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301
General chat / New Song or More of Kiss The Sky???
« on: July 04, 2015, 10:57:55 PM »
First of all, pardon me mod for posting this in the "General Chat" section but I can't post a new topic in the news section fsr? Or maybe this belongs in General Chat? Anyway this is too exciting not to share!

So I just got done listening to a new episode of X Japan podcast that I'm sure many of you are familiar with and it mentioned a video of an unheard song from when Yoshiki spoke at Japan Expo yesterday and it's really awesome sounding and FAST AND HEAVY.

Unheard song starts at 1:00 and heavy part starts at 1:45... can't tell if they're a part of the same song, 2 different songs, more of Kiss The Sky... what do you guys think? I'M FUCKING EXXXXCITED


302
News / Re: NEW ALBUM!!! March 11th + XDAY March 12th
« on: July 04, 2015, 05:21:28 AM »
I am so fucking tired of these delays & for what?

This isn't technically a delay though, it's the album release date... Yeah it's not for this year but we only got a "probably" on that anyway. Nothing was set in stone but this is, so I don't see the problem tbh.

303
News / Re: NEW ALBUM!!! March 11th + XDAY March 12th
« on: July 04, 2015, 03:48:48 AM »
Ummmm this is cool what the fuck?  We finally have a release date for the album and with that time slot everyone's guaranteed to have enough time to save extra money for ticket and travel expenses. I remember more than a few people being aggravated that MSG was announced without more notice. A lot of people who wanted to go couldn't.

I don't know what will happen until then but maybe a single? I doubt we'll be without anything.

And contrary to popular opinion Yoshiki would be pulling this even without his devoted Twitter followers. He did it with Dahlia when hide was the one connecting the band to the fans. It's just the way he is. He goes his own way and even fans turning on him won't make the album come out faster, nor is the opposite encouraging him to delay. That the fans have anything to do with the time he's taking is a delusion and it's a dead horse thoroughly beaten.

Anyway, I'm really curious about the album title and more info on X Day. Hopefully we'll get some specifics about each tomorrow.

304
News / Re: Surprise news: X JAPAN to take part at Lunatic Fest
« on: July 03, 2015, 04:55:55 AM »
This song is so moving to me. It's not necessary for things to be complex to be good. This is straight forward but the melody is so, so beautiful. I'm expecting it to be one of my favorite songs, hands down

And Axl has a point. The ballads from before are very much a part of a genre, a single sound. Songs like Dahlia and White Poem are much less predictable but they're not as big as Forever Love, which has a commonly used formula. But it's so popular and it's lasted so long because it's such an amazing song. It's pretty much like you're damned if you do and damned if you don't  ::)

305
News / Re: Surprise news: X JAPAN to take part at Lunatic Fest
« on: July 02, 2015, 05:15:49 PM »
I really like "Kiss the sky" ! A bit heavy on the "Ooohooohs" in this version, though, imo.

I think they elongated it because they're recording the audience. They'll probably go through the material and select the best parts for the album version :)

306
News / Re: Surprise news: X JAPAN to take part at Lunatic Fest
« on: July 02, 2015, 09:23:09 AM »
Too bad it's not the full song. Mostly just the chorus but I love it. Like, LOVE it. It was a really good idea to record the audience. It was really cool when Yoshiki came in with the drums and the guitars chimed in!

307
News / Re: Surprise news: X JAPAN to take part at Lunatic Fest
« on: June 28, 2015, 03:41:36 AM »
Has any video surfaced? I'm curious to hear a whole version of the track.

Unfortunately none so far. Not even a single 5sec clip on instagram. I'm starting to think the band asked people to put their phones away during that song because there's clips of the other songs... like who wouldn't WANT to record a brand new song?

308
News / Re: XDAY, Video Message, Japan Expo and Hyper Japan...
« on: June 26, 2015, 10:07:00 PM »
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.

309
News / Re: XDAY, Video Message, Japan Expo and Hyper Japan...
« on: June 26, 2015, 03:17:21 AM »

Yeah I know that about IV-I have no issue with it. I just mean besides Beneath the Skin there's nothing that stands out to me that would make my mind go "Oh hey, that's Sugizo's playing" aside from the solo in Jade. I enjoy the material we've gotten so far but I can't help but feel there's a bit of a "sterilization" in regards to the players' personalities coming through in the work.

Well if we look at the history of the band X has always had "main personalities" of the group, with Yoshiki at the head followed by hide and then Taiji. They all had that it factor about them, right? Because when Taiji left, the personality of the bass was never the same even on studio recordings. Heath's a good bassist... He can play songs that came before him. But Taiji owned the bass. You could tell he was playing it. So the band lost that type of character-rich quality, bass wise, when he was fired.

