Tools for Discovery: Luna Sea Albums Ranked

It has been a while since I did one of these, but with visual kei pioneers Luna Sea releasing Blu-rays on which they play nearly all songs from no fewer than six of their ten studio albums, now is as good a time as any to revive Tools for Discovery. And to be fair: much of Luna Sea’s discography is actually worth discovering. After all, Luna Sea is one of the few rock bands – and not just in Japan – that succeeded at throwing all the different influences of its band members on the table and combining them into something that is as unique as it is listenable.

At its best, Luna Sea is a band that can write a good pop song whilst retaining the muscle of rock music, and challenging themselves musically throughout. The guitars of Sugizo and Inoran are not distorted enough for them to be a hard rock band, but the rhythms of drummer Shinya and bassist J always have a powerful, almost punky energy. Their songwriting is progressive in the truest sense of the word, yet even their longest songs are accessible pop rock at heart. Their best work has a strong undercurrent of post-punk, new wave and gothic rock, but Luna Sea sounds nothing like its British influences. Or any other Japanese band, really, except for maybe a few hints of D’Erlanger on their earliest work.

This engaging approach has led to some amazing work that remains fresh to this day and – spoiler alert – two real stinkers. The following list will focus on Luna Sea’s studio albums exclusively, but their two collections of B-sides are very much worth seeking out as well. Once you hear songs like ‘Into the Sun’, ‘Slave’, ‘Claustrophobia’, ‘Twice’, ‘Kono Sekai no Hate de’, and the particularly gorgeous ‘Rain’, you might think the same as me: why did these songs never make it to any of their actual albums?

10. Luv (2017)

Words cannot describe my disappointment with ‘Luv’. It followed a surprisingly strong reunion album, and first single ‘Limit’ was fairly good, but there is not much else positive to mention. While I don’t mind a poppy Luna Sea, ‘Luv’ is powerless and – most surprisingly – annoyingly predictable. The band largely plays things so safe here that the album appears to be made for no one in particular. The semi-electronic ‘Ride the Beat, Ride the Dream’ is not for me, but it’s the only time the band takes a risk here. This would have been half-decent for a young, struggling band, but for an act like Luna Sea, that is nowhere near enough.

Recommended tracks: ‘Piece of a Broken Heart’, ‘Limit’

Order ‘Luv’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

Luv [Regular Edition]

LUNA SEA

9. Cross (2019)

At the time of writing, ‘Cross’ is Luna Sea’s most recent studio album. While it is a significant improvement over ‘Luv’, the album does suffer from a few flaws that I find hard to ignore. First off, this is Ryuichi’s worst recorded studio performance to date. The nasal tone he employs is probably a measure to not strain his voice too much, but it can be a bit overbearing. Also, there are too many ballads on ‘Cross’. Some of them are quite good, most of them are overly saccharine. But at least ‘Cross’ has a few good rockers, which is what its predecessor was sorely lacking.

Recommended tracks: ‘Closer’, ‘You’re Knocking at My Door’, ‘Anagram’

Order ‘Cross’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

Cross [Regular Edition]

LUNA SEA

8. Lunacy (2000)

Definitely the biggest leap in quality on this list, though ‘Lunacy’ does buckle under the weight of its own circumstances a bit. It was the final album before Luna Sea’s original break-up in late 2000, and some of the songs do show that the minds of the band members were already drifting towards their solo projects. The ballads on ‘Lunacy’ are an improvement over those on its predecessor, though the fact that most of them are clustered together around the middle of the album severely hurts its flow. Some rockers don’t sound quite as unique as Luna Sea used to sound, but they are generally good. The B-sides from this era are generally the better songs though.

Recommended tracks: ‘A Vision’, ‘Kiss’, ‘Sweetest Coma Again’

‘Lunacy’ is out of print, but nearly all of its songs are performed on this Blu-ray, which can be ordered from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

35th ANNIVERSARY TOUR 2024 ERA TO ERA BRAND NEW CHAOS [Scheduled to Ship in mid-APR]

LUNA SEA

7. Eden (1993)

The consensus among Luna Sea’s fanbase is that their first four albums are their classics. However, their third album ‘Eden’ never quite resonated with me as much as the others. Admittedly, it’s not helped by the fact that it is bookended by two of the band’s best albums, but the production and the songwriting being a bit lighter and dreamier than before doesn’t work quite as well for me. ‘Eden’ is still a good album with some excellent songs. If anything, the super low-key, violin-driven ‘Providence’ is one of the best Luna Sea ballads to date, and some of the lighter rockers are great, I just think the rest of their early work is even better.

Recommended tracks: ‘Jesus’, ‘Lamentable’, ‘Providence’

Order ‘Eden’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

Eden [CD+DVD]

LUNA SEA

6. Shine (1998)

‘Shine’ was Luna Sea’s big commercial breakthrough. Every single from the album went to either number 1 or 2 on the charts, and the excellent light rocker ‘Storm’ became the band’s best-selling single of all time by a significant margin. What is admirable is that while Luna Sea polished its sound a bit, they still sound like themselves here. For an album this accessible, ‘Shine’ is surprisingly experimental. At nearly seventy minutes, it is a bit longer than it should be, however, especially because it runs out of steam in its final ten-ish minutes. Also, sometimes I miss the sting of their hardest-rocking songs. But ‘Shine’ is exceptional for what it is, and it has aged unusually well.

