if no one else said it, I would’ve haha
oops, my bad I was watching a video about Angelo and got the wrong name… I meant the band Raphael.
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llll-Ligro’s 2nd full album, D.I.D’s 2nd full album, DIMLIM’s 2nd full album… None of these were released.
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The disbandment of Nazare, Doku, and especially (Insert Name of Your Favorite Vk Band Here.)
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The fact that most of my favorite bands just don’t seem to be appealing to many people and end up having to disband because of financial reasons and I don’t have enough money to really effect that in any significant way.
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The bands that are very passionate about what they do and put in tons of effort only for nobody to care about it.(Not saying people are obligated to care but I still find such situations sad.)
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The amount of music that ‘dies’ because of it being so limited and the few people that were lucky enough to get it either keep it to themselves until the day they die, after which it is buried with their body, or they sell for ridiculous prices which might cause whoever buys it to not want to share it because it’d suck to pay like $80 for a couple songs only for them to be free on the internet the next day. I can understand why people do this but personally I’d prefer to have the memory of my favorite bands live on through people still being able to listen to them in the future if they’re curious instead of just reading a list of releases they can’t ever hear.
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I completely agree with you, especially about that last point. We chat about it a lot. I buy lots of rare stuff with the intent of preserving it. I’m only one person but hopefully I can make a big enough difference so that someone in the future can listen to the stuff I liked. I call it Project Preservation. It’s an idea that only lives in my head, but it’s something for now.
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So true and much more common than one would like.
This particularly hurts because I can relate to it on a personal level.
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Could I ask you what was the accident ?
The real reason Skin never did anything is simply because of Yoshiki. We’ve seen it before that time and we’ve seen it since then, the guy just flakes on most projects he’s attached to. Usually the only things he sees through to completion are the simple cash-grabs like CM appearances (Ramen, beer, etc) and things like SKIN which have minimal time commitments with the maximum financial return.
I knew someone back then who knew Miyavi and I asked some questions about SKIN because, like most people, it made completely no sense that 4 such great musicians got together that one time and never again. Not even something bare minimum like an EP or Japanese performance in addition. What was relayed back to me second hand was that SKIN happened because they were offered a lot of money to do that show. Miyavi took it seriously and actually wrote a bunch of songs that never got used for the project. Yoshiki missed all of the rehearsals in the days prior to the actual show even though it was essentially in his backyard. And then on the day of the concert he was late (LA Traffic was one of the excuses) for the final rehearsal before the show. If you search for live reports from back then you’ll see that the show was delayed for about 3 hours. Meev would never work him again and felt Yoshiki was highly unprofessional. Of course he can’t say that in interviews so instead we get these really vague half-answers that could mean everything but also nothing at all.
All of those public comments by Gackt, Sugizo and MYV regarding SKIN’s future are just typical Japanese senpai-deference. Yoshiki is their senior and godfather of the scene, they can’t say anything negative in the slightest.
The same person I talked to back then who knew MYV actually knew Sugizo too. I don’t remember what Sugizo said specifically but I remember being told that he would do SKIN again if Yoshiki wanted to do it again. Just for perspective, Sugizo was basically senpai-ed into becoming X Japan’s new guitarist. He had no choice really, once Yoshiki asked, he couldn’t say no. If you remember, Sugizo was just a guest in those first reunion concerts before he officially became a member. It makes sense from a fan-perspective that he’d become the next guitarist, Sugizo and hide were close, but from Sugizo’s perspective, he had plenty on his plate with Luna Sea and his solo work. Why would he want to join X Japan on top of that unless he had to? Sure it was probably a nice paycheck but I don’t think Sugizo needs to worry about that and judging from his recent projects, he thinks of the music first and less about the marketability.
And regarding Toshi and X Japan in all of this, none of that had to do with SKIN’s demise as I’ve just mentioned. Wasn’t Toshi being pushed by Masaya and his ex-wife Kaori to reconnect with Yoshiki because they wanted some of the financial rewards that would come with Toshi being a rocker again? Masaya / Home of Heart churned out 4-5 Toshi and T-Earth albums in less than 2 years to capitalize on X Japan’s reunion before Toshi finally realized he was being controlled.
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Yeah. This is correct but usually situations are caused by more than one factor. It’s entirely possible that Toshi was pushed (directly or indirectly; the situation changing is an indirect push) into contacting Yoshiki to start X as well as Yoshiki being allergic to commitment, but the timing is too coincidental. I’m fact, it kinda works out. Once he’s a free agent again, he hears about SKIN and sees the recipe for success, reaches out to Yoshiki and pitches his idea. Yoshiki is ultimately responsible for saying “yes”, but had Toshi never put in that phone call we’d probably be bitching about the unfinished SKIN album instead of the unfinished X album. Your recollection of how activities for SKIN we’re conducted dovetails with this. In fact, it sounds like SKIN sans Yoshiki did more than X…
No matter what, Yoshiki is the universal constant for stagnancy. And also, there are plenty of musicians that juggle multiple bands, so I also don’t want to subscribe to the logic that we have to choose. We shouldn’t…
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I know I keep Raging on about this but just… Atsushi’s backstory. 
just… (TRIGGER WARNING!!!) If you guys want to know… click here.
