Loudness

Loudness is a Japanese Heavy metal band formed in 1981 by former members of Lazy (founded in 1973), Akira Takasaki (guitar), and Munetaka Higuchi (drums). The current members are Minoru Niihara (vocals), Akira Takasaki (guitar), Masayoshi Yamashita ( bass ), and Masayuki Suzuki (drums). The band is on the Word Records label and belongs to Katana Music.

In the mid-80s, they expanded overseas and sent an album to the Billboard Top 100. Furthermore , although they were the opening act for Motley Crue , they also achieved the feat of being the first Japanese artist to perform on the stage of Madison Square Garden (MSG), becoming Japan's leading Rock band in both name and reality.

Since 1989 , the band has undergone major member changes, and at one point Akira Takasaki was the only original member in the lineup, but in 2000 Takasaki announced a reunion with the original members. In November 2008, one of the central figures, Munetaka Higuchi, passed away, but Masayuki Suzuki took over and the band continued to perform. As of 2022 , the band has released 28 original albums and is still going strong.

The songs were mainly composed by guitarist Takasaki, with the lyrics written by the vocalist of the time (for the album Soldier of Fortune, when Niihara left the band midway through recording, all members wrote lyrics under the name Loudness). In the first, second and fifth periods, Yamashita would occasionally compose songs, but in recent years it has become more common for all members to compose together (under the name Loudness). In the third period, Masayoshi Yamashita, who has since left the band, provided one song. The lyrics are written by current vocalist Minoru Niihara and Akira Takasaki.

Loudness's sound was very much influenced by Akira Takasaki's style, and from the first to third periods, it was typical Heavy metal/Hard rock.

The band's name was derived from a time when the band members saw the word Loudness written on a stereo amplifier and liked the sound and spelling of it. Upon researching its meaning, they found that it represents volume and therefore decided that it was a suitable name for their band.

Their agency at the time, Being, had suggested the band name "Sunrise" as a possible name, but the band members said it "didn't resonate with them," so they decided on "Loudness," which had also been the band's name . Takasaki said that "Sunrise was the only artist in Being who didn't listen to what they were told."

Lazy made their major debut in July 1977, but was forced to remain an idol band by the strong wishes of their management company, Triangle Production. Three years later, in 1980 , Lazy's leader, Munetaka Higuchi, had come of age before the other members, and had been able to get a lot of information from drinking with many senior musicians.

As he deepened his interactions with these senior musicians, he began to feel uncomfortable with the management company and the industry, and as a leader and the oldest member of the band, he began to make various comments to the management company. In response to Higuchi's attitude, CEO Koichi Fujita clashed with Munetaka Higuchi, which escalated into a firing scandal. When Akira Takasaki heard about it, he thought that if Higuchi was going to leave, he would quit too. Under these circumstances, Lazy was forced to disband.

The album "Earth Ark" was released in December and attracted attention as a Heavy metal album. However, according to Takasaki, the album was negatively received at the time, with people saying that it was just an idol band trying their hand at heavy metal. Hironobu Kageyama and Toshitsugu Inoue were unable to keep up with the New World of Honor (NWOBHM)-like musical style that was gaining attention in the UK at the time, led by bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. As a result of the above-mentioned circumstances all coming together, Lazy was forced to disband.

In February 1981, after discussions between the band's management company and the band members, Lazy announced its disbandment at a concert on February 18. In March, Akira Takasaki, Munetaka Higuchi, and Hiroyuki Tanaka decided to form a new band with Toshiyuki Nakashita, a former Teichiku Records employee who was an early Lazy on-site manager and whom Akira Takasaki regards as his "Big Brother in Tokyo". They held a vocal audition, inviting two or three candidates.

One of the candidates was Rio Sada, the vocalist of "Black Hole", the band in which Naoto Shibata, who would later become the bassist of the fourth generation of Loudness, was a member at the time. The final choice was former Earthshaker vocalist Minoru Niihara, who was recommended by Takasaki's childhood friend Masayoshi Yamashita. Niihara was welcomed into the band after singing Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" with piano accompaniment.

The band launched as the Takasaki Akira Project. Nakashita had a business relationship with Nagato Hiroyuki, so Minoru Niihara was registered with Being the new singer of the band.

