Sore wa Arisu Nine desu.

Alice Nine

L-R: Saga, Nao, Shou, Hiroto, Tora

 

Who are they?

    Alice Nine is a Japanese visual kei rock band consisting of bassist Saga, lead guitarist Hiroto, rhythm guitarist Tora, drummer Nao and vocalist Shou.  Unlike many bands that were formed by high school or even college novices, the members of Alice Nine all had “professional experience”.

     Alice Nine formed in 2004 with founding members Shou and Tora.  After the disbandment of their band, Givuss, the pair continued their search for future band members.  These members being Saga and Nao, who were also looking for band mates.  The four eventually joined to form Alice Nine.  The last member to join was Hiroto, after the four spotted him performing with his band at the time.  I guess that you could say Alice Nine stole him…

     It only took a year for them to sign a joint deal between PS Company and King Records.  Then in the same year they kick off their first one-man live (concerts are called lives in Japan) across Japan.  But it wasn’t until 2007 that Alice Nine achieved mainstream success and popularity.  The release of their second full-length album, Alpha, charted at number 9 on the Oricon charts (an equivalent to the Billboard Charts).  The same year, Alice Nine had their first overseas performance at the “J-Rock Revolution” festival in Los Angeles, California.

     From this point on, Alice Nine’s success only continued.  Reaching their 10^th anniversary, the band’s subsequent albums have all charted high on the Oricon charts.  As well, they have had various tours and even performed at the Nippon Bodukan, a stage where the best of the best have performed.

     Alice Nine continues to persevere in a harsh industry.  They rely solely on their own talents.  They have faced many obstacles such as Tora being diagnosed with a spinal disc hernia; he “lost all sensations from his neck down to his left hand”.  Yet Alice Nine has succeeded and will continue to do so.  

The Music

      Alice Nine's music is hard to define, but it can generally be described as rock music "with touches of pop, and a few instances of dance music".  Their works include heavy metal influenced songs to slow ballads, light rock and medium tempo beats. 

     To start of here is the song Rainbows.  It starts of with a hypnotizing rift that seems to draw you into the song.  With an upbeat tempo, it's surprisingly catchy.

     This next one is called Kiss Twice, Kiss Me Deadly.  It's actually a remake of one of their own songs.  Originally it was quite similar to Rainbows, with an uptempo beat and loud guitars.  However, Alice Nine put quite a twist on it, making it more slowed down and a bit jazzy.

     

      This last song exemplifies Alice Nine's experimental musicality.  Called Hello World, the song deviates from the normal pop song structure.  The majority of the song actually consists of a the bassist Saga narrating a poem he wrote himself.

Sources 

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/alice-nine/id318548772

http://www.jpopasia.com/group/alicenine/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Nine

http://www.generasia.com/wiki/Alice_Nine

http://www.crunchyroll.com/group/Murai_Naoyuki

http://whiteinmiseries.blogspot.ca/2008/01/tora-of-alice-nine.html http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/497436-band-history
http://vimeo.com/61233652 [last video]