So that left Yoshiki and hide. Without hide we can't really expect anything to be the same though. He and Yoshiki were a dynamic team. They got each other on a musical level that is so hard to find, so it's really so extreme to expect there not to be some type of sterilization from the guitar end. Sugizo's style is much more jazz in its free flow chaos whereas Yoshiki and hide's styles are much more structured, being classical and pop. Even Sugizo's syncing with Pata during shows can get iffy because their styles differ in that way, their time signatures, just the way they handle the strings. Collaboration might just be difficult because of their preferences/styles, so we get one member-dominated song compositions which give away what member it was.

Also Sugizo's a busy guy. He has 2 other bands. That might have something to do with it. It might even make it harder to write for X Japan, because if he's influenced by those styles and is called in to write guitar for an X song, the sound he's currently into might rub off and just not be suitable for X's image. We all know being involved in other genres effects artists. For example, Yoshiki doing VUK for so long has definitely bled into X Japan.

310
News / Re: XDAY, Video Message, Japan Expo and Hyper Japan...
« on: June 26, 2015, 01:09:53 AM »
As I said on other forum, what am I expecting from Kiss the Sky? More of the same.
Galloping drums, lame guitars (probably without a guitar solo, not even a jadeish-noisy-guitar solo, like Yoshiki's last songs), women's prerecorded voices at background.

Hopefully I'm wrong.

Of course the female speaking segments are "prerecorded." What else would they be on a studio album? Perhaps you're dissatisfied with X no longer being a metal band but try to take jabs that actually make sense if you really can't contain the bitterness. Prejudging a song you haven't even heard is nagl, man!

I can't help but think Sugizo is being underutilized in the new material we HAVE gotten.


IV was pre-Sugizo so it's a given on that one. But he came up with his guitar parts in Jade and Yoshiki says he stays in the studio with him for hours so I'm assuming he gives his input frequently. He also composed Beneath the Skin.... Do you mean underutilized as in talent or composing? Because he's been a glamorized noise guitarist for a long time. What he does with X Japan is what he goes for

311
News / Re: XDAY, Video Message, Japan Expo and Hyper Japan...
« on: June 24, 2015, 06:28:52 PM »
100% super excited about the upcoming announcement (I really think it's the album and/or world tour) but I'm not too into the snippet of "Kiss The Sky", that part of the song doesn't do much for me and it's Yoshiki's SAME drum pattern he's used on Jade and other songs.

It's only a few seconds of the song, the rest might be completely different. I will concede that he seems to focus more on melody and less on intricate drums now, but there's numerous reasons for why that might be. Injuries, age, musical preference, etc. Obviously I understand the sentiment since he is such an amazing drummer, but it doesn't bother me since I always focus on the melody when listening to X

312
News / Re: XDAY, Video Message, Japan Expo and Hyper Japan...
« on: June 24, 2015, 03:49:42 AM »
I thought at first that XDay was the name of the album but I guess it's an event? An entire day of X? Idk but I'm excited!

Really realllllly loving Kiss The Sky and we can only hear a few seconds of it... It's such a beautiful melody, I've played it at least 100 times. I cannot wait to hear the full song. Hopefully they release a lyric booklet with the album!

And Japan Expo better fucking livestream Yoshiki's announcement, haha!

313
Yoshiki / Re: Yoshiki's health problems (2015 Edition)
« on: June 10, 2015, 03:54:57 AM »
It's true that the new stuff isn't extremely different from the Dahlia era but it still lacks in nuance and variation. While Dahlia itself and Rusty nail had a very pop-ish undertone, they still had quite a deep layering - different style (and much less my cup of tea too...) but still quality songs.

Jade is catchy as hell with interesting vocals but the drum, the guitar, the bass are repetitive, bland, poor... and the other new songs I really don't like.

Really interesting to see how peoples' pov's differ. I was just listening to Jade on the way to work today and I have to say it's one of their most dynamic songs imo, full of layering and building. It just progresses higher and higher; there's a fullness to it, a total crescendo. I think it embodies X Japan perfectly. I think you might be able to tell that it's actually one of my favorite songs out of their entire discography. Lyrically and musically, it's hard to beat Jade for me.

314
Yoshiki / Re: Can anyone read Japanese?
« on: June 05, 2015, 07:36:53 PM »

Would hope for it to be true but doesn't make sense at all. Yoshiki goes on a Twitter frenzy about clipping is toe nails so trust me, if there was such a dramatic revelation up coming, we would have known for years through a bunch of hyped social media hints...

