Glay

Glay rank among Japan's most successful artists, having a knack for effective pop/rock songs that allowed the band to sell 35 million records in less than a decade and a half (and that's to say nothing of the other merchandise, with which the band is proficient even by Japanese standards). Glay were sometimes associated with the "visual kei" movement, especially in the beginning of their career, but generally they're too refined for that, boasting their own type of extravaganza -- such as filming promo videos in Iceland and London and generally being icons of glamorous rock music. Glay were launched by Takuro (guitar) and Teru (vocals), who had been friends since elementary school and were living on the northern island of Hokkaido. The name of the band is supposed to mean "gray," although it remains unclear whether the misspelling was accidental -- which seems possible, seeing that Glay started out when the members were still in high school. After picking another guitarist, Hisashi, from the short-lived local punk rock sensation Ari, Glay managed to make a name in their hometown, but when they moved to Tokyo after graduation, they found out that the road to fame is never smooth -- sometimes Glay even had to play gigs with no audience at all. Things began to change in 1991, when they acquired bassist Jiro from one of Tokyo's underground bands. His inclusion cemented a lineup that hasn't changed since (although the band plays with session drummers), but it still took two years of polishing their sound before Glay scored a lucky ticket -- which happened in 1993 when they were signed by the indie label run by Yoshiki Hayashi, the drummer of Japanese metal gods X-Japan. Their debut album, Hai to Diamond, was released in 1994. It's considered an indie album, but Glay didn't...