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L'Arc-en-Ciel

is a popular Japanese rock band, 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 musicians, provided by HMV.

History

Formation

In February 1991, bassist Tetsuya Ogawa (Tetsu), 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. Pero soon followed on December 30 of the same year, supposedly to join up with his friend Hiro again. To replace the two, 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. Later, a new drummer, Yasunori Sakurazawa, was recruited after Tetsu saw him perform in a few shows.

Debut album and subsequent albums

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, and True, their first million seller, was released in 1996.

Sakura's departure

In February 1997, drummer Sakura was arrested for illegal drug possession, and officially quit the band on October 4, 1997. This proved to be the lowest point in the band's history. When news of Sakura's arrest became public, there was an immediate official response. CDs were removed from the shelves and any of their songs that were used as theme songs were quickly replaced, such as "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" for Rurouni Kenshin which was immediately replaced with former theme "Heart of the Sword" after only six episodes of running time. Although L'Arc-en-Ciel's latest album True remained on the charts for two years, their next single "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" was postponed. It was eventually released in 2006.

Break and comeback

Over the next few months the group continued to be featured in magazines, but only as a trio. They created their own cover band, The Zombies, and poked fun at their own songs. They also covered artists such as Marilyn Manson and Nirvana. The return from the break was marked by the appropriately named Reincarnation 97 Live in Tokyo Dome, with their new drummer, Yukihiro (former drummer with and Die in Cries). The first concert had an attendance of 56,000, which sold out in a still-standing Tokyo Dome record of four minutes.

In 1997, "Niji", the first single after Sakura's departure, was released with Yukihiro listed as a supporting member. Not long after the release of the single, Yukihiro was signed on as the official drummer for L'Arc-en-Ciel. In 1998, L'Arc-en-Ciel released the album Heart.

1999–2000 projects

L'Arc-en-Ciel released three more albums of new material during the next few years. Ark and Ray were released simultaneously on July 1, 1999, and became the first Japanese albums to be released simultaneously in many other Asian countries. Both topped the Oricon music charts, with Ark occupying number one and Ray at number two. The release of ark and ray marked the high point of the band's career, with each selling over two million copies. Real followed in 2000, which was the last CD of new material for some time, although many more compilation and remix albums would follow.

"Stay Away" from the album Real was featured in Drummania 4th Mix, making the song playable on the machine.

L'Arc-en-Ciel's last new song before their hiatus, "Spirit Dreams Inside", was the closing theme song to the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Solo projects

After "Spirit Dreams Inside", the band went on a hiatus as the members began working on various solo projects. Hyde released two solo albums (Roentgen and 666) and starred in the movie Moon Child with the popular Japanese soloist Gackt. Hyde also played the part of Adam in the movie Kagen no Tsuki, based on the manga by the same title. Ken founded Sons of All Pussys with L'Arc-en-Ciel's former drummer Sakura. Tetsu started Tetsu69 and Yukihiro sang with Acid Android. The compilation Clicked Singles Best 13 was released in 2001, with twelve songs chosen by fans online and an additional thirteenth song, "Anemone", the band's only new material during this span of years.

Second comeback

In June 2003, L'Arc-en-Ciel performed a series of seven concerts in Tokyo called the Shibuya Seven Days, during which they announced a new album for release the following year. The band released "Ready Steady Go" in February 2004, its first single in more than three years. It topped Oricon charts and was used as an opening for a popular anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist. A cover of the song is used in a video game for the Nintendo DS called Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. The single was followed by "Hitomi no Juunin", in early March. The album, Smile, was released on March 31. Shortly afterwards, on June 2, 2004, the single "Jiyuu e no Shoutai" introduced P'unk-en-Ciel, a partial change, for the first time on CD with "Milky Way". In the past, the band also played a punk version of "Round and Round" live called Round and Round 2005.

U.S. concert debut

On July 31, 2004, L'Arc-en-Ciel made their North American concert debut at the anime convention Otakon, held annually in Baltimore, Maryland. Approximately 12,000 people attended the concert, which was held at an outside venue for the first time in Otakon's musical guest history, at 1st Mariner Arena located near the Baltimore Convention Center where the convention is held. They were also the first Japanese act (and to date, the only) to perform at the Arena. On May 31, 2005, Tofu Records, Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, released the much-anticipated DVD of the Otakon 2004 concert Live in U.S.A. On June 25, 2007, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a deal with HMV America.

2005

In 2005, the band released various singles, including "Killing Me", "New World", and "Jojoushi". These were later featured on their latest album, Awake, which was released on June 22 with twelve tracks, including "Lost Heaven", the closing theme of the Fullmetal Alchemist movie. The band's single, "Link", released on July 20, 2005, was also featured in the movie as the opening theme, it wasn't until recently the song appeared in the album Kiss.

In August 2005, the band went on their Awake tour, which was limited to Japan. The tour featured displays of anti-war sentiment, reflecting similar lyrics of the songs of the album. A particularly memorable moment was the unfurling of a giant white flag during "Neo Universe". The flag was decorated with the universal symbol for peace. Other memorable moments included a suspended woman and acrobatics during the performance of "Ophelia".

Hyde's costuming for the concerts raised controversy among fans, and proved to be much removed from L'Arc-en-Ciel's earlier days. The Nazi uniform and the papal robes during the performance of "Revelation" were blatant social commentaries not seen before in the band's concerts.

