''Thunder in the East'' is the fifth studio album by Japanese heavy metal band

Loudness In acoustics, loudness is the subjectivity, 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 rel ...

, and the first released by a major American label after the contract signed with

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the comp ...

, then a subsidiary of

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. Aside from being the band's first all-English release, it is the first Loudness album produced by

Max Norman Max Norman is a British record producer and recording engineer active since 1973. He produced many acclaimed heavy metal releases. While Norman was resident engineer at Ridge Farm Studios in London, Ozzy Osbourne was recording his debut solo ...

, best known for his previous work with

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

, who also produced '' Lightning Strikes'' in 1986 and '' Soldier of Fortune'' in 1989. ''Thunder in the East'' features the single "

Crazy Night (also known as "Crazy Nights") is the fourth single by Japanese heavy metal band Loudness, from their 1985 album '' Thunder in the East''. Written by lead vocalist Minoru Niihara and guitarist Akira Takasaki and produced by Max Norman, the single ...

s", the band's biggest hit in America, and the power ballad "Never Change Your Mind". This album marked the first time a Japanese band entered the US Top 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

, where it remained for 23 weeks, peaking at No. 74. The album cover introduced the band's signature logo, which would be used in majority of their discography. The Rising Sun background would also be used in the band's albums ''

Breaking the Taboo ''Breaking the Taboo'' is a 2011 Brazilian documentary film about the War on Drugs. The film recounts the history of the war on drugs, beginning with the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. ''Breaking the Taboo'' explores the conclusion rea ...

'' and ''

The Sun Will Rise Again is the twenty-sixth studio album by Japanese Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Loudness (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 show ...

''. The 2005 remastered version includes the bonus tracks "Gotta Fight" and "Odin", which were originally released as singles for the 1985 anime film '' Odin: Photon Sailer Starlight''. The chant of "M-Z-A!" featured in the single "Crazy Nights" came about when producer Norman asked lead vocalist Niihara to come up with something to sing over the main riff between the chorus and next verse. "M-Z-A!" means nothing, and it was intended to be replaced with another line in post-production. When Niihara could not come up with anything to replace it, the "M-Z-A!" chant survived. In 2017, the album was re-released on

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

red vinyl.

Track listing

All lyrics by

Minoru Niihara is a Japanese singer. He is the original and current lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Loudness. His first band was Earthshaker, in which he played bass and sang. His vocal style was influenced by blues singers, but he adapted quickly ...

and all music by

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 ...

, except "Heavy Chains" lyrics and music by Masayoshi Yamashita.

2005 remastered CD edition bonus tracks

Personnel

;Band members *

– vocals *

– guitars * Masayoshi Yamashita – bass *

Munetaka Higuchi (December 24, 1958 – November 30, 2008) was a Japanese musician and record producer. He is best known as the original drummer of the heavy metal band Loudness, but first rose to prominence as a member of Lazy in the 1970s. Career From a ...

– drums ;Production *

– producer * Bill Freesh – engineer * Ray Leonard – assistant engineer *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

– mastering * Paul Cooper – executive producer * George Azuma – supervisor * Hiroyuki Munekiyo, Mikio Shimizu – coordinators

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thunder In The East (Album) Loudness (band) albums 1985 albums Albums produced by Max Norman Atco Records albums Nippon Columbia albums Music for Nations albums Albums recorded at Sound City Studios