Cinema Bizarre!

Cinema Bizarre consists of five guys from Germany who play SynthPop/rock/Power pop music.
They are a slightly androgynous, glam rock band from Berlin. They started in 2005 after Kiro, Strify, and Yu met at an anime convention in Berlin. Not long after, Shin and Luminor joined the group. Their first album, Final Attraction, was released in 2007. Love songs (They Kill Me) was their first single. After missing a few shows due to health problems, keyboardist Luminor left the band and Yu's close friend, Romeo, took his place.
None of them use their original names, but go by nicknames.

Here's a list of the members and what they do in the band:
Strify: Lead Vocals
Shin: Drummer
Romeo: Keyboard
Yu: Electric Guitar
Kiro: Bass Guitar
Former Member:
Luminor: Keyboard/Back up vocals

History of the band
Strify, Kiro, Yu met at an anime convention and hit it off. Later on Luminor (the previous keyboardist), and Shin joined the band. Luminor left the band in 2008 because of some health problems (rumored to be bulimia). Yu's friend, Romeo, took over his position.


Fame-Ball Tour
In May, my best friend, Sarai, and I bought tickets for the Fame Ball Tour.
The four acts included two bands we have never heard of; The White Tie Affair and Chester French, our favorite band from Germany; Cinema Bizarre, and the headlining act; Lady GaGa.
We had originally bought the tickets to just see Cinema Bizarre, but we were impressed by the whole show. We arrived 7 1/2 hours early and there were only two people waiting in front of us.
One of the girls let us in on a secret... that Strify and Shin were in having lunch in the cafe down the street! Of course, Sarai and went!

We got a table right behind them but we were so nervous and excited at the same time that we couldn't say anything. But right when they were getting up to leave, I turned around and said-like the dork I am- "HI!" That definitely caught Strify's attention. Thank God.
Those next ten to fifteen minutes were HEAVEN! Their English was so impressive, too. We talked about how much we LOVED their music (of course) and why we came to the concert (of course not for the other 3 bands but ONLY for Cinema Bizarre. We made that quite clear.) I think they probably fell in love with us.

Anyway, after indulging in conversation, getting our tickets signed, and taking a picture with the two, they went back to their tour bus and Sarai and I were left star struck.
We then went back in line and waited 6 1/2 more hours. Then the doors finally opened. Sarai and I rushed in so fast and good thing we did, we got to the gate and I could literally touch the stage from where we were standing!

After about ten minutes of waiting, the first band, Chester French, came on stage. I was surprised at how good they were. But who really cares? Next up were our Germans! FINALLY!
They only played four songs and I swear Sarai and I were the only ones that knew the lyrics, let alone knew who the heck these sexy Germans were. They played an AMAZING four songs! I think the band definitely noticed us coz we were basically screaming every darn word. It was nice.

When they were done and were walking offstage, we yelled at them, telling them we loved them and all the things crazy fan-girls do. Kiro (the bass player) even blew us a kiss. Next up was The White Tie Affair and then finally Lady GaGa.
Overall it was a wonderful show. Especially since we saw CINEMA BIZARRE!!! =)
To see a picture of our "run-in" with Strify and Shin, click here.
To see a video of the last part of Cinema Bizarre performing their last song and to see the band's reaction to Sarai and I being freaks, click here. (Kiro blowing us a kiss is included).

ToyZ
Cinema Bizarre's long-awaited new cd, ToyZ, was finally released August 21st. The cd was released all over Europe, Canada... pretty much everywhere but America.
Needless to say, I was kind of pissed.
The band had decided to release a separate album, Bang!, for fans in the U.S. that included a few tracks from ToyZ and a few from their first album, Final Attraction, that came out last year.
I've been a fan of Cinema Bizarre for a while now and since I had already gotten the Final Attraction cd, thanks to sources on the Internet, I was saddened by this new "Bang!" cd.
I mean I guess it's good for those who are new Cinema Bizarre fans. But what about us that have been devoted fans for a longer time?

So I looked it up online and in order to import the ToyZ cd from Canada (through Amazon), it would cost $45.98. Way too expensive. Instead, I began a search for a new source and I came across a file-sharing site. Now I'm not sure if this is illegal or not, so I will leave the web site's name out of this.

A girl in Europe had bought the ToyZ cd and uploaded the songs. How nice of her. especially nice since I got to download the whole album FREE.

Now I understand this might piss a lot of people off, saying I should buy their album instead of download it free off the internet.
But I promise that once I see Cinema Bizarre again, I will be more than happy to give them $15, the same price I would've paid if they would've released the freaking album in the United States!

CD REVIEW
General Information:
Cinema Bizarre, a SynthPop/power pop/rock, group from Germany, released their second Cd on August 21, 2009.
The album titled ToyZ, released on Island Records, includes 18 songs. There's also a deluxe edition Cd that contains four more.
Like I mentioned before, if ordering through Amazon, importing the album from Canada can cost $45.98. But there are cheaper ways of going about it. ;)
The album peaked at number 24 on German charts.
The first single of the album is called "I Came 2 Party". It features Space Cowboy who also has worked with Lady GaGa.

Rating:
I would definitely give this song 5 our of 5 stars, not only because I am a HUGE fan of Cinema Bizarre, but also because I think that almost anyone who listens to this album will love it. It's upbeat yet real. It's different, not like all the mainstream crap going around. It's a very fun and emotional album.