"Jade" is a song by Japanese

Visual kei , abbreviated , is a category of Japanese musicians that have a strong focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. Koji Dejima of '' Bounce'' wrote that visual kei is not a specific sound, but rather it " ...

band

X Japan is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with ...

, released on June 28, 2011, in Europe, North and South America, and on July 13 in Japan and Southeast Asia. It is the band's third single since reuniting in 2007 and the second to feature newest member

Sugizo , born and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist of the Rock music, rock band Luna Sea since 1989. Sugizo started his solo ...

on guitar, as well as their first worldwide release.

Background and release

With "Jade", Yoshiki wanted to create a song that would show how X Japan is "evolving", but that still retained "the beautiful melodies and aggressiveness." He stated he felt a lot of pressure when writing it, as the band knew they wanted to expand outside Japan into the Western market. The lyrics are entirely in English, with the exception of a single line. With the song, he wanted to express the pain that he, as well as the band, has experienced, saying, "you should just accept it and be positive about it." Originally set for March 15, 2011, the band decided to postpone the release of "Jade" due to the March 11 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. "Jade" reached number one on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Spain, Sweden and Japan. It reached number 19 on ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

''s

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and Hanshin Contents Link since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thursday ...

. "Jade" was the first single from X Japan's unreleased album. After being unavailable for almost two years, the track is available again on

in most parts of the world.

Music video

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was recorded in January 2010 and was featured on the ''X Japan Showcase in L.A. Premium Prototype'' DVD released that September. Directed by Dean Karr, it was filmed as the band performed on top of the

Kodak Theatre The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and has the sound of the audience added to the audio.

Personnel

X Japan * Toshi – vocals *

– guitar * Pata – guitar *

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

– bass *

Yoshiki Yoshiki is a masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Yoshiki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義樹, "justice, tree" *義基, "justice, foundation" *義機, "justice, opportuni ...

– drums, guitar and orchestration Production * David Campbell – orchestration * Andy Wallace – mixing *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and distri ...

– mastering

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jade (X Japan Song) X Japan songs Songs written by Yoshiki (musician) 2011 singles English-language Japanese songs