X Japan

Hello, I have a few questions, so are with me :P
1) What exactly does the 'X' in X Japan meen? Does it meen cross, x, or something else?
2) Are there any other J-metal like this? Or any J-metal in fact would be appreciated (the names of the band)


Arigato to anyone who can answer these questions.

domo arigato gozaimasu

Well, I can't really answer the first question. I do recall that they changed their name from something ... at least I /think/ it was them

To answer your second, you could definetly go on Google and type in J-rock and find a bunch of bands. I listen to Dir en Grey -- great Japanese band, not sure if most would call it metal, but it seems to me to have that tone.

If it's related to music, in the US, "X" is a straight edge punk band symbol. I don't know what genres of punk exactly are in Japan, or whether they have straight edge. I'm not SE but I hung out with some. Otherwise I don't know.

I just realized 'X Japan' is a particular band, oopsie. In that case I have no idea, and they don't look SE at all. Let me know if you find out.

look up the Sex Machine Guns. pretty cool. larc en ciel aint to bad either

Well if you're looking for "J-metal" I'd assume you're talking about 'visual kei'. just search 'visual kei' in google and you get a lot of hits mostly Dir en grey.

if you're generally looking for j-rock, then there are plenty. the more prominent would be x-japan, arashi, dir en grey, l'arc en ciel, mr. children, etc...quite a few.

The 'X' in X-Japan really means nothing, it was just the name of the previous band Yoshiki was in (the drummer, he's still really famous now). When he made a new band, he added on the 'Japan' because a lot of bands in the states had 'X' in the name, or when they heard of it they thought it was an english band.

As for j-rock bands..Dir en grey, Malice Mizer (they disbanded, but Mana made a new band called Moi dix Mois, you can check them out too), L'arc~en~Ciel, SID, Alice Nine, Psycho'le'Cemu, Gackt..those are about all I can think of at the moment.

Dir en grey is my current favorite j-rock band, but they're losing popularity in Japan because they are supposedly sounding too 'american'. Go figure. I think they sound excellent, and they're having a new single coming out on September 21 (called CLEVER SLEAZOID). For some song titles of Dir en grey, I recommend Jesus Christ R'nR, R to the Core, egnirys cimredopyh +) an injection, Myaku, JESSICA, DRAIN AWAY, Yokan, Ain't Afraid to Die, or 24ko Cylinders. I'd name wayyy more, but I don't want to take up too much space, lol.

By the way, it's Dir en grey, NOT Dir en Grey or Dir En Grey. That's one of the most common mistakes, and one of the most annoying. ^_^

Hope I could help~! ^___^

hey pick up some Jyo Nen! they go off man like an nasa shuttle launch every second saturday, midnight, at Ruins23 in shinjuku. oh and Sex Machine Guns rule!

Hi...
Yes X was a temporary name while they thought of a better one... then the song X came out and they couldnt change the name of the band cause of the song (hehehe... just made this one up...)
Anyway... if you wanna chat about X or Visual kei (specialy bands like Dir en Grey, D, Lareine, Malice Mizer, Buck-tick, Luna Sea) e-mail me at
shaina-_-@hotmail.com

Bye

Yes, this is my life folks..what a wonderful life it is.
Gee, I am not sure why Tori is so annoyed by the Romanized spelling of the band's oh so germanic name (DEG). Actually I don't think the band really cares...it's all about the music.But I'll ask em this March...I'm working with them.
So Shaina...you in Japan or US? Which lives have you been to and will you go to see DEG in March?

the name of "X" is from....like tori said " just the name of the previous band "when yoshiki started this band. and He liked later cuz X is sounded like mysterious so his blood type,real name,age and some thing like that r X in their profile.

And when they tried to advance to the states to sell their cd, There was a name of the band called X in the states already PLUS at that time movie of Malcom X(this part is not sure tho..) was kinda popular in the states and they didnt want ppl to think X is from Malcolm X. So they put JAPAN after X (plus...members of x like the band called JAPAN)

Thats what I heard like 10 years ago.LOL so if my memory is fine,this might be true story...

2. Another great band that was around the same time as X was Luna Sea. They have played together a few times. Also, hide (the guitarist from X) has some interesting solo stuff.

You may want to have a look at

http://www.projectj.net

The guy's got some nice bios about a bunch of bands.
Definitely check out Malice Mizer. Also I don't think they're there but look up Blam Honey and +D'espairsRay+

The "X" in X Japan, was originally used as the variable "X" is in Algebra, it meant that they didn't have a name, it was a variable!
then yoshiki added "Japan" to the name after their Jealousy album because they were trying to make it big in America too, but their was already a band named "X" in America so they added "Japan" to their name!
and they were'nt stuck with the name "X" after the song "X Clamation", they made the song because people liked the sound of the name "X", so people started referring to them as "X".... they made the song due to the name, they didn't keep the name because of the song!
if you ahve any questions email me : Sephiroth6171@aol.com

Rumors of a possible reunion was featured on this week's episode of HEY!HEY!HEY! It's been about 10 years since they disbanded.

means nothing. And also like most have said, "X" was a previous band name before moving to "X JAPAN". Anyways, as to other J-metal, I can only think of the following;
SEX MACHINEGUNS
ANCHANG
CYCLE
Dustar-3
SIAM SHADE (They're more rock than metal, but they're very very good. I'm very sure you'll love them)
Blood Stain Child
Dir en grey (their older stuff at least)
Onmyouza
Miyavi (his older stuff)
Phantasmagoria
Luna Sea
Glay
Aphasia
exist+trace
Vidoll
Due'le Quartz
Alice Nine
Sadie
12012
GazettE (again, their older stuff)

And that's all I can think off. Unfortunately, the pattern is (with some exceptions) that the more popular the artist get's the more "pop" or "soft" they get. Again, not true for every artist, but most. I hope this post has helped you.

Any information about the reunion? I read somehwere that a new single is supposed to be released by the end of this year. Also, a tour is planned to start in L.A.

The reunion of X Japan will take place at Tokyo Dome this year. The specific dates are on Hayashi Yoshiki's Myspace blog.

www.myspace.com/yoshiki

Yay!

So are the tickets on sale now? When is the new single supposed to be released? I thought it was December 2007.