Miyavi's maxi single Ashita, Genki ni Naare (2004) topped the indie charts, and in the same year he signed up with Universal, releasing his first major-label single, Rock no Gyakushuu, in October 2004. After releasing the major-label debut LP with the modest name of Miyavizm (2005), he made a radical shift to acoustic pop, displayed on his Myv Pops and Miyaviuta -- Dokusou albums, both issued in 2006, only to return to rock music as a member of the supergroup S.K.I.N., whose lineup also featured Yoshiki Hayashi of X-Japan, Sugizo of Luna Sea, Gackt, and Ju-Ken of Gackt's touring band. S.K.I.N. debuted with a show at the Anime Expo 2007 in Long Beach, CA, and the group remained a strictly live project after that. Miyavi, meanwhile, continued to record: after the remix album 7 Samurai Sessions (2007), the double A-sided single Sakihokoru Hana no You Ni/Kabuki Boiz that debuted at number four on the charts, and a Japan/South Korea tour, he released his fourth major-label album, This Iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock (2008). The subsequent tour in support of this record spanned (in addition to Japan) the Americas, Europe, and Continental Asia. ~ Alexey Eremenko, Rovi