LUNA SEA

LUNA SEA

AKA	LUNACY
Spelling	ルナシー
Status	Major, active
Origin	Tokyo, Kantō
Years	1989 - 1996 1998 - 2000 2010 - present
Genres	Alternative Rock Progressive Rock Gothic Rock Post-Punk Visual Rock
Labels	EXTASY RECORDS (indies) MCA Victor (major)
Related	河村隆一 (Solo project) SUGIZO (Solo project) INORAN (Solo project) 真矢 (Solo project) FAKE? Tourbillon The FLARE
Website	GOD BLESS YOU http://www.lunasea.jp/
Fanclub	SLAVE

One of the early pioneers of Visual Kei, Luna Sea was a five-piece rock band formed in the late 1980s. They were one of the first Visual kei bands to achieve mainstream success, becoming one of the most notable Japanese bands in the music scene.

Biography[]

LUNACY days (1989 - 1990)[]

LUNACY were formed by INORAN and J during high school. In January 1989 some members left the band as they graduated from school and were replaced by Shinya and SUGIZO from PINOCCHIO. Shinya had already played several times as a support member, and when was asked to became an official member he insisted that he wouldn't join without SUGIZO. This way LUNACY became a twin guitar band. Shortly after that their current vocalist left the band and was eventually replaced by RYUICHI, leading the band to its debut as a five-member unit on May 6 1989.
The first official live took place at Machida PLAYHOUSE on May 29th. A self-titled demo tape limited to 100 copies was then recorded and sold at a series of concerts in the Machida area. The band then moved to the metropolitan area in October with Meguro LIVE STATION as their homeground. A second demo tape titled SHADE and limited to 1000 copies was then recorded and put on sale at concerts. The first one-man took place at the same place of the debut live ( Machida PLAYHOUSE) on December 17 1989. It was reported that all 150 tickets were sold out.
The first occasion for LUNACY to perform outside the Kantou area came on April 3 1990, as they were invited by AION to perform at a live event. J used to be a roadie of AION and one year later all members would sing backing vocals as guests on their album AIONISM.
The band first anniversary was celebrated with a one-man live titled LUNA SEA1周年記念ワンマン黒服限定GIG (LUNA SEA First Anniversary One-man Black Suit Limited GIG) at Machida PLAYHOUSE on June 10. A free demo tape titled LASTLY was distributed at the concert.
Another sold-out one-man performance followed on November 24 at Meguro LIVE STATION. It was the band last concert as LUNACY, because it was announced that night that they would be changing their name to LUNA SEA (Luna is a Latin word meaning moon, while Sea was taken from English). At the same time the band was discovered by Matsumoto Hideto from X-JAPAN and signed a deal with the indies label EXTASY RECORDS run by X-JAPAN founder and drummer Hayashi Yoshiki.

Indies days (1990 - 1992)[]

The birth of LUNA SEA was celebrated with two sold-out consecutive one-man gigs at Meguro LIVE STATION on January 10 and 11 1991. Another one-man followed at Meguro Rokumeikan on February 11. Also this time all tickets sold out in few days.

The band got more and more visibility thanks to the support of EXTASY RECORDS, which added them to the bill of the big live event Rock-f GUERILLA WARFARE at Shibuya Koukaidou in February and of the EXTASY RECORDS NUCLEAR FUSION TOUR in March (all dates sold out) in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. It was their first national tour in order to promote the release of the debut album LUNA SEA on April 21. It was a successful release for the indies scene, as more than 10,000 copies of the first press had been pre-ordered.
A sold-out album release memorial one-man took place in front of 800 people at Shinjuku NISSIN POWER STATION on April 21. An additional performance at Osaka ROCKETS followed on May 3.
LUNA SEA then went on tour with two consecutive national one-man tours: UNDER THE NEW MOON TOUR EPISODE, with seven dates and more than 2,800 tickets sold, and UNDER THE NEW MOON TOUR EPISODE II, with 22 dates and more than 3,500 tickets sold. A final date titled UNDER THE NEW MOON TOUR FINAL EPISODE was also added. It took place at Nihon Seinenkan in front of 1,250 people and it was reported that the concert had to start one hour late due to a typhoon.
The band success increased even more, and a third tour UNDER THE NEW MOON TOUR EPISODE III FINAL was planned in October with 13 dates (more than 7,000 people) and two consecutive final gigs (2,500 people) at Nihon Seinenkan on December 29 and 30. At the last date it was announced that LUNA SEA would sign to the major label MCA Victor the following year and that the official fanclub SLAVE would be established in January.
The following day three consecutive secret New Year eve lives took place in three live houses in Tokyo. The third performance was at Meguro Rokumeikan.
In March 1992 LUNA SEA had their last indies one-man tour DEAR SLAVES TOUR. The last date, considered both the last indies live and third anniversary live, took place at their homeground Machida PLAYHOUSE on May 20 in front of only 200 people. The band performed their entire debut album following the original tracklist order as well as other songs.