On May 31, Lazy officially disbanded. However, Hiroyuki Tanaka soon left due to differences in musical style and disagreements with Munetaka Higuchi. So, Akira Takasaki's childhood friend Yamashita Masayoshi , who recommended Niihara as the vocalist, was brought in as bassist, and Yamashita moved to Tokyo in June and began living in Takasaki's apartment. From this point on, the project changed direction, into a band. (Initially, the project was aimed at producing a solo album for Takasaki, but the studio sessions turned out better than expected, and Higuchi suggested forming a new band with these members.) At the time that Yamashita recommended Niihara, he had formed a band called "Zephyr" (other members besides Yamashita were Reiji Otani, who would later join Marino, and Kazuhisa Takahashi , who would later join X-Ray ). While Yamashita was discussing Zephyr's first live show at his home, he received a phone call from Takasaki inviting him to join Loudness.

In August of the same year, they recorded at Chestnut Studio in Mie Prefecture with engineer Masahiko Ono, and the recording, including mastering, took just five days. Around this time, the band decided on the name "Loudness".

On November 25th, they made their debut with the album The Birthday Eve through Nippon Columbia. The sound of this work was influenced by Van Halen's "Fire Force" and NWOBHM, (The new wave of British heavy metal) with various riffs packed into each song, and the long playing time and odd time signatures of the songs also show a tendency towards Progressive rock. On December 17th, they held their debut concert at the Asakusa International Theater. Contrary to the view of the Japanese music industry at the time that "Japanese hard rock doesn't sell," the nearly 3,000 tickets were sold out immediately, surprising those involved.

On January 18, 1982, they appeared at the "Japan Heavy Metal Festival" at Nakano Sun Plaza , and on the 22nd at Osaka Mainichi Hall, "Japan Heavy Metal Fantasy". Minoru Niihara had little professional experience, and made many mistakes, which made him realize for the first time how difficult it would be to work as a professional. They began a full-scale tour on April 6, but at their performance at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall on April 10, they played at a loud volume, which led to a flood of complaints from local residents, and rumors spread that they had been banned from the venue.

However, according to Akira Takasaki, "Rather than being banned, it was more like they were unable to go out for a while after that. On May 1, they released their debut single "Burning Love", followed by "Devil Soldier: The Miracle of Terror" on July 25. The recording engineer for this album was Danny McLendon , who was introduced to them by George Azuma. Although the sound was an extension of their previous album (in fact, some of the songs were outtakes from the previous album), the album sold better than "Birthday Eve".

In 1983, the band moved to Loudness Music, a music agency newly established by Nakashita as an affiliate of Being. Danny McLendon was also used for "The Law of Devil's Land", released on January 21st. Danny had connections with people in the US, so he booked the band into several local live music venues, and the band left for the US on July 9th. Local radio stations played "In the Mirror" and "Speed", and record stores for metalheads carried Loudness albums, which led to American metalheads getting information from underground fanzines buying the Japanese version, which was expensive at the time.

On July 26, the band returned to Japan after a successful US tour. In August, they went to Europe for the first time to tour and record a new album. With Julian Mendelsohn , who had worked on Yes 's 90125, as an engineer, the band's early sound was completed with Disillusion, released on January 21, 1984. Around the same time, their first double live album, Live-Loud-Alive Loudness in Tokyo, was released in November 1983, followed by a live video of the same name the following December. Works from this period were released in Europe through Roadrunner and Music for Nations.

From April 20th to May 6th, 1984, they went on their second European tour, and the footage from this tour was released as the live video "Eurobounds" on August 1st, and in July they released Disillusion, English Version, with all the lyrics translated into English.

During the 1983 European tour and the recording of Disillusion, offers came to the agency from the American labels RCA Records and Zomba Music Group . Toshi Nakashita and the band members discussed whether it would be better to sign with RCA at this point, but in May 1984, during the European tour, the agency received a message from Atlantic Records through Warner Records saying that they were interested in Loudness.

Nakashita had not heard of Atlantic Records at this point, but the band members knew that it was a major label that had produced their idols, Led Zeppelin, and after some discussion, they signed with Atlantic. The contract also required the band to release seven albums in seven years, an unprecedented deal for a Japanese artist. Around the same time, Akira Takasaki received a letter and demo tape from Metallica's management, who had just fired Dave Mustaine, offering him the chance to join Metallica, an unknown band that had not yet signed with a major label.

However, Akira Takasaki had no intention of leaving the band and turned down the offer, citing his "life for Loudness" and his strong desire to "compete against the world as a Japanese team".

