Introduction

Glay Glay is one of the best Japanese rock bands of today. The name Glay is actually pronounced "gurei" [Japanese pronunciation of the color gray] and [to quote Hirohiko Inoguchi, Glay's executive producer] the misspelling of the word is "their way of being different." Okay...

Glay are Teru [on vocals], Takuro [on guitar], Hisashi [on guitar], and Jiro [on bass]. They usually perform with two supporting/guest musicians: Toshi Nagai [on drums] and D.I.E. [on keyboards]. However, D.I.E. left Glay in 1998 to pursue his solo career. Their new supporting musician is Shigeo "sk55" Komori, Fumiya Fujii's keyboard player. Shige also used to play for Hotei Tomoyasu.

Glay is usually difficult to categorize in the Japanese music industry because neither the J-Pop nor the J-Rock fans are ready to accept them in either category. Takuro created Glay because he wanted a band that could play both punk [rock] music as well as ballads and pop music [see Glay History], but the band suffers the position of forever being a misclassifed group. Teru once said: "I sometimes think we are disliked by rock bands or people who like rock... Our band is kind of rock, but there's no connection with other rock bands, and we also don't belong to the Japanese pop music. I think we're located in an ambiguous position. Japanese pop acts say we're visual [rock], and rock people say our band sounds like Japanese pop music."

But it is because their music is diverse that they appeal to so many people. Glay's songs are a mixture of pop and rock music, ranging from folk rock ballads [like BELOVED] to heavy metal/hard rock songs [like ACID HEAD and HIT THE WORLD CHART!]. Most of their songs are upbeat and have very catchy tunes. Although Takuro was greatly influenced by the Beatles, they also have a distinct American sound [Glorious, in particular, sounds like a classic American Rock 'n Roll song]. Part of the reason for this is the way Teru sings-he also likes to rap and yell. And his hoarse voice can easily be distinguished from other singers. But a lot of it is due to the composition and arrangement of Glay's songs, and more importantly, the way Takuro and Hisashi play-they do not use a lot of distortions. I think it's ironic how Hisashi and Takuro both say that they like [British] punk rock music, and yet produce an American sound.

Onstage, Teru acts very cool-he has a natural groove to each of Glay's songs. He often tries to encourage the crowd by yelling out things like "Motto! Motto!" [more! more!] or "Ikuze!" [let's go!]. Jiro looks like a little boy. He likes to jump and make faces at the camera, and sometimes even throws himself on the ground! Hisashi has a very effeminate persona. He usually wears women's clothes and he likes to spin and sway a lot, but this does not affect his incredible guitar skills. Takuro acts as masculine as Teru and often shows off impressive guitar play. Glay's songs usually have very long [guitar] solos due to the fact that Hisashi and Takuro share the solos. But Hisashi is undisputedly the lead guitar player, whereas Takuro usually takes up a more rhythm guitar position [even though he does have solos all to himself].

Glay is my favorite Japanese rock band because I really love their songs. And I believe that they do belong in the J-Rock category, just not the Visual rock category. My biggest regret is that Glay never made a video for their "BELOVED YOU" Tour because BELOVED is my favorite album. But their performance at Yoyogidaiichitaiikukan [in the video, HIT THE WORLD] during their "HIT THE WORLD" Tour is the best I've seen so far. This is a band who knows how to play and produce good music.

Final update: 2001.4.15
All Main Members' Equipment and Pictures