X Japan (エックス ジャパン, Ekkusu Japan) is a Japanese heavy metal band founded in 1982 by Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama and Yoshiki Hayashi. Originally named X (エックス), the group achieved its breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second album Blue Blood.
They started out as a power/speed metal band and later gravitated towards a progressive sound, at all times retaining an emphasis on ballads. Many of their songs also incorporate classical style piano passages or harmonized guitar parts. Besides being one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label, the group is widely credited for pioneering the visual kei movement. They were known in their early years for their excessively large hairstyles resembling fountains, but toned these down in later years. As of 2010, the band has sold over thirty million records and over two million home videos.
After sixteen years, four albums, and selling out the 50,000 seat Tokyo Dome 18 times, X Japan disbanded in 1997. The band did not perform or record any material for another 10 years. However, in 2007, the band re-united and performed live for the first time since their break-up. After performing concerts through-out Asia in 2007 through 2009, the band performed their first North American tour from September 25 through October 10, 2010. They also plan to release their first studio album in more than 14 years in 2011.
X Japan started in 1978, originally called Dynamite, when its founding members Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama and Yoshiki Hayashi were only 13. Dynamite changed its name to Noise in 1980, while they were still in high school. In 1982, they changed their name to X, while they tried to think of another name, but the name stuck. X began to actively perform in the Tokyo area in 1985 with a frequently changing lineup. Their first single, "I'll Kill You" was released on Dada Records in June and the band contribued "Break the Darkness" to the sampler Heavy Metal Force III in November.
To ensure a continuous outlet for the band's music, Yoshiki founded the independent label Extasy Records. The following year a second single, "Orgasm", was released on the label. The songs "Stab Me in the Back" and "No Connexion", recorded for the 1987 Victor Records sampler Skull Thrash Zone Volume I mark the group's first material featuring Tomoaki "Pata" Ishizuka as a support guitar player. He formally joined the group later that year. Likewise, guitarist Hideto "hide" Matsumoto and bassist Taiji Sawada both briefly performed with X on separate occasions before completing the group's first steady lineup.
On December 26, 1987, the band participated in an audition held by CBS Sony which led to a recording contract in August of the following year. In the meantime, the band released its first album, Vanishing Vision through Extasy Records on April 14, 1988 and toured extensively in support of the record. The band also appeared in a cameo in the film Tokyo Pop, starring Carrie Hamilton and Diamond Yukai.
X's second album Blue Blood was released on April 21, 1989 and spawned several singles, such as "Kurenai" and "Endless Rain". The group also released their first home video, a VHS of a live concert titled Blue Blood Tour Bakuhatsu Sunzen Gig. Recording for the follow-up album Jealousy took place in Los Angeles. It was released on July 1, 1991 and was followed by the band's first performance in Japan's largest indoor concert venue, the Tokyo Dome. Footage from most of the band's shows in that stadium would later be released on CD and VHS/DVD.
By 1992 the band's success in Japan made an international breakthrough appear likely enough to warrant the renaming of X to "X Japan", in order to distinguish the group from the American punk band X. Around the same time Taiji left the group and was replaced by Hiroshi "Heath" Morie. Taiji went on to work with Loudness and Cloud Nine.
For the release of its next album, X Japan left Sony and signed a deal with Atlantic Records. Art of Life was released on August 28, 1993, containing only the 29-minute title track, which was performed only three times for a live audience. Another studio album was not released until November 4, 1996. The album, Dahlia, contained relatively little new material considering that the tracks on it had been released as early as a few months after Art of Life. Around that time, the group dropped most of its original visual kei aesthetics in favor of a more casual look. Dahlia would be the band's last major release.
Toshi decided to leave the band and a dissolution was officially announced in September 1997. X Japan performed their farewell show at the Tokyo Dome on December 31, making it the last of five consecutive New Year's Eves the group performed in that stadium.
Much has been made of Toshi's departure, including allegations of him joining a cult and being influenced by it. Toshi has since refuted such claims, stating that his decision to leave X Japan dated back as far as April 1996, more than a year before he met the organization's leader, Masaya and that the glamorous, success-oriented life of a rock star failed to satisfy him emotionally, as opposed to a simpler life and career.
While reissues, compilations and live footage continued to be released, the members of X Japan pursued various other projects: hide, who had been releasing solo albums since 1994's Hide Your Face, continued his solo career with Spread Beaver, now formally including his previous live band and with a sound distinctively different from X Japan's music, leaning more towards alternative rock. But the new group did not last long, due to hide's death in May 1998.
Toshi has released several solo albums, along with numerous acoustic performances for smaller audiences. According to his website, his Utatabi Traveling Concert tour has included over 3.000 concerts, between 1999 and 2003.
Pata and Heath, along with Spread Beaver percussionist/programmer I.N.A., founded Dope Headz in 2001 which released two albums but then ceased activity. The trio also provided a track for the hide tribute album, Tribute Spirits. Heath is currently pursuing a solo career and Pata is a member of Rain (Rock and Inspiration).
