News

Shane is well-known as being practically the exclusive drummer for B’z since 2002, but what you may not know is that he is also a skilled guitarist and capable vocalist in his own right. Shane has released two previous solo albums (as well as working on a number of other projects as a drummer, including with Cosmosquad), one of which featured a Japanese cover of the B’z song “Hadashi no Megami”. You should definitely check that out here, which is available on his earlier album Primer!

Shane’s new solo album, Ascend, will be released on June 12th, which is also when the two XXV collections are launching. What immediately catches the eye here, though, is that the album features a cover of the English version of “Brotherhood”. The English version, which was initially unveiled during B’z LIVE-GYM 2011 -long time no see- in North America, was co-written by Shane with Koshi and has not yet been released in studio form by B’z.

Shane Gaalaas 「Ascend」
Release: 2013.06.12
Price: 1,500 Yen

Track listing:

1. Ascend
2. Wish You Well
3. Wonderful Midori
4. Rat Stew
5. Alive
6. Brotherhood (English B’z cover)

Pre-order at CDJapan!

News

Tak talking to Livejam students

In 2011, we reported about a music school for teenagers called Livejam. B’z guitarist and Grammy winner Tak Matsumoto attended one of the sessions to share his experiences as a musician with young aspiring teenage musicians, who want to be rock stars someday. On April 7th, 2013, Tak paid that school another visit to talk about the times when he started playing guitar to his success with B’z. Students gathered in the school’s lobby to listen to what Tak had to say. It was a very unique opportunity to see a star up close. Tak is usually seen in large venues such as Tokyo Dome, with over 70,000 people watching him on stage from afar.

Tak also received a range of questions from the students, such as “How do I become a professional?” or “How do I polish my feeling for rhythm?”. When he was asked “When you wanted to form a band, where would you look for band members?”, he replied “A long time ago, you would look for band members in music magazines and such. But today, when you look for band members on the internet, you won’t know what kind of person you are going to meet. And that might be dangerous for middle- and high-school students…”. Where should they look for band members, then? He added “I think Livejam is a great opportunity to meet musicians of the same age and form bands in a safe environment”.

He also elaborated on that a bit further, saying “Somebody who just started out to play an instrument is able to join a band and start performing. When I first heard about that, I thought ‘There’s no way that somebody could do that’, but when I saw what is done here at Livejam, I was really surprised. It doesn’t matter how good you are. It’s a system you don’t see anywhere else.”

Everybody thanked him for the wonderful time they had. They hope that Tak Matsumoto will attend one of their sessions again!

Source: http://livejam.jugem.jp/?eid=200

News

And the tie-in madness continues! B’z has just announced that their new song “Q&A”—which is set to be released as part of the B’z The Best XXV 1999-2012 compilation—will be the new opening theme to the anime series “Detective Conan” starting May 4th. The band has supplied opening and ending themes as well as movie themes for Detective Conan in the past. The last opening theme B’z has supplied was “Don’t Wanna Lie” in 2011, which was also featured as the theme song for the Detective Conan movie that was released that year.

News

There have been rumors about a possible tie-in for one of the new songs on the B’z The Best XXV releases, but now it is official: Kakushin has been selected to be the theme song for the upcoming Nippon Television drama “Kumo no Kaidan”. The series is set to air on April 17th, which will also be the first chance to hear a portion of Kakushin. Tak and Koshi have shared their thoughts on the song as well.

Tak Matsumoto

I had a look at the script before starting work on the song and had a lot of fun working on it from the melody to the arrangement. I really can’t wait for it to be aired. I will be glad if you enjoy this song along with the drama.

Koshi Inaba

I have read Jun’ichi Watanabe’s original novels and have also taken into account the drama’s theme and script when I wrote the lyrics and melody for the song. We really like the song we have produced. Please enjoy it along with the drama.

News

The third of the three consecutive home video releases is finally here! Don’t miss the chance to see Raging River live! As usual, B’z have released a message for their fans to coincide with the release.

Rocking with short hair ain’t so bad
Rock On!!
Tak

In any case, it was very hot that day,
and the hot atmosphere the audience was generating,
was really incredible.
Please enjoy this spirited heat!
Koshi Inaba

News

B’z announced two 25th anniversary compilations this morning, which, for the first time, contain all the music videos to the singles released to date. Said releases are now available for pre-order! Be sure to reserve your copy early!

「B’z The Best XXV 1988-1998」 CDJapan [2CD Version] [2CD+DVD Version] Amazon.co.jp [2CD Version] [2CD+DVD Version]

「B’z The Best XXV 1999-2012」 CDJapan [2CD Version] [2CD+DVD Version] Amazon.co.jp [2CD Version] [2CD+DVD Version]

Message from B’z

Tak Matsumoto

Celebrating our 25th anniversary, I am grateful for all the wonderful experiences I have had and all the great views I came to see. I also feel that this is a great opportunity to look back on all the songs and videos we have produced over the course of our career. The best-of compilations also feature new songs, so it is possible to feel the change B’z music has undergone over the years since our debut. Additionally, I can still recall all the hardships during the filming for our music videos. Our idea for the 25th anniversary was to produce a product that lets you enjoy the works we have released over the years. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the fans, who have been listening to our music and supporting us for all these years. I’ll be glad if you enjoy the new best-of compilations as well as this year’s Pleasure tour. Enjoy “ENDLESS SUMMER” with B’z！

Koshi Inaba

Once again, I feel that being in a band for a quarter of a century is an incredible thing. This best-of compilation will feature all singles and their corresponding music videos. Additionally, you will be able to get a taste of the latest B’z songs we have been producing since last year. During these 25 years, I am sure that there are people who have been listening to our music for 25 years, or have started listening to our music from our 10th or 20th anniversary. Each era has had its own impact that made people aware of B’z and started listening to our music. From here on out, I would like to continue fulfilling fans’ expectations of new songs and live tours. Also, the title for this year’s tour “ENDLESS SUMMER” means “The summer with B’z will never end”. I will be glad to convey that feeling with you in every venue. Celebrations for the 25th anniversary have started one more time. I look forward to seeing you.