Music Playlist| ONE OK ROCK

Hi hi loves~ I apologize for the lack of Real People Stuffs posts. I’ve been hella busy and overwhelmed with personal stuffs. I’ll also admit that I’ve been feeling hella low on energy. I just wanna kinda be chill and re-energize myself a bit. So today I’ll be posting a BAYOG Playlist Post~ Again, BAYOG Playlist posts are posts highlighting artists that are known for their contributions to games, anime, and/or live action dramas and movies. Music is kind of my thing, and it’s something I love talking about. So I definitely hope you’re able to take a listen to some of these artists’ other amazing works. Last time I talked about the legendary J-Pop Queen Utada Hikaru [HERE].  Today I’ll be talking about one of THE most popular rock bands in Japan: ONE OK ROCK.

[BACKGROUND INFO AND TIDBITS]

The band’s name comes from “One ‘o clock”, which was the time when they’d have band practice. The original line up consisted of:  Taka (Vocalist), Alex (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocalist), Toru (Guitarist/Bandleader), Ryota (Bassist), and Yu(Drummer). It was originally formed in 2005 by Yamashita Toru when he was in high school. Originally Taka had rejected Toru’s invitation to join the band multiple times. Toru kept persisting though. So yay! Thank you Toru!~ Onizawa Alex left in 2009 due to a sexual harassment scandal. Koyanagi Yu left in 2006 before the band’s official debut, to pursue acting and due to his parents’ objections. He was replaced by Kanki Tomoya in 2006, who only became an official member during ONE OK ROCK’s official debut in 2007. The current band line up consists of: Taka (Vocalist), Toru (Guitarist/Bandleader), Ryota (Bassist), and Tomoya (Drummer). ONE OK ROCK is undoubtedly one of THE most famous Japanese musicians. They’re especially popular with the younger crowd due to the subjects and messages in their music. They’re incredibly popular overseas as well. This is due to their heavy usage of English in their music. They’ve toured all over the world. ONE OK ROCK was even one of the line ups for the 2014 Vans Warped Tour. They’re definitely one of my all time favorite musicians. I fucking love ONE OK ROCK. The Japanese rock band’s music has been through a range of the rock genre, from alternative to pop punk. They’re not afraid to try new things with their sound and music though. Taka’s English is really good for a non-native English speaker, and his pronunciation when he sings in English is practically flawless in their songs. Fun fact: Taka, the group’s front man and singer, used to (briefly) be in the famous J-POP boygroup NEWS. He seemed and sounded so different compared to now [HERE]. His brother has a band called My First Story. Another fun fact is Ryota, the band’s bassist, is married to Avril Lavigne’s sister. Taka has also been featured on Simple Plan’s Japanese release of “Summer Paradise” [HERE]. ONE OK ROC released a deluxe edition of their 2015 album 35xxxv, which was essentially an all English version of the album. They made their official US debut with an English release of their Ambitions album in 2016. (And you bet I have both the Japanese and US versions). They were set to join Linkin Park’s Japan leg of their One More Light Tour. They were also set to open a few of the US tour dates since ONE OK ROCK was also in the middle of their Ambitions tour in the US. Sadly (and understandably so), this was cancelled due to the tragic loss of Linkin Park frontman, Chester Bennington. Taka was one of the performers who attended and performed at the Linkin Park & Friends Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington tribute show. He performed “Somewhere I Belong” [HERE -28:48 mark]. ONE OK ROCK also performed Linkin Park’s “One More Light” at the rest of their Ambitions tour dates. Taka also recently performed with Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda at IDENTITY 2018 in Los Angeles.

[GAME OST CONTRIBUTIONS]

ONE OK ROCK has made some contributions to music for a few video games. I admit that I never played these games. So these are kind of a new discovery for me.

「No Scared」| Black Rock Shooter: The Game (2011)

I don’t know why, but the MV always made me laugh haha~ This is definitely one of their songs with a heavier rock sound.