I have my reservations about it being true as well but time-wise, it could explains some things. We'll see!

I won't pretend to be an expert song writer but the writing music for a band is not a sequential process like you've illustrated above, especially not for a virtuoso like Yoshiki; some of it flows in parallel.

Some of it does indeed flow in parallel but it's still the same amount of work as composing more than one instrument. If he were just doing drums and guitar for instance, that would still take less time than adding bass and vocal melody on top of that, even if he were composing, say, a synchronized harmony between them all instead of highly individualized parts. I say this because I try to compose music regularly and it takes so, so much longer because I'm not giving anyone else free reign to put their parts to the song. Sure I'm not a virtuoso like Yoshiki but it's clear cut, more work=longer time.

It sure must take him hell of a lot of effort sure, but to think he's alone in that process would be wrong. While others don't get much credit they certainly participate and give their input. All bands usually have a member that is the main contributor. Often lyrics and music can be divided but it is not unusual to see both coming from the same individual. So Yoshiki isn't unique in any ways as opposed to the average professional front man in a rock band. As for the complexity and quality well let's face it, the post reunion stuff is far from the caliber of what we got prior to 2008.

Let's be real, I love the other guys but they're much more players/performers than creative forces of the band at this point. Sugizo seems more involved now than Heath or Pata had been even before the split. Sure they nod and tell Yoshiki what's fine and I'm sure they tell him if they want to play something differently but Yoshiki's still the one writing the parts, handing them the music to play. I'm not trying to put them down or say they aren't integral to the band, because they make X, but that's how X Japan operates and they're obviously fine with it. At the end of the day, 90% of the credits say: Music by: Yoshiki, Lyrics by: Yoshiki. It's pretty obvious who's doing the bulk of composing.

The health issue (if it is as bad as it is being made these days...) would explain drumming limitations and as such touring restrictions. Fair enough. Black Sabbath who are much older, managed to tour with Tony Iommi who has cancer...ho and they recorded a superb album 100% new material. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson is recovering from a cancer also and can't wait to tour again and will meanwhile use the off time to record in the studio. Meanwhile, Yoshiki has wrist issues, constantly makes a HUGE drama out of it and mostly sits still...

I don't think it's fair to compare an injury directly related to your livelihood with the big C, just saying... Cancer is absolutely devastating, yes, it takes so much out of a person. But to say that because someone with cancer could tour so Yoshiki should have been able to complete the album and go on another tour is like comparing oil and water. He's his own person, they're theirs. To compare other peoples', well, traumas, like that and say that someone should be able to do what someone else does just because? What? One's 'worse' than the other? I don't know. Everyone handles things differently. There might have also been some stuff going on in his own life that we don't know about that he refuses to talk about, not even health related. He might have just gotten exhausted for a while, the other members, too.

Toshi's true drama (just finished reading the book... unreal!) certainly was a major setback but got resolved 5 years ago.

Taiji's death is a real tragedy but should not have impacted X-Japan's activities whatsoever - he was not an active member.

Yoshiki said specifically that the band unanimously decided to take a break after the tour in 2011 to unwind and also because of Taiji. For the fandom yeah, it's easy to assume that Taiji's passing would have no impact on the band's activities because, indeed, he wasn't an active member. But for X Japan as PEOPLE, don't you think that might kick up some, how should I say, unsettling emotions? Even if you have conflict with a person in your life, if they were that instrumental to who you became their death will affect you tremendously. And the way in which Taiji passed, I hate to go there, but I wouldn't doubt that it brought up some things about Hide for all of the members. I'm sure they wouldn't have minded a break simply because of the world tour, but to have that happen as well, I'm sure they needed a mental break on top of the physical one. Taiji wasn't just an ex-member, he was a part of their lives.

Shitty money grubbing management issues are real but somewhat perplexing, seeing how Yoshiki himself is a successful businessman... How could he and the overall X-Japan legacy have gotten involved in such a poor management/marketing arrangement is mind numbing.  Those are also behind them now.....

Successful people get screwed over by people all the time, they're not infallible. In fact they're easier targets. Wasn't it the management that put together the X reunion by making Toshi believe Yoshiki wanted to do it and visa versa? Maybe their intentions weren't pure. And are you sure it's the same management? If it is, maybe it's all different people working under the same company? That, I will agree, is perplexing if it's true.

