Rosier (song)

"Rosier"
Single by Luna Sea
from the album Mother
B-side"Rain"
ReleasedJuly 21, 1994
GenreHard rock, alternative rock
Length10:58
LabelMCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Luna Sea
Producer(s)Luna Sea
Luna Sea singles chronology
"In My Dream (With Shiver)"
(1993) 		"Rosier"
(1994) 		"True Blue"
(1994)
Music video
"Rosier" on YouTube

"Rosier" is the third single by Japanese rock band Luna Sea, released by MCA Victor on July 21, 1994. It is the first single from their fourth studio album, Mother. The song reached number 3 on the Oricon Singles Chart and was certified Platinum by the RIAJ for sales over 400,000. Its music video won Best Music Video at the 36th Japan Record Awards. It has been called the band's signature song, as well as a song symbolic of the visual kei movement.[1]

Composition

"Rosier" was written by bassist J.[2] During the creation of Luna Sea's 1993 album Eden, he experienced a personal crisis as a musician that took him to the point where suicide entered his mind.[3] He asked the other members for a break and visited a neurologist, where he reflected back on his life.[3] J said he then chose to live as a vagabond in the park near his house, sleeping on a bench, before going to London, where a guitar riff entered his head as he lay in Hyde Park.[3] By the time he returned to Japan, "Rosier" was complete. He said it was the first song he wrote for himself, previously he wrote songs in order to have them praised by others.[3] The lyrics came easily during a training camp for Eden, and J said he decided to make the song a suicide note to the earlier version of himself, so he wrote the English lyrics in the middle of the song.[3] He also performs these fast spoken English words on the recording and in live performances.[2] As a staple of Luna Sea concerts, he throws his mic stand over his head and behind his back after finishing the vocal part.[4]

Guitarist Sugizo cited "Rosier" as one of the songs wherein he tried to replicate the "psychedelic feel" of shoegaze bands by using effects, "like playing fast with a wah-wah pedal, or using tape-echo and harmonizers. I couldn't figure out how they did it, so I just made it into my own thing."[5]

The single version of "Rosier" is slightly different from the one featured on Mother. The former ends with the song fading out, while the album version ends with lead vocalist Ryuichi saying the English phrase "I am the trigger". With the exception of Singles, every compilation album released by the band includes the album version. An 8 cm CD of a live version of "Rosier" was given away to winners of a magazine contest. Live versions also appear on the band's Never Sold Out and Never Sold Out 2 albums.

Music video

The music video for "Rosier" opens with the camera spiraling down on to a coffin, similar to the single's cover art, with roses on it covering the glass window at its head. The majority shows the band performing the song against a white backdrop with smoke flowing along the ground. Black and white and light blue filters were also used, as was slow motion. A dominant feature is the camera work; a crane takes the viewer over the band 180 degrees from the front of its members, ending upside down at their backs, the opposite is also seen. 360 degree shots around the band are also shown.

Close-ups of the band members against a dark backdrop, separated from the camera by fluorescent lights, which provide the shots' only light, are inter-cut. During J's vocal part, the English lyrics appear flashing over the video in a typed font. The audio fades out while the video climaxes with a shot zooming in to the coffin's supposed glass window and a hand reaches out grabbing the camera. As the single version of the song, the audio does not end with the English phrase "I am the trigger", but the phrase is viewable in the video as it is written in red on the white drumhead of Shinya's snare drum.

Reception

"Rosier" reached number 3 on the Oricon Singles Chart, and charted for 25 weeks.[6] In 1998, it was certified Platinum by the RIAJ for sales over 400,000.[7] The music video for "Rosier" won Best Music Video at the 36th Japan Record Awards.[8] In a 2021 poll conducted by Net Lab of 4,805 people on their favorite Luna Sea song, "Rosier" came in first place with 945 votes.[9]

Music journalist Fuyu Showgun called "Rosier" a flawless song that has become a symbol of the visual kei movement.[1] He wrote that with "ephemeral lyrics, a worldview of decadent beauty, and a wailing minor melody", the song also features a thrilling arrangement that brings the band together to create a catchy sound.[1]

Track listing

All tracks written and arranged by Luna Sea.

No.TitleLength
1."Rosier"5:25
2."Rain"5:32

Personnel

Luna Sea
Production
  • Hitoshi Hiruma – recording and mixing

Covers

"Rosier" was covered by High and Mighty Color on 2007's Luna Sea Memorial Cover Album -Re:birth-,[10] and later included on their album Rock Pit.[11]

It was also covered by defspiral for Crush! 3 - 90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Love Songs-, which was released on June 27, 2012 and features current visual kei bands covering love songs by visual kei bands of the 90's.[12]

Pop singer Tomomi Kahala recorded a version for her 2014 Memories 2 -Kahara All Time Covers- album.[13]

Female heavy metal band Show-Ya released a version of the song for their 2014 cover album Glamorous Show ~ Japanese Legendary Rock Covers.[14]

Fantôme Iris, a fictional visual kei band from the multimedia franchise Argonavis from BanG Dream! covered the song in 2021 at their first solo live.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c "ヴィジュアル系"レジェンド"として、LUNA SEAがバンドマンから愛される理由". JB Press (in Japanese). 2023-07-07. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  2. ^ a b Shoji, Noriko (1995). "J [Luna Sea]". Mother & Sons: Noriko Shoji and 10 Rockers Mother & Sons 東海林のり子と10人のロッカー達. KK Bestsellers. p. 46. ISBN 4-584-18208-6.
  3. ^ a b c d e Yasuyuki, Jin (1998). J/Wake Up! Mother Fucker: Kon'ya, Sekai wo Yakitsukuse!! J/WAKE UP! MOTHER FUCKER 今夜、世界ヲ焼キ尽クセ!!. Sony Magazines. pp. 218–227. ISBN 4-7897-1254-0.
  4. ^ "「アルゴナビス」3万字超インタビュー。ボーカリスト＆音楽統括・北岡Pにニューシングル＆メディア展開の話を聞いた". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2021-07-14. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  5. ^ "Luna Sea rockers Sugizo and Inoran talk life at 25". The Japan Times. 2014-06-19. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
  6. ^ "ROSIER LUNA SEAのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典". Oricon (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-02-19. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  7. ^ "Japanese album certifications" (Enter Luna Sea into the アーティスト then select 検索) (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  8. ^ 第36回日本レコード大賞. Japan Record Award (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  9. ^ "【LUNA SEA】のシングル曲人気ランキングTOP26！ 第1位は「ROSIER」に決定！【2021年投票結果】". Net Lab (in Japanese). ITmedia. 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  10. ^ "Luna Sea Memorial Cover Album -Re:birth-". cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  11. ^ "ハイカラ、より自由度が増した4thアルバム完成". Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  12. ^ "Crush! 3-90's V-Rock best hit cover LOVE songs-". cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  13. ^ "華原朋美、中森明菜とLUNA SEAカバー配信". Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-09-10.
  14. ^ "Glamorous Show - Japanese Legendary Rock". cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
  15. ^ "それは幻想の一夜ーー「Fantôme Iris 1st LIVE -C'est la vie!-」ライブレポート。眷属たちの目に映る，銀の百合咲き乱れし王国". 4gamer.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-05-07.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.