Major debut and success (1992 - 1996)[]

LUNA SEA major debut was marked by the release of the full length album IMAGE, which ranked #9 on the ORICON chart and was promoted by a one-man tour titled LUNA SEA CONCERT TOUR 1992 IMAGE OR REAL (seven performances and more than 7,000 tickets sold). The first major tour was so successful that it lead to the addition of three more dates in July (5,500 tickets sold) and a second national tour titled AFTER THE IMAGE in September (13 gigs and more than 16,000 tickets sold).

The fourteenth and final gig took place on October 24 at Hibiya Yagai Daiongakudou. According to fans it was an unusual performance, as all members dyed their hair black and performed the usual encore song MOON as opening song. Despite the major debut the band kept in contact with EXTASY RECORD, and performed at two of its summits in late October.
In early 1993 LUNA SEA released their very first single BELIEVE, a third album titled EDEN and a second single titled IN MY DREAM (WITH SHIVER). The album release was promoted with the SEARCH FOR MY EDEN tour in April, which had 14 dates and more than 26,000 people attending. Four additional gigs (August 21st at Nagoya Century Hall, August 23rd at 大阪厚生年金会館, August 26 and 30 at Nippon Budoukan) were then arranged in August and had more than 24,000 tickets sold. The tour final at the Budoukan was meant to take place on August 27, but was postponed to August 30 due to a typhoon. Since it was the second time that a tour final was delayed due to a typhoon, the band got the nickname 嵐を呼ぶバンド (Band that summons storms).
Yet another one-man tour titled 'THE GARDEN OF SINNERS took place from December 1993 to February 2004 , with more than 40000 ticket sold and 20 gigs. The final date at YOKOHAMA ARENA on February 12 1994 had to start one hour late due to a tremendous snowfall.
On July 21 1994 the third single ROSIER was released and became the band first hit, ranking #3 on the ORICON chart.
On August 11 and 12 two special concerts for fanclub only took place at Shibuya Koukaidou and one week later the band went on tour with SOFT BALLET and BUCK-TICK.
On September 21 the fourth single TRUE BLUEwas released, and it became the first single to reach #1 on the ORICON CHART.

In October the fourth album MOTHER sold more than 700,000 copies in few weeks, and in December several succesful oneman performances took place: two consecutive gigs at the Budoukan on the 16 and the 17, a gig at the Osaka-jou Hall, and an additional live at the Budoukan on the 27. More than 40,000 tickets were sold for those four concerts.

1995 saw another successful tour (MOTHER OF LOVE, MOTHER OF HATE, 31 gigs for more than 63,000 people attending) and the release of the band second chart-topping single DESIRE. On December 23 the band first concert at the TOKYO DOME took place, and all 56,000 sold out in less than one day. By the end of 1995, LUNA SEA was probably the most famous Japanese band of that time reaching and maybe surpassing the fame level of their mentors X-JAPAN.
In 1996 both the new single END OF SORROW and the new album STYLE managed to top the ORICON chart. Later that year the song IN SILENCE was chosen to be the theme song of the Asahi TV drama Chicago Hope and was later released as a single.
The second half of 1996 saw the band mainly touring with the huge LUNA SEA CONCERT TOUR 1996 UN ENDING STYLE. The first part was opened by two consecutive gigs at the Yokohama ARENA and had 16 dates for more than 120,000 people attending in July and August. The second part titled TO RISE had 28 more gigs (about 58,000 tickets) from October to November, while the last part titled FINAL Christmas STADIUM～Mafuyu no Yagai～ was made of an additional concert at Yokohama Arena on December 23 in front of 40,000 people. However, after the final gig in Yokohama it was decided that the band would go on hiatus to allow all members to pursue other projects. SUGIZO was the one that suggested the break, and while RYUICHI was in favour J and Shinya disagreed. INORAN was the only one to be neutral about the decision.

