Siam Shade (stylized as SIAM SHADE) was a five-piece Japanese rock band, formed in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

in 1991. The classic line-up of Hideki on vocals, Natchin on bass, Kazuma and Daita on guitar, and Jun-ji on drums broke onto the

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. Some ...

scene alongside a multitude of other artists in the early 1990s and enjoyed a decade of relative popularity before disbanding in early 2002. The members have reunited several times since 2007 for one-off concerts and short tours. Outside Japan, Siam Shade is best known for " 1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō", which was the sixth ending theme of the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' anime. Daita's work on their song "Triptych" was named the 83rd best guitar instrumental by ''

Young Guitar Magazine ''Young Guitar Magazine'' is a Japanese guitar magazine first published in May 1969 by Shinko Ongaku Shuppansha (now Shinko Music Entertainment), with a focus on folk music. Starting from the 1970s, it started covering hard rock in the 1970s, an ...

'' in 2019.

History

1989–2002: Formation and career

In March 1989, high school friends Hideki (then known as "Chack") and Natchin (then spelled "Natin") formed a band called Power. They won the Summer Grand Prix Award at that year's Yokohama High School Hot Wave Festival. However, due to many member changes, including the brief enrollment of guitarist Daita, Power disbanded. After befriending guitarist Ataru, singer Hideki and bassist Natchin formed a new band with him called Atæru in 1991. In 1992, the members met Love Jets vocalist Kazuma at a talent show, and later recruited him as guitarist. Drummer A completed the lineup and Atæru began touring, playing small clubs and local venues. They changed their name in 1993, settling on Siam Shade. The band released a free demo tape on May 1, shortly after which Ataru left. In July, Hideki and Natchin called on their former schoolmate and one-time band member Daita to fill in the lead guitar slot. The group distributed the single "Doll" in December 1993. The band became close with

Luna Sea Luna Sea (stylized as LUNA SEA) is a Japanese rock band formed in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1986. Due to the use of make-up and costumes early in their career and their widespread popularity, they are considered one of the most successful and inf ...

, with

Ryuichi Kawamura is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known as lead singer of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989. He started a solo career in 1997, three years before Luna Sea disbanded in 2000. In 2005, Kawamura for ...

promoting Siam Shade in 1994 by playing their demo tape on his radio show. Siam Shade had another small lineup change in 1994 when A left the band and was replaced by Jun-ji in May, solidifying the group's final lineup. Jun-ji was a roadie for Luna Sea drummer

Shinya Yamada Dir En Grey (stylized as DIR EN GREY and previously as Dir en grey) is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in February 1997 and currently signed to Firewall Div., a sub-division of Free-Will. With a consistent lineup of guitarists Kaoru and Di ...

. At the end of the year, the band released their first self-titled album. In 2004, it was named one of the top albums from 1989-1998 in an issue of the music magazine ''Band Yarouze''. In October 1995, Siam Shade released their major label debut single "Rain" on

Sony Music Entertainment Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is oper ...

. Their second album ''Siam Shade II'' followed in November. The band burst into the mainstream in late 1996 when " 1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō", a single from their latest album ''Siam Shade IV'', was selected as an ending theme for the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' anime series. The song's popularity led to increased ticket sales, concert DVDs, and television appearances. The band continued to release albums and DVDs well into the next decade. In 2002, while touring in support of their recently released compilation albums, the band announced that they would be disbanding. Siam Shade's ten-year career came to an end on March 11, 2002 at the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

. Later that month, the band released their final album, ''Siam Shade X'', a compilation of all their previous releases.

Post-Siam Shade activities

After the disbandment Hideki quickly begin his solo career. In 2003, he joined the band

Acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a se ...

, before leaving in 2006 to focus on his solo career again. However, in 2007 he formed Detrox with KAZ ( Sads) and they released a large amount of material before going on hiatus after their show on April 18, 2012. Kazuma also started his solo career after the disbanding. In 2003, he performed a duet with

Vivian Hsu Vivian Hsu ( Atayal: ; ; born March 19, 1975) is a Taiwanese singer and actress. Hsu rose to prominence in Japan, where she made her first appearance in 1995 and has become a highly recognized celebrity with her countless appearances in media dur ...

, "Moment", which was used as the second opening theme to the anime ''

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. The ninth installment in the '' Gundam'' franchise, ''Gundam SEED'' takes place in a future calendar era, in this case the Cosmic Era. In this era, mankind has dev ...

