Great Metal Albums of 1984: Loudness- Disillusion

 

No further proof is needed to support the fact that heavy metal had the world by the balls in 1984 than the album from Japanese metal greats Loudness, "Disillusion." As far as I know, this was the first Loudness album to be sung in English. All previous albums had been sung in the band's native tongue although that did not make them any less kick ass.

Thinking about the above statement, that leads to the one small problem with the album. Minoru Nihara's vocals are sometimes difficult to hear. This is a shame because it is true he sings better English than what he speaks. I've heard interviews with him. What is a further shame is the fact that you can't hear what a great voice he has. Some of you might remember that when I've posted about previous Loudness albums, I compared Minoru Nihara to the likes of Ronnie James Dio, Klaus Meine and Ian Gillan. He certainly belongs in the same league as those just mentioned.

While not being able to fully appreciate Nihara's vocals on "Disillusion" is a little frustrating at times, it is only a small inconvenience because what does obscure the vocals is the brilliant guitar playing of Akira Takasaki. From the first note of the instrumental opener, he just shreds and riffs all over the album. The solos are superb and even his rhythm guitar parts are done amazingly well. He shines extremely well on the tracks "Butterfly" and his instrumental solo "Exploder." However, my vote for the favourite track is still "Satisfaction Guaranteed" because Nihara's vocals come through the clearest on it and he does a good job with them. Of course, Takasaki's guitar playing guided by a good rhythm section help as well.

Track Listing:

1. Anthem
2. Crazy Doctor
3. Esper
4. Butterfly
5. Revelation
6. Exploder
7. Dream Fantasy
8. Milky Way
9. Satisfaction Guaranteed
10. Ares' Lament

[caption id="attachment_2906" align="aligncenter" width="278"] Loudness[/caption]

Minoru Nihara- lead vocals

Akira Takasaki- guitar

Masayoshi Yamashita- bass, taurus pedals

Munetaka Higuchi- drums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA2YRcgJfc4

"Disillusion" put Loudness on the metal map in the West and set the stage for the following album which would propel them to greatness. It also proved that culture, race, or national borders had nothing to do with enjoying great metal.

BTW, I will be purchasing my tickets for Sunday's Download tonight.

Next post: Triumph- Thunder 7

To get Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Metal Albums of 1982: Loudness- Devil Soldier

 

Funny thing about Loudness, I spent the last three months of 1982 and the first three of 1983 in their home country, Japan, and never heard of them. Thinking back to my time there, I do not remember hearing any home grown music of any kind. The juke boxes in any bar I went to or even in the night clubs, all they seemed to play was Western music. My conclusion is that the Japanese are more receptive to Western music and for an act to make it there, it has to first make it outside of Japan. Loudness would certainly do that three years later but at this time, they would remain beyond my attention.

One thing that Loudness certainly prove with their second album, "Devil Soldier," is that metal can rule no matter what language it's sung in. As long as there is a great band behind a brilliant voice, great metal can break down barriers. Some of the songs are sung in the native tongue with some parts sung in English. Take "Rock the Nation," I tried to follow along with the lyrics written down in English but they didn't sound like English to me, except for parts of the chorus. Nevertheless, lead singer Minoru Nihara sings it very well and he is yet another singer whose talents haven't been given the respect it deserves. I'm going to put my hand in the piranha's tank and put him in the same class as Dio, Meine and Gillan. His vocals just come through on each and every song.

Talking about talent, guitarist Akira Takasaki has gotten some well deserved respect. Some have said that he copies other great guitarists but I don't hear it. The closest he or the band in general come to copying is on the title track where the beginning of the song reminds me of Heart's classic "Barracuda." Thinking about it, I did see that song on at least one juke box when I was in Japan. Back to the subject, Akira lays down some good riffs on many songs, most notably, "Hard Workin'" and "Angel Dust." When he's not shredding, he does very well in accompaniment with the rhythm section. So, what do I think? Simply, this album kicks ass.

Track Listing:

1. Lonely Player
2. Angel Dust
3. After Illusion
4. Girl
5. Hard Workin'
6. Loving Maid
7. Rock the Nation
8. Devil Soldier

[caption id="attachment_2906" align="aligncenter" width="278"] Loudness[/caption]

Minoru Nihara- vocals

Akira Takasaki- guitar

Masayoshi Yamashita- bass

Munetaka Higuchi- drums

In 1985, many in the West would say that thunder would come from the east and it did. However, in 1982, Loudness were still gearing up for their conquest with a great album in "Devil Soldier." It's proof to me that heavy metal could unite the world.

Next post: Whitesnake- Saints and Sinners

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

1982: The Floodgates Are Truly Open

To be honest, I was a little nervous about the year 1982 and expected a bit a turbulence during the ride through it. The reason for this was that I spent eight months out of the year overseas with the marines. From the middle of January to the very end of June, I made my second deployment to the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. Then in the October, I went to Okinawa for the remainder of the year and the first three months of the following one. In fact, October 9, 1982 never existed for me as I was flying across the International Date Line. Because I was overseas so much, the year was fairly barren for me musically and I worried that I might not have enough albums to visit during the year. But, I will persevere and thanks to Youtube, I can listen to albums from that year that I never got the chance to listen to back then.

[caption id="attachment_1085" align="aligncenter" width="127" class=" "] Iron Maiden[/caption]

With the benefit of hindsight, I can say that in 1982, the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) had its claws firmly gripped on the industry. I saw this to be true when I was in Toulon, France in the May. Previously, I had heard of Iron Maiden but it wasn't until I heard a song, I can't remember which one, on a juke box in a bar there that I finally got my ears blown away by them. Of course, there were great metal delights served up by the likes of Judas Priest and Motorhead as well as many other rock and metal acts. It seems my journey through what turns out to be an important year that almost passed me by and I am going to put right something I got wrong in the said year. See, I never listened to Van Halen's "Diver Down" album because a couple of marine buddies bought it while we were in France and said that the album sucked. Again, curse me for simply taking their word. I will listen to this album during the course of my trip through 1982 and give you my own thoughts on it.

[caption id="attachment_1143" align="aligncenter" width="128" class=" "] Van Halen[/caption]

As I go down the road of metal history, I realise that while I may have missed out on quite a bit of music history on account of military service, the year itself was a phenomenal one for metal. Thanks to NWOBHM and others, the floodgates opened and metal began to flood the world.

Next post: The Police- Ghost in the Machine

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