10 Best Japanese Rock & Metal Bands You Need To Listen To
1. Yui
In terms of sheer pop culture presence, there are very few Japanese rock artists as globally famous right now as Yui. Admittedly, a lot of it maybe due to her being the voice behind some of the most iconic anime openings of all time. However, she is so much more than just her songs on Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Bleach.
Her career began with an audition for Sony Music in 2004. The then 17 year old won over the judges with her performance and was subsequently awarded a debut with the indie label Leaflet Records. She kept releasing singles over the next two years, before finally releasing her debut album From Me to You.
Her first mainstream success came in the same year, with the single Good Bye Days. The song, to this day, remains one of her biggest hits. This was the start of her rise, as her career went on a steep upward trajectory since then.
More recently she has also formed a band by the name of Flower Flower, who have gone to release two studio albums and a number of singles.
Musically, her sounds range from sing-along pop rock tunes like Hello, to more fast-paced emotion driven songs such as Again and Rolling Days, to soulful power ballads like Good Bye Days and Namidairo. Which incidentally, are also the songs you should be listening to first.