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X Japan - Dahlia
First,before I start this review, there are 3 things I would like to say in order to make this review more simple and easier to understand. First of all is very simple and even very rude, but simply put, this is the best record ever, by any artist, throughout time. It's that simple.
Basically,that's all you would need to hear, and not need to read the following pages and instead just go listen to it, but I'm afraid that wouldn't be quite enough to convince you, and besides just stating that doesn't give me much credibility, does it?
The vast majority of you wouldn't believe me anyway because this is the kind of statement you hear everyday; someone saying "this is the best album ever!" and when you finally give that album a chance, it didn't really come to your liking. So, to avoid such a misunderstanding and to actually prove this IS the best ever, and most of all invite you to a great record, I decided not to make the short version above, and instead explain in detail of what I hope to become a helpful review.Also,I'm not going to be objective in judging this album, in fact it's going to be heavily subjective. I'm not even going to try not be biased, because I can't!How can I critisize something that just is so perfect, so flawless as this one is? "Dahlia" and "X" does have a fair share of advantage because of another subject too; this is a band I listen to about 4-6 hours e v e r y day for almost 5 years. No, I'm not joking or exaggerating. They're' that good, I keep listening to it because I never find anything better and I'm perfectly happy here with it, that's probably why. If I did listen to something else (alright occasionally I do) I would have broaden my musical experience and so on but what for? I'm happy!
For what it's worth,I'm also going to tell you that I'm a person that judges music critically. I only give out good scores for good albums. This is my first review, despite being here for a long time, there are many albums I love and want to review, but I decided to write about the best first. For a long time, I even refrained from started writing, until I felt I was fully ready to try express my feelings for this piece, and making the words come out right. I had to know exactly how and what to say, it took time but it was the only way.This also gave me the chance to see different sides of this album, to explore it even more and see if it became worse with time.
It didn't.
The title "best record ever by any artist" should not be used lightly. Looking back at the history of music and all the ever growing numbers of albums and artists, all different kinds of types, people's difference of opinions and perspectives on songs, different lives and lifestyles, from the age of classical music to the pop idol scene we have today, it takes quite much balls to make a statement to say that "this record is the very one". Fortunately, "X Japan - Dahlia" does just this, it is the best and lives up to all expectations and that's also why I feel so perfectly comfortable giving it this honor. In my opinion, of course. This is what I think, of course you might not feel the same. Everyone has different opinion on music, some of you might actually agree with me, most of you probably won't. But I'm quite sure that almost of all of you could enjoy the wonderful music of X Japan - Dahlia.
I'm not a musician myself. I don't play guitar, I don't know how to play piano, I don't play drums. Would I know more about music if I learned to? Would I change my opinion on the greatest album ever? Possibly, but probably not. You see, outstanding guitar solos (Yngwie Malmsteen), amazing arpeggios (Jason Becker), extremely advanced piano plays and anything else that's regarded as skill, it doesn't interest me much. I don't own a record collection of tens of thousands of cds, neither listened to thousands of them either, so I can't say I'm a "music coneasseur" but I do know that of everything I've heard and probably ever will, what I'm writing in this review is what I truly think. Also I'm by no means any "pro" regarding X japan, I'm just another simple fan (ok, slightly more enthustiatic perhaps :) as I think there's nothing better in life than X).
What I care about is the feelings and emotions a band or record can bring me, be it the most technical advanced music ever or a simple rhythm, what I enjoy is the feelings it gives me. For those of you that worry about this part, I'm quite sure X Japan is one of the more talented and skillful musicians out there.
The second thing I'd like to say is, as you maybe already noticed, I'm not from an English speaking country, so I hope that any further grammar/spelling errors won't annoy you too much, I'm sorry. I thought it would be better to write this in English, despite me not being fully capable of doing so, because more people could just find this beautiful hidden gem in the world of music. Fortunately, the music of X doesn't care about culture, language or English grammar errors, it's all universal there is no need to worry. So does the world need another review of X Japan - Dahlia? It's a 10 year old record... hasn't everyone already discovered this by now? Well, believe it or not but the answer is no. I didn't find out about X until year 1999, even less listened to them. And wow, even way back then they had already broken up... such a long time ago, and still I've found nothing better! I wouldn't want anyone to miss this opportunity, I'm forever grateful for finding them.
