L'Arc-en-Ciel ("The Rainbow" in
French, stylized as
L'Arc~en~Ciel) is a Japanese
rock band, founded in
Osaka in 1991. With a reported 40 million records sold, they 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.
1991–1996: Early career
In 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.
On April 1, 1993, the band released their debut album
Dune on the independent, but well-known, record label
Danger Crue. The album was a success and ranked number one on the
Oricon indies charts. This caught the attention of some major labels. In 1994, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a contract with
Sony Music Entertainment Japan's
Ki/oon division. They released their major debut album
Tierra that same year. Their third album
Heavenly followed in 1995. In 1996, their fourth album,
True, became their first to sell over a million copies. However, the success would be short-lived.
1997: sakura's departure
In February 1997, drummer sakura was arrested for heroin possession.
He officially quit the band on October 4, 1997. This proved to be the
lowest point in the band's history; when news of sakura's arrest became
public, the group's CDs were removed from the shelves in record shops. Their song "
The Fourth Avenue Cafe", was replaced as the fourth ending theme of the
Rurouni Kenshin anime after only four episodes. In addition, the release of the "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" single was postponed. It was eventually released in 2006.
Over the next few months, the group continued to be featured in
magazines as a trio. The members formed "The Zombies", which was
advertised as a "copy band", and sang their songs. They also covered
Marilyn Manson's "Irresponsible Hate Anthem".
The return from the break was marked by a concert entitled
Reincarnation 97 Live in Tokyo Dome. During the concert, they also
revealed their new drummer
yukihiro, former drummer of the groups
Zi:Kill and
Die in Cries. This concert was also the group's first performance at the
Tokyo Dome and had an attendance of 56,000 people, with the tickets sold out in a record-breaking four minutes.
In 1997, "
Niji",
the group's first single after sakura's departure, was released with
yukihiro being listed as a support member. Not long after its release,
yukihiro was signed on as the official drummer for L'Arc-en-Ciel.
1998–2000: Blockbuster success
L'Arc-en-Ciel's single "
Winter Fall", which was released in 1998, became the group's first number one single on the Oricon charts. They subsequently released their album
Heart on February 25, 1998. The band was also included in the Japan and The Philippines release of the official movie soundtrack of
Godzilla.
It was released on May 19, 1998 through Epic Records and mainly
consists of alternative rock songs. They provided the track titled Lose
Control.
On July 1, 1999, the group released two albums,
Ark and
Ray,
simultaneously. These two albums became the first Japanese albums to be
released simultaneously in other Asian countries outside Japan. Both
albums topped the Oricon music charts, with
Ark occupying number one and
Ray
at number two, with each selling over two million copies. This release,
along with the "1999 Grand Cross Tour" who reunited over 650.000 people
in 12 concerts, marked the commercial high point of the group's career.
In 2000, two of the band's songs were included in the soundtrack for
Ring 0: Birthday.
Their next album
Real, released on August 30, 2000, was their last studio album for some time. The song "
Stay Away", was featured in the arcade game
DrumMania 4th Mix.
2001–2003: Hiatus and solo projects
After "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)" was released, the band
went on a hiatus. During this period of time, the members began working
on solo projects. hyde released two solo albums (
Roentgen and
666) and co-starred in the movie
Moon Child. He also played the part of Adam in the film
Kagen no Tsuki ("Last Quarter of the Moon"). ken founded
Sons of All Pussys with L'Arc-en-Ciel's former drummer sakura. tetsuya started his solo career as Tetsu69 and yukihiro formed
Acid Android.
2004: Comeback and U.S. concert debut
In June 2003, L'Arc-en-Ciel performed a series of seven concerts in
Tokyo entitled Shibuya Seven Days. During this event, the group announced that a new album will be released the following year. "
Ready Steady Go",
the group's first single in more than three years, was released in
February 2004. This song was used as an opening theme song for the
popular
anime adaption of
Fullmetal Alchemist. The single topped the Oricon weekly singles charts. Additionally, a sample of this song was also used in a
Nintendo DS game called
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. The group subsequently released another single, "
Hitomi no Juunin", in early March 2004. This was followed by the group's album,
Smile, on March 31. Shortly after, on June 2, the single "
Jiyuu e no Shoutai" was the first to feature a song by
P'unk-en-Ciel.
