POLL: X Japan taking a risk with English-language album

Resonance · **on:** October 19, 2016, 05:51:26 AM

TeamRock: X Japan taking a risk with English-language album

http://teamrock.com/news/2016-09-27/x-japan-taking-a-risk-with-english-language-album

"Yoshiki hopes the album can help beat a path towards the West for other Asian artists. 'We want to break that wall for new artists so they can become popular anywhere in the world.'"

POLL QUESTION: (see above)
What do you think about X Japan's decision to create an English album?

returner · **Reply #1 on:** October 19, 2016, 09:03:15 AM

X Japan won't be able to forge any type of path for other bands in the West without singing in English.

nb · **Reply #2 on:** October 19, 2016, 09:17:12 AM

Uhhmm... The thing about X Japan I like most (or maybe not) was that they sing in a language that I can't understand... Maybe in english they are only some old guys which playing rock-music like 10000 of others...

_{please don't beat me}

and to be honest. Their english is sometimes really not understandable. Often I've read the lyrics and thought "omg! that's english!? I didn't recognized it..."

A mix of japanese and english songs like in the past would be neat

Matthias · **Reply #3 on:** October 19, 2016, 09:47:32 AM

For me it doesn't really matter if the album is sung in english, japanese or a mix of both.
It's important that the songs have the right feel to it, so I can't say yet "I'll love the album no matter what", as I haven't listened to it yet.

I also appreciate the intention of them trying to pave the way for other asian artists, but I don't think that's neccesary, as there are already artists/bands from asia that are doing well in other parts of the world.

But long story short, I don't care if it's in english or japanese. XD

StarWarsArtist · **Reply #4 on:** October 19, 2016, 04:24:21 PM

Quote from: Matthias on October 19, 2016, 09:47:32 AM

For me it doesn't really matter if the album is sung in english, japanese or a mix of both.
It's important that the songs have the right feel to it, so I can't say yet "I'll love the album no matter what", as I haven't listened to it yet.

I also appreciate the intention of them trying to pave the way for other asian artists, but I don't think that's neccesary, as there are already artists/bands from asia that are doing well in other parts of the world.

But long story short, I don't care if it's in english or japanese. XD

You know what I'd settle for? The album actually coming out.

CreepyKlutz · **Reply #5 on:** October 19, 2016, 06:00:07 PM

I really just want a physical cd (or vinyl. please do vinyl.) of everything we know exists and then some.
FULL version of IV, it'd be nice to have Jade and Born To Be Free physically... a STUDIO VERSION OF WITHOUT YOU
I think a mix of english and japanese would be really fantastic.

Any previously released X song they toyed with in English (like Rusty Nail) six years ago is better OFF the album and maybe released as a bonus track elsewhere. (or a deluxe edition with We Are X and the american shows bundled together...)

Riot · **Reply #6 on:** October 19, 2016, 06:29:29 PM

Jade is currently one of my favorite songs because it's in English but it has a couple of lines in Japanese. I really hope they've kept some Japanese in the new songs. Neither one is my native language, but I think Japanese sounds more beautiful.

On the other hand, I'm not fluent enough to fully understand most Japanese lyrics without a translation. And if you're new to X, and not familiar with Japanese at all, you're probably more likely to buy an album that is in English.

Kurenai_Akari · **Reply #7 on:** October 20, 2016, 04:20:49 AM

For me, personally, I want this album out ASAP. I could care less if it's English or in their native Japanese.

I hope that it's good.

Hyunkel · **Reply #8 on:** October 20, 2016, 11:26:24 AM

Quote from: StarWarsArtist on October 19, 2016, 04:24:21 PM

You know what I'd settle for? The album actually coming out.

Amen.

I just hope that Y's not thinking "maybe we should just rerecord everything completely in English!" and we won't see the album for the next 15 years.

I just want the album.

And, as I want a studio version of Without You, I guess I'd like a mix of English and Japanese as always.

In the end, when it is finally released, I guess "I'll love it no matter the language" (since we know at least half the song on it haha)

AsukaMiyu · **Reply #9 on:** October 21, 2016, 05:31:22 AM

I personally don't care about the language of new songs. X has always been a mixture of English and Japanese songs anyway. However, redoing old songs in English is something I don't like AT ALL! Especially during their world tour, when they sang the english versions that was extremely irritating. No-one even knew those versions... (And I'm pretty sure that at least in case of a concert, it's 99% fans attending...)

