Konichiwa!
No , I don't speak Japanese- except I can blabber a few words and few phrases but nowhere near speaking. Music is the universal language of love and everything else.
I want to introduce you to this amazing band "X JAPAN"- the.most.popular. band in Japan. They have taken over the world. Slowly but surely.
I discovered X Japan on a very random situation. One of the beauty and make up gurus I was following closely, has posted details on her experience on meeting Yoshiki- that's the group leader. I was and still am very fascinated with Oriental cultures- food, customs etc.
So, I gave this band a try, I checked it out and what I learned still baffles me.
This band is beyond amazing. They create hysteria wherever they go. They have filled out and sold out Tokyo Dome many many times. That's like 50k to 60k people there if I am not mistaken. OMG.
Yeah I don't understand what they sing, but I sing along when I can. Their music is insane. I love it. The band has such a crazy history. They debuted sometimes is the 80's and they quickly became loved and adored by millions of fans in Japan. When they tried their luck overseas in the US, they were not so well received because they did not speak English or were struggling with the language.
I must mention to you that the band leader , Yoshiki is very smart and intelligent entrepreneur. He is the glue that hold the band together through so many years. The band's lead singer was recruited by a cult and that created lots of tension in the band there was not communication between the, the guitarist Hide killed him self and that brought a lot of pain to the whole group and fans. They went through a lot of problems until the band finally dismantled.
They reunited not too long ago and how I wish I could go to one of their concerts. Yoshiki is a classically trained pianist and self taught drummer. When he tried to record some songs in USA, the studio was never available. So he bought it. Yoshiki has his own brand of HelloKitty and it's called YoshiKitty. Yoshiki has his own brand of wine, drum sticks and he also has his own comic book story written by Stan Lee and it's called "Blood Red Dragon" , he has his own brand of kimono and it's called Yoshikimono. He recently launched a cologne. Yoshiki is a household name in many domains , yet he is so humble and shy, deep and dark.The closest I came to Yoshiki, was last year when I was on vacation in San Francisco- I saw him posting a picture that said he is about to land in SF. I about freaked out. I knew it was a sold out show or meet and greet that they were doing. You should see the fans of this band- they are so dedicated and loyal. I didn't even try to get close to the place he was at.
You will never find any information about his sexuality, private life ( except the X Japan Documentary). Yoshiki is super talented and I enjoy their music very much. This band is not everybody's cup of tea. They are a heavy metal band, and they integrated some ballads where Yoshiki plays the piano so so beautifully. You can see the emotions and passion he has. But then wait till you seeing banging on those drums. He is no joke.
I only gave you a brief history and information about this band. I may not make sense in some of the sentences, because I typed so feverishly and passionately about this band.There is so much more I could tell you about them but I don't want to bore you. If you are interested, look up Endless Rain- one of their most famous songs, Born to be free, Jade. Amazing!
Please let me know what you think and leave me comments, votes etc.
Arigato,
Diana-San
