The first thing that can be noticed about most Japanese rock bands are its’ image; and that isn’t necessarily a good thing. ‘Visual’ rock bands from Japan that were born in the 80’s and early 90’s used stage costumes that both rivaled and copied almost every fashion trend in around the world. Spiked, colorful hair, elegant, flowing dresses, and brightly colored clothes mixed with black, gothic-styled clothes are only very small examples of the trends still carried on today by modern Japanese rock bands.
But at what point does the image become more important than the music? It isn’t hard to imagine a fan becoming so enticed by the physical appearance of a band that they miss the flaws-or the beauty!-of their musical creations. The Japanese music industry, just like most any other music industry, is strongly based on image, glamour, and making sure that that foundation stays strong. Oddly enough, this emphasis on visual shock almost seems stronger in America, as there are still plenty of ‘normally-dressed’ musicians that are well-recognized, if not more recognized, in Japan.
Maybe the American fans fascination with Japanese visual-rock fashion isn’t too odd, though, considering it breaks just about every rule of fashion known to us. It’s exciting, intriguing and fascinating–but wait, what about the music? A perfect example of how forgetful some fans are of the meaning of a band, of its purpose to create music, is the example of how Dir en Grey lost some of its fan base simply because they began to calm down their image. Dir en Grey began in the 90’s as a rock band that created its own unique, outrageously fascinating image–but when 2000 came around, they began to appear less and less visually shocking, and fans that were too caught up in fashion got mad.
The simple decision made by the vocalist to slowly cut more and more of his previously long, styled and bleached hair was treated by some immature fans as if it was a crime against the Japanese rock scene. This sort of reaction is sadly common in the opposite situation; for example when scanning through comments on the music videos of visually shocking Japanese rock bands, it would be much easier to find fans oozing over a musician’s hair or body rather than their skill with an instrument. It would be ignorant to say that every fan of Japanese rock thinks like this, because there are plenty that appreciate a band for what it’s supposed to be noticed for: creativity, musicianship, originality and performance.
And this isn’t to say that the images presented by these bands are bad, because the creativity and thought put into some of them are more outstanding and to be remembered than ‘shocking’. However, this is a reminder that Japanese rock is music, not a fashion show, and before anyone decides they’re a fan of a band, they should close their eyes and listen to what they hear. Does the song sound so good without the distracting outfit? In the cases of bands that depend entirely on image, you’ll probably find yourself second-guessing whether they’re your favorite band anymore; but if you’ve found a band that deserves to be called a band, hold on to that and support the music first, image second.
Tony Alvino, Dir en Grey too American? , Shelltoon TV