That is true. It comes down to what you perceive as music. Kinda like when an artist just throws a bucket of paint on a canvas and calls it "Art". All I see is someone who threw a bucket of paint on a canvas. I see no artistic skills there at all.
Yoshiki is a skilled pianist and i'm not saying the entire piano solo is bad. It starts off quite well.. but I've seen Art Of Life about 400 times.. and just after the 22 minute mark (and other random times after this), he just starts bashing the piano with his fists and arms and not hitting any particular notes or producing any melodies. It is pretty clear that he didnt spend any time writing those parts of the song.
I can appreciate music for what it is. And I like most kinds of music and I'm very open-minded.. but to me, the piano solo goes from being a wonderfully played piano solo to randomly hitting the piano and producing absolutely no musical structure or melody.. then going back to a nice piano solo. A lot of people say its good JUST because its Yoshiki. If I did that on a piano, i'm 100% sure that MOST people would just laugh and say that its not music.. its just me randomly bashing on the piano.. and they'd be right. The "bashing" parts in the solo are just that. Yoshiki bashing on the piano. If you enjoy it, great.. but it takes absolutely NO talent to do that part of his solo.
I'm not saying that anyone here is... but there are always fans who refuse to accept that their favourite band/artists/idols arent perfect. This is especially true for hide but thats another story
Anyway, if you like the piano solo, great! Dont download this version of the song
This is probably where a lot of us will have to agree to disagree. No amount of discussion will make me think Yoshiki's bashing is "Art" :wink:
edit: i'll upload the original art of life when I wake up. I'm going to bed and i cant do it now because my mate is still up playing World of Warcraft (damn awful game. It destroys peoples lives)