L’Arc-en-Ciel Profile
Posted on July 26, 2009
Filed Under Japanese Fashion |
L’Arc~en~Ciel is a Japanese rock band, that formed in 1991. The group has sold over 13 million albums, 16 million singles, and millions of other units, such as videos. They were ranked at number 58, in a list of Japan’s top 100 pop musicians, provided by HMV in 2003.
In February 1991, bassist Tetsuya Ogawa, 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. Tetsu convinced his friend Ken Kitamura to quit his university studies (he was an architecture major at The Nagoya Institute of Technology) and join the band as the guitarist. Pero soon left the band on December 30, 1992. In 1993, a new drummer, Yasunori Sakurazawa, joined the band.
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 that same year. Heavenly followed in 1995. True, released in 1996, became their first number-one, million selling album.
P’unk-en-Ciel (パンク アン シエル, panku an shieru?) is an alter ego of L’Arc~en~Ciel. Introduced in 2004, Hyde takes over guitar, Ken the drums, Yukihiro plays the bass, while Tetsu performs the vocals. P’unk~en~Ciel’s songs have a more punk sound and their music is usually heavier and faster with a different tone due to Tetsu’s vocals. Hyde wears a pirate patch over his left eye in P’unk~en~Ciel performances. Yukihiro is known to wear a gas mask; however, this has only been seen once at a live concert during their Smile tour in 2004.
Each member is called in capital letters Tetsu P’unk, Ken P’unk, Hyde P’unk and Yuki P’unk. Each member produces one song of their choice, and they alternate their productions.
P’unk~en~Ciel is the revision of D’ark~en~Ciel, the former being a special event that took place during the early L’Arc~en~Ciel years when Sakura was the drummer. The only material released from them is the 18-minute B-side “D’ark~en~Ciel” found on the (then) unreleased The Fourth Avenue Cafe single.
Their songs are recorded and used as B-sides on singles from 2004 and their performances can be found as extras on Live DVDs. They also featured television personality Sayaka Aoki with their song “Round and Round 2005″.
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