B'z is a Japanese rock duo consisting of guitarist, composer and producer Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto and vocalist and lyricist Koshi Inaba, known for their energetic hard rock tracks and pop rock ballads. B'z is one of the best-selling music artists in the world and the best-selling in their native Japan by certifications, having released 50 consecutive No. 1 singles, 27 No. 1 albums, and 4 No. 1 EPs on the Oricon music charts, and have sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
L'Arc-en-Ciel, stylized as L'Arc〜en〜Ciel and abbreviated as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist Tetsuya and vocalist Hyde. Following the departure of original members Hiro and Pero, guitarist Ken and drummer Sakura were recruited to replace them in 1992 and 1993, respectively. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, L'Arc-en-Ciel have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. Sakura left the band in 1997 and was replaced by Yukihiro in January 1998, completing the current line-up.
J-pop, natively also known simply as pops, is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional music of Japan, and significantly in 1960s pop and rock music. J-pop replaced kayōkyoku, a term for Japanese popular music from the 1920s to the 1980s in the Japanese music scene.
Ray is the seventh album by L'Arc-en-Ciel, released on July 1, 1999, simultaneously with Ark. It reached number two on the Oricon chart, behind only Ark, and sold over two million copies, being certified by the RIAJ.
Crescent is the fourth full-length studio album released by Japanese solo artist Gackt on December 3, 2003. It is a concept album linked to its predecessor Moon and comes with booklets for both records. Crescent also features a duet with L'Arc-en-Ciel vocalist Hyde for "Orenji no Taiyou" with whom Gackt co-starred in the 2003 movie Moon Child.
"Stay Away" is the 21st single by Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel, released on July 19, 2000. On the same day, Japanese rock band Glay's single "Mermaid" was also released. Although "Stay Away" sold over 504,000 copies in the first week, "Mermaid" debuted at number 1 with the sales of over 525,000 copies. The second track "Get out from the Shell" is also included in their album Real as the English-language song "Get out from the Shell ". "Stay Away" was elected as "the best video of the year" at the "Space Shower Music Video Awards 00".
Tetsuya, formerly known as Tetsu, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as bassist and bandleader of the rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. Formed in 1991, they have sold over 40 million records, making them one of the best-selling music artists in Japan.
Merveilles is the third studio album by Japanese rock band Malice Mizer, released on March 18, 1998 by Nippon Columbia. It is the band's only album on a major record label and their commercially and critically most successful album, as well as their last album with their second vocalist Gackt.
Ken is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter, best known as guitarist of the rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. After he joined them in 1992, they went on to sell over 40 million records, making them one of the best-selling music artists in Japan. He has written a breadth of L'Arc-en-Ciel's material, including "Vivid Colors", "The Fourth Avenue Cafe", "Niji", "Kasou", "My Heart Draws a Dream", "Daybreak's Bell" and "Chase". Ken was also the vocalist and guitarist of the rock trio Sons of All Pussys, and has released a solo album entitled In Physical.
"Kasou" is the twelfth single by L'Arc-en-Ciel. It was released simultaneously with "Honey" and "Shinshoku ~Lose Control~" on July 8, 1998. The song was used as the ending theme to TV Asahi's Shinsou Kyumei! Uwasa no Flie. The single debuted at number 4 on the Oricon chart. It was re-released on August 30, 2006. The single was also rerecorded by P'unk~en~ciel in 2012 as "花葬 平成十七年", in the album "P'unk is Not Dead".
"Shinshoku (Lose Control)" (浸食 〜lose control〜, Erosion) is the thirteenth single by L'Arc-en-Ciel. It was released simultaneously with "Honey" and "Kasou" on July 8, 1998. The single reached number 2 on the Oricon chart. It was re-released on August 30, 2006.
"Home" is the twenty-fifth single by B'z, released on July 8, 1998. This song is one of B'z many number-one singles in Oricon weekly chart. Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel released three singles in the same day. Although L'Arc-en-Ciel's three singles—"Honey", "Shinshoku " and "Kasō"—passed the first week sales of 500,000 copies each and were ranked at number two, three and four respectively, the single "Home" managed to debut at the number-one position. The single sold over 961,000 copies according to Oricon. While they won "the artist of the year award", the song was elected as one of "songs of the year" at the 13th Japan Gold Disc Award.
"Forbidden Lover" is the fifteenth single by L'Arc-en-Ciel, released on October 14, 1998. It debuted at number 1 on the Oricon chart, selling over 509,000 copies in the initial week of the release. The single was re-released on August 30, 2006.
"Heaven's Drive" is the sixteenth single by L'Arc-en-Ciel, released on April 21, 1999. The single sold over 634,000 copies in the first week of release. It topped the Oricon chart for two weeks and sold over one million copies. The band performed the song at the 50th Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
"Neo Universe/Finale" is the twentieth single by L'Arc-en-Ciel. this Double A-side single was released on January 19, 2000, as the second single from the band's eighth studio album, Real (2000). It debuted at number 1 on the Oricon chart and sold 1,103,880 copies, as certified by the RIAJ. "Finale" was used as the theme song of Ringu 0: Birthday. The third track is an instrumental song called "hole" which also featured in Ringu 0: Birthday during the opening sequence, and the fourth is a remix version of the song "Trick" from the band's seventh studio album Ray.
"Spirit Dreams Inside -Another Dream-" is the twenty-second single by L'Arc-en-Ciel, released on September 5, 2001. It was their first single of the 21st century and their last single until "Ready Steady Go" in 2004. The song debuted at number 1 on the Oricon chart and sold over 201,000 copies in its first week.
"My Lonely Town" is the forty-seventh single by B'z, released on October 14, 2009. The single features an original song and a ballad version of the previous single as b-sides. In addition, the single was also released in a limited edition, coming with a DVD with the music video.
Butterfly is the twelfth album by the Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. It was released on February 8, 2012, in two versions: regular and deluxe edition, with the latter including the tracks of the first album by their alter ego band P'unk-en-Ciel, titled P'unk Is Not Dead, and a DVD. The album was released in several European countries, starting on March 5, 2012, with the United Kingdom and finishing on March 17 with Spain and Poland.
"Uchōten" (有頂天) "ecstasy", is a single by Japanese rock duo B'z. It was released on January 14, 2015. It is the only single of their nineteenth album Epic Day.
Japanese rock, sometimes abbreviated to J-rock, is rock music from Japan. Influenced by American and British rock of the 1960s, the first rock bands in Japan performed what is called group sounds, with lyrics almost exclusively in English. Folk rock band Happy End in the early 1970s are credited as the first to sing rock music in the Japanese language. Punk rock bands Boøwy and The Blue Hearts and hard rock/heavy metal groups X Japan and B'z led Japanese rock in the late 1980s and early 1990s by achieving major mainstream success.
