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Did Toshi screw up X Japan again?

Feudal · 4863

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Offline Feudal

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on: January 20, 2023, 09:14:38 PM
It's 2023, and if there's one thing I'm already sick to death of seeing, it's The Last Rockstars content.

I mean, come on. This is really what we're getting from Yoshiki now? Let's see what the expiration date of this will be beyond S.K.I.N or any of the other endeavours.

But one thing about TLS with Hyde being the vocalist, actually got me thinking about Toshi. So where exactly is Toshi and what exactly is this man doing these days?

We all know the Masaya brainwash story and how it fucked up X Japan in the beginning, and how they reunited and Yoshiki actually saved Toshi from financial ruin by giving him a second chance with the band.

Why does it seem like this is happening all over again? Why do I have a feeling like there's some legal garbage that's connected to Toshi that's delaying and delaying X Japan activity?

https://ameblo.jp/toshl-official/entry-12785266898.html - based on a recent tweet from him, I checked out his blog and he seems quite active! Wow, ok so is this guy just snubbing X Japan again?

Would love to hear other opinions and even news relating to this. We know Yoshiki is very vague about the reasons why the album is delayed, but it seems there's legal trouble. My bet is it's with Toshi (again). SIGH.



Offline Tahemet

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Reply #1 on: January 21, 2023, 08:01:49 PM
I agree with you.
At this point legal troubles seem to be the most likely reason for why the album isn't released.
I do remember some chats on Yoshiki's channel where he wanted to make an announcement and then cancelled it saying he due to legal reasons he is in no position to announce it.
Obviously I cannot be certain that the planned announcement would have been album related.
There have been articles which state that Toshi didn't allow X Japan Material with his voice being used (e.g.https://www.cyzo.com/2022/12/post_332291_entry.html)
And it makes me really wonder why would he do that?
Does that mean that Toshi is blocking the release of the album?
I have no idea.
But if he is I have absolutely no problem if the material was recorded again with another singer.
.



Offline magucathy

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Reply #2 on: January 21, 2023, 09:05:50 PM

But if he is I have absolutely no problem if the material was recorded again with another singer.
.

I agree with you. 



Offline Tahemet

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Reply #3 on: January 26, 2023, 10:26:50 PM
What does everyone think about Toshi's new song.
Do you think he is attacking Yoshiki?



Offline BLUE_BLOOD

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Reply #4 on: January 28, 2023, 11:24:50 AM
I don't believe Toshi is screwing up X Japan at all. I think he's just done with Yoshiki's empty promises/lies. X Japan has always been Yoshiki's project. The other members are fillers. I hate to say this but it became obvious as the years went by. I don't believe X Japan will ever get back together again.

Why doesn't Yoshiki simply release old stuff to stay relevant? :-X

There's still so much fantastic X material that has never been officially released:
- Kyoto Sports Valley '88
- Nagoya Rock Wave '90
- Rose & Blood Tour '90
- X with Orchestra '91
- Violence in Jealousy Tour '91
- On the Verge of Destruction -3 Days- '92

I just don't understand Yoshiki's logic.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2023, 11:28:53 AM by BLUE_BLOOD »



Offline Tahemet

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Reply #5 on: January 28, 2023, 06:59:45 PM
if Toshi is really done with  X Japan - and IMO a lot of his behaviour speaks for it - then why doesn't he officially leave the band?
Wouldn't be the first time....



Offline friday

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Reply #6 on: February 02, 2023, 11:44:40 AM
I remember a while ago reading that the unreleased album had a song called “Rockstar”. I wonder if this song is now TLRS’s debut single?

I also read on a YouTube comment that ToshI’s latest release had some lyrics which alluded to be dissing Yoshiki… Any truth to that?

