Uverworld
Uverworld is a Japanese rock band consisting of six members and originating from Kusatsu, Shiga. They have released eleven studio albums and over thirty singles and have sold over three million records worldwide.
"Uverworld" is a term coined by the band, combining the German word "über" with the English word "world" to form a phrase that means "crossing above the world". While based in rock music, their sound incorporates elements of hip-hop such as rapping, scratching, and beatboxing, as well as heavy guitar riffs.
History
2000–2005: Beginnings and debut
The six-member band known as Uverworld first formed in 2002, and were known as Sound Goku Road. The band originally consisted of seven members, and released Prime'03, a demo CD which ended up selling 3,000 copies. Unfortunately, Ryohei, the original lead vocalist, left the band. After Ryohei's departure, Ace∞Trigger renamed himself "TAKUYA∞" and they changed the name to UVERworld following Akira's idea. At the band's major debut, the saxophonist Seika was rejected by their record label, and could not debut together with the rest as a full band member. He remained as a support member until his hard-earned return in 2014.According to an interview with the band, there was another vocalist who left the band. However, this vocalist has not yet been identified. 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.
The year 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 was the second opening theme for the anime Bleach. The single made its debut in the Oricon charts at the fourth spot with 32,000 copies together with Mr. Children's twenty-seventh single, "Yonjigen Four Dimensions" on the top spot. The single then later dropped to seventh place in the second week with 16,306 copies sold. The third week in the Oricon charts saw the single dropped 2 places to the ninth spot with 13,761 copies. The single lasted five weeks in the Top 30 weekly singles ranking. The single's sales and downloads were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
Three months later, Uverworld's second single, "Chance!" was used as the commercial and opening theme for second PSP game of Bleach: Heat the Soul series. The band's second single first entered the Oricon charts on the fifth spot with 14,150 copies. The single later dropped to the 23rd spot selling 6,360 copies on the second week. The single's ranking remained the same, however the number of copies sold on the third week was fewer than the previous week with 5,495 copies. The single only managed to stay on the Top 30 weekly singles ranking for three weeks.
2006–2008: ''Timeless'', ''Bugright'' and ''Proglution''
On January 25, 2006, the band's third single "Just Melody" ended up at number-seventeen on the Oricon charts. Three weeks later Uverworld's first album Timeless was released, breaking the Top 10 at number-five 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 number-three and was the highest position any of Uverworld's singles had reached up to that time.Their fifth single, entitled "Shamrock", was released on August 2, 2006, and was used as the ending theme for the drama Dance Drill, a show about a group of girls who aspire to become cheerleaders. Uverworld's sixth single was 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 the broadcast of October until December. It reached number two on the Oricon charts, which was the second highest place for an Uverworld single so far until it fell off of the charts three and a half weeks later. It sold around 79,659 copies according to the Oricon sales charts.
On February 21, 2007, Uverworld released their second album titled Bugright. It featured the singles Uverworld had released after Timeless. "Nagare, Kūkyo, This Word" was included in the tribute soundtrack titled as The Songs for Death Note The Movie: The Last Name Tribute for Death Note. On March 6, 2007, the band was also part of an event called 'We Love Music Vol.2' held in the Shibuya-AX where Uverworld performed against Sid.
The band's third album, titled Proglution, was released on January 16, 2008, and contains a full eighteen tracks. The album also contains their singles "Ukiyo Crossing", "Endscape" and "Shaka Beach: Laka Laka La". The album was released in a CD-only version and a limited edition that includes an extra DVD. Proglution sold over 150,000 copies. June 11, 2008, saw the release of the single "Gekidō/Just Break the Limit!". "Gekidō" was used as the fourth opening theme of the anime series D.Gray-man while the song "Just Break the Limit!" was used as a support song for Pocari Sweat's CM. Two more singles were released in 2008, "Koishikute" and "Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi". "Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi" was used as the opening for the second season of the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 anime. The single became the band's first number-one single on Oricon, with approximately 181,784 copies sold. The single has since gone on to become the highest selling single from the band.