The Japanese Awake tour was followed by the Asia Live 2005 tour, with performances in Seoul and Shanghai, closing with concerts in Japan. Japan's two concerts took place at the Tokyo Dome.

Late 2005–2008

Following the Awake and Asia Live tours, L'Arc-en-Ciel's members turned their attention back to their solo projects. Tetsu began recording with a new band called Creature Creature. Yukihiro rejoined Acid Android, which released its newest single, "Let's Dance", on April 5, 2006. Acid Android joined Mucc, another Japanese rock band, to perform two concerts in Shanghai, China in April of 2006.

Hyde composed "Glamorous Sky", the theme song to the film adaption of the manga Nana starring pop singer Mika Nakashima. It was the first time Hyde composed music for another vocalist. Hyde's most recent solo singles are "Countdown", the ending song for the Japanese release of the American movie Stealth (released on October 5, 2005), and "Season's Call", the opening song of the anime Blood+ (released February 22, 2006). Both singles topped the Oricon charts. Hyde's latest solo album, Faith, was released in Japan on April 26, 2006, accompanied by a five month tour throughout Japan between April and August of 2006. After signing on with Tofu Records, four small concerts were scheduled in San Francisco and Anaheim, California in the United States. Hyde made his U.S. debut in July of 2006, the first of L'Arc-en-Ciel's solo projects to extend internationally. On August 23, Ken released a solo single entitled "Speed".

On November 25th and 26th, 2006, L'Arc-en-Ciel played two shows at the Tokyo Dome to celebrate their 15th anniversary, entitled L'Anniversary. A poll was created on the official website during the weeks before the concert which allowed fans to pick which songs they would like to hear at the event. The concert was later shown on the WOWOW channel on December 23, 2006. It was also broadcast on February 8, 2007 on Korea MTV.

L'Arc-en-Ciel later recorded the song "Shine" to be used as the opening song for the NHK anime, Guardian of the Spirit. They kicked-off their Mata Heart Ni Hi Wo Tsukero 2007 tour in Japan. L'Arc-en-Ciel released the single Seventh Heaven on May 30, 2007, which topped the Oricon charts. The song My Heart Draws a Dream was used in a Subaru commercial, and was released as a single on August 29, 2007 and it made the #1 spot in the Oricon Weekly charts. The song Daybreak's Bell was used as the first opening for the anime Mobile Suit Gundam 00, and it was released as a single on October 10th, topping the Oricon weekly charts as well. From November 14 to December 25 there was a limited edition single titled Hurry Xmas, along with two new DVDs coming out in September and December, titled 15th L'Anniversary Live and Chronicle 3 respectively. The song Drink It Down was used as the Japanese opening song for the PS3/Xbox360 game Devil May Cry 4, and was released as a single on April 2, 2008, and topped the Oricon charts.

Following the release of the album Kiss on November 21, L'Arc-en-Ciel announced the Theater of Kiss tour, which was held from December 22, 2007 to February 17. The band subsequently went on the Tour 2008 L'7 ~Trans Asia via Paris~ which covered several major Asian cities, as well as Paris, France. On this tour a definite live show hiatus until 2011 was announced and solo project activities have since been resumed; Hyde recently formed Vamps with K.A.Z of Oblivion Dust. L'Arc-en-Ciel media continue to be released, a double A-side single, "Nexus 4 / Shine" and a DVD, Tour 2007-2008 Theater of Kiss were released on August 27, 2008.

P'unk-en-Ciel

P'unk-en-Ciel 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. Also, as a way to identify the songs from P'unk-en-Ciel, Yuki P'unk has to yell in every song "One, two, three four!". 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. P'unk-en-Ciel also had a television appearance with the television personality Aoki (from Music Fighter) and performed live with her at Budokan performing Round and Round 2005.

Their recorded versions are:

Milky Way found on the Jiyuu e no Shoutai single (Produced by Hyde P'unk).
Round and Round 2005 found on the Killing Me single (Produced by Ken P'unk).
Kasou Heisei 17 Nen (Flower Burial 2005) found on the New World single (Produced by Hyde P'unk).
Heaven's Drive 2005 found on the Jojoushi single (Produced by Yuki P'unk).
Promised Land 2005 found on the Link single (Produced by Tetsu P'unk).
Honey 2007 found on the Seventh Heaven single (Produced by Ken P'unk).
Feeling Fine 2007 found on the My Heart Draws a Dream single (Produced by Yuki P'unk).
Natsu no Yuutsu (夏の憂鬱) [Sea in Blood 2007] found on the Daybreak's Bell single (Produced by Hyde P'unk).
I Wish 2007 found on the Hurry Xmas single (Produced by Tetsu P'unk - it also has a PV).
Dune 2008 found on the Drink it Down single (Produced by Ken P'unk).

P'unk-en-Ciel can be seen on live on:

Smile Tour 2004 DVD performing Milky Way.
Asialive 2005 DVD performing Round and Round 2005.
Are You Ready? 2007 Mata Heart ni Hi wo Tsukero! (またハートに火をつけろ！) DVD performing Honey 2007 and Feeling Fine 2007.
Tour 2007-2008 Theater of Kiss DVD performing Natsu no Yuutsu (夏の憂鬱) [Sea in Blood 2007] and I Wish 2007.