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Offline Tahemet

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Reply #7 on: February 02, 2023, 04:49:54 PM
Toshi's song is named Sakebe and it has been interpreted by some sources as being about Yoshiki.

the lyrics are online and according to google translate they contain following lines

"Anything is possible Walk the walk
Lies, Kyogen, good
By helping others, I'm saved
Hypocrisy Calmly Seriously Stunned


Lie cry bastard Drowning narcissist
Tragedy Shock Farce
Inferiority complex colored by appearance
A cornered heart dull
The thorns of the rose pierce
Poisoned to the bone marrow"

make of that what you will



Offline Beauty/Broken

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Reply #8 on: February 06, 2023, 08:05:07 AM
The Japanese tabloid press certainly take the view that Toshi's new song is aimed at Yoshiki, and also seem to have interpreted some of Yoshiki's tweets as being a subtle retaliation.

The concensus seems to be that they aren't talking on a personal level and all communication is being mediated by lawyers.

'Industry insiders' (again, say the tabloid press) suggest that Toshi's contract to perform with X Japan seems to have expired and there has been a failure to renegotiate terms. Toshi was unhappy with a range of issues, including failed payments or late payments for live shows and broken promises. Allegedly Toshi repeatedly raised concerns but Yoshiki always failed to act on them.

Toshi has, apparently, since refused for his likeness or voice to be included in X Japan merchandise or releases, leading to the cancellation of certain projects (that X Japan game where Toshi didn't appear is cited).

My take is that these are old rumours now, and the contractual situation sounds similar to the legal issues with the hide estate/headwax and with Heath back in 2009. The management situation for X Japan has always seemed complex since the reunion and this is just the latest bubble to burst.

Either way, Toshi seems happy doing his solo stuff. He has now reached the 'Great American Songbook' covers stage of his career where he has nothing new to say about ths world and has gone full Elvis. He is a staple on Japanese TV and has a solid domestic audience of (predominantly) middle aged Japanese women.

Yoshiki, on the other hand, thinks he has something new to say but continues to repeat himself in different guises.



Offline Tahemet

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Reply #9 on: February 06, 2023, 12:30:56 PM
At this point I just wish that everyone puts their ego aside, behaves like a reasonable adult and discusses the ultimate fate of X Japan.
I think nobody believes in a tour anymore but they should release the album to give X Japan the closure the band deserves.



Offline magucathy

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Reply #10 on: February 07, 2023, 07:22:00 PM
I don't really care about any show or album any more.



Offline friday

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Reply #11 on: February 09, 2023, 11:02:18 AM
I feel the same as magucathy, and it sucks.

Have hardly listened to any live clips of TLRS. I was curious to see what Hyde sounded like singing Beneath the Skin as that’s the coolest thing I’ve heard since S.K.I.N/X reunion etc.

While I glance at the forum every few days as part of my internet viewing routine, I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I’m unlikely to ever hear the “new” album. Feels crazy to think how much life has changed since I excitedly loaded up the studio version of “Born to be free” on Spotify with the hope of an album coming soon. Hell, I’ve gone from being married, divorced and married again since BTBF was released. 🤣

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Offline RoseOfPain

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Reply #12 on: February 25, 2023, 04:31:04 PM
I believe this is just what happens when one band member has an enormous ego and is also in control of the band... Its been the Yoshiki show for so long now, its hard to even remember the band name used to be X Japan. I read somewhere Pata was done with the shitshow as well, but I cant find that article right now. IMO 'The Last Rockstars' is such a cringey band, it makes me glad X is no more.

I'VE GOT EXTASY, BUT I FEEL THE TEAR IS FALLING DOWN


Offline YoshToshBGosh

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Reply #13 on: February 26, 2023, 04:11:32 AM
I never liked the new songs much (imo Born to be free,IV and Jade are basically the same aong, probably from the same writing session), so I wasn't crazy about "The New Album". They aren't this crazy good, creatively working band anymore
But: I hoped for more concerts to happen, they sounded really good in the last one I saw(2014?), and it makes me sad to see this is probably over for good too. They should have focused on being a great retro act.



