Jealousy (X Japan album)
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''Jealousy'' is the third studio album by Japanese heavy metal band
X Japan was a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive soun ...
, then known as simply X. The album was released on July 1, 1991 by
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
, as the band's second major label release. ''Jealousy'' is the band's best-selling album, having sold more than one million copies, it topped the
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...
chart and stayed on the chart for 50 weeks. The album's singles would also reach the top three on the chart. It is their last album under the name "X", before changing to "X Japan", and the last to feature
Taiji Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. T ...
on bass, who would be replaced by
Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...
.


Overview

After releasing their second album '' Blue Blood'' in 1989, which reached number six on the Oricon chart and charted for more than 100 weeks, selling over half of a million copies, X Japan received the "Grand Prix New Artist of the Year" award at the 4th Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1990. Sony told the band they could go anywhere they wanted, so Yoshiki visited Paris and London, while the other members chose
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. When deciding where to record their next album, Yoshiki was outvoted. X left Japan on November 24, 1990 to begin recording ''Jealousy'' in LA.Stated in ''Jealousys CD booklet, July 1, 1991. When members arrived back in their home country in June, 500 members of the Japan Self-Defence Forces were at the airport to control the crowd. The album was released in July 1991 and debuted at number one, selling over 600,000 copies. On August 24, the band performed their first concert at Japan's largest indoor concert venue, the
Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...
. This was part of the Violence in Jealousy Tour which lasted to the end of the year, when once again Yoshiki collapsed, this time after the October 24
Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...
gig. The X with Orchestra concert at
NHK Hall The NHK Hall is a concert hall located at the NHK Broadcasting Center, the main headquarters of Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The hall is the main venue for the NHK Symphony Orchestra, but it has also played host to other events, such as the 19 ...
on December 8, saw the band perform backed by an
orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
. The band began 1992 with sold out concerts at the Tokyo Dome on January 5–7, titled Tokyo Dome 3 Days: On the Verge of Destruction. Just days later, on January 31, it was announced that bassist
Taiji Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. T ...
had left the group. On August 24, 1992, X held a press conference in New York at
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...
, where
Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...
was announced as their new bassist. Around this time, the band's success in Japan made an international breakthrough appear likely, leading to an American record contract with Atlantic Records and the renaming of the band from X to X Japan, in order to distinguish from the American
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
group X. (An American album release would never happen). Their first show with Heath was at the October 1992 Extasy Summit at
Osaka-jō Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Kyōbashi area of Osaka, Japan. The hall opened in 1983 and can seat up to 16,000 people. Built on a site area of 36,351 square meters, part of its form uses stone walls, modeled after those of the Cast ...
. A special edition of ''Jealousy'', that included a second disc of instrumental versions of some songs, was released on February 14, 2007 and reached number 31 on the charts. A remastered version that reached number 241 was released on March 19, 2008.


Composition

''Jealousy'' is X Japan's most diverse in terms of songwriting credits. Besides
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 ...
who composed and wrote four songs, hide composed and wrote the lyrics for "Miscast", "Love Replica" and "Joker", Taiji composed two songs, "Desperate Angel" and "Voiceless Screaming", for which Toshi wrote the lyrics, while Pata contributed his only song in the band's catalogue (excluding ''
Dahlia Dahlia (, ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the Asteraceae (former name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its garden relatives thus include the sunflower, ...
s "Wriggle" which he wrote with Heath). "Voiceless Screaming" was written during a period when Yoshiki's health condition worsened and they needed more songs. The lyrics express Toshi's feelings about the previous loss of his voice. The song structure of "
Silent Jealousy "Silent Jealousy" is a single released by X Japan (then named X) on September 11, 1991. Summary The song's structure is comparable to " Kurenai", opening with a calm intro, performed on a single instrument, followed by a speed metal composition ...
" is comparable to " Kurenai", opening with a calm intro, performed on a single instrument, followed by a
speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...
composition with symphonic elements. It also includes a short excerpt of
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
's " Swan Lake" during the
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
-driven
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. The album's only other speed metal tune "Stab Me in the Back", is one of X's oldest songs, having been written mostly in English with a few Japanese lines in 1986. An entirely English version was first recorded for the 1987
Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...
sampler ''Skull Thrash Zone Volume I'', which was the band's first material with guitarist
Pata Pata or PATA may refer to: Places * Pata, Sulu, a Philippine municipality * Pata, Galanta District, a village in Slovakia * Pata, Central African Republic, a village * Pata village (Samoa), a village in Samoa * Pontrilas Army Training Area, a ...
. This album version's lyrics were rewritten once again.


