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Hide – Dice Lyrics

20 years ago

"Dice" is the essence of hide's cumulative works for me. I wish I had a copy of the lyrics translated or had the time to do it myself, but even without that knowledge it's a heavy-hitter. The chords are so tight, the vocals curt and aggressive, and the guitar solo proudly bears hide's signature style--if toned down a bit for atmosphere. "Once and for all, Dice away..." Is this a song about life? About the gambles and the chances that we all take? That's what the feel of the song is to me, even if the lyrics end up being a complete 180 from that perspective.

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Billy Idol – All Summer Single Lyrics	20 years ago
I never paid much attention to the lyrics, but Steve's solo at the middle of this song is just amazing. So ethereal, so sexy and rich and colorful... That's why this song sticks out for me: not because of Billy, but because of Steve.

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Billy Idol – Worlds Forgotten Boy Lyrics	20 years ago
How can no one else have reviewed this song yet? I personally think it's Billy Idol's best, hands down! There's so much angst and energy, Steve's guitars are just blazing, and the lyrics are vivid and yet just dark enough to keep that moody atmosphere... "Worlds Forgotten Boy": The peniultimate of early-80s punk rock.

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Fall Out Boy – Dance, Dance Lyrics	20 years ago
Who ever said the word "hate"? This is a public forum where many opinions collide, often dramatically. Turkishreno187 and watchmedie85 most certainly have a lack of decorum for the different musical philosophies that revolve so freely within our media-aware world. I'm just sorry that they cannot defend their own, personal feelings about this band with more respect for themselves and others.

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X Japan – Scars Lyrics

20 years ago

This is where I'll say it: I prefer Pata's guitars to hide's. And this song, really, is why I say that. They were both such necessary components to X Japan, and the band wouldn't have become nearly so infamous without either of them, yet while hide almost ALWAYS got the spotlight for his goofiness and charisma onstage, that does NOT mean that the more-retiring Pata was a lesser musician. And "Scars" just happens to be the song that made that point very clear to me one day. During the last refrain, he just goes wild--and yet is still so controlled. Am I the only person who can hear that?

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X Japan – Rusty Nail Lyrics

20 years ago

To me, "Rusty Nail" has such an 80s-rock feel to it, and for that alone it brings up memories of a happier, more innocent life filled with big hair and great guitars. But considering the fact that "Rusty Nail" just *happens* to be an X JAPAN song, well--let's just say things invariably pool a bit deeper than that. I looked up the translated lyrics a long time ago, and I'm sorry to say that I have forgotten the gist of them between then and now. Yet while X Japan's music almost always has that hidden edge, that sorrow and pain, I can't help but think that "Rusty Nail" really IS a happy song. There's just something so free about it, there are no constraints... You can hear the longing in Toshi's voice when he sings that last "wasurenarenakute" (don't yell at me for my questionable transliteration), but even so, that final plea/hope/desire is not without its silver lining. Maybe I'm rambling uneducated nonsense at this point, but I really don't care. I love this song. It's one of the X Japan greats that keeps me such a loyal fan.

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Roxette – Jefferson Lyrics

20 years ago

This is perhaps THE MOST ADDICTIVE Roxette song EVER. I can't tell you how many times I've put the CD on repeat for this one. Per's vocals are just so darling, and of course Marie is great during the chorus. I'm really not too sure what the song is supposed to be about--it's kind of cryptic and almost morbid to me at some points. But the beat is fun and the computer-generated slides more than appropriate for such a weird, contagious song from Roxette's latest album.

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Pat Benatar – Heartbreaker Lyrics

20 years ago

Pat Benatar is THE best Voice in female rock, in my humble opinion, and she could teach quite a few modern performers a thing or two. "Heartbreaker" was her first big hit, a song originally written by someone in Scandanavia or some such place and reworked for her blossoming image over here in the States. Pat's vocals just soar across the music; they are so powerful. I wish I had an *eight octave* range...

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Stevie Nicks – Edge of Seventeen Lyrics

20 years ago

"Wow." That's all I have to say about this song. Stevie has such a voice for this piece; I think the style of the song suits her more than any other she's ever performed. Such raw power and female strength is captured in her vocals, it's almost unreal... I feel so happy on those days I feel I can match her, tone for tone. I honestly don't know what the song's really meant to be about, but that almost doesn't matter when her words are twisting around me. She's just SUCH an amazing artist.