Third, this is going to be a long review, so for all of you looking for a short summary, just read the first couple of lines and listen to the cd :-) The world of X japan, and especially "Dahlia" cannot be explained easily. If you're new to the band and have no idea of what I'm talking about and interested to explore a new universe, or already somewhat familiar with the band or even highly experienced with them, there's still reason to read on. I'm trying to write so both new and old fans of X can enjoy. I hope I can write at least something interesting for everyone and I'm positive I can give you some new thoughts by giving my perspective on it. The album "Dahlia" itself is a lot different from the other records X released, and their career was very long and in order to understand "Dahlia", certain comparisons between this and their earlier efforts, stories and facts about their career must be mentioned, and comparisons between X and other bands/albums is also interesting, sometimes neccessary, which causes the review to become longer. But of course, focus will always be on reviewing this album! So sit yourself back comfortably, open your mind and let your ears guide you instead of your eyes. Because if you do, you will find something you've never felt before; a new path to the very meaning of life itself! Yes I WILL get a lot of flaming, hate mail and various spiteful comments about this, (maybe enemies for life, who knows!) but yes I mean it, this cd is THE MEANING OF LIFE!!! The answer to the question of what humanity has asked itself ever since our first days. HAHA!
That was very funny huh? I'm glad you enjoyed it, because it wasn't a joke! :-) I assure you, this is what I think, I'm serious. Is this guy really stupid, insane and a true fanatic? Maybe he's even dangerous? Can people really be so devoted that their entire life depends on one single music album? Why is he worshipping 5 random guys, that he's never met, and they're even japanese to boot? (A struggle X and many other bands had, they tried to breakthrough in the US but culture and language factors stopped them from any success). "He must be overrating these guys a lot, I mean a group of 5 people can't change the world", you might be thinking. Well, these 5 weren't just anybody. I can't tell you who and how they are, because they only know that themselves but try listening to their music or read a little about them on the internet. I can't blame you for thinking I'm an idiot, but for me, this modest little cd and its case is the portal to life. It just sets my soul on fire and I feel that I'm living, not just being alive, you know what I mean? Feelings such as these are naturally impossible to explain, especially by writing, it can only be felt. And this is exactly what X japan is; feelings. If you're not an emotional person, and have more of a down to earth attiude, I still recommend you to check out this album. You might find it to be over dramatic but I'm still confident you can enjoy it.
We're all different, with different principles and ideas. A lot of people don't find music important, some of us find it amusing, others take it very seriously, and I'm sure I'm not the one who's the most devoted to it. Some like "mainstream" more popular stuff, others only want rare and not so commercial music. Personally, I tend to like the "not so famous kind of music". Not because of the image either of them brings, but as the successful progressive rock band Tool says "We've got nothing against popular music or artists that focuses on image and the superficial part as long as they make good music, that's cool with us. BUT, for every minute, hour and days someone spends on their image, they could have used that time to worked harder and the make the music better. That's all what we care about; the music. As long as that is good, we're happy. Odds are it becomes better if you spend more time and work with it instead of focusing on something else." And I think that's quite an accurate explanation, and because of that and many other factors I tend to like not so popular music. Funny, as it is, X japan is actually a commercial hit. It was (and still is) very popular among teenagers and persons that care a lot about their image. X was one of the first few bands that VISUAL But as Tool said, "as long as the music is good we're satisfied" and this is exactly how X is. It's good, even if it's famous! So, now when you finally know how good I think this album is, let's get started!
- - -
The 11th December 1996, japanese rock band X Japan released their final and highly awaited album Dahlia. At this time, X was a very established band, with millions of fans and the top selling artist of the nation. Worshipped by many, their fame and fortune had reached the peak; they were the unquestioned number 1 rock band. It even went so far that prime minister Koizumi Junichiro has expressed his joy for the music of this beloved band (and I believe not just to earn popular favor among the people of the country, which he could, but I think he actually does like them. He's met several times with frontman Yoshiki). X had EVERYTHING they ever dreamed of; and yet, there was several signs of chaos in the band. Perhaps this was just normal because X was just that; chaos. Difficult to understand for the non-initiated listener, X is a lot about feelings; death, suicide, joy, happiness, sorrow, jealousy, love, hatred, longing, destruction and much more. Frontman Yoshiki Hayashi has always been the very core of the band. He was described as a troublesome ruffian in his youth, with not too good grades and a careless boy. His endless pain has been shaping the band and their music from the very beginning.