It's all about making choices. Yoshiki has been a businessman before being an artist for very long and that's just fine. Him making more money ? Sure why not, good for him, hey, he needs to add his weekly supply of Lamborgini in is LA garage. I am not too worried about his empire unless he's been extremely stupid about his financial decisions - I doubt he has. As the image of X-Japan... well.... it's been the image of Yoshiki mostly since 2008. He's always been the leading figure but it's now almost Yoshiki's band featuring some other dudes... it's sad. It's not as if he was very popular in the rest of the world as opposed to X-Japan and he was using this factor to benefit the band... it's the other way around. He chose to reband X-Japan because as a businessman, he saw a viable financial opportunity in doing so yet, he's chosen to get involved in tons of loosely related ventures that appear to be demanding while leaving his forever loyal fans hang in the balance.

I really don't think Yoshiki chose to reband X Japan as a businessman. Like, at all. Not whatsoever. I think he was uncertain about doing it and thought he might finally be able to put a proper end to the band. Then when things went well he saw an opportunity to make the new X Japan conquer all the obstacles they had to back out of the first time around, due to the disbandment. You're right that he's been a businessman for a very long time but to say that he's making music for financial gain is absolutely ludicrous. If that were the case we would have had whatever crap single he could come up with over and over along with mini albums and all that shit. We don't have a set album because he's TRYING to make something he's truly proud of, that he truly believes in as a musician. It's the exact opposite of what you claim, in my opinion.

Do you sincerely believe that anyone in the US right now knows about or gives a crap about his Red Dragon comic or the fact that he's the guy who wrote the GRammy Theme song ? That this will in return benefit X-Japan ? Let me be skeptical on that one. Building business connections though, yes that I can see as valuable. If anything, X-Japan was and probably is still today more known in the US vs Yoshiki.

Do I think people care about the comic book specifically? No, not really. Do I think some OTT Stan Lee fanboys intent on collecting his work will buy a comic and become a fan of Yoshiki's music? Yes. And you're right, no one knows who any of the theme songs for Hollywood events are written by... on the outside. On the inside I know they do, and that's a great thing for Yoshiki and thus the band. It takes one person of a band to be put in a magazine or an article anywhere to do good for a band. Also I'm sure his decision to accept the GG theme had a lot to do with personal accomplishment, too. You can sneer at any of the Hollywood award ceremonies (I do) but if one wants you to write something for it... come on, that's going to give you a lot of pride.

Wait and see... not much else to do. Don't get me wrong, I might come off as a total jerk, not my intention... I'm just fed up with the whole thing and find that X-Japan's (or really, YOshiki at this point) fans are blindly tolerating an exaggerated behavior. I can't imagine any other band surviving this level of cheap drama and retain its eternally faithful bunch of fans. And yet... seeing them live at the MSG will go down as one of the most magical moment of my freakin life and I still proudly display my big X tattoo thinkin 'yeah, these guys who came up with 4 albums over 30 years are the best' ;)

I know a lot of people are fed up but I think it's important to not let the OTT fans have any impact whatsoever, on your regards towards Yoshiki or the band, I mean. Cause we're all doing the same thing. We're all waiting for X Japan. They're really content with anything he does in the mean time because they're HIS fans. Every band has that.

About the drama, I don't think any other band could survive with this amount of loyal fans either, haha. It's because it's X Japan, frankly. They make up for the drama with their music and live shows, which are unparalleled. Crazy, hyped, fucking fun, talented, and full of passion. I'm so excited for this world tour, I don't even care when it is. You're so lucky you got to go to MSG. I've watched it on YT multiple times. Shitty camera phone videos, but it's still a blast watching them perform.  ;D

315
Yoshiki / Re: Can anyone read Japanese?
« on: June 02, 2015, 03:30:23 AM »

I'm getting too preoccupied with his health & the feeling that band is going to part again. Fuck man, I don't know if I could deal with it (even though I could completely understand the reasons behind it). . .

I really don't think they're going to disband. I think the album's going to be released in a few months and then they're going to tour and then Yoshiki's going to get the surgery. But I do think it will be very, very hard for him. He's going to push himself completely to the limit, I'm sure...

You know what? You're right. I forgot that Yoshiki oversees a lot of these things (along with the fact that he's incredibly anal retentive with his craft).

It's easy to forget, right? Most bands write music together. I know Yoshiki takes the other members' inputs/opinions but you know. Sugizo sounds pretty involved with some songs though. Like Beneath the Skin was apparently written by him and the lyrics were penned by Yoshiki.

I think getting SUGIZO on board with X Japan probably took quite awhile too (not as much as getting ToshI away from HoH, but you know).

For sure, just aligning their schedules with his now must be difficult. He has two bands so he probably does a lot of recording and creative/promotional activities outside of X Japan that needs to be worked around.

June is tomorrow, so it's only another month & some change away. We can only hope that there's a concrete update. Heck, it's not like we're going anywhere, anyways.

