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L'Arc-en-Ciel

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 L'Arc~en~Ciel (ラルク アン シエル), also known as L'Arc or Laruku (ラルク) to their fans, is a popular J-Rock quartet. L'Arc en Ciel literally translates from the French language as The Arch in the Sky, more commonly known as a rainbow. They have sold over 25 million copies of singles and albums in Japan alone.

History

Formation

In February of 1991, tetsu and hyde, along with Hiro (guitar) and Pero (drums), formed the band under the name 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. tetsu convinced his friend Ken Kitamura (ken) to quit his studies in architectural design and join the band. A new drummer, sakura, 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 met with plenty of 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 (Spanish for "Earth") that same year. Heavenly followed in 1995, and True, their first platinum seller, was released in 1996.

Sakura's arrest

As they were enjoying their success, sakura was arrested for heroin possession, and officially quit the band on October 4 1997. This was the lowest point in the band's history. When news of sakura's arrest became public, there was a decline in their popularity. Just as they had reached a peak in their career, CDs were being removed from the shelves and any of their songs that were used as theme songs were quickly replaced. There was no evidence of the band's existence, and their next single The Fourth Avenue Cafe was indefinitely postponed and has never been released. Many believe that the whole incident was blown tremendously out of proportion.

Break and comeback

L'Arc~en~Ciel took a break for a few months. They continued to be featured in magazines, but only as a trio. Then, they created their own Laruku cover band, "The Zombies", and poked fun at their own songs. They also covered artists such as Marilyn Manson and Nirvana. The return from their break was marked by the Reincarnation 97 Live in Tokyo Dome, with their new drummer, yukihiro (former drummer with Zi:Kill and Die in Cries). The first concert had an attendance of 56,000, which sold out in a world record of four minutes. Their next album was Heart, in 1998, which, like their second major album "Heavenly" is seen as a transitional album: trying to forget the past, but also trying to maintain their originality and success.

In 1997, the first single they released since Sakura had left was 「虹」 (Niji — Rainbow). yukihiro was the drummer for this release, but was only listed as a supporting member. However, the band members were quickly impressed with his drumming skills and made him the official drummer not long after Niji's release.

1999–2000 projects

L'Arc~en~Ciel released three more albums of new material during the next few years. Ark and Ray which were released simultaneously on July 1,1999, and were the first Japanese albums to be released the same day in many different Asian countries. Both were on the Oricon music charts, with Ark at number one and Ray at number two. The release of Ark and Ray marked the high point of their career, with each selling over two million copies (no other release from the band managed to reach two million). Real followed in 2000, which was the last CD of new material for some time, although many more compilation and remix albums would follow. L'Arc~en~Ciel also composed several theme songs for various anime series, including DNA², Rurouni Kenshin, and Great Teacher Onizuka. They also created the closing theme song to the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Dreams Inside.

Solo projects

After a while, however, the various members began working on various solo projects. hyde released several solo albums (as HYDE), ken founded Sons of All Pussys (including sakura as the drummer), tetsu started TETSU69 and yukihiro sang with Acid Android. The band solo projects seemed to have been fueling speculation that L'Arc~en~Ciel was going to quit.

Second comeback

In June 2003, L'Arc~en~Ciel came back to play a series of seven concerts in Tokyo called the "Shibuya Seven Days", and announced a new album for release in the following year. So, in February 2004, "Ready Steady Go", their first single in more than three years came out, followed by another one in early March. Finally, their long-awaited new album, SMILE, was released on March 31. "Ready Steady Go" was also used as an opening for the Fullmetal Alchemist anime series.

Shortly afterwards, on June 2 2004, the single 自由への招待　 ("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 P'unk version of "Round and Round" live.

U.S concert debut

On July 31 2004, L'Arc~en~Ciel made their U.S. concert debut at Otakon 2004. Approximately 12,000 people attended the concert, which was held at an outside venue for the first time in Otakon's musical guests history, the 1st Mariner Arena located near the Baltimore Convention Center.

AWAKE, 2005 release

In 2005, the band released various singles, including "Killing Me" , "New World", and "Jojoushi". These all were later featured on their latest album, AWAKE, which was released on June 22 with twelve tracks, including "Lost Heaven", the closing theme for the Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shambala movie. The band's latest single, "Link", released on July 20,2005, was also featured in the movie as the opening theme.

Miscellaneous

In addition, the band went on their "ASIALIVE 2005" tour, and as the name suggests, the band performed in Korea and China as well as Japan. Japan's two concerts took place at the Tokyo Dome. This tour was followed by the AWAKE Tour in Japan, featuring stage design and costuming with obvious anti-war sentiments.

On May 31, 2005, Tofu Records, Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, released the DVD of the Otakon 2004 concert.

On July 20, 2005 "Link" was released; also known as the opening theme of the film Fullmetal Alchemist, it was the first Laruku single after "Awake". This single also includes a new version of "Promised Land".

Hyde also composed the music "Glamorous Sky" for the forthcoming film, NANA which stars Mika Nakashima, a j-pop singer. This song will also be sung by hyde in his next album coming this October. This was the first time that hyde had composed music for another artist. He also has a new single called "Countdown".

