--[Furukawa] Miki, you were the impetus for the LAMA’s formation.

Furkawa: You say that, but it wasn’t that cut-and-dried. (laugh) In the very beginning I was looking for a guitarist. I had been solo, and up to that point I didn’t know of a guitarist that made music as good as Nakako [Nakamura Koji, aka iLL], so I thought it would be great if I could get someone like him. Essentially, my number one requirement was someone who could do really cool feedback, and for whatever reason [Tabuchi] Hisako came to mind, so I thought, “If I could get together with her, I wouldn’t do solo work; I’d start a new project.” So while I was thinking about my solo work in a different light, I reached out to her and asked if we could do something together.

--Did you and Hisako know one another before that?

F: We actually hadn’t had the chance to meet. So even though I went to meet her, to an extent I was thinking that I needed to to whatever I could for my proposal. I’d already decided that my solo work would be too obscure, so I went for a direct meeting with her.

Tabuchi: When I was in Number Girl I actually caught sight of Miki once during a festival, and I thought “She’s pretty cute,” but I didn’t even say “Hello,” so my heart was pounding.

We wanted to create this album to reflect the current atmosphere

--Dir en Grey has completed their 8th album, “DUM SPIRO SPERO.” At a total of 14 songs - including the three singles “Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami,” “LOTUS,” and “DIFFERENT SENSE” - this is an album that even non-fans should listen to. Looking back at your previous album, “UROBOROS,” your superior performance skill and progressive song development collided within your epoch-making literary style, and it was a successful album that took the band’s originality to the limit.

Kaoru (guitar): Around the time of “MACABRE” (2000), we were constantly listening to King Crimson and Pink Floyd. Maybe we were attracted by the fact that we couldn’t really understand them. Since Dir en Grey formed, our way of thinking has been “If it’s cool, it’s good.” Having said that, it’s not that we were just putting out music that’s not really that difficult; we were thinking about how to create an arrangement that sounds like Dir en Grey. As time went by, we wanted to make music that had more substance, so we created “UROBOROS.” We wanted to create an album to display the music that we’ve been developing all this time - the music we’ve been trying to make, the music that only we can make - and I think that “UROBOROS” achieves that.

Sowelu - Let ME lead U
FLOW - HEY!
alice nine - Heart of Gold
AAA - CALL
Sowelu - I want U to...

Original: Excite

--First of all, what were your thoughts as you transitioned from production work to having the finished product?

Kaela: I had a lot of different thoughts, but the number one thought hasn’t changed. I’ve given birth to my son, so the feelings and sense of responsibility that I have for my child have changed from what they were before. But the love that I have for music and singing hasn’t changed, and that’s good. It’s been very fun to be both “Kimura Kaela” and “Mother” without having to change who I am. Now, when I go home, ready or not, I step into my role as a mother, so there’s a very clear division there. And when I get to be Kimura Kaela [the performer] I do it with all my strength.

--I can see you putting everything into the performance of your new song, “Kidoairaku Plus Ai,” which is definitely a violent rock tune.

K: I’d decided to do a live because it’s summer, so I said to Shinoppi (Watanabe Shinobu), “Give me something crazy.” I’d been in a soft, tender mode, so I wanted to go hard instead. I asked him to give me something hard that I could sing during the climax of a live.

--What was your impression when you first heard it?

K: I thought, “Oh my god, this is so cool!” I wanted to write the lyrics right away, and I wanted to sing it. With the lyrics, I had a theme going of expressing love, which has no form, and other things that we don’t really understand. In my mind I had the image of joy, wrath, grief, and pleasure entering into love. My idea was that everything changes when you come into contact with someone if you add love to the equation.

Original: Excite

I wanted the songs on the album to leave no question about who I am

--First off, let me ask a frank question. Why did you choose to do a best-of album now?

Miliyah: I wasn’t thinking about timing with this album at all. I’m not commemorating an anniversary, I’m not switching labels, and I’m not going on hiatus. (laugh) But about a year ago, during a production meeting, the topic of what constituted my best work cropped up. I was also interested in what the reaction would be when I released a best-of album someday, but I didn’t say that we should try it within the year, or that it should happen now. I thought I’d release it in my own time.

--So you changed your mind?

M: I did. I can’t really explain it, but lately I’ve been thinking that I’ve been doing music for a long time. And at the end of last year’s tour - I don’t think about anything but the tour during a tour, so I think about my feelings at the end of the tour - and at that time, for whatever reason, I felt that it would be better to release a best-of album before releasing the next original album. And after that I wrote “Yuusha-tachi,” and that the song gave me a push. I thought, “I’m living as a musician, and I wrote this great song!” and I drew strength from that. I was in the frame of mind that, if I could write a song like that, that I should take a short break. That’s when I decided to release this best-of album.

Written by Zer0

Alright, B'z, you've been my buddies ever since I got into j-music. You're one of my favorite bands ever - hell, one of Japan's favorite bands ever. Your albums over the last decade, however, have alternated between "eh, kinda crap" and "meh, pretty good I guess." So how have the boys fared on this outing? Let's find out!

Sakanaction - Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei Desu
Kimura Kaela - Kidoairaku plus Ai
moumoon - Chu Chu
Amuro Namie - Naked
Do As Infinity - Chikai

I’m growing up, so I’m trying out all kinds of things

--It’s surprising to see that you’ve become so grown-up.

Nishino: I’ve always wanted to be a grown-up (laugh), so I took advantage of the fact that I graduated from college this spring and I’ve been putting more denim into my personal fashion and darkened my hair... Even though they’re baby steps, I think it’s good that I’m going in the right direction, and I’m trying out all kind of things.

--Congratulations on graduating from college!

N: Thank you! Since I don’t have school anymore, I’ve had a lot more free time. It’s weird being at home so much, so I’ve been cleaning and cooking a lot.

--And while you were in the midst of growing up (laugh), you completed your long-awaited 3rd album, “Thank you,Love.”

N: When I listen to the album, I think the songs are more grown-up, and there are more positive songs than there were on my last album. I also recorded sad songs, of course, but the whole concept was to put out an album that has energy. No matter how sad you are, you can see the light of hope in this album, and there are things designed to help people move forward. Anyway, I wanted this to be an album of higher spirits, and it starts right at the first track and takes off from there. (laugh)