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| The 7th Blues | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 2, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1993–1994 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 102:51 | |||
| Label | BMG Rooms/ZEZ | |||
| Producer | Tak Matsumoto | |||
| B'z chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The 7th Blues | ||||
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The 7th Blues is the seventh album released by Japanese hard rock band B'z, released on March 2, 1994.
The 7th Blues was released as a double album in March 1994 after their successful "PLEASURE LIVE-GYM '93 - JAP THE RIPPER" tour. This album was to fully cement B'z evolution from synthesizer-driven pop to mainstream rock. The experimentation is also of note, as it follows the familiar pattern of excess that so frequently comes with most double albums in the rock and roll genre, most notably Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk", although nowhere nearly as wild or juxtaposed as Lindsay Buckingham's studio work on said album.
The First disc contains a more rock style that B'z built their career on. Notable tracks include "LOVE IS DEAD," which is very jazz oriented; "Strings of My Soul", an instrumental song that Tak performed during previous Live-Gyms, and "Akai Kawa", which features a lengthy string and keyboard introduction.
The Second disc bases itself more on blues songs. Notable songs include "Jap the Ripper", a previously unreleased song that was played during the aforementioned tour; "Slave to the Night", a re-recording of "Heart wo Nureru Number" from the band's debut album, comprising new English lyrics with an extended intro; "Lady Navigation", a bluesy acoustic version of the 1991 single with all English lyrics. Rounding out the balance of the album is "Mou Karimakka", a Kansai Blues-inspired track written in Kansai dialect, reflecting Tak's hometown of Osaka.
B'z took the time to experiment with several sounds, and draw upon their influences, including Aerosmith (Kohshi's vocal style is very reminiscent to Steven Tyler in "Don't Leave Me"), The Beatles (heard most directly in "farewell song"), Eric Clapton (The Leslie effected riff for "Queen of Madrid"), Led Zeppelin (most notably in Tak's homage to "Heartbreaker" in the bridge), Jimi Hendrix (intro riff to "SLAVE TO THE NIGHT"), and Van Halen (The intro riff to "JAP THE RIPPER"). Tak's eclectic studio session background, and his musical influences of blues, classical, jazz, pop, and rock are very apparent in the arrangement as well.
The catalog code for this album is BMCR-6601-2.
The logo featured in the middle of the album cover resembles the logo that Aerosmith has been using in their album covers.
The album broke the million copies mark with over 1,049,900 copies sold in its first week and eventually sold over 1,630,450 copies in total.
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Japan (RIAJ) [1] | 4× Platinum | 800,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
B'z is a Japanese rock duo consisting of guitarist, composer and producer Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto and vocalist and lyricist Koshi Inaba, known for their energetic hard rock tracks and pop rock ballads. B'z is one of the best-selling music artists in the world and the best-selling in their native Japan by certifications, having released 49 consecutive No. 1 singles, 25 No. 1 albums, and 3 No. 1 EPs on the Oricon music charts, and have sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
Takahiro Matsumoto is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist and main composer of the rock duo B'z, the best-selling music act in their native Japan by certifications. He also has a successful solo career where, in addition to winning several Japan Gold Disc Awards, he won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album for Take Your Pick (2010), which he made in collaboration with Larry Carlton. Matsumoto is only the fifth guitarist in the world to have his own Gibson signature model guitar.
Eleven is the eleventh studio album by the Japanese rock duo B'z, released on December 6, 2000. The album sold only 756,910 copies in its first week, becoming the first full-length studio album not to sell a million copies in its first week since Risky. However, the album managed to sell over 1,132,180 copies.
Brotherhood is the tenth studio album by the Japanese rock duo B'z, released on July 14, 1999. "Brotherhood" debuted with over 1,019,270 copies sold and sold over 1,391,850 copies. Brotherhood was the first of only two albums released by Rooms Records and distributed by BMG Japan.
Monster is the fifteenth studio album by the Japanese rock duo B'z, released on June 28, 2006. The album sold over 401,000 copies in its first week, an improvement from 2005's "The Circle". In total the album sold over 537,091 copies.
Off The Lock is the second studio album by the Japanese rock duo B'z.
Run is the sixth studio album by Japanese rock band B'z. Run debuted with 1,190,380 copies sold in its first week and over 2,196,660 copies sold in total.
B'z The Best "Pleasure" is the third compilation album by the Japanese rock duo B'z and released in 1998. It includes many of the group's hit singles from 1989 to 1998. With the exception of "Be There" and 'Bad Communication E.Style", all the songs are #1 hits on the Oricon charts.
B'z The Best "Treasure" is the fourth compilation album by the Japanese rock duo B'z. It includes many of their hit singles from 1990 to that date: all 14 songs are #1 hits.
Japanese rock duo B'z has released 22 studio albums, 12 compilation albums, nine extended plays (EP), 62 singles, and 20 live albums. With more than 86 million sales in Japan, the duo is the best-selling artist in Japan and with 100 million sales one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Live Ripper is the second live VHS released by Japanese rock duo B'z, and documents a show during the tour supporting their 1992 album RUN. It was later released on DVD, on March 14, 2001.
B'z The Best "Ultra Pleasure" is a compilation double-album by the Japanese hard rock duo B'z. It was released on June 18, 2008, and it is part of their 20th anniversary celebration. It peaked at #1 at Oricon charts and Billboard Japan Top Albums.
B'z The Best "Ultra Treasure" is a compilation album by the Japanese hard rock duo B'z. It was released on September 17, 2008, and it is part of their 20th anniversary celebration. The album track listing was decided by fans who voted on a poll at the B'z 20th anniversary website. The fans could vote for all but three songs that have ever been released by B'z. "Brotherhood" was voted number one.
Magic is the seventeenth studio album by the Japanese rock duo B'z, released on November 18, 2009. A limited edition was released featuring a bonus DVD with the video "Magical Backstage Tour 2009".
B'z Live-Gym 2010 "Ain't No Magic" at Tokyo Dome is the twentieth live DVD by the Japanese rock duo B'z, released on 28 July 2010. The video sold more than 127,000 copies, peaking at #25 at Oricon.
Epic Day is the nineteenth studio album by the Japanese rock duo B'z. It was released on March 4, 2015, more than 3.5 years after their previous studio effort, C'mon, their longest gap between studio albums. It came after a hiatus in which the members released solo projects, including vocalist/lyricist Koshi Inaba's Singing Bird and guitarist/composer Tak Matsumoto's New Horizon.
enigma is the eleventh solo studio album by Japanese guitarist Tak Matsumoto, of B'z. It is mostly an instrumental album and it was released by Being Inc. on April 27, 2016 in Japan. The album debuted at #4 on the Oricon weekly album chart and at #18 on the Billboard Japan album chart.
Masao Akashi is a Japanese musical arranger in distributors Being Inc., mainly in their label B-Gram Records.
Daria Kawashima, known before as Miki Kawashima, is a Japanese musical composer, singer-songwriter, lyricist under Being Inc. records.
New Love is the twenty-first studio album by the Japanese rock duo B'z. It was released on May 29, 2019, about a year and a half after their previous album Dinosaur. It is the first B'z album to not have an accompanying single, though music videos were produced for "Tsuwamono, Hashiru", "Wolf", and "Majestic".
