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is a popular Japanese rock band, formed in 1991. The group has sold over 15 million albums, 30 million singles, and millions of other units, such as videos.[1] and has been voted #58 in HMV Japan's "Top 100 Japanese Pop Artists" of all time.[2]
History
Formation
In February of 1991, bassist Tetsuya Ogawa (Tetsu), later band leader, recruited vocalist Hyde along with guitarist Hiro and drummer Pero, and formed a band under the name of L'Arc-en-Ciel. After a year of gaining notoriety in their hometown of Osaka, Hiro left the band on June 12 1992. Pero soon followed on December 30 of the same year, supposedly to join up with his friend Hiro again. To replace the two, tetsu convinced his friend Ken Kitamura (Ken) to quit his university studies in architectural design and join the band as the guitarist. Later, a new drummer, Yasunori Sakurazawa, was recruited after Tetsu saw him perform in a few shows.
Debut album and subsequent albums
On April 1 1993, the band released their debut album ''Dune'' under the indie label Danger Crue. The album was a success and rose to number one on the Oricon indies charts, catching the attention of some major labels. In 1994, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed on with Sony's Ki/oon division, releasing their second album, ''Tierra'' (Spanish for "Earth") that same year. ''heavenly'' followed in 1995, and ''True'', their first million seller, was released in 1996.
Sakura's departure
In February 1997, drummer Sakura was arrested for illegal drug possession, and officially quit the band on October 4 1997. This proved to be the lowest point in the band's history. When news of Sakura's arrest became public, there was an immediate official response. CDs were removed from the shelves and any of their songs that were used as theme songs were quickly replaced, such as ''The Fourth Avenue Cafe'' for ''Rurouni Kenshin'' which was immediately replaced with former theme ''Heart of Sword'' after only six episodes of running time. Although L'Arc's latest album True remained on the charts for two years, their next single ''The Fourth Avenue Cafe'' was postponed (it was eventually released in 2006.)
Break and comeback
Self-copy band "The Zombies"
The next few months were an extremely uncertain time, with doubts as to whether the band would recover. They continued to be featured in magazines, but only as a trio. They created their own cover band, "The Zombies", and poked fun at their own songs. They also covered artists such as Marilyn Manson and Nirvana. The return from the break was marked by the appropriately named Reincarnation 97 Live in Tokyo Dome, with their new drummer, Yukihiro (former drummer with ZI:KILL and DIE IN CRIES). The first concert had an attendance of 56,000, which sold out in a still-standing Tokyo Dome record of four minutes. They released ''HEART'', in 1998, which, like their second major album "heavenly" is seen as transitional: moving away from memories of the past, but also maintaining their originality and success.
In 1997, 「虹」 (''Niji'' — ''Rainbow''), the first single after Sakura's departure, was released with Yukihiro listed as a supporting member. Not long after the release of the single, Yukihiro was signed on as the official drummer for L'Arc-en-Ciel.
1999–2000 projects
L'Arc-en-Ciel released three more albums of new material during the next few years. ''ark'' and ''ray'' were released simultaneously on July 1,1999, and became the first Japanese albums to be released simultaneously in many other Asian countries. Both topped the Oricon music charts, with ''ark'' occupying number one and ''ray'' at number two. The release of ''ark'' and ''ray'' marked the high point of the band's career, with each selling over two million copies. ''REAL'' followed in 2000, which was the last CD of new material for some time, although many more compilation and remix albums would follow. L'Arc-en-Ciel's last new song before their hiatus, "Spirit dreams inside", was the closing theme song to the movie ''.
Solo projects
After "Spirit dreams inside", the band went on a hiatus as the members began working on various solo projects. Hyde released two solo albums (Roentgen and 666 as HYDE) and starred in the movie ''Moon Child'' with the popular Japanese soloist Gackt. Hyde also played the part of Adam in the movie ''Kagen no Tsuki'', based on the manga by the same title. Ken founded Sons of All Pussys with L'Arc-en-Ciel's former drummer Sakura. Tetsu started ''TETSU69'' and Yukihiro sang with acid android. The popular compilation, Clicked Singles Best 13 was released in 2001, with twelve favorites chosen by fans online and an additional thirteenth song, "Anemone", the band's only new material during this span of years. The members' various solo projects fueled speculation that L'Arc-en-Ciel was going to disband.
