Vivid

Popular Tokyo visual kei quintet Vivid (not to be confused with the short-lived early-2000s band of the same genre and name) were hotly anticipated before they had ever recorded a note, featuring as they did in their ranks three former members of beloved indie band Novelis. Formed in March 2009, they signed immediately with the highly influential Indie PSC, then home to Screw and Sug, and released a brace of singles, Take-Off and Dear, both of which hit the Top Three of the Oricon indie charts. Their unique "melodic mixture rock" was as vivid as their name promised, cramming pop, rock, punk, metal, rap, and electronica into loud, catchy, fast-paced songs. They quickly followed up the singles with a mini-album, The Vivid Color, which fulfilled the promise of the singles, scored creditably on the main Oricon chart, and was hailed by visual fans as one of the best new things the scene had produced in years. In the first half of 2010, the band released two more singles, then announced they were going major with Epic Records. Fans were unsurprised, as PSC had always acted as a feeder label for the majors, but there was some consternation that the band’s exciting music would become bland and mainstream. Their major debut single, Yume (Mugen no Kanata) ("Dreams [Beyond the Fantasy]"), was a superb, hard-rocking track that seemed to put the lie to these fears, but the next four singles, released during the course of 2011 and the first half of 2012, bore them out somewhat as the band's rough edges were gradually smoothed out and their image became steadily more conventional. Their first full-length album, Infinity, was issued in June 2012 and included all five of the previously released singles. Whilst conservative in tone, it was still a perfectly respectable effort with some strong songwriting, and sold well, entering the Oricon Top Ten and remaining on the charts for seven weeks. ~ John D. Buchanan