Landmark is the seventh studio album by the Japanese rock band

Asian Kung-Fu Generation (stylized as ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION) is a Japanese alternative rock band formed in Yokohama in 1996. For its entire career, the band has consisted of vocalist Masafumi Gotoh, guitarist Kensuke Kita, bassist Takahiro Yamada, and drummer Kiyo ...

, released on September 12, 2012.

History

In late 2011, Gotoh confirmed in his diary that the band were in the studio recording new songs. In July 2012, shortly after their 2012 Nano-Mugen Festival, the title and release date of the album were announced, along with a 22-show nationwide tour in support of the album. On August 2, Gotoh claimed that the album "is a masterpiece" via Twitter. On August 8, the album art was revealed, credited to Yusuke Nakamura, a long time art collaborator with the band. The track list was also confirmed, revealing that "All Right Part 2" will be the second song to appear on both a Nano-Mugen Compilation and a studio album (the first being "Blackout", which appeared on the first Nano-Mugen Compilation as well as ''

Fanclub A fans club is an organized group of fans, generally of a celebrity. Most fans clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to support them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the p ...

''.) "N2" was previously released on the "

Marching Band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ...

" single as a b-side, similar to three tracks on ''

Surf Bungaku Kamakura is the fifth studio album released by the Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation, released on November 5, 2008. The album peaked at the second position on both the Oricon charts and ''Billboard Japan'' as well as at number eighteen on the ...

''. On August 28, the song "Bicycle Race" was first played on "School of Lock", a segment on a radio station in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. The music video for the song was released on September 7. Two different limited editions of the album were released, with one including an LP version of the album, and the other including a compilation

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

of songs performed at both, a 2011 Nano-Mugen festival concert, and a 2012 Best Hit AKG concert. The album became the band's first original album to be made available for purchase in the United States through the iTunes store, being released on October 17.

Track listing

The track list for the album was confirmed by Gotoh on his diary on August 23, 2012.

Disc 1 (CD - ''Landmark'')

Disc 2 (Limited Edition Live DVD)

* All songs are from the "Best Hit AKG" concert held on February 23, 2012, except for track 8 "All right part2", recorded from the Nano-Mugen 2011 circuit.

Personnel

Masafumi Gotoh (December 2, 1976) is the lead vocalist, main songwriter and rhythm guitarist of the Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Masafumi met fellow band members Kensuke Kita and Takahiro Yamada while attending a music club of Kanto Gakui ...

- vocals, guitar, programming *

Kensuke Kita (January 24, 1977) is the lead guitarist and backing singer of the Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Kensuke met fellow band members Masafumi Gotō and Takahiro Yamada while attending a music club of Kanto Gakuin University. Th ...

- guitar, vocals * Takahiro Yamada - bass, vocals *

Kiyoshi Ijichi (born September 25, 1977) is the drummer of the Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Ijichi credits the origin of his drumming ability to playing in marching bands in junior high. He met fellow band members Masafumi Gotō, Kensuke K ...

- drums, percussion, synthesizer

References

CDJapan
{{Authority control Asian Kung-Fu Generation albums 2012 albums Japanese-language albums Sony Music albums