A VISION OUT OF MY DREAMS

Today is Hyde's birthday, that's what people believe. Nobody knows exactly since Hyde always keep secrets all of his personal life. In my busy time, I want to celebrate my Hy kun's birthday by writing a little about his personal life which I got from the net..

Name : hyde ( pronounced as haido)
Real name : Hideto Takarai (that's what people believe)
Nickname : Doi hachirou (by tetchan), also called " hide " when they first started Laruku.
Height : ~157
Birthday : Jan 29th 1968 (we're not suppose to know either, but well fans just have their ways)
Place of Birth : Wakayama, Osaka ( Kansai )
Family : Mother, father ( only child )
Martial Status : wife = Oishi Megumi
Place he's living in right now : The whole 20th Fl in some apartment in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. He's bought a nice house in Wakayama for his parents.
Hobby : Collect blue glass products, video games (Biohazard), sketching, writing poems, cooking, scary novels, Rajicon (Radio control cars), Yoyo
Favorite Artist/Band : Marilyn Manson, Billy Joel, Radiohead, BAKI(gas tank), Cranberries,David Sylvian & more, but the thing is, he doesn't listen to a lot of music...weird
Favorite Food : Curry rice
Favorite Anime/manga : Nekojiru, Monster
Work experience : Mister Donut, Drum teacher. ex Jersalem Rods, and as a staff in Ramen resto (that what he told in one of episode of Music Station)
Illnesses : he is color blind! that's why he couldn't persue his career as an artist.
Favorite fashion : he likes JPG a lot, but actally he wears a lot of vintage stuff. His recent styles are quite similar to ken's due to the fact that they have the same stylist..so she probably really likes to wrap them up in vintage leather items ... and hyde just loves wearing furry jackets ^^ and he occasionally just wears a few really cute items
Favorite girl type : Bijin.(beautiful lady)

Hyde is writing his daily life (mostly his music activity) for CIEL member in CIEL magazine. He never mention clearly about his love life, but in one of his diary, he stated about his interested in his wife now, Megumi Oishi for long time.

16/01/1998 - 18/03/1998 From LE-CIEL 15
Work, work and work!!! I wonder what gonna happen if we get more work?…….. but when we started, there's a woman in there said [It's very dangerous, please stop it right now!] all we can do is just muttering…. I'm impressed with Oishi Megumi for a long time, she's the number one but there's a time that I prefer Fujisaki Nanako too. [so which one is better??]

Another fact (or just fans creation, who knows..)

He use to think it sucks to be a vocal, because he likes to play guitar [He is ex guitarist of Jerusarem's Rod] but now he thinks it's not that uncool afterall.

He's the only child, and when he was young, his mom treat him as a daughter coz his mom really wanted one, so he would wear red backpacks [suppose guys wear blue ones] His dad didn't like him to be involved in the band business because he thinks the world out there is dangerous ...

hyde's love life [Guess people are interested in this one] before people say he dated Hinano [But Hinano said their age difference it too big, so it's impossible, and I think that's how we get to know about hyde's age ... just add whatever she said the age diff was to Hinano's age = hyde's age ...] hyde had said that he admires Ooishi Megumi for a few times before. hyde said he have never been involved in a serious relationship [Although he lived with his girlfriend for 4 years before ...] hyde said he never said I LOVE YOU to anyone before ... [ Not even Megumi ? ] =P

hyde's clothes ... hyde always wear his clothes over and over again ... and he always wear furry clothes ...

About hyde's jewelry ... the ring he wears with the star on. It's just like the one Marilyn Manson has. I wonder about hyde's barbed-wire necklace. I don't know where he got that or what it is supposed to be for but he wears it all the time recently.

Hyde kun, Omedeto Otenjoubi! Your voice will always accompany me, day by day. And I certainly always wait your new creation. Keep on your great job!

YEAR 2002 ~ L’arc En Ciel Member Solo Project

After the golden era, L’arc en Ciel member decided to be in hiatus for a while and they started to create the solo projects. These are the details..

TETSU 69 ~ Tetsuya Ogawa’s solo project

Tetsu is the first L’arc member who started the solo project, under label of Warner Music Japan.
The Discography :
1. July 18, 2001 1st single Wonderful World (c/w Tightrope)
2. August 28, 2002 2nd single Shinkirou
3. October 23, 2002 3rd single 15 ½
4. November 20, 2002 1st album, Suite November

ACID ANDROID ~ Yukihiro Awaji’s solo project (taken from jmusicamerica.com)

Member : Yukihiro (Guitar, Vocal, Programming), Antz (Guitar, support member), Tomo (Guitar, support member), Yasuo (Drums, support member), Kishi (Guitar, support member).
Acid android performed for the very first time at the Shibuya Club Asia on May 23rd, 2001, as part of the special event entitled acid android in an alcove. The band’s founder and leader, yukihiro, performed guitar and vocals. A few months later on the 27th of September, acid android's first CD, Ring the Noise, was released on the major label Ki/oon Records. After the release of the band’s first single, there was little activity on their part until the following January, when they performed a concert as a guest for the band crow.

