Drums/Piano:
Yoshiki

Guitar:
Hide

Vocals:
Toshi

Guitar:
Pata

Bass:
Heath

X Japan is the one of the few rock bands in the world that can unquestionably be referred to as legendary. Quite possibly among the last of the larger-than-life rock bands of the 20th century, X Japan practically inspired a whole new generation of Japanese musicians. The most credited as the ones who helped give rise to the visual kei movement in Japanese popular music with their unique use of makeup, multi-coloured gravity-defying hair, outlandish outfits, and dramatic stage antics combined with hard hitting rock and awe inspiring ballads.

Their style could be described as classical metal. They mix highly epic and moving orchestral music with pure heavy metal madness. Many of their songs are beautiful ballads while the other half are heart racing rock anthems. The rest are a combination of both. Such duality in their music is is why even though they're a heavy metal band, they've achieved such widespread success in the mainstream. Still, no matter if the song is slow or hard, every song they play is a production of epic proportions. It's a style not unlike heavy metal of the late 70's and early 80's which all of its members grew up listening to. So even when they started out, their sound was starting to sound a bit retro by North American standards, but still increadible music like this is timeless.

All of the members are great artists in their own right. There's the square-jawed vocalist Toshi who has a somewhat raspy yet harmonious voice. His voice perfectly fit those early heavy metal songs that made X famous.

The pink-haired guitarist Hide who is the lead guitarist is a fan favorite with his fun-filled guitar playing skill and wicked sense of visual style. In my mind he is one of the greatest musical minds in the history of rock music (for more information on hide, check out my hide page).

Pata the rhythmic guitarist is much less flamboyant than the others prefering a more standard American rock style but is nevertheless one of the greats and a match for Hide's skill.

The bassist used to be Taiji who became one of the most revered bass players in Japan. His vision was very different than that of the band and his style was becoming increasingly reminiscent of American bands like Bon Jovi and Guns n' Roses. There came a point where Taiji did not agree with the direction X was heading at all and this caused many problems. I believe a turning point came after he went on hiatus for a few months and soon after left the band.

Heath, the bassist who replaced him, is excellent, but he's not regarded as highly as Taiji was. But that was back in '92 and Heath had been with X for pretty long while. I really believe he had shown his mettle. In all honesty, the bass of X Japan's music has always been rather tame, especially after Taiji. But I think that has more to do with the way most of the rock songs are written with lead guitars in mind and little consideration to bass.

Finally then there's the band leader Yoshiki, the mastermind behind most of their sound. Yoshiki plays a dual role on drums and piano. He's also the main composer of the majority of X Japan songs. He's a man so androgynous and and slender that you'd think he came straight out of a shoujo manga series. He looks frail by his mannerisms and appearance, but can really go into a berserk rage on the drums and alternately play with quiet passion on piano. He's really a melodramatic ham on stage which is an unusal match with Hide's crazy flamboyance. There are very few artists I respect as much as Yoshiki and wouldn't hesitate to call him a genius. He can often be an egomaniac and I don't agree with all of his career choices, but still I have tremendous respect for him as an artist.