Break (1997 - 1998)[]

The first member to start a solo project was RYUICHI. His debut album Love sold more than 3 million copies and was one of the best selling albums by a solo singer. In the meantime he also starred as an actor in several TV dramas an published a couple of books.
SUGIZO also went solo and released an album titled TRUTH?, which was produced and recorded in London. Instead of staying under the spotlight like his former band-mate RYUICHI, SUGIZO's attempt was to focus on more experimental works and produce music under his own label CROSS, established after LUNA SEA went on hiatus.
J released a couple of quite successful singles which were followed by a full album titled PYROMANIA in Summer 1997. Shinya and INORAN also released their own solo albums in late 1997, but their projects had little activity.

Comeback and disbandment (1998 - 2000)[]

LUNA SEA came back in Spring 1998 with a series of three successful singles: both STORM and SHINE managed to top the ORICON chart, while I for You (theme song for the FUJI TV drama Kamisama, mou sukoshi dake) ranked #2.

The sixth album SHINE was released on July 23, and was considered a record-breaking release selling million copies. The song BREATHE was chosen for the soundtrack of the Japanese edition of the Disney movie Mulan.

Starting on September 24 the band went on tour with the WALT DISNEY PICTURES PRESENTS MULAN MEETS LUNA SEA CONCERT TOUR 1998 SHINING BRIGHTLY, which had 33 gigs and more than 150,000 tickets sold. Before that two consecutive concerts at the Yokohama Stadium were planned on August 9 and 10. On December 23 and 24 two final gigs at Tokyo DOME took place. With more than 330,000 tickets sold overall, it became LUNA SEA's most successful tour ever.
In 1999 LUNA SEA went overseas for the first time with the LUNA SEA FIRST ASIAN TOUR 1999. The band played in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shanghai in front of more than 9,000 people overall.
On May 29 the first live album NEVER SOLD OUT was released, and on the following day a 10th Anniversary gig took place at a special open-air stage built in Tokyo. However, three days before the concert the meeting place was hit by a strong wind that caused big damages to the stage set and Shinya's drums. The management could recover from the serious damages caused by the typhoon thanks to one of SUGIZO's ideas: since the concert was titled NEVER SOLD OUT, he decided that anyone who paid the entrance fee could see the concert with no capacity limits. This was, more than 100,000 people attended the event.
On December 23 LUNA SEA played with the band GLAY at a special Christmas concert held at Tokyo DOME.
On January 1 2000 a count-up live took place at Zepp Tokyo in front of 3,000 people. Since it was a count-up live, it started at 0:00 in the night between December 31 and January 1.B
In the first half of 2000 two new singles were released and a concert to promote the upcoming album took place at the Budoukan. The album, titled LUNACY, was released on July 12 and was followed by two national tours titled BRAND NEW CHAOS in July and October.
On November 8 the fourteenth single LOVE SONG was released, and on the very same day LUNA SEA announced they would disband after two consecutive concerts at Tokyo DOME on December 26 and 27. The set-list of the concerts was made by fans themselves through a poll on the official website.

Reunions (2007 - present)[]

LUNA SEA came back for one night only on December 24 2007 with a one-man gig at Tokyo DOME. The main cause for this revival was celebrating 10 years from the beginning of the members solo projects and 15 years from the major debut of LUNA SEA. Tickets sold out in five minutes and the concert was aired live on the NHK BS HI-VISION channel and released some months later on DVD.

Another revival took place at the hide memorial summit on May 4. The band performed a eleven song set and also had a session performance with X JAPAN members at the end of the event.
On August 31, 2010, LUNA SEA held press conference in Hong Kong, at the same place where they have put period in 2000, they finally confirmed their comeback as a band. They have announced mini world tour titled "20th Anniversary World Tour Reboot To The New Moon" that will start on November 2010 in Germany and ended in Tokyo Dome on December 23,24 2010.

