Golden Bomber


Golden Bomber is a Japanese visual kei "air" rock band formed in 2004 and signed to the independent label Euclid Agency. Despite not actually performing the music themselves, they have gained popularity through their theatrical "live shows".

History

The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist Shō Kiryūin and guitarist Yutaka Kyan. The band's concept was "Hyper Giga Hybrid Super Subculture Visual Rock". Teppei Chimatsuri joined as the first drummer and keyboardist; when he left later, Dankichi Tenkujō took over as drummer. Jun Utahiroba joined as bassist on April 22, 2007. On April 5, 2009, Dankichi left the band, and on April 10, 2009, Kenji Darvish joined as a drummer.
None of the members except Shō Kiryūin play instruments. The band's studio recordings are done by professional musicians, as attested to by the group members themselves. Shō Kiryūin writes the music and lyrics, and creates the arrangements with Tatsuo of Everset. In concert, the band members don't play their instruments; instead they dance and perform and act out dramas with the aid of videos. Shō Kiryūin is the only one who always sings live. The band's creative output, including songs, music videos, promotional videos and performances, contains parodies of famous bands, artists, manga and other aspects of Japanese popular culture.
Their first single, "Dakishimete Shwarz", was released on May 1, 2008, followed by four more consecutive singles. Their first two albums, The Golden J-Pops and Renai Shuukyouron, went on sale on December 24, 2007, and their first live DVD was released that same day. In 2009, Golden Bomber had 12 consecutive one-man concerts on the 1st day of each month and performed a country-wide "4646" tour. Their most famous song, "Memeshikute", was released as a single on October 21, 2009.
Through 2010 they continued putting on their one-man concerts during the "Oneman Kowai" and "Zenryoku Baka" tours, and they released 12 consecutive monthly songs on dwango.jp. All the songs released on dwango reached No. 1 in dwango daily rankings. In 2010, the band was due to perform in Shanghai, China, during Expo 2010, but the performance was cancelled.
The popularity of the band increased significantly through 2010. By the end of the year, Golden Bomber had received major debut offers from seven companies, but rejected them all, preferring to remain a "good-for-nothing" indie band out of consideration for feelings of their fans. Their "Mata Kimi ni Bangou wo Kikenakatta" single reached No. 4 on Oricon weekly charts and was ranked No. 3 on the Oricon 2010 year top selling indies singles chart. The Shimohanki Best album was ranked No. 3 on the Oricon weekly chart.
In 2011, Golden Bomber continued with the "Life is All Right" spring national tour. In July, Golden Bomber performed at Japan Expo in Paris, France, and played two live shows in Seoul, South Korea, in August. The "Yareba Dekiru Ko" national tour was announced for autumn 2011.
On January 14 and 15, 2012, Golden Bomber performed at Nippon Budokan, and at Osaka-jō Hall on January 21.
Golden Bomber also performed for two days at the Yokohama Arena on June 17 and 18, 2012. On June 18, 2012, they released their first international album, The Golden Best, in the UK, USA, France, Germany, Taiwan, and Korea.
Golden Bomber also hosts a program on Nico Nico Douga. The members have collaborated with different artists not only from music, but also from the fashion industry, with different fashion brands and game producers.
In 2014, Golden Bomber was featured in Japanese television commercials for Mr. Donut and Softbank.
In 2016, the band was one of the first acts announced for Visual Japan Summit, a multi-artist event hosted by rock group X Japan at Makuhari Messe on October 14-16, 2016.
In 2019, Golden Bomber released a song and music video titled "Reiwa" just hours after the new Japanese era's name had been officially announced.

Members

Different musicians took part in Golden Bomber recordings, Golden Bomber also appeared together with a number of bands.

Discography

Singles

Albums

Best Albums

PV

01. Memeshikute
02. Mou Bandoman ni Koi Nante Shinai
03. Mata Kimi ni Bangou wo Kikenakatta. 3 versions
04. Boku Quest. 3 versions
05. Memeshikute from Memeshikute/Nemutakute single. 2 versions
06. Yowasete Mojito
07. Ii Hito　（いい人）
08. Sayonara Fuyumi　（さよなら冬美）
09. Chéng lóng hěn kù
10. Dance My Generation
11. Gomen ne, aishiteru

DVD

Limited Distribution

Omnibus works

  1. Tribute to Murakami Omnibus Release
  2. * Featured song: Ikiteita Murakami
  3. Zany Zap Complex Omnibus Release
  4. * Featured songs: Sick Lady Tabun.../Tsunami no Johnny/Motokare Korosu
  5. Neo Voltage Omnibus Release
  6. * Featured song：†Za・VKei-ppoi Kyoku†

    Songs written for other artists

Media

Drama CD