B'z

B'z

Koshi Inaba (left) and Tak Matsumoto (right) performing in 2012
Background information
Origin Japan
Genres
Years active 1988–present
Labels Bertelsmann–BMG Japan (1988–1995)
Being Inc.–Vermillion (1995–present)
Associated acts Tak Matsumoto Group
Website Official website
Members Tak Matsumoto
Koshi Inaba

B'z (ビーズ, Bīzu) is a Japanese rock duo, consisting of guitarist, composer and producer Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto (松本 孝弘, Matsumoto Takahiro) and vocalist and lyricist Koshi Inaba (稲葉 浩志, Inaba Kōshi),[2][3] known for their energetic hard-rock tracks and pop ballads.

B'z is one of the best-selling music artists in the world and the best-selling in their native Japan, having released 46 consecutive No. 1 singles, 25 No. 1 albums and sold more than 100 million records worldwide.[4][5][6] In 2003, HMV Japan ranked the band at number 30 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts.[7] In 2007, B'z became the first band from Asia to have their handprints and signatures put up in the Hollywood's RockWalk.[8]

History

Early works (1988–1990)

Tak Matsumoto, guitarist in Tetsuya Komuro's TM Network, had been extremely busy with various recording sessions and live performances. On 21 May 1988, Matsumoto released his first solo album, Thousand Wave. He saw this as the end of his solo career, and began his search for band members. He later met vocalist Koshi Inaba, who would later found B'z with him. At the time, Japan's music scene was loaded with many new bands being created. With all the digital sounds in mainstream music, the only sounds that they felt could not be expressed and replicated were the guitar and the human voice. As a result, they decided to keep it a two-man unit. On 21 September 1988, B'z made their debut with their first album, B'z, and single, "Dakara Sono Te o Hanashite (だからその手を離して)". Their music was very much a product of its times, with synthesizers and samplers sharing equal time with Matsumoto's guitar, producing an experimental sound, very different from their well-known hard rock sound of today.

Instead of immediately performing live after a debut album, as many Japanese bands were doing, B'z chose to have a clear vision of how they wanted to perform and decided to wait until they had enough material to play for at least 90 minutes. The two concentrated on recording, raising the quality of their music. Their efforts resulted in a second album, Off the Lock, released on 21 May 1989. With this second album came their first series of live performances, known better to their fans as "Live-Gym". "Live-Gym No. 00" started in Nagoya, continuing into Osaka, and finished in Tokyo. Tickets were sold out on the day they became available. On 21 October, their first mini album, Bad Communication was released. The title track was a blend of rock and dance music, and is still a classic played during their "Live-Gyms." It charted for 163 weeks on the Oricon Charts.[9] Their first nationwide tour, B'z Live-Gym No. 001, covered 16 shows around Japan.

On 21 February 1990, their third album Break Through was released. To promote it, they started a tour with 22 shows nationwide. Their single "Taiyō no Komachi Angel", was released on 13 June and peaked at No. 1 on the Oricon Chart. Every single since that release has debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon charts. Wicked Beat, their second mini album, was then released on 21 June. In contrast to the many promotional efforts for Break Through, Wicked Beat received little promotion and the duo went back to the studio and began recording. Their 4th album, Risky was released on 7 November and went platinum. Their "Risky" tour, totaling 49 performances, also started in November. Their first music video, Film Risky, was recorded in New York City and London within 4 weeks, and was released on 16 December. With a barrage of releases, 1990 came to be the busiest year for B'z.

Transitioning into hard rock (1991–1992)

The third mini album, Mars was released on 29 May 1991. Little promotion was done for it and after releasing only two singles, B'z released their fifth album, In the Life, on 27 November. The release of the album marked B'z shying away from their advanced digital sounds and more towards rock. Their first live video, "Just Another Life" was out on 11 December. For promotion, B'z also embarked on their "In the Life '91–'92" tour, with 66 performances in total. The tour started in December and managed to flow into the next year. The total number of "Live-Gyms" they did during this year exceeded 100.

In the summer of 1992, the "Pleasure '92-Time" tour took place with 12 performances in 3 major cities. The arena-class tour had amazing features such as a huge lighting set, called the "Starfish", and seats that rotated 360 degrees. 28 October marked the release of their sixth album, Run, and proved to be more hard rock oriented than the previous. On 9 December, they released a slightly different mini album Friends. Different from Run, its concept is somewhat similar to that of a movie soundtrack.

