Loudness means war... but not loudness war

9.9.

Their latest release... Wait, what? ... DAMN YOU GOOGLE SEARCH!

Hair metal is not a concept I would ever use in a sentence with the word "quality" (well, unless you count 80s Maiden and Priest albums in, but that's debatable). However, no matter what style of music a band does there are always mediocre and bad examples of bands... So, is there a band that did good hair metal back in the day? (NO, Steel Panther does not count, no matter how funny a novelty it was... besides, I said back in the day, remember?)

This picture is dedicated to the only female reader I have... Oh yeah, and to the 72.674 males belonging to a minority... of still listening to vinyls.

 

 Unless you have heard Shadows of War (aka Ashes in the Sky) by Loudness, you haven't lived. The curiosity with Loudness is they come from Japan, which might put some people off, but with the exception of certain English words being pronounced with a strange accent, this is the real deal to give Van Halen, Iron Maiden or Scorpions a run for their money... even when they were on the top of their games.

Oh, how cute... A baby satan... Possessing the ovaries already, you silly rascal.

Think of the Japanese diligence and precision, and you can guess that Akira Takasaki has to be one mean guitar player - probably the best ever (well, depending on your attitude towards Jimi Hendrix and Steve Vai, I guess). Like Vinnie Vincent, Takasaki is insanely fast and precise, but he has got style and a hint of that bluesy flair Gary Moore is famous for. He is equally convincing with the riffs and guitar solos. Masayoshi Yamashita has clearly learned his Geddy Lee influences, even though he is a bit more relaxed which suits the simpler hair metal style better. Minoru Niihara is well-known from his 80s interviews where he spoke tolerable English, but never answered the actual questions. So yeah, maybe the lyrics are a bit silly or weird, but the man can sing, no questions asked. And Munetaka Higuchi, the drummer, has a relatively simple technique that complements the bass and lightning-fast guitar riffing beautifully.

So the date of birth will be... Uh oh, it was...

The first three  albums, Birthday Eve (1981), Devil Soldier and Law of the Devil's Land could be called classic heavy albums, they are a bit on the dark side, theme is mostly ladies (Sexy Woman, Street Woman, Lonely Player, Girl, Sleepless Nights), but occasionally they drift into Satan (?) (the title tracks and possibly Black Wall) and drugs (??) (Angel Dust and Speed)... I'm mostly guessing as I don't understand the Japanese lyrics... well, except for short sections like "Sayonara". There are also "cool (??" English quotes such as "Deep deep deep night, all night long" which seems to be about... erhm... erhm... You remember with the Beatles, when they sing Please, please me? Loudness has that same air of being polite and perverse at the same time. All three are great albums, my pick of these would be Devil Soldier. The music's awesome, some Rush influences and rhythms surprise occasionally the steady, powerful flow, but it works nice.

See? Hair metal can be done without looking like a punch of clows...

Next they released slightly more straight forward albums as the tours grew more international and the European & American influences poured in. Disillusion and Thunder in the East still manage to be great quality and one might even argue them to be perhaps the best releases the band ever made. The production is clearer and the hooks are powerful as the song writing is simpler - yet, they can still throw curveballs in the form of Butterfly (yeah, it's a slow song, but check out that amazing middle section, it will kick your balls off) and Run for Your Life (which gradually grows into a great, fast track). Their sixth studio album, Lightning Strikes (Shadows of War, as it's known in Japan) isn't bad either, simply not just as great as the hair metal gets too uhm... hairy?... but it does include the amazing title track (the forementioned Ashes in the Sky) which is an unmatched description of the nuclear holocaust sown in WW2. As part of the Japanese folklore, it is fitting that Loudness has transformed this tragedy into a breath-taking piece of molten metal.

...hmm... but unavoidably it seems to lead into this

They also have a bunch of great live albums and dvds, but I'll have to come back to those later. Now, go and check Ashes in the Sky and Lonely Player... and Devil Soldier... and In the Mirror... and Black Wall... and Speed... and Crazy Doctor... and Esper... and....