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v i s u a l : a u d i o :

What is visual rock?

There isn't really one singe definition of what is visual rock, but i will try to explain my own view of what it is.
Visual rock is a unique type of art form that uses both sound and sight. Visual rock isn't just limited to a certain type of music. Different bands play different types of music, ranging from heavy rock, classical, pop, or carnival music.

Usually, visual rock bands wear special clothing or costumes that can easily identify who they are. This special fashion is called "visual kei". The fashion styles can range from French renaissance, to gothic, punk, meditarranean, to even animal costumes.. :D Actually there isn't really a set fashion style just like their music. Many people tend to look in wonder at the visual rock people because of their strange clothing.

There is a special trait in visual kei, however. Many males dress up like females! Sometimes, it is quite hard to know whether a person is male or female.

For example this person is a male! His name is "Izam" and he is part of the band called "Shazna". He got married with his girlfriend sometime in the summer of 1999. However, they recently got divorced.. Anyway, Izam set new fashion trends in Japan and many girls copy his fashion style! Izam seems to like to wear plaid clothing and a bow tie often.. .

I believe that this style comes from the Japanese opera Kabuki. Only males are allowed to act in Kabuki, so the men had to act the part of women.

I also heard that visual rock was also influenced by shoujo manga, or "girl's comics" such as the famous manga (comic book) "BERUSAIYU no bara" or "Rose of Versailles". In that comic and many shoujo manga, gender is somewhat blurred.. In "Rose of Versailles", the main character, Oscar, is actually a young woman dressed in man's clothes. She kept her long hair since the comic takes place in France during the time of the French Revolution, where long hair is not unusual for men. Looking feminine without other people knowing that she really is a woman, she has a very special charming and appealing appearance among others. In visual kei, many males do the opposite: wear the elegant fashion of women.

I hope to introduce you the unique world of visual rock! It may be a little hard to get used to all the strange music and fashion. ..

SPOTLIGHT ON:

visual-rock band X japan! (my page, so its not much! sorry!)

Visual-rock gallery my collection of pictures of various bands.. Each band has their own unique style!! (underconstruction)

COMMENT ON BANDS

I think that bands are very different from idols or singers because a band needs much teamwork. Everyone contributes to play a part of the song. Because of this teamwork, i truly admire bands. What you hear is their "true" music. Unlike many non-band music like from idols, the people who actually play the music are probably changed often... and i think that they are kind of like "no names", which means that they don't really get the recognition for contributing to the music. I think that most people care about the idol singer instead of the people who actually play the music. Also, some people like a musician because of his looks, which i don't really care about. I've heard from my brother that his classmate complained about the band called Southern All Stars about how old the members are! I think that the music is much more important than the looks of the musicians.. but.. you don't really see an ugly singer that is very popular.. -_-

Another comment someone said about listening to a sample of rock music is "how do you dance to it"? Its kind of funny how this world has come to today. Music is also used for dancing.. from dancing with waltz music, to dancing with techno music. Now, i don't really see people "dance" with jazz. And i mean "hard bop" jazz. How can you dance to it? I don't see people dancing with rock music or easy listening music... People also listen to music to relax. However, in jazz and rock, sometimes you somehow start to "bop" your head with the music or pretend to play an instrument (like drums).. Some people i guess never really open their eyes/ears to think about the music that they are listening to. Is music only for dancing? I do not think so. However, its amazing how music can affect us. It can make us move and affect our feelings or mood. When i close my eyes and listen to some music, my mind is transported into a different world. For example, in X japan's "Rose of Pain" many images of mideval period flash in my mind like a play or an opera. The vocalist's voice and all the instruments blend together to paint a story, a tragedy. From listening to the song, i can sense the overwhelming emotion behind the vocalist's voice. Music can be compared to books since both are different forms of art that can affect the audience.

Bands also compose their own music, unlike most jpop or idol singers. They create their own unique style of music instead of having different composers to create songs for them. Visual rock bands have their own music and fashion style and tend to "experiment" with music. They don't go with the current trends, but make their own style.. especially with indies bands(independent label bands which haven't signed up with a major company such as Sony or Columbia... many times, they make their own label), they tend to have radical styles of music and or fashion.

A common story in Arts such as arts and music, is tragedies. Many classical composers such as Beethoven Ludwig have tragic endings.. At the end, they live very poorly until their death.. Some become deaf or blind and are soon forgotten in their times.. . Today, long after their deaths, classical music played all over the world.. It is "international" ... . These musicians brought and made something "everlasting" even after their deaths.. I think they contributed so much to our society.. Their music, which doesn't have lyrics transcend the difference of different cultures and languages. They really show us how music/art is an universal language.

Ever since i started listening to rock music, there are also many tragedies that happen.. Such as the Hong Kong band called BEYOND.. The singer and guitarist, Wong Ka Ker, fell off the stage in Japan and died.. When i started listening to X japan, i found out the that band was disbanded.. and then the guitarist hide died because of suicide... When i found out about the Visual rock band Malice Mizer (which means "Malicious Tragedy" in French), the drummist Kami passed away in his home from a sickness.. UPDATE: Kazuki, guitarist of the band Raphael passed away in Oct 2000.. . I really like his works.. he was the main composer of their songs.. I just want to say that even though these musicians are gone, they have left a mark in this world.. . Even though I don't understand the language/lyrics of their songs, I still like their music.. . Contrary to what it may seem, there *is* a special relation between classical and rock music. They both are the musician's style of expressing himself.