Offline Joker

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Reply #14 on: February 26, 2023, 11:41:24 PM
I think Yoshiki's huge ego is what screwed X this time, although Toshi could be more reasonable, as X reunion is what saved him from a lot of trouble with HoH.
Let's face it: X reunion was huge at first, but it ultimately was a sucesssion of failures. The first Tokyo Dome concerts started badly, with the fake collapse from Yoshiki because the concert started two hours late and they couldn't perform the whole planned setlist. The guest guitarists who mostly played power chords during X because they didn't have enough time to rehearse, the fashion shows during the concerts. The excessive use of hide playback, even when there was no visual clue at all. Sugizo officially joined the band in 2009, but only in 2011 he started to play all the songs.

When things started to get better, around 2014/2015, MSG, Japan Tour, things going on, we had the "X Day" which happened an year late and without the album release, then the concerts, the media, the announcements, the movies and everything else being related only to Yoshiki, as HE was the band and the other members were just his minions. The concert which should be a celebration of 10 years of reunion became "The Yoshiki ressurection concert", all the cameras, all the videos on the screens... Yoshiki everywhere. Everything was about him.

Then Red Swan came, the cherry on the top of the shit cake. Announcing Red Swan as an X JAPAN song was basically Yoshiki saying that X was himself, no matter who else was playing with him. The members' contract expired and now he has to deal with legal issues and years of work being trashed because he didn't release the album at the right time and their last performance being an empty concert where all the members were clearly uncomfortable and just being there because they had a contract to fulfill.



Offline Tahemet

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Reply #15 on: February 28, 2023, 01:55:58 PM
welll...to be fair....a typhoon isn't the fault of anyone.
And only the concert affected by the typhoon was without audience

that said...it might have been very well the last X Japan concert, which would be a shame



Offline Joker

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Reply #16 on: March 06, 2023, 06:20:57 PM
The typhoon wasn't anyone's fault, but the usual thing to do would be postpone the concert in a case like this. It looked like they couldn't perform later if they didn't at that time.

It didn't took long after this concert for Toshi to remove everything related to X from his networks and refusing to talk about X.



Offline Tahemet

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Reply #17 on: March 08, 2023, 01:50:48 PM
It didn't took long after this concert for Toshi to remove everything related to X from his networks and refusing to talk about X.

If...and it looks like it....he is really done with X Japan he should be honest and open about it (instead of just removing X Japan related content and connections)
and officially announce that he is no longer a member, (and no matter what any contract looks like...there would still be ways to do that)




Offline RoseOfPain

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Reply #18 on: March 09, 2023, 01:31:13 PM
It didn't took long after this concert for Toshi to remove everything related to X from his networks and refusing to talk about X.

If...and it looks like it....he is really done with X Japan he should be honest and open about it (instead of just removing X Japan related content and connections)
and officially announce that he is no longer a member, (and no matter what any contract looks like...there would still be ways to do that)


agreed, the whole thing should be way more transparent, the fans deserve that. But from Toshi's perspective, he may still be bound by an NDA from the label or Yoshiki.

I'VE GOT EXTASY, BUT I FEEL THE TEAR IS FALLING DOWN


Offline Astralmind

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Reply #19 on: March 22, 2023, 11:39:28 AM
I think Yoshiki's huge ego is what screwed X this time, although Toshi could be more reasonable, as X reunion is what saved him from a lot of trouble with HoH.
Let's face it: X reunion was huge at first, but it ultimately was a succession of failures. The first Tokyo Dome concerts started badly, with the fake collapse from Yoshiki because the concert started two hours late and they couldn't perform the whole planned setlist. The guest guitarists who mostly played power chords during X because they didn't have enough time to rehearse, the fashion shows during the concerts. The excessive use of hide playback, even when there was no visual clue at all. Sugizo officially joined the band in 2009, but only in 2011 he started to play all the songs.

When things started to get better, around 2014/2015, MSG, Japan Tour, things going on, we had the "X Day" which happened an year late and without the album release, then the concerts, the media, the announcements, the movies and everything else being related only to Yoshiki, as HE was the band and the other members were just his minions. The concert which should be a celebration of 10 years of reunion became "The Yoshiki ressurection concert", all the cameras, all the videos on the screens... Yoshiki everywhere. Everything was about him.