Before the breakup, Yoshiki had already independently collaborated with Queen drummer Roger Taylor on the single "Foreign Sand" and provided the Japanese contribution to the international Kiss tribute album Kiss My Ass, an orchestral arrangement of the song "Black Diamond". A compilation with orchestral treatments of X Japan songs, titled Eternal Melody was also released . It was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and among others featured The Beatles producer George Martin as an arranger.
Since 1998 Yoshiki has engaged in numerous activities, such as being briefly a member of the pop band Globe, producing singles for the Korean rock band TRAX and working on his solo project Violet UK, which as of 2007 had not yet published a major release. He has also contributed music to the movie Catacombs and produced the soundtrack of Repo! The Genetic Opera. On May 25, 2007, the formation of the supergroup S.K.I.N. was announced, which besides Yoshiki consists of pop/rock artists Gackt and Miyavi, as well as former Luna Sea guitarist Sugizo. The band gave its debut at the Anime Expo convention in Long Beach, California on June 29 2007.
In March 2007 Toshi announced on his website that he and Yoshiki had recently resumed working together, stating that a "new project" would commence soon. An X Japan reunion was officially confirmed on June 4, 2007, with Yoshiki announcing a tour, as well as a new single to be underway and that he was in talks with Heath and Pata regarding their participation.
The band made its first public appearance on October 22, 2007, on the rooftop of the shopping center, Aqua City in Odaiba, Tokyo, during which a music video for the newly recorded song "I.V." was filmed. "I.V." also appears on the soundtrack of the movie Saw IV. It is written by Yoshiki and recorded with all living X Japan members of the pre-breakup lineup. Previously unreleased guitar tracks by hide were used for the lead guitar part. "I.V." was released through iTunes on January 23, 2008, topping the store's charts on that day.
On January 20, 2008 two Tokyo Dome concert dates were announced for March 28 and March 30. Due to popular demand, they added another concert for the 29th. These three concerts were entitled "Resume Attack 2008 I.V. - Towards Destruction", with each individual concerts titled "Night of Destruction", "Night of Madness" and "Night of Creation", respectively. The March 28 concert aired live on the pay-per-view channel WOWOW with three guest guitarists filling for the late hide - Wes Borland, Richard Fortus, and Sugizo.
Also during the song "Art of Life" hide's image (taken from footage of the "Art of Life" performance at the Tokyo Dome in 1993) played alongside the band. This was made possible by the use of Musion Eyeliner hologram technology. Because of technical difficulties, possibly due to the hologram, the first concert was delayed for over two hours and later came to an abrupt end when drummer Yoshiki collapsed eight songs into the performance. The subsequent shows were without such difficulties and during a press conference, plans for a concert in Paris, France on July 5, 2008 were announced, with an intended audience of 20,000 people. In addition to the Paris date, plans for concerts at the Madison Square Garden, New York City on September 13, and at the Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei on August 2 were also confirmed.
On June 8, 2008 it was reported that all previously scheduled shows would be postponed until further notice, due to a recurrence of Yoshiki's disc herniation. The Paris and Taipei concerts were re-scheduled for November 22, 2009.
On September 15, 2008, Yoshiki held a press conference in Tokyo, where he announced a new, unnamed X Japan song was in the works. Concerts for Christmas and New Year's Eve 2008 were also announced. After the conference Yoshiki went on a promotional tour across Asia. On November 7 the French ticketing website Avos announced that the planned ticket sale for the show in Paris would be canceled. (These show never took place as originally planned, although the band did perform in Paris in 2010). Later that day, X Japan released a press statement through their French language website apologizing for the second postponement and announced that the planned Christmas shows would likely suffer a similar fate. In early January the previously announced Taiwan concert date was postponed for a second time, with the band's management citing a potential safety issue involving the venue as the reason. On December 31 X Japan performed their New Year's Eve countdown performance at the Akasaka Blitz, performing a set list which included older material and announced plans for the upcoming year.
On January 15 the band arrived in Hong Kong ahead of their January 16 and 17th shows. On May 1, Sugizo officially joined X Japan. The announcement explained that Sugizo was joining as a 6th member, rather than as a replacement for the deceased lead guitarist hide. The hide memorial summit took place on May 2 and 3, with numerous performances by acts such as Dir en grey and Oblivion Dust, bands such as Phantasmagoria and Luna Sea even reunited for one day to perform. On May 30, 2009 the band did their first live show with Sugizo in Taiwan.
On January 9, 2010 the band made its first public U.S. appearance by shooting four new music videos in Hollywood. The four videos were for Rusty Nail, Jade, Endless Rain and I.V. In February, Yoshiki confirmed that X Japan will be performing at Lollapalooza in August. Later that month, Yoshiki announced at a press event that the band would be relocating to Los Angeles, CA with a concert being planned for a "simple" venue in the Los Angeles-area to mark the band's first official North American show. It has also been announced that a 6th album is in the works expected to be released in the fall.
