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Last Active 07-27-22 7:57 am
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| Best of Japanese Bands: 80's version
The best bands Japan had to offer in the 80's. | | 1 |  | Barbee Boys
√5
Hands down my favorite 80's Japanese band. The energy, the flair, the brilliant meshing of male and female vocals which often border on insanity, their unbelievably catchy pop-rock sound... I cannot recommend them enough. | | 2 |  | Boowy
Beat Emotion
A Japanese 80's band list wouldn't be complete without Boowy. Arguably the most groundbreaking band in modern Japanese music, almost all of their releases is pure gold (with the exception of their 1985 self-titled album, which I never really dug all that much). | | 3 |  | Rebecca
Poison
Another essential for any 80's Japanese band list, Rebecca were one of the biggest names in 80's pop music in Japan, with the group maintaining a wildly iconic name today. Although they never achieved any certified albums (aside from posthumous compilation albums), they did release four consecutive chart topping albums, as well as numerous top 10 singles. | | 4 |  | Unicorn (JPN)
Boom
Originally achieving very mild success, Unicorn went on to accomplish massive nationwide fame, and are widely considered to be one of the most memorable bands from their era. The group's sound also impressively varied intensely each album, and Unicorn released five consecutive top-5 albums, of which two reached number 1, as well as having five top 10 singles during their late 80's/early 90's heyday. | | 5 |  | Seikima-II
Seikima-II ~ Akuma ga Kitarite Heavy Metal
Undoubtedly among the most successful heavy metal bands of all time in Japan, Seikima-II were truly an interesting spectacle that took off almost right away, with their second album, 1985's "From Hell with Love", remarkably reaching number 5 on the Japanese Oricon charts. While the group would experience some more nationwide success, it paled in comparison to their 80's heyday, which is when they were so popular, a video game was even released based on Seikima-II in 1986. | | 6 |  | Personz
Modern Boogie
One of the first female-fronted bands to take Japan by storm, Personz reached the peak of their careers commercially speaking in the late 80's, acquiring four platinum albums, two gold albums and two gold singles between 1988 and 1994. Their influence would go on to be felt rather quickly with the brief success of Jitterin' Jinn, and later on, with the popular early 2000's all-girl pop rock band Whiteberry. | | 7 |  | Kinniku Shojo Tai
Buddha L
Kinniku Shojo Tai, affectionately known as King-Show in Japan, came like a bat out of hell with their insane, artsy prog-hard sound, which worked as an effective counter to bands like Seikima-II who dominated the Japanese mainstream with a more conventional heavy metal sound. While Kinniku Shojo Tai experienced decent commercial success into the mid 90's, their strongest era commercially and critically belonged to the late 80's and early 90's, which is when they released their most successful album to date, 1990's " Circus-dan Panorama Shima he Kaeru". | | 8 |  | Buck-Tick
Seventh Heaven
One of the most enduring bands from the 80's, Buck-Tick is another name that broke some major ground since their formation in 1983. Called godfathers of the visual kei subgenre, Buck-TIck achieved massive commercial and critical success that had an impressive gold run from 1988 through 2000, with each original album release during that time period breaking the top 10 charts, with the group also scooping up a platinum and gold single during this run as well. | | 9 |  | EZO
EZO
One of the first Japanese bands to attract very, very minor success in the US, EZO had one album that broke the Billboard charts at number 150, while the guys had both albums enter in the Japanese Oricon charts, with their self-titled 1987 debut attracting the most success. The only other band to top them in this accomplishment was fellow heavy metal band Loudness, who had two albums enter the Billboard charts at numbers 74 and 64 respectively. | | 10 |  | The Checkers
Go
Although not really thought too highly of critically speaking, The Checkers had the image of an idol boyband, although they had the music skill and knack of pumping out amazing pop ditties to justify their massive success. The Checkers are one of the most beloved and successful 80's bands Japan has to offer, with each of their original albums going on to break the Oricon top 5, as well as raking in numerous top 5 singles. | | 11 |  | The Roosters
Neon Boy
On the flip-end, The Roosters had very little commercial success during their initial run, although they later maintained a strong legacy for their innovative mixture of gothic, punk, new wave, folk, post-punk and classic rock 'n' roll. The Roosters have since been called one of the most groundbreaking bands of their time. | | 12 |  | The Blue Hearts
The Blue Hearts
Widely considered to be the most important and iconic punk band in all of Japanese music, The Blue Hearts experienced huge nationwide superstardom throughout from the late 80's until their split in 1995. Although they are remembered for being primarily a punk band, the group also bravely experimented with more alternative elements on their last two albums. | | 13 |  | Kome Kome Club
E-B-I-S
Kome Kome Club are certainly one of the most interesting bands to grab mainstream attention in Japanese music history. Originally having slight success, it all changed with the release of their 1986 album "E-B-I-S", which impressively reached number 3 on the Oricon charts. The group's flamboyant image and diverse sound would go on to carve the band a place in Japanese music history as they are currently one of the best-selling Japanese bands of all time. | | 14 |  | Dead End
