, stylized as L'Arc〜en〜Ciel and abbreviated as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist Tetsuya and vocalist Hyde. Following the departure of original members Hiro and Pero, guitarist Ken and drummer Sakura were recruited to replace them in 1992 and 1993, respectively. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, L'Arc-en-Ciel have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. Sakura left the band in 1997 and was replaced by Yukihiro in January 1998, completing the current line-up.
With a reported 40 million records sold, L'Arc-en-Ciel are one of the best-selling music artists in Japan. Their 1999 simultaneously-released albums Ark and Ray are each one of the best-selling albums of all time in Japan. L'Arc-en-Ciel have had seven number one studio albums and 21 number one singles. They were ranked number 58 on a 2003 list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by HMV Japan, and were the first Japanese act to headline Madison Square Garden in New York City.
History
1991–1997: Formation, major label debut and Sakura's departure In February 1991, bassist Tetsuya (then known as TETSU) recruited vocalist Hyde (then known as HIDE),As used in the band's first home video, the self-titled L'Arc~en~Ciel released on 1992-03-16. Retrieved 2012-05-07. guitarist Hiro and drummer Pero. Together, they formed a band and named themselves L'Arc-en-Ciel. A year later, after gaining popularity in their hometown of Osaka, Hiro left the band on June 12, 1992. Tetsuya then convinced his friend Ken to quit his university studies and join the band as guitarist. However, Pero then left the group after their show at Osaka Muse Hall on December 30, 1992. The following year, Sakura joined as L'Arc-en-Ciel's new drummer.
On April 1, 1993, the band released their debut album Dune on the independent, but well-known, record label Danger Crue. The album was a success and ranked number one on the Oricon indies charts. This caught the attention of some major labels. In 1994, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a contract with Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Ki/oon division. They released their major debut album Tierra that same year. Their third album Heavenly followed in 1995. In 1996, their fourth album, True, became their first to sell over a million copies.
On February 24, 1997, drummer Sakura was arrested for violating the Stimulants Control Law. In May, he received a two year prison sentence suspended for three years. When news of the arrest became public, the group's CDs were removed from the shelves in record shops. Their song "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" was replaced as the fourth ending theme of the Rurouni Kenshin anime after only four episodes and its single release was halted. (It was eventually released in 2006.)
Over the next few months, the group continued to be featured in magazines as a trio. On October 17, the single "Niji" was released without Sakura. Instead, it features former Zi:Kill and Die in Cries drummer Yukihiro as a support member. Sakura officially announced his departure from L'Arc-en-Ciel on November 4. The remaining members formed "The Zombies", which was advertised as a "copy band" singing L'Arc-en-Ciel songs. The end of their hiatus was marked by a concert at the Tokyo Dome on December 23, 1997, entitled Reincarnation. It was the band's first performance at the venue and had an attendance of 56,000 people, with the tickets sold out in a record-breaking four minutes.
1998–2003: Blockbuster success and hiatus
Yukihiro officially joined L'Arc-en-Ciel as their drummer on January 1, 1998. The single "Winter Fall", which was released at the end of the month, became the group's first number one on the Oricon Singles Chart. They subsequently released their album Heart on February 25, 1998. The band's song "Lose Control" was included in the Japanese and Philippine releases of the official movie soundtrack of Godzilla, released on May 19, 1998, through Epic Records.
On July 1, 1999, the group released two albums, Ark and Ray, simultaneously. These two albums became the first Japanese albums to be released simultaneously in other Asian countries outside Japan. Both albums topped the Oricon music charts, with Ark occupying number one and Ray number two and each selling over two million copies. This, along with the 1999 Grand Cross Tour which united over 650,000 people in 12 concerts, marked the commercial high point of the group's career.
In 2000, two of the band's songs were included in the soundtrack for Ring 0: Birthday. Their next album Real, released on August 30, 2000, was their last studio album for some time. Its song "Stay Away" was featured in the arcade game DrumMania 4th Mix. The compilation album Clicked Singles Best 13 was released on March 14, 2001. It includes twelve songs chosen online by the group's fans. It also includes an additional thirteenth song, "Anemone". Their album Real was re-released as a Super Audio CD on July 4, 2001. "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)", released on September 5, 2001, was L'Arc-en-Ciel's last single before a long period of inactivity. The English-language version of the single's title track was adopted as Final Fantasy: The Spirits Withins ending theme song.
During this period of inactivity, the members began working on solo careers and side projects. In 2001, Tetsuya started his solo career under the name Tetsu69 and Yukihiro formed the band Acid Android. The following year, Ken founded Sons of All Pussys with L'Arc-en-Ciel's former drummer Sakura. Hyde released two solo albums, Roentgen (2002) and 666 (2003), and co-starred in the 2003 movie Moon Child. He also played the part of Adam in the film Kagen no Tsuki (2004).
Three compilation albums; The Best of L'Arc-en-Ciel 1994–1998, The Best of L'Arc-en-Ciel 1998–2000 and The Best of L'Arc-en-Ciel C/W, were released on March 19, 2003. The album series included all of their previous singles, with the exception of "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)".