Lineup[]

河村隆一 (Kawamura Ryuichi) - Vocals
→ SLAUGHTER → LUNA SEA → 河村隆一 → LUNA SEA → 河村隆一 → 河村隆一, Tourbillon → 河村隆一, Tourbillon, LUNA SEA
SUGIZO - Guitar, Violin
→ PINOCCHIO → KASHIMIR → LUNA SEA → SUGIZO → LUNA SEA → SUGIZO, SUGIZO & THE SPANK YOUR JUICE, SHAG → The FLARE, SUGIZO, SHAG → SUGIZO, SHAG, S.T.K. → SUGIZO, SHAG, S.T.K., S.K.I.N., Juno Reactor, X JAPAN → SUGIZO, SHAG, S.T.K., S.K.I.N., Juno Reactor, X JAPAN, LUNA SEA
INORAN - Guitar
→ LUNA SEA → INORAN → LUNA SEA → INORAN → INORAN, FAKE? → Tourbillon, INORAN → Tourbillon, INORAN, LUNA SEA
J - Bass
→ LUNA SEA → J → LUNA SEA → zilch → J → J, LUNA SEA
真矢 (Shinya) - Drums
→ PINOCCHIO → KASHIMIR → LUNA SEA → 真矢 → LUNA SEA → POTBELLY → 真矢, LUNA SEA

Former Members[]

YASU - Vocals (1989)
→ LUNACY →

Discography[]

Albums[]

Singles[]

1993.02.23 BELIEVE
1993.07.21 IN MY DREAM (with shiver)
1994.07.21 ROSIER
1994.09.21 TRUE BLUE
1994.12.?? ROSIER (live version)
1995.02.22 MOTHER
1995.11.13 DESIRE
1996.03.25 END OF SORROW
1996.07.15 IN SILENCE
1998.04.15 STORM
1998.06.03 SHINE
1998.07.01 I for You
2000.03.29 gravity
2000.05.17 TONIGHT
2000.11.08 LOVE SONG
2011.04.09 PROMISE (digital)
2012.03.20 THE ONE -crash to create-
2012.12.12 The End of the Dream / Rouge
2013.08.28 Thoughts
2013.11.13 乱
2016.06.22 Limit

Compilation albums[]

1997.12.17 SINGLES
2000.02.13 PERIOD
2002.03.06 another side of SINGLES II
2005.03.23 SLOW
2008.03.26 LUNA SEA COMPLETE BEST
2014.05.28 THE ONE (live best)
2014.05.28 NEVER SOULD OUT 2 (live best)

Splits[]

1991.08.10 NUCLEAR FUSION (with Gilles de Rais & Sighs of Love Potion)

Demo/Promo tapes[]

1989.08.09 LUNACY
1989.12.08 SHADE
1990.06.10 LASTLY
1991.??.?? LUNA SEA DEMO (IMAGE)
1992.05.?? VOICE OF LUNA SEA
1992.??.?? EDEN

VHS[]

1991.06.22 UNDER THE NEW MOON TOUR EPISODE I ROCKET
1991.09.19 UNDER THE NEW MOON TOUR EPISODE II FINAL
1992.07.22 IMAGE or REAL
1993.12.16 SIN AFTER SIN
1995.05.24 ECLIPSE I
1996.07.15 LUNATIC TOKYO～1995・12・23 TOKYO DOME～
1997.05.21 「REW」
1999.09.29 10TH ANNIVERSARY GIG 「NEVER SOLD OUT」 CAPACITY ∞ LIVE!
1999.09.29 10TH ANNIVERSARY GIG 「NEVER SOLD OUT」 CAPACITY ∞ DOCUMENT!
2000.??.?? SLAVE Gentei GIG 2000 (Fan club only)
2001.04.25 THE FINAL ACT TOKYO DOME
2001.04.25 THE FINAL ACT TOKYO DOME Bonus "Crazy About You" (Fan club only)

DVD[]

