Wednesday, March 30, 2011

X Japan Expand Their Horizons Towards the West


The Japanese heavy metal band X Japan seek to become the next big name in American rock n’ roll as they continue to tour the States in support of their upcoming American debut album.

X Japan have been called “The Guns N’ Roses of Japan” and for good reason.  Much like G N’ R, X Japan have sold many albums (more than 300 million records!), packed stadiums (they’ve sold out the 50,000 seat Tokyo Dome 18 times!), and disbanded back in ’97 (a year after the original G N’ R broke up).  Ten years later, they would reunite and perform live for the very first time since going their separate ways in a series of concerts held from 2007 through 2009 throughout Asia.  While a household name in their native Japan and in the neighboring China, Taiwan, and South Korea, they are completely unknown back here in the USA. 

X Japan was founded in 1982 by Toshimitsu “Toshi” Deyama and Yoshiki Hayashi under the name “X”, the heavy metal group gained breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their sophomore album “Blue Blood”.  X Japan originally started out as a power/speed metal band, but they later adopted a more progressive sound and at times emphasized on ballads rather than straightforward thrash.  Many describe the band’s sound as “extremely raw” while combined with the sounds of classical style of piano passages and vocal melodies.  X Japan is also well known for having well-developed percussion parts and often use harmonized guitar riffs and solos in most of their songs.  The group is considered by many in the music industry to be the pioneers of the visual kei movement in music.


X Japan performed their first North American tour last year from September 25 to October 10 of last year.  Their American debut was at last year’s Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago.  And while it’s still too early to tell if X Japan will be as big here as they are back home, one it for sure, Yoshiki is no stranger to States.  He has been a Los Angeles resident for more than a decade has been using his time to carefully plan X Japan’s international debut while also studying the Western music scene and the English language!      

The band has a new album in the works that will be released sometime this year.  As of now, their 2011 album doesn’t have a title, but that’s sure to change before it drops.  The new album of the band’s hits have been made with American listeners in mind: the lyrics were translated into English and there is a heavier bass featured on the tracks!

The band planned to release the new album’s first single “Jade” this past March 15th, but it was pushed back due to the recent earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.  X Japan has decided to postpone its debut until further notice, but instead of waiting for them to debut it, here’s a fan made video from YouTube of “Jade” instead.  Enjoy! J



Monday, March 21, 2011

Foo Fighters Won’t be “Wasting Light” This Year

It looks like 2011 will be the year of the Foo Fighters!  The alternative rock band has huge year ahead of them not only with the release of their new studio album, but also the upcoming releases of a cover album and a film documentary!
The Foos are set to release their upcoming seventh studio album titled “Wasting Light” on April 12th.  “Wasting Light” is the band’s first studio album in four years (not counting “Greatest Hits” which came out in 2009).  The entire eleven track album was recorded in FF front man David Grohl’s garage and was produced by former Garbage drummer Butch Vig who has served as a producer for many great rock bands’ albums including Green Day’s “21st Century Breakdown”.  Recording for “Wasting Light” was officially finished on January 3rd as the band posted on their Twitter account that day which read “Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially done”.  The band has recently released as video for one of the songs off their new album that can be seen on Fuse or MTV Hits.  But why would you sit in front of your TV waiting for the video when you can just watch it here instead? J   
Check out the video for their newest single, “Rope”!  I think it's going to be a hit!

Now you see why I said they’ve got a hit on their hands! J And that’s coming from someone who's not a die-hard FF fan, but this song is definitely one of my favorites from them.  “Rope” is right up there with “Everlong” as one of their best songs.  But, don’t just take my word for it; “Rope” debuted at #1 on the Billboard’s Rock Chart, making it the second only song aside from Linkin Park’s “The Catalyst” to have done so since the chart’s birth in 2009.
This looks to be a very productive year for FF as they will also be releasing a cover album called “Medium Rare” which will feature such covers as Thin Lizzy’s “Bad Reputation” and Wings' “Band on the Run” among many others.  “Medium Rare”, the vinyl-only compilation, is expected to drop on April 16th. 
The film documentary “Back and Forth” will chronicle the Foos’ history as a band which rose from the ashes of Nirvana’s permanent disbandment (Grohl played drum’s for the Kurt Cobain led band way back in the day).  The film is set for a theatrical release on Tuesday, April 5th and will also air on VH1, VH1 Classic, and Palladia on April 8th.  Before I leave, here’s a gift for all Foo Fighters fans:  the official trailer for “Back and Forth” courtesy of YouTube!  Enjoy!

Monday, March 7, 2011

No Need to 'Panic!' About "Vices & Virtues"


The Las Vegas based Alternative meets Classical band, Panic! At the Disco returns with a brand new album and even fewer members.  Panic! At The Disco which started out life as a four piece band back in 2004, has come a long way since then.  The band first emerged into the mainstream with 2005’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” and gained stardom with their hit lead single “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies”; snagging them the covenanted VMA Video of the Year Award in ’06.  This was the THE video that made me into a Panic! fan.




Two years later, the band released their second album “Pretty. Odd.” which was a radical departure from the classical meets punk meets emo sound that they had established with their debut album (It sounded more like a Sgt. Pepper’s album instead).  They also for some bizarre and strange reason decided to remove the exclamation point from their name that same year; claiming that they never actually had one in their name when they first formed.   

A year later, the band became a duo after bassist Ryan Ross and Joh Walker issued a statement on the band’s website that they would be leaving P!ATC.  The band’s first song without Ross and Walker, “New Perspective” appeared on the “Jennifer’s Body” movie soundtrack and a video was released as well.

Being a Panic! fan since 2006, I was worried about this band leaving its roots behind as well as two of its founding members.  Even though I enjoyed the singles off 2008’s “Pretty. Odd.”, it just didn’t sound like the band that I was introduced to after seeing the video for “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies” for the very first time.  So imagine my surprise and concern when I discovered that they would be releasing a new album called “Vices & Virtues” after I randomly flipped the channels to MTV Hits (or “the only MTV channel that actually plays music videos") and saw the video for their newest song “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” playing. (Check out all of the references to “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies” in the video! J)




All I can say is if this song is any indication of what the rest of the album may be like, then I REALLY can’t wait for it to drop on March 22nd!  It looks like Panic! At The Disco is finally back and it’s definitely great to have them back again!