Visual Kei

I spent three months in Japan on an educational exchange for the summer of my junior year. It was 1987, and Tokyo's real estate was valued at more than the entire United States. Although some cautious Japanese felt anxiety about this, it went on long enough to convince them the market was correct. Americans would engage in this same game a decade later, before the "dot com" bubble popped. But while the world would not turn out like Blade Runner, and Japanese blimps would not command the skies of Los Angeles, in 1987, you would have been foolish not to think they might. When ... Read Full Story

Glay currently stands as one of the most successful acts in Japanese music. Formed in 1988, picking up steam in the 90's, they have moved in excess of 36 million albums - formidable for a band of any nationality. Their name, according to one Wikipedia account , is a play on the English word "gray." "L" is substituted for "R" in joking reference to the Asian inability to say "R"... except the Japanese can say "R" just fine. The other account is that the "L" was a mistake. I'm inclined to go with that. But "gray" (whatever the spelling) was intentional. They described their ... Read Full Story

The late 1990's were a period of generational change for visual kei. That new kind of rock was no longer really new; commercial success provided resources and freedom. Dir en Grey burst on the scene in 1997. Similar to Glay (the other "grey"), this band has adapted over time, and may no longer fit into any particular style. Certainly, they did not go down the same path as Glay. Their imagery is hard, raw, and disturbing. Just watching some of it makes me dizzy, and I am not enamored with regurgitated vocals. But I'm an old man, and all the songs aren't that way ... Read Full Story

A collection of more visual kei videos upon which to ruminate, thusly: In pole position, The GazettE grind through an eerie home movie titled "Burial Applicant." Briefly, an American boy is given a shotgun for his birthday. The uncomfortable subtext is immediately obvious. However, the video's plot twists unexpectedly along. Granted, I have no idea what words are; but really, lyrics never drive video plots. Because art exists in the eye of each beholder, I behold a fine commentary on the rot of American life. In "Beautiful Planet" , Alice Nine sketches a yummy fantasy. Confession: I like pop rock with melody. The Japanese ... Read Full Story

The new millennium saw another generation of visual kei emerge. By virtue of being most recent, this one largely defines the movement's contemporary style. What was not Poison or Ratt in 1987 has arrived in a spot not far removed: tight, thin bodies wrapped in tighter shiny fabric play rock to screaming legions... and do they ever have hair. For example, The GazettE (they capitalize the E): Similarly extravagant, Alice Nine : But even if the resemblance to butt rock may be stronger now than it was, there remains an androgynous undercurrent to visual kei that our testosterone addled speed guitarists would not have ... Read Full Story