Alice Nine (アリス九號., or alicenine.)[1] is a visual kei rock band from Japan. It was formed in 2004[2] and originally signed to PS Company, a sub-division of Free-Will. As of 2007, the band is signed to both PS Company and King Records in Japan, as well as to German label CLJ Records in Europe[3] and has released three full-length records,[4] along with several EPs, singles and DVDs.
History
2004-2005: Conception and early work
In August 2004,[5] Alice Nine formed after the disbandment of the band Givuss, and the band's vocalist, Shou, and guitarist Tora continued on to search for members to form a new band. Saga, the bassist for the band Delta Ark, and Nao, drummer for the bands Fatima and RusH, were also seeking bandmates as well, and the four members eventually joined together. Hiroto was the last member to join after Shou, Tora, Saga, and Nao spotted him at a performance with his band at the time, Baquepia. Shou explains that the "Alice" in the band's name was something that they believed sounded "very visual kei" to them, while the "Nine" is written in kanji and represents their origins as a Japanese band.[6]
Their first concert was held at the Ikebukuro Cyber on May 11, 2004 and soon after they released their first single, Namae wa, Mada Nai in July, and they soon toured with fellow PS Company band BIS. In November, their first EP, Gion Shouja no Kane ga Naru, was released, and later that month, they did a nation-wide tour with the band Karen from Under Code Productions.[5]
In 2005, the pace of CD releases increased; the band released the singles "Gin no Tsuki Kuroi Hoshi," "Yami ni Chiru Sakura," and "Yuri wa Aoku Saite" consecutively for three months. These singles were eventually compiled onto their first major EP, Kasou Musou Shi, through a joint deal with PS Company and King Records. Alice Nine also went on tour with several bands throughout the year, including Ayabie, Kra, and Kagrra. Following these events, the band had its first solo tour, Alice in Wonder Tour, in August that year.[2][7]
2006: Zekkeishoku
In a short span of time after beginning the year, Alice Nine released several maxi singles, including "Kowloon -Nine Heads Rodeo Show-," "Fantasy", and the double A-side release, "Akatsuki/Ikuoku no Chandelier." The songs "Akatsuki" and "Ikuoku no Chandelier" were used as opening and closing themes in the second season of the anime series Meine Liebe. With the exception of these two songs, the singles were added onto the group's first full-length album, Zekkeishoku, which debuted on the Oricon daily charts at #4. The group completed the Kacho Fugetsu Vol. 1 tour in support of the album.[4][8]
The band continued with a string of solo tours throughout the rest of the year, such as the tour Kimi no Hitomi ni Utsuru wa Zekkeishoku in May and the Hello, New Super View tour in the fall. The latter ended with the final venue at Shibuya Kokaido on October 6; footage of the event was later released the following January on the live DVD Hello, Dear Numbers. Around the same time, the band's first DVD single, "Number Six," saw release. Directed by guitarist Tora, the DVD combined the music video with a short film.[7]
2007: Alpha and mainstream success
A turning point for the band came when the single "Jewels" was released in March. The single allowed the band to land their first magazine cover and feature article with volume 171 of Shoxx Magazine.[9] Later that month on April 28, the band released "Dive into the Sun," a photobook that included an exclusive CD containing the song "Gekkou Yoku." Another landmark was Alice Nine's first performance outside of Japan at the JRock Revolution festival in Los Angeles, California on May 25, 2007. They joined with several other Japanese bands and became the closing performance of the Friday that weekend.[1][10]
The release of the "White Prayer" single in June marked another milestone for the band's development; vocalist Shou explained in an interview with Shoxx Magazine that the song defined the style that the band was aiming for and hoped to maintain in the future. The process of the song's creation also came about more naturally than usual, as many songs until then were made through trial and error.[11] Later that year, on October 24, the group's single "Tsubasa" was released and peaked at number six on the Oricon charts,[12] making it one of their successful singles to date and landing the band a guest appearance on the Fuji Television variety show Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ for the first time.