「Nothing Helps」| DmC: Devil May Cry (2013)

[ANIME RELATED CONTRIBUTIONS]

ONE OK ROCK’s music honestly sounds perfect for being opening or ending songs for an anime series. I’m honestly surprised they haven’t done that yet. However, they have made a few contributions to some films based on well known animes. Okay, so far just two: Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Rurouni Kenshin. The more recent contributions with the Rurouni Kenshin live action movies are probably the most well known (and my favorites tbh). I was thrilled to hear the band would be contributing to the soundtracks for the live action Rurouni Kenshin films. While I liked “The Beginning”, my favorites are “Mighty Long Fall” and “Heartache”. “The Beginning” is basically what really skyrocketed the band into more fame though~

「Be The Light」| Space Pirate Captain Harlock The Movie (2013)
This is one of my favorite ONE OK ROCK songs. I honestly had no idea this was the theme song for the film (not that I even watched Captain Harlock).

「The Beginning」| Rurouni Kenshin (2012)
Fun fact: The American pop punk band Against the Current (friends of ONE OK ROCK) also released an English cover of this song [HERE]. 

「Mighty Long Fall」| Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno (2014)
The sound was a bit different from their older songs, but I really liked this one. I used to blast and sing along to this while driving to/from work.

Here’s the English version that was released on the 35xxxv Deluxe Edition. 

「Heartache」| Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014) 
It’s a softer song, much more of a ballad really. It’s melancholic, but I liked this one alot.

Here’s the English Version, which again was released on the 35xxxv Deluxe Edition. 

Bonus: The live Studio Jam session is absolutely beautiful. You can watch that [HERE].

[MINTY’S PLAYLIST| Recommendations from Minty]

I honestly love almost all of their songs and the different sounds in their music. This is just a few of my favorites~ I loved the previously mentioned songs (especially the Kenshin contributions). They’re some of my ultimate favorites, but I didn’t want to repeat them down below. Also know that I love most of the tracks from the last two albums (35XXXV and Ambitions). I threw in a few live performances as well because the live performances are so fantastic. I really wish I could attend one of their concerts… Sadly, I’m a broke bitch… ( ╥ω╥ ) I made a Spotify playlist as well. Sadly, the North American version of Spotify does not have the Japanese versions of the 35XXXV or Ambitions albums. They also don’t have all of the singles either. I highly recommend checking the Japanese versions and some of the other tracks online if you can. While I like the international versions of those albums, I do like the Japanese versions a bit more. Although a few of the songs only differ in a few lines of Japanese. Both the International and Japanese versions of the albums also have a few different tracks. The list below and the Spotify playlist aren’t in any particular order~

「Clock Strikes」| 人生×僕= /Jinsei×Boku=[“Lifetimes×Me=”] (2013)
I think this was basically the first song I ever heard from ONE OK ROCK. Definitely one of my all time favorites.

「Wherever You Are」| NICHE SYNDROME/NICHE シンドローム(2010)
This is one of my ALL TIME favorite songs by the band. I love singing to this too~  Definitely one of my go-to karaoke songs.

「Take What You Want (Ft. 5 Seconds of Summer)」| AMBITIONS (2017)

ONE OK ROCK are close friends with 5 Seconds of Summer and toured with them in Summer 2016.  The only real difference between the International [HERE] and Japanese version is just 2 lines of Japanese. However, I just enjoy singing those lines a bit more.

「Listen」| AMBITIONS (2017)
This is one of the songs where the only real difference lyrics-wise, is the 3-4 Japanese lines. The weird thing though is that the version with Avril Lavigne is only for the Japanese version. I actually really like both versions. Although I like the Japanese lyrics a bit more. Though, I admit that I personally liked hearing Taka singing it solo on the International version. On a random note: I wonder if Ryota and Avril’s sister got together before or after working on this song…

「完全感覚Dreamer/Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer」| NICHE SYNDROME/NICHE シンドローム(2010)

I used to regularly do like a pen pal/tutoring thing on an app called HelloTalk. Alot of my Japanese pen pals really liked this one~

「American Girls」| AMBITIONS (*International Version Only) (2017)
This was one of the tracks that was only available on the international version of the Ambitions album. The band got alot of criticism and complaints following the 35XXXV album, and especially with the Ambitions album. There were fans who were displeased with the change in their sound and the direction they were going (More mainstream/western pop sounds). I’m one of the fans who liked all their songs no matter the changes or not. I’ll admit that I honestly did not like the lyrics for this though. However, the song and melody is so damn catchy and fun to sing to. So it ended up growing on me. It’s got this pop punk sound that reminds me of the songs I used to listen to in the late 90s or early 2000s. This was one of the songs that actually had airtime on the US radio too. I remember my sister snapping me when she heard it on the radio. She was like “WTF?? I had to do a double take, but your band is playing on the radio??”

