THE JAPAN NEWS



 

Rock band X Japan is revving up their activities.
On March 4, the band performed before about 10,000 people at The SSE Arena, Wembley (formerly known as Wembley Arena), in London, while
“We Are X,” a documentary film about the history of the band, is currently showing in cinemas across Japan.

Expectations are running high on the potential release of their first album in 21 years. “I think it will come out [this year],” said Yoshiki, the band’s leader, drummer and pianist.

Following their triumph in 2014 at Madison Square Garden in New York, X Japan scored another major success outside Japan, this time in London. Two now-deceased members of the band — guitarist Hide and bassist Taiji — both had a strong desire to venture overseas, Yoshiki said.

“We couldn’t manage it during their lives. I don’t feel like we achieved something. Rather, I feel like we’ve finally arrived at the starting line,” he said.

X Japan has a turbulent history. The band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 1997 after vocalist Toshl quit. The following year, Hide died. The band reunited in 2007, and Toshl later disclosed that he had been “brainwashed” by a group holding self-enlightenment seminars. In 2011, former member Taiji died.

In the documentary film, Yoshiki and the remaining members openly speak about the tragedies the band has gone through.
Stephen Kijak, who directed the film, did not know about X Japan before the shoot.

 

“I set a condition [on producing this film] that we wanted someone who didn’t know about us to direct it,” Yoshiki said. “I thought someone with preconceived ideas about us wouldn’t be able to make a good film.”

The interviews between the band members and the director were conducted over a period of about a year.

“At first, it was awkward. Then I came to think I would reveal all my thoughts to him like I was talking to a psychiatrist,” Yoshiki said.

“La Venus,” which is included in the film’s soundtrack, is a new piece. Its lyrics include the words, “’Til we die I’ll be loving you dear,” but it also says, “It’s the end of the world.” It sounds like a love song, but at the same time, it also sounds like a song about the band. According to Yoshiki, the song is “a kind of requiem” for the two deceased members.

“I guess it was something we had to go through before taking the next step,” he said of the film, which reveals the bare truth about the band’s history.

The new album, the band’s first since 1996, is nearly complete. It will contain 13 to 14 tracks, he said, including some short pieces.

“From the viewpoint of creating works of art, I don’t mind making one album every 30 years,” he said. “If I push myself too hard, then I can’t produce anything. When I release a new work, I always feel so frustrated that I could cry. I just have to let it go and think records are just for recording a certain point in time.”

The day fans have been eagerly awaiting appears to be coming soon.
The film is showing at Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills and other cinemas. Visit: wearexfilm.jp/