B'z - "Hard Rock Hall of Famers"
By David Higashi - Eye-ai magazine

Here is a hypothetical question for all J-Pop fans out there: If the Japanese recording industry were to establish a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tomorrow, which artist would be most deserving to be the inaugural member? Of course, the question barely needs to be asked, since there is really only one answer, and that answer is B'z. It is no understatement to say that B'z is to J-Pop what Michael Jordan was to basketball (only without the constant barrage of retirements and returns). Since their debut in 1988, B'z has dominated J-Pop in a way that no other artist has even come close to duplicating, and they show no signs of slowing down now as they celebrate their fifteenth year in the business.

Just how dominant is B'z? In a report compiled in 2000 regarding the top selling artists of the 1990's, B'z came in at the top position, selling over 20 million more CDs and grossing over ?40 billion more than their next closest competition, Dreams Come True. In addition, though Kinki Kids might have a Guinness Book of World Records entry for having all thirteen of their singles debut at #1 on the Oricon Singles sales chart, B'z brought their streak of consecutive singles to debut at #1 to an unbelievable thirty in March of 2003 with the release of their thirty-fourth single, "IT'S SHOWTIME!!" (Note: June 2006 - the record is now 38 with the release of 42nd single "SPLASH!"). Just about the only significant record that B'z does not hold is the sales mark for an original album, but even Utada Hikaru (current holder of the said record, and the metaphorical Kobe Bryant to B'z Jordan) has her work cut out for herself if she wishes to maintain the same high level of success for such a long period of time.

Although many recent converts to J-Pop probably know B'z best as the group that sang the theme song to Kimura Takuya's year 2000 hit drama, "Beautiful Life" the group has been in the business of wowing fans since way back in 1988. That was the year that a young but well-regarded studio guitarist from Osaka by the name of Matsumoto "Tak" Takahiro decided that he wanted to form a rock group of his own. It did not take long before a certain vocal tape, done by a math teacher from Okayama, found its way into Matsumoto's hands. That math teacher was Inaba Koushi, and with him at lead vocals, Matsumoto had found all that he needed to form B'z. The duo made their debut on September 21, 1988 by simultaneously releasing their first single, "Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite" and their self-titled first album; they began their unprecedented streak of consecutive Oricon Number 1 hit singles just under two years later, on June 13, 1990, with their fifth single release, "Taiyou no Komachi Angel".

By 1998, with B'z entering their tenth successful year in the music scene, there might have been a scant few nay-sayers who still believed that B'z had done nothing to separate themselves from the other great rock groups of the time, like Glay, Mr. Children, and L'arc en Ciel. Glay in particular was riding the success of their 1997 greatest hits CD "Review" which had, at the time, established itself as the best-selling J-Pop CD of all time with just under 4 million discs sold. That record was to be very short lived. In May of 1998, B'z released their own greatest hits CD, "B'z The Best "Pleasure" and it simply demolished the competition, selling over 5 million discs. A few months later, they released another CD, "B'z The Best Treasure". While "Pleasure" was a collection of B'z most successful single releases, "Treasure" was a compilation of fourteen songs hand-picked by Inaba and Tak as the best of the rest. Needless to say, this album also cashed in to the tune of well over 4 million in sales, making 1998 easily the year of the B'z, and forever squashing any doubt as to who the best of the best was.

In 1999, guitarist Matsumoto received another great honor. After hearing that Tak was a loyal user of their Les Paul model of guitar, world-famous guitar-making company Gibson selected him as a Gibson Signature artist. As a Signature artist, Matsumoto got to work directly with Gibson on the creation of his own tailor-made model of Les Paul guitar. This is an honor that the company has bestowed only to guitarists of great repute, and Matsumoto was the first Asian musician to receive it. In fact, only four other guitarists had ever been given the honor before Matsumoto: Legendary Blues man B.B. King, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, Aerosmith's Joe Perry, and The Kiss' Ace Frehley. Indeed, that is good company to have, and Tak's Signature Les Paul model of guitar was a very hot seller following its release.

Of course, all the numbers, records, and honors would mean nothing if they were easily achieved. The fact is that B'z is special because what they have accomplished is so rare. So just what is it about B'z that has allowed them to maintain such a high level of popularity for such a long period of time, when even the most successful of J-Pop acts seem to gradually fade into obscurity before they can even celebrate a decade in the business? Though the "secret to success" in the music industry remains as elusive as the fountain of youth, there are a few factors that one could look to.

One major factor would have to be adaptability. Despite being the first J-Pop act to really bring hard rock into the mainstream, B'z have never allowed themselves to rest on their laurels. The fans of pop music are a notoriously fickle bunch, and anybody who has followed B'z throughout their career knows that their music has always evolved with the times. Their early sound featured a lot of synthesizer and digital keyboard sounds, owing to the popularity of electronica groups of the era, like TM Network. But inevitably, that electronica sound grew out of style, and B'z moved on into different directions, switching to a brand of rock that was more heavily filled with blues and alternative rock influences. This ability to adapt to the changes within the music industry is no doubt one of the prime reasons why B'z is still one of the premier groups in J-Pop.

Through it all, though, one thing that the pair has not tweaked in fifteen years is their image. Just a few short years ago, one could not avoid seeing all visual-type glam bands, masquerading as rock groups while promoting outrageous costumes and make-up to go along with androgynous appearances. B'z, on the other hand, has always had a sort of blue-collar approach, promoting their music through the passion and energy they put into its crafting, and the drive for excellence that is evident in each and every one of their live performances. Those are traits that simply never seem go out of style. So, even though the nineties was the decade of the visual image band, it is obvious that it was fad that was destined to burn itself out. Now, groups like X-Japan and Luna Sea have long since disbanded and disappeared from the J-Pop scene, while B'z still remains, alive and well.

Lastly, when talking about the great long-term success of B'z, one cannot overlook the fact that they are arguably one of the best in Japan at doing the rock ballad. As groups like Aerosmith can surely attest, releasing a great rock ballad as a single is a sure way to garner mainstream success, and B'z recently took that concept one additional step further. In December of 2002, the boys presented fans with yet another Best album, this one entitled "The Ballads ~Love & B'z~." On it are fifteen of their best ballad songs, including 2000's "Konya Tsuki no Mieru Oka ni" and a true classic from 1992, "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" which to this day regularly ranks in high on polls of the best Christmas-themed songs in J-Pop. The album was a huge hit, easily moving over a million discs in its first week of release.

After a 2002 which saw the release of two great B'z albums, 2003 seems like it might be a relatively quiet year for B'z as a group. They've released only one single since their last original album, "GREEN" hit the shelves last July, and Inaba Koushi has several solo projects slated for release during this summer. But, if nothing else, one can count on the fact that even if they are not currently releasing good music, they are most likely still busy making it.

November 2002 | David Higashi
Article originated from Eye-ai Magazine