Exactly. Like, there's nothing we can do about it anymore. I'm pretty sure the fandom has heaved up all its exasperation by now, haha. There's nothing left to do but kick back and say, "whatever man!" and hope for the best while we're waiting.

316
Yoshiki / Re: Can anyone read Japanese?
« on: May 30, 2015, 07:55:21 PM »
Was that you on Tumblr asking about it? I saw a post very similar to this a moment ago. (Following translations aren't mine, but are from a user named Bunnychuu45) Wall o' text, ahoy!

Nope, wasn't me. Told ya lots of people were interested! Thanks for sharing those translations... hm... since that Daruma game is like "Red Light, Green Light," maybe Yoshiki's tired of the stop and go problems the band has been having? He probably just wants to run forward, so he doesn't want to withdraw from the festival maybe? It makes me worried. If he can't do a set at a festival which will be shorter than an X concert than how can he tour?

Meanwhile...

WTF....

X-Japan truly have the best and most dedicated fans in the world... I can't see any other band, regardless of how 'big' they were survive this kind of drama. Just stop a moment and think about all this and realize how it makes no sense.. and yet, we're still around, hoping for something good to come out of it.

We're 7 years in the 'post reband' years and we've got a few singles, a world tour that was somewhat a success. The MSG concert which, aside from the rather sad attendance, was historical in all senses and yet... Promises of a new album that, if it does see the light of day, will be a rehash of already known songs so, very little credit there and constant involvement in commercial ventures that are purely meant to generate $$$ to an already incredibly rich person who, besides says 'ThanXs' on twitter every week, hasn't given back much in the form of actual music, yet seems to have plenty of time for all those other lucrative things. The whole health condition is certainly worrying, but Yoshiki is so much more than a simple drummer, he's a composer above all, a great pianist and a business man. We know his health is not the reason for all these delays or lack of activity..

Long response but this subject is hard to round up in a few words so

There's a rumor going around that the album will be all new songs along with the new singles they've already released or played. That could explain why everything's taking so long now. I will add that it's incredibly hard to take on the role that Yoshiki has, as pretty much the sole-creator of the majority of X's songs. You can't just write a song because you want to. You can spend 6 hours in front of a keyboard and come up with 2 notes that you like. Take that and multiply the workload by 5 for drums, vocals, 2 guitars and bass, and then even by 6 or 7 to account for backing vocals and backing symphonics that X has used in songs like Jade. PLUS the lyrics, so multiple it by 8. That means it takes 8 times as much work, 8 times as long, to create a song because Yoshiki's taking on that many roles... and that's not even including recording or production, which he also oversees. I think it's fair to cut the guy some slack from the creative side of things.

Also, you're right about his health not being the only reason for the lack of activity. Toshi leaving that cult and financial woes from those blood suckers was obviously a huge problem for the band. It's hard to be committed to the future of a group of people when you have so much drama going on in your own life. Then there was Taiji's death and legal problems with former management not paying the band for the first world tour and even hide's brother, who sued the band for using hide's hologram. It's all shit but shit happens. It all just happened to one band.

And honestly I used to be hung up on all the commercial ventures Yoshiki took, too, but really it IS a good idea. If musical inspiration isn't coming to him or his wrists are in too bad of shape to practice or record, or the other members' schedules aren't lining up for doing what he needs them to do, obviously he needs a way to still promote his image... which will always be tied to X Japan, so it's promo for the band as well. Also, how else is he supposed to make money? You say he's an incredibly rich person, yeah, but for how long? Music only makes you so much money these days- and none when you're not satisfied/able to release anything. So while we might see it as Yoshiki wasting the fans' time and not paying attention to the band, it's actually him taking care of business. His business, sure, but it's necessary. He has a studio to pay for, staff to pay off, recording material to pay for, etc.

And let's not forget that after X reunited they aimed at breaking into the American market. That would explain why he takes on so many ventures with Americans like Stan Lee's comic book and composing the Grammy Theme Song... not only is it exposure to the industry here but it's building connections, which we all know is paramount to making it anywhere. None of it, imo, has been done solely for money. Yoshiki's always been the face of the band and this way no one will be forgetting him. He can come around at any point and say, "X Japan's releasing the album" and still be relevant because his image has been promoted in all these platforms.

Imagine if he HADN'T done any of these commericial ventures but still released the same amount of music? We'd never know what he was doing, where he was, what was going on with the band.

Obviously I would love if the album just came out already but it hasn't. We all have our own lives to pay attention to, too, right? And since they're the ones who make the music we have no choice but to go along with when and how they'll release it. Yeah it sucks as a fan but it must suck even more as a member not being able to do what you want right when you want to do it. It's pretty obvious that all the guys want to tour and release the album this year, even/especially Yoshiki.

