is the second single by Japanese heavy metal 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 ...

, then named X, released on April 10, 1986.

Background and release

"Orgasm" was the first release by drummer Yoshiki's own record label

Extasy Records Extasy Records is a Japanese record label founded in April 1986 by Yoshiki Hayashi, co-founder of the heavy metal band X Japan. The label's first release was X's 1986 single "Orgasm". Over the next few years, the label signed several then-li ...

. Unusually, the band's name, X, is written on the cover in Japanese as . All 1,500 copies sold out, and in his biography Yoshiki says an additional pressing of 2,500 copies was scheduled, but was cancelled as guitarist Jun and bassist Hikaru had left the band. The song is notoriously known for the obvious sexual themes presented within the lyrics. Of particular notice is the fact that the track begins with heavy panting and ends with explosions, seemingly to emulate sexual climax. The title track as well as the self-titled "X" would later be re-recorded for the band's 1989 second album '' Blue Blood''. While Yoshiki is credited with the lyrics and music for both these songs on the single, the ''Blue Blood'' recordings credit his alias "Hitomi Shiratori" for their lyrics instead.

Legacy

"X" has become a signature song of X Japan, being performed at nearly all of their concerts. Numerous times during a pause in a performance of the track a band member, usually vocalist Toshi, will yell "We are..." and the audience responds with "X!" before the musicians start the last leg of the song. This was used as the title to the 2016 documentary film about the group, ''

We Are X ''We Are X'' is a 2016 documentary film about the Japanese Rock music, rock band X Japan and its co-founder, drummer, pianist and leader Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki. Directed by Stephen Kijak, it premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on J ...

''. On November 21, 1993,

SME Records , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

released , a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

based on the manga series '' X'' by Clamp and set to X Japan's music. It features a

slideshow A slide show, or slideshow, is a presentation of a series of still images ( slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may be ...

of the manga's artwork set to a medley of X Japan's " Silent Jealousy", " Kurenai" and " Endless Rain" and a music video for the song "X" directed by Shigeyuki Hayashi. Inzargi, vocalist of

Megamasso was a Japanese visual kei rock band. Their sound was lively and upbeat, with a unique mix of punk, piano ballads and pop rock. Formerly signed to NXSIE Records, they are now connected to Avex Group's HPQ label. Since the release of "SWAN SONG", ...

, covered "X" for his 2012 cover album.

Track listing

Personnel

* Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

Yoshiki Hayashi , known as Yoshiki, is a Japanese musician, songwriter, composer, record producer, film director, and fashion designer. He is best known as the leader of the visual kei rock bands X Japan and the Last Rockstars, for which he is the drummer, pian ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Hisashi "Jun" Takai –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Hikaru Utaka –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

* Engineer – Hiroshi Kuramochi * Photo – Yuka Momats, Hide Igarashi :Personnel per "Orgasm"

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

."Orgasm" liner notes, 1986-04-10. Retrieved 2013-03-02.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orgasm (Song) 1986 singles X Japan songs Songs written by Yoshiki (musician) Songs in Japanese