''Tusk of Jaguar'' is the debut solo studio album by Japanese guitarist

Akira Takasaki is a Japanese musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and sole constant member of the heavy metal band Loudness. He is also the guitarist of the band Lazy, with which he first rose to prominence in the 1970s. Career He started his ...

, renowned for his contributions to the rock bands

Loudness In acoustics, loudness is the subjectivity, subjective perception of sound pressure. More formally, it is defined as the "attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending from quiet to loud". The relat ...

and Lazy. Initially released in 1982 exclusively in Japan, it was reissued in 2005. The album represents a collaborative effort between Takasaki and keyboard player Masanori Sasaji, who composed three tracks and played a crucial role in arranging and co-producing the recording. A large contribution was given to the album by Takasaki's bandmates in

, who play on most tracks and collaborated on the musical arrangements. However, the music of ''Tusk of Jaguar'' is much more varied than in any Loudness' album, with its music ranging from

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

, reminiscing of some

Dixie Dregs Dixie Dregs is an American rock band from Augusta, Georgia. Formed in 1970, the band is known for instrumental music that fuses elements of rock, classical music, country music, country, jazz and bluegrass music, bluegrass into an eclectic sou ...

' and

Al Di Meola Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his work in jazz fusion and world music, his breakthrough came after joining Chick Corea's Return to Forever group in 1974. He launched, from 1976 afterwards, a s ...

's works. The precise and fast guitar playing by Takasaki is anyway always present in every track, and he even takes the lead vocal spot in the song "Ebony Eyes".

Track listing

;Side one #"Tusk of Jaguar" ''(

)'' - 3:54 #"Steal Away" ''(Masanori Sasaji, Milky Way)'' - 6:13 #"Macula (Far from Mother Land)" ''(Takasaki)'' - 4:46 #"Ebony Eyes" ''(Takasaki, Milky Way)'' - 5:31 ;Side two #"Wild Boogie Run" ''(Sasaji)'' - 3:17 #"Gunshots" ''(Takasaki)'' - 3:07 #"Mid-Day Hunter" ''(Sasaji)'' - 4:28 #"Show Me Something Good" ''(Takasaki, Milky Way)'' - 4:59 #"Say What?" ''(Takasaki, Milky Way)'' - 3:44

Personnel

Musicians

- electric and acoustic guitars, lead vocals on track 4, backing vocals, producer *Masanori Sasaji - keyboards and synthesizers, producer *

Minoru Niihara is a Japanese singer. He is the original and current lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Loudness. His first band was Earthshaker, in which he played bass and sang. His vocal style was influenced by blues singers, but he adapted quickly ...

- lead vocals on tracks 2 and 8, backing vocals *

Masayoshi Yamashita is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in 1981 by guitarist Akira Takasaki and drummer Munetaka Higuchi. They were the first Japanese metal act signed to a major label in the United States. Loudness subsequently released twenty-six studio album ...

- bass on tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, backing vocals *

Munetaka Higuchi (December 24, 1958 – November 30, 2008) was a Japanese musician and record producer. He is best known as the original drummer of the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Loudness (band), Loudness, but first rose to prominence as a member of La ...

- drums on tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 *Takayuki Hijikata - bass on track 2 *Reuben Tsujino - drums on track 2 *Kazuhisa Takahashi - drums on track 4 *Poker Face - strings on track 5 *Toshihiro Nakanishi - electric violin on track 5 *Milky Way - backing vocals

Production

*Daiko Nagato - producer *Seigen Ono - engineer, mixing

References

{{Authority control 1982 debut albums Akira Takasaki albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Daiko Nagato