These threads are a little boring, but this is one of those scenes where–despite there being an objective history/evolutionary branch–there’s no real concrete canon everybody can agree on. So it’s neat to see people’s top lists.
I’ll post mine later if this thread gets posts
X Japan - Vanishing Vision
Kagrra - Gozen
Kagrra - Miyako
Kagrra - San
Kagrra - Shizuku
Rosenfeld - Pigs of the Empire
Gazette - Disorder
Dir en grey - Uroboros
Heidi - Innocence
Merry - Modern Garde
I’m going to keep it 1 album per band lest the whole list becomes all of MM’s albums plus a few MdM and Közi solo ones, or just me doing a first to not first of Pura’s albums lol
Merveilles by Malice Mizer
Puppet Show by Plastic Tree
第5実験室 by cali≠gari
Niwlun by Guniw Tools
Image by Luna Sea
カタルシス by Közi
フィエルテの海と共に消ゆ~THE LAST OF ROMANCE~by LAREINE
Gauze by Dir en Grey
悪の華 by BUCK-TICK
Nocturnal Opera by Moi dix Mois
Just picking ten is so hard I had to kick Jealousy by X off the list but they would normally be there otherwise
Moi dix Mois - Dixanadu
Hizaki Grace Project - Dignity Of Crest
DELUHI - Vandalism
Kisaki Project - 永遠の夢
CodeRebirth - Catharsis
New Sodmy - Confess To A Love
Dir en Grey - Dum Spiro Spero
12012 - 12012
The Gazette - Dogma
Deathgaze - Decade
the list above is based on my playing frequency of the album. man, it’s very difficult to choose only 10, I could easily do a top 50 album list, a top 100 single list, or a top 30 EP/mini-album list. in fact. anyway, 10 honorable mentions, could be added and as a top 20 list. also, no order.
lynch. - Gallows
D.I.D. - Paranoid Personality (5 types of a maxi-single with 16 tracks in total equals an album!)
-OZ- - Complete Best Album (very hard to pick a fav full-length, my fav tracks are all over the place lol)
xTRiPx - Any Verse
Gackt - Diablos
Delacroix - Re:do
NEGA - Vanitas
GHOSE - 契描
Nocturnal Bloodlust - Grimoire
Girugämesh - Monster
AH this is so tough. This will be the albums that have a special meaning to me personally. So I have to say up front, the GazettE and Dir en Grey have been a huge part of my life. Also these will be in no particular order since that would add another dimension of impossibility.
the GazettE - Dim
the GazettE - Dogma
the GazettE - Ninth
Dir en Grey - Uroboros
Dir en Grey - Dum Spiro Spero
Dir en Grey - Arche
Lynch. - Gallows
-Oz- - Rouge
X Japan - Blue Blood
Luna Sea - Mother
Honorable mentions would be
Dir en Grey - Vulgar
the GazettE - Stacked Rubbish
Some of the early and late Girugamesh stuff, and definitely almost everything of Mucc.
I’m going to exclude DEG from this list because I could put all of their albums on it.
Mejibray- THE"420"THEATRICAL ROSES
Nega- Vanitas
The Black Swan- Ousia
ARTiCLEAR- Ikei no Musou
MUCC- Kowareta piano to living dead
Sukekiyo- Adoratio
Dimlim- Chedoara
Dadaroma- Stanczyk
the GazettE- Dogma
Madmans Esprit- Glorifying suicide
Some of the albums on my list are interchangeable with other albums from the same band. For example:
ARTICLEAR- 黎明期の夢
MUCC- Kuchiki no tou
Nega- Negativism-trace
Sukekiyo- Immortalis
the GazettE- Ninth
Madmans Esprit- Conscientization of Unconsciousness
Some honorable mentions:
Soko ni naru- Issen
Plastic tree- Puppet show
D.I.D- Providentia
Nocturnal Bloodlust- Grimoire
Nazare- Nemophila
I tried to go with one album with each artists because I would be extremely biased with a few groups. My top 10 albums are always changing, but the top 6 are always in my top 10.