Switching to blues (1993–1994)

In the early 1993, the "Run" tour concluded after 49 performances in 21 locations. In the following year, they held an open-air concert for the first time, called "Jap the Ripper". The show took place in Bentenjima of Hamamatsu-city, Shizuoka on 31 July and 1 August. The successful event gathered 50 thousand people per day, totaling 100,000 people in the end. Following this, B'z concentrated on recording once again, this time, producing a two-disc seventh album, The 7th Blues. The album title not only came from it being their seventh album, but also after the seventh chord, that is frequently used in Blues. Becoming much more "bluesier" and soulful, this album evidently shows their lean towards blues, the roots of rock music.

On 9 February 1994 the "B'z Live-Gym '94—The 9th Blues" tour started. The tour became their longest and biggest tour thus far, managing 87 performances in the year. During the tour, the album, The 7th Blues, was released on 2 March. The tour finished in Sapporo's Tsukisamu Green Dome on 24 December. This album was a kind of "fans trap", because they made it to "clean" their fandom and just keep the rock and blues loving people with them.

Adopting pop (1995–1998)

In the first half of 1995, B'z spent their time recording and after creating numerous demos, they held the "Pleasure '95 Buzz Stadium" tour with 12 shows in 7 cities. Their eighth album, Loose, was released on 22 November. Loose was concentrated on the original concept of a two-man band. While combining rock with pop, this album is well balanced with a variety of sounds. The album sold over 3 million copies, marking it as the best seller for B'z.

B'z band logo

The B'z Live-Gym '96 "Spirit Loose" tour, started on 15 March 1996 and held 44 performances in 21 locations. The show opened featuring a short B'z action movie, shot in Los Angeles. A short while afterwards, B'z released their 6th mini-album titled Friends II on 25 November. The album displayed more of an adult oriented rock.

On 29 January 1997, member Inaba's first solo album, Magma, was released. He had been recording the album since the previous year, writing all the music and lyrics. The album, which topped the charts, showcased another side of him, different from that of his usual image in B'z. In March, the dome tour "Pleasure '97 Fireball" consisted of 9 performances in 5 locations. Tickets for each dome, which have a capacity of about 30 to 50 thousand people each, were all sold out. The tour included stops at Tokyo (3 nights), Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Maebashi, all being successful. On 19 November, their ninth full album Survive showcased yet another new direction in sound and style.

B'z's first promotional effort for the album included performances in concert halls in Akita, Hakodate, Kōchi, Shiga, and Nagasaki, before plunging into the main tour. "B'z Live-Gym '98 Survive" started on 24 January 1998. On 20 May, B'z released their first official compilation album, B'z The Best "Pleasure", which also marked their 10th year since debuting. Every song included in this album was a huge hit, and was highly acclaimed and its first shipment had sold more copies than any other Japanese artist in history. By this album, their sales in Japan surpassed 50 million records, making them the first artist to do so after Oricon started.[10] On 6 June, the "Survive" tour had successfully ended.

Solo work (1998–1999)

In the mid-1998, B'z entered a period of both rest and recording. Both Tak and Koshi had wanted to start on their own solo projects since the "Survive" tour, and finally got a chance to begin. During the period, on 20 September, their second best-of album, B'z The Best "Treasure" was released. After a lengthy period, on 16 December, Koshi released his first solo maxi single, "Tooku Made."

At the beginning of 1999, Tak released his first solo maxi single, "The Changing" on 25 March, which was the first time he had sung on a released record. The single entered in at No. 2 its first week on the charts. On 14 April, he released the album, Knockin' "T" Around, which contains many other tracks with full vocals and also includes, the Formula-1 '99 theme song, Go Further. The album has both instrumental and vocal tracks. However, even before the release of the album, B'z had already started recording again.

Returning to the music scene (1999–2000)

B'z started off the year of 1999 by busily promoting their recent singles and their tenth album Brotherhood, which was released on 14 July. The album's track "Giri Giri Chop (Version 51)" was recorded by the support of Mr. Big drummer Pat Torpey and its bassist Billy Sheehan. In July, another dome-class tour began starting in Sapporo. The title of the tour, B'z Live-Gym '99 "Brotherhood" included 14 performances in 7 locations. They did away with extra stage acts and concentrated on their musical performance, playing songs from the new album and many hits from the past. On 28 August and 29, they played in the Yokohama International Stadium. B'z concert was the first to be held in this stadium and gathered a stunning 140,000 people in just two days. Although the second day at Yokohama experienced heavy rain, the tour ended successfully. Shortly afterward, B'z started recording again and continued to do so throughout the rest of the year without rest.

