Japanese Music that doesnt Suck: The Blue Hearts

Japanese music has largely not penetrated the consciousness of the west. And for good reason- the vast majority of it is pretty darn terrible. A nearly endless parade of unremarkable female singers singing forgettable songs about interchangeable boyfriends. Now, don`t get me wrong, most music that is made anywhere is bad, but most Japanese pop music has melodies so trite, lyrics so saccharine sweet, that even June Cleaver would call it lame.

Ok, its hard to get away from the lyrics that, when translated into English, would make the teeniest of teeny-boppers cringe… But there are a few bands worth listening to. One of these is a punk band from the late 80`s and early`90s called The Blue Hearts.

While they still occasionally suffer from the sappy-lyric syndrome, they did manage to get themselves banned from television for a year due to their habit of cursing between songs and spitting on a camera. In addition to their relatively harsh sound, a lot of their popularity was due to the energy and charisma of their lead singer, Komoto Hiroto. (His charisma stemming largely from the fact that he acted like a total crack head on stage, yet very humble when he gave interviews.)

Unfortunately for them, their sound was ten years out of date by the time they started playing and the era of punk music that they would have been perfect for had already passed them by. But in a country that is notorious for carefully scripting and crafting every aspect of a public figure`s life and performance, they are one of the few examples of a musician able to do largely what they wanted.

The band broke up in 1995. The lead singer reformed a band called The High Lows, then a succession of increasingly obscure bands. His insistence on only playing music that he wanted to meant that his sound was increasingly irrelevant to the people that actually bought albums and concert tickets.

Here you can find their two biggest hits- Train Train and Linda Linda.

Being to belt out either one of these at a karaoke bar in Japan will make you be crowned karaoke hero for the night. 100% guaranteed.

My personal favorite is Jyounetsu no Bara (Rose of Passion)

A Tribute To: Dragonforce

While C and I are sorting through the nearly 3,000 pictures we took (I am a terrible photographer so I usually take 3-5 shots to get one decent picture.) I thought I would put up a short post on why the metal band Dragonforce just might be the best band since KC and the Sunshine Band.

• Two Words- hair metal.
• Their name is Dragonforce, which as any physicist will tell you, is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. The only force which may come close is the Double-Dog Dare.*
• The lead singer sings in a manly counter-tenor. No sissy falsetto for him!
• At six members they have 1/17th as many members as the Wu-Tang Clan. (which ain`t nothin to #$%& with!)
• Band membership is more international then a Unicef committee.
• They are single-handedly bringing back the Keytaur, a tragic victim of the `80s.
• Super-nintendo inspired melodies and sound effects? check and double check!
• Their songs are between 5 and 7 minutes usually. Radioplayability be damned!
• If you listen carefully, you can actually hear the guitarist`s fingers break the sound barrier.
• The drummer is intent on committing suicide by self-inflicted heart-attack while playing the double-bass.
• The lead singer`s hair reminds one of Weird Al, seven time winner of the sexiest man in the universe competition.
• Their hit songs are more samey then Willy Nelson`s. (It is ironic that people point this out as a negative. Especially since usually the ones that do so don’t like Dragonforce because they dont sound just like Slipknot or Cannibal Corpse. In reality, people like having the same stuff again and again. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have a Mcdonalds on every street corner and you would have to go to Seattle to find Starbucks. But I am pontificating again.)
• And best of all- it pisses of legions of metal-geeks who scream “Its not real heavy metal!” to which I say, just about anything that pisses other people off makes me happy.

Sorry, I have to stop myself before I get started on “underground” music. I do not need the blood-pressure spike. I am trying to relax to even out my sleep cycle again. As an insomniac who normally sleeps about six hours a day, my sleep schedule is easily disrupted. I was up for 40 ish hours coming back from Europe, then I slept for 14, then I was up for 12, slept for 2, then up for 18 hours, then slept for 10.

On the plus side, however, insomnia gives me plenty of time to work on my plans for world conquest.

*While doing research for this article, I pressed a ph.d candidate in physics as to which force is actually stronger, the Dragonforce or the Double Dog Dare. He replied that as far as science is concerned, that is a question best left up to the gods and philosophers, being beyond the ken of mortal men.