2003–2006: Comeback and international activities
After two and a half years, L'Arc-en-Ciel performed a series of seven concerts, entitled Shibuya Seven Days, in Tokyo in June 2003. During this event, the group announced that a new album would be released the following year. "Ready Steady Go", the group's first single in more than three years, was released in February 2004. This song was used as an opening theme song for the Fullmetal Alchemist anime. The single topped the Oricon weekly singles charts. Additionally, a sample of this song was also used in a Nintendo DS game called Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. The group subsequently released another single, "Hitomi no Juunin", in early March 2004. This was followed by the group's album, Smile, on March 31. Shortly after, on June 2, the single "Jiyuu e no Shoutai" was the first to feature a song by P'unk-en-Ciel.
On July 31, 2004, L'Arc-en-Ciel made their North American debut at the anime convention Otakon. Approximately 12,000 people attended the concert, which was held at the 1st Mariner Arena. They were the first Japanese band to perform at the arena. On May 31, 2005, Tofu Records, Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, released a DVD of their 2004 Otakon concert.
In 2005, the band released various singles, including "Killing Me", "New World" and "Jojoushi". These were later complied onto the album Awake, which was released on June 22, 2005. It features twelve tracks, including "Lost Heaven", the ending theme song of Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa. Another of the band's single, "Link", was released on July 20, 2005. This song was also featured in the movie as the opening theme song, and was included on their next album, entitled Kiss.
In August 2005, the band went on a nationwide tour for their album Awake. It was followed by another tour titled Asia Live 2005, which had the band performing in Seoul and Shanghai and ended at the Tokyo Dome. Following these two tours, L'Arc-en-Ciel's members turned their attention back to their own solo projects. Tetsuya began recording with Morrie for his solo project Creature Creature. Yukihiro regrouped his band Acid Android and released the single "Let's Dance" on April 5, 2006. Acid Android joined Mucc to perform two concerts in Shanghai in April 2006. Hyde composed "Glamorous Sky", the theme song of the film adaption of the manga Nana. The song was sung by pop singer Mika Nakashima, the first time hyde composed music for another vocalist. In addition, his own solo album, Faith, was released on April 26, 2006. Hyde also went on a five-month tour throughout Japan to publicize his album. After signing with Tofu Records, he held four small concerts in the United States in July 2006, making his US debut. This was the first of L'Arc-en-Ciel's solo projects to be held outside Japan. On August 23, 2006, ken released a solo single entitled "Speed".
2006–2010: 15th anniversary and concert hiatus On November 25 and 26, 2006, L'Arc-en-Ciel played two shows at the Tokyo Dome to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The tickets for these concerts sold out in two minutes, breaking the venue's previous record, which was also set by them. A poll was created on their official website, during the weeks before the concert, which allowed fans to pick the songs they would like to hear at the show. The concert was later broadcast on the WOWOW channel on December 23, 2006, and was subsequently broadcast on Korean MTV on February 8, 2007.
L'Arc-en-Ciel recorded the song "Shine", which was to be used as the opening song for the NHK anime Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. In the spring of 2007, the group kicked off their Mata Heart ni hi wo Tsukero 2007 tour in Japan. They also released the single "Seventh Heaven" on May 30, 2007, which topped the Oricon charts. Their song "My Heart Draws a Dream", which was used in a Subaru commercial, was also released as a single on August 29, 2007. This single also topped the Oricon charts.
L'Arc-en-Ciel subsequently recorded the song "Daybreak's Bell", which was used as the first opening theme for the anime Mobile Suit Gundam 00. This song was released as a single on October 10, 2007, later topping the Oricon weekly charts. From November 14 to December 25, 2007, they released a limited edition single titled "Hurry Xmas", along with two new DVDs, titled 15th L'Anniversary Live and Chronicle 3. Their studio album Kiss was released on November 21, 2007, and debuted at number one on the Oricon charts.
L'Arc-en-Ciel then performed the Theater of Kiss tour, which was held from December 22, 2007, to February 17, 2008. The song "Drink It Down" was used as the Japanese opening song for the PS3/Xbox 360 game Devil May Cry 4. It was released as a single on April 2, 2008, and topped the Oricon weekly charts. The band went on a tour, entitled Tour 2008 L'7: Trans Asia via Paris, which covered several major Asian cities, as well as Paris, France. On this tour, a live show hiatus until 2011 was announced, although new material would still continue to be released.
Their double A-side single "Nexus 4/Shine" and the DVD Tour 2007-2008 Theater of Kiss were released together on August 27, 2008. On May 20, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel released the DVD of their live concert in Paris, titled Live in Paris. hyde and K.A.Z formed the hard rock group Vamps and released their self-titled first album, Vamps, on June 10, 2009. On December 1, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel announced the release of a new single named "Bless" on January 27, 2010. This was used as the theme song for NHK's broadcast of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Also, tetsu announced that he had changed his stage name to "tetsuya" and released his first artist book. The book, which ranked number six amongst the Talent Book Charts, featured early live pictures and a 30,000 character interview with the bassist.