or at least on-par with American/European rock.

My friend Dalton has been playing music for years. He has a band called The Margaritas (http://www.myspace.com/themargaritas). He's really into Led Zeppelin, and that sort of bluesy hard rock bit. He's a great guy, really knowledgable in music theory, and a talented performer in my opinion.

Just one problem. He has the idea that Japanese rock is just..."weird". Something "off" about it. He usually connects it to really cheesy pop rock, you know, with overly dramatic vocals like: "[b]Boku no kokoro wa [i]kaze no yume[/i]!!!!!![/b]" "My heart is the dream of the wind!!!"

I guess he just isn't convinced that Japanese rock has "the soul".
Here's where I come in.

I'm determined to burn him a mix CD showcasing some truly great Japanese rock.

There are certain perameters he set for me, though. They are as follows:
-The vocalist has to have a personality.
-The drummer can't be a sloth, and really boring.
-The bassist can't just be hitting root notes the entire time. He has to be interesting.
-There has to be some sort of guitar solo, or part where the guitar is really showcased.
-Can't be boring, formulaic, 4 chords with a change for the chorus, etc.

I need your help here, IM. Not that I don't know of any great Japanese rock (because I do). But I need your help in coming up with songs/bands that fit this idea. I'm looking for about 10 songs total, to keep it focused.

A few ideas that I have bouncing around in my head:
-Sambomaster: "Tsunagari". The guitar that kicks in at about 3:22 is fantastic, and yeah. Sambomaster's got fucking soul.
-Sambomaster: "Ame", and maybe "Utsukushiki Ningen no Hibi".
-bloodthirsty butchers: "This is Music". I think he'll dig this.
-bloodthirsty buthcers: "Jack Nicolson".
-Number Girl: "Tombo the Electric Bloodred". This track just kicks.

I don't really know if I should put the pillows in, or if I do, what tracks.

I know my list doesn't really fit the criteria...but...hey. Help out if you can!

Smile.

Here's my idea.

Vola & The Oriental Machine - Principle of Machine
Quruli - Aoi Sora
Boris - Ibitsu
Number Girl - Tombo the Electric Bloodred (Rough Mix Version)
bloodthirsty butchers - Yamaha
Luminous Orange - Absent Minded My Sugar 2
Sambomaster - Itoshi sa to Kokoro no Kabe
the band apart - Headlight Is Destroyed
Sparta Locals - Yume Station
The Chewinggum Weekend - Ice (Album Mix)
the pillows - Beautiful Picture
Zazen Boys - Roppon no Kurutta Hagane no Shindou

Notes:

Principle of Machine has some killer guitar work; it's a great way to start off an album.

There are lots of Number Girl songs you could use. I chose the Rough Mix version of Tombo because it seems like you can hear Tabuchi's awesome solo considerably more easily. Other choices: Mini Grammar (Live on Kiroku Series 1, Disc 1), Chibbico San, Tattoo Ari, Zegen Vs. Undercover (PV), Tenkousei, Nichijou ni Ikiru Shoujo... lots of options here.

I chose that particular Zazen Boys track because it's so aggressive, and Inazawa really shows off his drumming skills in that song. Hantoumei Shoujo Kankei live at Factory 2004 would be another good one.

Yume Station is one of my favorite Sparta Locals songs, guitar-wise. There's a lot of good choices from that band.

Beautiful Picture is one of the pillows' most perfect songs. There's no way that *can't* win. Sariban ni Naritai live at Shinjuku is also worth considering.

Yeah. There's no doubt there are some great Sparta Locals, Zazen Boys, Number Girl, and pillows songs I could put on the mix. I just have to find ones that fit, and would at least SORT of cater to his tastes.

For instance, Loop & Loop by AKG, although I love it, would be a terrible choice.

I will both show my friend that 1) Japanese rock is no less "real" than American/UK rock, and 2) Other genres of rock (besides bluesy/hard/classic rock) can be awesome.

Oh. And you should all check out the song "Icarus" on the myspace page. The guitar work is...pretty good. Very good, actually. Dalton's voice is a bit high and grating, but I think it works perfectly fine. I enjoy it.

just give him six colors by those crazy noodles. maybe you can tag some manabe masturbating on there just for kicks. if he still thinks the japanese don't have the same emotion as american rockers, rape him.

GING NANG BOYZ - TOUKYOU

'Tis why I do the radio show for. Here are my choices for albums to lend to your "non-believers":

Asian Kung-Fu Generation: Sol-Fa, Feedback File
Electric Eel Shock: Beat Me
Mono: Walking Cloud And Deep Red Sky Flag Fluttered And The Sun Shined
Guitar Wolf: Jet Generation (loudest album ever!), Loverock
noodles - Long Long Chain, IVY
the pilllows - Please Mister Lostman, RUNNERS HIGH, TYMT
STANCE PUNKS - Bubblegum Viking, Let it Roll
TsuShiMaMiRe - Love Peace and "BOU"
Yoko Kanno - Be Human (yeah it's a SAC OST; but it's fucking awesome!)
Shonen Knife - Let's Knife

I NEED TO DELETE THIS POST.

