X Japan discography

X Japan discography

X Japan in Hong Kong, 2009
Studio albums 6
Live albums 6
Compilation albums 11
Video albums 22
Singles 23
Remix 1
Various artists compilations 3
Demos 4

The discography of the Japanese heavy metal band X Japan consists of 5 studio albums, 6 live albums, 1 remix album, 11 compilations, 23 singles, and around 22 live video recordings.

Founded in 1982 by vocalist Toshi and drummer Yoshiki, X Japan started out as a power/speed metal band and later gravitated towards a progressive sound with an emphasis on ballads. With the member line-up including bassist Taiji and guitarists hide and Pata since 1987, X released their debut studio album Vanishing Vision on Yoshiki's own record label Extasy Records the following year. They then achieved breakthrough success with their second album and major label debut, Blue Blood, in 1989. It was followed by the million-selling Jealousy (1991), which is the band's most diverse album in terms of songwriting credits. In 1992, the band changed their name to X Japan and bassist Taiji left the group, being replaced by Heath. The mini-album Art of Life was released in 1993, composed solely of the 29-minute title track. Their last album Dahlia was released in 1996, and the following year the band decided to break up. However, after ten years, X Japan reunited in 2007 and recorded the new song "I.V.". They officially recruited lead guitarist Sugizo to fill-in for the deceased hide two years later and in 2011 had their first worldwide release, the digital single "Jade".

Besides being one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label,[1] the band is widely credited as one of the pioneers of visual kei,[2][3] a movement among Japanese musicians comparable to Western glam. X Japan have sold millions of records in Japan, claiming un-certified sales of over 30 million.[4][5][6]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Information Oricon chart peaks
 Japanese Sales RIAJ certification
(sales thresholds)
Weekly[7] Yearly
1988 Vanishing Vision
  • Released: April 14, 1988
  • Label: Extasy
 19 (main chart)[8]
1 (indie chart)[8]		 78 (CD, 1990)

171,030
800,000[1]

—

1989 Blue Blood
  • Released: April 21, 1989
  • Label: CBS/Sony
 6 63 (1989)
28 (1990)

712,000[9]
1,000,000+[8]
  • Platinum
1991 Jealousy
  • Released: June 1, 1991
  • Label: Sony
 1 12 (1991)
62 (1992)

1,113,000[9]
1993 Art of Life
  • Released: August 25, 1993
  • Label: Atlantic
 1 28

600,000+[11]
  • Platinum
1996 Dahlia
  • Released: November 4, 1996
  • Label: Atlantic
 1 50

648,080
  • Platinum

Live albums

Year Information Oricon chart peaks
 Japanese Sales RIAJ certification
(sales thresholds)
Weekly[7] Yearly
1995 On the Verge of Destruction 1992.1.7 Tokyo Dome Live
  • Released: January 1, 1995
  • Label: Ki/oon
 3 69

335,590
  • Gold
1997 Live Live Live Tokyo Dome 1993-1996
  • Released: October 15, 1997
  • Label: Polydor
 3 90

283,970
  • Gold
Live Live Live Extra
  • Release: November 5, 1997
  • Label: Polydor
 13 —

32,310

—

1998 Live in Hokkaido 1995.12.4 Bootleg
  • Release: January 21, 1998
  • Label: Polydor
 20 —

38,940

—

Art of Life Live
  • Release: March 18, 1998
  • Label: Polydor
 20 —

41,170

—

2001 The Last Live
  • Release: May 30, 2001
  • Label: Polydor
 7 —

92,780

—

Compilation albums

Year Information Oricon chart peaks
 Japanese Sales RIAJ certification
(sales thresholds)
Weekly[7] Yearly
1993 X Singles
  • Release: November 21, 1993
  • Label: Ki/oon
 2 36 (1994)

1,000,000+
1996 B.O.X ~Best of X~
  • Release: March 21, 1996
  • Label: Ki/oon
 5 —

134,510

—

1997 Ballad Collection
  • Release: December 19, 1997
  • Label: Polydor
 3 47 (1998)

566,160
  • Platinum
X Japan Singles ~Atlantic Years~
  • Release: December 25, 1997
  • Label: Atlantic
 14 —

102,450

—

Special Box
  • Release: December 25, 1997
  • Label: Atlantic
 96 —

2,800

—

Single Box
  • Release: December 25, 1997
  • Label: Atlantic
 — —

4,650

—

1999 Star Box (X Japan album)
  • Release: January 30, 1999
  • Label: Sony
 4 —

122,330

—

Perfect Best
  • Release: February 24, 1999
  • Label: Atlantic
 4 94

256,440
  • Gold
2001 Best ~Fan's Selection~
  • Release: December 19, 2001
  • Label: Polydor
 13 —

88,600

—

2005 Complete II
  • Release: October 1, 2005
  • Label: Columbia
 92 —

3,593

—

2014 The World ~X Japan Hatsu no Zensekai Best~ (THE WORLD〜X JAPAN 初の全世界ベスト〜) 2 82[12]
  • 61,030 (Oricon)
  • 329 (Gaon)[13]

-

Remix albums

Year Information Oricon chart peaks
 Japanese Sales RIAJ certification
(sales thresholds)
Weekly[7] Yearly
2002 Trance X
  • Release: December 4, 2002
  • Label: Polydor
 27 —

27,195

—

Singles

Year Title Oricon chart peaks
 Billboard Japan
Hot 100 peaks
 RIAJ certification
(sales thresholds)		 Sales
(Japan)
 Album
Weekly[14] Yearly
1985 "I'll Kill You"
  • Release: June 15, 1985
  • Label: Dada
 — — — — 1,000[8] —
1986 "Orgasm" (オルガスム)
  • Release: April 20, 1986
  • Label: Extasy
 — — — — 1,500[8] —
1989 "Kurenai" (紅)
  • Release: September 1, 1989
  • Label: CBS/Sony
 5 74 (1989)
67 (1990)		 — Platinum

Platinum (digital)

 312,580

250,000 (downloads)

 Blue Blood
"Endless Rain"
  • Release: December 1, 1989
  • Label: CBS/Sony
 3 21 — Platinum 364,450
1990 "Week End"
  • Release: April 21, 1990
  • Label: CBS/Sony
 2 32 — Platinum 298,060
1991 "Silent Jealousy"
  • Release: September 11, 1991
  • Label: Sony
 3 58 — Gold 284,200 Jealousy
"Standing Sex"
  • Release: October 25, 1991
  • Label: Sony
 4 87 — Gold 261,340 —
"Say Anything"
  • Release: December 1, 1991
  • Label: Sony
 3 33 — Platinum 537,790 Jealousy
1993 "Tears"
  • Release: November 10, 1993
  • Label: MMG
 2 77 (1993)
50 (1994)		 — 2× Platinum 836,940 Dahlia
1994 "Rusty Nail"
  • Release: July 10, 1994
  • Label: Atlantic
 1 28 — Platinum 751,920
1995 "Longing ~Togireta Melody~" (Longing ～跡切れたmelody～)
  • Release: August 1, 1995
  • Label: Atlantic
 1 76 — Platinum 476,170
"Longing ~Setsubou no Yoru~" (Longing ～切望の夜～)
  • Release: December 11, 1995
  • Label: Atlantic
 5 — — — 171,550 —
1996 "Dahlia"
  • Release: February 2, 1996
  • Label: Atlantic
 1 72 — Platinum 412,810 Dahlia
"Forever Love"
  • Release: July 8, 1996
  • Label: Atlantic
 1 47 — Platinum 509,920
"Crucify My Love"
  • Release: August 26, 1996
  • LabeL: Atlantic
 2 — — Gold 290,220
"Scars"
  • Release: November 18, 1996
  • Label: Atlantic
 15 — — — 100,350
1997 "Forever Love (Last Mix)"
  • Release: December 18, 1997
  • Label: Polydor
 13 — — Gold 163,050 —
1998 "The Last Song"
  • Release: March 18, 1998
  • Label: Polydor
 8 — — — 91,880 —
"Forever Love" (re-release)
  • Release: July 22, 1998
  • Label: Atlantic
 18 — — — 42,960 Dahlia
"Scars" (re-release)
  • Release: July 22, 1998
  • Label: Atlantic
 15 — — — 55,440
2001 "Forever Love" (re-release)
  • Release: July 11, 2001
  • Label: Atlantic
 19 — — — 23,500
2008 "I.V."
  • Release: January 23, 2008
  • Label: Extasy
 — — — — — Saw IV
2011 "Scarlet Love Song -Buddha Mix-"
  • Release: June 8, 2011
  • Label: Japan Music Agency
 — — 33[15] — — —
"Jade"
  • Release: June 28, 2011
  • Label: EMI (NA & EU)
 — — 19[16] — — —
2015 "Born to Be Free"
  • Release: November 6, 2015
  • Label: Warner Music
 — — 21[17] — — —

Various artists compilations

Title Song Release date Label
Heavy Metal Force III "Break the Darkness" November 7, 1985[18] Explosion
Skull Thrash Zone Volume I "Stab Me in the Back", "No Connexion" March 7, 1987[19] Victor
Global Metal Soundtrack "X (Live)" July 24, 2008 Universal

VHS / LD / DVD

Title VHS release date LD release date DVD release date Blu-ray release date Label Oricon DVD chart peaks
[20]
Xclamation August 1987 － － － － －
Xclamation 1988 － － － － －
Thanx March 16, 1989 － － － CBS/Sony －
Blue Blood Tour Bakuhatsu Sunzen Gig June 1, 1989 June 1, 1989 September 5, 2001 － Ki/oon －
Shigeki! Visual Shock Vol. 2 December 31, 1989 December 31, 1989 September 5, 2001 － Ki/oon －
Celebration Visual Shock Vol. 2.5 September 1, 1990 September 1, 1990 September 5, 2001 － Ki/oon －
Shigeki 2 ~Yume no Nakadakeni Ikite~ Visual Shock Vol. 3 September 30, 1991 September 30, 1991 September 5, 2001 － Ki/oon －
Say Anything ~X Ballad Collection~ Visual Shock Vol. 3.5 December 21, 1991 December 21, 1991 September 5, 2001 － Ki/oon －
On the Verge of Destruction 1992.1.7 Tokyo Dome Live Visual Shock Vol. 4 November 1, 1992 November 1, 1992 September 5, 2001 － Ki/oon －
X Clips January 1, 1995 January 1, 1995 July 5, 2000 － Ki/oon 36
Dahlia the Video Visual Shock #5 Part I January 1, 1997 － － － Atlantic －
Dahlia the Video Visual Shock #5 Part II March 5, 1997 － － － Atlantic －
Dahlia Tour Final 1996 October 29, 1997 － December 4, 2002 September 25, 2013 Atlantic 58
X Japan Clips II October 24, 2001 － October 24, 2001 － Atlantic 12
The Last Live Video March 29, 2002 － March 29, 2002 － Atlantic 7
Dahlia the Video Visual Shock #5 Part I & Part II － － December 4, 2002 － Atlantic 82
Art of Life 1993.12.31 Tokyo Dome September 24, 2003 － September 24, 2003 － Atlantic 9
Aoi Yoru － － July 25, 2007 September 25, 2013 Geneon 50
Shiroi Yoru － － July 25, 2007 September 25, 2013 Geneon 49
Aoi Yoru Shiroi Yoru Complete Edition － － July 25, 2007 － Geneon 14
X Japan Returns 1993.12.30 － － February 29, 2008 September 25, 2013 Geneon 30
X Japan Returns 1993.12.31 － － February 29, 2008 September 25, 2013 Geneon 43
X Japan Returns Complete Edition － － February 29, 2008 － Geneon 8
X Visual Shock DVD Box 1989-1992 － － July 23, 2008 － Ki/oon 33
X Japan Showcase in L.A. Premium Prototype － － September 6, 2010 － Japan Music Agency －
The Last Live Complete Edition － － October 26, 2011 September 25, 2013 Geneon 3
X Japan Blu-ray Box － － － September 25, 2013 Warner Music Japan －

Demos

Title Release date Note
"I'll Kill You" 1984 Songs: "Ill Kill You", "We Are X" and "Stop Bloody Rain"
"Live" June 1985 Songs: "Kurenai", "Endless Dream", "Lady in Tears" and "Stop Bloody Rain"
"Endless Dream" June 1985 Same material as "Live" but different track order.
"Longing ~Togireta Melody~" December 30/31, 1994
July 25, 2007 (reissue)		 Songs: "Longing ~Togireta Melody~" and band rehearsal. Originally distributed on cassette at both the "Aoi Yoru" and "Shiroi Yoru" concerts. Released on CD in the Aoi Yoru Shiroi Yoru Complete Edition DVD boxset.