In May 1984, Takasaki went to the United States to meet with Atlantic Records, and among the names of Eddie Kramer, Neil Curnon, and Max Norman mentioned as producers for the US debut album, Takasaki chose Norman as the producer of the album because he liked the sound of Ozzy Osbourne's albums, especially Randy Rhoads. Norman was very conscious of the success of the band entering the US market, and steered the band in a direction aiming for a bright sound like Glam metal, which was a movement in the American Heavy metal scene at the time .

In July 1984, Minoru Niihara, who had been told by Nakashita that his English pronunciation was poor, went to the United States first for English and vocal lessons. In late August, the remaining members all went to the United States for recording. After more than two months of long-term recording under Norman's strict and uncompromising guidance, the lead single "Crazy Night" was released on December 1, and Thunder in the East was released the following year on January 24, 1985. The album peaked at number 4 on the Japanese Oricon charts, and number 74 on the American Billboard charts. It was ranked within on the Billboard 200 charts for 24 weeks.

They began their Japan tour at Shibuya Public Hall on December 2nd and continued until February 1st, 1985. From April to June, they toured the US. On June 21st, they released the 12-inch single "Gotta Fight", which included the theme song and background music for the animated film "Odin: Photon Sailer Starlight". From June 30th to August 6th, they toured Japan with former Novela keyboardist Toshiro Nagakawa and then on august 8th, they joined the US tour as the opening act for Mötley Crüe. On August 14th, they became the first Japanese artist and band to perform on the stage at Madison Square Garden.

The tour with Mötley Crüe continued until September 18th, when they returned to Japan. In December, they began recording again with Norman at Sedic Studios in Roppongi, Tokyo.

They also switched record labels from Nippon Columbia to Warner Records, and released Shadows of War in March 1986. At the same time, they began a Japan tour, starting at Osaka-jo Hall. The performance at the Yoyogi Olympic Pool on April 3rd and 4th was released as a video work "Live in Tokyo - Lightning Strikes" in September of the same year, and as a two-disc live album 8186 Live in November .

On July 25th, the US mix version of the aforementioned Shadows of War, Lightning Strikes , was released in the US. It reached 64th place on the Billboard charts, surpassing their previous album, Thunder in the East. In August, they toured the US, and in October, they toured Europe. During this tour, they performed in the US with Poison and Cinderella as opening acts in the first half, and AC/DC as opening acts in the second half, and in Europe with Saxon. After the US tour ended, on September 25th, they released the Disco -like "Risky Woman" , which makes extensive use of synthesizers. On December 28th and 29th, the band performed at the Nippon Budokan for the first time.

From February to March 1987, they began rehearsing and writing for the new album. In April, they began recording in Japan and the United States with producer Eddie Kramer. On July 31, they began a US tour with Stryper as the opening act. On August 25, Hurricane Eyes was released, and the first Loudness band sound reached a state of completion. Although it reached No. 4 on the Japanese Oricon charts, it was ranked 190th on the Billboard charts, far below the previous work. Also, from this time on, Akira Takasaki's favorite guitar changed from ESP's Random Star to the Prime of Killer Guitars, founded by Kazuzo Araki. In 1988, they went on a long tour only in Japan, and released the ep, "Jealousy" in May. However, in December 1988 , during the recording of Soldier of Fortune, Minoru Niihara left the band (effectively being fired), bringing the first period of Loudness to an end.

Akira Takasaki said that the reason behind Niihara's departure was that the band felt that "in order to go further, we needed a frontman who could speak native English," and pointed out problems with Niihara's singing ability and English pronunciation at the time. Minoru Niihara, on the other hand, acknowledged that he had left the band voluntarily after acknowledging the limitations of his own singing ability, and stated that changing the frontman was a panacea that would break the band's rut and dramatically change it. He also said that the atmosphere within the band had become suspicious when pre-production for Soldier of Fortune began, and that when he was being interviewed by an overseas media outlet, the writer said, "I heard a rumor that Loudness was holding vocalist auditions," and that one week after the interview, the band notified him that he was fired.

The sound of this period is characterized by Niihara's high-pitched vocals. Many of the songs are abstract and use more English than Japanese. The lyric themes include love, fantasy, and war.

After many auditions, they decided that "there was no better vocalist in Japan than Minoru Niihara" (they also approached Masaki Yamada, who would later join as a vocalist, at this time, but he turned them down because he was still active in Ezo ), and after an overseas audition, they chose American Mike Vescera as the new vocalist, and hired Max Norman and Roger Probert as producers . In 1989 , they released Soldier of Fortune.