On July 1, the band appeared at Club Nokia in Los Angeles where they performed an acoustic version of “I.V.”, and recorded a music video of a new song, Born to be Free. They also released a new music video for Rusty Nail On July 4, the two lead members Toshi and Yoshiki (on piano), appeared in Paris at the Japan Expo 2010 where they performed some of their hits including "I.V." and "Rose of Pain".
During the following month, X Japan and Yoshiki were featured in numerous newspapers and websites such as ABC News, the L.A. Times, and Chicago Sun-Times.X Japan performed at Lollapalooza at Grant Park, Chicago on August 8th. In the following days, Yoshiki did a long Q&A article with the Phoenix New Times and was interviewed by ABC News.
On August 14 and 15, 2010, the band performed a two-day show at Nissan Stadium, the largest stadium in Japan. It was reported that over 100,000 fans attended the two shows with some estimates as high as 140,000 in attendance. Taiji played the song "X" as a guest at the concert. On September 16, the new single "Jade" was released for streaming on their website. From September 25 to October 10, X Japan performed their first ever North American tour with dates in Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, Chicago, Vancouver, Toronto, and New York City, with Vampires Everywhere opening up for them.
X Japan's music developed in the wake of American and British glam and heavy metal music and is characterized by driving power metal compositions (e.g. "Kurenai", "Silent Jealousy") and emotional ballads (e.g. "Endless Rain", "Forever Love"). Many of the group's songs make use of orchestrated passages, particularly on longer tracks such as the ten and a half minute "Tears", "Crucify My Love," and the twenty-nine minute "Art of Life".
The majority of the band's catalog of music was written by Yoshiki with relatively little composition from the other members. hide contributed several songs, while Pata's only claim is "White Wind from Mr. Martin ~Pata's Nap~". Toshi's contributions are limited to lyrics for a few songs. Taiji contributed music to a couple of songs, most notably "Voiceless Screaming" on the album Jealousy where he plays the guitar. Heath's only writing credit was the instrumental song "Wriggle" on the 1996 album Dahlia, which he wrote with Pata. Only one song is credited as a full band collaboration, "Easy Fight Rambling" on the 1989 album Blue Blood.
Yoshiki's composing style tends to make use of chords in sequences of eights or more with riff-based motifs or call-and-response style phrasing. He has maintained this style for the majority of his career as a composer. Having played classical piano since he was 3 years old, and once aspiring to study in a classical music academy, Yoshiki claims to be as influenced by classical music as he is by rock, a claim which is evident when considering the breadth of music released by the band. While also serving as the main song writer Yoshiki has production credit on virtually all of X Japan's music, a fact that is embellished by the knowledge that all studio releases by the band from 1990 onwards have been recorded and produced in his privately owned recording studio in Los Angeles.
During live performances the band relies, for the most part, on its members (with drummer and pianist Yoshiki switching between instruments) and pre-recorded tracks, e.g. for orchestral strings, spoken word passages, and more recently, many of hide's guitar parts.
As with numerous other Japanese bands, the members of X Japan are usually credited with their given or stage names.
- Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama (出山利三, Deyama Toshimitsu) – vocals (1982–1997, 2007–present)
- Tomoaki "Pata" Ishizuka (石塚智昭 Ishizuka Tomoaki) – guitar (1987–1997, 2007–present)
- Yūne "Sugizo" Sugihara (杉原有音 Sugihara Yūne) – guitar, violin, backing vocals (2008–present)
- Hiroshi "Heath" Morie (森江 博 Morie Hiroshi) – bass, backing vocals (1992–1997, 2007–present)
- Yoshiki Hayashi (林 佳樹 Hayashi Yoshiki) – drums, piano (1982–1997, 2007–present)
Former members
- Hideto "hide" Matsumoto (松本秀人 Matsumoto Hideto) – guitar, backing vocals (1987–1997)†
- Taiji Sawada (沢田泰司 Sawada Taiji) – bass, backing vocals (1985, 1986–1992)
- Isao – guitar (1987)
- Satoru Inoue (井上 悟 Inoue Satoru) – guitar (1986)
- Masanori "Kerry" Takahashi (高橋雅則 Takahashi Masanori) – guitar (1986)
- Hikaru Utaka (宇高 光 Utaka Hikaru) – bass (1985–1986)
- Hisashi "Jun/Shu" Takai (高井 寿 Takai Hisashi) – guitar (1985,1986)
- Mita "Zenon" Kazumitsu (三田一光 Kazumitsu Mita) – guitar (1985–1986)
- Yoshifumi "Hally" Yoshida (吉田良文 Yoshida Yoshifumi) – guitar (1985)
- Kenichi "Eddie Van" Koide – guitar (1985)
- Atsushi Tokuo – bass (1984–1985)
- Tomoyuki "Tomo" Ogata – guitar (1984–1985)
- Yuji "Terry" Izumisawa – guitar (1982–1985)†
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