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Scorpions – Still Loving You Lyrics	20 years ago
"Still Loving You" is such a moving, beautiful ballad. Klaus puts so much emotion into the lyrics... I think this is in my top five favorite Scorpions songs, if only for the fact that I think I can hear my heart break when that Voice twists its crooning pathos from my stereo speakers...

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Scorpions – No One Like You Lyrics	20 years ago
Oops. I am such a goober... I was thinking of "Still Loving You" when I posted my previous commentary. "No One Like You" is an awesome song, too, and although I actually often see those songs as two sides of the same coin, I still think "SLY" is my favorite of the two. But they're both such strong pieces, so vibrant--those songs are prime examples of why Scorpions are as great as they are.

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X Japan – X Lyrics

20 years ago

Truly X JAPAN's self-declared "anthem"--I can't help but think it sounded best during Yoshiki's Extasy Summit when Luna Sea was playing onstage along with them. Sugizo handled hide's solo so well, and the two of them were just amazing (and adorable!) goofing around together at the crescendo conclusion! And then with Yoshiki running out with the guitar in his red prince's coat... They just don't have rock like this anymore. And they don't write metal like this anymore. Enough said.

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Scorpions – No One Like You Lyrics	20 years ago
I just adore this song. It has so much emotion, so much feeling... The guitars are just amazing, and I can almost pretend Klaus is singing for me! :) I don't understand how so many people can't appreciate the talent that the Scorpions were in the 70s/80s--and still are today.

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Nightwish – Wish I Had an Angel Lyrics

20 years ago

My friend has this album. They listen to it a lot, and he and I get into a lot of "discussions" over this song in particular. First of all, he just loves it, which is great: I honestly respect that. People have different tastes in terms of music, just like anything else. But when he tries to pass this song off as METAL, then I get upset. Nightwish is heavy Prog. Rock--other people have said it before, I'll say it again. I think the Clearasil Generation has made a big deal out of this song without realizing all the ground-breaking talents that came before it. On its own, maybe it's an engaging listen once or twice, but don't try to pass it off as the peniultimate of musical talent. It's just not there. The power chords are overused, and for a song that's "metal", what's up with the solo (or the lack thereof)? Besides, the two vocalists absolutely are at odds with each other without ever meeting at some appealing junction. Honestly, I don't mean to offend anyone by saying this, but "Wish I Had an Angel" really doesn't rank very high in terms of originality or outshining talent from my personal perspective.

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Fall Out Boy – Dance, Dance Lyrics

20 years ago

I know someone who bought the album this song appears on and plays it all the time in his car. I find myself often stuck riding with him and listening to it. So let me just say this: While the lyrics are interesting and have a certain mellifluous cadence to them, the music strikes me as nothing more than auto-tuned polish with negligible original talent. Fallout Boy, generally speaking, reminds me of Savage Garden reworked with guitars for the millennium generation. Nothing new here, nothing remarkable, just overly-distorted fluff that pleases the masses. I don't mean to offend anyone with this commentary, but considering this is an open forum, I just thought I'd add my two cents' worth.

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Luna Sea – I For You Lyrics	20 years ago
The first LS song I ever heard, and I think the most "ballad-ish" of all their cumulative works. "I for You" is very moving, and Ryuichi's vocals are exceptionally heartfelt, but--always more of a Sugizo fan--I must make mention that his lead guitar makes me cry inside during the solo. Very nice orchestration at the end, as well. Almost something that Yoshiki might have arranged.

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Luna Sea – Tonight Lyrics

20 years ago

This song is on speed! I don't recall if this was Luna Sea's last single or not (it was probably "Love Song", now that I'm thinking about it), but it certainly would have been a memorable way with which to exit the stage! High octane and with a seizure-inducing PV to match it, "Tonight" is a frenetic piece that pits Sugizo and Inoran against Shinya's drumming and has their guitars go wild! I really enjoy this one when I need an audio-injected pick-me-up.

