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X Japan
is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with heavy Symphonic metal, symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive metal, progressive sound with an emphasis on ballads. Besides being one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label, the group is widely credited as one of the pioneers of visual kei, a movement among Japanese musicians comparable to Western glam rock, glam. Originally named , they released their debut album ''Vanishing Vision'' (1988) on Yoshiki's own Extasy Records one year after finalizing their line-up including bassist Taiji (musician), Taiji, lead guitarist Hide (musician), Hide and rhythm guitarist Pata (musician), Pata. They achieved breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second and major ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, Film, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,000 in 2022, it is North America's most attended fan convention. The New York Comic Con is a for-profit event produced and managed by ReedPop, a division of Reed Exhibitions, RX and Reed Elsevier, and is not affiliated with the long running non-profit San Diego Comic-Con, nor the Big Apple Comic Con, Big Apple Convention, later known as the Big Apple Comic-Con, owned by Wizard Entertainment. History Previous conventions in New York The first recorded "official" comic book convention occurred in 1964 in New York City. Known as the "New York Comicon",Ballman"The 1964 New York Comicon: The True Story Behind the World's First Comic Book Convention (The 1960s: The Silver Age of Comic Conventions) (Volume 1)"/ref>History Channel"Superheroes Dec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#Major labels, big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the global music industry, after Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME). Formerly owned by Time Warner (later called WarnerMedia and its successor is Warner Bros. Discovery), the company sold WMG in 2004 to a group of private investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., in a move to alleviate Time Warner's debt load related to its merger with AOL. WMG was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2005 until 2011, when it announced its privatization and sale to Access Industries. It later had its second IPO on Nasdaq in 2020, once again becoming a public company. As of 2025, Access Industries remains the company's largest shareholder, owning 72% ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Blood (X Japan Album)
''Blue Blood'' is the second studio album by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan, then known as simply X. It was released on April 21, 1989, by CBS/Sony as the band's major label debut. ''Blue Blood'' sold more than 700,000 copies, reached number 6 on the Oricon chart and stayed on the chart for more than 100 weeks. The album's singles would also reach the top five on the chart. In 2007, '' Rolling Stone Japan'' ranked ''Blue Blood'' number 15 on their list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time". Overview On December 26, 1987, X participated in an audition held by CBS/Sony, which led to a recording contract in August of the following year. In the meantime, the band released their first album, '' Vanishing Vision,'' through Extasy Records owned by Yoshiki, on April 14, 1988 and toured extensively in support of the record. Recording for their major label debut album, ''Blue Blood'', began in January 1989. It was released on April 21, 1989, during the band's tour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanishing Vision
''Vanishing Vision'' is the debut studio album by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan, then known as simply X. It was released on April 14, 1988 by Extasy Records, topped the Oricon indies chart and reached number 19 on the main chart. Overview ''Vanishing Vision'' was released on vinyl record on April 14, 1988 on Yoshiki's own label Extasy Records. Despite being an independent record label, it sold more than ten thousand copies, topping Oricon's indie music chart. But it also reached number 19 on the main Oricon Albums Chart, making them the first indie band to enter the main chart. A limited pressing of five thousand picture discs was also made, that included a separate flexi disc of "Stab Me in the Back". This version of the song was originally included on the February 1987 Victor Records sampler ''Skull Thrash Zone Volume I'', was recorded with Pata as a support guitar player, and is different from the one that would later appear on their third album ''Jealousy'' in 1991. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glam Rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diverse sources, ranging from bubblegum pop and 1950s rock and roll to cabaret, science fiction, and complex art rock.P. Auslander, ''Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music'' (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006), , pp. 57, 63, 87 and 141. The flamboyant clothing and visual styles of performers were often camp or androgynous, and have been described as playing with other gender roles. Glitter rock was a more extreme version of glam rock. The UK charts were inundated with glam rock acts from 1971 to 1975. The March 1971 appearance of T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan on the BBC's music show ''Top of the Pops''—performing " Hot Love"—wearing glitter and satins, is often cited as the beginning of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visual Kei
, abbreviated , is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of '' Bounce'' wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it "revolves around the creation of a band's unique worldview and/or stylistic beauty through visual expressions in the form of makeup and fashion". While visual kei acts can be of any music genre, it originated with bands influenced by glam rock, heavy metal, punk rock and gothic rock. Visual kei was pioneered by groups such as X Japan, Dead End, Buck-Tick, D'erlanger, and Color, and gained further notoriety in the 1990s through the success of groups like Luna Sea, Glay, L'Arc-en-Ciel, and Malice Mizer. The movement's success continued through the 2000s with Gackt and more musically broad bands such as Dir En Grey, the Gazette, Alice Nine, Girugamesh, and Versailles, a period which some critics term . Many acts tone-down their appea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symphonic Metal
