So you want to get in to Japanese rock music part 2: Language Barrier Boogaloo or me recommending to people who can't get over the language barrier some good Japanese rock music to check out

 Welcome everyone to the part two to my as of writing this worst performing article in terms of number of people who bothered to read it (that's right I monitor these things). Now I had good intentions with that article, but I know one thing holding a lot of people back from enjoying Japanese music is the lyrics. A big part of it isn't just not understanding what the people in each song is saying, but more so how the difference in languages fundamentally changes the song's writing and structure away from what a lot of people are used to.

The Japanese language is one of the hardest languages on the globe for native English speakers to understand because of how it fundamentally works. Some things that by all means in English should come first in a sentence to get something across would actually come near the end of a sentence. The big thing though is that Japan's language and alphabets (yes alphabets plural, they have 4 alphabets) is that there is multiple ways to spell many words or phrases, meaning you can actually add certain characters to a phrase to make it longer to better fit a vocal melody, or if one is too long you can use less characters to fit a shorter vocal melody. To top it all off they also structure songs differently. When you think about it a standard rock song is structured like this:

[intro]
[verse]
[pre-chorus]
[chorus]
[verse]
[pre-chorus]
[chorus]
[solo]
[bridge]
[chorus]
[coda/outro]

However in Japan it's also common to structure songs in a different way like this

[intro]
[verse]
[pre-chorus]
[verse]
[pre-chorus]
[chorus]
[solo]
[bridge]
[chorus]
[outro verse]
[coda/outro]

No this list isn't going to breakdown the differences between how songs are structured in Japan vs America as cool as I think that would be. This is going to instead talk about some places where you can get your fix without having to worry about the pesky language barrier. I'll start with English releases from artists in the previous article and then do a couple artists not covered in the first list who also do English lyrics. This isn't going to be a full list itself, but an addendum to my last article.. I won't be talking about Miyavi because I mentioned on the previous list most of his releases from the 2010s and onwards are in English.


Let's get to B'z, our favorite Japanese brothers from different mothers. 

Now if you didn't swear off this band after seething at the fact that your favorite band or artist has no hope of coming close to reaching the sales of a Japanese rock duo you've never heard of before I introduced you to them, then good for you because you tapped into a goldmine of fantastic Japanese rock music with hundreds of amazing songs. B'z doesn't have any English albums, but early into their career the potential for broader success with English songs wasn't lost on them. B'z has written a few songs entirely in English like the single "Real Thing Shakes" and has often included English rerecordings of old songs or singles on their studio albums. Early in their career they used synths and samples prominently, with new wave and dance pop being the main kinds of music being churned out at the time, and bringing the band great success, with their third and fourth albums before transitioning to more guitar oriented music and gradually going to blues and hard rock. However B'z had their breakout success in 1989 with the EP "Bad Communication" and it's title track serving as a promo single bringing the band their first taste of major success which caught the band off guard with how randomly it blew up. The EP features a banger title track, but also English rerecordings of "Kimi Wo Ima Dakitai", and their debut single "Dakara Sono te wo Hanashite", both of which are much longer than the originals and feature new dance oriented arrangements and are superior to their original versions. Following the runaway success of Bad Communication they released another EP to tide people over until they released their fourth album "Risky", and thusly gave us the Wicked Beat EP, which was their first all English release. While not containing any new songs it is basically a part 2 to the Bad Communication EP. We have an English rerecording of the band's second single "Kimi no Naka de Odiritai", an English version of their first number one hit single "Taiyou no Komachi Angel" (which has not appeared on a studio album), an English rerecording of "Bad Communication" made with a slightly heavier sound, and a rerecording of their third single and the lead off from their third album "Lady Go Round". Like the Bad Communication EP every song except Bad Communication has been rearranged to have a dance pop style, though none of them except "Lady Go Round" are significantly longer than their original version. B'z would finish their new wave era with a final EP to round out the trilogy, that one being the "Mars" EP, which served as a perfect transitory piece to show the shift from new wave and dance pop to more guitar oriented pop rock. The album starts with a cover of a song B'z wrote for another artist, this time performed by them, an introduction track, then followed by an English rerecording of "Loving All Night" from their second album, An English rerecording of the B-side to "Lady Go Round" called "Love and Chain", and finally ending with an English rerecording of their non album hit single "Lady Navigation". The songs here were rearranged to have less synthesizers and more prominently feature the guitar, while "Love and Chain" features famed Japanese pop and dance music singer Maki Ohuguro on backing vocals which makes it the definitive version. Actually scratch that, every English rerecording on these EPs are the definitive version with the exception of "Kimi no Naka de Odiritai". That wasn't it for them though, because in 2011 they went on an American tour and debuted English versions of some fan favorites. This was followed by the announcement that with the help of their support drummer Shan Gaalaas (was the drummer from B'z 2002-2017) they worked on some English translations for an English EP aimed at a worldwide audience. None of the songs have been rearranged drastically this time, with the rearrangements that were made being so the song could work better in English. All of these versions sound great, and while they don't change anything of importance aside from the lyrics, they are great and make the EP an excellent introductory piece. 