I think they're holding the press conference about the tour in Paris in July, if his twitter is anything to go by.

317
Yoshiki / Can anyone read Japanese?
« on: May 29, 2015, 04:51:02 AM »
Yoshiki made some curious tweets in Japanese today. There are a lot of people interested in what they say, myself included. Anyone able/willing to help out and translate?

318
Yoshiki / Please Vote
« on: May 09, 2015, 08:25:13 AM »
【SANRIO CHARACTER RANKING 2015】

100 Sanrio characters are nominated this year for Sanrio Character Ranking. Yoshikitty is one of them

In collaboration with McDonald’s Japan, people can get toys of the top 10 characters with the Happy Set next year.

Plus, Yoshikitty winning is just a good thing  ;)

HOW TO VOTE
From the official website ❥http://sanriocharacterranking.com

Choose your favorite character from the nominated characters and vote using PC and/or cellular phones.

We can vote once per day, per character, per one address at the official Sanrio webpage and the mobile site. We can vote from overseas.

Period: Between 5/10 & 6/15 - JP time. The result will be announced on 6/27.

We should also be able to vote from other websites including Rakuten.

Good luck!  8)

Thanks to Mikaxxxxxxxxx for sharing

319
Covers / Re: Love Replica cover - 4 Acoustic guitars!
« on: May 09, 2015, 08:13:47 AM »
Awesome job man! I don't think it sounds funny at all, I really enjoyed your version

320
Toshi / Re: New Sanrio Character.. "Toshi My Melody"
« on: May 03, 2015, 10:26:28 AM »
This is really cute... does this mean we might actually get an entire collection of a band that once said things like "I'll kill you" and "get to orgasm" in adorable plushie form?

Cause.. uh.. I kind of need that

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General chat / Mayuko's Memories of hide
« on: May 03, 2015, 09:39:09 AM »
I'm a few hours late (it's 3am here) but in reflection of the day, May 2nd (even though it's now technically May 3rd) I'd like to share this heartwarming memory shared by Mayuko through her website before she passed.

To anyone who's new to the fandom, she's a girl who was a big fan of X and a tremendous fan of hide, who suffered from an incurable disease called Norman-Landing disease. She wrote a letter to hide saying that her last wish was to meet him, so he gave her tickets to an X concert and a backstage pass so they could meet after the show. They became pretty close after that... he visited her who knows how many times, and became a bone marrow donor for her and she would later attend his funeral.

This is a post translated from her website shared by Ioner, detailing memories of hide and Yoshiki, too.

“hide used to come and play with/see me very often, sometimes Yoshiki would come as well.

During one of their performances, hide gave me a front ticket, and asked the staff members to escort me backstage to his change room. He was afraid that the fans would squash me. I waited for him in his change room, he came in and took my hand. His hands were shaking, I think he was really excited. He then carried me on his back and ran around the entire backstage, kicking people’s doors open and shouting “Yo! I have a friend to introduce to you”.

When he kicked open Yoshiki’s door, Yoshiki was dumbstruck with shock… Yoshiki hasn’t even taken off his make-up yet.

Then afterwards, they decided to go drinking. Due to my health problem, I can’t walk very fast. So, hide held my hand and walked very slowly with me. Soon enough, everyone started disappearing in front of us. Then, we saw a figure leaning against a wall in front of us. When we got near, we realized that it was Yoshiki. Yoshiki said “I’ve been waiting for you.” Then he came over and took my other hand.

So the three of us slowly walked on. I was really happy to see Yoshiki waiting there, even though I knew he wasn’t waiting for me.

I went to hide-san’s funeral as well, I sat there and couldn’t stop crying. Yoshiki came over and knelt down beside me.

Even though he was wearing dark sunglasses, I knew that he was looking at me. I knew that he wanted to comfort me in some way so that I’d stop crying.

After a long while he finally said, “hide-ji is not here anymore, yoshiki-ni will stay with you.”

I once again started crying non-stop, Yoshiki started crying as well. He looked really sad and heartbroken. It was the first time I’ve actually seen him cry, with no make-up, no barrier, he didn’t even bother hiding it.”
– Mayuko


Thank you so much to Ioner (http://visualioner.com/2015/05/02/stories-of-hide-r-i-p-1964-12-13-1998-5-2/) for sharing this wonderful story with everyone.

RIP hide... you are missed

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General chat / X Japan Day
« on: April 20, 2015, 06:16:22 AM »
Saw this going around, thought I'd share it. Starts at 12:00am Japan Time, 4/21/15 (about 10 hours from time of this post, sorry about the short notice)

Introducing "X JAPAN Day 2015" !