On 23 February 2000, they released the album B'z The "Mixture", which included re-mastered tracks of past songs, songs from past singles that were not the featured track, remixes, and a new song. In the middle of May, they started a rehearsal for the summer tour B'z Live-Gym Pleasure 2000 -Juice-, starting a hall class venue show in Toyama, 30 May. The tour totalled 18 shows in 10 cities, including a performance on the famous Nippon Budokan on 20 June as a start. The recording of their single "Juice" was supported by drummer Brian Tichy. When they released "Juice", on 12 July, the duo set a Japanese record of marking No.1 in the first week, making it their 25th No. 1 single in sequence. During the tour, Once Upon a Time in Yokohama ~B'z Live Gym'99 "Brotherhood"~ was released. The year of 2000 was finished with the release of the eleventh album Eleven on 6 December. B'z finished their work in 2000 with the appearance on the TV show Music Station Special and would start the rehearsal for the tour "B'z Live-Gym 2001 -Eleven-" which kicked off on 26 February, in the following year.

Continuing into the 2000s (2001–2007)

On 26 February 2001, "B'z Live-Gym 2001 -Eleven-" kicked off at Ehime Kenmin Bunka Kaikan. Most of the shows were exclusive to fan club members. After the Okinawa shows on 27 and 28 June, B'z traveled abroad. They officially released their CDs in Taiwan and Hong Kong and after having Live-Gym that year, they made a promotion trip for the first time there. "B'z Live-Gym 2001 -Eleven-" had 46 shows in 19 locations and 600,000 attendees. After the Eleven tour, B'z prepared for their first Asian tour, which included "B'z Live-Gym in Taipei 2001" and "B'z Live-Gym in Hong Kong 2001".

While B'z started recording as soon as the year 2002 started, Tak finished his solo albums. which were released simultaneously: Dragon From The West which consists of hard rock tunes, and Hana, which includes more melodic and Asian-influenced tunes. B'z finished their recording in the middle of May, and started rehearsal in Tokyo for the Live-Gym tour that year, as well as performing with Aerosmith on the stage of FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Official Concert International Day, at Tokyo Stadium on 27 June.

On 3 July, Green was released, and there was a supporting tour. The tour began in Saitama Super Arena on 8 July and ended at Osaka Dome on 9 September, encompassing 700,000 attendees, 14 shows, and 11 cities. The live band was rounded out by bassist Billy Sheehan and Canadian drummer Shane Gaalaas. In September, after the last show at Osaka, B'z had their first US tour starting in San Diego at Canes on 22 September and The Palace in Los Angeles on 24 September. On 9 October, Inaba released his second solo album, Shian, five and half years after his first solo album. On 27 November, a live video A Beautiful Reel was released in addition to "B'z Live-Gym 2002 Green ~Go★Fight★Win~", which packaged everything that happened on the Green tour. It also contained a second disc with material from "Live-Gym 2002 Rock n' California Roll". On 11 December, their first ballad compilation album The Ballads ~Love & B'z~ was released.

The year 2003 marked their 15th anniversary and the two started recording from the beginning of the year, traveling to U.S. in February for additional recording. Apart from B'z, Inaba released his solo single, "KI", on 11 June. Along with these continuous releases, the tour "B'z Live-Gym The Final Pleasure "It's Showtime!!"" started in July. The tour "Pleasure" series started since '91 would end this year. The tour kicked off 3 July at Hakodate Shimin Kaikan and finished at Nagisa-en on 21 September, which was ironically the day of their debut, having a total of 23 shows all together. As it has been 10 years since B'z had perform at Nagisa-en since their 1993 performance of "B'z Live-Gym Pleasure '93 "Jap the Ripper"", it gathered 100,000 audience for two days. Even though the shows were hit by typhoon and it rained very hard, it manage to still attract thousands of audience.

After the Nagisa-en performance, B'z flew to the U.S. The tour "B'z Live-Gym 2003 Banzai in North America" concluded with 7 shows including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver. Their thirteenth album, Big Machine, was released on 17 September. As they flew back to Japan, B'z started their third tour in 2003, "B'z Live-Gym 2003 Big Machine." It was a dome tour in 6 locations, from Saitama Super Arena to Tokyo Dome in December. During the tour, Tak announced his solo project. As the start, he worked with the late Izumi Sakai from Zard for the song "Ihoujin", as well as with Mai Kuraki for the song "Imitation Gold". Later, the compilation cover album The Hit Parade with various vocalist was released on 26 November.

Kicking off 2004, B'z went back to the studio to begin recording again. On 25 February, a DVD, Typhoon No.15 ~B'z Live-Gym The Final Pleasure "It's Showtime!!" in Nagisaen~, was released. For the rest of the year, they worked mainly on their solo projects. Soon after finishing each solo tour, they began recording together again.

