Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - Drummer/Writer Rose leaves the TRAX

So I was browsing YesAsia for new and exciting releases, and I saw that the TRAX has finally released their first Korean album after several successful singles, and crossing over in to the Japanese market. But I noticed that something was funny about the cover image.

There were only 3 people on it.

My first reaction was absolute horror. My second reaction was to say a little prayer that the photographer just had some artsy "3 equals 4" concept. My third reaction was to check it out.

An' I did.

From their official Japanese website.

Quote:

この度、メンバーRoseの「自分個人の音楽を追い求めていきたい」という意思により、今後TRAXはTy poon、Attack、X-masの3人で活動することになりました。
彼らが持つ音楽への情熱で、3人でしか見せることの出来ないパフォーマンスを皆様に届けていけるよう、より一層努力していきたいと思っています。

これからも、TRAXへの変わらぬ応援を宜しくお願い致します。

In other words, Rose quit.

Oh yeah.... what-was-the-other-thingI-think-I'm-forgetting-something-oh-yeah-it's-coming-back-to-me-now-THIS WAS IN MAY!!!!11oneone.comslashwtf

:gnash :curse :wtf :biting

WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME?! Oh, you good for nothing rat-finks, playing with my emotions and leading me on to believe that all was good and pure and decent in the world, silently pushing me to the edge of a cliff where a small orphan boy with fingers but no elbows distracts me by offering me his last chocolate bar and only means of nourishment and survival, and then at the very moment I am overcome with kindness and warmth, a giant bumblebee sneaks up behind me and poops on my head, knocking me off my feet only to send me tumbling down the never-ending chasm that is the bowels of this cruel, cruel earth.

Or maybe I'm just a bad fan for not keeping up with the news. Hahahahaha. That's probably the one.

A~NYJUNK, that clip states:

Quote:

Now, with respect to member Rose's intentions of "want[ing] to pursue [his] own music", it has been decided that TRAX will now go on as the remaining 3 members, Typhoon, Attack, and X-mas.

The guys will put forth all the more effort to show everyone a performance that only these 3 can show with their passion for music.

Thank you for your continuous, unchanging support of the TRAX.

It sounds like the typical story of an artist leaving a band. Rose always did seem like the most restlessly passionate musician of the group, and he probably wanted to do music differently than the direction in which the TRAX seem to be going. It's just so shocking that he would quit the band before they even release their first album. I mean, they're doing well, but they're not THAT well established yet. He must have hated being a member of the TRAX from the start.

Thoughts? Feelings? Random outbursts?