Release

''Jealousy'' was released on July 1, 1991, by major label Sony. In the third counting week of July it reached number one on the
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...
chart, with sales of 612,920 copies. By the end of the year it had sold 828,000 copies, and was the 12th best-selling album of the year. As it charted for 50 weeks, it was certified million by the RIAJ, and in 1992, with 285,430 copies sold, it was the 62nd best-selling album. In 2007 Oricon counted 1.113 million copies sold. A
remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...
edition was released on February 14, 2007, which included a bonus CD with instrumental versions of some songs. This edition charted at number thirty-one. A Blu-spec CD2 version of ''Jealousy'' remastered by Bob Ludwig was released on July 27, 2016. The first single "
Silent Jealousy "Silent Jealousy" is a single released by X Japan (then named X) on September 11, 1991. Summary The song's structure is comparable to " Kurenai", opening with a calm intro, performed on a single instrument, followed by a speed metal composition ...
" preceded the album's release. It reached number three on the fourth counting week of September 1991, with sales of 78,360 copies. In the upcoming weeks, it was at number five and nine respectively, with sales of 52,470, and 23,040 copies. It charted for 18 weeks. In 1991, with 234,950 copies sold, it was the 58th best-selling single of the year and was certified Gold by the RIAJ. In October the single "
Standing Sex "Standing Sex" is a single released by X Japan (then named X) on October 25, 1991. Summary It and " The Last Song" are the only X Japan singles to not appear on one of the band's studio albums. The b-side is an edited version of "Joker", origin ...
" was released, though the title song wasn't included on the album. It and " The Last Song" released in 1998, are the band's only two singles not to appear on any of their studio albums. It reached number four on the charts, and charted for 16 weeks. In 1991, with 187,160 copies sold, it was the 87th best-selling single of the year. The single "
Say Anything Say Anything may refer to: Film and television * '' Say Anything...'', a 1989 American film by Cameron Crowe * "Say Anything" (''BoJack Horseman''), a television episode Music * Say Anything (band), an American rock band ** ''Say Anything'' (alb ...
" was released in December. It reached number three during the second counting week of December 1991, with sales of 78,510 copies. In the upcoming two weeks, it was at number three and eleven respectively, with sales of 65,340, and 39,750 copies. It charted for 25 weeks. In 1992, with 537,790 copies sold, it was the 33rd best-selling single of the year and certified Platinum by the RIAJ.


Reception

''Jealousy'' is generally positively received. Alexey Eremenko, of
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
, said that "it's a nice document of pre-grunge heavy music, sporting thin production, twin guitars, and glam rock aplomb, but having more to it than just being a Winger imitation". Although it goes "through a good deal of quasi-epics and
Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...
-inspired neo-classical leads on the album, only to lapse back again into a hard 'n' heavy frenzy", he criticized this because of how important lyrics and guitar leads are, a song "Desperate Angel" which "could be a huge metal hymn", instead "becomes an annoyingly memorable heavy pop hit". Eremenko, who gave the album a three and a half out of five stars rating, concluded that the remarkable thing about the album is that "for all its hair metal backbone, it's a pretty diverse record", and although "it's quite ballad-heavy", "the slower songs neither bog it down nor sound the same, thanks to good piano and acoustic guitar work as well as clever arrangements". ''Jealousy'' was named number 7 on '' Bounce''s 2009 list of 54
Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...
Japanese Rock Albums.


