"Jungle" is an
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
song composed by Japanese musician
Taiji. Recorded during sessions for
X Japan's album ''
Jealousy'' (1991), it features himself on bass,
Hide on guitar, and Toshihiko Okabe on drums. It was released on July 15, 2000, as an
8 cm CD included with Taiji's autobiography, ''Uchuu o Kakeru Tomo e: Densetsu no Bando X no Sei to Shi''.
Background and recording
Taiji entered Tad Pole Studio in
Setagaya
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. The ward calls itself Setagaya City in English. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the fringed orch ...
to compose and work on songs for X Japan's album ''
Jealousy'' (1991). As
Yoshiki
Yoshiki is a masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Yoshiki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples:
*義樹, "justice, tree"
*義基, "justice, foundation"
*義機, "justice, opportu ...
was busy writing lyrics, Toshihiko Okabe was recruited to play drums.
Taiji was playing a song by
tapping, a technique he had learned by watching
Akira Takasaki
is a Japanese musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and sole constant member of the heavy metal band Loudness. He is also the guitarist of the band Lazy, with which he first rose to prominence in the 1970s.
Career
He started his ...
, when guitarist
Hide asked him to teach it to him. The bassist described this as unusual because Hide did not like tapping. The two fleshed it out into a song, a process Taiji described as being like playing catch.
called the song "amazing", but Taiji could not decide whether it was good or not because it felt like an
étude
An étude (; ) or study is an instrumental musical composition, usually short, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidl ...
.
He considered it for the album, but ultimately felt it did not fit X Japan. Taiji said he and Hide came up with the title "Jungle".
Track listing
Composed and arranged by
Taiji.
#"Jungle" - 05:49
Personnel
*
Taiji – bass
*
Hide – guitar
*Toshihiko Okabe – drums
References
{{authority control
2000 songs
Rock instrumentals