Visual Kei - History

History

Visual kei emerged in the early 1980s, pioneered by bands such as X Japan, D'erlanger, Buck-Tick and Color. The term visual kei is believed to come from one of X Japan's slogans, "Psychedelic violence crime of visual shock". Color vocalist Dynamite Tommy formed his record company Free-Will in 1986, which has been a major contributor in spreading modern visual kei outside Japan. Under Code Production, a sub-label of Free-Will founded by Kisaki, since its formation in 2003 has had a definite influence on newer independent visual kei bands, particularly in Osaka.

In 1992, X Japan tried to launch an attempt to enter the American market, but it fell through. It would take another 8 years until popularity and awareness of visual kei bands would extend worldwide. In the mid 1990s, visual kei received an increase in popularity throughout Japan, and album sales from visual kei bands started to reach record numbers. The most notable bands to achieve success during this period included X Japan, Glay, and Luna Sea; however, a drastic change in their appearance accompanied their success. During the same period other bands, such as Kuroyume, Malice Mizer, and Penicillin, gained mainstream awareness, although they were not as commercially successful. By 1999, the mainstream popularity of visual kei was declining; X Japan had disbanded, and in 2000, Luna Sea decided to disband.

In 2007 the genre was revitalized, as Luna Sea performed a one-off performance, and X Japan reunited for a new single and a world tour. With these developments, visual kei bands enjoyed a boost in public awareness, described by some media as "neo-visual kei". New bands still use visual kei to describe themselves, some examples of current mainstream bands are Versailles, Nightmare, and The Gazette.