Rouage (stylized as ROUAGE) was a Japanese

visual kei is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock. Som ...

rock band formed in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most p ...

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.

History

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. Their debut release was the single "Silk", in February. Rouage released a self-titled debut album in March, limited to 5000 copies. A reprint with more 5000 copies went on sale in July. In 1995, Kaiki left the band and the group considered breaking up, even playing a farewell show. 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 , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in the country regarding music distribution. The company is resp ...

. In June, they released ''Bible'', their best-selling album. In 1996, their second major single "insomnia" was used as the theme song for the ANB television show ''mew''. 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. After the release of "insomnia" in August, bassist Yuki joined the band. 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. "Endless Loop" was used as opening theme of

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animation.

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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. Early on the following year they embarked on ''Children's Room'' tour, with fifteen shows across the country. On July 16 they played at the ''Shock Wave Illusion'' festival with bands like

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and

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. In 2000, Rika left the band. After Shono left the band in February 2001, Rouage officially broke up. 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.

Members

* Kazushi - vocals (1993–2001) * Rayzi - guitar (1993–2001) * Shono - drums (1993–2001) ;Former * Kaiki - bass (1994–1995) * Yuki - bass (1996–1997) * Rika - guitar (1993–2000)

Discography

References

{{Reflist Visual kei musical groups Japanese rock music groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Musical groups from Aichi Prefecture Universal Music Japan artists