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. The band was formed in 1989 as a quintet initially named Lunacy. Guitarist Shinobu "Inoran" Inoue and bassist Jun "J" Onose were high-school buddies, who met ...