At this time when Dahlia was created, there were rumours that within the band there were schisms and inagreements. Despite this (or maybe because of it) "Dahlia" rose as the masterpiece. Many fans of the band didn't like the direction the music that X (or rather Yoshiki, because he was the one who managed the band and firmly created and decided what the music would become) had taken.
Dahlia was unquestionably more experimental, cloudy, newer and different from anything X had done before. The old rock sound of angsty punks with weird hairdos, sex pistols-similar clothes and Kizz-make up was gone, all of the band members had cut off their hair or changed their image entirely, or toned down the previous wild, rebellious punk image. Because X was in the early days of the 80s the pioneers and founders of a style called "visual kei", which is a famous type of music in Japan. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, visual kei is using "visual elements" to create a more unique style that would add more effects to the live shows and most important; the band's image. This visual element could be anything from pink colored hair with extensions so that the hair would reach down to the waist or longer, or punk hair or anything that would make them look more extreme or different. Make up and lipstick were more of a habit than exception. Visual kei is obviously very comparative to what "Hair Metal" and "Glam Rock" was in the western part of the world. It is very obvious that "Kizz", the old 70s American rock band, has been a big role model of X (as a sidenote, Yoshiki himself has expressed that he likes them many times, he even wrote the cover song "Black Diamond" as a tribute). Visual kei is indeed similar to these previous installments, but with japanese style, more easternized and more proffessional. This was of course a good marketing trick as it brings a lot of attention, and people liked it (especially younger women, fan-girls!).
X Japan started this movement by exploring and testing this area, and it was quite fast accepted within the japanese population. Japan has always been rather tolerable to costume and role playing as a part of their culture history, where male actors have dressed as females in different plays (kabuki). Yet, their shocking image gave them a troublesome reputation among the society and at first they only attracted rebellious kids or metal fans. At the mid and end of 90s, many popular and famous bands in Japan used visual kei as an important part of their image. It wasn't just for fun any longer, bands started making big bucks using this make up and looks. It was not uncommon that the members of the bands (all male) would be mistaken for females by foreigners or unknown people, which is not strange at all because the make up, clothes and hair does indeed add to this androgyne image. Many other famous bands such as Malice Mizer, Dir En Grey, Luna Sea, and hundreds, probably thousands of bands used this image to incorporate in their stardom. Some used it to their advantage, others failed to do so.
Eventually, in my experience (and this debate continues to rage on, and everyone has their own opinion) many bands took this image too far and started to focus more on their looks, used energy, money, time and enormous effort in trying to look cooler, more shocking or beautiful than any other band. This is fine with me, but when it affects the musical aspect, that it's more important to look good than fix that drumming section or guitar scene, it's more of a model show than music. And I like music! To me, music is always in the center and always will be. Maybe that's exactly the secret key in why X was so sucessful; they played visual rock but in the center there was ALWAYS THE MUSIC. And these boys weren't just only looks and no brain... Yoshiki himself had been under very hard pressure from early days to practice music, he started playing piano when he was 4 and his mother was a musician. Many fans of X (and Yoshiki, because there's no denying that Y. Plays a huge part of X, he's the one who wrote the absolute majority of the songs, lyrics and created the melodies, he also owned the record company and the studio) they proclaimed him as the new Mozart, the 20th century musical genius, a statement I can understand and somewhat agree to. Just as Jimi Hendrix was a master on guitar, Yoshiki is a musical genius, his music is "beyond his own time". Funny comparison by the way, Hendrix was playing his rather rebellious music as a black man in a shaken up country, and Yoshiki (and X) playing rebellious rock music in a strict and formal society, earning their way to respect. Many members of the band have also wrote their own journals or books about this band and what it meant to them, it's quite nice to read their personal words and opinions of how things were so check it out if you're interested. The legend says that even before he was a teenager, Yoshiki made the first plans and formation of what would become X, the band that would change so many people's lives, with his childhood friend Toshimitsu (Toshi) Deyama. Of course, at this stadium it was all fun and games, but it would all soon become more serious. Yoshiki's father died when he was very young, and this has been a part of him ever since (a sidenote: the ballad "tears" is dedicated to him).
They started looking for other band members that would join them, a couple of members came and went for the tryouts, little information is known of this as it happened in the early years (1979-1983) where recording sessions were not saved as it is today. No computers, no internet, hell not even cd-players. But of what little info there is, a few musicians (or maybe more accurately punks :-) who was hanging out with the band was Hisashi "Jun" Takai (who's now a solo artist and holds guitar lessons). He chose to leave the band on his own due to that he didn't like celebrity and stardom (maybe it was good that he left then! Because that's what X just became, but in a bigger scale than what they all ever imagined!) A couple of other members were Hikaru, who now owns a rock bar in Tokyo, and a few other tryouts were Eddie, Hally, Satoru, Tokuo, Izumisawa, Zenon, Ogata, all in the early 80s. It's said that totally about 20 persons came to auditions, before settling down to the current line up.
Rumor has it that the reason why it took so long to find a first line up and release their first album was that Yoshiki just couldn't find enough skilled musicians to play his music. Finally, in 1983, the first real line up of X was formed and their first official song "I'll kill you" (which was speed metal) was released. The members of the band were Yoshiki Hayashi, who simply used the artist name Yoshiki. He composed the songs, played the drums and piano and any synthizors that were used. Vocalist was Toshimitsu Deyama (Toshi), bassist Taiji Sewada and two guitar players Hideto "hide" Matsumoto, and Tomoaki "Pata" Ishizuka. All of these members have had their own solo careers and projects.
hide had the most successful, which even some fans like more than X. hide quickly became the member of X who was most "visual" of all, he always had the longest hair and wore most make-up. His solo band was named "hide with spread beaver" and his tours across Japan were huge, selling millions of records and profiling himself in the world of rock. On the contrary to X, hide played a more relaxed, more easy listened, catchy, superficial and happy and almost hippie/drug influenced type of music, whereas X was complicated, filled with sadness and torment, Yoshiki always worried about life, but hides style was partying and celebrating which appealed the mainstream fans, and this was a huge success with the younger audience. I will try not to comment too much on hide's solo career (unless neccessary) and maybe write about it later, but this is neccessary to say (sorry all hide fans!) but in my opinion he's quite overrated, focusing too much on looks and too little on the music (therefore gaining lots of popularity among people who are not as serious about music as others). It should be known that hide also got a lot of focus due to his death in 1998. (Hmm I wonder how things would have been if it was actually Yoshiki who died and hide was alive? Scary to think of, and rather unpleasant and useless anyway so let's not stay at that any longer).This created a "hide hysteria" and it often causes fans to forget that hide was human--and that not everything he touched turned to gold. He can't compete with Yoshiki at all. His stuff is enjoyable, but if you're saying hide is better than Yoshiki, you haven't paid enough attention or listened enough. When going deeper into the music and listening to it for a long time, I get bored with him, his music is very predictable and he's not as talented as Yoshiki.
Pata, the other guitarrist, was the most calm and least bold of all the members, he just smiled and played his guitar. He's had a modest solo career, and is now playing in a band called "Ra:IN".There were actually two bassists, Taiji was the first one during the first three albums. He usually dressed in westernized clothes and easily recognized thanks to his cowboy hat. He liked music that was more western than the others, and in a conflict with Yoshiki at the time of making "Jealousy" (1991), Yoshiki undeliberately broke Taiji's arm and after that and some more conflicts he was fired. Now, Taiji is having his own band called Otokaze. He was replaced by Heath (Hiroshi Morie), who joined in late 1992, who also had a small solo career with Pata in the group Dope HEADZ.
X Japan is indeed something unique. A formation of 5 persons, each with their own talent and skills, united into a group with all their hearts beating as one. They changed the music industry in Japan, and helped many to find their dreams. Today, X japan is since long gone, the sands of time have washed away a bit of their glory and many of music's younger fans today know very little or nothing about the band or are just uninterested as it is too old, and the people in their own generation have moved on with their own lives, creating families and so on. Still, the songs of X remains and for me, this is truly eternal. It's also important to note the factor of X in the studio and X live. If you haven't seen any live concerts with them, do it now!