AURA - Thesauras
BY-SEXUAL - Cracker
Strawberry Fields - Alibi
Amphibian - DOPPELGÄNGER
An Cafe - 色彩モーメント
Dir en Grey - Gauze
Fanatic Crisis - Mask
GLAY - Speed Pop
Aion - Aionism
Media Youth - Spiral Colors
Honorable Mentions (aka the albums that usually rotates around with the bottom 4 of my top 10):
Baiser - 華
Color - 激突!!
D’erlanger - La Vie en Rose
Decameron - 名曲アルバム
Gargoyle - 禊
かまいたち - Jekyll to Hyde ~Masturbation~
Kill=Slayd - Heat
黒蝪蝶 - [綺想曲] CAPRICCIO
La’Mule - inspire
Madeth gray’ll - Lucifer~魔鏡に映る呪われた罪人達と生命の終焉~
NéiL - Razor
Tokyo Yankees - Overdoing
X Japan - Blue Blood
Also, if I did allow more than one album for any artists, these would be on either lists:
BY-SEXUAL - Culture Shock
Dir en Grey - Withering to death.
GLAY - Soul Flower
Oh hell, this was hard. I’m feeling like it’s these (in alphabetical order):
Aliene Maφriage - Les Soirée 夜の舞踏会/断罪の章~神罰篇
BUCK-TICK - 狂った太陽
cali≠gari - 第6実験室
deadman - in the direction of sunrise and night light
D’ERLANGER - LA VIE EN ROSE
DIR EN GREY - DUM SPIRO SPERO
L’Arc~en~Ciel - heavenly
LUNA SEA - IMAGE
MALICE MIZER - 薔薇の聖堂
メリー - モダンギャルド
…but also here are some honorable mentions that almost made the cut:
D - The name of the ROSE
D’espairsRay - [Coll:set]
GUNIW TOOLS - NIWLUN
黒夢 - 亡骸を・・・
KYOKUTOU GIRL FRIEND - 勝手にしやがれ
メトロノーム - 1メトロノーム
ムニムニ - MAGICAL MOONIES
ネガ - GRAVE OF THE SACRIFICE
SADS - The Rose God Gave Me
sukekiyo - IMMORTALIS
(I only counted full-length albums, otherwise I could’ve been here thinking all day, lmao)
Merveille + Bara no Seidou by Malice Mizer
Fierté no umi to tomo no kiyu ~The Last of Romance~ by Lareine
Noble by Versailles
7th Rose by D
Calling by 9Goats Black Out
Glitter by Kaya
Arcana by Femme Fatale
D+Sect by Moi dix Mois
New Vogue Children by Schwarz Stein
The History of Genesis by Jupiter
All of the above are iconic and inspirational works for me. With Malice Mizer I couldn’t decide for one of the two since I equally love them for different reasons. Lareine, as well has more top notch stuff, but Fierte is just the ultimate culmination of their excellence.
A more recent album I liked was Culas Kemurikon - Meaning deep scarz
I do listen to more, different and also newer stuff, just not very album-oriented nowadays~
Honorable mentions go to pretty much every other album of the bands listed above, except Jupiter who I stopped caring about as well as to bands like Megaromania (+Metis Gretel), Matenrou Opera, Sugar, deadman, Lin, Ziz etc etc
Even though i haven’t listened to VK that much in recent years but there are still some of the releases that i keep coming back to
Merry Go Round - 幻覚@波
cali≠gari - 第5実験室
Noir fleurir - 黒き華の千年期〜真章〜
emmurée - EMMUREE
Eliphas Levi - リデルの赤い巻物
exist†trace - Recreation eve
SCISSORS GARDEN - グランギニョール
Medue’obscur - Vexations
GUNIW TOOLS - a tie between DAZZLE and FICKLE BOON, since i still can’t decide which of the two i prefer more, lmao
gemmik - Sein~ザイン~
aaaannnnddddd some honorable mentions too~
PENICILLIN - Limelight
犬神サーカス団 (Inugami Circus dan) - 神の犬
deadman - no alternative
RENTRER EN SOI - THE BOTTOM OF CHAOS
The GazettE - 斑蠡~MADARA~ and DISORDER (my favourite The GazettE era, btw)
サルーイン (Saruin) - 業-カルマ-
DANGER☆GANG - St.Beast
…。【サイレンス】- Psycho:lens