New X-Japan song

I wrote a post about the Japanese heavy metal band X-Japan (they were simply called “X” when I first came to Japan).

I was surprised by the negative comments that post I wrote received from a number of X-Japan fans overseas!  The post is here, by the way.

Well, X-Japan has released a new English-language song via i-tunes.
It’s currently available to for download in America and Europe.
The price is £0.79 (which equals about US$1.27 (or ¥102)).
(Click here if you want to download it from i-tunes.)

It will be available for download in Japan and Asia on 2011 July 13.

The song is titled “Jade“.

Here’s the video for the song:

Also, X-Japan is currently on a short world tour.
They just played a concert in London on Tuesday (July 28) and then they play a few more shows around Europe.
Then on August 13 they’ll be in Osaka, Japan and on August 14th they’ll play in Tokyo.
From there, they’ll play some shows in Central America.

(News and images are from the official X-Japan website).

The Demons have returned to Earth

I like to listen to heavy metal music. I enjoy most all “genres” of heavy metal (as “heavy metal” itself is a “genre” of rock music, you may be surprised that there are different “types” of heavy metal music).

Some of my favorite bands are KISS, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Megadeth and “pre-1991” Metallica.

But I’d say my favorite heavy metal genre is “Shock Rock“.
Bands that have a shocking* or “over-the-top” image and stage-show to go with their excellent music.

Bands in this genre includes acts such as KISS, Alice Cooper, Lordi, GWAR, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson, W.A.S.P., etc.

The concerts by these bands include frightening costumes and/or make-up, fire, blood, guillotines, snakes , and bats (one even had it’s head bit off 😉 ) all while playing the type of music I enjoy.
It’s a much more entertaining concert than is common by musicians of other types of music.

And of course since I’ve been living in Japan for the past twenty years I listen to a number of Japanese bands as well.
I wrote a post about the Japanese hard rock band X-Japan. I think they’re okay.

Then there’s the Japanese band 「カブキロックス」 (Kabuki Rocks). Probably inspired by the American band KISS (who, ironically, were inspired by Japanese 歌舞伎 (Kabuki theater)), Kabuki Rocks dress as Japanese kabuki actors while they’re on stage performing.
Here’s a video of them performing their most famous song 「お江戸」 (“O-Edo“):

But probably the best Japanese band in this genre is 「聖飢魔 II」 (“Seikima-Two“).

「聖飢魔II」 ("Seikima-II")

Their name is kind of a Japanese play-on-words. It’s spelled to say “The Holy Starving Demons (II)” but is pronounced “Seikimatsu”, which means “The end of the century”.

The reason for their name is because their gimmick is that they are a band of demons who came to Earth from Hell to punish humans for destroying the environment.

The band was formed in the 1980s and they intended from the beginning to take over the world and disband on New Years Eve 1999 at 11:59:59PM (the “end of the century”), and that’s what they did.
(Well, they didn’t take over the “world” but they were popular in Japan in the 1990s).

I remember at the height of their popularity in the ’90s, the lead vocalist “Demon Kogure” was doing funny TV commercials for Fuji Film.

"Demon Kogure", lead vocalist

In these commercials, the “demon” with his spiky hair and make-up was the “father” of a kindergarten-age girl.
Instead of his usual outfits that he wore, in these commercials he dressed in regular “human clothes” and he’d have some humorous adventure and his “daughter” would snap a photo of his facial expression with a “Fuji Film” disposable camera.

I liked these commercials a lot.

Here’s one where his “daughter” is on her school bus and he’s trying to give her her lunch that he forgot to give before she got on the bus:

And another one where he’s trying (and failing) to fly a kite with his “daughter” at New Years time (which is a tradition in Japan):

These commercials were so popular in Japan in the ’90s that Fuji Film began to offer “Demon Kogure” alarm clocks and pajamas (with “spiky hair” night-cap).
I remember that I wanted the alarm clock…but I didn’t buy film often enough to acquire the necessary “points” to get one. Oh well.

Here’s the commercial for the clock and pajamas:

Anyways, as I mentioned above, 「聖飢魔 II」 (“Seikima-II“) disbanded on New Years Eve 1999 at one second before midnight…but this year they had a reunion concert (including a show in America and one in France) and a new album.

I intend to get their new album.

Here’s a promotion video for a song by them that I like. It’s called 「蝋人形の館」 (“House of Wax”):

X Japan in America

When I came to Japan, I heard a Japanese heavy metal band called “X” play.
I thought they sounded good and looked quite different from American metal bands with their giant hairstyles.

They were called simply "X" when I first heard them.

They are considered by many to be the pioneers of the Japanese “Visual Kei” type heavy metal.
The way I’d described the “Visual Kei” genre of music is a uniquely Japanese cross between ‘shock rock’ and ‘glam metal’.

In 1991, X released their album titled “Jealousy” that includes the song “Say Anything”.

X "Jealousy" album cover

Here’s the official music video for the X song “Say Anything“.
This was the first music video of their that I ever saw. It’s kinda long, but it show many concert venues around Japan…including the “Tokyo Dome”.

(The person who uploaded it wrote the band’s name as “X Japan”, but they were still called “X” when the released this song):

This album was very successful in Japan. It’s the first album of theirs that I bought.

Due to the immense domestic success of this album, it was believed that their dream of international stardom would be realized soon.
So to prepare for their international debut, the band decided to change their name to prevent any potential confusion with an American band that was also called “X“.

So, they became “X Japan“.

Logo for the band "X Japan"

Unfortunately, international success managed to elude them. (Probably because their entire catalog of music is sung in Japanese).

In the late ’90s, X Japan broke up.

The lead guitarist, hide, had a semi-successful solo music career after the band break-up. But he died soon after (official cause-of-death was listed as “suicide”, but the other band members insist his death was caused by a drunken accident).

The feminine-acting drummer / pianist, Yoshiki, recorded an instrumental version of the KISS song “Black Diamond” for the KISS tribute album “KISS My A$$“.

The lead vocalist, Toshi, left the music industry for awhile (some say he temporarily joined a religious cult. But he denies that.)

But in 2007, X Japan reunited. They have a new guitarist…but the late hide is still officially considered a member of the band. His guitar and often images of him are always displayed on stage when the band performs.

For their reunion, they updated their image. Gone is the giant hair.

Also, in 2007, the American horror movie “Saw IV” was released and X Japan was asked to record a song for the soundtrack.

They recorded the song “I.V.” for the soundtrack.

The international exposure from that song, plus the current “Japan boom” overseas seems to be providing X Japan with a chance to finally realize their dream of international stardom.

Because X Japan has been invited to perform at the popular “Lollapalooza” music festival in Chicago, USA in 2010 August 6-8!