Jealousy

Silent Jealousy is the ultimate speed metal song. Bold claim, I know, and all three of you are probably shaking your heads. It's true, damnit! Hear me out:

First of all, the piano intro fits perfectly with the barrage that follows, and the main melody is instantly classic - one of those that sounds like it was revealed rather than written. It's reused in multiple contexts on different instruments, and forms a solid thesis for this seven-minute song. The song's structure is ambitious, but not outright progressive, more like a normal fast song packed to the brim with extras. After that palpable silence, it hardly lets up and feels like it speeds by in three minutes.

The riffs are of the traditional fast 80s sort, not too complex, but 100% memorable and fitting. The transitions between them are natural, almost conversational. Overdubbed harmonies are everywhere, and the bass provides its own counterpoint rather than doubling guitars most of the time. You can really tell the difference with a skilled arranger, especially once the orchestra kicks in. By the end, there's a million things going on, and every note of it contributes to driving that epic chorus home with pinpoint accuracy. All this, and it still retains the badass metal edge it started with.

The vocals are mostly Japanese, obviously, and have a cross between their previous albums' grit and smoother 90s power metal vocals. Toshi is known for being more emotive than your average metal singer, and it's apparent that the song is about some sort of lost love rather than machismo. It works unexpectedly well for this kind of song, and between that and the elegant string sections, you get a metal banger that even carries some emotional weight. It doesn't matter that I don't know the specific words - actually, maybe it helps, metal lyrics are usually an afterthought anyway.

Finally, the technical performances are all awesome. We get a piano solo, a bass solo, a couple of mini drum solos and a harmonized guitar solo, and none of it feels like a tangent or distracts from the hooks.

For all these reasons and more, Silent Jealousy is the perfect speed metal song. It works on every single level, every goddamn note is brilliant, and I really can't imagine any way to improve upon it.

The other songs are ok.

I had sort of laughed this band off as sort of a Japanese rip-off version of Guns 'N' Roses. Jesus Christ, just look at the promo photos of this band. They look like Enuff Z'Nuff from some sort of weird-assed fourth dimension! It was not until years later that I actually gave this band half a chance.

In what I would call X Japan's moment of glory, we are treated to 51 minutes of diversity. This album is what I want to call perfection, but that would be accomplished with the stroke of a single song two years later. This album has everything - speed metal, progressive metal, power metal, symphonic metal, glam metal, pop, and even some classical elements garnished on for good measure. What we get is one diverse album.

After two short classical piano intros, we are treated to what was my first exposure of X, "Silent Jealousy", which is one hot slab of metal. Everything is sharp and clear, unlike some of the muddiness on their previous outing. Yoshiki's drums ring out like a shotgun blast and Hide and Pata both utilize Maiden-influenced harmonies that make up this very intricate piece of music. My only issue, and this occurs throughout the album, is that the only thing Toshi usually sings in English is the choruses. The rest is all in Japanese, which I do not understand too much of. I can always translate the lyrics, but they never fit quite right.

"Miscast" is another great piece of metal. The song has that intensity, it has that groove, but it also has a popper hook with the sing-along choruses. Another track that does this very well is "Desperate Angel", which has that massive hook in the chorus, but the rest of the song is in a heavier mold, albeit with a bluesier tinge in the case of this song.

There are some more experimental moments such as the acoustic ballad "Voiceless Screaming" and "Joker", the first of which was penned by Taiji Sawada. It is a stark difference compared to the heavy material exhibited previously. This is a soft, almost melancholic ballad put in an awkward place to serve as sort of a "cool down". "Joker" on the other hand has a couple of hints of industrial to it, but it is not very recognizable apart from the casual listen.

The final track and what ties this album together in one beautiful package is the power ballad "Say Anything", which is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. It is so beautiful that even a grown man such as myself will pull his lighter out and weep at its sheer power. To really get the full idea, I translated the lyrics to English and figured out what I think this song is about. It is about a relationship crumbling apart and one side or the other will say anything, lies or not, to save the dying relationship. Some lines when translated into English almost make it sound like a suicide note, with lines such as:

Run away from reality, I've been crying in a dream
Frozen time makes me shiver
Building up my tainted memories
Until my sadness vanishes

You say anything, whatever you like to say to me
Say anything, you leave me out of your eyes
You say anything, all I can hear is a voice from within my dream
Say anything, you can dry my every tear

It is a beautiful song with a certain classical feel to some parts. It really makes for a hard listen sometimes, especially if it may evoke certain emotions, as it does for myself.

Overall, this album is a work of brilliance. There is not a bad song on here, only lyrics that I have to translate. The instrumentation is very tightly woven together and other elements such as pianos and orchestras tie it all together to make one very beautiful sonic masterpiece.