The sound shifted from the bright and hard American Heavy metal sound they had when they first entered the US to a more melodic one. At the time, this musical change was highly praised in Young Guitar Magazine for its technical and melodic sound. Akira Takasaki said that this was the last album on the technical route. On the Prowl, released in 1991 , was a remake of many old songs, perhaps because it was the 10th anniversary of their debut and they were aiming to introduce the representative songs from their domestic base era with the change of vocalist. The band's sound (especially the guitar and drums) was refined, bringing out the original melodic quality of the songs even more. Some of the songs were only three years old, but they were also remade.

However, the title track of the mini-album "Slap in the Face" released in the same year featured a Thrash metal-like riff that had never been seen in Loudness before, and brought a heavy sound to the forefront. However, after the performance at Nippon Budokan in May, Mike Vescera left the band (effectively being fired). Masayoshi Yamashita also left the band in 1992 , and the second period of Loudness came to an end. The sound of "Slap in the Face" was carried over to the third period.

Mike's vocal skills are delicate and there were some unevenness in the live performance, but his power was fully displayed in the studio recording.

Unlike Minoru Niihara and Mike Vescara, who were essentially fired, Masayoshi Yamashita's departure was relatively amicable, with him nominating his own successor and even providing songs, as described below.

In January 1992 , the band welcomed Masaki Yamada , formerly of Ezo, on vocals and Taiji Sawada, July 12, 1966 - July 17, 2011 (aged 45) formerly of X, (X Japan) on bass. Sawada was originally a big fan of Loudness, and had been friends with Akira Takasaki since his time in X. His bass skills were also recognized by the other members. Masayoshi Yamashita, who was leaving the band, recommended him as a new bassist to replace himself, and he joined the band. Taiji Sawada was signed to Sony Records while he was in X, so he participated in the album recording as a support member until his contract with the agency expired on January 31 (when he officially left X).

The band was produced by Takasaki, and the guitar and bass were tuned down a semitone, which, combined with Masaki Yamada's powerful vocals, created an aggressive and heavy sound reminiscent of Groove metal. Taiji Sawada does not try to stand out too much, but instead focuses on creating a heavy ensemble by playing in unison with Takasaki's guitar. He not only plays in unison with Takasaki in high-speed riffs, but also uses a technique called "jack-off vibrato." The album also features elegant phrases and slap bass solos that were not often seen in Loudness in the past.

Regarding Sawada's playing style, Munetaka Higuchi praised the bass phrases that Sawada played along with his own improvised drumming. The addition of Taiji Sawada, a former member of X, caused a stir in many circles. With Sawada's addition, female fans (of Sawada or X ) began to come to their shows, and the male fans booed them on the first day of the tour. However, according to Akira Takasaki, "There were probably some fans who were skeptical, but as the tour went on, everyone started to accept Taiji" and Sawada also recalled that he had to think every day about how to work with the combination of Takasaki and Higuchi.

This was the peak of their CD sales, fame, and popularity, but their overseas activities came to a halt because their agency at the time showed no interest in expanding overseas.

Due to various issues with the agency, including contract issues, the group was on the verge of disbanding, and in May 1993, Masaki Yamada expressed his intention to leave the band, but was persuaded by Munetaka Higuchi to withdraw his intention. In November, Higuchi informed the members that Loudness was going to return, but just before this, Taiji Sawada decided that a return to Loudness was hopeless under the current circumstances, and since his agency had already decided that he would be starting his own solo project (later known as DTR), he was forced to give up on participating and left the band.

Furthermore, differences in the ideals of rock music between Takasaki and Higuchi began to emerge around this time, and Higuchi expressed dissatisfaction when Takasaki moved his base of operations to Osaka, causing a deterioration in their relationship. As a result, Higuchi decided to leave Loudness.

The third period of Loudness ended early, leaving only one album (two including live albums). Takasaki became the leader after that. Immediately after leaving the band, Higuchi had approached Sawada, saying, "I don't mind being freelance with Taiji, but I want to make music with him right away." Sawada seems to be a favorite bassist of Higuchi, and he invited Sawada to appear on the Cozy Powell tribute album "Cozy Powell Forever," which he produced himself in 1998 .

This lineup of the third generation of Loudness was well received by fans, and the three members Akira Takasaki, Taiji Sawada, and Munetaka Higuchi later said something like "We would like to reunite as a third generation, separate from the original Loudness, even if it's just a planned project." However, Munetaka Higuchi passed away in 2008, and Taiji Sawada passed away in 2011, so this became impossible.

