Maps of Music

Dahlia (1996)

Where the lyrics of Dahlia take you, and where it was really made.

Dahlia was X Japan's last album before the band broke up, and the last to carry new work by guitarist hide, who died two years later.

Key places

Where Dahlia was recorded (1996)

Recording site One on One Recording Studios — Dahlia was recorded from July 1993 to July 1996 at One on One Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California. Yoshiki had bought the studio in 1992. The studio was later renamed Extasy Recording Studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cover shot on Broadway (1996)

Album cover Broadway — The cover of Dahlia was taken on the street of Broadway in New York City. The point marks the city area, not an exact spot on the street. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Dahlia: fifth studio album by Japanese rock band X Japan
• Released 4 November 1996 by Atlantic Records
• The band's last album before it broke up in 1997
• The last album to feature new work by guitarist hide, who died two years later
• Composed largely of ballads, with only a few tracks keeping the band's heavier sound
• Topped the Oricon chart and sold over half a million copies

Background

• Only a few months after Art of Life (1993), the band began recording and releasing the singles that would appear on Dahlia
• 1994 held few performances as members focused on solo and side projects
• Two consecutive New Year's Eve concerts at Tokyo Dome in 1994, titled Aoi Yoru and Shiroi Yoru
• In late 1995 the band began the Dahlia Tour, and the group dropped most of its visual kei look for a more casual style
• Quite a few tour dates were cancelled after the 13 March show because of Yoshiki's neck injury
• Toshi decided to leave, and the disbandment was announced on 22 September 1997
• Farewell concert The Last Live: Last Night at Tokyo Dome on 31 December 1997

Recording

• Recorded from July 1993 to July 1996 entirely at One on One Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California
• The studio was later renamed Extasy Recording Studios
• Yoshiki bought the studio in 1992
• Most of the album's tracks had already been released as singles

Cover

• The cover was taken on the street of Broadway in New York City

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• X Japan is a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi.
• The group began as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements and later moved toward a progressive sound with an emphasis on ballads.
• The band is widely credited as one of the pioneers of visual kei, a Japanese movement comparable to Western glam.

Members

• Current members are Yoshiki (drums, piano), Toshi (lead vocals), Pata (guitar) and Sugizo (guitar, violin).
• Hide, who died in 1998, and bassist Heath, who died in 2023, are still considered members by the band.

Career

• The band released its debut album Vanishing Vision on Yoshiki's own Extasy Records in 1988 and reached the main Oricon chart as the first independent band to do so.
• Blue Blood (1989) brought breakthrough success, and Jealousy (1991) debuted at number one.
• The group changed its name from X to X Japan in 1992 and disbanded after its Tokyo Dome farewell show in 1997.
• The band reunited in 2007, toured internationally, and released the We Are X soundtrack in 2017.
• The band has sold over 30 million records.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released 4 November 1996 by Atlantic Records
• In the third counting week of November it reached number one on the Oricon chart, selling 429,280 copies in that week and earning platinum certification
• Dahlia was generally positively received by critics
• Alexey Eremenko of AllMusic gave the album three and a half out of five stars
• Eremenko called the album kitschy and sappy but also proof that X Japan split because they were bursting with creativity
• Music journalist Showgun Fuyu described the title track as fusing melodic speed metal with alternative rock
• Fuyu suggested that the title track and the industrial rock of hide's Scars and Drain answered the time's view that metal was outdated

Reappraisal

• Several songs from the record remain mainstays in X Japan's live sets after the band reunited in 2007, including Rusty Nail, Tears, Forever Love and Drain
• Rusty Nail was the theme song of the 1994 TV drama Kimi ga Mienai
• Forever Love was the theme of the 1996 animated film of the Clamp manga X

Records

• Topped the Oricon chart and stayed on the chart for only 15 weeks, the shortest run of the band's major studio albums
• By the end of the counting year it had sold 500,710 copies and was the 50th best-selling album of the year
• Seven singles were released from the album, most of which topped the singles chart and sold well
• Scars and Crucify My Love were the exceptions among the singles, with Crucify My Love certified Gold by the RIAJ

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Dahlia was the inspiration for the first name of the antagonist Dahlia Hawthorne in the English version of the 2004 video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations.
• Tears was used in the soundtrack of the 2004 South Korean film Windstruck.
• Drain reuses a basic track that was programmed by bassist Heath, according to hide's Spread Beaver bandmate I.N.A.
• Wriggle is Heath's only official contribution to the band's catalogue, co-written with Pata.
• Crucify My Love was covered by Spanish gothic metal band Gothic Dolls on their 2008 album The Last Breath.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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