X Japan's third full length album is probably their most diversified and yet most accessible record. The band has lost some identity on this record and tries to adapt to a slightly more European or American heavy metal and hard rock sound with tracks like the entertaining and dynamic "Desperate Angels" and the commercial hard rock anthem "Joker" that make me a little bit think of Twisted Sister. These songs would have been two excellent single choices for a market outside of Japan.

On the other side, X Japan deliver once again what they already did on their first two ouputs. We have a couple of solid speed metal tracks like the addicting "Stab Me In The Back" and some emotional but too stereotypical standard ballads such as the overlong filler "Voiceless Screaming". The closing piano and string ballad "Say Anything" adds a more epic and symphonic touch to the sound of the band and does a much better job. This is a very touching track if somewhat cheesy and the band convinces on its classic terrain. The problem is that they can't always keep up with the quality of the band's previous hits and feel a little worn out at some points. A true X Japan fan will still enjoy those songs, though.

There are not too many new things to doscover. The most stunning track is without a doubt the surprising and atmospheric gothic sound collage "Love Replica" that was largely influenced by the unforgettable late guitar player Hide. While the idea is intriguing, the song still feels like an alien filler on the record and sounds somewhat unfinished. It's the same thing for the opening instrumental interlude that finishes in a weird hurry. But X Japan always had strange ideas and it's not the first time that they put experimental and unfinished song excerpts on regular studio records. In comparison to previous experiments, the new ones are rather short and a little bit too tame to truly surprise in the end.

From that point of view, the band mixes new Western sound influences with their classic speed metal tracks and hard rock ballads plus a few weird experiments. This is quite diversified and presents us everything one could like about this band but there is a little glimpse of genius and innovation missing to really make this record shine after all. My final rating seems to be severe as this is without a doubt an enjoyable record but it doesn't have the same uniqueness of the two previous works and feels a little bit directionless.

Jealousy is a somewhat bewildering album. Like its predecessor, Blue Blood, it lies just below the next level of greatness. Being that so much of it is vintage X Japan, it should be a classic of the highest order. Unfortunately, even though it's still a really good release, that's just not the case. I think that has most to do with the intangibles and not the actual material. The album lacks (for the most part) the energy and intensity of its predecessors. I can take things a shade lighter, but that's not really the issue here; it's more of a feeling the band gives off. Every time you think Jealousy is getting on a hot streak, a sour part takes you right out of it. The song "Desperate Angel" certainly doesn't help, either. It's a pathetic glam song that reeks of American money-grubbing, and the only X Japan song I'd dare call bad. Just press skip.

Don't dwell on it, though; the rest of this release is crawling with great tracks. After a cool piano intro, "Silent Jealousy" rocks on with a trademark X opener: speed, a soaring vocal performance from Toshi, and a surgically striking rhythm. Next we get one of the best heavy songs the band has ever done: "Miscast." It's a simple stereo rocker set on destroying everything; and I know I always make a generic comment about how great their choruses are, but words truly can't describe them. What follows up these two brilliant tracks? That abysmal one we discussed earlier. Just take the advice I gave at the end of the previous paragraph. "White Wind from Mr. Martin" follows, which is basically a filler acoustic instrumental. At least it isn't too long.

Now we arrive at the heart of the matter. "Voiceless Screams" is the first of two masterful ballads included on this release. It's strange how all of X Japan's ballads share close similarities but each one ends up sounding so fresh and enjoyable. They don't get old, and I'd swear they have an endless supply of these things. All of a sudden, "Stab Me in the Back" takes a turn for the heavy. The thrashiest song X Japan has ever written, it's also just a fun romp. "Love Replica" is like "Give Me the Pleasure" from Vanishing Vision; a zany instrumental with some spoken word samples underneath. It's an aquired taste, that's for sure, but I like it nonetheless. "Joker" is sort of a lesser track, relying too much on its glam sensibilities. Some quality hooks make it decent overall, though, and it never approaches being bad. X Japan saved the best for last, however. "Say Anything" (great movie, by the way) is a ballad made beautiful by its moving orchestration. This could have been on Dahlia.

The production values have taken a drastic leap forward. There's nothing raw or dry about X Japan's sound here, improving Jealousy's ease of use. I've certainly heard far worse efforts from 80's bands moving into the bleak musical landscape of the nineties (Crimson Glory's Strange and Beautiful from the same year, for example). Jealousy never really disappoints; it just regresses on a very small scale. It's a testament to how stellar your band's discography must be when this is your worst album. My recommendation for Blue Blood still applies: fans of any style of 80's metal can find something to like here, even though it's their least consistent effort. Just chalk it up as a closer victory than we might have liked; it's no blowout, but a win is a win.