''. He has also played support guitar for

Anna Tsuchiya is a Japanese singer, actress and semi-retired model. Since 2005, she is primarily known as a singer.Oricon pr ...

and Damijaw (solo project of Janne Da Arc member Ka-yu). Daita started a solo career, wrote the soundtrack for the movie ''Volcano High'', and played support guitar for

Kyosuke Himuro is a former Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He was lead vocalist of the rock band Boøwy from 1981 to 1988. After the band disbanded he started a successful solo career, becoming one of Japan's best-selling artists. In 2003, HMV Japan r ...

. In 2005 he formed the band Binecks. In 2012, he formed the American-based band Broken Arrow with vocalist Nik Frost, who sang on the Siam Shade Tribute album. Natin, now going by the stage-name "Natchin", has a solo career and in 2008 formed the band Big Bites with Anchang (

Sex Machineguns Sex Machineguns (stylized as SEX MACHINEGUNS) is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in 1989. Their music is characterized by a heavy focus on bass as well as extremely fast guitar and bass solos. The band uses the image of "shock ...

) and Annie (

The Yellow Monkey The Yellow Monkey, sometimes abbreviated as , is a Japanese rock band originally active from 1988 to 2001, before officially disbanding in 2004. They announced their reformation in 2016. The band's name was derived from the ethnic slur that J ...

). Junji has a solo career, was support drummer for

Takanori Nishikawa is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, voice artist, radio personality, and businessman. He performs under the stage name T.M.Revolution (TMR), which stands for , stemming from the famous '80s pop electronic band TM ...

a.k.a. TM Revolution, and in 2008 formed the band Bull Zeichen 88. He is also a regular support member for Acid Black Cherry.

2007–2016: Reunions

Siam Shade held a reunion concert, titled Heart of Rock, on November 18, 2007 at the Nippon Budokan, in honor of their manager who died the previous April. The band stated that the reunion was a one-off event, and would not pave the way for a new single or album release. On October 27, 2010 a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

to Siam Shade was released, '' Siam Shade Tribute''. It is composed entirely of Western artists such as Sebastian Bach, Richie Kotzen,

Mike Vescera Michael Vescera is an American heavy metal singer for various bands and projects like Loudness (''Soldier of Fortune'', ''On the Prowl'', ''Live at the Budokan''), Obsession (''Marshall Law'', ''Scarred for Life'', ''Methods of Madness'', '' ...

and George Lynch. Siam Shade's song " 1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō" was covered by

Nogod Nogod (stylized as NoGoD) is a Japanese visual kei heavy metal band formed in 2005 by vocalist Dancho. Originally named , the band has been using simply Nogod since signing to the major label King Records in 2010. History 2005–2009: Formati ...

on the compilation ''Crush! -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-'', which was released on January 26, 2011 and features current

bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement. "Glacial Love" was covered by Guild on its sequel, ''Crush! 2 -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-'', that was released on November 23, 2011. On April 29, 2011, Siam Shade announced on their new website, which went online on the same day, that they would reunite once again. This time for a free concert on July 17 at

Zepp The Zepp music halls are a group of Japanese music venues covering every area of the country. They play host to many international tours and are a popular stop among Japanese musicians. Each venue takes the Zepp name, along with the city in whic ...

Sendai, entitled Siam Shade Spirits ~Return The Favor~, "to bring hope" to the victims of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peni ...

. A second concert was held on October 21 at

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...

. The band released the album ''Siam Shade Spirits 1993'' on April 14, 2012, which includes their entire first album, the new "opening" track called "Light For Closed Your Eyes" and two previously unreleased songs from their indie years. The group released their first new song in 12 years "Still We Go" digitally on September 18, 2013, with a limited physical release following the next month. Siam Shade performed their first nationwide tour in 12 years at the end of 2013, titled Heart of Rock 7. The three date tour began on October 27 at Saitama Super Arena and went to Zepp Nagoya on November 11, before ending on November 12 at Zepp Namba. Siam Shade performed at the first night of

's Lunatic Fest at Makuhari Messe on June 27, 2015. In celebration of the 20th anniversary since their major label debut, the group held The Abiding Belief concert at Saitama Super Arena on October 18, 2015. The six date The Ultimate Fight Series tour continued the celebration and took place in February 2016 at various Zepp venues. The anniversary celebration ended with three Final Road Last Sanctuary concerts in October 2016; the

Osaka International Convention Center , also known as , is a convention center in the city of Osaka, Japan. Located adjacent to the convention center is underground Nakanoshima Station served by Keihan Electric Railway Nakanoshima Line as the terminus. Past events *2001 World To ...

on the tenth, the

Nakano Sun Plaza Hall , formerly Nakano Sun Plaza, is a hotel in Nakano, Tokyo. The hotel includes a concert hall, the Nakano Sunplaza Hall (formerly Nakano Sun Plaza Hall). Built in 1973,

on the fifteenth, and the last taking place on the twentieth at the Nippon Budokan.