Unreleased songs

Originally written by Sugizo for S.K.I.N., X Japan began playing it in 2014.
Lyrics by Yoshiki, music by Hally.
Also known as "Feels Damage".
Lyrics by Jun and Toshi, music by Jun.
Written by Jun.
Written by Jun.
Originally an orchestrated instrumental piece written by Yoshiki and released on his 2005 album Eternal Melody II. Only performed by X Japan on March 28–30 at their 2008 Tokyo Dome reunion concerts, at the hide memorial summit on May 3, 2008, in Hong Kong on January 16, 2009, once again at the Tokyo Dome on May 2–3, 2009 and in Taipei on May 20, 2009. A live version will be included on The World ~X Japan Hatsu no Zensekai Best~ compilation.

Other

X appear as guests.
X makes a brief cameo appearance.[21]
A flexi disc included in an issue of Rockin' f magazine. Contrary to the title the lyrics are mostly in English. This version does not appear anywhere else.
VHS that came with a magazine. Live clips of X from September 4, 1988 are shown and Yoshiki is interviewed.
Live recordings of a 1991 Extasy Summit, held by Extasy Records. Also features Tokyo Yankees, Virus, Luna Sea and several others.
Live recordings of the October 31, 1992 Extasy Summit, held by Extasy Records. X does not perform together, but the members do perform with other acts. Also features Luna Sea, Deep, Media Youth, The Zolge, Tokyo Yankees, Screaming Mad George and Psychosis, Gilles de Rais, Zi:Kill and several others.
Video game for the Sega Saturn home console. The player takes the role of a fan disguised as a photographer backstage at X Japan's December 31, 1994 concert at the Tokyo Dome (Shiroi Yoru). After collecting several items to gain access and photograph the band members, the player edits a live video of "Rusty Nail" and the game ends with footage from the concert.[22][23]
Various live clips of X are shown and Yoshiki is interviewed.
Documentary about X Japan and Yoshiki.

References

  1. 1 2 Yang, Jeff; Can, Dina; Hong, Terry (1997). Eastern Standard Time. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 264. ISBN 0-395-76341-X.
  2. ↑ Minnie, Chi. "X Japan Best review". Asia Pacific Arts Online Magazine. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  3. ↑ Strauss, Neil (18 June 1998). "The Pop Life: End of a Life, End of an Era". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  4. ↑ "X Japan Take Home 'Best International Band' Award at Golden Gods=". Loudwire. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
  5. ↑ "X Japan Embark on Their First American Tour". Revolver. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  6. ↑ "X Japan: They're huge (really), and they're (finally) coming to the U.S.". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "X JAPANのアルバム売り上げランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Indies eXplosion: The Early History of X JAPAN". JRock Revolution. 2007-10-29. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  9. 1 2 "X、初期のリマスター再発商品2作が好調！". Oricon (in Japanese). 2007-02-14. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  10. 1 2 "RIAJ CERTIFIED MILLION SELLER ALBUMS". ocn.ne.jp. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  11. ↑ "[Interview]YOSHIKI: "You Have to Force Your Way Through." (Part One)". barks.jp. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  12. ↑ "Oricon Top 100 2014: Albums". jame-world.com. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  14. ↑ "X JAPANのシングル売り上げランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2011-08-31.
  15. ↑ "Billboard Japan Hot 100│Charts│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  16. ↑ "Billboard Japan Hot 100│Charts│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  17. ↑ "Billboard Japan Hot 100│Charts│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  18. ↑ "HEAVY METAL FORCE III". amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  19. ↑ "SKULL TRASH ZONE I". japan-discoveries.com. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  20. ↑ "X JAPANのDVD売り上げランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  21. ↑ "Tokyo Pop (1988)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  22. ↑ "X Japan Virtual Shock 001 information". GameFAQs.
  23. ↑ "FAQ for X-Japan Virtual Shock 001 (Sega Saturn)". GameFAQs.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.