| Yoshiki Classical | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 27, 2013 | |||
| Genre | Classical | |||
| Length | 40:36 | |||
| Label | X Project, INgrooves, Warner | |||
| Producer | Yoshiki, George Martin | |||
| Yoshiki chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Yoshiki Classical is the third classical studio album by Japanese musician Yoshiki. It was released on August 27, 2013. The album peaked at 21st place on Billboard Top Classical Albums chart. [2]
In 1993, Yoshiki recorded his first classical studio album, Eternal Melody , in London at the studios owned by English record producer Sir George Martin, who produced and co-arranged the album, with the music performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It mostly included orchestral arrangements of songs from his band X Japan.
The second studio album, Eternal Melody II , was recorded in the Los Angeles County, California; in his own Extasy Recording Studio, O'Henry Sound Studios, and Paramount Pictures Scoring Stage M facility. All songs were written and composed by Yoshiki, additionally performed by Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2012, Yoshiki composed the theme song for the 69th Golden Globe Awards, and on January 15, 2013, the theme was officially released through iTunes in 111 countries, with all proceeds being donated to charities chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. [3] After the album release on August 27, 2013, in its celebration, a special live performance was held at the Grammy Museum. [4] [5] [6]
On February 19, Yoshiki's first classical world tour was announced at the Grammy Museum. [7] It began on April 25, 2014, in Costa Mesa, California, and continued in Mexico, Russia, Germany, France, United Kingdom, China, Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan, for a total of 13 shows in 10 countries. [8] [9] Due to scheduling issues, the concert at Toronto, Canada, on May 10 was postponed indefinitely. [9] The tour setup featured Yoshiki on piano, several strings as cellos and viola, and vocalist Katie Fitzgerald from Violet UK. Performances included classical versions of songs composed by Yoshiki and other famous composers such as Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. [10]
Yoshiki Classical contains mostly previously released songs. "Amethyst" was the first orchestral song Yoshiki composed, "Red Christmas" is a song by his musical project Violet UK, while "Seize the Light" is from a group Globe, with whom Yoshiki collaborated in the early 2000s. There are three orchestral arrangements of X Japan's songs "Tears", "Forever Love", and differing on the edition, "Say Anything", or previously unreleased "The Last Song".
It includes "Anniversary", composed and performed at the request of the Japanese government at a celebration in honor of the tenth anniversary of Emperor Akihito's enthronement in 1999. Two theme songs, "I'll Be Your Love", from the World Fair Expo 2005 held in Japan, and of "Golden Globe" awards. Besides that, was included previously unreleased song "Miracle", used since 2010 as the opening intro theme song for the X Japan's concert tours.
The album was first released digitally in North America on August 27, 2013, via iTunes. On September 24, it was released worldwide digitally and in CD format in North America, and was also released on September 25 as a special short digital edition titled "Yoshiki Melodies Classics" in Japan.
On the Oricon charts, it reached number four. On Billboard's Classical Albums chart list reached number eleven, [11] while on Billboard Japan it reached number three at the Top Albums list, and number one (for three consecutive weeks) at the Classical Albums list. On the iTunes Store, it reached number one on the classical charts in ten different countries (Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Finland and Canada). [12] In the United States and Norway it reached number two, number six in Australia, and number ten in France. [12]
All tracks are written by Yoshiki
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Miracle" | 4:52 |
| 2. | "Red Christmas (Classical Version)" | 7:20 |
| 3. | "Seize the Light (Live) [Classical Version]" | 6:32 |
| 4. | "Golden Globe Theme" | 3:49 |
| 5. | "Tears (Classical Version)" | 5:04 |
| 6. | "Anniversary (Theme for the Emperor of Japan 10 Year Anniversary)" | 7:18 |
| 7. | "Forever Love (Classical Version)" | 8:19 |
| 8. | "I'll Be Your Love (Theme for the World Expo Japan) [Classical Version]" | 9:03 |
| 9. | "Amethyst" | 6:20 |
| 10. | "Say Anything (Classical Version)" | 10:09 |
| 11. | "Golden Globe Theme (Quartet Version)" | 3:48 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Miracle" | 4:52 |
| 2. | "Seize the Light (Classical Version)" | 6:32 |
| 3. | "Golden Globe Theme" | 3:49 |
| 4. | "Tears (Classical Version)" | 5:04 |
| 5. | "Red Christmas (Classical Version)" | 7:20 |
| 6. | "Anniversary" | 7:18 |
| 7. | "Forever Love (Classical Version)" | 8:19 |
| 8. | "I'll Be Your Love (Classical Version)" | 9:03 |
| 9. | "Amethyst" | 6:20 |
| 10. | "The Last Song (Classical Version) [Live]" | 8:07 |
| 11. | "Golden Globe Theme (Quartet Version)" | 3:48 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Miracle" | 4:52 |
| 2. | "Golden Globe Theme" | 3:49 |
| 3. | "Tears (Classical Version)" | 5:04 |
| 4. | "Amethyst" | 6:20 |
| 5. | "Say Anything (Classical Version)" | 10:09 |
| 6. | "Golden Globe Theme (Quartet Version)" | 3:48 |
| 7. | "Forever Love (Piano Solo Version)" | 4:36 |
X Japan is a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive sound with an emphasis on ballads. Besides being one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label, the group is widely credited as one of the pioneers of visual kei, a movement among Japanese musicians comparable to Western glam.
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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, pianist, and main songwriter. He has been described by Billboard as a "musical innovator" and named "one of the most influential composers in Japanese history" by Consequence. Yoshiki's solo career includes several classical studio albums and collaborations with artists such as George Martin, Bono, will.i.am, St. Vincent, the Chainsmokers, Skrillex, Ellie Goulding, Stan Lee, Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen, Gene Simmons and KISS, Nicole Scherzinger, and Sarah Brightman.
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