Shazna (stylized as SHAZNA) is a Japanese

visual kei is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock. Som ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band originally active from 1993 to 2000. Originally having a strong

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

influence, the band's sound greatly shifted to a more new wave direction by 1996. At their peak, they were considered one of "the big four of visual kei" alongside

La'cryma Christi La'cryma Christi (Latin for "The Tears of Christ") was a Japanese visual kei rock band originally active from 1991 to 2007. At their peak, they were considered one of "the big four of visual kei" alongside Fanatic Crisis, Malice Mizer and Shazna. ...

Fanatic Crisis Fanatic Crisis (Japanese: ''ファナティック・クライシス'', often stylized as FANATIC◇CRISIS, and simply called FtC by fans) was a Japanese rock band active from 1992–2005. They were called "the big four of visual kei bands" alon ...

and

Malice Mizer Malice Mizer (stylized as MALICE MIZER) was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from August 1992 to December 2001. Formed by guitarists Mana and Közi, their earlier music and themes were characterized by their strong French and classical in ...

. Their 1998 major label debut album ''Gold Sun and Silver Moon'' reached the number two position on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

chart, sold over a million copies and was named "Rock Album of the Year" at the

Japan Gold Disc Award The is an award presented by the Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Associa ...

s. In 2006, Shazna reunited, though after releasing an album and a single they disbanded once again in 2009. In 2017, Shazna officially reunited again for their 20th anniversary.

History

Formed in 1993 with

Izam Izam (stylized as IZAM, born 23 April 1972 (1976), in Fuchū, Tokyo) is a Japanese musician, ''tarento'', and actor. His real name is . He is best known as the singer of the visual kei rock band Shazna Shazna (stylized as SHAZNA) is a Japanes ...

on vocals, A・O・I on guitar, Niy on bass and Katsura on drums. Katsura left in 1996 and joined Baiser, leaving the trio. Perhaps the band's most notable feature was vocalist Izam and his choice of fashion; taking the cross-dressing feminine look to an extreme. Izam was largely influenced by

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

and

Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...

, whom he later did a cover album of in 1998. With the release of their major debut single "Melty Love" on August 27, 1997, Shazna gained immense popularity and many awards. It reached number two on the

chart, earned them the "Best Newcomer" award from the

Japan Cable Awards are an annual set of music awards, sponsored by the . The awards are presented annually since 1968 and are based on requests from the audience received by cable broadcasters. The awards is finished in 2017, Kiyoshi Hikawa, who is a Japanese enk ...

(Nihon Yusen Taisho) and helped their album ''Gold Sun and Silver Moon'', which was named "Rock Album of the Year" by

s, be certified Million by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

. The album was named one of the top albums from 1989–1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine ''Band Yarouze''. In 1999, Izam married famous

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

Hinano Yoshikawa Hinano Yoshikawa (吉川ひなの, born Ai Takada; December 21, 1979) is a Japanese actress, fashion model and singer. Biography Life and career Yoshikawa was born on December 21, 1979. In Higashikurume, Tokyo, Japan. She started her fashion m ...

, only to file for separation two months later and divorce two months after that. Both the marriage and divorce caused a scandal. In October they released a cover of

Ippu-Do was a Japanese synthpop trio of the early 1980s led by singer/songwriter Masami Tsuchiya. History Ippu-Do debuted in 1979 with ''Normal'', made up of Tsuchiya on vocals and guitar, Akira Mitake on keyboards, and Shoji Fujii on drums. Between 19 ...

's "Violet September Love" as a single. In 1999 Shazna signed to

Toshiba EMI , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Whe ...

and released the album ''Pure Hearts'' in June. Their last single (and their second Christmas single) "Winter's Review" was released in December. In January 2000, a singles collection was released, however in October Shazna went on an activity pause. The members all went in different musical directions. Izam, with a much less feminine look, became a solo singer and turned to acting, appearing in several films such as ''Chinese Dinner'', ''

G@me ''Game'' (stylized ''G@me'') is a 2003 Japanese thriller film, based on a novel by Keigo Higashino. Plot Advertising executive Shunsuke Sakuma (Naohito Fujiki) is at the top of his game. Winning numerous advertising awards, the cool Shunsuke l ...

