan. She is a popular artist on the Avex Trax label and is best known for her 2003 hit "Sakuranbo", which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 103 weeks.
Ami Suzuki is a Japanese recording artist, DJ, and actress from Zama, Kanagawa, Japan. Having been discovered at the talent TV show Asayan, she was one of the most popular female teen idols in the late 1990s. However, in 2000, Suzuki faced legal problems with her management company resulting in a controversial blacklisting from the entertainment industry. Suzuki attempted to resurrect her career under her own steam with two indie singles before signing to Avex Trax in 2005. She released "Delightful", a dance song that reached No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon charts with a style similar to electronic club music, significantly different from her pop idol days. Since her appearance in the 2006 film Rainbow Song, Suzuki has gradually made a name for herself in the acting field, starring in various movies, television series, and musicals.
Yui, stylized as YUI or yui, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In her solo career, she sold more than 5 million physical copies in Japan. She is popular in Japan and in surrounding countries, ranking number one in 2011 Count Down TV "Dearest Female Artist" and Music Station "Artist You Most Want to Marry" polls, as well as Radio Television Hong Kong's "Most Popular Japanese Artist".
The Gazette, formerly known as Gazette, is a Japanese visual kei rock band, formed in Kanagawa in early 2002. The band is currently signed to Sony Music Records.
Best: First Things is the debut greatest hits album by Japanese singer Koda Kumi. Rhythm Zone released it in a variety of formats on September 21, 2005. The album is divided into two discs, each containing a single released by Koda between her 2000 debut with "Take Back" and her most recent single, "Hot Stuff" in 2005. The second disc contains four new singles: "Butterfly", "Flower", "Promise", and "Star", as well as a bonus track, the solo version of "The Meaning of Peace".
Uverworld is a Japanese rock band consisting of six members and originating from Kusatsu, Shiga. They have released eleven studio albums and over thirty singles and have sold over three million records worldwide.
Sid is a Japanese visual kei rock band, formed in 2003 and signed to Ki/oon Records. Formed by Mao, Shinji, Aki and Yūya, they are known for producing anime songs, such as for Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, Black Butler or Magi.
Flumpool are a Japanese rock band. The band, originally from Osaka Prefecture, was formed in January 2007. The band's name is a portmanteau of the words four, lump, and pool. Thus, the name could be interpreted to mean "collective mass of four" or a "quartet".
CNBLUE is a South Korean pop rock band formed in 2009. The band consists of Jung Yong-hwa, Kang Min-hyuk (drums), and Lee Jung-shin (bass). First bassist Kwon Kwang-jin left the band after they released their debut Japanese extended play Now or Never in 2009, and was replaced by Lee Jung-shin. Lee Jong-hyun left the band on August 28, 2019.
Vivid was a five-member Japanese visual kei rock band from Tokyo. The band was formed in March 2009 and is currently signed with Sony Music Japan's Epic Records Japan label. Vivid had announced on Jan 28, 2015, that they will be disbanding after the last stop of their final tour in April.
Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku is a Japanese female idol group. The group's name is officially shortened to Ebichu (えびちゅう、エビ中). The group was created by 3B Junior, the third section of the talent agency Stardust Promotion. Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku is considered a "little sister" group to another Stardust Promotion girl group, Momoiro Clover Z.
The discography of Japanese R&B singer Toshinobu Kubota consists of nineteen studio albums, ten compilation albums, two tribute albums, and over seventy singles. In 1985, Kubota signed with Sony Japan and began producing and writing songs for many of label's singers and groups. Under the label, Kubota released his first single, "Shitsui no Downtown" in June 1986, followed by "Time Shower ni Utarete" in December. Both songs were well received by radio, placing fifty-three and thirty-five on the Oricon Singles Chart. In September 1986, his debut album, Shake It Paradise, peaked at number twenty-two and remained on the Oricon Albums Chart for seven consecutive weeks. Shake It Paradise became certified million. The following year in 1987, Kubota's second studio album, Groovin', debuted at number thirty-three and was certified million. In February 1988, Kubota released "You Were Mine", which debuted at number two. In September 1988, Kubota released his third album, Such A Funky Thang!. The album peaked at number one and was certified million. The album also spawned the top-charted single "Dance If You Want It", which peaked at number three. In 1989, Kubota released his compilation album, The Baddest. The album also peaked at number one and was certified million.
Bad 25 is the 25th anniversary edition reissue of American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson's seventh studio album Bad (1987). This is the second album by Jackson re-released on its 25th anniversary, the first being Thriller 25 (2008). Bad has sold 35 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Bad 25 was released on September 18, 2012, with co-operation with Epic, Legacy Recordings and MJJ Productions. Along with the original album, Bad 25 contains demo recordings recorded during the Bad era, with the deluxe edition also containing a live CD and DVD of Live at Wembley July 16, 1988, Jackson's performance at Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom during his Bad world tour.
Feel is the eleventh studio album by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro. It was released on July 10, 2013, in both physical and digital formats, and it is her first studio release through Dimension Point, a sub-division of Amuro's label Avex Trax. Feel, like its predecessor Uncontrolled (2013), features a diverse range of producers and songwriters from outside of Japan, including collaborations with Zedd, Dsign Music, Anthony Maniscalco, and Steven Lee.
The Best is the first Japanese compilation album by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. It was released on July 23, 2014, in Japan through EMI Records Japan. The album was released in three different editions, regular and two limited, with the latter containing a DVD or Blu-ray, an extra CD and a photobook. The album originally contains all of the group's previous Japanese singles, while including a previously unreleased Japanese version of "Mr.Mr." and an original track, titled "Indestructible".
Mass is the tenth studio album by Japanese visual kei rock band the GazettE, which saw release on May 26, 2021, in the US and Japan by Sony Music Records and in the UK, Europe and Russia by JPU Records. Before the album was released, the single "Blinding Hope" was released on March 10, 2021.
"Undying" is the twenty-third single by Japanese rock band The Gazette, released on April 27, 2016, in two editions. In Japan, it was released by Sony Music and in other regions by JPU Records.