On November 28, 2007, their second full-length album, Alpha, was released. The title for the album originated as a means to describe the band's return to their roots and beginning anew. The uppercase first letter of the Greek alphabet, Α, was chosen to symbolize this idea. Aside from the singles to be compiled onto the album, recording for songs began in September and lasted for approximately one month.[11] The album reached the ninth position on the Oricon weekly chart, selling over 17,000 copies in its first week.[13]
2008-present: Vandalize and fifth anniversary
Alice Nine started off the year with another tour, alice nine. 2008 standing tour "A to U". However, complications arose when guitarist Tora was diagnosed with a spinal disc hernia, which had worsened over time to the point of numbness throughout the left side of his body. Finally seeking medical help, the tour had to be postponed until Tora recovered enough for the band to resume activities in Tokyo.[14]
The band released a new single, titled "Mirror Ball" on March 26, 2008. The title song of the single was used in the live-action movie adaptation of the manga Aquarian Age.[15]
Two compilations of the band's music videos, "Alice in Pictures I" and "Alice in Pictures II", were released on July 2, 2008. The DVDs contain approximately 8 music videos in chronological order of their original release, with "Alice in Pictures I" including the videos from "Gin no Tsuki Kuroi Hoshi" to "Number Six". "Alice in Pictures II" contains videos from "Jewels" to "Eraser -Memoire d'une fleur-", and also includes a new music video for "Gekkou Yoku", a song which was exclusively included with the "Dive into the Sun" photobook.[16][17]
On August 6, the band released their latest single, "Rainbows." The single reached a peak mark of #3 on the Japanese Oricon daily charts which is currently the band's current top position on mainstream Japanese charts.[18] The band also started their tour called "Discotheque play like 'A' Rainbows" which coincided with the new single. The tour lasted the entire month, and the concert footage was released on their live DVD, Discotheque play like "A" Rainbows -enter&exit-, on October 29, 2008.[19]
The band's fourteenth maxi-single, "Cross Game," was released on December 10, 2008. The title song was used as the ending theme song for the second season of the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'S and was released in two versions.[20] On December 19, 2008, the band's tour at the time culminated in the grand final, named "Crossing the Supernova", at NHK Hall.[21]
A blog entry by vocalist Shou announced that the band was in recording sessions for a third album named Vandalize, which was released on January 14, 2009.[22][23] "Cross Game" is the third single to be featured on the album, along with "Mirror Ball" and "Rainbows" for a total of 11 tracks. The album's title comes from the theme of "the destruction of culture."[24] In the following weeks of the album's release, the band started their tour for the year, Untitled Vandal(ism). The first half of the tour ran from February to April, while its second half ran throughout the month of July. The tour's finale, "Graced the Beautiful Day," occurred on August 23, 2009 at the Tokyo International Forum Hall.[25] Footage from the finale, as well as live studio performance footage, is set to be released on the live DVD, "Untitled Vandal(ism) #Finale 'Graced the Beautiful Day,'" on November 11, 2009.[26]
On June 2, 2009, a blog entry by vocalist Shou announced the changing of their name from "アリス九號." or "alice nine." to "Alice Nine" for media reasons. He explained that the Japanese transcription was beginning to lose its purpose as a means to "represent aesthetics" and that the English transcription was closest to the band's original intention. The Japanese transcription could also not be read as the band's proper name without the use of furigana or other means of alternative text. The entry also announced new work for the band's fifth anniversary—a new single and a new book, which would use the new English transcription upon release. Alice Nine's fifteenth maxi-single, "Hana," is to be released on August 5, 2009. Shou describes the titular track as a "danceable song with a sweet and oriental feeling." "Piece of 5ive Elements 'The Book' ~Alice Nine 5th~" is a book containing interviews, reports on the band's concert activities during 2009, photography, and more, and is to be released on August 24, 2009.[27][28]
Style
Alice Nine's musical style can mainly be described as rock, with touches of metal, and a few instances of dance music. Their works range diversely, including heavier songs that were more prevalent in their early career, emotional ballads and medium tempo songs, and the lighter rock sound marked with more melodic instrumentation and synthesizers that is present on their 2007 album, Alpha. Like some other Visual Kei bands, as they progressed through the years, the band experimented and released songs that focus more on the mainstream public.
The band's appearance and shift from a heavy visual kei look also took place over the length of their career. In early work, Alice Nine's clothing in promotional footage and live concerts was a sort of stylized take on traditional Japanese clothing, along with moderate makeup, piercings, and bright hair colors such as red and pale blonde. However, in 2006, the look began to fade out and essentially disappeared the year after, having been replaced with leather and the onset of street fashion. Music videos for "Blue Planet" and "Gekkou Yoku" show off a relaxed and casual look, while videos such as those for "cosmic world" and "Rainbows" are examples of forays into street fashion.
Members
- Shou (将) – vocals
- Hiroto (ヒロト) – guitar
- Tora (虎) – guitar, piano
- Saga (沙我) – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Nao – drums
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