2009: ''Awakeve''
On February 18, 2009, the band released their fourth album titled Awakeve. The album sold over 115,000 copies on its first week, and ranked number-two on the Oricon album chart. A DVD of their live performance in Nippon Budokan was released on April 29, 2009. The band's thirteenth single was released on August 5, 2009, titled as "Go-On." The single's title track was featured as the second ending theme on the Japanese broadcast of the first season of House. The band performed at 2009's Inazuma Rock Festival held in Shiga Prefecture. They also released their fourth DVD of the Awakeve Tour 09 on September 30, 2009.The band's fourteenth single was released on October 28, 2009, entitled "Kanashimi wa Kitto" for the Tokyo Broadcasting System drama Shōkōjo Seira, based on the children's novel, A Little Princess written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The song's lyrics was written by Takuya and was co-composed by both the lyricist and Satoru Hiraide while the arrangement was done by the band and Hiraide. On October 9, 2009, an English official website was announced and it went online at 12 pm Japan Standard Time.
A best of album titled Neo Sound Best was announced on November 9, 2009, and released on December 9, 2009. They were also scheduled to perform at the 2010 Ontama Carnival together with Funky Monkey Babys and Flumpool.
2010–2012: ''Last'' and ''Life 6 Sense''
Their fifteenth single "Gold" was released on March 31, 2010, making it their first release of the year. The music video for "Gold" was made into 3-D, making it the first 3-D music video in Japan. It was premiered on April 17, 2010. Additionally, their fifth album Last was released two weeks later on April 14, 2010. Their sixteenth single "Qualia" was released on September 15, 2010, and contains the ending theme song for the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 movie and the title song for the PSP game Last Ranker.Their seventeenth single "No.1" was released on November 24, 2010. "No.1" was featured as their opening song for their concert Last Tour Final at Tokyo Dome on November 27, 2010. Their eighteenth single "Mondo Piece" was to be released on March 23, 2011. However, due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the release date was pushed back to April 6. It was also previewed at an earlier concert at the Tokyo Dome as their final song. Their nineteenth single "Core Pride" was selected to be the 1st opening theme for the anime Blue Exorcist.
The band released their sixth album Life 6 Sense on June 1, 2011. The album's title was leaked out in bands page on Japanese Wikipedia and the following month the band released their 6th DVD titled Last Tour Final at Tokyo Dome 2010/11/27. On December 14, 2011, the band released their twentieth single entitled "Baby Born & Go/Kinjito". Blu-ray versions of UVERworld 2008 Premium Live at Nippon Budokan and Last Tour Final at Tokyo Dome were released on December 17, 2011.
On March 28, 2012, UVERworld released their 21st single entitled "7th Trigger" and 6 days later they released another Live DVD & Blu-ray UVERworld 2011 Premium Live on Xmas at Nippon Budokan which was at April 4, 2012.
2012–2014: ''The One''
On August 8, 2012, the band released their 22nd single "The Over" which was used as the ending theme of Kuro no Onna Kyoushi. Three months later on November 28, 2012, the band released their 7th album entitled The One. After the release of 7th album, Uverworld released a re-cut single from their latest album entitled "Reversi". It was used as the movie theme song for Blue Exorcist -The Movie.On August 14, 2013, the band released their 24th single "Fight for Liberty / Wizard Club'" as their first single of 2013. "Fight for Liberty" was used as the opening theme song for the anime Space Battleship Yamato 2199, while "Wizard Club" was used as the ending theme song for the TV series Kaikin! Bakuro Night.
On November 6, 2013, Uverworld release their 10th video and their first full "Men's Festival" concert footage Kings's Parade Zepp DiverCity on DVD and Blu-ray after their long period of The One Tour 2012–2013. Uverworld finally decided to have the full Live House Footage from Zepp DiverCity as their main concept instead of arenas, stadiums or halls. On December 18, 2013, the band released their 25th single "Nano-Second" which was their second and last single of 2013.
On March 19, 2014, they released their 2nd video album UVERworld Video Complete -Act.2- from Life 6 Sense to The One promotional videos which also includes a Live bonus disc from 2013.12.25 Arena Live 2013 Winter Queen's Party at Nippon Budokan.
On March 26, 2014, it was announced that Uverworld would have their former member from Sangoku Road and live support member, Seika as their new 6th member to the group. On March 27, 2014, the band officially announced their next major concert would take place on July 5, 2014, at Kyocera Dome Osaka.