Exactly a year after the release of Ring the Noise came the highly anticipated album acid android. The album was originally only available for order over the internet, until its full commercial release in March 2003. The self-titled album was a dark and brooding affair, that contained a heady mix of minimalist programmed drum tracks and heavy guitar blasts, electronic noise and industrial style strangled vocals. A week after the commercial release of acid android came its follow up mini-album, Faults, which featured the vocal talents of the British singer Tony Halliday. A promotional tour followed that lasted until May of '03. After the tour, Yukihiro hooked up with his fellow bandmate Ken from L’Arc~en~Ciel to work on his project Sons Of All Pussys.

SON OF ALL PUSSYS (S.O.A.P) ~ Ken Kitamura’s solo project

The project started in 2002.
Members : Ken Kitamura - Vocals and guitars; Yasunori Sakurazawa – Drums , he is ex L’arc drummer, Sakura !; Ein – Bass (a half Japanese/German model who appears in a few L'Arc PVs).
Each member contributed songs based on themes; Ken with love, Ein with Desire, and Sakura with his experiences in jail, and together they shelled out four albums; Grace, Gimme A Guitar, High! and Paradise. All S.O.A.P. activities have ceased since 2004.
On August 23, 2006, Ken released a solo album titled "Speed", referring to himself as just Ken and has taken a new, "clean" appearance similar to his early days with L'Arc~en~Ciel.

Discography :
1. Mini Album ~ Grace
2. Mini Album ~ Gimme a guitar!
3. Mini Album ~ High
Single : Paradise
DVD : Live DVD Bubble Festival 2003, PV Collection DVD ~ Ichiban Blow, Live DVD S.S.J.B.F in ?? (Japanese kanji character)

HYDE ( CURRENTLY CHANGED NAME : VAMPS) ~ Hyde’s solo project (taken from Wikipedia)

Hyde started his solo project on 2001 under the name HYDE (all in capital letters). He gets big success in solo carrier, here are the details :

HYDE's support band
Guitar: K.A.Z (Oblivion Dust)
Drums: Ali
Bass: Ju-ken

Former support members
Drums: Furuton (ex.Oblivion Dust, ex.Nil)
Bass: Hiroki (ex.media youth, KILLERS)
Keyboard: JIN

In October 2001, Hyde released his first solo single, "Evergreen" After two more singles, "Angel's Tale" and "Shallow Sleep", Hyde released his first solo album, Roentgen, on March 27, 2002. An overseas edition featuring English lyrics was released in July the same year.
Hyde's next two singles, "Hello" and "Horizon", were released June and November 2003 respectively, and second solo album, 666, was released on December 3, 2003.
In 2003, Hyde starred alongside Gackt in the Japanese film Moon Child. In a duet as part of the project, Hyde and Gackt sang "Orenji no taiyou", and when sang live, Hyde could not be there because he was on a music tour. The song was also released on Gackt's fourth full-length album, Crescent. In December 2003, Hyde's song "Shining Over You" from his 666 album was used as the commercial song for Namco's Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean.
In 2004, Hyde took on the role of the guitarist Adam in the movie Kagen no tsuki(Last Quarter), a movie based on the manga by Ai Yazawa. The movie's theme song, "The Cape of Storms", came from Roentgen.
In the summer of 2005, Hyde composed the music for the song "Glamorous Sky". The song was used in the movie Nana, another film based on a manga by Ai Yazawa. The song was sung by fellow Japanese artist Mika Nakashima and the lyrics were written by Ai Yazawa. In August, Hyde and his solo band performed the song on Music Station with Mika Nakashima, Hyde being on guitar.

The single "Countdown" was released on October 5th 2005, with a track list including Japanese & English versions of the song "Countdown" made for the Japanese release of the movie Stealth and also a special rock version of "Evergreen" (originally from Roentgen).
A cover of the single "Countdown" was used as the "semifinal" stage in the Nintendo DS rhythm game Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2.

Later that month, Hyde hosted Halloween of the Living Dead, a three-night event held at Club Citta on October 29th, 30th & 31st. Each night featured performances by Hyde himself, a guest artist/band and Jack-O-Latern. Artists/bands who took part in the Halloween performances are Monoral, UVERworld, Olivia Lufkin, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, Yasu (of Janne Da Arc), & Mika Nakashima. The group Jack-O-Latern consisted of Hyde and the group Monoral playing many Halloween favorites such as the Ghostbusters theme.

