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LINE UP

* Vocal : Arimura Ryutaro
* Guitar : Nakayama Akira
* Bass : Hasegawa Tadashi
* Drums : Sasabuchi Hiroshi

* Drums : Shin [gone : 1994]
* Drums : Takashi [gone : 2001]

PROFILE
Although Plastic Tree has been around for more then ten years, one could say they’re an underrated band.

In their early years they sounded very much like a new-wave band, but through the years their sound has changed. Now their music can be described as guitar rock, characterized by the vocalist’s amazing voice.

Author : Kay (2006-06-29)
BIOGRAPHY
Plastic Tree started in December 1993, and after switching drummers a few times, the line up finally settled on Ryutaro on vocals, known for his sweet voice and gloomy lyrics, which can often be quite worrying. Tadashi on bass, who took the position as leader of the band, and was responsible for most of the music. Akira on guitar, who also wrote a good deal of their music, and Takashi on drums.

After several singles that were handed out for free at their concerts at livehouses, they released their first mini-album, -Strange fruit- kimyou na kajitsu, in 1995. It had a dark sound and the influence from bands like The Cure and Radiohead were very obvious. In 1997 they went major, and soon after they released their first full-length album, Hide and Seek. The following year they released their second album, Puppet Show, which represents the earlier period of Plastic Tree, characterized by it's gloomy sound and a lot new wave influences.

They released their third album in September 2000, Parade, which seemed to signalize a change in Plastic Tree's sound. Parade still had the same dark sound as the former albums, although it became a little easier to get into as it was a little more pop-y.

In early 2001, Takashi left the band, and over a year later, Sasabuchi Hiroshi (Buchi for short) joined. It seemed like a new start for Plastic Tree. This wasn’t just because of the change of drummers, but also because their music started changing more and more, turning more into a pop-rock direction, sounding slightly more optimistic and leaning towards britrock.

Though not everybody seemed to agree with this change of style, Plastic Tree continued to release an impressive amount of singles and albums and managed successfully to reach out to more people with their music.

In 2004, things started to change for the band again, as they released the album Cell in August. A new sound engineer was hired, giving the band a new sound, but yet at the same time it seemed like they returned to their roots. A while after the release of Cell the band announced that they left their record company SWEETHEART, and moved over to the record company J-ROCK. Some other changes were made; the official website moved and their fanclub changed from "Sickroom" to "Jellyfish breed".

The band finally dared to test the waters overseas in the summer of 2006, as they planned a world tour which would contain concerts in Europe: Germany, France and Finland, and two concerts in Mexico. Unfortunately, the concerts in Mexico were canceled, but the European concerts turned out to be very successfull. Even so successful, that they returned a year after to perform at a German Anime Convention, AnimagiC. Shortly after, the band performed their 10th anniversary concert at the legendary Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.

Their most recent album is Nega to Posi, an album in which the band members put their own satisfaction as their first priority. With the album they put forward who they are, what they stand for, what Plastic Tree really is, and the result is simply stunning! Soon, the band will return to Europe, for a longer tour this time.

It seems that even though the band has just celebrated their 10th anniversary, they slow no signs of slowing down and will never stop to please their countless fans that have lost their hearts to this charismatic band.