Sambomaster | |
Background: | group_or_band |
Origin: | Japan |
Genre: | Alternative rock, indie rock, power pop,Pop-Punk |
Years Active: | 2000 - present |
Label: | Sony Music Japan |
Website: | The Official Sambomaster Site Sony Music's Official Site |
Current Members: |
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is a Japanese rock band signed by Sony Music Japan. The band's name, Sambomaster, refers to the Russian martial art called Sambo.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Takashi Yamaguchi first met drummer Yasufumi Kiuchi at a university music club where they were both members.[1] The duo ran into bassist Yoichi Kondo during February 2000, and the three went on to officially form the band now known as Sambomaster. They made their debut at a live house in Tokyo's Kōenji district and soon followed this up with the self-production of their first single "Kick no Oni" (Kicking Demons), which they spent nearly a year working on. It was subsequently released in April 2001 as a limited edition of 300 copies. For the first time, listeners outside of a live show were presented with vocalist and frontman Yamaguchi's vocals, which shift between a soft, sandpaper-like melodic voice to all-out screaming madness. Sambomaster's musical style is a blend of punk/classic rock, pop, jazz and rock ballads.
The year 2003 saw the release of their very first major-label album, Atarashiki Nihongo Rock no Michi to Hikari and a live performance at the Fuji Rock festival's Rookie GO GO. This led to a huge rise in their success and more widespread notoriety. They have been gathering acclaim from both critics and regular listeners ever since.
In 2004 and 2005, Sambomaster released the majority of their hit singles including "Seishun Kyōsōkyoku" and "Sekai wa Sore wo Ai to Yobundaze"; "Seishun Kyōsōkyoku" was used as the fifth opening theme to the hit anime series Naruto, and "Sekai wa sore Ai to Yobunda ze" ended up being the ending theme to the popular Japanese television drama Densha Otoko (and also Nintendo DS game Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2).[2] They were also asked to do the main theme to the movie Koi no Mon, which became the song Tsuki ni Saku Hana no Yō ni Naru no. Recently, their song Hikari no Rock was featured as the single for the film . In March 2009, their song "Kimi wo Mamotte, Kimi wo Aishite" was announced to be the nineteenth ending song in the hit anime series Bleach. In 2010, they performed the ending theme for the Kuragehime anime, "Kimi no Kirei ni Kizuite Okure". In 2018, their song "Love Song" was used as the ending theme for Tada Never Falls In Love, being covered by the voice actors for the male and female leads.
In March 2005, 3 members of the television variety show Haneru no Tobira ("You Knock on a Jumping Door!") filmed a comedy sketch called "Busambomaster". The sketch featured a music video parody of the 3 Haneru members pretending to be Sambomaster, playing a Sambomaster-style song called "Iitai koto mo iezuni" (English: "Not even saying what I want to say"). However, the 3 Haneru members also made their faces look like caricatures of Yamaguchi, Kiuichi, and Kondo, with features such as enlarged nostrils, buck teeth, and profuse sweating. The lyrics of the song were also made to humiliate lead vocalist Yamaguchi's tendency to scream his thoughts out to fans before and after songs (and sometimes in the middle of songs). Many Sambomaster fans were offended by the song, and after much protesting, Haneru no Tobira eventually apologized on their show.
Takashi Yamaguchi (山口隆 Yamaguchi Takashi)
Yasufumi Kiuchi (木内泰史 Kiuchi Yasufumi)
Yoichi Kondo (近藤洋一 Kondo Yoichi)
"Kick no Oni" (indie) (April 2001)
"Utsukushiki Ningen no Hibi" (April 7, 2004)
"Tsuki ni Saku Hana no Yō ni Naru no" (July 22, 2004)
"Seishun Kyōsōkyoku" (December 1, 2004)
"Utagoe yoo kore" (April 27, 2005)
"Sekai wa Sore wo Ai to Yobundaze" (August 3, 2005)
"Subete no Yoru to Subete no Asa ni Tamborine o Narasu no da" (November 2, 2005)
"Tegami" (March 15, 2006)
"Itoshisa to Kokoro no Kabe" (August 2, 2006)
"I Love You" (April 18, 2007)
"Very Special!!" (July 25, 2007)
"Hikari no Rock" (December 12, 2007) (theme song for BLEACH: The DiamondDust Rebellion)
"Kimi wo Mamotte, Kimi wo Aishite" (June 10, 2009) (19th ending theme for Bleach)
"Rabu Songu" (November 18, 2009) (English: Love Song)
"Dekikkonai o Yaranakucha" (February 24, 2010)
"Kimi ni Kirei no Kizuite okure" (December 1, 2010)
"Kibo no Michi" (February 23, 2011)
Atarashiki Nihongo Rock no Michi to Hikari (December 12, 2003)
Sambomaster wa kimi ni katarikakeru (January 19, 2005)
Boku to Kimi no Subete o Rock 'n Roll to Yobe (April 12, 2006)
Ongaku no Kodomo wa Mina Utau (January 23, 2008)
Kimi no Tameni Tsuyoku Naritai (April 21, 2010)
Sambomaster Kyukyou Besuto (February 23, 2011)
Sambomaster to Kimi (2015)
YES (March 20, 2018)[3]
Atarashiki Nihongo Rock o Kimi ni Katarikakeru: Sambomaster Shoki no Live Eizōshū (November 2, 2005)
A UMD version with the same track list was released on November 30, 2005.
Atarashiki Nihongo Rock no Video Clip Collection (October 18, 2006)
Boku to Kimi no subete wa Hibiya yagahi Ongaku-do de Utae (December 6, 2006)
Sekai rokku senbatsu fainaru zenkyoku yatte ura natsu fesu o buttobashita hi (March 12, 2008)
Hōkago no Seishun (July 2, 2003)Sambomaster appeared in a split album with the band Onanie Machine. This is the first appearance of some of Sambomaster's future hit songs, such as "Utsukushiki Ningen no Hibi", "Tegami", and "Sononukumori ni Yō ga Aru" (as well as the other two in their own right). The versions on this album feature only Takeshi, Yasufumi, and Yoichi playing the songs. Later versions, such as the versions on their singles and albums, were touched up, polished, re-mixed, and sometimes re-recorded with extra musicians. In a sense, the songs on this album are the "original" versions. Sambomaster songs are tracks 6 to 10 below:
E.V. Junkies II "Guitarocking" (June 30, 2004)
Sambomaster has 2 songs on this compilation album, tracks 9 and 14 below. "Itoshiki Hibi: Country Sad Ballad ver." is a version with Alice singing most of the vocals.
Magokoro Covers (September 1, 2004)
Sambomaster recorded a cover of Magokoro Brothers' "Dear John Lennon" in this compilation album.
Koi no Mon original soundtrack (September 23, 2004)Sambomaster was featured in the original soundtrack of the movie Koi no Mon. Sambomaster songs are tracks 1, 2, 14, 15, and 18 below: