Matsumoto First Japanese Artist To Receive Signature Wah Pedal
Tak Matsumoto News 
On August 1, it has been announced that Dunlop is going to release their first Tak Matsumoto signature wah pedal. The wah pedal called the “Tak Cry Baby” is the first signature wah pedal issued for a Japanese artist. Other notable Dunlop signature artists include Slash, Kirk Hammett and Eddie Van Halen.
The Cry Baby is a very popular among guitarists and is rumored to be the best selling wah pedal of all time. The “Tak Cry Baby” is going to be on sale in September this year at a limited quantity.
You can check out more pictures of the Tak Cry Baby on Moridaira’s website.
B’z Wraps Up Pleasure 2013 Hall Tour in Aizu
News 
The band shouting “OTSUKARE” with the crowd at the end of the last show of the Pleasure 2013 hall tour
Last night, B’z has wrapped up their hall tour with their last show at the Aizu Fugado Hall. The band’s hall tour involved 19 stops all over Japan—all of which sold out in no time. The lucky few who were able to get tickets got the chance to see the band up close in a very intimate setting.
The band will now go on a one week break before teaming up with American rock band Aerosmith for a once-in-a-lifetime event called AEROSONIC at the Chiba Marine Stadium. Aerosmith is very excited to be given the chance to perform with B’z on stage again. The last time B’z and Aerosmith were on stage together, was during the 2002 FIFA World Cup concert.
Following the AEROSONIC gig, B’z will kick off their Pleasure 2013 stadium tour at Sapporo Dome on August 24th, leading up to the grand tour finale in Nissan Stadium on September 21st and 22nd. Look forward to our full coverage of the Nagoya Dome, Kyocera Dome Osaka and Nissan Stadium concerts!
B’z The Best XXV On Sale Now, New Songs Translated
News 
It’s been a long time coming, but the band’s 25th anniversary campaign is officially underway! Their latest compilations, B’z The Best XXV 1988-1998 and B’z The Best XXV 1999-2012, are finally on store shelves and offer unprecedented value!
Here we have, for the first time, all 50 singles the band has released, along with four new tracks split across the two releases. The biggest draw, of course, is that the limited editions include all of the music videos for the included singles–all remastered, all in superb high quality, and almost all coming to home video for the very first time! In addition, the two collections come with two new music videos for two of the new songs. And, best of all, being the generous duo they are, you can sample all of the music videos, including those for the new songs, on their official YouTube channel! (Be sure not to miss the short videos for new songs “Kakushin” and “Utopia“, which are exclusive to the YouTube channel!)
Of course, given that most fans will be especially curious about the new songs, we’ve wasted no time in having them all translated for you:
And, as always, you can check out translations for all other 50 songs included on the Lyrics & Translations page on the B’z Wiki!
B’z have a very busy summer ahead with stops all over Japan for B’z LIVE-GYM Pleasure 2013 -ENDLESS SUMMER-, but you can be part of the hype right now by checking out the collections below! Both are available worldwide on CDJapan and YesAsia!
「B’z The Best XXV 1988-1998」 Track Listing: |
「B’z The Best XXV 1999-2012」 Track Listing: |
Famitsu Finds Out How B’z Made It Onto Rocksmith 2014
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】
B’z Music Station Special: Full Live Report!
Feature 
B’z during “Q&A” on Music Station
Today’s broadcast of Music Station was a very special occasion. To commemorate the B’z 25th anniversary, the program decided to conduct a B’z special where the band would perform 4 songs—three of which were drawn from fan requests. After the other two show guests—Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Kanjani 8—were introduced, B’z kicked off the show with their first ever televised performance of 「Q&A」. Following the performance, a segment called “BIRTH YEAR SONGS” was shown. This time, they introduced hit songs that were released in 1993. And of course, B’z also made an appearance in this segment with “Hadashi no Megami” coming in first place of the ranking.
Read on to check out our full write-up of the one hour special featuring several interview segments with the band, as well as to see which songs they decided to perform from the fan requests!
B’z to Conduct Special Program on YouTube June 16th! [UPDATED]
News 
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