Line-up

Current

Former

  • sakura (drums 1992-1997)
  • hiro (guitar 1991-1992)
  • pero (drums 1991-1992)

D'Ark-en-Ciel

  • DARK TETSU (vocal)
  • HYDE Dark (guitar)
  • Suck-D'Ark-La (bass)
  • Ken D'Ark (drums)

P'UNK-EN-CIEL

  • Tetsu P'unk (Vocal)
  • Hyde P'unk (Guitar)
  • Yukihiro P'unk (Bass)
  • Ken P'unk (Drums)
  • [P'unk Aoki (Keyboard)]

Discography

Highest chart positions and units sold:

Albums

Compilations & remixes

Singles

  • 1992
    • "Floods of tears" c/w 夜想花 ("Yasouka") (indie single) 1,000 (limited edition)
  • 1994
    • "Blurry Eyes" c/w "Wind of Gold (Many Kind of Percussion Mix)" (major debut single) #22 - 52,000
  • 1995 (featured on Japanese television show DNA2 as the opening theme).
    • "Vivid Colors c/w Brilliant Years #16 - 118,000
    • "夏の憂鬱 [time to say good-bye]" ("Natsu no yuuutsu") c/w "あなたのために" ("Anata no tame ni") #15 - 67,000
  • 1996
    • "風にきえないで　" ("Kaze ni kienaide") c/w "I'm So Happy" #4 - 196,000
    • "flower" c/w "さようなら" ("Sayounara") #5 - 320,000
    • "Lies and Truth" c/w "　賽は投げられた" ("Sai wa nagarareta") #6 - 285,000
  • 1997
    • "虹" ("Niji") c/w "THE GHOST IN MY ROOM" #3 - 708,000
  • 1998
    • "winter fall" c/w "metropolis" #1 - 835,000
    • "DIVE TO BLUE" c/w "Peeping Tom" #1 - 845,000
    • "HONEY" #1 - 1,224,000
    • "花葬" ("Kasou") #4 - 1,036,000
    • "浸食～lose control～ " ("Shinshoku") c/w "浸食～lose control～ -control experiment mix-"
    • "snow drop" c/w "a swell in the sun" #1 - 1,132,000
    • "forbidden lover" c/w "花葬 -1014 mix-" ("Kasou") #1 - 826,000
  • 1999
    • "HEAVEN'S DRIVE" c/w "metropolis -android goes to sleep mix-" #1 - 1,124,000
    • "Pieces" c/w "fate -fake fate mix-" #1 - 735,000
    • "Driver's High" c/w "Cradle-down to the earth mix-" #2 - 340,000
    • "LOVE FLIES" c/w "真実と幻想と -out of the reality mix-" ("Shinjitsu to gensou to") #1 - 514,000
  • 2000
    • "NEO UNIVERSE/finale" c/w "hole"/"trick -new wave of japanese heavy metal mix-" (double A-side single) #1 - 1,104,000
    • "STAY AWAY" c/w "get out from the shell"/"STAY AWAY -Jazz Poo Mix-"/"-Truly Barbie Forest Ver.-" #2 - 734,000
  • 2001
    • "Spirit dreams inside — another dream" c/w "Spirit dreams inside" #1 - 340,770
  • 2004
    • "READY STEADY GO" #1 (featured on Japanese television show Full Metal Alchemist as the second opening theme).- 365,500
    • "瞳の住人" ("Hitomi no juunin") #1 - 194,600
    • 自由への招待 ("Jiyuu e no shoutai") c/w "milky way" by P'UNK-EN-CIEL #1 - 232,900
  • 2005
    • "Killing Me" c/w "Round and Round 2005" by P'UNK-EN-CIEL #1 - 193,772 (as of 11/21/05)
    • "New World" c/w "花葬 平成十七年" ("Kasou heisei 17 nen") by P'UNK-EN-CIEL #1 - 183,181 (as of 11/21/05)
    • 叙情詩 ("Jojoushi") c/w "HEAVEN'S DRIVE 2005" by P'UNK-EN-CIEL #1 - 145,718 (as of 11/21/05)
    • "Link" c/w "Promised Land 2005" by P'UNK-EN-CIEL #2 - 235,751 (as of 11/21/05)

Videos

  • 1992
    • L'Arc-en-Ciel (VHS/concert)
  • 1993
    • Touch of Dune (VHS)
  • 1994
    • 眠りによせて (VHS/video single)
    • Siesta — Film of Dreams (VHS)
  • 1995
    • And She Said (VHS/video single)
  • 1996
    • Heavenly –films– (VHS/concert)
  • 1998
    • A Piece of Reincarnation (VHS/concert)
    • ハートに火をつけろ！ Light My Fire (VHS/concert)
  • 1999
    • Chronicle (VHS+DVD/PV collection)
    • ハートに火をつけろ！ Light My Fire (DVD/concert)
    • A Piece of Reincarnation (DVD/concert)
    • 1999 Grand Cross Conclusion (VHS+DVD/concert)
  • 2001
    • Chronicle 2 (VHS+DVD/PV collection)
    • Club Circuit 2000 Realive - No Cut - (VHS+DVD/concert)
  • 2003
    • Heavenly –films– (DVD/concert)
    • And She Said (DVD/video single)
    • Siesta –Film of Dreams– (DVD)
    • 眠りによせて (DVD/video single)
    • 7 (DVD/concert)
  • 2004
    • Live in USA –at 1st Mariner Arena July 31, 2004– (DVD/concert)
  • 2005
    • Smile Tour 2004 ～全国編～ (DVD/concert)
    • Awake Tour 2005 (DVD/concert)

Official Sites

* Denotes sites with content available in English. For the most up-to-date information, the first site (their official site) is suggested. Sony's site has recently removed their English language option and the Tofu Records page, although official, is often out-of-date.

Fan sites

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