On July 31, 2004, L'Arc-en-Ciel made their North American debut at the anime convention
Otakon. Approximately 12,000 people attended the concert, which was held at the
1st Mariner Arena. They were the first Japanese band to perform at the arena. On May 31, 2005,
Tofu Records,
Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, released a DVD of their 2004 Otakon
concert. On June 25, 2007, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a record deal with
HMV America.
2005–2006: Asian tour and solo projects
In 2005, the band released various singles, including "
Killing Me", "
New World" and "
Jojoushi". These were later complied onto the album
Awake, which was released on June 22, 2005. It features twelve tracks, including the "Lost Heaven", the ending theme song of
Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa. Another of the band's single, "
Link",
was released on July 20, 2005. This song was also featured in the movie
as the opening theme song, and was included on their next album,
entitled
Kiss.
In August 2005, the band went on a nationwide tour for their album
Awake. It was followed by another tour titled Asia Live 2005, which had the band performing in
Seoul and
Shanghai and ended at the
Tokyo Dome.
Following these two tours, L'Arc-en-Ciel's members turned their
attention back to their own solo projects. tetsuya began recording with,
veteran metal vocalist of
Dead End,
Morrie for his solo project Creature Creature. yukihiro regrouped his
band Acid Android and released the single "Let's Dance" on April 5,
2006. Acid Android joined
Mucc to perform two concerts in Shanghai in April 2006.
hyde composed "
Glamorous Sky", the theme song of the film adaption of the
manga Nana. The song was sung by pop singer
Mika Nakashima, the first time hyde composed music for another vocalist. In addition, his own solo album,
Faith,
was released on April 26, 2006. hyde also went on a five-month tour
throughout Japan to publicize his album. After signing with
Tofu Records,
he held four small concerts in the United States in July 2006, making
his US debut. This was the first of L'Arc-en-Ciel's solo projects to be
held outside Japan.
On August 23, 2006, ken released a solo single entitled "Speed".
2006–2008: 15th Anniversary and Europe concert debut
On
November 25 and 26, 2006, L'Arc-en-Ciel played two shows at the Tokyo
Dome to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The tickets for these concerts
were sold out in two minutes, breaking the previous record, which was
also set by them.
A poll was created on their official website, during the weeks before
the concert, which allowed fans to pick the songs they would like to
hear at the show. The concert was later broadcast on the
WOWOW channel on December 23, 2006, and was subsequently broadcast on Korean
MTV on February 8, 2007.
L'Arc-en-Ciel recorded the song "Shine", which was to be used as the opening song for the NHK anime
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit.
In the spring of 2007, the group kicked-off their Mata Heart ni hi wo
Tsukero 2007 tour in Japan. They also released the single "
Seventh Heaven" on May 30, 2007, which topped the
Oricon charts. Their song "
My Heart Draws a Dream", which was used in a
Subaru commercial, was also released as a single on August 29, 2007. This single also topped the Oricon charts.
L'Arc-en-Ciel subsequently recorded the song "
Daybreak's Bell", which was used as the first opening theme for the anime
Mobile Suit Gundam 00. This song was released as a single on October 10, 2007, later topping the Oricon weekly charts. From November 14 to December 25, 2007, they released a limited edition single titled "
Hurry Xmas", along with two new DVDs, titled
15th L'Anniversary Live and
Chronicle 3. Their studio album
Kiss was released on November 21, 2007, and debuted at number one on the Oricon charts.
L'Arc-en-Ciel then performed the Theater of Kiss tour, which was held from December 22, 2007 to February 17, 2008. The song "
Drink It Down" was used as the Japanese opening song for the PS3/Xbox360 game
Devil May Cry 4. It was released as a single on April 2, 2008, and topped the Oricon weekly charts. The band went on a tour, entitled Tour 2008 L'7: Trans Asia via Paris, which covered several major Asian cities, as well as
Paris,
France.
On this tour, a live show hiatus until 2011 was announced, although new
material would still continue to be released. Their double A-side
single "
Nexus 4/Shine" and the DVD
Tour 2007-2008 Theater of Kiss were released together on August 27, 2008.
2009–2010: Live show hiatus
On May 20, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel released the DVD of their live concert in Paris, titled
Live in Paris. hyde and
K.A.Z formed the hard rock group
Vamps and released their self-titled first album,
Vamps, on June 10, 2009.
On December 1, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel announced the release of a new single named "
Bless" on January 27, 2010. This was used as the theme song for
NHK's broadcast of the
2010 Vancouver Olympics. Also, tetsu announced that he had changed his
stage name
to "tetsuya" and released his first artist book. The book, which ranked
number six amongst the Talent Book Charts, featured early live pictures
and a 30,000 character interview with the bassist.
