[From left: Ken (Guitarist,Main composer), Tetsu (Leader,Bassist), Hyde (Vocalist,Main lyricist), Yukihiro (Drummer)]

L'Arc~en~Ciel (ラルク アン シエル, Raruku An Shieru, "the rainbow" in French) is a popular Japanese rock band, formed in 1991. They are one of the most popular and affluent bands in Japan. They are known for their Pop/Rock sound while they occasionally produce heavier or more experimental tracks, ranging from techno to loose ballads with full string orchestration. The group has sold over 15 million albums, 30 million singles, and millions of other units, such as videos, and have been voted #58 in HMV Japan's "Top 100 Japanese Pop Artists" of all time. L'Arc~en~Ciel continuously dominates the Oricon charts.
P'unk-en-Ciel is an alter ego of L'Arc-en-Ciel. Introduced in 2004, Hyde takes over guitar, Ken the drums, Yukihiro plays the bass, while Tetsu performs the vocals. P'unk-en-Ciel's songs have a more punk sound and their music is usually heavier and faster with a different tone due to Tetsu's vocals. Hyde wears a pirate patch over his left eye in P'unk-en-Ciel performances. Yukihiro is known to wear a gas mask; however, this has only been seen once at a live concert during their Smile tour in 2004.

Each member is called in capital letters Tetsu P'unk, Ken P'unk, Hyde P'unk and Yuki P'unk. Also, as a way to identify the songs from P'unk-en-Ciel, Yuki P'unk has to yell in every song "One, two, three four!". Each member produces one song of their choice, and they alternate their productions.
Their songs are recorded and used as B-sides on singles from 2004 and their performances can be found as extras on Live DVDs. P'unk-en-Ciel also had a television appearance with the television personality Aoki (from Music Fighter) and performed live with her at Budokan performing Round and Round 2005.

Adapted from: Wiki.ThePPN and Wikipedia *click on the title to see more*
Album recommendations (in no specific order):
[1996.12.12] True
[1999.07.01] ray
[2001.03.14] Clicked Singles Best 13
[2003.03.19] The Best Of L'Arc~en~Ciel 1994-1998
[2003.03.19] The Best Of L'Arc~en~Ciel 1998-2000
[2004.03.31] SMILE
[2005.06.22] AWAKE
[2007.11.21] KISS
*click album's name for tracklist and Oricon rank*




There's a L'Arc~en~Ciel playlist on imeem and Seventh Heaven(KISS album) at the right side of the blog. Feel free to listen to it anytime! Mata ne~!