(http://metallicfaithimmortal.blogspot.com/)

After the wide success of their first releases, notably Vanishing Vision and Blue Blood, X Japan inaugurated their 90’s spell with a new third full album entitled Jealousy. The production quality of this new album saw a drastic change, as we got this time a well refined clear sound that sounds much better than what we had in their older albums, those that were recorded in the 80’s. Apart from this side, the music itself had also changed, but did it improve in the guise of production? This is something that we will discuss in the following section.

So, the production notched up a level, but the music itself did not! Surprise surprise!! Yes, this time the musicianship failed to improve, but worse, it relatively deteriorated I'm afraid to say. But let’s put you in the broader picture, so I remain fair and square with the band. If you listened to the first albums, you will definitely be disappointed by Jealousy, as simple as that. In the other hand, if this is your first experience with X Japan, then you will probably like it. The deal is real simple, X Japan’s Vanishing Vision and Blue Blood are world class, but this one is simply just your above average heavy metal album.

The sound of music here is relatively softer, less heavy and not particularly attractive. It might even get cheesy and dull at times. The track Desperate Angel describes well the new trend of X Japan. The main chorus in this track is completely boring and the riffs are not something that will hook you up. The album is full of fillers and unnecessary instrumental tracks, like White Wind From Mr. Martin ~Pata's Nap~. There are some acoustic based songs here, notably Voiceless Screaming. The pace of the music is generally, slower than what we had in the previous albums. One of the exceptions is the second track Silent Jealousy, the song that has one great solo, solid riffs and awesome chorus.

Yoshiki’s role has shrunk down drastically on the drums role. I can no longer hear him blasting and performing fast patterns like in the previous albums. Although in Silent Jealousy and relatively in Stab me in the back it sounds like he regained his authority on doing his role. By contrast, he brightly shone playing beautiful piano melodies in the track Say Anything, the best song on this album along with Silent Jealousy. Say Anything is an epic ballad and is quite similar to Endless Rain from Blue Blood. Toshi embellished this great instrumental work with beautiful emotional tone. This song was a nice closure to a relatively upsetting third album.

All in all, X Japan paid the price for releasing world class albums. It’s not easy to stay on top, everyone knows that. This does not mean that this album is terrible, don’t be deceived. The music remains completely acceptable, you will enjoy some tracks definitely. Silent Jealousy and Say Anything for example retain much of the energy blown in the antecedent albums.

Standouts for your pleasure: Silent Jealousy, Say Anything.

Written for Encyclopaedia Metallum 31-03-2011
© Kimiwind

Since no one reviewed this album yet, I decided to review it. I'm very far from a professional reviewer, but I'll do my best.

X Japan's third studio album is very good like the previous two, but not as good for a few reasons.

This album is very different from Vanishing Vision and Blue Blood. The production is a lot better (which is good since the sound quality on Vanishing Vision and Blue Blood was pretty bad) and the music sounds more hard rockish and 90's (which isn't a bad thing at all since its good, but I preferred the more speed metalish sound). The songs on here are mostly very good, but there are some weird songs and that's why I gave the album 85/100. There are two very good ballads on here: Voiceless Screaming and Say Anything. Voiceless Screaming is really one of the best songs on the album because its very, very sad, the vocals sound really melancholic and the guitar riffs are very dark sounding. Say Anything sounds a lot like Endless Rain from the previous album (in sound I mean) and that's a good thing, its a very catchy ballad, its not metal at all, but who cares? Anyway, the best song on here is easily Silent Jealousy which is one of X Japan's best songs. Period. Its the only song on the album that sounds a lot in sound like the songs from the two previous album. Its is very fast, very melodic, very catchy and simply awesome. The other songs, except one weird track (Love Replica) and one useless track (White Wind From Mr. Martin), are also very good, but more hard rock than metal. They sound like a mix of Helloween, early Motley Crue and early Maiden (Iron Maiden and Killers). Desperate Angel, Miscast and Stab Me In The Back are very heavy, but have a few hard rockish parts while Joker is more funny/happy sounding like some of Helloween's songs (Dr. Stein and Rise And Fall) and some of Gamma Ray's songs (Hold Your Ground and Free Time). Overall, all of the songs are very good except the two useless songs that I've mentionned.

Anyway, Jealousy, just like X Japan's entire discography (studio and live albums), is worth checking out. I would recommend the two previous albums(Vanishing Vision and Blue Blood) at first, but any fan of those two should love this album.

Next 'real' studio album, Dahlia, is very good aswell and also very different.