In 1994 , at the invitation of Masaki Yamada, Hirotsugu Honma , formerly of Ezo, joined the band on drums. At the time, there was no official bassist, and Akira Takasaki also played on bass. After the release of Heavy Metal Hippies, they supported the band on a tour in December, and in 1995 , Naoto Shibata, formerly of Anthem, joined the band on bass, and the fourth generation of Loudness was born.

Shibata has said in recent years that "Loudness was fun because I was able to concentrate only on playing the bass without thinking about anything else." The band's slow tempo songs leaned more towards Doom metal, and after moving to Rooms Records, they released three albums that Akira Takasaki called Buddha Rock: Ghetto Machine (1997), Dragon (1998), and Engine (1999, hereafter referred to as the "Indian Trilogy").

This musical style and direction was not acceptable to the fans who had been supporting the band since the first period, and the band's popularity dropped significantly. In the fourth period, Takasaki's appearance also changed drastically, from his trademark long hair to a shaved head, and his costume became Indian ethnic. When Masaki joined the third period, he participated under his real name, Masaki Yamada, but he often returned to the shaved head makeup he had worn in the Flatbacker/Ezo days, and changed his stage name back to Masaki. Even at the live performance, Takasaki was drunk and gave a rough performance, and Masaki couldn't properly sing the songs from the first and second seasons, so most of the content was disappointing to fans from the first season, and this led to an accelerating loss of fans.

However, in 1998, in the midst of this fourth period, Lazy reunited for the first time in 17 years, and the relationship between Akira Takasaki and Munetaka Higuchi was restored. In addition, all the members of the first period of Loudness participated in the recording and co-starring at live events on the Led Zeppelin cover album "Super Rock Summit - Stairway to Heaven" (1999), produced by Higuchi, and activities that would later lead to the revival of the original members were seen.

In 2000, Takasaki announced that the original members would return to Loudness, marking the end of the fourth period. Akira Takasaki said that the decision to reunite the original members was made not only at his own request, but also because Masaki, who had doubts about the current state of Loudness, had advised him to "try it with the original members."

Munetaka Higuchi, Masayoshi Yamashita, and Minoru Niihara returned, returning to the original lineup. According to Niihara at the time, this reunion was initially planned to be "for a limited time" and not to last long. However, the period after the reunion marked the longest period in which Loudness had continued with the same lineup without any member changes.

The first release after the original members were reunited, Spiritual Canoe, had a more easy-to-listen-to sound like the first period while still retaining the atmosphere of the fourth period, but there were many riffs similar to the songs of the first and third periods, and there were many slow-tempo songs like the fourth period after that, so the music was closer to hardcore than heavy metal. Terror returned to the gloomy heavy rock of the India trilogy.

However, after that, Racing had more fast songs with Thrash metal elements. The B-side song of "The Battleship Musashi", "More Than Machine", also tried a programmed sound. "Breaking the Taboo", released in 2006, the 25th anniversary of the band's formation, was an album that was inspired by the music of the fifth period of Loudness, as well as 1970s and 1980s Hard rock, and could be said to be the culmination of Loudness's 25 years. In 2008, they released the album Metal Mad, but in March of the same year, Munetaka Higuchi took a break to undergo treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Kozo Suganuma, known as "the king of labor", was to take his place for the tour in April , but on November 30 of the same year, Munetaka Higuchi passed away due to hepatocellular carcinoma. After Higuchi's death, the band participated in the event "Super Peace Festival 2008" held at Shibuya-AX on December 6th (with Kenji Ohtsuki, Maximum the Hormone, The Kanmuri, Detrox, Nekodamashi, and others), with Masayuki "Anpan" Suzuki of Saber Tiger as a support member, taking Munetaka Higuchi's place. At this live performance, Minoru Niihara declared that Loudness would continue its activities, and in Akira Takasaki's eulogy at Higuchi's fan funeral on December 24th, he also declared that Loudness would once again perform overseas.

In February 2009, a memorial concert for Munetaka Higuchi was held at the CCLemon Hall .

On February 16, 2009, Masayuki Suzuki officially joined the band as Higuchi's successor drummer.