Then Red Swan came, the cherry on the top of the shit cake. Announcing Red Swan as an X JAPAN song was basically Yoshiki saying that X was himself, no matter who else was playing with him. The members' contract expired and now he has to deal with legal issues and years of work being trashed because he didn't release the album at the right time and their last performance being an empty concert where all the members were clearly uncomfortable and just being there because they had a contract to fulfill.

This ^^^^  All the freakin way. Those who have been around for a while are now well into 'proper adulthood' (is that a thing ever really?) and we're well past fanboy-ism and troubled emotional state pertaining to rock stars.. we've grown up (hopefully!).. I recall being flabbergasted by X back in 1993 when I first heard them, I wouldn't stop yapping about how they were the greatest in the world etc...  I was 13  years old. They were a landmark in my formative years and opened up my horizon to music in general and to this day X remains special in that sense - My love for music today can be traced back to that day where I first downloaded 'X' in mp3 from an anime website (ssserpent.org for the oldies!) - that was MY music, 'no one else' knew about it, it was my spring board into the world of music beyond crappy pop radio hits.

FFWD today... well actually back around reunion (can't even remember the exact moment). In the 20 + years that had passed in between I have experienced some incredible music, other artists in a wide variety of genre and didn't per say 'miss' X but they always remained in the back on my mind and whenever one of their song came up randomly on my playlist I simply couldn't skip it. My wife of 15 years has even grown to love and know their song without me insisting on her giving a shit... I figured those guys must have been great for real. Reunion came and besides the absolute milestone of seeing them live at MSG (truly a bucket list item from my teenage years I managed to cross off unexpectedly) anything since has been disappointment after disappointment.... It's tarnished their image, looking back at my 'Heroes' through an adult lense and observing (albeit from a distance) Yoshiki's insane ego trip  has been a frustrating journey... There are things that we perceive different in our younger years with a fresh enthusiasm that is hard to emulate later in life but in this case, at least for me, I can say that the 'orginal' stuff stood the test of time beyond nostalgia... it's just unfortunate they had to ruin it all 20 years later....



Offline YoshToshBGosh

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Reply #20 on: March 23, 2023, 01:48:25 AM
Amen to the statement above.



Offline nb

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Reply #21 on: April 25, 2023, 10:24:17 AM


positively unsure。


Offline nb

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Reply #22 on: April 30, 2023, 11:00:44 AM
if Toshi is really done with  X Japan - and IMO a lot of his behaviour speaks for it - then why doesn't he officially leave the band?
Wouldn't be the first time....

He isn't in the band. None of the so-called "members" are in the band. The complete X universe is owned by Yoshiki Hayashi since about 2009-ish I think... The other guys are hired for gigs and studio sessions.


positively unsure。


Offline Tahemet

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Reply #23 on: May 02, 2023, 08:43:44 AM
if Toshi is really done with  X Japan - and IMO a lot of his behaviour speaks for it - then why doesn't he officially leave the band?
Wouldn't be the first time....

He isn't in the band. None of the so-called "members" are in the band. The complete X universe is owned by Yoshiki Hayashi since about 2009-ish I think... The other guys are hired for gigs and studio sessions.

technicalities....no matter what you call it Toshi should officially announce it if he has no intention to participate anymore.

In one of his last channel chats Yoshiki talked about what it takes to produce and release an album and the costs involved.
No doubt, many will see it as poor excuses but one cannot say there are no reasons for the non-release.



Offline Joker

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Reply #24 on: May 05, 2023, 11:50:28 AM
if Toshi is really done with  X Japan - and IMO a lot of his behaviour speaks for it - then why doesn't he officially leave the band?
Wouldn't be the first time....

He isn't in the band. None of the so-called "members" are in the band. The complete X universe is owned by Yoshiki Hayashi since about 2009-ish I think... The other guys are hired for gigs and studio sessions.

Yet he should act like an adult and say something about it.

May 2nd just passed. 25 years of hide passing away. Toshi only activities on social media were about food.