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I think what happened to Zin and then later Yusai fits here. Zin was a new-ish band at the time I really enjoyed. Then their vocalist Riku decided to pull off “we lost contact with out member” stunt and just disappeared. Later I think rest of the band got in touch with him and he said he doesn’t want to be in a band anymore, so they fired him. Or I might remember details wrong, but yeah.
Guitarist Luy became the new vocalist and they recorded one single as Zin, but then decided to break up and form with same lineup under a new name (Luy changed his stage name to Amane). And if Zin was enjoyable then damn, Yusai was amazing at least for me. But then Amane pulled off the same stunt as Riku. Where in Riku’s case I saw he was doing some session band stuff some time ago, Amane is still nowhere to be seen unless I missed something.
Anyway, other Yusai members haven’t been involved in any new bands since and only do session events once in a while.
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I suppose you’re right, whether directly or indirectly, Toshi returning did bring X Japan back which made the band Yoshiki’s sole purpose for the years that followed.
I found the translation of Toshi’s brainwashing book. it’s chapter 4 where he talks about how his old manager Takeda tricked Toshi into believing Yoshiki wanted to start X Japan again and said there was good payday involved:
"Their purpose was to ask me if I didn’t want to participate in X Japan’s revival. I refused. “It truly
doesn’t matter what you say, I don’t want to do it at all. Please don’t show up again.” Saying that,
Takeda sharply replied. “If you accept, you’ll be paid three hundred million Yen. You’ll be immediately
paid half of it.” “Doesn’t matter, I don’t want to do it. "
Later, speaking directly to both Masaya and Moritani, Masaya asked me. “What did Takeda say to you,
specifically?” “If I re-joined X Japan, I would be paid three hundred million Yen. And initially they would
give me half of that. He said he’d be willing to risk himself to save me from the media’s criticism.”
“Hey, Ueda, did you hear that too? Did he really say three hundred million?” Ueda, standing next to
me, confirmed everything. Then, Masaya spoke terrifying words. “Then, in this case, let’s hear what
Takeda has to say.”
Despite the many sad stories of VK guys passing away at a young age, I still think Toshi’s is an equally sad one. He was pretty much brainwashed for 10+ years and was enslaved in the process.
Anywho, as much as I hate on Yoshiki’s cult of personality that feeds his lack of productivity, I still look back on those good years he had (87-91) when he wrote the bulk of his work most people associate with him : Vanishing Vision, Blue Blood, Jealousy and Art of Life. He did more in those 5 years than he did in the 30 years since then. So it’s no worry if we never get that new X Japan album. I’ve actually always been more disappointed that he never released a Violet UK album. Not the late 00’s stuff he released on myspace or itunes but the things he was doing in the late 90’s leading into the 7-11 commercials. That actually felt fresh for him and we’ll sadly never get to hear most of it.
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Having read that book last night, my answer to this thread definitely is Toshi…
Can’t believe humans like that exist AND are still allowed to do their thing.
Definitely. Lots of these types of groups exist in the US too.
Re-reading Toshi’s book and the section where he was part of multi-day ‘seminars’ by Masaya, where the participants are forced over the course of 12-15-18 hours of isolated ‘training’ (or deprivation) to reveal some deep trauma in the past, remind me of something a friend of mine went through in a pseudo-business self-help course in the US 10-15 years ago.
The seminar my friend went to was 12-15 hours on Friday, 12-15 hours on Saturday and by Sunday evening, I received call from him telling me the great relief he had letting go / coming to terms with a painful past trauma. The friend sounded dazed and out of it on the phone talking to me. But it wasn’t just about their newly found ‘freedom’ from the past, he was trying to get me to sign up for a course to go with him in a few days. I turned him down and promptly did a lot of research online and saw the scam for what it was.
Long story short, these type of groups are evil and pray on people. They find their weaknesses and they just latch on and exploit them. I think the only thing that saved my friend was that these endless ‘training’ courses were expensive and he was a thrifty person with money.
For someone like Toshi, with endless supplies of money, it’s clear they milked him dry for years and he wouldn’t have gotten out were it not for his failing health.