Recommended tracks: ‘Unlikelihood’, ‘Storm’, ‘Love Me’

Order ‘Shine’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

Shine [CD+DVD]

LUNA SEA

5. A Will (2013)

Now, this is how you do a comeback album. ‘A Will‘ bursts with the joy of playing together again. And not just that: it contains what is still the greatest set of Luna Sea compositions since the mid-nineties. Stylistically, ‘A Will’ goes back to right before their definitive commercial breakthrough. The songs rock harder than most of their earliest work, and the accessibility doesn’t come with the same degree of polish as the material on ‘Shine’. The rockers are full of classy melodicism, while the ballads are heartfelt and feature none of that syrupy J-rock gloss. Genuinely one of their masterpieces.

Recommended tracks: ‘The End of the Dream’, ‘Glowing’, ‘Rouge’

Order ‘A Will’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

A Will [Regular Edition]

LUNA SEA

4. Luna Sea (1991)

For a debut album, ‘Luna Sea’ is remarkably accomplished. The album shows that Luna Sea had a very clear idea of what they wanted their idiosyncratic sound to be from the very beginning, and it almost always works. ‘Luna Sea’ has some of the band’s most aggressive material to date in the shape of ‘Shade’, ‘Chess’ and the blink-and-you-miss-it opener ‘Fate’, but the clean, shimmering guitars keep it firmly out of the punk or hard rock realms. The only reason why ‘Luna Sea’ is not in my top three is because I’m not too fond of this mawkish version of ‘Moon’ and especially ‘The Slain’. Everything else ranges from great to absolutely excellent.

Recommended tracks: ‘Fate’, ‘Blue Transparency Kagirinaku Tōmei ni Chikai Burū’, ‘Time Is Dead’

Order ‘Luna Sea’ – or its 2011 full re-recording – from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

LUNA SEA [CD+DVD]

LUNA SEA

LUNA SEA [CD+DVD]

LUNA SEA

3. Mother (1994)

‘Mother’ is the album on which Luna Sea matured. But in their case, that means reaching their full potential rather than losing what makes them special. ‘Mother’ is a highly varied album that ranges from introspective to as aggressive as pop rock can get. The excellent alternative rock of ‘Rosier’ is still on nearly every Luna Sea live set – often near the end, no less – and the melodic rocker ‘True Blue’ was their first number 1 single. And with songs that vary from the atmospheric opener ‘Loveless’ to the lengthy, progressive ‘Genesis of Mind ~Yume no Kanata e~’, the quasi-industrial ‘Face to Face’, or the biting ‘In Future’, there is simply a lot to enjoy here for just about anyone.

Recommended tracks: ‘Rosier’, ‘Genesis of Mind ~Yume no Kanata e~’, ‘In Future’

Order ‘Mother’ – or its 2023 full re-recording – from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

Mother [CD+DVD]

LUNA SEA

Mother

LUNA SEA

Mother [w/ DVD, Limited Edition]

LUNA SEA

Mother [w/ Blu-ray, Limited Edition]

LUNA SEA

2. Style (1996)

‘Style’ is the one album I always bring up to emphasize my disagreement with the consensus that the first four albums are Luna Sea’s best. It’s their fifth, and it’s spectacular. ‘Style’ takes everything ‘Mother’ did well, trims some of the fat, then refines the results even further. The album has a slightly harder nineties American rock edge than what came before, but it is still Luna Sea through and through. Every time I play ‘Style’, it surprises me once again how good the songwriting is. Not a single skipworthy song, and they all have their own unique identity. Closer ‘Selves’ is one of the most slept-on Luna Sea masterpieces, and ‘Hurt’ is another song that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. But honestly, they’re all incredible.

Recommended tracks: ‘Selves’, ‘Hurt’, ‘Desire’

Order ‘Style’ – or its 2023 full re-recording – from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

Style [CD+DVD]

LUNA SEA

STYLE

LUNA SEA

STYLE [w/ Blu-ray, Limited Edition]

LUNA SEA

STYLE [w/ DVD, Limited Edition]

LUNA SEA

1. Image (1992)

Sure, it may help that the two songs that definitively sold me on Luna Sea are on ‘Image‘, but it also is simply the greatest collection of songs the band released to date. While ‘Style’ might actually be ever so slightly more consistent, ‘Image’ contains the highest peaks on any Luna Sea album ever. It’s impressive how much progress Luna Sea made in the year since its debut came out, because ‘Image’ does everything the first album did even better. I also really like the sound of the album. It really feels like you’re standing in a room while the band is playing around you. ‘Déjàvu’ is probably the primary live staple of the band these days, and there is so much other great stuff on ‘Image’ – the gorgeous title track in particular. Easily my favorite Luna Sea album.

Recommended tracks: ‘Image’, ‘Déjàvu’, ‘Search for Reason’, ‘Mechanical Dance’

Order ‘Image’ from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan

Image [CD+DVD]

LUNA SEA

All Blu-rays containing performances of Luna Sea performing their first six albums live can also be ordered from nearly anywhere in the world at CD Japan below