J-rock?

[DeadlyYellow]

Don't know if Ulfuls count. They have the softer tones of what I associate with 'Alternative Rock.'

 

[Seneschal]

I am not a fan. There isn't anything wrong with the people, the people are fine, I just can't stand Japanese. Something about the pitches and tones inherent to it, irritate me to no end.

Though I've heard a number of j-rock songs that I really liked, this is true for me in general. Japanese isn't exactly italian, it's hard to give it appealing rhythm and melody for me. But I think the same thing about german, while some people actually like german singing. Acquired taste.

The song in the embedded video is really cool, though.

Coincidentally I am a fan of German music, obvious example being Rammstein. I like the grind and inherent base in the language. Works for metal.

Well, yeah, Rammstein sounds fantastic and I wouldn't have it in any other language. But mainstream german music like Tokio Hotel... Well, okay, cultural touch, but it isn't going to lose anything with a transition to english.

And I'm generally just a fan of virtuous singing. In harder in some languages than in others; for example, I really like how sung Finnish is articulated, but it has fixed accentuation, so they often sound like children reciting a rime. And Japanese is a tonal language, which means that it uses pitch instead of stress to accentuate. It makes it sound even weirder to our ears when sung.

 

[snakeakaossi]

Oh dear, J-Rock. That's been quite a while. I've had my time of liking J-Rock and some pop songs, but when you start to dig deeper it's just like us in the west: most of it is total crap.

Just as outside of Japan there are totally awesome bands, there are bands that have a few good songs and most of it is unbearable to hear, mostly because the record company has more to say than the artists. I left J-Rock as a favourite genre behind long ago, but I can still appreciate some of the bands.

If you want to hear something nice, listen to MUCC and there albums 'best of MUCC' and 'worst of MUCC'. They are double the fun if you know what they sing. 'best' is mostly positive lyrics, 'worst' is mostly emo and angsty, but it's all filled with shameless self-parody.

My favourite of 'best of MUCC' is 'yasashii uta' or translated 'happy song':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKCwfqeFBKg

 

[AyreonMaiden]

Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen fan here.

The queen of J-rock, period. I've tried and tried and tried and I simply can't find anything I dislike about her music. It's sexy, sleazy, more musical than the average rock music, and just flat out cool.

 

[Jharry5]

I've not had that much to do with it really, but I don't mind Dir En Grey and I actually quite like Maximum The Hormone...

Spoiler: I've been pretty much addicted to this song recently

[sub]They're the only bands from Japan I've heard to be honest[/sub]
I'm sure there's the good and the crap, just like in any other genre/country.

 

[LightspeedJack]

I posted this a while back FACT are one of my all time favourite bands and they hail from Japan:
Also Maximum the Hormone are sick they did the themes for Death Note:
Also these are 3 tunes from Naruto that I particularly enjoyed:

 

[Roamin11]

J-Rock is nice, but I perfer Korean rock, their language sounds like rivers of milk and honey flowing through my scar-ed ears.

 

[Yosato]

If a song from an anime sticks out to me I always download it, the other day I noticed a recurring band that I'd heard in not one, not two, but three different anime openings. Of course it was AKFG, and the first thing I thought of when I saw this topic was AKFG because when I noticed the recurring theme songs last week I thought: "Huh, these guys are pretty good - I'll download one of their albums."

I really didn't expect much from it, in fact I thought it would be like the singles would be the only good thing and the rest would be absolute gash (like so many bands these days). Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised - it's one of the best things I've heard all year.

 

[Comma-Kazie]

With very few exceptions, I don't like it. Although I will admit it makes for some good times on Audiosurf.

 

[Quicksilver_Phoenix]

I enjoy most of what i've heard, which is admittedly limited to anime themes and the odd Anime NFo radio stint.

I would try out more, but it's often a pain to find as it's foreign.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

There are a couple of Mad Capsule Market songs I like, but I'm not really bothered.

 

[moretimethansense]

In general yes though I don't have any particcular band I like

Maximum the Hormone are sick they did the themes for Death Note:

While the above statment is true Maximum the hormone are not J-rock they are actually Nu metal, like Linkin Park either way they are awesome, on that note Zetsubou Billy is my favourate of theirs.

 

[Drakmeire]

I for some reason like japanese screamo
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and I just really like death note.

 

[wooty]

SCANDAL are my favourite J-Rock band, for............numerous reasons


but theres also Abingdon Boys School as a very close second