Starting in January 2006, Hyde's single "Season's Call" was used as the second opening theme to the anime show Blood+. This single was released on February 2, 2006. Hyde's album, Faith, was released on April 26th, 2006.
Faith was accompanied by a five-month tour with many locations in Japan, some exclusively open to members of his fanclub.

After signing on with Tofu Records as a solo artist, a US debut concert was scheduled as part of the Faith tour, which was held at Slim's in San Francisco, California on July 5, 2006. Tickets for the event went on sale online at 1 p.m. EST on April 2, 2006 and sold out in an three minutes!. The second round of sales was held April 9, also online, and also sold out.

A second concert, held at House of Blues in Anaheim, California, on July 2 was added and tickets were sold out, as were two more US concerts (the Fillmore, San Francisco and House of Blues, Hollywood).
The overseas version of Faith was released on June 27, 2006 and included a bonus DVD featuring music videos for both "Countdown" and "Season's Call". In Faith, Hyde uses a Fender Mustang as his main guitar; contrary to 666 album version, where he uses Gretsch guitars.
Hyde also made a brief appearance at the Tofu Records booth at Anime Expo 2006 in Anaheim, California on July 1 for a question and answer panel.
Following the completion of the FAITH tour, a DVD of the concerts was announced and was released November 8th, 2006.

HYDEIST, Hyde's official website announced that Hyde would be having a live tour around certain parts of Japan, which included Sendai, Sapporo and Fukuoka, starting from 1 August to 25 October 2008. It has been announced that Hyde and K.A.Z will be performing together during the concert and they would be called VAMPS.[3]They have also announced a single, titled "Love Addict" scheduled to release July 2.

Discography
DVDs
•Roentgen Stories (2004)
•FAITH Live (2006)
•Moon Child
•Kagen no tsuki (Last Quarter)
Albums
1.Roentgen, released on March 27, 2002 with 206,000 copies sold.
2.666, released on December 2003, with 139,000 copies sold
3.Roentgen (English version), released on October 14, 2004 with 54,000 copies sold
4.Faith, released on April 6, 2006 with 130,000 copies sold
Overseas Album Releases
•Roentgen Overseas Version (2002)
•FAITH , U.S. Version (2006)
Singles
1.Evergreen, sold in 331,000 copies
2.Angel’s Tale, sold in 186,000 copies
3.Shallow Sleep, sold in 134,000 copies
4.Hello, sold in 146,000 copies
5.Horizon, sold in 74,000 copies
6.Countdown, sold in 92,000 copies
7.Season’s Call, sold in 130,000 copies
8.Love Addict ( under the name VAMPS), sold in 89,636 copies

And for the closing, the PV of Season’s Call (^-^)

1995 – 1997 (DEBUT TOUR AND ALBUM/SINGLE RELEASED)

In the beginning of 1995, they performed a special tour for fans club member with the title CIEL/Winter.

On May 21, 1995, the video for single “And She Said” was released and also the first day of their tour in 19 cities in Japan with the title “In Club’95”.

On July 1995, they released the 2nd Single, Vivid Colors. This song became ending theme Guru Guru 99 and another song from the single, Brilliant Years became ending theme for Shin Dora at Nippon TV (NTV) show.

On September 1, 1995, They released the 3rd Album, HEAVENLY. For the first time, their Album got into Oricon Chart (Major Label Band) and post in 3rd position. In this album, they explored and tried to be different and coloured their music with something new.

On September 9, 1995 they started to perform Heavenly’95 Tour. The tickets were sold out in 9 days. In the last day of the tour, tickets were sold out only in 28 minutes!

On September 22, 1995, the first appearance of L’arc En Ciel in MUSIC STATION, a wellknown music show in Japan.

In October 25, 1995, they released the 3rd Single, Natsu No Yuutsu (one of my favourite Laruku’s song). This song became ending theme TBS show named M-Navi.

On December 27, 1995, they performed a live concer in Nippon Budokan, the place where Japanese musician have dream to get concer there.

On Beginning 1996, they released the first live video, Heavenly ~films~ together with 2 Photo Album “Heavenly X’mas and “Heavenly ~films~”.

On April 1996, they started Kiss Me Deadly’96 tour. In the same month, they tried something new with building an alter ego band, named D’Ark En Ciel with members : Dark Tetsu (vocal), HYDE Dark (guitar), Suck –D’Ark La (Bass) and Ken D’Ark (drum). They played dark songs like Minagoroshi, Dark in My Life, Dark Song, Insanity, Banana Mask, etc.

