Every band has. But since their return, X is not a band, but Yoshiki's little toy. You never see announcements by the band, is always YOSHIKI THE MEGA MOTHERFUCKING JAPANESE ROCKSTAR and his band X Japan. On interviews he appears alone, even on awards that X JAPAN wins, he appears alone. He always wants the spotlight.
I mean, I can't pretend to know why the rest of the group wasn't there for the Golden Gods Awards. I do know that Yoshiki makes the majority of the announcements because he's the leader of the band and is the only one besides Toshi that speaks English fluently. He's also the only one who's had social media that's directly connected him to the international fanbase even before X's reunion, so of course he does the majority of the interviews, because he's the most visible. And ever notice how the other members rarely speak during press conferences when the band IS together? It's like they don't care about having a voice because the leader will take care of it. Even in Japan they're mostly quiet. When they did events prior to MSG (as a BAND), Yoshiki had to prod the members for responses.
Pata and Heath and Toshi are not some wallflower victims of Yoshiki's obsession for the spotlight, getting meanly pushed aside because of his greed or some shit. They just don't care about being spokespeople. They couldn't care less about the media game. Doesn't bother me.
IMHO, Beneath the Skin is clearly the less mediocre sound since the return.
That's cool, everyone has their own preference. I personally think Jade is the superior song so far because of all it's sweeping progressions and how melodic it is. Really love that song. I want to hear the official recording of Beneath the Skin really bad though, because I like the intensity of it.
Violet UK is the biggest joke of his history. Since 2002 the "Violet UK album is coming soon", and he released... NOTHING so far. Not even a single. Not even a concert.
Yoshiki needs to focus on something. I would prefer if it focus on his work as musician instead of THE MOST AWESOME JAPANESE ROCKSTAR EVER LOOK HOW HE IS AWESOME like he tries to put down the non-japanese people throat.
I would go crazy with excitement for VUK to be released tomorrow but I can't drag an artist for being a perfectionist with their work. Once it's out there you can't take it back. He has played songs of theirs live but I get what you mean.
And honestly his PR team is the one promoting "biggest most awesome rockstar" propoganda, not him. What else WOULD he go for anyway? Just another guy trying to break into the world market? Not only would that be a lie since X is truly on a golden platform with their success, but it would do him no favors. Why would America, riddled with racism and nationalism and ageism give someone already 30 years into major success a chance unless they had a story to go with it, like being a nationally idolized musical sensation?
It's easy for us to get sick of just because we already know the X Japan/Yoshiki of Japanese fame. But his PR people have to feed it to the English-speaking press with force so that when X Japan does another concert like MSG, people say, "THAT'S why they're so big in Japan!" instead of, "why did no one tell us these guys could rock?!" It's the difference between knowing WHY someone's famous vs wondering IF they are. You know? "Why" gets you a lot more promo and acknowledgment.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2015, 10:18:09 PM by returner »
We are not trying to keep the legacy—we are trying to move forward, so our sound is going to change. I’m ready to be criticized, for example by fans saying "you should rather be this style." I’m ready for it, I’m okay with any concept of criticism-Yoshiki