Inaba and Matsumoto in 2007, just after B'z initiation into the Hollywood's RockWalk

On 6 April 2005, B'z released their fourteenth album The Circle. For the album's recording, the duo were particularly worried about its live sound. For promotional activities, B'z started the tour "B'z Live-Gym 2005 "Circle of Rock"" that ran from April to September, totaling 27 shows in 41 locations. On 1 August, their box set The Complete B'z was digitally released only for the Japanese iTunes Store. House of Strings label, which Tak established a year before, released the artist's second album, Theatre of Strings, on 19 October. On 30 November, B'z The Best "Pleasure II", the third compilation album, was released, reaching one million by the end of 2005. On 28 June 2006, their fifteenth original full album Monster was released. Most of the recording took place in Los Angeles. B'z kicked off the tour "B'z Live-Gym 2006 "Monster's Garage"" from Amami Bunka Center on 2 July, having 17 shows in all, including 5 big domes in 11 locations and 450,000 audience members all together. In the end of 2007, more precisely on 5 December, B’z released their sixteenth album, Action. The drum parts of their two singles from Action, "Eien no Tsubasa" and "Super Love Song", were recorded by drummers Josh Freese and Jeremy Colson respectively. On 19 November 2007, B'z was inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk as the first Asian inductee in Sunset Boulevard, California, US.

20th anniversary (2008)

In February 2008, B'z released a DVD titled B'z Live in Nanba. The show was recorded in 2006 and was also broadcast online. The concert featured songs from The Circle and Monster eras, along with a number of older hits as well as several English versions. On April 16, 2008, the band released their forty-fifth single, "Burn -Fumetsu no Face-", which became their forty-first consecutive No. 1 single.

2008 also marked the twentieth anniversary of the band. To commemorate the occasion, the "B'z 20" campaign was launched that saw two further compilation albums. B'z The Best "Ultra Pleasure" was released on 18 June 2008 and featured the greatest of the band's hits on a two-disc collection, and in chronological order, with two all-new modern recordings of older tracks. B'z The Best "Ultra Treasure" was released on 17 September 2008. Its two-disc track listing was decided by fans who were invited to vote for three of many songs at the B'z 20th anniversary website, which featured an exclusive song on a three-disc gift bundle, as well as a re-recording and a remix.

On January 25, 2008, B'z performed only the latest of its "Showcase" series, which are generally small-venue performances of older album songs and the more obscure B-side that are mostly unsuitable for the larger arena concerts. Following this, B'z immediately embarked on their eight-month "Action" tour that saw them perform all over Japan. Afterward, they segued into their 2008 Pleasure tour, titled "Glory Days". Throughout the month of September, B'z performed for hundreds of thousands of fans in nine performances across three cities. The special tour ended on September 21 with a concert on the 20th anniversary of their first release. This performance was later released on DVD February 25, 2009 as B'z Live-Gym Pleasure 2008 -Glory Days-.

Further music careers as a band and solo works (2009–present)

Following their massive tour in 2008, B'z returned to the studio to record new material. Their first release of the year was a Double A-side single, "Ichibu to Zenbu/Dive", released on August 5, 2009 that features drummer Chad Smith.[11] The non full-track ringtone downloads (Chaku Uta) of "Ichibu to Zenbu" began on July 13, 2009, and the full-track ringtone downloads (Chaku Uta Full) of the song also began on August 26, 2009.[12] For its strong download sales in August and September on Recochoku, the song served the "Monthly Recochoku Award, Best Song Award Grand Prix" for Chaku Uta and Chaku Uta Full each for two consecutive months.[13] On October 13, 2009, KDDI also announced that "Ichibu to Zenbu" was awarded the "Utatomo Award" of September 2009 for the sales on "Utatomo" via au's LISMO.[14] The second release was the single "My Lonely Town". The physical CD of the single was released on October 14, 2009.[15] Both singles are featured in the band's next studio album, entitled Magic, released on November 18, 2009.[16] On December 10, 2009, it was announced that their song "Ichibu to Zenbu" won the "Billboard Japan Hot 100 of the Year 2009" award.[17]

After the "B'z Live-Gym 2010 "Ain't No Magic" Tour", they began their solo activities each and did not release any single as a duo in 2010. Matsumoto released the album Take Your Pick with Larry Carlton on June 2, 2010. Inaba's solo studio album Hadou was also released on August 18, 2010, debuting at number one on the Oricon album charts. Take Your Pick won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards on February 13, 2011.[18]

