Rouage | |
---|---|
Origin | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan |
Labels | Universal Music Japan |
Members | Kazushi Rayzi Shono |
Past members | Kaiki Yuki Rika |
Rouage (stylized as ROUAGE) was a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in Nagoya in 1993, active until 2001. They were an important band to the visual kei scene of the 90s, being credited as one of the founders of the subgenre Nagoya kei. [1] [2]
Rouage, whose name means gear in French, was formed in December 1993 in Nagoya by vocalist Kazushi, guitarists Rika and Rayzi and drummer Shono. In 1994, the bassist Kaiki left the band Silver Rose and joined Rouage. [2] Their debut release was the single "Silk", in February. [3] Rouage released a self-titled debut album in March, limited to 5000 copies. A reprint with more 5000 copies went on sale in July. [3]
In 1995, Kaiki left the band and the group considered breaking up, even playing a farewell show. [4] That didn't happen and in a twist Rouage debuted on a major label in April with the single "Queen" released by Universal Music Japan. [3] In June, they released Bible, their best-selling album. [5]
In 1996, their second major single "insomnia" was used as the theme song for the ANB television show mew. [6] The band Lin covered it for the album CRUSH!3-90's V-Rock best hit cover LOVE songs, which features newer visual kei bands covering love songs by important visual kei bands from the 90s. [7] After the release of "insomnia" in August, bassist Yuki joined the band. [3]
In March 1997 Rouage released the album Mind. Soon after, Yuki disappeared from the band and since then, Rouage has worked only with support bass musicians. After embarking on a big tour, they released the album Children on December 3. [4] "Endless Loop" was used as opening theme of Legend of Basara animation. Diaura covered the song for the album Counteraction -V-Rock covered Visual Anime songs Compilation-, which features newer visual kei bands covering anime songs by older visual kei bands. [8] Early on the following year they embarked on Children's Room tour, with fifteen shows across the country. [3] On July 16 they played at the Shock Wave Illusion festival with bands like Dir en Grey and Pierrot. [4] In 2000, Rika left the band. [3]
After Shono left the band in February 2001, Rouage officially broke up. [3] In 2006, the albums Bible, Children, Lab, Mind and Soup were re-released. They also considered re-releasing their live albums, but Rika didn't approve. [9]
Title | Release | Oricon chart [5] [10] |
---|---|---|
Rouage | July 20, 1994 | - |
Bible | June 6, 1996 | 14 |
Mind | March 5, 1997 | 15 |
Children | December 3, 1997 | 25 |
Soup | November 11, 1998 | 16 |
Culture | March 17, 1999 | 29 |
Lab | May 24, 2000 | 33 |
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 in the Japanese music scene.
Malice Mizer was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from 1992 to 2001. The band was as famous for their music as they were for their live shows, featuring lavish historical costumes and stage sets, short silent theater pieces preluding various songs.
Visual kei, abbreviated v-kei, is a music scene and movement that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Originally influenced by glam rock and other 1970s rock music styles, visual kei musicians incorporate varying levels of make-up, elaborate hairstyles and costumes, often coupled with an androgynous aesthetic. The term visual kei was coined in the 1990s and is sometimes also called a music genre or style, similar to Shibuya-kei. However, there are no defined characteristics for the music played by visual kei acts, and whether or not one is considered a part of the movement is based solely on their having an emphasis on visuals and performance.
Siam Shade was a five-piece Japanese rock band, formed in Tokyo in 1991. The classic line-up of Hideki on vocals, Natchin on bass, Kazuma and Daita on guitar, and Jun-ji on drums broke onto the visual kei scene alongside a multitude of other artists in the early 1990s and enjoyed a decade of relative popularity before disbanding in early 2002. The members have reunited several times since 2007 for one-off concerts and short tours. Outside Japan, Siam Shade is best known for "1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō", which was the sixth ending theme of the Rurouni Kenshin anime. Daita's work on their song "Triptych" was named the 83rd best guitar instrumental by Young Guitar Magazine in 2019.
Kuroyume is a Japanese rock band formed in Nagoya in May 1991, initially with the vocalist Kiyoharu, bassist Hitoki and guitarist Shin. The group had a definite influence on the visual kei scene, being credited as inspiration to many bands of the late 1990s visual kei boom and as one of the creators of Nagoya kei. They were called "The big two Nagoya bands" in the early Nagoya kei scene along with Silver-Rose. The band achieved success with the albums Feminism (1995) and Fake Star (1996), with the song "Pistol" winning an MTV Video Music Award.