「We Are」| AMBITIONS (2017)
This is one of the songs where I love both versions of the song. However, I probably love the Japanese version the most as the lyrics seem to carry the message a bit deeper. It’s definitely one of my favorite songs from this album. This song was made with the youth in mind. People, especially young people, have alot of pressures and uncertainties. It’s easy to feel despair when it seems like you’re being told or made to feel worthless. ONE OK ROCK made this song for these young people to relate to, and to help them feel more empowered. You’re not worthless, foolish, or failures.

The live version they performed at the ONE OK ROCK 18 FESTIVAL (18 FES) is really moving. They performed this with 1000 young fans. Taka gave a very moving speech. You can see how the speech and the song really resonate with the fans. They literally sang and cried their heart out. It’s absolutely beautiful.

「じぶんROCK/Jibun ROCK」| NICHE SYNDROME/NICHE シンドローム(2010)“My ROCK”. It’s another track I like from the Niche Syndrome album~

「努努〜ゆめゆめ〜/Yume Yume」| ゼイタクビョウ/Zeitakubyo (2007)
“Dream Dream” basically sounds like it would’ve been perfect for an anime OP or ED. Toru raps in this too~

「DEEPER DEEPER」| Jinsei×Boku=/人生×僕= [“Lifetimes×Me=”] (2013)
I believe Ryota and Tomoya wrote this one.

「Decision」| 35XXXV (2014)
Another song in which I enjoyed both the original Japanese and International version. The full English version on the 35XXXV Deluxe album featured American singer Tyler Carter.

「I Was King」| AMBITIONS (2017)
Yeah…you’ll find me karaoking this on Smule alot haha.

「20/20」| AMBITIONS (*Japanese Version Only) (2017)
This only appears on the Japanese edition of the Ambitions album.

「Hard to Love」| AMBITIONS (2017)

It’s another softer sounding song. It has more acoustic sounds compared to their other songs that have a heavier rock sound. I’m pretty sure Taka wrote this with his parents in mind. They were originally against him wanting to pursue music. It’s a song that has a message of “Hey…I know I was a pain in the butt when I was younger. I did alot of things that made me hard to love. But I realize you loved and cared for me the whole time. I understand and appreciate that now that I’m older. So thank you.” 

「Notes’n’Words」| The Beginning (Single)(2012)
This is one of the tracks from their single The Beginning. It’s a softer song. It’s kind of a corny love song…but I love it haha~

「(Hidden Track)」| AMBITIONS(*Japanese Version Only) (2017)
This was the hidden track at the end of the Japanese version of the Ambitions album. It’s a very soft, sweet, and soothing song.

BONUS

Taka has collabed with a bunch of different artists; Both Japanese and International artists. Sum41 and Simple plan are just two of the internationally known artists he’s worked with. I definitely recommend checking some of those collabs out. Here are two collabs that I like~

「バイ・マイ・サイ(By My Side)」| Taka (ONE OK ROCK) × Noda Yojiro (RADWIMPS) 
Taka collabed with Noda Yojiro of RADWIMPS (You should know them for the 君の名は/Kimi no Na wa/Your Name movie OST). The song was a charity single for the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes.

「Voice」| Pay money To my Pain × Taka (ONE OK ROCK)
Taka collabed with Pay money To my Pain, aka P.T.P, on “Voice”. The track was a tribute to “K” Kei Goto, the vocalist of P.T.P. K unfortunately was in poor health and suddenly passed away from heart failure.

[“Holy shit Minty…This was a hella long music post… Can you like chill?” No~ʕ •̀ ω •́ ʔ]