'' and '' Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Act Zero'', a special episode of the live-action series based on the popular ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The seri ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

. Back in 1998 Izam also had a cameo appearance in the '' Crayon Shin-chan'' movie '' Crayon Shin-chan: Blitzkrieg! Pig's Hoof's Secret Mission'', which used Shazna's song "Pureness" as its theme song. A・O・I performs as an acoustic guitarist and singer, and became a filmmaker. Niy performs with the band Fanble. In June 2006, after 6 years Shazna announced that they were reuniting. They held their first concert on September 5, 2006 and released the single "Heart" on April 25. They released the album ''10th Melty Life'' on August 8, 2007, 10 years after the release of their major single debut "Melty Love". On November 3, 2008, Shazna announced that they would disband and played their last concert on March 22, 2009 at Shibuya O-East. Shazna's song "Melty Love" was covered by BugLug on the compilation ''Crush! -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-''. The album was released on January 26, 2011 and features current

bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement. In August 2017, Shazna officially reunited for the 20th anniversary of their major label debut. In addition to Izam, A・O・I and Niy, their lineup includes three new female members; second vocalist Raychell, drummer Natsume and saxophonist Asuka.

Members

– vocals (1993–2000, 2006–2009, 2017–present) * A・O・I – guitar (1993–2000, 2006–2009, 2017–present) * Niy – bass guitar (1993–2000, 2006–2009, 2017–present) *

Raychell Raychell (born January 13, 1985) is a Japanese-Thai musician, singer, actress and voice actress who is affiliated with Ace Crew Entertainment. She made her major debut as a singer in 2010 under the name Lay. In 2019, she made her voice acting de ...

– vocals (2017–present) * – drums (2017–present) * Asuka – saxophone (2017–present)

Former members

* – drums (1993–1996)

Discography

Albums

* ''Sophia'' (November 30, 1994) * ''Melty Case'' (March 14, 1996) * ''Raspberry Time'' (August 1, 1996),

Albums Chart Peak Position: No. 43SHAZNAのアルバム売り上げランキング
oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-11-23. * ''Promise Eve'' (January 22, 1997) No. 16 * ''Gold Sun and Silver Moon'' (January 22, 1998) No. 2 * ''Pure Hearts'' (June 30, 1999) No. 15 * ''10th Melty Life'' (August 8, 2007)

Compilation albums

* ''Best Album 1993–2000: Oldies'' (January 1, 2000) No. 24 * ''Single Best Shazna & Izam'' (September 5, 2007, singles collection & Izam's solo) * ''SHAZNA LOVE SELECTION - EP'' (December 12, 2014, ballads collection)

Singles

* "Stillness for Dear" (April 17, 1994, limited to 330 copies) * "Dizziness" (December 8, 1995, limited to 500 copies) * "Dizziness" (January 5, 1996, re-release with a B-side track, limited to 1000 copies) * "Melty Love" (August 27, 1997), Oricon Singles Chart Peak Position: No. 2SHAZNAのシングル売り上げランキング
oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-11-23. :Ending theme of * No. 2 :Ending theme of * "White Silent Night" (December 3, 1997) No. 1 :Ending theme of * "Sweet Heart Memory" (January 7, 1998) No. 2 :Ending theme of * "Pureness" (April 22, 1998) No. 4 :Theme song of '' Crayon Shin-chan: Blitzkrieg! Pig's Hoof's Secret Mission'' * "Love is Alive/Dear Love" (April 29, 1998) No. 6 * No. 6 :"Lover" - Ending theme of :"Virgin" - Ending theme of * "Pink" (January 27, 1999) No. 15 :Ending theme of * "Piece of Love" (March 31, 1999) No. 17 :Theme song of ''

Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne is a magical girl ''shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Arina Tanemura. The story is about the adventures of a high school girl, Maron Kusakabe, who is the reincarnation of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) and transforms into a phan ...

'' * No. 20 * "Aqua" (September 22, 1999) No. 45 :Ending theme of * "Winter's Review" (December 8, 1999) No. 44 :Ending theme of the Japanese version of ''

The Rugrats Movie ''The Rugrats Movie'' is a 1998 American animated comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series ''Rugrats''. It was directed by Igor Kovalyov and Norton Virgien and was written by David N. Weiss & J. David Stem. The film introd ...

'' * *

Demos

* "Enmity" (1993) * "Shazna" (1993) * "Voice of..." (January 9, 1994)

Videos

* * ''Melty Love'' (October 8, 1997) * ''Silent Beauty'' (January 1, 1998) * ''Pure Hearts'' (April 28, 1999) * ''Dear September Lovers Shazna Live at Budokan '98'' (December 26, 1998) *

References

External links

Official website

Aoi's official website
{{Authority control Visual kei musical groups Japanese new wave musical groups Japanese rock music groups Japanese pop rock music groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 Musical groups reestablished in 2017