Hot on the heels of a rapturous North American tour last fall that climaxed with a sold out gig at New York’s Roseland Ballroom, X Japan is one step closer to cracking America.

The supergroup, which began recording in the mid-’80s and went on to become one of the most successful in Japanese history, has inked an exclusive three-year North American manufacturing and distribution agreement with EMI Music. The first release will be the track “Jade” on March 15, followed by the band¹s as yet untitled American debut set for a summer 2011 release.
 
“We are so honored to have X Japan as part of the EMI Label Services/Caroline family,” commented EMI Label Services executive VP Mike Harris in a press release issued Thursday. “After the highly successful North American tour last fall, the timing is perfect for the upcoming X Japan release.”
 
Led by the charismatic drummer/pianist Yoshiki (whom this Examiner conducted an exclusive interview with in October), X Japan is currently putting the finishing touches on the disc, the band¹s first new studio album since 1996 and fifth overall. Half of the songs will be culled from some of the band's gold and platinum Japanese singles, while the other half are brand new songs. An estimated 95% of the lyrics are being sung in English by vocalist Toshi.
 
“Some of the songs on this new album were originally written with Japanese lyrics,” Yoshiki explained, “so translating them into English has been challenging. For some reason, English needs more words, so I ended up re-writing many of the lyrics but kept the same message.”
 
Added Yoshiki, “X Japan's music is everything from fast, super-heavy rock to ballads with classical piano—all of those elements are what makes X Japan¹s music. We don't play just one kind of music—we want to take people on a journey.” It’s this kind of journey that’s allowed X Japan to sell out the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome a record-breaking 18 times since 1992.

The X Japan/EMI agreement comes after the band’s U.S. concert debut last August at Lollapalooza followed by their successful seven-date North American barnstorm. As the SF Weekly put it, "All it took was one show to make it very clear why X Japan is such a phenomenon in its homeland." Many of the new album¹s tracks were introduced to Western fans when they were performed on the tour, including "Rusty Nail," "Kurenai," "I.V.," "Born to Be Free," and the album's first single, "Jade."
 
Distribution agreements outside of North America, including Japan, will be announced soon. To support the new album, X Japan plans to tour extensively in 2011.
 
For song teasers for the new album and more X Japan news, visit www.xjapanmusic.com.

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