a taste of love?

hyde

most people pronounce "hyde" as "haido"...since that IS the correct japanese way, and hyde IS japanese ^_~ . but i know a lot of people, myself included, who just say "hyde" with one syllable (as in hyde park), simply because it's faster =P . of course, "hyde" isn't hyde's real name ~~ i'm led to believe that it was originally takarai hideto. but, like most personal details about hyde, it's not CONFIRMED as being true ^^;; . here're a few stats and other oddities...some may not be 100% correct...

real name: takarai hideto
b'day: 29th jan, 196? (probably 1967 or 1968)
birthplace: wakayama
bloodtype:
height: 158cm, or about 5'2" (apparently tmr's 4'9", so hyde's TALL in comparison ^v^ )
weight: 35kg, or 77lb (scary, huh?)
waist size: 23 inches (58.5cm)

useless facts

cigarettes: mild 7 light (started smoking at 15)
instruments he can play: guitar, bass, harmonica, saxophone
fave transportation: plane
fave color: monochrome
fave smell: bakeries, gardens
fave flower: sakura (cherry blossom) and mandarin orange
fave fruit: persimmon
fave animal: cat, dolphin
fave product: blue glass collectables
fave season: autumn/winter (he likes snow)
fave food: curry, japanese food
fave snack: pocky sticks (same as yuki *rolls her eyes*)
fave actress: fujisaki nanako
fave cds: david sylvian "brilliant trees"; the mission "gods own medicine"; depeche mode "some great reward"
fave laruku song: as if in a dream (ah ~~ i love that too! ^_^ )
sports: shaolin kung-fu, soccer, break dancing (*ack*)
world's greatest invention: "beautiful people"
casual listening: nirvana, cranberries
occasional hobbies: playing computer games, reading books ~~ especially stephen king horror novels
best subject in school: art (he was going to be a manga-ka!)
worst subject in school: maths (damn. MY fave subject ^^;;)
miscellaneous facts: he's slightly addicted to TV; described himself as a child as a "useless crying worm"; wrote a song about a flower he saw when driving to the studio (3 guesses what the name of THAT song was ^_~ ); had to share a room with sakura on tour; and apparently he was the one who came up with l'arc can, NOT ken *smirk*

freetalk

if i may take the liberty of saying so, i think hyde's one of the best damn vocalists in the entire j-rock industry ^_^ . maybe only gackt's better. but...actually, hyde's voice has changed a lot over the time laruku's been together *shrug*. after all, 6 years of professional singing's bound to improve you SOMEWHAT ^_~ . at first...especially in dune...hyde's voice was pretty ordinary. your usual visual band-vocalist type...good, but not stand-out GREAT. by the time laruku got to heavenly, his voice'd changed to lighter ~~ kinda more pop. now...hm. i don't know if he got coaching or something, but there's definitely a difference...i hear it most when listening to 'dive to blue'. not being a huge expert on singing (okay, i can't sing for CRAP), i'm not exactly in a position to say, but...um...there's this whole vibrato thing happening (as seen in gackt and kirohayu) that gives depth to the whole performance. it's COOL ^_^ . unfortunately, hyde's one pretty big drawback is LIVE PERFORMANCES *sweatdrop*. on cd, his voice is oh-so-smooth, the change from high to low is *wow*...and on stage, it's like...*pained expression*. in concerts it's not so bad, just a few rough edges here and there, and it cracks a bit sometimes. but OH ~~ in talkshows...i don't know if it's because hyde isn't TRYING, but...have you ever heard 'niji' sung entirely on one note? ^^;; . some songs are worse than others. 'flower' is consistently out of tune, as is 'niji'...but 'dive to blue', 'caress of venus' and 'kaze ni kienaide' are usually okay...*wince*

looks-wise, hyde's interesting ^_^ . from femme to masculine...actually, i was fond of the long hair, but in march of the year that heavenly was released, he cut it all off ^^;; . and from then, everything's just gone WAY downhill, as far as haircuts go *small sob*. here's a quick list of the hyde-haircuts _i_ remember (in approximate order...my faves are in bold, really awful ones are red):

1. long, black, and wavy (with natural eyebrows! *laugh*) ~~ dune (93-4)
2. long, brown, and curly ~~ blurry eyes
3. long, REALLY STRAIGHT, orange-red with black regrowth ~~ vivid colors

4. chin-length, black bob ~~ heavenly (live in concert vid)

5. shorter, glossy black ~~ lies and truth

6. same style as above, but magenta pink ~~ true
7. pretty much the same as 5, but not as shiny ~~ niji, winter fall
8. longer, black, gravity-defying ~~ early 98
9. BLONDE! ~~ mid 98 (actually, i don't mind this SO much. it's cute on my 99 calendar)
pink
10. green...thankfully short-lived. he looked like lawn ^^;; ~~ mid 98
11. even worse than blonde...the SUPER PEROXIDE look - WHITE hair ~~ mid 98
white
12. black...accessorized by red contacts ~~ shinshoku
13. brown with lighter streaks ~~ early 99 (not too bad, i don't MIND it)

one of these days, hyde's hair is gonna fall OUT from over-bleaching *sigh*. the thing is, even with awful hair, hyde is STILL gorgeous (perfect skin, delicate features, great clothes, cool attitude). unfair, ne? ^_^ . actually, the only time i've ever seen him look ABSOLUTELY AWFUL was when he grew a mustache for the cover of shoxx *ugh*. his latest fashion statement is the barbed wire necklace...which i faithfully copied and wore religiously until i got told it's a crime to wear 'offensive weapons' in adelaide...^^;;