Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama (出山利三, Deyama Toshimitsu?) – Vocals
Hideto "Hide" Matsumoto (松本秀人 Matsumoto Hideto) – Lead guitar(until 199 cool
Tomoaki "Pata" Ishizuka (石塚智昭 Ishizuka Tomoaki) – Rhythm guitar
Hiroshi "Heath" Morie (森江博 Morie Hiroshi) – Bass (from 1992)
Yoshiki Hayashi (林佳樹 Hayashi Yoshiki) – Drums and piano
Taiji Sawada (沢田泰司 Sawada Taiji) – Bass (until 1992)
PROFILE
X was the first Visual Kei band to perform in Tokyo Dome three nights in a row when every single ticket had been sold. Before, Buck Tick had held the record, though they were only sold out for one performance in Tokyo Dome.
The idea behind the band was, basically, to do anything which would shock the audience. At the time, their motto was "Psychedelic Violence - Crime of Visual Shock." This means that X Japan are seen as the forefathers of Visual Kei, although before them there were bands which pursued a similar concept. However, none of these bands could live up to the success of X Japan.
The band began with the music style of pure heavy metal, very typical of the 1980s! On the other hand, the band also played a lot of ballads. Most of these ballads were very piano-heavy, and played by the drummer/pianist Yoshiki. It was one of these ballads which eventually caused X Japan's breakthrough as one of the most famous bands in Japanese music - Art of Life, which is 28 minutes and 59 seconds long.
Over the years, the band's style changed, diverting away from Visual Kei. X Japan's music became much more varied, and with that Yoshiki's true talents shone through much more easily.
BIOGRAPHY
It was way back in 1980 that Yoshiki and Toshi (two childhood friends) formed a band known as Noise. Two years later, they changed their name to X and began their ascension into rock history. They began by performing at clubs and such with the help of random musicians, gathering quite the underground following in the process. They eventually had tracks on certain rock compilations, which only helped to expand their already-growing fan base. In 1987, they recruited hide, Pata and Taiji to complete their line-up and make it official.
The boys were a crowd favorite, but still couldn’t find a record label interested in their music. Believing in her son’s abilities, Yoshiki’s mom sold the family business and gave him the money. He created Extasy Records and released Vanishing Vision, X’s first official album. It made a large impact on the metal scene, but failed to grab Japan’s attention. “Violent” music wasn’t what the country wanted to hear. However, the metal heads were so into it that Sony Records Japan took notice and gave the quintet a record deal.
Blue Blood was soon released and became a runaway hit. Songs like Weekend and Endless Rain swept the nation off its feet and gave the band the boost they needed. X was everywhere. Non-stop radio play, amazing record sales and an over saturation of TV interviews were all it took to make X one of the most successful bands in Japanese history. Their national tours sold-out almost instantaneously and they became the first band in history to play the Tokyo Dome three nights in a row.
Needless to say, their following album, Jealousy blew expected record sales away. Unfortunately, all the success in the world couldn’t keep Taiji interested in the band. He left in 1992 and was replaced by Heath, who made fans relatively quickly. The band later switched to a different label, in hopes of reaching out overseas. However, the discovery of another band named X forced Yoshiki to change the band’s name to X Japan to avoid copyright issues.
The first release under the new name was 1994’s Art of Life, a 29 minute album made famous for one reason: it contained only one track! The epic song delighted audiences and shot all the way to first place on the Japanese charts during its release. It has only been performed live once, caught on tape and released as ART OF LIFE 1993.12.31 TOKYO DOME.
1996 came around and X Japan released its final album: Dahlia. However, most of it had been available as singles released between 1992 and 1996. The only reason it took so long to compile them into an album is that Yoshiki was (and still is) a perfectionist. His motto is simple: “Everything I create has to be perfect.” This, however, led to some problems within X Japan.
It was in April 1997 that Toshi left the band. No one knows why to this day, although speculation claims that his marriage led him to join a sect of spiritualists that changed his way of thinking. Whatever the reason may be, fans around the world have had a hard time forgiving him for his departure. Soon afterwards, X Japan announced its disbandment. Their final concert took place at the Tokyo Dome on December 31st, 1997, forever immortalized on video as The Last Live. An emotional concert to say the least, it is where fans said farewell to the legendary band.
Rumor has it that hide and Yoshiki were planning on eventually resurrecting the band with a new singer, but that never happened seeing as hide died tragically in May of 1998. His death shocked the entire nation and reunited X Japan for one final performance: Forever Love, sung as a farewell at his funeral.
X Japan’s material continues to sell extremely well to this day, almost ten years after their disbandment. Regarded as legends, their impact on the Japanese music scene can still be felt today through Visual Kei bands and their unique looks. However, to X fans, the style will forever be known as the art of “Psychedelic Violence and Crime of Visual Shock.”