X JAPAN Day 2015 is an annual event to celebrate our love and passion to the biggest rock band that comes from Japan, X JAPAN!

The objection of this event is to flood all SNS (Facebook, Twitter, etc) with everything X Japan! You may share your favorite picture, videos, fan-art, even photos of your X Japan collection to celebrate the day. Make sure to use the hashtag #XJAPANDay2015 in each of your post, don't forget to also mention X Japan member's official SNS account to make them recognize the event!

The date of the celebration day is 21st April (Japan Standard Time), which marks the release date of X Japan major debut album, "Blue Blood".

You may discuss about any kind of idea you would like to have to celebrate the event with your fellow X-Freaks friends from the same country as yours in this page too.

and please, keep the discussion (and the celebration) light and fun, because that's what we wanted to do in this event, to have fun! :)

Invite your fellow X JAPAN fan friends to this event, and enjoy the celebration! :D

PS: If you want to help translating this event info into your language, please kindly inform us! We'll update the event info with every translation possible!

See you on April 21st! We are X !!

from: https://www.facebook.com/events/972191169479967/

Pretty cool if anyone's looking to find some new fandom friends

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General chat / Re: X Japan's "Brand"
« on: April 18, 2015, 04:23:35 AM »
I have to agree with you completely. I have loved X Japan's music for a long time and have also equally admired them for the fact that they have got their name, music and image to such a point that whatever they release, (this may sound like the beginnings of a rant about how their music / products are over priced and that they have been dishing out re releases for years, but it is not), always sells very well.

Very good point. With the way their fandom keeps growing I'm not surprised as to why they do it now, honestly. To those who have been in the fandom for years or decades they think, another re-release? But to people who are freshly introduced to the band they have newly mastered material to get into. X's music has lasted very well through all these years so it makes sense to renew and re-present them as time goes on.

Although it has a lot to do with Yoshiki as an artist, I think what Yoshiki has done with X's tracks through Eternal Melody I & II is amazing. Here he has produced music that has an appeal to both rock and heavy metal fans and turned it into something that catches the eye of classical music fans around the world. With the release of the classical versions of X Japan's music, Yoshiki bought the X Japan name to a new market, to a new audience.

Fun fact, it was actually the record label that wanted Yoshiki to release the classical album, to show the multiple sides of him. It wasn't his idea and I'm not sure he would have ventured out to pursue that path at that time, but it definitely paid off because like you said, it introduced X's sound to an entirely different genre and audience. Plus, now he's a touring classical artist  ;)

I do believe that when X Japan release their new album, they will take advantage of the fact they have such a dedicated fan base, (this isn't a bad thing), and release several version, allowing to capture more completely the markets willingness to pay, (a group of fans will only be willing or able to buy the regular release but there will be those that will be willing to pay substantially more for a special version...the box sets vs. their individual DVDS are an example of this).

You think they'll release more than one version of the album? In what way? Like they'll add the world tour DVD to one and have just the cd for the other?

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General chat / X Japan's "Brand"
« on: April 16, 2015, 09:48:44 AM »
So we all know that X Japan paved a genre through their look and music, but what about the little things that are directly identified as X Japan-isms? I watched Yoshiki's appearance at the 2015 New Economy Summit where he had a conversation with former ambassador of Japan, John Roos, and the topic of branding was brought up. Since then, I've been thinking about X Japan's image and how truly successfully they've branded themselves as a stand-out band, not only through their music and crazy appearances, but through their signature moves you see in their lives.

For reference, a definition of branding is
Quote
Definition: The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products .

X Japan has the "X" Jump, the "X" hand symbol, the "WE ARE!" shout out, roses that have become a symbol of Yoshiki which are thrown into the audience, the fire extinguisher during Orgasm and even the water that Yoshiki places on his drum set that explodes all over the place during his solos and other moments. Those last two things aren't as defining to the band overall as they are to a song specifically but they're prominent parts of the show.

I just think it's very cool that they have these unique things that identify them solely. It's really branded them into performance rock musicians instead of simply musicians, despite being so acclaimed for their music as well.

What are your guys' thoughts? Am I leaving any of their 'moves' or 'signatures' out?

