What is Visual Kei?

Famous for androgynous clothing, dramatic make-up, and wild hairstyles, visual kei bands (the kei meaning style or image), started in Japan in the late 1980s.

It’s a way of self-expression, mainly popular in the hardcore music scene. Confusing visual kei with a specific genre of music is easy, but yet it isn’t a genre at all. It’s just an artistic style worn by the members of a band.

People in these bands are mostly men that cross the boarders of society by choosing cross-dressing clothes such as skirts, corsets, and heeled boots, very similar to the gothic/punk-like style.

Japanese bands that have been said to start this style are X-Japan, D'erlanger, Buck-Tick, and Color.

Visual Kei, though it is most popular in Asian countries, is slowly making its way through Europe and to the United States. Some of the visual kei bands that I have listened to and recommend are Dir en Grey, X Japan, An Café (commonly known as Antic Café), Alice Nine, D’espairs Ray and my number one favorite, The Gazette.

Just like anything else in the world, something that is different gains both popularity and harsh criticism. Not all the men who portray this style are gay. This is a major misconception because of the way people are use to thinking.

Music is entertainment, so therefore it is necessary to act or dress a certain way and altogether simply entertain. The people in visual kei bands definitely accomplish this by just the way they look.

The GazettE

If you’re looking for a hardcore, visual kei rock band, then The GazettE is right for you. They are a Japanese rock band that started in early 2002 and are signed currently with three different record labels; PS Company, King Records and CLJ Records.

The musical style of The GazettE can be classified as anything from rock to Alternative Funk, depending on the song. They also throw in some synthesized sounds and the voice of women every now and then in a song.

In 2002, the original five members, Ruki, Uruha, Reita, Aoi, and Yune –who is no longer in the group and is replaced by Kai- formed the band under the name The GazettE. They released their first single in 2002 called “Wakaremichi” and also had a video released in April of that year. Within a few months they already had released two more singles, another video, and scheduled their first headlining show for October.

In July of 2006, the band played their first show outside of Asia at the Beethovenhalle in Berlin, Germany. The GazettE had finally “made it big”.

In 2007, three more singles were released along with another album on July 4th, which reached #2 on the Oricon Charts within one day from its release. In October of that year, they played their first European tour, visiting England, Finland, France, and Germany.

The band has released 16 singles, 12 albums since 2002 and there is no sign of retiring any time soon.

As far as recommendations, I highly recommend their songs Filth in Beauty, Silly God Disco, Cassis, Cockroach and Guren.

To explore this band further, visit their Myspace page.

One nation, under God?

This isn't exactly the kind of topic I like talking about, but this really caught my attention and I didn't know where else to put it.

Today I found a poll on Facebook which asks "Should we take "One nation, under God" out of the pledge"

I, being a Christian, said no. But as I scrolled down I found an interesting comment from someone who answered "no" to the poll.
Here is his reasoning. I found it to make total sense.


Devin Davidson · 3:02 pm Friday, November 6th

I voted "no". We should just get rid of the pledge of allegiance all together. It's just a load of crap.

The USA isn't indivisible, it isn't under God, and most Americans have no reason to pledge allegiance to it. Quick reasoning:

The states, under the constitution, can legally secede from the union (ie. it isn't indivisible).

Religion is constitutionally separated from state (ie. the legal nation isn't under God).

Most Americans should defend their friends, family, and other americans, before they defend the government (ie. they shouldn't pledge allegiance to the government, but the people themselves).


A very interesting thought.

Cinema Bizarre

Cinema Bizarre consists of five guys from Germany who play SynthPop/rock/Power pop music.
They are a slightly androgynous, glam rock band from Berlin. They started in 2005 after Kiro, Strify, and Yu met at an anime convention in Berlin. Not long after, Shin and Luminor joined the group. Their first album, Final Attraction, was released in 2007. Love songs (They Kill Me) was their first single. After missing a few shows due to health problems, keyboardist Luminor left the band and Yu's close friend, Romeo, took his place.
None of them use their original names, but go by nicknames.

Here's a list of the members and what they do in the band:
Strify: Lead Vocals
Shin: Drummer
Romeo: Keyboard
Yu: Electric Guitar
Kiro: Bass Guitar
Former Member:
Luminor: Keyboard/Back up vocals

History of the band
Strify, Kiro, Yu met at an anime convention and hit it off. Later on Luminor (the previous keyboardist), and Shin joined the band. Luminor left the band in 2008 because of some health problems (rumored to be bulimia). Yu's friend, Romeo, took over his position.


