A week or two ago, I took a look at Anthem’s most recent album Nucleus. Despite it’s issues, it was a juggernaut of a record, and finally managed to nab a spot in the European & U.S. Market. The subject of our second trip through Japan, however, did not need such an anchor. The subject of July’s portion actually had a fairly strong foothold in America, and Europe by extension. Over the course of this band’s career, they remarkably released 27 albums, cementing them as a metallic icon of the Land of the Rising Sun. So, get on your coat, rev up your motorcycle, and ride off to read my review of The Birthday Eve.....the first release by Japanese legends Loudness! Let’s begin!
Background
Our story begins in February of 1980. Guitarist Akira Takasaki, bassist Hiroyuki Tanaka and drummer Munetaka Higuchi had split up their Pop Rock band Lazy, with Takasaki in particular being unsatisfied with the musical direction that their previous band was going into, and wanted to test their abilities with something different. The rise of Heavy Metal acts like Bow Wow & Anthem fit the idea of what the guys wanted to do. Sadly, Tanaka soon renounced to be part of the new band, and instead searched for success in the anime soundtrack business with the band Neverland (Which itself was founded by ex-Lazy members). Takasaki decided to recruit his childhood friend Masayoshi Yamashita as the new bass player, and after a few auditions, they found their singer in former Earthshaker member Minoru Niihara.
With the line-up now finalized, Loudness signed to Nippon Columbia and recorded their Japanese-language debut album, The Birthday Eve. Despite the reduced presence of Heavy Metal in the Japanese media at the time and the lack of a single, The Birthday Eve and the concerts to support it were quite successful. The guitar work of Takasaki and the solid musicianship the rest of the other band members soon became a trademark of their work. Loudness, excited by the good sales responses in their home country, produced four studio albums in rapid time, and guitarist Takasaki found the time to start his solo career, releasing the album Tusk of Jaguar, which the other group members played in.
Basic Description
Early 80s classic.
Like I said above, Loudness’s first album predates what Anthem would put out by a little under 4 years, and as such they had a little more breathing room in terms of being able to grow. The Birthday Eve is the ultimate example of a beginning record: full of potential, talented, raw, and most definitely loud. As goofy as Lazy was a few years prior, it did show that the band members were musically inclined. With Loudness, the poppy nature was shed, and they were allowed to bang out some of the finest metal from Japan. Coming in on 40 years old later this year (More on that in a little bit), it still holds up for the most part, and is a great gateway into the land of Japanese Metalwork.
Best Track
While I find virtually every song on The Birthday Eve to be spectacular, my personal favorites have to be the tie between Sexy Woman & Street Woman. While I do find it redundant that both of these tracks are similarly named, they’re also opposite in terms of style. The former tracks almost comes across like a light Motörhead with the mild punk-ness from the guitars & bass, while the later track almost feels like a Doom Metal song due to the pacing. These two diametrically different songs complement each other with their opposites, but in the end are united in how well the instrumentation & vocals are!
Sexy Woman
Street Woman
Worst Track
Right off the bat, let me just say that every song on The Birthday Eve is damn good. From beginning to end, these 8 tracks (10 if you listened to the 2005 re-release) are some of the finest metal that the band would release. The only fault with this record is that it does come across sadly as somewhat dated. Turning 40 years old this November, it is easily a product of it’s time. Now I don’t necessarily have an issue with this since I love that early 80s metal nostalgia, but as time moved on, further advances in production & recording make The Birthday Eve sound old by today’s standard. I will give the production & recording credit in one regard, and that is the fact that it comes across nowhere near as rough as Anthem’s self-titled debut in 1985.
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:
The Birthday Eve
Overall Impression & Rating
The Birthday Eve was definitely an out of the park success for Loudness. Despite it’s nearly 40 years of age, it’s still a great gateway into the band’s career, and by extension many other Japanese bands from that era.
The Birthday Eve gets a 9.5 out of 10.
And that was my review of The Birthday Eve. Loudness hit it out of the park with their first release, and over the course of the 1980s they’d not only conquer their native Japan, but gain a surprising foothold in Europe & even the United States! Now, we must depart for the early 90s, and observe how our boys start that decade off. See you soon!
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