Shazna is a Japanese visual kei rock band originally active from 1993 to 2000. Originally having a strong gothic/post-punk influence, the band's sound greatly shifted to a more new wave direction by 1996. At their peak, they were considered one of "the big four of visual kei" alongside La'cryma Christi, Fanatic Crisis and Malice Mizer. Their 1998 major label debut album Gold Sun and Silver Moon reached the number two position on the Oricon chart, sold over a million copies and was named "Rock Album of the Year" at the Japan Gold Disc Awards. In 2006, Shazna reunited, though after releasing an album and a single they disbanded once again in 2009. In 2017, Shazna officially reunited again for their 20th anniversary.
Laputa was a Japanese Nagoya kei rock band, active from 1993 to 2004. The band chose its name from the flying island in Gulliver's Travels and tried to portray a similar unrealistic view of the world with their performance. Their 1997 album Emadara was named one of the top albums from 1989 to 1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.
Raphael was a Japanese visual kei rock band that formed in 1997, when the members were only 15. They disbanded in 2001, after guitarist Kazuki died at age 19. The remaining members reunited Raphael for two concerts in 2012 and for a 2016 tour.
Fanatic Crisis was a Japanese rock band active from 1992–2005.
"Forever Love" is the fourteenth single by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan, released on July 8, 1996.
Nagoya kei is a subgenre of the Japanese visual kei movement that developed in the early 1990s music scene of Nagoya, Japan. The term actually developed before visual kei was coined, and gradually died out as the latter gained more popularity. Often considered darker and gloomier than visual kei both musically and lyrically, Nagoya kei takes its influences more so from western punk rock and alternative rock bands. The focus of the bands tends to be much less on costume and makeup in favor of more complex musical compositions and concentration on the music itself.
"Pink Spider" is the ninth single by Japanese musician hide, the second to bear the hide with Spread Beaver name, released on May 13, 1998, eleven days after his death. It debuted at number 1 on the Oricon Singles Chart and was the 11th best-selling single of the year, being certified Million by the RIAJ. It was also named "Song of the Year" at the 13th Japan Gold Disc Awards.
"Rocket Dive" is the eighth single by Japanese musician hide, the first to bear the hide with Spread Beaver name, released on January 28, 1998. It reached number 4 on the Oricon Singles Chart and was the 33rd best-selling single of the year. It has been certified double platinum by the RIAJ for sales over 500,000 copies.
To-y is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Atsushi Kamijo. It was serialized by Shogakukan in the shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 1985 to 1987, with the chapters collected in ten tankōbon volumes. It tells the story of GASP, an underground punk rock band, and their attempt to get a recording contract and attain stardom. To-y was adapted into an original video animation (OVA) in 1987.
Vistlip is a five-member Japanese visual kei rock band that formed on July 7, 2007, and is currently signed to Delfi Sound and Marvelous Entertainment.
Deadman is a Japanese rock band founded in Nagoya in 2000. The group gained notoriety for popularizing the Nagoya kei subgenre of visual kei, which is a lot "darker" than most and focuses more on musical composition. Deadman also quickly became known for vocalist Mako's heavily melancholic lyrical themes, with the music itself touching on alternative rock in sound. The group disbanded in 2006 without explanation. Mako and guitarist Aie reunited as Deadman in 2019.
Kamijo is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer. He is best known as lead singer of the visual kei bands Lareine and Versailles. He has also been the head of two independent record labels; the first being Applause Records, and currently Sherow Artist Society since 2006, being renamed to Chateau Agency since 2016. His music covers many genres, Lareine having mainly a baroque pop style, and Versailles a clear symphonic and neoclassical metal sound. He has an extensive discography with the bands Lareine, New Sodmy and Versailles, consisting of 15 albums, and a large amount of EPs and singles. In 2013, Kamijo began a solo career with his debut single "Louis ~Enketsu no La Vie en Rose~".
Arlequin are a five-piece Japanese visual kei rock band, formed in 2013 in Tokyo.
Jiluka is a Japanese visual kei metal band initially formed in May 2013 but restarted in February 2015. The group are an independent band on the label DPR Japan, consisting of members Ricko, Sena, the main songwriter of the songs, Boogie and Zyean. They have released 7 albums and 6 singles so far. It was ranked at the 12 position on the JRock News's top 15 visual kei and Japanese rock artists of 2019. Jiluka is described as "Modern metal visual kei".
Kiryū (己龍) is a Japanese visual kei metal band founded in 2007 with the concept of "Japanese terror" and "painful nostalgia". Formed by vocalist Mahiro Kurosaki, guitarists Takemasa Kujō and Mitsuki Sakai, bassist Hiyori Isshiki and drummer Junji Tokai, each member is represented by a color. They have been part of the independent label B.P Records since 2009.