In April of the same year, they began a live tour called "Classic Loudness Live 2009 The Birthday Eve Disillusion", featuring songs only from the time of The Birthday Eve to Disillusion. It ended as scheduled within the month, but additional shows were held from June to July. In August and September, they continued the tour with "Classic Loudness Live 2009 Thunder in the East Tour", focusing on songs from their fifth album Thunder in the East, which marked their full-scale debut in the US 24 years ago.

In May, during the tour, they released a new album, The Everlasting, which could be considered a memorial album for Munetaka Higuchi . Only one drum track was newly recorded by Masayuki Suzuki, and the rest are edited versions of previous songs recorded by Higuchi. The content follows the same line as Breaking the Taboo and Metal Mad, and Akira Takasaki said, "I made it with the guitar riffs that Higuchi would like in mind."

Regarding the future of Loudness, Akira Takasaki said, "Loudness has continued on without disbanding, despite all the member changes up until now. Loudness will continue on forever as one of Japan's leading bands. Even if I leave." He spoke of his vision for the band to continue forever, even if there are member changes.

On April 18, 2017, the band was denied entry into the United States while on tour. In August of the same year, it was announced that the band would be moving to Ward Records.

On February 8, 2018, Masayuki Suzuki noticed something was wrong with his health and was examined at a hospital, where it was discovered that he had suffered a cerebral infarction. Fortunately, the symptoms were mild, but he was hospitalized for rehabilitation and examinations. Suzuki's condition improved and he returned to the band. While Suzuki was recuperating, Nishida Ryuichi, formerly of Novela and Vienna, was brought in as a support drummer and he also performed overseas. Since Suzuki was not in a condition to play full-length even after his return, Nishida played the drums as the main drummer and Suzuki played a few songs as an encore, etc. However , since around 2020, although they were unable to tour nationwide, they have recovered enough to perform full stages, and on December 28, 2021, they performed about 20 songs at the "Special Live Ampan Night" held at Ex Theater Roppongi, marking their complete comeback.

On December 29, 2021, they released their new album Sunburst which reached number one on the Oricon daily chart.

Starting in spring 2022, Suzuki Masayuki Suzuki, an official member for the first time in four years, is expected to join the band on a nationwide tour rather than as a support drummer.

At a live concert held at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall on April 10, 1982, the volume was so loud that local residents complained about it, and the band was banned for many years. Although Loudness has not performed at Hibiya since then, each member has performed at Hibiya with other bands or at events. More than 30 years after the ban, Loudness appeared at the live event "Rock Beats Cancer Fes Vol 2" on July 7, 2013.

In the early 1980s, when Toshi Nakashita saw Akira Takasaki struggling with his difficulty in playing arpeggios, he had a friend introduce him to classical guitarist Kiyoshi Shomura, who introduced him to Akira Takasaki and taught him classical guitar. As a token of appreciation, Takasaki invited Shomura to a Loudness concert, but the sound was so loud that Shomura damaged his ears and left after about 10 minutes.

At the live concert held at Yoyogi Olympic Pool on April 3rd and 4th, 1986 (later released as 8186 Live), the unprecedented scale of sound and lighting equipment made the volume so loud that complaints were received from Harajuku Station.

In 1985, while on tour with Mötley Crüe, the opening act, Loudness, had a better sound and were more popular with the audience, which nearly got Mötley Crüe's sound engineer fired and forced Loudness to turn down the volume of their band.

Stryper 's Michael Sweet, who toured with Loudness in 1987, once complained about touring with them, saying, "Loudness is too heavy for us. We don't get along well with them." Michael said that the decision to tour with them was made by his manager, and that he had wanted to tour with either Hurricane or TNT. According to Munetaka Higuchi, during Loudness' performance at the event "Hard Rock Summit in Fuji-Q" held at Fuji-Q Highland on July 28, 2001, the roaring sound carried all the way to Nagano Prefecture, and he revealed this on the September 16, 2005 broadcast of Pop Jam, which received a complaint from the Nagano prefecture side.

Also, in response to a question from Takanori Nishikawa, who was the host of the show, "Where do you think Loudness will be in 10 years?" Higuchi joked, "Maybe we'll do backup for TM," but Nishikawa, with a wry smile, politely declined, saying, "I think you won't be able to hear my song anymore..." Akira Takasaki, who attended Munetaka's Higushi's official funeral, recalled, "We wanted to be the band that could make the loudest sound. I remember them happily telling us when we held an outdoor live show at a resort amusement park (the Fuji-Q Highland mentioned above), 'We heard we received complaints from the neighboring prefecture.'"