Those may all be good/great/fantastic albums. But simply being "good/great/fantastic" isn't exactly the point here. I'm trying to make some "connection" with his musical tastes. As in...where's the Jimmy Page, Hendrix, Clapton of Japan? Ok, so there may not exactly be the same type of guitar gods in Japan, but do you understand what I mean?

NOT pop. NOT pop rock, no matter how fun it is to listen to. He's gonna be looking for some solid, hard rock. And stuff that doesn't venture into the area of "weird shit".

I really enjoyed GO!GO!7188's cover of Cutey Honey. And I happen to enjoy some puffy. Splash, by noodles, is good clean fun. There are some times where I'd rather listen to noodles than Sambomaster.

But the goal is different here.

Does ANYONE here know of any good Japanese blues-rock, with decent vocals*?

*O.P. King and The Pees aren't going to be considered. Hence "decent vocals. And O.P. King only has the one mini-album out. Which was...alright. But yeah. You know what I mean.

This guy isn't as open minded to all forms of rock as "we" might be. The first goal is to establish some CONNECTIONS between what he loves and what I/we love.

Boris is very heavy, and Akuma no Uta and Pink have quite a bit of bluesiness at points. I bet he'd like it. You may have more success asking the guys at Keikaku; they'd probably have some good suggestions.

I still think my list is pretty solid.

Oh, it definitely is. I'm gonna put in Beautiful Picture and Yamaha-1. And take a risk and put in the holy track that is ROPPON NO KURUTTA HAGANE NO SHINDOU!

That post was more directed at omnistry.

I'm not good at making list, but let a least one of the songs you burn onto the CD be "Swanky Street".

Proving Japan is superior to Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix in their respective genre might be all but impossible. Proving they are on equal terms, maybe just as much. But that goes for more or less any band in said genre. Then again, do you honestly believe you can even find bands on par with Deep Purple, Queen, AC/DC, Van Halen, or the Who?

I wish you luck, but it'll be one hell of an uphill battle. I think the best you can do is prove that Japanese rock isn't full of what one would stereotypically assume of such a genre.

[quote="sheerheartattack"]Proving Japan is superior to Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix in their respective genre might be all but impossible. Proving they are on equal terms, maybe just as much. But that goes for more or less any band in said genre. Then again, do you honestly believe you can even find bands on par with Deep Purple, Queen, AC/DC, Van Halen, or the Who?

I wish you luck, but it'll be one hell of an uphill battle. I think the best you can do is prove that Japanese rock isn't full of what one would stereotypically assume of such a genre.[/quote]

Yeah. That's pretty much the deal. Japanese rock may have emulated much of the style of Western rock, but...the end result just can't match up to it. It can go in it's own directions, but yeah, as you said, it will be extremely hard to find artists that are even ON PAR with Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen, or AC/DC.

So then the goal is essentially: "Hey. Japanese rock. It's not just clean pop. It's substantial, and every bit as emotional and amazing."

[quote="GoldenRhino"][quote="sheerheartattack"]Proving Japan is superior to Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix in their respective genre might be all but impossible. Proving they are on equal terms, maybe just as much. But that goes for more or less any band in said genre. Then again, do you honestly believe you can even find bands on par with Deep Purple, Queen, AC/DC, Van Halen, or the Who?

I wish you luck, but it'll be one hell of an uphill battle. I think the best you can do is prove that Japanese rock isn't full of what one would stereotypically assume of such a genre.[/quote]

Yeah. That's pretty much the deal. Japanese rock may have emulated much of the style of Western rock, but...the end result just can't match up to it. It can go in it's own directions, but yeah, as you said, it will be extremely hard to find artists that are even ON PAR with Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen, or AC/DC.

So then the goal is essentially: "Hey. Japanese rock. It's not just clean pop. It's substantial, and every bit as emotional and amazing."[/quote]

Exactly. It took me a long time to look past the stereotypes, but look at me now. the pillows have become one of my favorite bands. I'm also slowly opening myself to other bands that you guys often discuss on here when I have the time.

The fact is, not a lot of good music is being made right now, so you have to look at every possible source to get a decent library. As a giant classic rock fan, I can say from experience that you can only look to classic rock for so long. There's only so much of it, and there's never going to be any more. Instead of succumbing to stereotypes created by pop culture, you have to do a little digging, and I think it's great that you're giving him the shovel.

Edit: It's also great to find a band like the pillows whose progress you can actively follow. Whose new releases you can anticipate and wait for, not knowing what you're going to get. You don't really get that feeling waiting for the Who's new album, or Queen's new tour with Paul Rodgers, or watching the Rolling Stones play themselves to death...

Edit2: Also, in modern America, bands simply don't have the longevity, and typically don't release a good new album every year. This has been the norm for so long, and it's sad to see it dying. Once again, another point for the pillows and other similar bands.