Late 80's / Early 90's VK

Japanese Music
1

Yo

I’ve started listening to more Visual Kei from the late 80’s / early 90’s and I’m really digging it. What are some of your favorite bands from that period?

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2

D’ERLANGER, DEAD END, X JAPAN, BUCK-TICK, LUNA SEA, GLAY, etc

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THE DYNAMITE SHAKERS, Lu†Sier, QU’EN-DILA, and Soirée de croix

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THE PIASS, Rouage, Aliene Ma’riage are three of my favorites.

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5

I have a list…

X, D’ERLANGER, DEAD END, BUCK-TICK, Gargoyle, LUNA SEA, SIAM SHADE, Penicillin, MALICE MIZER, SHAZNA, cali≠gari, Plastic Tree, LAREINE, PIERROT, Guruguru Eigakan, Dir en grey, Raphael, MUCC, kein, METRONOME, KAGEROU, D’espairsray

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My most listened to artists from that era are Buck-Tick, LUNA SEA, Penicillin, Kuroyume, Laputa, Rouage, Sleep My Dear, Zi:Kill, MALICE MIZER, Pierrot, GLAY (if you consider their early stuff VK), Deshabillz, Vasalla, FANATIC◇CRISIS, Gilles de Rais, La:Sadie’s, D≒SIRE, NOISY CROWDS, Piass, Maschera, Mazohysteria, CANARY, Rapture, Genkaku Allergy

I realize it’s a lot, because I love the 90s, lol

Not counting bands like Aliene Ma’riage or Madeth gray’ll, since they formed after 1995+ (which I consider the cut off year for early VK)

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i have always been fond of baiser! and, while i love pierrot as a whole, early pierrot is my absolute fave!

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Kamaitachi, BY-SEXUAL, DECAMERON, BILLY & THE SLUTS, Sea Monkeys, BA-RA-VA-LA, Red Tail Cat, THE DEAD POP STARS, ROSENFELD, BANANA FISH, GAUDY MODE, REDIEAN;MODE, etc…

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9

I guess everybody has a different understanding of what “late 80s, early 90s” means. To me it’s: 1987-1993.

A lot of the bands I love from that era have already been mentioned, so let me just add:

  • JUSTY-NASTY
  • LUIS-MARY
  • SAKRUN
  • Kneuklid Romance
  • Silver~Rose
  • Eins:Vier
  • DIE IN CRIES
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BUCK-TICK, X-JAPAN, La’cryma Christi, PIERROT, BAISER, Soft Ballet, AION, L’Arc~en~Ciel, DEAD END, D’ERLANGER, MALICE MIZER, Rouage, Laputa, Vasalla, La’Mule, Penicillin, Sleep My Dear, La:Sadie’s and more…

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11

Merry Go Round is my personal favorite from that time period. First release dating to 1993

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I enjoy COLOR, Silver~Rose, Zi:Kill, Kamaitachi, BY-SEXUAL, Laputa, and Lareine. Penicillin is cool as shit. Luna Sea/X/GLAY are all big hitters. Tokyo Yankees are REAL good. Oh yeah, does DPS count?

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15

Going back even further, these post-punk / deathrock bands had certain aspects which were melded into visual kei:

Auto-Mod - 1985 - Deathtopia
Madame Edwarda - 1986 - Illuminé
Zarathustra - 1986 - Also Sprach Zarathustra II

And some of my favorites:

Dead End - 1988 - Shambara
X - 1989 - Blue Blood
ZiKll - 1990 - Close Dance
Die in Cries - 1992 - Visage
Luna Sea - 1992 - Image
kuroyume - 1993/1994 - nakigara wo / mayoeru yuritachi
Scare Crow - 1994 - risshun

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16

What a pleasant thread for posting :slight_smile: shamelessly stealing @carddass’s format above and adding my highlights. I might deviate from what is perceived as “VK” but I think these left a good mark in the scene at that time and to this day:

post-punk / deathrock / gothic rock / darkwave:

G-Schmitt - 1988 - Alternative Garnet
Sadie Sads - 1984 - Angora

and an obscure favorite amongst old school VK bandomen (very old school VK-ish mixing):

Akina Nakamori - 1986 - Fushigi

Some of my VK favorites:

Baiser - 1995 - Ash
Die in Cries - 1993 - Eros
D’ERLANGER - 1991 - Basilisk
Zi÷Kill - 1991 - Desert Town
X - 1988 - Vanishing Vision
Laputa - 1996 - Kagerou (“early 90s”-sounding, imo)

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Kagerou is such a great album, holy shit. Instead of Ache is just effortlessly cool.

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