Anywho, it’s good that he’s out of that world and seemingly happy doing his own thing and not waiting for X Japan activities.
not to discredit his story or anything - it’s a shitty experience to go through, and we’ve just witnessed how embarrassing scientology cultists are when they have to interact with the real world with Jada Smith situation recently, but majority of religious/brainwashing cults specifically prey on addicts. there’re specific behavioral patterns that make certain people weak either to substance, or ~spiritual~ addiction, entertainment industry has that jaded association with both.
hide wasn’t a sober suffering angel either, and there’s literally just yoshiki out the entire gang who either had it in him to handle fame, or had a support network that kept him grounded and realistic. not everyone is cut to survive the fame and its temptations, and those people are preyed onto by money-hungry parasites (J. Bieber and his drug dealer looking “pastor” would be another very good example, but there’s so much more.)
sad that our yaoi metal princes aren’t immune to what the less glamorous people go through tho.
that’s scientology, or something derived from it.
Depending if you believe this old expose by a former VK exec, Yoshiki couldn’t really be taken advantage of or fall from grace because he was the one living the good life while taking advantage of everyone else from the top:
Yoshiki is from Chiba, (Tokyo area), and Dynamite Tommy is from Osaka. So Yoshiki handles Tommy’s business on the East coast, and Tommy handled Yoshiki’s business on the West coast. (of course, Tommy is in Tokyo now as well, but that sort of system is still going on)
In the beginning there was some – how do you say? – rivalry? between them, but they soon became friends, when they realized they could make more by working together. And of course that’s the exact system used by the Yakuza: controlling different parts of the country, but working together for maximum profit: “I’ll handle your businesses in my territory if you look after my businesses in yours!” And at first they were in bands, as I said,(X Japan and Color) but soon they started thinking that that wasn’t enough, so they started forming record companies. Extasy and Free Will, respectively. And together (mid-‘80s) they started this enterprise- visual kei - which was effectively one big company.
SATOH-SAN: Say you need to record an album. You are the ‘shadow owner’ of both the studio and the record label. So it costs $10,000 to record the album. But the studio charges the label $20,000, and you walk home with the other $10,000 in your pocket. Now multiply this by every business in the entertainment industry. In fact, Dynamite Tommy is currently fighting a court case – he got popped for padding a video contract.
TDR: Yeah, but even if these guys are corrupt, isn’t that scam just basically stealing money from themselves? If they own both companies? It’s not like they have stockholders to swindle!
SATOH-SAN: Well, it (that scam) makes the label look like it’s losing money, so they never have to pay tax! Also, instead of spending the money on a music video, they can now spend it on whatever they like, so that’s a benefit, isn’t it?
I sort of believe most of what was said in this interview as everything lines up perfectly with the reality of all of those bands mentioned.
But as an X fan, I always wondered how exactly Yoshiki is getting money to fuel his lifestyle? I had heard a story many years back that after the 2008 X Japan reunion, Pata and Heath were just barely scraping by because their cut of the performance royalties was nothing at all. It led to Heath having a ‘contract dispute’ a few years later which is when Taiji was contacted and made a surprise appearance at one show. Taiji was there as backup in case Heath fell through. And now Toshi pretty much scrubbed all mention of X Japan from his social media presence because of his falling out with Yoshiki / the band. It suggests a lot and all signs point to Yo$hiki.
He seemingly has endless amounts of money to donate (close to $100,000 to Ukraine war relief recently), wastes endless amounts of time in his studio with little results (Violet UK / X Japan) and seemingly can jet around the world to go to any party / event. I like X and all but their albums didn’t sell so well that it would set him up for the rest of his life. I think the above article explains exactly why that is.
The one my friend went to was called Land mark. He wasn’t an addict or had addictive personality at all but definitely a lost soul in many ways looking for some grounding in life. These groups construct the answers people are looking for.
This is so true. I’ve been wondering how he managed to maintain his expensive lifestyle too. I doubt he sells enough Yoshikitty or wine or kimono to keep his cash rolling in.
X Japan, Luna Sea and Glay royalties alone would be more than enough. he was cashing in at the peak of VK popularity, and likely knew how to invest later on.
I don’t want to shit on other X Japan guys, but Yoshiki is well connected and is definitely very cut throat, I wonder how he got the composing gig for the Japanese emperor in 1999, being a rock/metal musician.
that would be tax deductions anyway, he’s not paying out of his own pocket.
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Are you implying that he gets a cut of royalties for all of Luna Sea and Glay’s albums throughout the 90’s? That would explain a lot. I was only under the impression that he only received royalties from their first albums that were released on Extasy.
And I never thought about his 1999 Emperor performance being about having the right connections. I just assumed he was just the best person for the job. But in terms of Japanese pianists and composers, there’s definitely others musicians like Ryuichi Sakamoto who you think would’ve been the go-to person for that sort of thing.
Don’t forget the Yoshiki Visa card which he has in the description of almost every video he posts:
How many people are really signing up for this thing!?