News

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has interviewed Rocksmith 2014 Edition’s creative director, Paul Cross, to find out more about the reasons why B’z made it onto Rocksmith 2014. Their first question was why B’z was chosen to be included in the game. Paul Cross replied “That’s of course because they’re one of the greatest bands on the planet!”, which leads Famitsu to ask the next question: Have you known about B’z before? Paul had to admit that he had not known about B’z before. He says that one of Rocksmith’s Japanese producers introduced him to the band.

With Rocksmith’s 2014 edition, Ubisoft aims to have everyone around the world enjoy the game. Therefore, they decided to include songs from all over the world. Moving on, Famitsu wanted to know why “ultra soul” was specifically chosen for the game. Paul explained that he was discussing with Ubisoft’s team in Japan which B’z song they would choose for the game. “Of course a popular song is fine, too”, Paul says, “but we wanted to find a song that is on par with the songs we have released on the previous Rocksmith.”

Finally, the magazine wanted to know if there’s a possibility that Japan will get exclusive downloadable content with the latest B’z songs, which Paul denied by stating that if there’s going to be downloadable content, it’s going to be available world wide. Furthermore, Paul says it’s possible that more Japanese artists might be included in the game in the future.

Source: 『Rocksmith 2014 Edition』に堂々B’z参戦。いったいなんで！？　開発者に独占直撃インタビュー！【E3 2013】

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UPDATE! The special program has been scheduled for this Sunday, June 16th, at 9:00 PM JST (8:00 AM EST, 1:00 PM BST, 2:00 PM CEST, and 8:00 PM CST). You can watch on the band’s YouTube channel and expect full coverage from us here at OFF THE LOCK once the program is over!

The band has just announced that they will conduct a special program which will be broadcast live on YouTube sometime in June. The program will be moderated by Masanori Ito who is well-known in Japan for his outstanding work as a music critic. On the show, Masanori Ito will talk with B’z about their 25 years as a band and this will present a unique opportunity to hear things that have never been talked about before. Additionally, a part of the program is dedicated to answering questions sent in by fans via Google+, Facebook and Twitter. The deadline for sending in your questions is this Friday, May 24th. [UPDATE: Questions are no longer being accepted.]

How to send in your questions:

Google+
Post your question in this community: https://plus.google.com/communities/104189337228227134374

Facebook
Comment on this post to submit your question: https://www.facebook.com/bz.official/posts/450880008337301

Twitter
Post a tweet with your question using the hashtag #Bzに質問

News

The band has finally posted the official tour merchandise available for purchase at the upcoming LIVE-GYM shows. The main tour merchandise will be available for purchase at B’z The Store at a later date. As usual, we have translated them such that you can take a good look at them.

Since there are a lot of items, you will find them all after the break!

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Koshi Inaba

Celebrating our 25th anniversary, B’z The Best XXV has finally been released! When I listen to the singles that we have released since our debut in 1988, a lot of views from the past come to mind. And once again, I feel thankful to the fans and staff members that have supported us all these years. Please keep supporting us. ARIGATO☆Inaba

Tak Matsumoto

Thanks to you fans we have been able to produce music until now. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much!! I hope you enjoy the 25th anniversary as well as our current plans. Tak

News

B’z live in Nago. Source: B’z Facebook page

B’z has officially started their summer tour schedule with a SHOWCASE show in Nago (Okinawa)! This show, B’z SHOWCASE 2013 -Pleasure75-, is serving as a warm-up for the upcoming summer tour B’z LIVE-GYM Pleasure 2013 -ENDLESS SUMMER- that will be commemorating their 25th anniversary. For the curious: The “75” in the title represents the local, with “NA” representing “7” and “GO” representing “5”.

In addition, we’ve gotten our first look at this season’s tour goods. The goods, shown below, were on sale at the venue and will soon be available on B’z The Store.com. Expect a LOT more items to be unveiled when those for the LIVE-GYM tour are announced!

Please note: As we are going to attend B’z LIVE-GYM Pleasure 2013 -ENDLESS SUMMER- shows in Japan, we are not going to take a look at the setlists for the SHOWCASE show as well as upcoming shows. Therefore the setlists will not be published on the site or the wiki until the tour has come to an end. Please do look forward to detailed show reports from us!

Check out the tour goods after the break!

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News

Following the live broadcast of the 43 minute long 25th Anniversary Special Digest 1988~2013 on NicoNico Video, the video has also been posted on B’z Official YouTube channel. You can watch the video right here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-z9m6V9-Wc.

The video presents a look back on the past 25 years of B’z career, highlighting various milestones:

1988 — B’z debut
1995 —「B’z LIVE-GYM Pleasure’95 “BUZZ!!”」First Stadium Tour
1997 —「B’z LIVE-GYM Pleasure’97 ”FIREBALL”」First Dome Tour
1999 — Tak Matsumoto became the 5th Gibson signature artist and has received his own Gibson signature guitar
2001 — B’z embarks on their first Asia Tour
2002 — B’z embarks on their first North American Tour
2007 — B’z is inducted into the Hollywood Rockwalk as Asia’s first artist