Under the motto:
Here comes the thread for essential non-VK albums.
Personally i dont have huge opinion on it.
Yeah not even metalcore-wise i dont have a huge opinion, maybe because most people swear on Crystal Lakes Helix, but i personally prefer The Sign.
So i am looking forward to hear everyone else’s opinion.
VICTIMOFDECEPTION Godless, first Makito album is very good. This new Earthists. album is a great one for beginners. MY FIRST STORY’s All Lead Tracks is amazing. I swear by ASIAN KUNG FU GENERATION’s Solfa album, and anything pre-2009 the pillows is golden. Maximum the Hormone’s ぶっ生き返す is a good album, as well as Ellegarden’s Eleven Firecrackers. Bump of Chicken’s Bump of Chicken I 1999–2004 Bump of Chicken II 2005–2010 compilation should be in a museum somewhere. Any ACIDMAN album, Tomoyasu Hotei’s Soul Sessions, Char’s Singles 1976-2005. Okay I’m done. I may love VK, and metal, but my background is J-Rock lol. So many great J-Rock best of albums.
UVERworld - Timeless (2006)
BIGMAMA - 君がまたブラウスのボタンを留めるまで (2011)
KELUN - KELUN (2008)
ONE OK ROCK - 人生×僕 (2013)
…though my personal favorite is Nicheシンドローム
CROSSFAITH - THE DREAM, THE SPACE (2011)
Flumpool - Unreal (2008)
Happy End - 風街ろまん (1971)
Spitz - ハチミツ (1995)
Ok, I need to namedrop a couple more personal favorites (w/ bias):
BINECKS - Change and Chain (2010)
RADWIMPS - RADWIMPS4~おかずのごはん~ (2006)
ストレイテナー (Straightener) - STRAIGHTENER (2011)
Aqua Timez - ダレカの地上絵 (2007)
No Regret Life - Sign (2006)
Bump of Chicken - Yggdrasil (2004)
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION - Sol-fa (2004)
UVERworld - Timeless (2006)
FLOW - Microcosm (2010) - oddly enough, the two tracks with PVs are in my opinion the weakest songs.
Survive Said The Prophet - s p a c e [s] (2018)
Special shoutout to L’Arc~en~Ciel’s Ray and Ark albums (1999) as they are truly special too.
Such a staggeringly wide category of music (“non-VK”) requires an equally broad range of suggestions, so here I go with three totally random picks, for now.
BLANKEY JET CITY - C.B.Jim (1993)
To me this album exudes pure raw youthful energy, distilled into fun punky rock ‘n’ roll tunes. Sharp guitars, tasty bass and absolutely animal drumming. One of the greatest power trios of Japan in the '90s (I could’ve also easily chosen their previous album “BANG!”).
NUMBER GIRL - SAPPUKEI (2000)
As far as I’m concerned, they were The indie-rock band. Such a creative way of playing and arranging, yet it’s not like crazy math-rock that might go over your head. Great sound on this one overall, somehow both clear and dirty. An electric buzz of tension and joy.
Church of Misery - Houses of the Unholy (2009)
One of Japan’s premiere metal bands in my eyes. They take stoner and doom metal tropes and crank everything up beyond eleven. The lumbering bluesy riffs sound like barbed wire caught in molten lava. In other words, pretty pleasant stuff. Can’t go wrong with their other albums either.
Some heavier shit:
