L'Arc~en~Ciel

PROFILE

L'Arc~en~Ciel started out as a visual kei band in Osaka more than fifteen years ago. Over the years the band has, in addition to assuming a more mainstream image, created songs with a wide range of sounds, from catchy pop-rock numbers to heart wrenching ballads, becoming one of Japan's top rock acts. Not only has L'Arc~en~Ciel's popularity held strong in Japan, but they've also captivated listeners and audiences around the globe, a true example of music being a universal language.

BIOGRAPHY

L'Arc~en~Ciel began in February of 1991 with tetsu, bassist and band leader, Hide (now known as hyde), vocalist, hiro, guitarist, and pero, drummer. The name L'Arc~en~Ciel, translated literally as "an arc in the sky", was chosen by tetsu after a movie he'd seen.

In 1992, ken, a childhood friend of tetsu's, who'd abandoned attending university to join the band, replaced hiro on guitar. December of the same year saw pero's exit from the band. tetsu invited Sakura to join the band after seeing him play, despite not knowing him very well. After agreeing to come see L'Arc~en~Ciel play first, Sakura joined the band in 1993. Their first album, Dune, was also released in 1993, making it to number one on the Oricon Indie charts and gaining the attention of major labels.

In 1994, L'Arc~en~Ciel signed with Sony's Ki/oon division and released their second album, Tierra. Their first major single, Blurry Eyes, was chosen to be the opening of Masakazu Katsura's anime "DNA²". Heavenly was released in 1995, and 1996 saw the release of the band's first million copy seller, True.

Early in 1997, at a high point in the band's success, Sakura was arrested for heroin possession. He officially left the band on October 4th. When Sakura's arrest was made public, L'Arc~en~Ciel's CDs were removed from shelves and songs like The Fourth Avenue Café, which had been used as a theme for the anime "Rurouni Kenshin", were quickly replaced. Despite this low point in the band's history and the release of The Fourth Avenue Café being postponed, True stayed on the charts for two years.

A few months of uncertainty regarding the band's ability to recover from the blow caused by Sakura's drug scandal followed. In addition to covering songs by Marilyn Manson and Nirvana, L'Arc~en~Ciel poked fun at their own songs when they created The Zombies, a self-cover band.

Their official return was marked by the Reincarnation '97 Live at the Tokyo Dome. With 56,000 people in attendance, the first show sold out in a still-standing record four minutes. This was also the first time that yukihiro (ex-Die in Cries, ex-Zi:Kill) performed as the band's new drummer, though Niji, their first single released following Sakura's departure, listed him only as a support member. Not long after the release, yukihiro was signed as an official member of the band.

Their next album, HEART, came in 1998 and in 1999, ark and ray were released at the same time, also becoming the first Japanese albums to be released simultaneously in both Japan as well as in other Asian countries. Each album sold over two million copies and topped the Oricon charts at number one and number two.

In 2000, REAL, which would be their last original album before a break for solo works, was released. Their last song, Spirit dreams inside, was used as the closing theme to the "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" movie.

During the band's lengthy hiatus, hyde released two solo albums and starred in the movie "Moon Child" with Gackt, as well as playing the part of Adam in "Kagen no Tsuki". ken formed Sons of All Pussys with Sakura, while tetsu transformed into TETSU69 and yukihiro became a vocalist for acid android. Their break also saw the release of Clicked Singles Best 13, which included twelve favorite songs picked by fans, and Anemone, the band's only new song during this time span.

After L'Arc~en~Ciel's three year hiatus and much speculation over the band's possible disbandment, they surprised their fans with the announcement of a series of seven concerts called Shibuya Seven Days, after which came the release of their first new single. Topping the charts and being used as an opening for the "Fullmetal Alchemist" anime, READY STEADY GO went on sale in February of 2004. Following another single release, L'Arc~en~Ciel's much anticipated SMILE album went on sale on March 31st.

Previously, while Sakura was still a member of the band, they'd done some work under the name D'Arc~en~Ciel. However, with the release of the band's next single came the introduction of P'UNK~EN~CIEL, in which the members switched positions and re-recorded a previously released L'Arc~en~Ciel song. They've continued in this manner for most of their subsequent singles.

On July 31, 2004, L'Arc~en~Ciel appeared as guests before a 12,000 person audience at Otakon, an anime convention in Baltimore, Maryland; it was the band's first performance in the USA. Noting the incredible response the band garnered from the fans, Tofu Records, Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, signed the band in May of 2005 and released a DVD of their North American debut live.

Following the release of several singles and a new album, AWAKE, in 2005, the band went on a tour of Japan before embarking on the ASIA LIVE 2005 tour, which took the band to Seoul, Korea and Shanghai, China, before returning them to Tokyo for two final shows.

After closing out their tour, the band members' attentions were once again focused on solo activities. tetsu recorded several singles and an album with Creature Creature and released a single of his own, while yukihiro rejoined acid android, releasing a new single and joining MUCC for two performances in Shanghai. hyde composed Glamorous Sky, sung by Mika Nakashima, for the manga-based movie "NANA". He also released two singles and another album, FAITH, which took him on an extended tour of Japan and to California in the United States. Later in the band's break, ken released a solo single, Speed.

On November 25th and 26th, 2006, L'Arc~en~Ciel played two shows to celebrate their 15th anniversary. Titled L'Anniversary, the shows took place at the Tokyo Dome with the set lists being at least partially determined by fans via an online poll.

Since the celebration of their successful first fifteen years together, L'Arc~en~Ciel has released Seventh Heaven, their first single since 2005, in May of 2007. This was followed by three more singles before the release of KISS, their first original album in over two years.

In December of 2007, the band embarked on their THEATER OF KISS tour, taking them to venues across Japan until February of 2008. Their first single of the year, DRINK IT DOWN, was released just prior to the start of L'Arc~en~Ciel's TOUR 2008 L'7~Trans ASIA via PARIS~, which took the band to China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan in addition to Paris, the band's very first performance in Europe.

Amidst announcements of the releases of new live DVDs, another single and a photo book, the band stated they will be taking a break from performing live until their 20th anniversary in 2011. This is likely to give each member, tetsu having recently married and hyde being a family man as well, time for solo work and to spend with their loved ones.

hyde is already busy again with VAMPS, a new project with guitarist K.A.Z, while ken is said to be producing MUCC's upcoming single.

Having already proved their staying power, L'Arc~en~Ciel is a band that is sure to continue making waves in the Japanese rock scene for a long time to come. Carrying messages of love, peace, and a world where people can live as one without fighting, L'Arc~en~Ciel's music transcends musical boundaries and language barriers to make a mark and leave a positive impression on listeners all over the globe. Fans have but to wait and see what's next for this legendary group of artists.