Greetings everybunny! Thank you for listening to Thursday Mornings, and please say tuned for Bento Box at 11am.
Today's artist is LUNA SEA: Luna Sea were the definitive visual kei band of the '90s, rivaling even X Japan , with whom they had a master-pupil relationship -- two members of X Japan, which itself split in mid-'90s, discovered Luna Sea in 1990. Luna Sea's sound was firmly based in '80s hard rock, but the band had a versatile, almost proggy approach to songwriting, and its softer side, displayed later on in the group's career, proved equally strong.
Initially founded in 1986, by bassist J and rhythm guitarist Inoran while in high school, the band was originally called Lunacy. In 1989 they recruited lead guitarist Sugizo, drummer Shinya and vocalist Ryuichi, a lineup that remained the same until Shinya's death in February 2026. They released a few demo tapes prior to renaming themselves Luna Sea and releasing their self-titled debut album in 1991. The band achieved their breakthrough success with a sold-out tour in 1991, which helped them get a contract with MCA Victor, and with the release of their second album Image (1992), which reached number nine on the Oricon music chart. Following the critically acclaimed albums Eden (1993), Mother (1994) and Style (1996), the band switched to Universal in 1998 and released their best-selling studio album, Shine. In late 2000, after their seventh studio album Lunacy, Luna Sea disbanded.
Luna Sea reunited for a one-off reunion concert in 2007 at the Tokyo Dome, and again in 2008 for the hide memorial summit. In 2010 the group officially reunited and held a world tour. Three years later they released their first new album in thirteen years, A Will. Their ninth album, Luv, followed four years later in 2017. At the end of 2019, their tenth album Cross, co-produced by Steve Lillywhite, became their first to top Billboard Japan.