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Cool video! I wasn't there but I did go to the show in Seattle during 2010. It was an awesome performance. I remember it was around the time that Toshi got his voice back so he was just killing it

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Yoshiki / Re: Challenge Yoshiki (Sia - Chandelier)
« on: March 22, 2015, 07:18:46 AM »
Very cool

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Woah, woah, woah. Yoshiki wouldn't LEAVE the band, but if X Japan were to continue & Yoshiki's right hand were to reach critical mass & the tendon were to become totally severed, he would need help (hence the session members). Even if his hand gets blown out, it's not to say that he can't write songs (there's a cool computer that can type words as you speak, so there's that) or produce music, hopefully he's ambidextrous. As for piano work, there's ToshI & SUGIZO who could probably help if they were asked to since they play. In all, Yoshiki would still remain in the band, be the leader, etc. But there would be someone else doing some of the leg work.

And on that point with hide, I can argue the same thing with ToshI if, Heaven forbid, he leaves X Japan again. I personally believe that everybody is on equal footing with each other. Whoever quits or passes on, will leave a dent in the band regardless of who they are.

Ah, okay, I totally misunderstood. Still can't picture that scenario either, though, hah!

And the argument can totally be made the same way for ToshI, too, I agree. There absolutely is no other singer for X Japan. You're right that anyone leaving would leave a dent.


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when I say stuff like "he should go under surgery" and all that, it's only based on what I heard/read. So it's what I think considering what I know. I'd like to have more information to understand furthermore what is happening.

Oh, of course. I meant that as more of a generalized "we" of X fandom, since it seems it's kind of unanimous that everyone wants him to get the surgery before the tour instead of after.

There was a discussion along these lines in the most recent episode of the X Japan Podcast or one of the posts on that FB page in regards to how people would feel if Yoshiki would start using a session drummer for album work or if push came to shove, a new drummer for the band. Here's my response to that whole possibility (that is totally copypasted)

How about a full X album where every song has electronic drums programmed by Yoshiki?
Ehh, not sure how I feel about it. (edit: now that I think about it, I don't think that I'd be able to tell the difference)

Electronic drums programmed by Yoshiki would be better than having someone else drum. He's meticulous enough to still have his signature sound come through.

Quote
No X Japan over a different lineup?
I'd rather have a different lineup (with the exception of ToshI. He stays) than no X Japan at all. They've gone through several guitarists & bassists up until now, I'm sure that I personally wouldn't mind a new drummer. Yoshiki would be an eternal member anyways, like hide.

I really... just, no! :o If you replace Yoshiki you need 2 musicians to come in because we all know you're not going to find a single person as equally talented and full of force behind both drums and piano as him. Losing hide already leaves such a hole in the band. He was an excellent guitarist and super creative artist and songwriter. But then to take the leader out of the band, too? The main songwriter? The producer? The drummer AND pianist? The one closest to the fans now? Bluntly, the face of the band? He has massive drum solos and destroys shit on stage and then plays classical piano. He's an awesome spectacle. If you take out Yoshiki I really don't think there'll will be any blood left. I mean, no offense to Toshi, Pata, Heath, Sugizo... but Yoshiki's the leader for a reason, ya know?

Quote
His doctor told him that additional block injections could melt his bones. Above all this, Yoshiki commented: “Nothing will be left for me if I cannot do music. I am supported by my fans. I want to continue.. to the end.”

I had read this on Tumblr & I asked for the source, but the OP didn't get back to me on that, so I'm asking you guys.

I know who you're referring to and I know she gets information from Yoshiki Mobile. I'm not sure that's where this is from, though... maybe he said this at the Mercedes Fashion Week in Tokyo event that he just went to?

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I cannot imagine anyone filling in for Yoshiki's drumming on any X album ever, haha. You can tell it's him when he's drumming. It would be way too weird hearing someone else behind Toshi's vocals.

I like your idea about him recovering and using the time to do other things, though. But there must be a reason he's refusing to get the surgery now. Perhaps there's something about it that would get in the way of his current (not just future) plans, or maybe he's just worried that it'll backfire altogether. The extent of pain he's feeling might not be enough to risk that.

We don't have all the information so it's hard to understand where he's coming from and easy to say, "just get the surgery and recover." I think he might be considering more than just the tour, and is looking at everything that's going into it and all the work he has to do as well. Maybe he's unwilling to sacrifice the momentum he has going... maybe he has too much lined up contractually to make time for it, maybe he just doesn't have a good feeling about going under the knife.

It's just scary to think about the tendon snapping in the middle of a show... but surely he's considered that as well.

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I don't care if the album gets pushed back a few more months and the tour starts later. I'm just worried about the entire tour actually happening. X Japan's gonna do a lot of cities in Japan this time, and then they're going to probably do Europe and the rest of Asia, South America, and North America... I don't know in what order obviously (besides Japan being first) but that's a lot of practicing and performing to cram in on a half-torn tendon, right? I just hope the entire thing plays out the way all the members are hoping it will, ie start to finish

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