From the official site:

[quote]"ELLEGARDEN has been in the process of creating a new album since last year, However, during the band's activities, there arose a difference in opinion regarding the motivation for creating a new album. We no longer feel we are able to create an album that we would be satisfied with, and after much discussion we arrived at the conclusion to end the creation of the album and suspend the band's activities indefinitely.

Whether the band will resume activities at a future point has yet to be decided.

All previously decided shows (including shows not yet announced) up until early September 2008 will still be performed.

We want to thank everyone who has supported ELLEGARDEN from the bottom of our hearts. In order to once again create new music as ELLEGARDEN, each of us wants to work on our own personal growth and development. Thank you for everything."[/quote]

Umm...it'd be sad if they broke up, but not a big loss in the Japanese music community.

Yeah, saw their update last night about that, figured there wasn't enough fans on here to bother posting it, kind of sad that somebody who thinks that them breaking up wouldn't really matter was the one to post it.

btw, the place you got that from has a sentence wrong. On that extra sentence they didn't put in the English post, it should say "When the band will resume activities has yet to be decided," not "Whether the band will resume activities at a future point has yet to be decided."

And no, it would be a large loss for the Japanese music scene. They've had a huge impact and are way better than some stupid bullshit V-kei act. I don't care what your personal opinion on the band is, they're huge in the Japanese music scene.

I'll be seeing them in July along with GO!GO! and Chatmonchy, I hope the first time I get to see them live won't be the last.

[quote="Marekenshin"]And no, it would be a large loss for the Japanese music scene. They've had a huge impact and are way better than some stupid bullshit V-kei act. I don't care what your personal opinion on the band is, they're huge in the Japanese music scene.[/quote]

I'm actually a really big fan of Ellegarden, and never having a chance to see them live is a big loss to me.

The last statement I said about not being a big loss in the Japanese music community was merely a statement of the Japanese music industry as a whole. We've still got great bands like the pillows, GO!GO!, chatmonchy, Ling Toshite Shigure, and AKG still rocking their asses off; but when the day comes when all these bands break up, that will be a huge loss to the Japanese music community.

I'm not a big fan of the V-Kei scene myself (only 3-4 bands of V-Kei have ever been given my attention), but that's not popular in Japan, either. It may seem like it with the quantity of those bands; but according to my friends over there, it's not. What's popular: B'z, Koda Kumi, Ayumi, Hikaru, Morning Musume, and EXILE. All pop, and only three of them have any sort of texture!

I'm aware that V-kei isn't very popular in Japan, but Ellegarden sold out one of Japan's biggest live venues for their show. Over 30,000 people dude. And of all the pop punk bands in Japan, they are without a doubt the most talented and probably the most popular. Just because there are still other good bands doesn't mean it wouldn't be a loss to the Japanese music scene, that's like saying "it'd be fine if we didn't have the Beatles, because there's still the Rolling Stones and blah blah," it just doesn't make any sense because they're an entirely separate style from those other bands and with the exception of AKG are probably a lot more well-known than the others (not sure how Chatmonchy's popularity is).

When did this announcement come out? This is not good news. I'll be super disappointed if they break up. Mare is right, these guys are huge, and I bet there would be tons of people that would be upset if they did leave music behind.

It went up May 2nd, Japan time.

There's been a lot of worry and talk among fans, but the general hope is that they really do mean just a break, and Hosomi has said that they have no intention of breaking up. They've just been having trouble writing songs and whatnot, so they're taking some time off from that to rest up, and there's no bad feelings among the members, apparently.

...but it's still worrying. At least I'll get to see them this July.

NOOOO!!!!!!11!111!

This sucks, that means they wn't be coming back to the US and I won't be able to see them!

I hope they make it through the hard times.

[quote="omnistry"]What's popular: B'z, Koda Kumi, Ayumi, Hikaru, Morning Musume, and EXILE. All pop, and only three of them have any sort of texture![/quote]

All of them suck, IMO, except Hikaru.

HIKKI HAI~

I'd say only B'z and Utada have any sort of "texture" of those bands, I can't stand Hamasaki, Koda, or Morning Musume. Never even heard Exile. And of those, I only like Utada.

[quote="Marekenshin"]Just because there are still other good bands doesn't mean it wouldn't be a loss to the Japanese music scene, that's like saying "it'd be fine if we didn't have the Hives, because there's still the Vines and blah blah"[/quote]

I mean, Beatles? Rolling Stones? Even on a purely relative comparison, no thank you.

It wasn't meant to say that Ellegarden is anywhere near the Beatles or the Stones.

I know. I was joking, in the sense of "How dare you even mention this or any other Japanese band in the same breath as the Beatles or the Stones."

The creative differences were probably that the singer wanted to continue writing shitty pop-punk crap and the rest of the guys were like, "hey, can we go back to playing anything remotely original sounding, like our first 2 albums?"

Seriously, despite how typical of an argument it might sound like, their early stuff was good because it was very versatile and heart-felt. But ever since Pepperoni Quatro, they decided to become an American pop-punk rip-off band in the attempt to meld into a scene that had already come and gone by that time.

The drummer and lead guitarist have excellent chops and technical playing ability though, so hopefully they'll go on to use them in a better band.

I totally agree that their early stuff was their best. Don't Trust Anyone But Us is my favorite album.

HOWEVER, did you know that the leader of the band is THE GUITARIST? Besides that, it's not that the other members disagree with what songs they're writing, it's that they're just having trouble coming up with songs right now. Hosomi said in a few interviews last year that he was having writer's block with song composition and just couldn't seem to really write stuff lately. Nice try, but swing and a miss.

I'm sorry you feel that way about them, but I seriously doubt any of the members would be in bands anywhere NEAR as good as Ellegarden if they were to break up.

Mare's opposition ITT are being total dorks. Why bitch about pop music? This isn't the "bitch about pop music" thread.



Damn, It's like, if anybody saw, I don't know, let's say Benji from Good Charlotte or Pierre from Simple Plan eating at a McDonald's, that they'd flip their trays, let out a scream and start throwing shit at them.

I've only heard one or two Ellegarden songs. They're fine to me. If they have a lot of fans, then that's cool. It's cool when a group of friends make music and have fans. It's sad when they have personal problems. We don't have to prove to people that we hate things at every waking moment, it's not always appropriate.

I would bet they are better than most people think.