X Japan - Art of Life [1993]

So, what was the logical next move for a band slowly devolving into commercial tendencies? Apparently, they thought that coming out with a 29-minute song that would limit marketablilty and eradicate the chance of a popular single would be the way to go. Against all odds, the "album," Art of Life, was both a commercial success in Japan and a high quality piece of material. Unlike the American bands who seemed to degrade even further, X Japan realized that popular metal was dead and just decided to do this ambitious escapade on a whim. It certainly isn't the most accessable thing in the world; in fact, I'd say it's one of the hardest things to listen to while still managing to be so good, a factor influenced not only by its length, but also a couple of parts that make it a bumpier ride than it needs to be. It's a flawed masterpiece.

The structure is somewhat like (Edge of Sanity's) Crimson, if Crimson was shorter, had fewer choruses to repeat, and had a little less thought to it's composition. The song begins slowly with a balladic introduction. Although this is one of the few efforts on which the heavier parts outstage the balladry, the intro is rather nice. The first two things to notice are the pristine production and how good Toshi sounds this time around. He's sings extremely clean all the time here, and shows off how good his pure voice is. Once the guitar kicks in, we're introduced to the what the bulk of the song is made up of. All of the metal parts plain kill. If they dropped about ten minutes from Art of Life, we'd be left with one of the finest, most epic speed/power metal songs in history. The riffs are fire-powered, Toshi's singing his ass off, and when one of the finest choruses ever written comes, time seems to stand still.

"Through my eyes
Time goes by like tears
My emotion's losing the color of life
Kill my heart
Release all my pain
I'm shouting out loud
Insanity takes hold over me"

A spoken sample seems to separate the different parts from the first half, providing some of the darkest lyrical themes. This is a concept album, but it's more of an idea than it is an actual story. Things slow down for a magical postchorus, and it doesn't stop here. We get about eight more minutes of progressive metal wonder, a couple repeated parts for added enjoyment, and some nice orchestral elements before all fades but two pianos. For any fan of X Japan, this isn't a cause for concern, as some of their finest work has been accompanied by piano. All's well until about the eighteen minute mark, when a two minute chaotic cacophany of keys drowns everything and punctures your previously comfortable eardrums. I couldn't imagine a worse way to harsh a mood.  Luckily, the actual song reprises for the last six minutes and we get to hear the end of that awesome speed metal song again. I don't know why they ever left it.

You've no doubt noticed that I've been strongly hesitant to call Art of Life an album, and that's probably its biggest obstacle. It feels more like a really long song than an actual full-length. Granted, it's a brilliant really long song, but that doesn't change what it is. It's no Crimson, but you know what? This came before Crimson. It was the longest song ever in metal at the time, so it has to gain some style points just for ambition and originality. Some parts could be tightened up (especially the vile piano "solo"), but you get what you get, and we still got a wealth of superb songwriting with this release. This is just the slightly violent calm before the storm.

   Overall: 8/10 (Great)