Legacy

"Silent Jealousy" was covered by the Australian metal band
Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
as a bonus track on the Japanese version of their 2007 album '' Ascendence'', with vocals performed by Hideaki Niwa. Finnish power metal band
Sonata Arctica Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup c ...
also covered part of the song during one of the concerts on their Japanese tour. It also served as wrestler
Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...
's one night entrance song for his return to Japan. "Miscast" was performed live by hide during some of his solo concerts, a studio version was completed after his death and put on the 2002 compilation ''Cafe Le Psyence: hide Lemoned Compilation''. The song was also covered live by
Dir en grey Dir En Grey (stylized as DIR EN GREY and previously as Dir en grey) is a Japanese Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in February 1997 and currently signed to Firewall Div., a sub-division of Free-Will. With a consistent lineup of guitari ...
on May 4, 2008 at the "hide memorial summit".
Taiji Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. T ...
's later band, Taiji with Heavens, has also performed "Miscast" live. Taiji's band D.T.R reworked "Voiceless Screaming" for the acoustic version of their 1994 debut album, ''Dirty Trashroad ~ Acoustic'', where it was titled simply "Voiceless". Taiji with Heavens also covered it, releasing it for free on their website as "Voiceless Screaming ~from Heavens". Toshi also performed a solo cover of the song at two shows in 2013. "Say Anything" was covered by the pop group
Globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...
, of which Yoshiki was briefly a member, on their 2002 album ''Global Trance 2''. It was also used as the theme song for the TV drama ''Lullaby Keiji''.


Track listing


Personnel

;X * Vocals: Toshi * Guitar: hide * Guitar:
Pata Pata or PATA may refer to: Places * Pata, Sulu, a Philippine municipality * Pata, Galanta District, a village in Slovakia * Pata, Central African Republic, a village * Pata village (Samoa), a village in Samoa * Pontrilas Army Training Area, a ...
* Bass:
Taiji Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. T ...
* Drums, piano:
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 ...
;Additional musicians * Synthesizer: Steve Croes * Harmonica: Stanley Behrens * Background vocals on "Desperate Angel": Roger Love, Gene Miller,
Warren Ham Warren Ham (born 1957) is an American multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for playing with Kansas (band), Kansas (1982), Toto (band), Toto (1986-1988, and since 2017) and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Ringo Starr (since 2015). During the ...
* Voice: Angel Figueroa, Laura McBroom ("Joker"), Sylviane Le Chevalier ("Love Replica") * Concertmaster: Bruce Dukov * Conductor, arranger (strings): David Campbell ;Production * Producer, arranger: X * Co-producer: Naoshi Tsuda, Roger Love (vocal) * Executive producer: Hiroshi Inagaki * Engineer: Joe Tortorici, Kenji Nakai, Stanley Salters * Assistant engineer: Bob Lacivita, Dave Levy, Duane Seykora, Gregg McConnell, Jeff Alden, Jeff Rach, Jiro Ogawa, John Paterno, Motonobu Mantani, Scott Jochim, Tracy Chisholm * Recorded by: Mitsuyasu Abe, Tetsuhiro Miyajima * Mixed By, Engineer: Bruce Miller, Paul Winger, Rich Breen * Mixed, Recorded: Gremlin * Mastered by: Teppei Kasai * Creative director: Shigeo Gotoh * Art direction, Design: Hiroshi Ooki * Front cover concept:
Screaming Mad George , known as Screaming Mad George (born October 7, 1956), is a Japanese special effects artist, film director, and former musician. He was born in Osaka, Japan, and emigrated to the United States, where he has become known for his surreal, gory spe ...
, Yoshiki * Mask and make up: Screaming Mad George * Photographer: Takashi Matsuda, Bruno


References

{{Authority control X Japan albums 1991 albums Albums arranged by David Campbell (composer)