Second comeback
In June 2003, L'Arc-en-Ciel surprised the world with a series of seven concerts in Tokyo called the "Shibuya Seven Days", during which they announced a new album for release the following year. The band came out with "READY STEADY GO" in February 2004, its first single in more than three years. It topped Oricon charts and was used as an opening for a popular anime series, ''Fullmetal Alchemist.'' The single was followed by another chart-topper, "瞳の住人" ("Hitomi no Juunin"), in early March. Finally, the long-awaited new album, ''SMILE'', was released on March 31.
Shortly afterwards, on June 2 2004, the single 自由への招待 ("Jiyuu e no Shoutai") introduced "P'unk-en-Ciel" ,a partial change (much like the former gag, D'ark-en-Ciel), for the first time on CD with "milky way". In the past, the band also played a punk version of "Round and Round" live.
U.S concert debut
A flyer for the band's 2004 performance at Otakon
On July 31 2004, L'Arc-en-Ciel made their North American concert debut at the anime convention Otakon, held annually in Baltimore, Maryland. Approximately 12,000 people attended the concert, which was held at an outside venue for the first time in Otakon's musical guest history, at 1st Mariner Arena located near the Baltimore Convention Center where the convention is held.
On May 31, 2005, Tofu Records, Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, released the much-anticipated DVD of the Otakon 2004 concert "Live in U.S.A"
''AWAKE'', 2005 release
In 2005, the band released various singles, including "Killing Me", "New World", and "Jojoushi". These were later featured on their latest album, ''AWAKE'', which was released on June 22 with twelve tracks, including "LOST HEAVEN", the closing theme for . The band's single, "Link", released on July 20,2005, was also featured in the movie as the opening theme, but has not appeared on an album yet.
In August of 2005, the band went on their AWAKE tour, which was limited to Japan. The tour featured displays of anti-war sentiment, reflecting similar lyrics of the songs of the album. A particularly memorable moment was the unfurling of a giant white flag during ''NEO UNIVERSE''. The flag was decorated with the universal symbol for peace. Other memorable moments included a suspended woman and acrobatics during the performance of ''Ophelia''.
Hyde singing "Revelation" during the 2005 Awake Tour
hyde's costuming for the concerts raised controversy among fans, and proved to be much removed from L'Arc-en-Ciel's earlier visual kei days. The neo-Nazi uniform and the papal robes during the performance of ''REVELATION'' were blatant social commentaries not seen before in the band's concerts. One theory is that the band was commenting on the election of German Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) to the head of the Roman Catholic church amid inquiries into his involvement with Nazi Germany and the Hitler Youth.
An opposing theory, supported by hyde's new solo album, ''FAITH'', points to his increased interest in religion and states that his shredding and distribution of the peace flag in papal attire symbolizes the spreading of peace by Catholicism; however, the flag itself was black and proves a significant contrast to the white flag, later unfurled during ''NEO UNIVERSE''. Thus, the true meaning behind the military uniform and even more perplexing papal robes remains a mystery, but it seems most likely that the new socially-aware face of the band is being spear-headed by hyde.
The Japanese AWAKE tour was followed by the "ASIA LIVE 2005" tour, with performances in Korea (Seoul) and China (Shanghai), closing with concerts in Japan. Japan's two concerts took place at the famed Tokyo Dome.
Late 2005–2007
Following the AWAKE and ASIALIVE tours, L'Arc-en-Ciel's members turned their attention back to their solo projects. tetsu began recording with a new band called Creature Creature. yukihiro rejoined acid android, which released its newest single, "Let's Dance", on 2006/04/05. acid android joined Mucc, another Japanese rock band, to perform two concerts in Shanghai, China in April of 2006.
HYDE composed the music for "Glamorous Sky", the theme song to the manga-based film, ''NANA'' starring Mika Nakashima, a j-pop singer. This was seen as a landmark step for HYDE, as it was the first time that he composed music for another artist. His most recent solo singles are "COUNTDOWN", the ending song for the Japanese release of American movie ''Stealth'' (released 2005/10/05), and "SEASON'S CALL", the opening song of new hit anime Blood+ (released 2006/02/22). Both singles topped the Oricon chart. HYDE's next solo album, "FAITH", was released in Japan 2006/04/26, accompanied by a five month tour throughout Japan between April and August of 2006. After signing on with Tofu Records, four small concerts were scheduled in San Francisco and Anaheim, California in the United States. HYDE made his U.S. debut in July of 2006, the first of L'Arc-en-Ciel's solo projects to extend internationally. On August 23, Ken released a solo single entitled "Speed."