In 2011, they came back as B'z with the forty-eighth single "Sayonara Kizu Darake no Hibi yo", which is written and used as a commercial song for Pepsi NEX. They have released their eighteenth studio album C'mon on July 27, 2011, which featured forty-ninth single "Don't Wanna Lie". "Don't Wanna Lie" is the theme song used for Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence. In summer 2011, B'z will continue their live-gym tour with additional stops in North America: Vancouver, San Francisco and Los Angeles.[19] A Fall 2012 North American tour has been confirmed for San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Silver Spring, New York City, and Los Angeles.[20] The B'z shared their first English language songs with American audiences on their North American tour. Matsumoto explained, "This will be our fourth U.S. tour. We love playing for American audiences, and are excited to share our first English-language release with our fans."[21]

In anticipation of their upcoming American tour, the band released a five-song mini-album featuring re-recorded English versions of various hits such as "Juice", "Ultra Soul" and "Splash." The album is available internationally through the iTunes Store, and was released on July 25, 2012.

At the beginning of November 2012, rumors[22] stated that the band would prepare a 25th anniversary tour, release a new album and release a new video. Then, on November 21, 2012 on the official website, on the eve of their 25th anniversary, they announced three new home videos of unreleased live material and which are B’z LIVE-GYM 2008 -ACTION-, B’z LIVE-GYM 2005 -CIRCLE OF ROCK- and B'z LIVE-GYM 2001 -ELEVEN- announced for Jan. 30, Feb. 27 and March 27, 2013 respectively.

The group was the third artist by total sales revenue in Japan in 2013, ¥5.379 billion.[23]

Discography

Studio albums

Other appearances

Live-Gym (concert tours)

B'z songs recorded by other musicians

Songs done as remakes by B'z

See also

References

  1. ↑ B'z reviews, music, news - sputnikmusic・2015年7月22日閲覧。
  2. ↑ 佐伯明『B'z ウルトラクロニクル』ソニー・マガジンズ、2003年。ISBN 4-7897-2101-9
  3. ↑ 新型光「B'zはなぜこれほど売れるのか ちょっと真面目に考えてみた Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.」 R25、2005年12月15日。（参照：2007年5月1日。）
  4. ↑ "Countries with the biggest music industry in the world". Muse Africa. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  5. ↑ "Joshua Ray (Josh Gooch)". Yamaha Corporation. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  6. ↑ "B'z got their 22nd No. 1 album, ranked No.1 in history and dominates all the 6 main ranking sections." (in Japanese). Oricon. 2008-06-24. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  7. ↑ "Top 100 Japanese pops Artists – No.30". HMV Online (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-01-15.
  8. ↑ "Duo B'z enters L.A. Rockwalk". The Japan Times. 2007-11-21. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  9. ↑ "B'z、歴代No.1アーティストまでの軌跡！" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2006-05-25. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  10. ↑ ミスチル、シングル＆アルバム総売上枚数5000万枚突破！ (in Japanese). Oricon. 2007-03-19. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  11. ↑ ""Ichibutozenbu/DIVE" Announced". OffTheLock. 2009-06-17. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  12. ↑ "B'z、月9主題歌がわずか6日間で月間1位に (The "Monday 9" theme by B'z ranked at No. 1 on the monthly charts with only six days sales)" (in Japanese). Livedoor. 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  13. ↑ "レコチョクアワード月間最優秀楽曲賞2009年9月度を発表!～B'zの月9主題歌、2ヶ月連続「着うた(R)」「着うたフル(R)」制覇～" (in Japanese). Excite News. 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  14. ↑ "EZ「着うたフル®」9月によく聴かれた曲ランキング、「うたとも®Award」を発表" (in Japanese). KDDI. 2009-10-13. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  15. ↑ My Lonely Town at cdjapan.co.jp
  16. ↑ Magic at cdjapan.co.jp
  17. ↑ ビルボード・ジャパン・ミュージック・アワード2009　チャート9部門各賞決定!! (in Japanese). 47 News. 2009-12-10. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
  18. ↑ "B'z Matsumoto bags pop Grammy". The Japan Times. 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  19. ↑ "B'z will tour North America this summer". Asia Pacific Arts. 2011-04-28.
  20. ↑ "B'z Official Website Live Schedule". VERMILLION RECORDS, Inc. 2012-04-22.
  21. ↑ "B’z at Best Buy Theater". New York Music News. 2012-10-01.
  22. ↑ "Recent B’z Rumors: LIVE-GYM 2013, New Album & More". 2012-11-10.
  23. ↑ "Oricon 2013 Yearly Charts : Artist Total Sales". tokyohive. 6Theory Media, LLC. December 16, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  24. ↑ "【NEWS】B'zが『ときめきメモリアルGirl's Side』に楽曲を提供！" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2002-05-21. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
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