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

. 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 Afr ...

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 Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 are a Japanese all-female heavy metal band formed in 1981. The group disbanded in 1998, but reformed with the original line-up in 2005 for the 20th anniversary of their first release. Their music is deeply rooted in classic rock and they have ...

's singer

Keiko Terada is a Japanese rock singer. She was co-founder and lead singer of the successful Japanese female hard rock and heavy metal band Show-Ya from 1982 to 1991, before going solo. On her solo albums she expanded from hard rock and heavy metal to blu ...

and Earthshaker's singer Masafumi "Marcy" Nishida. They released an album and produced and organized the

Hard na Yaon Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock super ...

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 exper ...

'' (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 Æsir, 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, v ...

'' (EP 1985) * '' Thunder in the East'' (1985) * '' Shadows of War'' (1986) * '' Lightning Strikes'' (1986) – U.S. remix of ''Shadows of War'' * '' 8186 Live'' (live 1986) * ''

Hurricane Eyes ''Hurricane Eyes'' is the seventh studio album by Japanese Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Loudness (band), Loudness. It was released in 1987 worldwide with standard English lyrics. A "Japanese Version" was subsequently released only in Japan ...

'' (1987) * ''

'' (1987) – Japanese Version * ''

'' (EP 1988) * '' Eurobounds'' (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'' (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 be ...

'' (2002) * '' Loudness Live 2002'' (live 2003) * '' Terror'' (2004) * '' RockShocks'' (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 goa ...

'' (2004) * ''

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 ...

'' (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 "King of Pain" is a song by English rock band the Police, released as the final single from their fifth and final studio album ''Synchronicity'' (1983). Written by the band's lead singer and bassist Sting as a post-separation song from his wif ...

'' (2010) * '' Eve to Dawn'' (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 gather ...

'' (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 ''Tusk of Jaguar'' is the first solo studio album by Japanese guitarist Akira Takasaki, best known for his work in the rock bands Loudness (band), Loudness and Lazy (band), Lazy. It was released in 1982 only in Japan and reissued in 2005. The alb ...

'' (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 Japa ...

~ 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