Let's move on to the seminal Japanese rock and metal band: Loudness (note this is a photo from when Mike Vescera was in the band)

 

Now I gave a passing mention to this in the original list, but a condition of Loudness's American contract was that they get a push to mainstream metal markets in America if they sang in English. They did a English rerecording of their fourth album: Disillusion, and then every studio album from that point on up until the follow-up Soldier of Fortune was sung in English. American vocalist Mike Vescera (who replaced Minoru Niihara during the demoing stages of Soldier of Fortune) helped in translating songs into English for the follow up to Soldier of Fortune: On the Prowl. On the Prowl was three new songs and eight rerecordings of their older songs now with new arrangements to fit with the band's Soldier of Fortune era sound. So if those first three Loudness albums were too Japanese for you, than maybe this will make it more approachable. However I do have my fair share of issues with the album. First is that production wise you can tell the band was out of money when they made it compared to how the production and mixing sounds compared to the other album they did with Mike on vocals: "Soldier of Fortune". Mike has a great voice with a range even better than Niihara, but without Niihara's unique voice and his accent, something that made the band unique and standout as gone, even if Mike is an objectively better singer. Fear not for he still does these songs justice, his vocals are great. The new material is pretty good, but not great. However my big issue is the track list. They do the B-side to an early single, one song from their debut album, two songs from their second album, two songs from their third album, one from their fourth and lastly one song from a Japanese EP they did in 88 exclusively for Japan. Some of these like "In the Mirror" are straight covers or straight covers with a change in lyrics during the translation like "Lonely Player" becoming "Deadly Player" here. Others like "Milky Way" were given new arrangements and it's chorus changed in the process of becoming "Take it or Leave It", and while solid it's unnecessary because they rerecorded Milky Way in English already when they released their fourth album in America. I would have picked another song from their debut or another early single and put that here instead. Personally I think you should listen to both and pick whichever you like better. However "Girl" and "To Be Demon" were given completely new arrangements, with "Girl" now being twice as long (the original was two and a half minutes) and adding a really cool instrumental bridge and outro chorus, which gives the band a chance to show off and helps make the song more complete. "To Be Demon" went from a very bluesy longer song that built up to a climactic second half, to now being a sprawling seven minute epic that goes from bluesy first half to an epic galloping second half that gives the band ample chance to show off, all with the new title "Find a Way". Both changes made to these songs were for the better, truly. Following albums would be in a mix of Japanese and English songs including the grunge era where they had some of Japan's GOATs including bassists Taiji Sawada and Naoto Shibata, and replacing their own amazing drummer with the equally awesome Hirotsugu Homma. Let me tell you Naoto Shibata's basslines make those grunge albums as good as they are, truly amazing bass playing from him, and they'd lean more on Japanese lyrics when the original line-up got back together in 2000, but they'd renew focus on them after doing an English version of their album "Racing", but that's to be expected when they are one of Japan's most internationally famous groups, especially in America. They're known worldwide for a reason


There are two bands I want to introduce you to that focus on English lyrics, the first of which is Vamps.