On July 8, 1996, they released the 4th Single, Kaze ni Kienaide (I’m So Happy) and in first week of Oricon Chart posted in 4th position. End of July 1996, the summer winter Big City Nights Round Around’96 was started in 3 big city in Japan (Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo).

On September 20, 1996 (Kyaaa! My b’day) they released a documenter book named Artist Fact “IS”. This book contained the information and facts of L’arc en Ciel completely.. (Oooh..I wish I can have this.. >.<)

On October 1996, the released the 5th Single named Flower (c/w Sayonara) and posted in top ten Oricon Chart in first week. The 6th Single released in the same month, Lies and Truth (c/w Sai Wa Nagerareta), also posted in top ten Oricon Chart in first week of released.

On December 12, 1996, the 4th album TRUE was released. This album was the most success album in the last 5 years of their carrier because in first week, this album reach the runner up position in Oricon Chart and in 6th week, became no 1. This Album was on Top ten Oricon Chart in 9 weeks.
On December 23, 1996, they started tour with title Carnival of True in 10 places in Japan, started in Osaka Jyo Hall.

On April 1997, this is the month which will always be remembered as the worst history in L’arc en Ciel carrier. In this month, Sakura the drummer, got caught by the police when using drugs. All of L’arc en Ciel members got interrogation and inspection by the police. Their popularity got drop, all of their activities were cancelled and their single The Fourth Avenue Café could not be released and at first, this song was opening theme song of Rurouni Kenshin anime, but after the case, it changed. All of Laruku goodies were pulled out of the market. Although the other members didn’t want Sakura to go, but the producer of recording company insisted Sakura to leave the band.
“I am very sorry that I made something very stupid and unforgiven. I have no right to stay any longer in band and all are my faults. I just wanna pray for the best of L’arc En Ciel and I wish they keep fight and hope getting more successs in the future” this is what Sakura told when he decided to leave the band on October 1997, after 5 years together. Hyde is the most disappointed with this situation because he is the closed friend with Sakura. The L’arc en Ciel members became 3 person only.

One day, Tetsu heard about Yukihiro Awaji, eks drummer band Zi:Kill and Die in Cries which had disbanded. Tetsu was interested with Yuki’s style and tried to know him closer. Tetsu and Yuki are both gamer, one day Tetsu asked Yuki for teach him Evangelion game. There, Tetsu told Yuki about what happened with Laruku, and Yuki said he would like to help, especially in recording the single, NIJI.

October 17, 1997, the 7th single, NIJI was released and posted in 3rd rank in Oricon Chart at first week. Niji has the same meaning with L’arc En Ciel, Rainbow. Regarding with the title, Hyde explained that the song title described about their carrier which many people were worried about their existances because of the bad case lately, but later they came back like the beautiful rainbow was raised after heavy rain in bad weather. This song became the soundtrack of the anime Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X) The Movie.

L’ar en Ciel was back officially on December 13, 1997 with performed a live concer in title Reincarnation in Tokyo Dome. There, Yukihiro still stated as additional/supported player.

THE PROMOTION VIDEO (PV) OF NIJI

1991
On Februari 1991, two young men from Osaka named Tetsuya Ogawa (Tetsu) and Hiro formatted a group band. Tetsu acted as bass player, leader and temporary vocalist. Hiro acted as guitarist.
That time, Hyde (still using the name Hide, people believe his name is Hideto Takarai, even Hyde himself never mentioned about his real name) was still a guitarist in a group band named Kiddies Bomb. This band changed the name become Jerusalem's Rod, and Hyde changed his part as a vocalist, even he did not really like it.

One day, Tetsu and Hiro watched their performance in a cafe. They were interested and asked him to joint their group. Tetsu showed him the recorded music which will be sent to studio recorder and after he allowed for Hyde to bring along his band member friend Pero, he joint the group

So the very first configuration was Tetsu (Bass, the leader), Hyde (vocalist), Hiro (guitarist) and Pero (Drummer)

The name L'arc en Ciel (Raruku An Shieru, people usually called Laruku) was given by Tetsu after he watched France movies. L'arc en Ciel means Rainbow in English or Niji in Japanese. After introducing the name to other members, they agreed to use it until now.

Their first performance was conducted on May 30, 1991 in Nanba Rocket and was succesful. They started to make their first album Dune in June 1992 but something happened (to be continued in part2)

The summary of 1991

February Formatted by Tetsu as a leader
April Performed as secret band section in YANTA MEGURO Shikamekan live house
May 30 First live performance in Nanba Rocket, Osaka
September 14 Performed in Osaka live event special
September 27 First single live concer in Nanba Rocket, Osaka