is a Japanese singer. He is the original and current lead vocalist of the heavy metal band

Loudness In acoustics, loudness is the subjective perception of sound pressure. More formally, it is defined as, "That attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending from quiet to loud". The relation of ph ...

. His first band was Earthshaker, in which he played bass and sang. His vocal style was influenced by

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

singers, but he adapted quickly his voice to the high pitch tones requested in a heavy metal act. He was selected after an audition to become the lead singer of Loudness in 1981 and his voice, together with the flashy guitar work of guitarist

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 ...

were recognized as a trademark of the band. Although the first three albums were sung using mostly Japanese lyrics, he started singing in English only on their 1984 album, '' Disillusion''. After Loudness released ''

Jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgus ...

'', he left the band in 1988 and was replaced by the American singer

Mike Vescera Michael Vescera is an American heavy metal singer for various bands and projects like Loudness (''Soldier of Fortune'', ''On the Prowl'', ''Live at the Budokan''), Obsession (''Marshall Law'', ''Scarred for Life'', ''Methods of Madness'', '' ...

. After working with several bands (including Ded Chaplin, Sly and X.Y.Z.→A), as well as his solo career, he returned to Loudness in 2001. He released two solo albums: ''One'' in 1989 and ''Ashes To Glory'' in 2006, in addition to recording many albums with Sly and X.Y.Z.→A. In 2008 he formed a parallel band called Nishidera Minoru, with Show-Ya's singer Keiko Terada and Earthshaker's singer Masafumi "Marcy" Nishida. They released an album and produced and organized the Hard na Yaon 2009 festival.

Discography

Solo albums

*''One'' (1989) *''Ashes to Glory'' (2006) *''R&R Gypsy Show'' (live 2008) *''Tower of Power Night Live'' (live 2011)

Albums with Loudness

* ''

The Birthday Eve ''The Birthday Eve'' is the first studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. It was released in 1981 only in Japan. The 24bit digitally remastered Japanese limited edition CD includes two additional tracks not on the original release ...

'' (1981) * ''

Devil Soldier is the second studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. It was released in 1982. The American Daniel McClendon (brother of Tommy McClendon) was called to engineer the sound of this album, because there was no Japanese technician expe ...

'' (1982) * ''

The Law of Devil's Land is the third studio album by the Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. It was released in 1983 only in Japan and later distributed in Europe by Roadrunner Records. The CD reissue of 2005 contains two extra songs coming from the English version of ...

'' (1983) * '' Live-Loud-Alive: Loudness in Tokyo'' (live 1983) * '' Disillusion'' (1984) * '' Disillusion'' (1984) – English version * ''

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...

'' (EP 1985) * '' Thunder in the East'' (1985) * '' Shadows of War'' (1986) * '' Lightning Strikes'' (1986) – U.S. remix of ''Shadows of War'' * ''

8186 Live ''8186 Live'' is the second live album by the Japanese band Loudness. It was recorded and released in Japan only in 1987 simultaneously in 3 formats; double vinyl LP with a 7-inch EP (3 disc set), double CD and double cassette tape. Track listi ...

'' (live 1986) * ''

Hurricane Eyes ''Hurricane Eyes'' is the seventh studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. It was released in 1987 worldwide with standard English lyrics. A "Japanese Version" was subsequently released only in Japan later in the year with Niihara si ...

'' (1987) * ''

'' (1987) – Japanese Version * ''

'' (EP 1988) * ''

Eurobounds ''Eurobounds'' is the second home video released by the Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. It was released on BETA, VHS, Laserdisc and VHD formats in 1984. This release documented the first European tour of the band, with footage from concerts ...

'' (live 2000) * ''

Spiritual Canoe is the fifteenth studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. It was released in 2001 only in Japan. It also marked the first time since 1988's ''Jealousy'' that the original and classic line-up recorded together. Track listing All music ...

'' (2001) * ''

The Soldier's Just Came Back ''The Soldier's Just Came Back'' is the fifth live album by the Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. It was released in 2001 only in Japan and recorded during the successful '' Spiritual Canoe'' tour with the original line-up. At the same time a ...

'' (live 2001) * '' Pandemonium'' (2001) * ''

Biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also ...

'' (2002) * ''

Loudness Live 2002 ''Loudness Live 2002'' is the seventh live album by the Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. It was recorded in 2002 and released in 2003 as a double multimedia CD. Track listing ;Disc one #"Biosphere" – 3:59 #"Hellrider" – 5:33 #"Loudness" ...

'' (live 2003) * '' Terror'' (2004) * ''

RockShocks ''Rockshocks'' is an album of self-covers by the Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. The album, released in Japan in 2004, contains tracks taken from the first five studio album of the band from the 1980s, played again with a more modern sound a ...

'' (2004) * ''

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

'' (2004) * '' Breaking The Taboo'' (2006) * ''

Metal Mad ''Metal Mad'' is the twenty-first studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. It was released in 2008 only in Japan. It would be the last album before Munetaka Higuchi's death in November 2008. Track listing Music by Akira Takasaki, lyric ...

'' (2008) * '' The Everlasting'' (2009) * '' King of Pain'' (2010) * ''

Eve to Dawn is the twenty-fourth studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Loudness, released on September 14, 2011. The album reached number 36 on the Oricon chart. In an interview, guitarist Akira Takasaki described the album as more "aggressive" than '' ...

'' (2011) * ''

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

'' (2012) * ''

The Sun Will Rise Again is the twenty-sixth studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Loudness, released on June 3, 2014. A US mix of the album was released on October 7, 2015, in which the songs were remixed, and the album cover shows a blue-and-white rising sun desig ...

'' (2014)

Albums with Ded Chaplin

*''1st'' (1990) *''Rock the Nation'' (1991) *''Final Revolution'' (1992)

Albums with Sly

*''Sly'' (1994) *''Dreams of Dust'' (1995) *''Key'' (1996) *''Vulcan Wind'' (1998)

Albums with X.Y.Z.→A

*''Asian Typhoon'' (1999) *''Asian Typhoon'' (2000) – English version *''Metalization'' (2000) *''Metalization'' (2001) – English version *''Life'' (2002) *''IV'' (2003) *''X.Y.Z.→ALIVE'' (live 2004) *''Wings'' (2006) *''Learn from Yesterday! Live for Today! Hope for Tomorrow!'' (2009) *''Seventh Heaven'' (2013) *''Wonderful Life'' (2019)

Albums with Nishidera Minoru

*''Fuzoroi no Rock Tachi Sono 1'' (2009)

Collaborations

*Akira Takasaki – '' Tusk of Jaguar'' (1982) *M.T. Fuji – ''Human Transport'' (1983) *''

Cozy Powell Forever ''Cozy Powell Forever'' is a tribute album dedicated to the British rock drummer Cozy Powell, who died a few months before the album release. The album was produced by Japanese drummer Munetaka Higuchi, with the contribution of many prominent Jap ...

~ Tribute to Cozy Powell'' (1998)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niihara, Minoru 1960 births Living people Japanese heavy metal singers Musicians from Osaka Japanese male rock singers Loudness (band) members English-language singers from Japan