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L'arc-en-ciel – Driver's High Lyrics

20 years ago

Uhm... I must admit, I've never liked this Laruku song very much. It just seems to lack the color and pizzazz that makes so many of their other pieces so memorable! Maybe it's because Hyde's voice just seems a little nasal for this one, and Ken's guitar kind of whiny--I don't know. I'm really more inclined to pop in "Shutting From the Sky", "Dive to Blue", or the more modern "Spirit Dreams Inside". "Driver's High" just doesn't give me that same 'high', unfortunately...

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L'arc-en-ciel – Dive To Blue Lyrics

20 years ago

This is the first Laruku song I ever heard; I downloaded the PV and was thrilled into giggles to see that the guy who was contemplating jumping off the building looked almost exactly like my brother! :) But, as for "Dive to Blue" itself, I think it was a great intro into the world of L'Arc-en-Ciel. Fun, bubbly, but always with that hidden edge, it showcases the guys at some of their best and is a terribly addictive listen to boot! I do enjoy a lot of Laruku's earlier works, and their modern songs are still catchy as well as moving, but "Dive to Blue" will always have a special place in my heart. (And how sweet to realize, at the end of the music video, that pretty Hyde and the others are there to "catch" that unnamed young man and save him, just like the falling cat!)

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Hide – Pink Spider (Feat. Spread Beaver) Lyrics

20 years ago

Freedom1, I have to say that I am in agreement with a lot of what you said about hide, especially considering that--yes--hide is the Pinkuu Supaiida in his song. My understanding of the translated lyrics is this: The Pink Spider asks the butterfly how he can leave his web, because he feels so trapped in his world, and the butterfly replies that he must find wings if he wants to fly away. In return, the spider asks the butterfly for wings/states that he wants to kill the butterfly for his wings. He explains that everything comes to him while he is master of his web (inferred, I suppose, food and such) and yet, even the god of his domain, he is lonely and wants his freedom. I'm sorry, I don't recall the rest; it was a long time ago that I researched this song. But to me, considering that hide was very literally on top of Japan when he died--the charismatic lead guitarist of X JAPAN as well as an adored solo performer--he as the Pink Spider most certainly had everything available to him, right in the palm of his hand. But was he truly happy with that life? Did he really wish to be free, seeing it all as nothing in comparison to some secret desire that he saw as unreachable? A spider without wings cannot fly. Considering the turn of his solo endeavors ("Hurry Go Round", "Good Bye", etc.), it makes you wonder if--even if his shocking death was basically unintentional at the time--the Pink Spider had determined to find some "wings" at some future point with which to fly away from everything and become freed, finally, permanently, from his gaudy web.

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X Japan – Dahlia Lyrics

20 years ago

X JAPAN's last studio album certainly kicks off with a bang with this one! And yet "Dahlia" is vaguely more modern of composition, more industrial and almost 'grungy', in comparison to the likes of classically-styled "Silent Jealousy" or the infamous "Kurenai". Still, Yoshiki's talent is blinding in that he never allows himself or his bandmates to fall into anything even remotely similar to the over-used power chords, unnecessarily distorted guitar fuzz, or repetitive stanzas that have made the offerings of the modern American music industry so boring and uninspired. (And, yes, I mean EMO as well as GRUNGE!) Anyway. "Dahlia" is hard-hitting, but even so it's not quite the X JAPAN speed metal that we've all become so familiar with--it's more experimental. I particularly enjoy the guitars at the conclusion, and Pata's fingerwork that he churns out there. But who else notices that Yoshiki spells out the name 'Dahlia' nearly twice during his spiritual voice-over? This is such a sad, beautiful song, with so much longing--how could I NOT name my beloved dog after it? :)

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X Japan – Silent Jealousy Lyrics

20 years ago

Why has no one else commented on this beautifully pained piece yet? "Silent Jealousy" is an exquisite segue from "Piano String en Es Der" (Eng. title) that opens the "Jealousy" album. The piano is absolutely breathtaking and so well married with those twin guitars in the solo... I must maintain that Yoshiki is perhaps the most brilliant of all the modern-day music composers, and "Silent Jealousy" is a prime example of his intolerable genius trapped and contained within a single song.

