MySpace a place for friends

"Formed in 1997, with the sole purpose to spread the feeling of hurt and sorrow caused by weakness, shallowness and egoism of humanity. Since then, their grotesque ways, their warped affection, and their crazy live shows took the independent record scene by a storm, putting them on the very top. In 1999, their fame caught the attention of then CEO of East West Japan. Thus signing them to a major record label. They debuted releasing 3 singles at once, very rare for a newcomer. Of course, all 3 songs hit the top 10 on the charts. After that, all their releases would hit the top 10 on the charts proving that more and more people were sympathizing with their lyrics. In 2002, their fame hit all of Asia. During their Asia Tour they traveled to Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shanghai. And in Shanghai, public safety officers had to be called in to calm the excited fans. When they first formed, their expressions of pain came from struggling and writhe, hiding inside the feelings of hurt and suffering. But as time passed, their pain became a cry also a message. Now, Dir en grey has changed its target from Japan to the World. From their unstable beginning, the band itself has gone through many changes and revolutions. It is clear that their music is their tool to send out a message, and they have only just begun. " (Taken from the official site) T he Japanese band Dir en grey was formed on Feb.02.1997. in Osaka. Formerly Kyo (singer), Kaoru, Die (guitars) and Shinya (drums) was in the indies band La:Sadie's, with Kisaki on the bass. When La:Sadie's was on a tour in Nagano, they met Toshiya, and became close friends. Later, when Kyo, Kaoru, Die and Shinya had a clash with Kisaki, and La:Sadie's broke up (Jan.05.1997.); they decided to play together again, but they were without a bassist. Then they remembered that they have a good friend and bassist in Nagano, so they went to kidnap him - as Toshiya likes to say - from his former band, D+L. Thus, Dir en grey formed. F or a long time, many of their songs were sponsored by Yoshiki (X Japan - drummer) - for example, Cage and Yokan - and he produced their singles even after the album Gauze. Nowadays they became independent, they write their own music and lyrics. T heir name originated from the german world "dir" (you, yours), the french "en", and the english "grey"; meaning "grey coin" - at least as the band claim it to be . The Japanese sometimes write it as ????????. W hen they began to make their music, they were strongly influenced by Visual Kei, their clothes and make-up were feminine. But as their music and style developed, this effect wore on. S ince they formed, they released 5 full albums, lots of singles, and an indies mini-album, Missa. As the years passed, their music and style evolved continously, resulting their albums differ to each other like they were not made by the same band. But all of them wear the strong and definite style of Dir en grey. T he most interesting matter in them is their multiple talents: every member of the band helps making their music, this can be the cause of the difference in their songs. Kyo writes their complex, dark, explicit and diverse lyrics not many dare to follow suit. And don't forget nowadays there are many who don't even write *their own* lyrics. All the songs have different messages, but they are equals in one content: the pain and the suffering. T heir music is dark, they often convey abuse, death and the lament of lost love in their lyrics. In fact, there are no Dir en grey song that describe any form of happiness, but... there are many happy music in the world aren't there? Kyo's lyrics are always dark, they never have a happy ending. There are many different kinds of instruments in their music, so they are never trivial. D ir en grey always changes: the album Macabre is not like Missa, and Kisou is far off from Six Ugly. The best thing about them is their works are always unique, they never repeat anything (not like other - not necessarily Japanese - bands). M ost fans (fangirls ^_^) realize the effect of the disbanded X Japan on the members of Dir en grey. For example, Kaoru greatly adores Hide (Hideto Matsumoto), the guitarist, and Shinya is great fan of Yoshiki (Yoshiki Hayashi), the drummer. T heir latest album was Withering to death., it's support tour is called It withers and withers. Apart from Withering to death.'s promotion, Dir en grey was in Germany (Rock im Park, Rock am Ring), and in France. It is also worth mentioning that Dir en grey also played a live in Berlin in May 2005, successfully selling out 3.500 tickets to Columbia Hall. G rappler Baki anime: Dir en grey performed an opening theme (Child Prey) for ???????? (Grappler Baki) [Sept.2005]. "Fans can thank FUNimation for their chance to see Dir en grey live - the company has been working to sponsor such a tour since the band's song "Child Prey" was used as the opening theme for FUNimation's Baki the Grappler anime. Baki animation will also be featured during the concert dates. (...) With the first dates of the band's first American tour, Dir en grey and FUNimation are making sure that fans all over America will have a chance to see them play. (...)" [Original source got deleted] . Why does Dir en grey do the opening song for the series? Freewill, Dir en grey's music label, produces Baki the Grappler. A lot of labels utilize anime to promote their bands. Since Freewill produced Baki, Dir en grey was the natural choice. And the Song ROCKS! More Grappler Baki info here This might be a little bit confusing with the producing companies, but to clear things up, GB is a FUNimation anime, and Frewill produces it. T heir song, The Final is on the Taste Of Chaos compilation album, which features 40 tracks on 2 discs. The promotion tour is called Taste Of Chaos Tour Japan 2005, started from November. D ir en grey did more shows in Europe and a few weeks later they joined Korn, Deftones and other bands during the Family Values Tour 2006 across the US. Not long after, they've released the long-awaited RYOUJOKU NO AME single (their first release in over 9 months). T hey made their much-anticipated return to America as part of their 07-INWARD SCREAM tour. The shows took place over the course of February. Their shows introduced two new bands, Bleed the Dream and Fair to Midland. And ... they are all men. <(^×^)> Below is a cute snippet I've found on a dictionary site. [Dir en grey is] One the most well-known japanese rock band, famous for their lead singer kyo - a beach blond weird dwarf - who cries/screams/shrieks and (used to)spit fake-blood/sperm/saliva during the songs, their weird and stoical drummer Shinya, their (no longer) beautiful and androgynious bassist Toshiya and their two guitarists Kaoru (leader) and Die. Formed in 1998, they released 5 albums so far, and came in Europe (France and Germany) in summer 2005. Considered as one of the biggest visual-kei-related jrock bands (even though they officially no longer belong to that movement). They are (unfortunately) the priviledged target of -bad- fanfiction writers, who like/tend to introduce kyo as an irresponsible 12-years-old sleepy head, toshiya as a slut, kaoru and die as perverts, and shinya as a female. Alex : hey, who's the hysterical blond screaming and scratchig his chest while rolling on the stage ?! Love_toshiya_forever : what ? you don't know him ?! He's kyo from dir en grey, my future husband !!! I love him so much !! I've written twelve fics and forty-five lemons on them !! http://tsukiyo.uw.h