It's interesting to look at how the band's sound changed with the years. To see how "Dahlia" became what it was in 1996, a short summary could be useful. To be able to compare and understand why Dahlia is better than the previous albums, let's look at the musical progress the band has made, because throughout X Japan's life span, they did it all, speed/trash metal, ballads you name it. In Japan, especially at this time, discography is a bit different than it's over here... the normal standard of regular albums isn't applied, instead singles, mini/maxi album and EPS are much more common. Regular albums exist too, but not at all as wide as here. That's why X's most songs are first released on singles and then maybe later on an album, which also means songs on "Dahlia" had previously appeared. I can understand how people find this disappointing, I feel the same, if a new album is released I don't want it to contain the same songs as before. But looking at Dahlia, I can only see a composition of absolutely heavenly songs, even if they've appeared before or not. Most of the songs are ballads, even if a few ones are rock. Before and during the "Vanishing Vision" (first album) era, X was a thrash/speed/power metal band. It was just mostly about "fun and rock as hard as you can", but still with a slight importance and contemplation. The album was all guitar and drums, no fancy digital sounds or distortions. It had classics such as "Kurenai" and "Sadistic Desire". Even though well written and produced, X still had much to improve. With the release of their second major album "Blue Blood", X still kept their image of hard rockers but had started to slightly be influenced by softer sound and wrote the classic ballad "Endless Rain". "Blue Blood" is the record that made them breakout, and it sold very well. It was the most easily listened and straight forward album they released. Just a simple album, with regular rock songs. Many fans regard this as their best album, but actually I think it's their worst! "Blue Blood" is full of questionable tracks such as easy fight rambling, celebration and weekend. These are songs you enjoy in the beginning, but after a long time I grow very tired of them. This is not the case of "Dahlia".
In the early years, before and during the "Vanishing Vision" (first album) era, X was a thrash/speed/power metal band. It was just mostly about "fun and rock as hard as you can", but still with a slight importance and contemplation. When "Jealousy" came out, it was all much more apparent that X was of serious nature. "Silent Jealousy" and "Say anything" was truly a step up from the monotonous "Blue Blood" and a huge improvement in content. Whereas songs as "Weekend" meant nothing, "Silent Jealousy" had a deep meaning. X had become moremature, which really showed in the songwriting and they were so much more dramatic now. Originally, the next release, "Art of Life" was supposed to have been included in the "Jealousy" release, but due to it's length and obvious size, it was released independantly in 1993. Interestingly enough, this means parts of "Art of Life" was written in 1991 or even earlier! After "Art of Life", X japan had nothing to prove. They had already showed their excellent musical talents, their masterful control of different genres, metal, symphonic music, pop music.... and yet, they created something like this. To fully understand why "Dahlia" is their best work, I can only say keep listening, listening and listening to their music over and over and over again.
Before actually talking and analyzing the songs, let's look at the cover for a second. The cover of the album is a picture of Yoshiki, sitting in the middle of a street, with cars rushing by but he's just sitting there, not caring about what happens around him, uninterested in the all regular stressful society system we're all a part of. He's dressed in grey silver-white jeans, a black shirt and sitting on a boquet of dahlias (it could also be roses, roses have always been a bit of his gimmick, by the way, but it's most certainly dahlias as that's what the album is about). I just find this picture adorable, it describes freedom and strength, a bit of insanity I guess (sitting in the street), and that his whole life is riding on... whatever he is up to, probably the one he loves.
Okay, so... you're ready? For full maximum effect, put on your best equipment, best speakers available, focus deeply and listen in headphones to hear all details. Click play, start the record and another world opens:
Track 1: Dahlia
Ok, so we are right onto it, it starts out right away with the best, no time to waste. And you will soon notice that this song takes it all so serious. This song is of huge importance to the album, maybe that's why it's first on the cd. It's very important, not just because it's one of the best songs ever, but also because It really shows the changes of X's sound and the newer generation of the band.This is such a perfect song, it just blows my mind... it blows me away and I don't know what to say. However, this song took me quite a while to get into. The first couple of times I heard it, I didn't like it at all. The distorted, almost computerized and strange voice of Toshi at the beginning through me off, the guitars sound just too strange, almost like garbage, the drums were in a weird rhythm and the song just didn't make sense. BUT, given time, this song grew something incredibly. It started with me reading the lyrics, finding the message and understanding it, and after that the highlight mysterious break at 03:18 enticed me just enough to find out just what kind of song this really was. The mysterious drum break is very experimental and almost psychadelic, at that moment there are no guitars and no vocals, nothing like X had ever done before. When I hear this, even now, after listening thousands and thousands of times to this song, the feelings overwhelm me and I feel like and envision as if I was in a forest, I see this vision of an autumn forest, I'm walking through it and different lights, resembling strobe or disco lights, in colors of green, yellow, orange is shining down through the leaves, reflecting on the leaves that are falling down, and as soon as it started the melody of the song changes back and drags me back into the real world, just like as if I was in a dream, like waking up in your bed. I'm quite sure of that in this drum break, this is where Yoshiki's real dreams of Violet UK started.
