"The Last Song" is an

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 ...

single released on March 18, 1998, shortly after the band's breakup in late 1997.

Summary

It comes on an

enhanced CD Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players. Formats that fall under the "enhanced CD" ca ...

containing one audio track, along with several bonus features on the data track, such as the band's disbandment statement, a full discography and a live video of "The Last Song", filmed during the band's last concert on December 31, 1997 at 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 ...

. The single's cover art depicts X Japan co-founders

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 ...

and Toshi embracing during the aforementioned concert, which was also released as a live album ('' The Last Live'') and a home video ('' The Last Live Video''), however, the footage of this song was cut from the video. It was later restored when the home video was re-released in 2011 as ''The Last Live Complete Edition''. As its name states, this song was the last song released by

, until 2008 when they released " I.V.", the theme song for

Saw IV ''Saw IV'' is a 2007 horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and a story by Melton, Dunstan, and Thomas Fenton. It is the fourth installment in the ''Saw'' film series and sequel to 2 ...

, and the last song to feature new work from their longtime guitarist hide before his death. The "Last Live" performance was the first and last time the song was played live by this lineup of the band, it was however the first song the band performed live after reuniting, as it was the opening song at their first reunion concert on March 28, 2008 also at the Tokyo Dome. The 1997 performance ended with the band laying down their instruments one by one, in a manner similar to

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's ''

Farewell Symphony Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 45 in F minor, known as the "Farewell" Symphony (german: Abschieds-Symphonie; modern orthography: ), is a symphony dated 1772 on the autograph score. A typical performance of the symphony lasts around twenty-five minu ...

'', until only Yoshiki was left playing the piano. The single reached number 8 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 Nov ...

charts, and charted for 9 weeks.

Track listing

Written and composed by

. # "The Last Song" – 11:26

References

X Japan songs Songs written by Yoshiki (musician) Heavy metal ballads 1998 singles 1998 songs Polydor Records singles {{1990s-rock-single-stub