Vamps was a decade plus long collaboration between lead Vocalist Hyde from L'Arc En Ciel and guitarist KAZ from X Japan guitarist Hide's famous solo band Spread Beaver and also from Japanese post grunge band Oblivion Dust. KAZ and Hyde met in the early 2000s and got along well, with KAZ first playing guitar on Hyde's solo albums and arranging songs before his duties grew to include writing the music to most of the songs. This was when they realized Hyde's solo career was no longer his solo career, but a collaboration, so in 2007 they decided to get a stable line-up of support musicians including Gackt's bassist Ju-ken, and then formed Vamps. When L'Arc En Ciel went on hiatus in 2012 they went all in on Vamps until announcing in 2017 the project was on indefinite hiatus so they could work with other people and do other projects for awhile. The project was J-rock, but with a gritty alternative edge and heaviness and an angst added to it, giving Vamps an appeal to the younger more streetwise demographic of listeners, and with their second album they began attacking the American market with a focus on English lyrics, with each release getting heavier and more aggressive. If you thought L'Arc En Ciel was too Japanese or lightweight for you, Vamps is the emo cousin who gives zero Fs over what you think. KAZ's guitar playing is superb, and very much deserving of praise. Hyde's vocal style on many of these songs sees him using more of his full range and full on screaming on a few songs. His vocal style here is rougher and more aggressive, a side to it we never saw in his solo career or in L'Arc en Ciel. However he hasn't forgotten how to write great ballads, with "Vampire's Love" being a surprisingly heartfelt ballad showing a softer side to this band, and that Hyde can absolutely nail ballads like no-one's business. Vamps are a great mix of J-rock and the harder more alternative and bold sides to both Hyde and Kaz's musical influences, with the band really coming into their own on their third album: Bloodsuckers. Their last album was straight up a mix of melodic metalcore and alt metal, featuring collaborations with Apocolyptica, the guitarist for Rammstein, Kamikaze Boy and Chris Motionless. Vamps aren't everyone's cup of tea, but they were a great vehicle for Hyde's attack on the American market and KAZ's return to musical relevance following Hide's death and the break-up of Spread Beaver.


Another group I want to give mention to, even if they may be a bit too commercial and old for everyone's tastes is Vow Wow

Back in the seventies a hard rock band called Bowwow was formed, before transitioning to heavy metal after a period of Kayōkyoku inspired music, famed for being a quartet with two guitarists who both served as lead vocalists. However when one would leave they decided to make a change. The other remaining guitarist stopped doing lead vocals and switched to backing vocals. They then hired lead vocalist Genki Hitomi and one of Japan's best keyboard players Rei Atsumi, before moving to the UK and trying to start a Japanese rock revolution. Their bassist would move back to Japan shortly into their stay, leading to him getting replaced with former Black Sabbath and Whitesnake bassist Neil Murray, who would also do double duty writing English lyrics and translating Genki's lyrics to English. Vow Wow's six album run was a glorious moment, with the heaviness of Bow Wow now supplemented by Genki's Robert Plant inspired vocals and Rei's awesome keyboard riffs. Their album "V" would stand as their most successful work. Produced by King Crimson and Asia vocalist John Wetton, who also wrote the music and lyrics to and played bass on the album's lead single "Don't Leave Me Now". The band is the ultimate east meets west, with these veterans of Japanese rock music embracing an English sensibility in their music. If the kind of keyboard driven melodic rock isn't your thing I get that, but these guys must be acknowledged as the other side to the same coin as Loudness in the failed eighties Japanese rock invasion that gave us such great hidden gems, and the language barrier is completely absent from all of their works, giving you free reign to dive right in.


Lastly while not a Japanese this is a great entry point for anybody. The biggest American rock groups in Japan are Bon Jovi and Mr Big, with Mr. Big's popularity in Japan being the only reason they stayed together and eclipsing their popularity everywhere else in the world. Their vocalist Eric Martin did a series of five albums covering Japanese pop songs voted on by his Japanese fanbase, except his last album of the five which was different. The last in the Mr. Vocalist series was "Mr. Rock Vocalist", where he picked famous Japanese rock songs and covered them in English.

For those of you wondering, his translations are actually very direct translations for better and for worse. There are moments where it's obvious the translations are super direct and the lyrics weren't changed where they should have been like the chorus in "1/3 no Junjo na Kanjo" where he just pauses in the chorus and loses the sense of momentum the orginal vocal melody had, but overall these are great covers true to the original versions and his translations work really well. He also adds his own changes to some of these songs which only make his versions stand on their own even better like adding a lot of percussion to "I For You". He covers lots of Japanese rock music staples including X Japan, Luna Sea, B'z, L'Arc En Ciel, Boøwy, Glay, and Siam Shade. Siam Shade are an interesting band because after their break-up they grew a massive cult following in America, so to see Martin do their most iconic song justice is wonderful. Martin also assembled an all star list of guitar talent to guest on this album including Marty Friedman, John 5, Steve Stevens, Steve Salas (A frequent collaborator of B'z singer Koshi Inaba, and he actually does play on the B'z cover here) and Ritchie Kotzen. This is basically a best of J-rock compilation, but with Eric Martin singing these songs in English. If you want a taste of a lot of what Japan's rock scene has on offer than this is a great place to start.

I hope this article further encourages you to go listen, especially with the worry of the language barrier now not a huge issue with this list hopefully helping to curb that issue a bit. If you didn't check out the previous article I hope you do because I spent a long time with it. See you next week when I cover another topic of interest close to my heart.