Symphonic metal is a cross-genre style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars of metal with different elements of orchestral classical music, such as symphonic instruments, choirs and sometimes a full orchestra, or just keyboard orchestration. Symphonic metal bands can feature classically trained vocalists, in which case they can be attributed nicknames such as opera metal or operatic metal. Perhaps the most prominent examples of symphonic metal bands are Swedish band Therion (band), Therion, Finnish band Nightwish, German band Xandria, Italian band Rhapsody of Fire, American bands Lorna Shore and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Dutch bands Epica (band), Epica and Within Temptation. Those bands place a large focus on elements prevalent in film scores in addition to the more basic classical components utilized more wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiba Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the northwest, and Tokyo to the west. Chiba (city), Chiba is the capital and largest city of Chiba Prefecture, with other major cities including Funabashi, Matsudo, Ichikawa, Chiba, Ichikawa and Kashiwa. Chiba Prefecture is located on Japan's eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast to the east of Tokyo, and is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Chiba Prefecture largely consists of the Bōsō Peninsula, which encloses the eastern side of Tokyo Bay and separates it from Kanagawa Prefecture. Chiba Prefecture is home to Narita International Airport, the Tokyo Disney Resort, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone. Etymology The name of Chiba Prefecture in Japanese is formed from two kanji char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heath (musician)
, known exclusively by his stage name Heath, was a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He was best known as bass guitarist of the rock band X Japan from 1992 to 1997, and again from 2007 until his death in 2023. After performing in bands such as Paranoia and Media Youth, Heath joined X Japan in August 1992, replacing Taiji who had left earlier in the year. They released two number one studio albums, ''Art of Life'' (1993) and ''Dahlia'' (1996), before disbanding in 1997. Heath then focused on his solo career, which he started in 1995, before forming Dope HEADz with X Japan guitarist Pata and former Spread Beaver programmer I.N.A. in 2000. The group ceased activity after its second album in 2002, and Heath resumed his solo career three years later. He reunited with X Japan in 2007 and continued to perform and record with them sporadically for the next 16 years, until his death from colon cancer in October 2023. Early life and influences Hiroshi Morie was born on January 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hide (musician)
, known professionally as hide, was a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band X Japan from 1987 to 1997 and rose to prominence in Asia as a solo artist from 1993 to 1998, until his death. He also formed the United States–based rock supergroup (music), supergroup Zilch (band), Zilch in 1996. Hide sold millions of records, both solo and as a member of X Japan. X Japan rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, credited as founders of the Japanese visual kei movement. When they disbanded in 1997, he focused on his solo career which started four years prior and went on to enjoy significant popularity. At the height of his fame, while recording his third studio album and about to launch an international career with the newly formed Zilch, he died in 1998 of what was ruled a suicide by hanging. He was seen as an icon for Japanese youth rebelling against their country's conformist so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taiji (musician)
, also known mononymously as Taiji, was a Japanese musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former bassist of the rock band X Japan. X Japan rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, credited as founders of the Japanese visual kei movement. After leaving X Japan in January 1992, Taiji went on to work with many other bands, including Loudness and D.T.R. Early life Taiji Sawada was born in Ichikawa, Chiba, on July 12, 1966. He was the second son of three children. His younger sister Masayo is a singer known as Sister MAYO. When Taiji was two years of age, he shoved his hand into a machine in a factory where his parents worked, resulting in a first joint cut on the middle finger, but luckily, it was not too serious. In 1974, at age eight, Taiji learned how to play acoustic guitar while in elementary school. In 1979, Taiji's parents were divorced. Career 1982–1992: Early bands and X After dropping out of high school in 1982, Taiji formed his first band call ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sugizo
, born and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist of the Rock music, rock band Luna Sea since 1989. Sugizo started his solo career in 1997 and has since collaborated with a variety of different artists. He formed the Psychedelic music, psychedelic jam band Shag in 2002, the rock duo The Flare in 2004, and the electronica duo S.T.K (Sensual Technology Kooks) in 2005. In 2007 he became a member of the international trance music, trance/world music act Juno Reactor, and of the Japanese rock supergroup Skin (Japanese band), S.K.I.N. Sugizo officially joined the rock band X Japan in 2009, and became a member of the supergroup The Last Rockstars in 2022. In addition to being known for experimenting with many musical genres, mostly rock, psychedelic and electronica, he is known for his Political ideologies, political views and for being an Anti-war movement, anti-war ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
