Description
L'Arc-en-Ciel ("The Rainbow" in French,stylized as L'Arc~en~Ciel) is a Japanese rock band, founded in Osaka in 1991. The group has sold over 15 million records and were the first Japanese act to headline at Madison Square Garden.In 2003, they were ranked 58 on a list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by HMV Japan. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, they have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. February 1991, bassist tetsuya (then known as TETSU) recruited vocalist hyde (then known as HIDE), guitarist hiro and drummer pero. Together, they formed a band and named themselves L'Arc-en-Ciel. A year later, after gaining popularity in their hometown of Osaka, hiro left the band on June 12, 1992. tetsuya then convinced his friend ken to quit his university studies and join the band as guitarist. However, pero then left the group on December 30, 1992. The following year, sakura joined as L'Arc-en-Ciel's new drummer.P'unk-en-Ciel (stylized as P'UNK~EN~CIEL) is an alter ego of L'Arc-en-Ciel. Introduced in 2004, hyde takes over guitar, ken the drums, yukihiro plays the bass, while tetsuya performs the vocals. P'unk-en-Ciel's songs have a more punk sound and their music is usually heavier and faster with a different tone due to tetsuya's vocals. hyde wears a pirate patch over his left eye in P'unk-en-Ciel performances. yukihiro is known to wear a gas mask; however, this has only been seen once at a live concert during their Smile tour in 2004.Each member is called in capital letters; T.E.Z P'UNK (formerly TETSU P'UNK), KEN P'UNK, HYDE P'UNK and YUKI P'UNK. Each member produces one song of their choice, and they alternate their productions.P'unk-en-Ciel is the re-visitation of D'ark-en-Ciel (stylized as D'ARK~EN~CIEL), a special event that took place during concerts in the years when sakura was their drummer. The only material released from D'ark-en-Ciel is the 18-minute self-titled B-side found on the (then) unreleased "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" single. Each member was called; DARK TETSU, HYDE DARK, Suck·D'ark·La and Kën D'Ark.
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| WebSite: | http://www.arcenciel.org/ |