So where do I sail?

Cape of Storms. Heard it again after such a long time. Still as moving.

Faith

On to the last post for Hyde week!

I’ll touch on Faith today.

I must say, I had a hard time easing into this album. It seems so Hyde but at the same time, feels so different. I guess this is what they mean by the evolution of music. Most of the songs retained Hyde’s usual rock style that was ever present in 666. I guess I was expecting something different. Pain, misery, change seem to be the theme of this album, though I may be wrong.

Once you get the hang of the album, however, there’s not turning back.

The first track of the album, Jesus Christ, actually seems odd coming from the god-defying Hyde. Until we look deeper into his lyrics. Seek out the lyrics and try to interpret it yourselves. I’ll keep my interpretations to myself to avoid offending anyone.

My favorites from this album are Season’s Call, It’s Sad, Faith, Perfect Moment and Countdown. I like the whole album but something just feels off, just can’t put my finger on it.

Ah well, I’m just probably being over-sensitive.

Here are some videos for your viewing pleasure, remember to pause Sonific!

Season’s Call

Countdown

That’s all for Hyde week. Will probably do a Dir en grey week sometime in the future.

Till the next post!

P.S. This is the first time I’ve ever kept to schedule, even though it was a bit off.

Roentgen

This album was brought to my attention in my secondary school days, when it was still kinda hard to follow Jrock in Singapore due to lack to exposure, for me anyways. I’ll only be focusing on two of his albums. Roentgen and Faith. I love 666 too much and I’ll post why in another time

But for now.

Roentgen.

Hyde’s first solo album(correct me if I’m wrong) consists mostly of slow songs and ballads. My favorite songs are Evergreen, Shallow Sleep and The Cape of Storms as I’ve noted in the previous post. The album speaks of love at different levels. Being in love and losing love. The album is beautifully crafted and very soothing on the ears. Both the Japanese and English Ensemble version of his songs are beautiful.

Go get the album and take a listen.

Here’s a video of Evergreen, pause Sonific and Enjoy.

Movies!

Now, this was supposed to be Wednesday’s post, but hey, I was sick.

Now, Hyde himself starred in two movies. Kagen no Tsuki(2004), released with the English title Last Quarter and he starred alongside Gackt in Moon Child(2003).

Moon Child’s my favorite of the two, it’s dark theme about death, sacrifice and vampirism just appeals to me.

I’ll try to not spoil it much for you, but this story is essentially about Gackt’s character, a child called Sho, who meets a dying vampire called Kei, played by Hyde. Soon Sho grows up and he becomes a gun-toting robber that can dodge bullets and Kei becomes his mentor.

Bad summary I know, but I ain’t thinking straight right now.

Link: Moon Child wiki

Last Quarter was not bad. I was actually anticipating it for quite a bit when the opening date was mentioned. It’s an intricate story between the ghost of a man and a girl who was reincarnated into another body. The song used in the movie is also one of my favorites – The Cape of Storms by Hyde.

Link: Last Quarter Homepage

I’ll get to his music in the next post.

L’arc~en~Ciel

Now, when we talk about Hyde, we can’t leave out the band that he came from.

L’arc~en~Ciel.

The current band consists of Tetsu (Bass), Ken (Guitars), Yukihiro (Drums) and of course, Hyde (Vocals). There’s a lot of history to the band, but I won’t go too deep right now.

I remember, I was still ten when I was first introduced to the band. Vivid colors and C’est la Vie were the first two songs I heard from them and they have always been my favorites, classics if you will. heavenly was a great album and it was the album that pushed me deeper into Jrock, and made me seek out not only other L’arc albums but other bands as well. Namely, Malice Mizer, but that’s another story.

When Heart was released, my favorite song of all time made it’s appearance.

Niji (虹) by L’arc~en~Ciel

Remember to pause Sonific before you play the video.

Hyde’s words are poetic in every sense.

Pictures taken from Wikipedia.

Hello

I dug through my little collection of songs and found one I haven’t listened to in a long time. One that I have been hooked on the moment it was released.

Hello by Hyde

Here’s a video if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Pause Sonific, play video.

Ah, so many memories. I remember blasting this song while gaming, while hanging out with my Jrock buddies. Life at that time couldn’t be better. The lyrics hold plenty of meaning for me as well, but I won’t be delving to that for now.

I feel like doing a Hyde feature this week. For old time’s sake. This is, after all, my god we’re talking about.