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Steeleye Span – A Calling-On Song Lyrics	20 years ago
What a great opening for "Hark! The Village Wait"! A traditional piece sung a cappella by Steeleye Span that, in particular, really showcases Maddy and Gay's exceptional voices. I can't help but sing this one aloud, with or without the companionship of the album, whenever I'm cleaning the house and can really let go.

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Scorpions – Big City Nights Lyrics	20 years ago
This is the song that made me a Scorpions fan. "Rock You Like a Hurricane" might get more airplay, but "Big City Nights" by far is more engaging and addictive. Great lyrics/vocals, great guitars, great everything--and inspired by Tokyo at dawn, no less! What a great, hard-rockin' song!

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Luna Sea – Sweetest Coma Again (feat. DJ KRUSH) Lyrics

20 years ago

Who knew that Sugizo's tribute to James Bond would turn out to be such a cool, modern rock song? Aggressive, decisive, and sexy in that way that only he could craft, Sugizo really outdid himself with "SCA". So different from the likes of "Rosier" or "Genesis of Mind ~ Yume no Kanata e", this last of the LUNA SEA greats helped their final album to come full circle and confirm the legacy of their joint careers.

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Luna Sea – Rosier Lyrics	20 years ago
The peniultimate LUNA SEA song. "Rosier" is raw, dark, gothic, and beautiful. I don't think the band would have become half as famous (or infamous) without adding this piece to their cumulative portfolio. J won my grudging respect as a songwriter with this one, and during that solo Sugizo's guitar just wails...

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X Japan – Tears Lyrics	20 years ago
I ALWAYS cry when I listen to "Tears". It's just one of those ballads that transcends every emotion and captures the spirit as well as the body with perfect sadness and energy. Toshi's English is exceptionally good in this piece and captures the pathos of the lyrics unexpectedly well. Yoshiki's pain over losing his father must still be so great... I'm so sorry.

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X Japan – Kurenai Lyrics

20 years ago

This is the first X JAPAN song I ever heard, and it's the song that made me a loyal fan. Yoshiki is brilliant, and the bandmembers all exceptional talents who work his raging composition into musical existence with aggressive skill and beauty. How can any fan of metal or even just rock in general not love this song? I made my brother an X JAPAN fan when I made him listen to "Kurenai"--and my friend--and my other friend--and my other friend, as well. This song is the unparalleled essence of what makes X JAPAN's music so awesome and encompassing. A total classic.

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X Japan – Art Of Life Lyrics

20 years ago

The war of opinions going on here just begs for more input: "Art of Life" is a masterpiece, a novel of a song, that encompasses all the colors of the rainbow and so much more. I don't believe most people who initially listen to it will realize just how exceptional a composition this is. And--remarking on some of the less "polished" comments posted here--it's easy for a teenager who's exposed to nothing but the power cord repetitiveness and bland mediocrity of emo "rock" to have absolutely NO conceptualization of how perfect a song this is. Granted, some of the emotion is raw, and some of the lyrics can seem a bit jarring without further exploration into their hidden meanings, but "Art of Life" is not only an accomplishment in terms of musical composition, but a juggernaut legacy for each individual member of X JAPAN. And, really, what a firecracker for Heath to start off with in '93 as the newest member of the band! But it is not only Yoshiki who has outdone himself, but hide, Pata, Toshi, and Heath as well. Yes, this is Yoshiki's essence and soul crafted into music, but it could not be without the talent and integrity of the other bandmembers. Truly, I have issue with some of X JAPAN's earlier pieces in terms of content, but never structure or talent; "Art of Life" outshines everything from "Kurenai" to "Dahlia" and is an epic, a legend, an artistic masterpiece that few Westerners will ever hear or even begin to understand. While it may not be for everyone, anyone who says that this song lacks talent or appeal is either lying to themselves or completely ignorant of music and the structure of classical composition.

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X Japan – White Poem I Lyrics

20 years ago

This song is so underappreciated. Yoshiki essentially wrote and performed the entirety of this piece himself; if you took Toshi's vocals away, it could just be HIS song. Guitar, programming, piano, bass, the voice-over... everything is Yoshiki bared and beautiful. This song is like petals drifting down to fall upon still waters, creating ripples that are so subtle that the listener barely realizes they are there. Gorgeous, and unexpectedly sexy, I just love this song.

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