Hi there,

I'm trying to find some Japanese bands I like. My musical tastes include 80's 90's hair rock. Bon Jovi, Guns, Metallica etc. I like X Japan atm and was wondering if you guys could recommend some bands along the same lines.

Thanks

This might help.

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=5941&page=1

L'arc en ciel is a very good band from the X-Japan era, and they've covered nearly every style of rock since then. I also suggest trying HIDE (X-Japan's deceased guitarist).

edit - you might also enjoy B'z

Oh, where do I start Actually a good place to start is the band Luna Sea. All of their albums are great, but start with the album Mother if you're ready to try a whole album

if not, some fan-favorite songs I can recommend to start with, in a variety of styles to give you a good idea of how diverse they can be:

Rosier
In Silence
Slave
Wish
True Blue
gravity
Time is Dead
Genesis of Mind ~yume no kanata he~
Providence
Loveless
G
Precious
Shine
Storm

Luna Sea and X Japan were probably the 2 most influential bands from the peak years of the Japanese "visual kei" boom in the 90s.

When I was a kid in the '80s I was a big fan of glam metal, and now I'm into visual kei. I think you might find a lot to like in the visual scene. These are my top 3 recommendations. All 3 bands are currently active, have played overseas as well as in Japan, and have a broad fanbase including men and women of a range of ages.

Versailles is my #1 recommendation, and not just because they're my favorite. They have a strong image and energetic live shows, but musically they're heavily influenced by metal, ranging from X Japan style to a bit of '80 glam metal to symphonic metal. Also, they have a huge overseas tour coming up and will play London on October 2nd.

I hear a bit of '80s influence in Suzerain (live video)
http://youtu.be/4grgMaaRIkk
and Judicial Noir (audio only)
http://youtu.be/hfsJJnd7Uys

Zombie is a fan favorite (live video)
http://youtu.be/wJ9QQbsQpmg

Shout & Bites, one of their earliest songs but still loved by fans (live)
http://youtu.be/CF4HeKuLgOU

The Love from a Dead Orchestra (live)
http://youtu.be/6cF4VtqMJKg
All of their albums are concept albums with a story told through the lyrics, but this song is like an entire rock opera all by itself.

Their new single Masquerade (PV)
http://www.4shared.com/video/pvbUPtuX/Ve...V_HDT.html
(The aspect ratio is squashed unfortunately, but this was the only one I could find on a streaming site with the full audio.)


D is another band I'd recommend. In some ways they're orthodox visual kei, but again, a lot of metal in their sound.

Night-ship D (live) One of their oldest songs but still popular with fans. It's from an indies release but they've played it so much over the years that it's probably their best-known song by now.
http://youtu.be/OyP4Ux7futg

太陽を葬る日 (PV)
http://youtu.be/4WUGLPyrWlY

桜花咲き染めにけり (PV) A bit of traditional Japanese sound mixed with crunchy guitars.
http://youtu.be/dEzOhw61Pjg


You might also try Moi dix Mois. They look very gothic, but composer Mana was a huge Motley Crue fan when he was young, and it shows in some of his music.

Dead Scape (audio only) This is a fast one that's GREAT live but it's fairly new and they haven't gotten a good live recording of it yet.
http://youtu.be/2NseVMkKwuo

Unmoved -- another one that's fun live and this time there's video. It's one of those "fill the venue with the scent of shampoo" songs.
http://youtu.be/0KILa5I5GxA

Front et Baiser live with former vocalist Juka.
http://youtu.be/Ob3-LOV4rOI

P.S. Luna Sea is awesome and the band that got me into all of this.
Here's an old version of Precious showing them as a young and ferociously energetic band trying to claw their way to the top.
http://youtu.be/MX7awrRsSnk

My recomendation

DEAD END

DEAD END Bio

Here some videos:

Phantom Nation
Serafine
Decoy
I can Hear the rain

And this from the last album, release 20 year later they disbanded
Princess

Can't believe I forgot Sex Machineguns.

ファミレス・ボンバー The lyrics tell the story of a guy waiting for his date to arrive at a family restaurant.
http://youtu.be/l0U10i8M_4k

みかんのうた Yes, it's about the fruit.
http://youtu.be/Hu95f_C7S80

My personal favorite is a band called LINDBERG. They are not that well-known outside of Japan. I have listened to them for years. You can search around for it.

Wow just checked out this thread sorry it took me so long.. thanks everyone for the replies

Loving Versailles