"Storm" is the ninth single by Japanese rock band

Luna Sea Luna Sea (stylized as LUNA SEA) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1986. Due to the use of makeup and costumes early in their career and their widespread popularity, they are considered one of the most successf ...

, released by

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

on April 15, 1998. Their first release after switching record labels from

MCA Victor MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other r ...

, "Storm" became the band's fourth number 1 single on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

. It was certified Platinum by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include prom ...

and was the 29th best-selling single of the year with 720,370 copies sold, which makes it the band's best-selling single. It was used as the April 1998 theme song for

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

's music television show ''Pop Jam''.

Composition

Guitarist

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 ...

cited "Storm" as one of the songs he tried to replicate the "

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

feel of

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

bands" by using effects, "like playing fast with a

wah-wah pedal A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of effects pedal designed for electric guitar that alters the timbre of the input signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The peda ...

, or using tape-echo and

harmonizer Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval ( transposition) are known as pitch shifters. Pitch and t ...

s. I couldn't figure out how they did it, so I just made it into my own thing." He used a 1956

Gibson Les Paul Custom The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952. History The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body, a ma ...

to record the song.

Reception

"Storm" was Luna Sea's fourth number 1 single on the

and charted for 10 weeks. It was certified Platinum in April 1998 by the

for sales over 400,000. "Storm" was the 29th best-selling single of the year with 720,370 copies sold, making it the band's best-selling single. The song's music video was nominated for the International Viewer's Choice - Japan award at the

1998 MTV Video Music Awards The 1998 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 10, 1998, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1997, to June 12, 1998. The show was hosted by Ben Stiller at Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Madonna was the most successful winn ...

Track listing

All tracks written and arranged by

Personnel

;Luna Sea * Ryuichi – vocals *

– guitar, violin *

Inoran , better known exclusively by his stage name Inoran, is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Luna Sea since 1986. He started his solo career in 1997. Luna Sea disba ...

– guitar * J – bass * Shinya – drums, percussion ;Production: * Hitoshi Hiruma – recording and mixing * Yasuji Maeda – mastering

Cover version

The song was covered by pop singer

Nami Tamaki is a Japanese singer. As a teenager under the Sony Music Japan label, she had four top-ten albums, two of which reached number one. Her singles were used as theme songs for animated shows such as '' Mobile Suit Gundam Seed'', '' Gundam Seed De ...

on 2007's '' Luna Sea Memorial Cover Album -Re:birth-''. It was also covered by Lolita23q on the compilation ''Crush! -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-'', which was released on January 26, 2011 and features current

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 " ...

bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement.

References

{{Authority control Luna Sea songs Oricon Weekly number-one singles 1998 singles 1998 songs Universal Music Group singles