Fame-Ball Tour
In May, my best friend, Sarai, and I bought tickets for the Fame Ball Tour.
The four acts included two bands we have never heard of; The White Tie Affair and Chester French, our favorite band from Germany; Cinema Bizarre, and the headlining act; Lady GaGa.
We had originally bought the tickets to just see Cinema Bizarre, but we were impressed by the whole show. We arrived 7 1/2 hours early and there were only two people waiting in front of us.
One of the girls let us in on a secret... that Strify and Shin were in having lunch in the cafe down the street! Of course, Sarai and went!

We got a table right behind them but we were so nervous and excited at the same time that we couldn't say anything. But right when they were getting up to leave, I turned around and said-like the dork I am- "HI!" That definitely caught Strify's attention. Thank God.
Those next ten to fifteen minutes were HEAVEN! Their English was so impressive, too. We talked about how much we LOVED their music (of course) and why we came to the concert (of course not for the other 3 bands but ONLY for Cinema Bizarre. We made that quite clear.) I think they probably fell in love with us.

Anyway, after indulging in conversation, getting our tickets signed, and taking a picture with the two, they went back to their tour bus and Sarai and I were left star struck.
We then went back in line and waited 6 1/2 more hours. Then the doors finally opened. Sarai and I rushed in so fast and good thing we did, we got to the gate and I could literally touch the stage from where we were standing!

After about ten minutes of waiting, the first band, Chester French, came on stage. I was surprised at how good they were. But who really cares? Next up were our Germans! FINALLY!
They only played four songs and I swear Sarai and I were the only ones that knew the lyrics, let alone knew who the heck these sexy Germans were. They played an AMAZING four songs! I think the band definitely noticed us coz we were basically screaming every darn word. It was nice.

When they were done and were walking offstage, we yelled at them, telling them we loved them and all the things crazy fan-girls do. Kiro (the bass player) even blew us a kiss. Next up was The White Tie Affair and then finally Lady GaGa.
Overall it was a wonderful show. Especially since we saw CINEMA BIZARRE!!! =)

ToyZ
Cinema Bizarre's long-awaited new cd, ToyZ, was finally released August 21st. The cd was released all over Europe, Canada... pretty much everywhere but America.
Needless to say, I was kind of pissed.
The band had decided to release a separate album, Bang!, for fans in the U.S. that included a few tracks from ToyZ and a few from their first album, Final Attraction, that came out last year.
I've been a fan of Cinema Bizarre for a while now and since I had already gotten the Final Attraction cd, thanks to sources on the Internet, I was saddened by this new "Bang!" cd.
I mean I guess it's good for those who are new Cinema Bizarre fans. But what about us that have been devoted fans for a longer time?

So I looked it up online and in order to import the ToyZ cd from Canada (through Amazon), it would cost $45.98. Way too expensive. Instead, I began a search for a new source and I came across a file-sharing site. Now I'm not sure if this is illegal or not, so I will leave the web site's name out of this.

A girl in Europe had bought the ToyZ cd and uploaded the songs. How nice of her. especially nice since I got to download the whole album FREE.

Now I understand this might piss a lot of people off, saying I should buy their album instead of download it free off the internet.
But I promise that once I see Cinema Bizarre again, I will be more than happy to give them $15, the same price I would've paid if they would've released the freaking album in the United States!

CD REVIEW
General Information:
Cinema Bizarre, a SynthPop/power pop/rock, group from Germany, released their second Cd on August 21, 2009.
The album titled ToyZ, released on Island Records, includes 18 songs. There's also a deluxe edition Cd that contains four more.
Like I mentioned before, if ordering through Amazon, importing the album from Canada can cost $45.98. But there are cheaper ways of going about it. ;)
The album peaked at number 24 on German charts.
The first single of the album is called "I Came 2 Party". It features Space Cowboy who also has worked with Lady GaGa.

Rating:
I would definitely give this song 5 our of 5 stars, not only because I am a HUGE fan of Cinema Bizarre, but also because I think that almost anyone who listens to this album will love it. It's upbeat yet real. It's different, not like all the mainstream crap going around. It's a very fun and emotional album.




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Cinema Bizarre
Strify
Shin
Yu
Romeo