After the drum break is gone, the tune of the song carries on and the melody continues, just as it was before. It's hard to describe the song of "Dahlia", but somehow it symbolizes "life". To me, the entire song Dahlia, from the first second to the last is about life and the road everyone is walking on, your journey of life, from the moment you're born to the day you die, this is what "Dahlia" is about. Regardless of what life you're living, the story of yours is inside Dahlia. The moment you first fell in love, the beautiful boy or girl you loved and she loved you, the time you spent on the beach with her, the warm, passionate kiss under the bridge, the joys and hardships of life you've been through, the lonely nights under the sky, the cold snowy nights of winter, your most successful moment and your worst mistakes, your dreams and nightmares, your abstract dreams of whatever they may be (in my case, I see a vision like a glass palace, made of mirrors I'm walking through it, similar to the Bruce Lee Dragon movie :P), old, ancient mountain passages in an era long forgotten and Neon cities with high skyscrapers, flowing rivers and green flower paradises, it's all inside DAHLIA.
At 05:56, the song calms out and all there is is some soft sound, with classical strings and Toshi's very light voice. When I hear this part, I imagine Toshi standing atop of a mountain with both his hands raised and singing out at the landscape, as green valleys and flowering fields are blooming below him, almost as if it was a movie and the camera is moving around him, in circles. Right after this short period, the rhythm comes back but the pace has quickened and "gone up" one step, which makes it clear that the ending of the song is coming close, but also as a reminder that life is closing in and moving close to end. At 07.07, a very important highlight begins. First there's a guitar in the background (while the strings plays) and then comes the distorted guitars that are playing like the final part of life, like you're about to die and the end is nigh, and at the very end of the song, the song ends with a striking but fading end, slowly but quickly disappearing just like life itself. When I hear this, I get the image of a glass or a cup of coffee falling to the ground and in multiple replays the glass breaks, again, again and again over again, just like life itself is shattered.
Throughout this song, all sounds are so incredibly synchronized, the small "clinging" detail sound at the background, the drums are in such a motion of a possessed demon, the guitars are fast and determined and the vocals speaking so clear. There are so many emotions and moods throughout the song that it's impossible to explain. Especially the drums are in such a great rhythm, if you listen carefully you can also note that they play so great very lightly in the background. Let's not forget about the lyrics, which plays a big part in the song:
"Do nothing but cry day and night. I'm still alone between the past and the future, even though I convert unchanged heart of mine into a beautiful lie. Embracing tears flying across never-ending sky in the night, once again
Oh my Dahlia. Sorrows soaked in my heart turn their shapes into countless consternations. You don't know where you are going to, once you spread the wings of loneliness in your undecided mind and go across the sea of tears.
You will spread your wings against wind of tomorrow even if the voyager ends up with shapeless dream (hoping that) you will see blue sky
Time after time, you try to find yourself drifted by wind of sorrow
You try to find yourself even in passing time with holding continuous pain
Don't display tear which drops in a second of eternity, ever again.
Oh my Dahlia. Rain falling to scars that everyone has in his heart is....
Blown by cold wind, birds that still can't fly away hold their dreams, in the sky of dawn. A Flower of fantasy blooms along the trace of tears, making time stop flying."
(Note:This translation could vary compared to others, I have found this to be one of the more accurate as Japanese lyrics and music can be very complex because it's usually structured as poetry or poems, and also there are certain emotions and feelings we in west can't comprehend and then it gets even more difficult to translate. I do believe this one to be accurate as I had a very strong source for it). Why is this song better than the famous "Art of Life?"
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