UVERworld
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| UVERworld | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Sangoku Road (Sound Goku Road)(Pre-debut) |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genre(s) | J-Rock/J-pop |
| Years active | 2005–Present |
| Label(s) | gr8! Records |
| Website | http://www.uverworld.com/ |
| Members | |
| TAKUYA∞ Katsuya Akira Nobuto Shintarou | |
| Former members | |
| Seika (Pre-debut) Hiko | |
UVERworld (ウーバーワールド Ūbāwārudo?) is a Japanese rock band known for their mixture of musical genres such as hard rock, electronic, and beat-boxing. UVERchan, the band's mascot, is a fictional bear-bat like character, which appears on several of their covers.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
The five-member band known as UVERworld first formed in 2003, and were known as "Sangoku Road." The band originally consisted of seven members, and released a demo CD which ended up selling 3,000 copies. Unfortunately, one of the band members, the saxophonist Seika, left the group (the other was Hiko, who left after he married). After his departure, Ace∞trigger renamed himself as TAKUYA∞ and the band renamed itself to UVERworld.
According to an interview with the band there was another vocalist who left, however this vocalist hasn't yet been identified. Though it appears that that person may have left some time before Seika did, as Seika is the only one of the two credited on the demo CD and pictured with very early live photos of the band pre-UVERworld.
2005 was the year that the band signed with the label gr8! records, which is under Sony Music Records. The band made their debut with the single "D-tecnoLife", which served as the 2nd opening theme song for the anime BLEACH. After three months UVERworld's second single, "CHANCE!" was an opening theme for the PSP game Bleach: Heat the Soul 2 and the last single released in 2005.
On January 25 2006 "just Melody", their third single, ended up at #17 on the Oricon charts. Three weeks later UVERworld's 1st album Timeless was released, breaking the top 10 at #5 and selling 60,000 copies. Seika made a brief return during this album, playing saxophone for track 5, Yasashisa no Shizuku. After a three month break, UVERworld released "Colors of the Heart" as the third opening theme for BLOOD+, an anime series based on the animated movie, Blood: The Last Vampire. The single debuted at #3 and was the highest position a UVERworld single had ever reached at that point in time. Their 5th single, entitled SHAMROCK, was released on August 2 and was used as the ending theme for the J-Drama Dance☆Drill, a show about a group of girls who aspire to become cheerleaders. UVERworld 6th Single was be released on November 15, 2006, entitled "Kimi No Suki na Uta", the song was used as the theme song for the TBS TV show Koi Suru Hanikami! or Honey Coming! from October until December. It was the first ballad released as an UVERworld single, and it reached number two on the Oricon charts (the highest place for an UVERworld single thus far) until it fell off of the charts three and a half weeks later. It sold around 70,000 copies according to the Oricon sales charts. February 21, 2007, UVERworld released a new album titled BUGRIGHT. It features UVERworld's latest singles that were released after Timeless, including their song for Death Note the Last name soundtrack.
They have also come out with a new song called "endscape", which was featured as the first opening theme for the Toward the Terra animated series (based on a 1977 manga), and which was released as a single on May 302007.
Most recently, UVERworld have released a new single called "Shaka Beach ~Laka Laka La~. It was released in a duel format, CD and CD+DVD on August 82007.
They have announced that thier 3rd album will be called proglution
[edit] Songs in popular culture
- D-tecnoLife was used as the 2nd opening to the anime Bleach.
- CHANCE! was used as the opening in the game Bleach: Heat the Soul 2.
- SHAMROCK was used as the ending theme for the Japanese Drama; Dance☆Drill.
- Kimi no Suki na Uta was used as the theme song for the show; Koi Suru Hanikami!
- endscape was used as the 1st opening for the anime Terra He "Toward the Terra."
- Colors of the Heart was used as the 3rd opening for the anime Blood+.
- Ukiyo Crossing was used as the theme song for the Japanese Drama; Hataraki Man
[edit] Members
- TAKUYA∞ (b. December 21,1979) - vocals and programming
- Katsuya (b. February 22,1981) - guitar
- Akira (b. March 08,1984) - guitar
- Nobuto (b. February 14,1980) - bass
- Shintarou (b. November 05,1983) - drums
- UVERchan - invisible 6th member of UVERworld, mascot
[edit] Former members
- Seika - Saxophone (Pre-debut)
- Hiko - another vocalist
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
| # | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1st / Debut Single | D-tecnoLife | 108,579 copies sold |
| 2nd | CHANCE!
| 36,058 copies sold |
| 3rd | just Melody
| 22,405 copies sold |
| 4th | Colors of the Heart | 77,657 copies sold |
| 5th | SHAMROCK | 97,091 copies sold |
| 6th | Kimi no Suki na Uta 君の好きなうた
| 82,172 copies sold |
| 7th | endscape | 60,921 copies sold |
| 8th | Shaka Beach ~Laka Laka La~ シャカビーチ~Laka Laka La~ | 49,730 copies sold |
| 9th | Ukiyo Crossing 浮世CROSSING
| 62,030 copies sold |
[edit] Albums
| # | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1st / Debut Album | Timeless
| 88,935 copies sold |
| 2nd | BUGRIGHT
| 127,488 copies sold |
| 3rd | PROGLUTION
| N/A |
[edit] External links
- UVERworld Official Site
- UVERworld Oricon Profile
- UVERworld.org - English fansite
- Tofu Records Interview
- The UVERworld PPN's Wiki Page
- The UVERworld Tiki-Tokyo-Nights Wiki Page
- XA-Musicbg:UVERworld
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