Offline nb

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Reply #25 on: May 06, 2023, 10:22:16 AM

May 2nd just passed. 25 years of hide passing away. Toshi only activities on social media were about food.

history repeats...

shit...


positively unsure。


Offline helenmoon

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Reply #26 on: May 15, 2023, 10:09:32 PM
agree with 99% of the above; this said, just one more thing:

from the very beginning, Toshi was probably the only one in the band who cared about the future;
all the other members (perhaps Heath a little less, idk) were alcohol addicted and/or absolutely reckless; probably he had a different approach to life that collided against the "aesthetic of destruction" of the band.

This could have been the deepest root of subsequent disagreements. Perhaps he was also worried about the future of his bandmates and friends... while they seemed completely detached from the matter.

he paid a great price trying to find "what he was looking for"... without finding it, and now, after Red Swan e many other things probably Yoshiki-related, perhaps he wants only to be "a singer" and I can understand him.

He did his mistakes as well and should clear his position once for all, if possible.

Of course I don't expect anything more from the band, but anyway I agree that they should really release the phantomatic kept-in-the-tabernacle album, closing with dignity the magnificent circle that long long time ago they were once able to draw. (period. in the meantime retirement is approaching ;D )
« Last Edit: May 15, 2023, 10:13:42 PM by helenmoon »

Your scars are beautiful


Offline Joker

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Reply #27 on: May 16, 2023, 03:14:40 PM
I remember an interview where Yoshiki said that bringing X to the west was hard because of many things, including "one member which doesn't care about touring worldwide" or something like this.

Heath is the only one who nobody knows anything about him besides X. What is he doing? Why is he the only one who doesn't have any social media at all?
Pata was late, but at least he is now active on Instagram. But Toshi is a weird case. He deleted all photos and mentions about X from his social media, from his website, from his blog, which are all only in japanese. Yoshiki and Sugizo posts are japanese and english. Sugizo is the newest member and yet he still presents himself as "guitarist of Luna Sea and X JAPAN". Damn, even Maiko presents herself as "keyboardist for X JAPAN" on her social media and sometimes posts in english and replies X fans who asks her questions.

Why in hell Toshi, one of the founding members, pretends X never existed? I always thought the "member who didn't care about touring worldwide" was Heath because he is too quiet, but sometimes I think it may be Toshi...



Offline axlroseX

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Reply #28 on: May 16, 2023, 06:18:05 PM
I remember an interview where Yoshiki said that bringing X to the west was hard because of many things, including "one member which doesn't care about touring worldwide" or something like this.

Heath is the only one who nobody knows anything about him besides X. What is he doing? Why is he the only one who doesn't have any social media at all?
Pata was late, but at least he is now active on Instagram. But Toshi is a weird case. He deleted all photos and mentions about X from his social media, from his website, from his blog, which are all only in japanese. Yoshiki and Sugizo posts are japanese and english. Sugizo is the newest member and yet he still presents himself as "guitarist of Luna Sea and X JAPAN". Damn, even Maiko presents herself as "keyboardist for X JAPAN" on her social media and sometimes posts in english and replies X fans who asks her questions.

Why in hell Toshi, one of the founding members, pretends X never existed? I always thought the "member who didn't care about touring worldwide" was Heath because he is too quiet, but sometimes I think it may be Toshi...

It’s clear something happened in 2018 and that’s all probably a reaction to it. Hopefully, Angel’s release means some kind of compromise was met between the two parties (Yoshiki and Toshi). If so, it can pave the way for the record or future music. Who knows if they will play again, though. Either way, I hope this is a step in the right direction



Offline Tahemet

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Reply #29 on: December 06, 2023, 06:51:38 PM
Yesterday during the Q&A in London after the screening of Under the Sky Yoshiki said something interesting in regards to "Kiss the Sky"

"If I am ever allowed to release the song!" (paraphrasing)

The interviewer asked what he meant with that.

Yoshiki didn't went into details (of course not) , but he mentione contractional reasons as one source...

Make of that what you want but it could confirm the "legal reason theory" some people have about the non-release of the album