Galileo Galilei (ガリレオ・ガリレイ) is a Japanese indie rock band from Wakkanai, Hokkaido who debuted in 2008 after winning the teenage audition festival “Senkou Riot”. In 2009, The band signed with SME Records and released their debut song “Hanamasu no Hana” the next year which marked over 1 million downloads. Their debut studio album, Parade was released in 2011 which reached the top 5 on the Oricon weekly chart, followed by their second studio album Portal in 2012.
Galileo Galilei was formed in 2007 by singer and guitarist Yūki Ozaki, guitarist Sōhei Funaya, bassist Hitoshi Sakō, and drummer Kazuki Ozaki. In the following year, the band made its debut after winning the teenage audition festival called “Senkou Riot”.[1][2] Galileo Galilei signed to SME Records with guitarist and backing vocalist Fumito Iwai joining the band in 2009 and keyboard player Kazumasa Noguchi joining in 2011. Galileo Galilei released the albums Parade in 2011 and Portal in 2012 which reached No. 5 and No. 10 respectively on the Japanese music charts.[3] Iwai and Noguchi left Galileo Galilei in 2012 and later formed the group Folks in 2013.[4][5]
The 2011 film Control Tower, directed by Takahiro Miki, is based on the Galileo Galilei song of the same name. The feature premiered at the Japan Cuts.[6] In September of that same year, they announced on their website that they will be performing the opening theme, "Asu e" for the sci-fi anime series Mobile Suit Gundam AGE.[7] The band also provided the opening theme, "Aoi Shiori" (青い栞, Blue Bookmark) for anime Anohana.
On 27 June, 2013, it was announced that Galileo Galilei would be releasing a new single, "Circle Game," which will be the theme song for the movie version of the anime Anohana.[8]
Galileo Galilei released their fifth album Sea and The Darkness in January 2016 and announced their breakup after their final tour in April 2016.[9][10] The song "クライマー" (English: Climber) from their album Sea and The Darkness was featured as an end credit song in the second season of anime series Haikyu!!.[11]
In 2018, members of Galileo Galilei along with a support guitarist DAIKI formed a new band called Bird Bear Hare and Fish.
The band announced that they were reforming at warbear's "re:bear" live concert that took place on October 11, 2022, after a six-year hiatus. The band released their sixth album Bee And The Whales on May 31, 2023, their first album in seven years.[12] They Embarked on their A "Bee and The Whales" Zepp tour in June 2023.
On September 25, 2024, Galileo Galilei released two albums, Manster and Mantral simultaneously with 14 songs each.[13]
^Sales provided by Oricon database and are rounded to the nearest thousand copies.
^ abSources for chart positions are as follows:
"Hamanasu no Hana",[17]
"Natsuzora",[18]
"Yotsuba Sagashi no Tabibito",[19]
"Boku kara Kimi e",[20]
"Aoi Shiori",[21]
"Sayonara Frontier",[22]
"Asu e",[23]
"Circle Game",[24]
"Koi no Jumyō",[25]
"Arashi no Ato de",[26]
"Climber".[27]
^Charted at number 29 on the Radio Songs sub-chart.[31]
References
^"Galileo Galilei". Skream! 邦楽ロック・洋楽ロック ポータルサイト. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
^"Galileo Galilei". SYNC NETWORK JAPAN. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
^Masaru Sekiguchi (September 14, 2012). "Galileo Galileiからギター・岩井郁人とキーボード・野口一雅が脱退" [Galileo Galilei's guitarist Fumito Iwai and keyboardist Kazumasa Noguchi leave] (in Japanese). RBB Today. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
^Chie Saito (December 13, 2013). 恵庭のバンド「フォークス」、２月メジャーデビュー ガリレオ・ガリレイ元メンバー・岩井さんら、今年１月に結成 [Eniwa band 'Folks' major debut in February. Galileo Galilei former member Iwai and band members formed in January this year.] (in Japanese). Hokkaido Shimbun Press. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