2001.05.29 THE FINAL ACT TOKYO DOME
2001.11.28 ECLIPSE I+II
2002.05.29 IMAGE or REAL
2002.05.29 SIN AFTER SIN
2002.05.29 REW
2002.05.29 LUNATIC TOKYO～1995.12.23 TOKYO DOME～
2003.01.30 LUNA SEA 1998 REVIVE 1998.8.09+10～真夏の野外～ (Manatsu no Yagai)
2005.10.12 SLAVE
2008.03.23 LUNA SEA GOD BLESS YOU～One Night Dejavu～TOKYO DOME 2007.12.24
2011.04.13 LUNACY 黒服限定GIG 〜the Holy Night〜
2011.04.13 LUNA SEA 20th ANNIVERSARY WORLD TOUR REBOOT -to the New Moon- 24/12/10 at TOKYO DOME
2011.10.19 NHK-DVD 一夜限りの復活ライブ LUNA SEA沈黙の7年を超えて
2012.02.22 LUNA SEA 3D IN LOS ANGELES
2012.03.28 LUNA SEA For JAPAN A Promise to The Brave
2012.12.29 LUNA SEA CONCERT TOUR 2000 BRAND NEW CHAOS 〜20000803 大阪城ホール〜
2013.03.27 LUNA SEA The End of the Dream - Prologue -
2013.03.27 LUNA SEA The End of the Dream ZEPP TOUR 2012 「降臨」
2013.05.29 LUNA SEA LIVE TOUR 2012-2013 The End of the Dream at 日本武道館
2014.05.02 SLAVE限定GIG 2013 両国国技館 2013.2.17 (fanclub only)
2015.06.24 Live on A WILL

Boxed sets[]

2003.02.19 ECLIPSE I+II / ECLIPSE II
2005.12.21 真冬の野外＋真夏の野外 (Mafuyu no Yagai + Manatsu no Yagai)
2003.12.23 Complete Single BOX
2004.05.29 Complete Album BOX
2014.05.28 LUNA SEA 25th Anniversary 「Ultimate Best THE ONE+NEVER SOLD OUT 2」

Books[]

1993.04.15 BLACK BOX
1994.12.30 MOTHER [Band Score]
1995.02.22 ZOE I
1995.03.30 EDEN [Band Score]
1995.04.20 ZOE II
1995.05.30 IMAGE [Band Score]
1995.07.30 LUNA SEA [Band Score]
1996.01.04 Days
1996.07.30 STYLE [Band Score]
1997.02.14 SHOXX FILE VOL.1 LUNA SEA 1990-1996
1997.04.25 Gesshoku
1997.07.10 Days CD-ROM
1998.01.30 SINGLES [Band Score]
1998.10.30 SHINE [Band Score]
1999.01.10 END OF PERIOD
1999.09.18 1999 THE UNCONVENTIONAL
1999.09.30 NEVER SOLD OUT -DISC 1- [Band Score]
1999.09.30 NEVER SOLD OUT -DISC 2- [Band Score]
1999.11.29 SUGIZO & INORAN COMPLETE GUITAR BOOK
2000.10.30 LUNACY [Band Score]
2001.01.19 LOVE SONG [Band Score]
2001.02.01 PERIOD [Band Score]
2001.03.07 Konton no Hate
2001.03.07 LUNA SEA COMPLETE FILE "The Eclipse"
2001.03.01 SHOXX FILE VOL.4 LUNA SEA 1997-2000
2001.03.22 Gesshoku 2
2001.04.01 WISH (BRAND NEW CHAOS ACT II)
2001.04.01 WISH (THE FINAL ACT)
2001.05.16 Days of LUNA SEA
2001.06.10 Chikyu Ongaku Library
2002.07.20 another side of SINGLES II [Band Score]

Omnibus albums[]

1999.05.01 hide TRIBUTE SPIRITS
2000.04.28 another heaven complex VARIOUS
2000.06.21 History of EXTASY

Omnibus videos[]

1992.12.01 MUTEKI CONCERT EXTASY SUMMIT 1991
1993.05.10 MUTEKI CONCERT EXTASY SUMMIT 1992

Soundtracks[]

1998.09.09 MULAN (Original Soundtrack)
2000.01.19 007 The World Is Not Enough (Original Soundtrack)
2000.04.28 another heaven complex SCORE

Symphonic/instrumental albums[]

1994.05.22 SYMPHONIC LUNA SEA I
1995.09.21 SYMPHONIC LUNA SEA II
2001.12.19 PIANO SOLO INSTRUMENTS 1
2001.12.19 PIANO SOLO INSTRUMENTS 2
2001.12.19 PIANO SOLO INSTRUMENTS 3
2001.12.19 LUNA SEA PIANO SOLO INSTRUMENTS 4
2001.12.19 GUITAR SOLO INSTRUMENTS 1
2001.12.19 GUITAR SOLO INSTRUMENTS 2