On November 25th and 26th, 2006, L'Arc-en-Ciel played two shows at the Tokyo Dome to celebrate their 15th anniversary, entitled "L'Anniversary". A poll was created on the official website during the weeks before the concert which allowed fans to pick which songs they would like to hear at the event. The concert was later shown on the WOWOW channel on December 23, 2006. It was also broadcast on February 8, 2007 on Korea MTV.
Once L'Arc-en-Ciel reunited, the band released the single "SHINE", which was used as the opening song for the NHK-BS Anime, Guardian of the Sacred Spirit ~Seirei no moribito~. They have kicked-off their Mata Heart Ni Hi Wo Tsukero 2007 tour in Japan. L'Arc-en-Ciel released their first single "Seventh Heaven" last 30 May 2007, which topped the Oricon charts for 2 consecutive weeks. They have released new song called "My Heart Draws a Dream", used in Subaru's latest commercial. This single recently came out on 29 August 2007 and it made the #1 spot in the Oricon Weekly charts. Aside from this, L'Arc-en-Ciel will be releasing other new material: "Daybreak's Bell" is to be used as the first opening for the anime Gundam 00; an album is set to be released in November entitled Kiss; two DVDs will be available in September and December (L'Anniversary Live and Chronicle 3 respectively). The new singles will be out in May, August, October, and November of this year.
Here are the new songs that they played on Mata Heart Ni Hi Wo Tsukero 2007 tour:
｢Spirit｣
｢Yuki No Ashiato/雪の足跡/Footprints in the snow｣
｢Bye Bye｣
｢Pretty Girl｣
｢砂時計/Hourglass｣
｢ALONE EN LA VIDA｣
｢THE BLACK ROSE｣
P'unk-en-Ciel
P'unk-en-Ciel is the alternative line-up/cover band of L'Arc-en-Ciel whereby members of the band switch their usual instruments. Introduced in 2004, Hyde takes over guitar, Ken goes to drums, Yukihiro plays bass, and Tetsu performs vocals. P'unk-en-Ciel cover L'Arc-en-Ciel material into punk arrangements which are usually heavier and faster with a different tone due to tetsu's vocals. Hyde often dons a pirate patch over his left eye in P'unk-en-Ciel performances, and Yukihiro is known to wear a gas mask.
Hyde P'unk during the Asialive 2005 Tour
Their songs are recorded and used as b-sides on singles from 2004 and their performances can be found as extras on Live DVD's. P'unk-en-Ciel also had a television appearance with the television personality Aoki and performed live with her at Budokan singing ROUND & ROUND 2005.
Their recorded versions are:
★ '''milky way''' found on the '''Jiyuu e no Shoutai''' single.
★ '''Round and Round 2005''' found on the '''Killing Me''' single.
★ '''Kasou Heisei 17 Nen''' (Kasou) found on the '''New World''' single.
★ '''HEAVEN'S DRIVE 2005''' found on the '''Jojoushi''' single.
★ '''Promised land 2005''' found on the '''Link''' single.
★ '''HONEY 2007''' found on the '''SEVENTH HEAVEN''' single.
★ '''Feeling Fine 2007''' found on the '''My Heart Draws A Dream''' single.
P'unk-en-Ciel can be seen on live on:
★ '''SMILE Tour 2004''' DVD singing '''milky way'''
★ '''ASIALIVE 2005''' DVD singing '''Round and Round 2005'''
Along with '''HONEY 2007''' P'unk-en-Ciel has also included '''Feeling Fine 2007''' and '''I Wish 2007'''(I Wish 2007 has yet to make an appearance on recording.) in their set lists during their 2007 '''Are you ready? またハートに火をつけろ！''' (Mata haato ni hi wo tsukero!) tour.
Lineup
★ Hyde – vocals, guitar (some songs)
★ Tetsu – bass, backing vocals
★ Ken – guitar, backing vocals
★ Yukihiro – drums
'Former members'
★ Sakura – drums (1992-1997)
★ Hiro – guitar (1991–1992)
★ Pero – drums (1991-1992)
'P'unk-en-Ciel'
★ Tetsu P'unk – vocals, guitar
★ Hyde P'unk – guitar
★ Yuki P'unk – bass
★ Ken P'unk – drums
Discography
Main articles: L'Arc-en-Ciel discography
See also
★ Acid Android
★ Sons of All Pussys
References
1. L'Arc-en-Ciel 15th Anniversary Broadcast, WOWOW, November 2006
2. http://www.hmv.co.jp/news/newsDetail.asp?newsnum=309170052
External links
★ L'Arc-en-Ciel's official website
★ L'Arc-en-Ciel at dangercrue.com
★ Hyde's official website
★ Ken's official website
★ Tetsu's official website
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