Dead Line
Although they never really achieved any of the commercial statuses of most of the bands on this list, Dead End's influence can still be felt to this day, where their diverse sound and flamboyant image helped spark the subgenre of visual kei, and the vocals of frontman Morrie noticeably influenced a wide amount of Japanese vocalists, with some of the most notable names being Hyde of L'arc-en-Ciel fame and Ryuichi Kawamura. | | 15 |  | Fence of Defense
Fence of Defense
Another band that had some success in the late 80's and early 90's, most notably with their 1988 album "Fence of Defense III 2235 Zero Generation", Fence of Defense are one of my personal favorites from the 80's Japanese music boom. Their proggy, technical, melodious hard rock sound can draw comparisons to many of the prog greats of the 70's and early 80's. | | 16 |  | Katze
Blind
Although they don't have the same level of legacy as a lot of bands on here, Katze had a strong commercial run from 1988 until their split in 1991, and the flamboyant image of some of the bandmates had a strong influence on the then-emerging visual kei underground. | | 17 |  | New Rote'ka
Harlem Yarou
One of the most prolific and iconic punk bands in the Japanese underground, New Rote'ka's comedic and light hearted sound helped give them a small commercial run which ran throughout the late 80's and early 90's, with their biggest success occurring in 1990 with the release of their "Yossha, Yossha, Yossha" album. | | 18 |  | TM Network
Gorilla
Another massive name in 80's and early 90's music, TM Network achieved great success for their new wave/electropop earworms, achieving four chart topping original albums and a string of top 10 singles up to their initial split in 1994, with six of them being chart toppers. The brains of TM Network, keyboardist Tetsuya Komuro, would go on to become arguably one of the most successful producers Japanese pop has ever known. | | 19 |  | Bakufu-Slump
High Lander
Bakufu-Slump was a band that found wild success rather quickly, with their second album, 1985's "Shiawase", reaching number 7. This would go on to snowball throughout the 80's, with the group reaching their commercial peak in 1988 with the release of their signature track "Runner", which was later covered by Andrew W.K. in English. Although this intense fame died down significantly by the mid 90's, Bakufu-Slump still managed to rake in five top 10 albums, one of which was a chart topper, and three top 10 singles. | | 20 |  | Zelda (JPN)
Carnaval
Another name that wasn't too well known mainstream-wise during their initial run of an impressive 17 years, Zelda was nonetheless a groundbreaking act for all-female rock groups in Japan. Although they never got a top 20 release, Zelda's sound, which blended elements of post-punk, gothic rock, new wave, glam, pop rock, progressive rock and reggae, continues to give the group a massive international cult following today, two decades after their initial split. | | 21 |  | Southern All Stars
Tiny Bubbles
Easily one of the most enduring bands in Japanese music history, Southern All Stars had it commercially made since they first went major back in 1978. However, it wasn't until their third album, 1980's "Tiny Bubbles", that the group's chart-topping streak started. Since then, they have earned a spot on the best selling Japanese artists of all time, selling a total in their 1980's period of over 6 million albums and over 6 million singles, and have since sold a remarkable total of over 48 million copies. | | 22 |  | Tube
The Season in the Sun
Fun and wildly successful, pop rock band Tube had their first taste of great success in the mid 1980's, shortly after becoming a major band, and have since earned a spot on the best selling artists in Japanese music history. Throughout their 1980's run, Tube have sold over 3 million albums and over 2 million singles. | |
SandwichBubble
02.21.18 | 20 sounds awesome, gonna check a few of these for sure | Jasdevi087
02.21.18 | i need to check Rebecca cause they have that aesthetic that i know i'm for sure gonna dig
love Morrie as a vocalist but can't say I dig Dead End much. they're just kinda aight
I gueeeeeeeeesssssssssss I should probably listen to Boowy too cause that's a stupid big name for me to not be familiar with | Papa Universe
02.21.18 | Good list, but a gross ignorance of Asylum and Jun Togawa and Yapoos. | bloc
02.21.18 | Yellow Magic Orchestra | TheCharmingMan
02.21.18 | Feature this shi | Papa Universe
02.21.18 | [2] | MarsKid
02.21.18 | [3], very cool list my man | discovolante
02.21.18 | Papa Universe: Yeah man, Yapoos and Mayumi Chiwaki just missed the list in particular.
bloc: Funny enough, they were actually the first band I thought of, but then I realized they’d probably fit more of a 70s list, especially since my favorite album of theirs came out in 1979. | SandwichBubble
02.21.18 | "my favorite album of theirs came out in 1979"
Solid State bumps and grinds
also this Zelda album is amazing so far | EvoHavok
02.21.18 | Sweet list, disco. | bloc
02.22.18 | "Funny enough, they were actually the first band I thought of, but then I realized they’d probably fit more of a 70s list, especially since my favorite album of theirs came out in 1979."
True, true, I had the same thought while posting | discovolante
02.22.18 | Most definitely, SB. Their stuff from 1979 through "Sora Iro Boushi no hi" is absolutely incredible. I dug the hell out of "D.R.O.P" too, but it's a lot more poppy and glammy, which worked for me lol. | Dewinged
02.22.18 | We need this featured asap. Your knowledge of Japanese music is baffling, Disco, great work. | discovolante
02.22.18 | Thanks man! |
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