On March 10, 2010, L'Arc-en-Ciel released their fifth "best of" album, entitled
Quadrinity: Member's Best Selections.
It contains 4 CDs with 7 tracks per band member, chosen and remastered
by each of them. The first press edition of this compilation also came
with a DVD that includes a variety quiz show with the band titled
The L'Arquiz.
2011–2013: 20th Anniversary and world tour
On
January 1, 2011, L'Arc-en-Ciel celebrated both their 20th anniversary
and the New Year with the midnight concert L'A Happy New Year! at
Makuhari Messe. On February 16, 2011, they released the compilation album
Twenity. This album consists of three parts:
Twenity 1991-1996,
Twenity 1997-1999, and
Twenity 2000-2010. A box set entitled
Twenity Box
was later released on March 9, 2011. The albums are an all-around "best
of" collection of the band, and it covers everything from the formation
of the group, including their hit singles till to their newest works.
Twenity 1991-1996 covers their work from their album
Dune until their album
True.
Twenity 1997-1999 covers the releases from their single "
Niji" to the single "
Love Flies".
Twenity 2000-2010 covers their releases from the double A-side "
Neo Universe/Finale" up to their commercial-only song from 2010, a cover of "
I Love Rock 'n Roll". The
Twenity Box
released on March 9 contains all three of the albums in one release. It
also comes with a special digest DVD that covers the 20-year history of
the band, a deluxe booklet, and a special
music box that contains either "
Flower", "Anata", "
New World" or "
My Heart Draws a Dream" at random.
Later, it was announced that L'Arc-en-Ciel would provide the theme song for
Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: The Sacred Star of Milos, entitled "
Good Luck My Way". This is their fourth contribution to the
Fullmetal Alchemist franchise.
The song was released as their first 20th L'Anniversary single on June
29, 2011. To further celebrate their 20 years together, L'Arc-en-Ciel
put on a "20th L'Anniversary Concert" at
Ajinomoto Stadium
in Tokyo on May 28–29, 2011, with each day dedicated to one half of
their career. All of the proceeds from the concerts were donated to the
Great East Japan earthquake
relief efforts. Additionally, at the end of the concert, it was
announced that there will be a L'Anniversary Japan Tour in 2011, as well
as a world tour in 2012.
On October 12, the second 20th L'Anniversary single was released, entitled "
XXX" (Kiss Kiss Kiss). L'Arc-en-Ciel was subsequently approached by the producers of the
Wild 7 live-action film to perform the movie's theme song. Entitled "
Chase", the song was released as the group's third L'Anniversary single on December 21, 2011.
L'Arc-en-Ciel then announced that they will be releasing their
twelfth studio album, and gave fans who bought "Chase" a sneak peek with
a live internet broadcast of the band mastering the album on December
26 on
Ustream. They also announced that their alter ego band P'unk-en-Ciel will be releasing their first album, titled
P'unk is Not Dead, the same day. The band's twelfth album,
Butterfly, was released on February 8, 2012. It includes all their singles from the single "Drink it Down" onwards and four new songs.
The band's 2012 world tour took them to Hong Kong on March 3, Bangkok
on March 7, Shanghai on March 10, Taipei on March 17, New York on March
25, London on April 11, Paris on April 14, Singapore on April 28,
Jakarta on May 2, Seoul on May 5, Yokohama on May 12–13, Osaka on May
19–20, Tokyo on May 26–27, and Honolulu on May 31. Their show in New York was originally scheduled to be at
The Theater at Madison Square Garden on March 23, but was later moved to
the main arena. Making L'Arc-en-Ciel the first Japanese artist to be the lead act at the legendary venue.
They ended the tour by returning to the US for two nights in Honolulu,
Hawaii on May 31 and June 1, the latter being for the group's fan club
members only. At the first day, the mayor of Honolulu
Peter Carlisle
made a surprise appearance and declared May 31 "L’Arc~en~Ciel Day",
saying he felt the band "made a great contribution to cultural
activities, and built a bridge of friendship between Hawaii and Japan".
2014–current: Return to the National Stadium and L'ArCasino
On
March 21 and 22, the band played a two-day concert at the iconic
National Stadium in Tokyo, where they also played and announced the
future release of their new single "Everlasting".