Random thing I just rememberd. When J-Rock bands released their albums in Germany under a german label yearssss ago, they just added an extra booklet/poster with the translation of the Japanese songs. That was nice!

returner · **Reply #10 on:** October 21, 2016, 08:58:53 AM

Quote from: AsukaMiyu on October 21, 2016, 05:31:22 AM

Random thing I just rememberd. When J-Rock bands released their albums in Germany under a german label yearssss ago, they just added an extra booklet/poster with the translation of the Japanese songs. That was nice!

That would be SUCH a good idea. Either way we need a lyric booklet because we still don't know the lyrics to IV or Jade. That's just bad fanservice lol, makes it really hard to sing along at concerts or even just in the car. When a friend says, "what did that line say?" and all you can say back is, "I don't know," it's not very good word of mouth either haha.

Hyunkel · **Reply #11 on:** October 21, 2016, 10:49:59 AM

Quote from: AsukaMiyu on October 21, 2016, 05:31:22 AM

I personally don't care about the language of new songs. X has always been a mixture of English and Japanese songs anyway. However, redoing old songs in English is something I don't like AT ALL! Especially during their world tour, when they sang the english versions that was extremely irritating. No-one even knew those versions... (And I'm pretty sure that at least in case of a concert, it's 99% fans attending...)

Still, I'd like to hear a studio version of full-english Rusty Nail (with a booklet lyrics), as a bonus track why not

Kasumi · **Reply #12 on:** October 29, 2016, 05:52:01 PM

I personally would prefer the usual mix of japanese and english lyrics.

And to be totally honest an album completely in japanese would always be better than one completely in english. It's their mother tongue and you can see/hear that Toshi is always more confident when singing japanese which is a natural thing. So if X releases a full album in english... well that's okay. I will still listen to it and such, but I would love to hear japanese lyrics too! It's a beautiful language. Or they could release an album with two CDs. One which contains of only english songs and one that contains only japanese songs. It would please "fans" of both languages.

Kurenai_Akari · **Reply #13 on:** October 29, 2016, 10:16:03 PM

Quote from: Kasumi on October 29, 2016, 05:52:01 PM

Or they could release an album with two CDs. One which contains of only english songs and one that contains only japanese songs. It would please "fans" of both languages.

That's a pretty good idea! Good thinking. I'd shell out an extra $10 or so for an extra disc of an English/Japanese full version of the album.

To sort of piggyback off of the general idea, I hope that Yoshiki does (try) to release new album (and re-release all the other albums) in vinyl. I had asked him that question when my friend and I went to the second screening of "We Are X" in Los Angeles. He (and most of the audience) looked like they hadn't thought of that before, but he said it was a good idea. Hmm. It would be good for reals though. Finding any of the original albums on vinyl with an affordable price tag on them is like searching for Pokemon and unicorns: nonexistent.

Kasumi · **Reply #14 on:** October 30, 2016, 04:37:04 PM

Yeah having vinyls of them would be pretty great too! Let's see what happens. So far we don't have a release date of the new album, right?

Kurenai_Akari · **Reply #15 on:** October 31, 2016, 12:56:15 AM

Quote from: Kasumi on October 30, 2016, 04:37:04 PM

So far we don't have a release date of the new album, right?

Yoshiki's been saying that he WANTS the album to drop before the end of the year, however, there was a recent article I read (I think the Spin magazine one or whichever one that was posted within this week) that said that it was going to be released next March (maybe for X Day again?). I'll try looking for it again since Yoshiki posts the "We Are X" reviews on his Twitter page & I'll link it back here.

Riot · **Reply #16 on:** October 31, 2016, 12:30:06 PM

It's definitely not going to come out this year, unless they pull some kind of "Avenged Sevenfold" and release it without a warning ... but that seems unlikely. I hope they release it soon, because now that the documentary is out, people are getting more interested in them. If they don't, the western media (mostly American music magazines/websites) and potential new fans might forget about it and move on to other things.

magucathy · **Reply #17 on:** October 31, 2016, 08:40:47 PM

They wanted to release the album in March this year. But I will be more than happy to have it in March next year.

nb · **Reply #18 on:** October 31, 2016, 09:18:15 PM

In an interview (Toshi and Yoshiki) back in 2010 Yoshiki said, that they are almost done and they could release the album in the end of the year (2010!!!).

Back then Y also said, that the new album would be a 50:50 mix of old songs, that would never be heard and new songs.

Kasumi · **Reply #19 on:** November 01, 2016, 05:59:38 PM

Okay... that sounds like we still have to wait for a while.

POLL: X Japan taking a risk with English-language album

Poll

What do you think of the upcoming English album from X Japan?