Non-American music

[Lirren]

I've recently found myself listening to a lot of music from groups and solo artists who don't sing in English. I partly got pulled into it because of my enjoyment in some of the music from the anime that I watch, which lead to L'arc en Ciel and Malice Mizer. But I also had someone send me some links to videos for Tokio Hotel and even though I don't speak a word of German, I really like the music a lot.

What bands do you guys listen to in languages you can't speak?

[Keaolien]

Ill Nino, a heavy metal band. Speak Spanish, but they do do english as well.
Rammstein, which I assume everyone knows.

All I can think of off the top of my head for now.

[Raxtull]

I have a humble collection of Japanese music, some pop and some rock, most notable Ayumi Hamasaki, Maaya Sakamoto, Dir en Grey, and D'espairs Ray.

Early Lacuna Coil is in Itallian, and of course, I've got all of Rammstein's American release albums (though I actually understand a bit of German, I took 3 years of it in High School.)

[Daiv]

Well, Lyrics are important to me. I like to know what they're singing about :)

But I do listen to foreign bands, who happen to sing in English.
I know its not quite what you asked for. But still...
These range from, Blind Guardian/Demons & Wizards, Lost Horizon, Sonarta Arctica, Midnat Sol, Night Wish.
Course, then there are the typical American bands, Bullet For My Valentine, Metallica etc...
Didn't know where Lacuna Coil were from! So i'll add them too... Lacuna Coil

[Raxtull]

To me, the voice is just another instrument. What's being sung isn't as important to me as how well the voice goes with the rest of the music, so not understanding the lyrics is of minimal concern.

[Erling E.]

A good Norwegian song I'm addicted to right now is "Tir Na Noir" by a Norwegian group called Vamp. I'm sure you can find it online somewhere. I think you'll like it -- I discovered it quite recently and I fell in love with it immediately.

You could also try Sissel Kyrkjebø's "Se Ilden Lyse" or Morten Harket's "Kamilla". Another quite fameous one is Bjørn Eidsvåg's "Floden". Or perhaps Jahn Teigen's "Vakreste som finnes" -- which is quite romantic. A very powerful one is "Vinsjan på kaia" by a group called D.D.E.

Oddly enough, most Norwegian artists sing in English.

[Lirren]

Thanks Erling! I'll check all of those out. And thanks everyone for the recs. Anyone else want to pipe in? It's okay if you can actually speak the language the song is in. I'm just very interested in getting more familiar with some music that's not American.

[Daiv]

If you like a bit of Rock or Metal i'd reccomend Sonarta Arctica, Blind Guardian, Demons & Wizards (Blind guardian vocals with Iced Earth guitar - Awesome).

The vocalist for Sonarta Arctica is just amazing. As is Hansi the singer in Blind Guardian.

I can understand the point that vocals, no matter the language can sound good. However, I do enjoy it more when I understand the lyrics.

Demons & Wizards' Fiddler On The Green is an awesome example. Fantastic music and emotional lyrics with a great voice.

[Mrfrosty]

Depends on if you like spanish music or not Lirren, if so there are a couple of good ones I know of:

Monchy y Alexandra
Aventura (obviously heh)
Thalia
Ivy Queen
Glory (this result would bring up a lot, so try Glory y Don Omar or Glory ft Don Omar and this would help narrow it down to show you how her style is)

Depending on if you liked any of them or not, I could give ya more (those are different genre's...you'll hear it)

Edit: Couple of songs I'd recommened from Monchy y Alexandra (they seem to change at time) are Vuela Vuela and Perdidos. Aventura I'd go for Obsession, Un beso or No, No, No (also contains Thalia in that song)

[bwahahaha00]

anyone know of any Russian metal bands?
just read a book that mentions listening to them and I'm slightly intrigued

[LordPazuzu]

Bands that don't sing in English that I enjoy? Alot of bands tend to sing in English for marketability, but one of my favorites that doesn't is a Norwegian band called Enslaved. Another is a band from Finnland called Finntroll.

[Korkskrew]

Check out the track Deathzone by Apocalyptica. The first bit is intrsumental, but after about six minutes there's some absolutely poignant French singing. It's totally metal.

[B_Delacroix]

I actually like persian and middle eastern kind of music. Can't find a lot of it for various reasons I suppose. I'm not sure if Islam allows making music or not and anything middle eastern is suspect in the United States.

Note: If the music contains singing, I'd want to be sure it wasn't advocating extremism toward anyone.

[Lirren]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I'm really enjoying some of them.

On a side note, can anyone recommend any LEGAL programs like iTunes where I can download music? I'm frustrated as all get out because it's so hard to get international music from iTunes. I can *see* it, they just won't let me *buy* it. *grumbles*

[KaiTenSatsuma]

Actually ive got a decent amount too, i like Jun from Cromartie, good lyrics (if you can find them muahaha)

most of the mainstream american music is either emo, sad punk, hip-hop or gangster rap it seems, its a nice break to get some real music.

www.gendou.com has a large amount of anime music

[KaiTenSatsuma]

*delete, hit reply by accident

[AnnushKa]

Русско Утес would be: Слот(slot) in english or Tracktor bowling would be my recommend

sorry for bad english im russian :(

[Iyanden]

Oomph is quite a bit like Rammstein, I like them a lot.

L'ame Immortelle is rather good too.

[neintales]

My personal favorites currently for non-English music are Japanese:

Gackt -Who used to be the singer for Malice Mizer, though I forget which album(s). His voice is marvelous.

Buck-Tick - I think the lead singer for this older band has a wonderful voice too, and there's also a Buck-Tick/KMFDM collaboration band called Schwein that's good if you like the industrial.