Iceman (Japanese band)

Iceman was a three-man Japanese J-pop music group, consisting of Daisuke Asakura (keyboards), Kenichi Ito (guitar), and Michihiro Kuroda (lead vocals).

They officially came together on June 5th, 1996, when a press conference was held in Tokyo to announce the two musicians who would accompany Daisuke Asakura in his next musical venture after the break up of Access

Between 1996 and 1999, they released six albums, a multitude of PV and live videos, and even a video game. They had a unique and varied sound; sometimes hard electronic rock (Shining Collection), sometimes soft pop (Edge of the season), and even techno sounds (Caution).

Iceman is probably most well-known for "Shining Collection", a song used in the anime OVA by Asakura during his time as music director and composer for the series. The song has enjoyed a small spike in popularity outside of Japan thanks to its use in the anime, as well as a cult flash cartoon hosted on Newgrounds called "A Sticky Night of Love" [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/157598] .

The majority of the music was written by Daisuke Asakura, with several exceptions by Kenichi Ito. And though Michihiro Kuroda was the lead singer, Kenichi Ito and Daisuke Asakura had their hand at performing many of the songs.

The group was rumored to have broken up around 2000 when Michihiro Kuroda left the group to pursue a solo career. The split became official on 2001, when funding issues arose.

Discography

ingles

* "DARK HALF~ TOUCH YOUR DARKNESS" (29 July 1996)
* "BREATHLESS NIGHT SLIDER" (18 November 1996)
* "Edge of the season" (3 May 1997)
* "FINAL PRAYER" (21 August 1997)
* "8 banme no tsumi" (21 November 1997)
* "LOST COMPLEX" (21 March 1998)

Albums

* "POWER SCALE" (26 May 1997)
* "Digiryzm Mutation" (21 May 1998)
* "Gate II" (6 June 1999)
* "Gate I" (7 July 1999)
* "gate out - 1st Remix Album" (11 November 1999)
* "gate out - 1st Analog Album" (27 November 1999)
* "GATE // white" (21 December 1999)

DVD

* "0:00-H“ICEMAN" (26 November 1996)
* "V-SCALE 1" (1 May 1997)
* "LIVE SCALE 1997 - 1st Live" (22 October 1997)
* "V-MUTATION" (21 May 1998)
* "Iceman Live Mutation 1998 - 2nd Live" (21 November 1998)
* "CRAZY JET" (29 April 1999)
* "GATE V" (22 September 1999)
* "LIVE GATE 1999 ~Type Around at yoyogi-daini~ - 3rd Live" (21 January 2001)
* "GATE V" (22 September 1999)
* "DVD Video - Iceman Clips" (9 March 2005)