Members

* –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(1991–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016) * –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

(1991–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016) * – vocals,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(1992–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016) * –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...

, backing vocals (1993–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016) * –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

(1994–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016) ;Former members * Ataru – guitar (1991–1993) * Ozz... – drums * A – drums (1992–1994)

Discography

;Albums * '' Siam Shade'' (December 10, 1994) Oricon Indies Ranking: No. 2 * ''Siam Shade II'' (November 11, 1995)

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Al ...

Ranking: No. 27 * ''Siam Shade III'' (October 2, 1996) No. 20 * ''Siam Shade IV - Zero'' (January 21, 1998) No. 3 * ''Siam Shade V'' (December 2, 1998) No. 6 * ''Siam Shade VI'' (July 26, 2000) No. 8 ;Singles * "Doll" (December 19, 1993, distributed for free at first one-man live) * "Rain" (October 21, 1995)

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

Ranking: No. 49 * "Time's" (February 1, 1996) No. 44 * "Why Not?" (February 21, 1997) No. 69 * "Risk" (May 21, 1997) No. 42 * "Passion" (July 30, 1997) No. 35 * No. 3 * No. 10 * "Dreams" (August 5, 1998) No. 4 * "Never End" (October 28, 1998) No. 9 * No. 8 * "Black" (September 15, 1999) No. 5 * "1999" (September 29, 1999) No. 7 * No. 10 * "Life" (April 11, 2001) No. 13 * No. 14 * "Love" (November 28, 2001) No. 20 * "Still We Go" (digital on September 18, 2013; limited CD on October 27, 2013) ;Compilations * ''Siam Shade VII'' (November 29, 2000) No. 23 * ''Siam Shade VIII B-Side Collection'' (January 30, 2001) No. 17 * ''Siam Shade IX A-Side Collection'' (March 6, 2002) No. 20 * ''Siam Shade X ~Perfect Collection~'' (November 27, 2002) No. 98 * ''Siam Shade XI Complete Best ~Heart of Rock~'' (September 26, 2007) No. 26 * ''Siam Shade XII ~The Best Live Collection~'' (October 27, 2010) No. 23 * ''Siam Shade Spirits 1993'' (April 14, 2012) ;Various artists compilations * ''Emergency Express 1994'' (February 1, 1994, "End of Love") * '' Tribute Spirits'' (May 1, 1999, " Pink Spider") ;Tribute albums * ''Siam Shade Tribute'' (October 27, 2010) No. 15 * ''Siam Shade Tribute vs Original'' (July 11, 2011) No. 253 ;Videos * ''Siam Shade'' (VHS: March 1, 1997, DVD: December 6, 2000) * ''Siam Shade V2 Clips '95 - '97'' (VHS: March 1, 1998, DVD: December 6, 2000) * ''Siam Shade V3'' (VHS: March 20, 1999, DVD: December 16, 2000) * ''Siam Shade V4 Tour 1999 Monkey Science Final Yoyogi'' (VHS: August 30, 1999, DVD: September 22, 1999) * ''Siam Shade V5'' (September 6, 2000) * ''Siam Shade V6 Live Otoko ki'' (December 31, 2000) * ''Siam Shade V7 Live in Budokan Legend of Sanctuary'' (March 27, 2002) Oricon DVDs Ranking: No. 34 * ''Siam Shade V8 Start & Stand Up Live in Budokan 2002.03.10'' (May 29, 2002) No. 14 * ''Siam Shade V9 The Perfect Clip'' (January 8, 2003) No. 49 * ''Siam Shade Spirits ~Return the Favor~ 2011.10.21 Saitama Super Arena'' (March 10, 2012) * ''Siam Shade Heart of Rock 7 Live at Saitama Super Arena'' (April 1, 2014) * * ''~Final Road Last Sanctuary~ Siam Shade Live 2016 Live at Nippon Budokan 2016.10.20'' (October 21, 2018)

References

External links

*
Hideki Official blog

Kazuma Official blog

Daita Official website

Natchin Official website

Jun-ji Official website
{{Authority control Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Visual kei musical groups Japanese progressive rock groups Japanese hard rock musical groups Japanese heavy metal musical groups Musical groups from Tokyo Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 1991 establishments in Japan