Loudness - Disillusion (1984)

When it comes to Japanese heavy metal, there is one undisputed band considered to be the ultimate king – that band is LOUDNESS. Formed from the ashes of a massive pop group called Lazy in 1981 by drummer Munetaka Higuchi and guitarist Akira Takasaki, LOUDNESS helped pave the way for metal in Japan alongside their peers Bow Wow, 44 Magnum, and Earthshaker. In fact, lead vocalist Minoru Niihara was originally the singer and bassist of Earthshaker, joining LOUDNESS while enrolled as a student at Bukkyo University.

Prior to 1984, LOUDNESS put out three albums with varying degrees of quality, but even in their more primitive state, you could tell they had a huge amount of potential. The backbone of LOUDNESS – Akira on guitar, Munetaka on drums, and childhood friend Masayoshi Yamashita on bass – was composed of highly skilled musicians, but there was still something lacking in their sound. After they finished touring in support of their third album, The Law of Devil's Land, LOUDNESS were more confident in their songwriting and performance skills than ever before. Enlisting the help of Australian engineer Julian Mendelsohn as there were no designated metal engineers in Japan yet, LOUDNESS would pen what I believe to be their strongest album: 1984’s Disillusion.

It’s with Disillusion that LOUDNESS stepped up their songwriting game, writing tighter and more memorable songs. The album opens with one of their biggest hits, “Crazy Doctor,” a song detailing a patient’s attempt to escape a deranged doctor. It’s got killer riffing, a massive chorus, and one of Akira’s landmark solos. While not my favorite cut on the album, it’s a very well-written song and has become a fan favorite. Next up is the speedy “Esper,” a tale of a mystical being who envisions a morbid future and “Butterfly (魔性の女),” a more melancholy song about falling in love with a woman with dark desires. “Butterfly (魔性の女)” is an interesting song in the LOUDNESS canon as it’s pretty light the whole way through, making use of clean guitar as the primary instrument instead of crushing riffs. It’s a neat melodic touch to the album and gives it a very unique pacing. Side A of the album ends with “Revelation (啓示),” an awesome driving song about living up to the pressures of society and being grateful for being raised properly. Interesting theme for a metal song, huh?

If you’ve never listened to LOUDNESS before, I think it’s worth noting that Akira Takasaki has a few obvious influences: Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions), Michael Schenker (UFO), and Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen, duh). With that being said, Side B opens with Akira’s solo track “Exploder,” no doubt heavily inspired by Van Halen’s “Eruption.” It features insane tapping, sweeping arpeggios, and dissonant riffing that could melt the face of anyone, regardless of the time period. “Exploder” leads into “Dream Fantasy (夢･Fantasy)” – one of my favorite LOUDNESS tunes – about well... fantasizing about women! It’s got a fast pace to it, with some chunky riffs, melodic clean bridge sections, and one of the best Akira solos. Allow me to nerd out a bit, but Akira does this ripping main part of the solo, then carefully maneuvers into this bombastic arpeggio section, mixing speed and melody but never overdoing it. Yngwie Malmsteen, take notes!

“Milky Way” and “Satisfaction Guaranteed'' come next, adding a bit of hard rock flavor to overall very metallic songs, but don’t let that fool you – they’re still metal songs, they just groove like late ‘70s hard rock. It’s at this point we come to apex of Disillusion, as the album ends with the brutally emotional and gorgeous “Ares' Lament (アレスの嘆き).” Man, this song is just perfect. It’s haunting, emotive, endearing, and features some of the most beautiful clean guitar passages I’ve ever heard. If there is such a thing, I’d say this is a beautiful heavy metal song – the verses are somber, the chorus is elevating, and the heavy bits add just enough weight to the song to really make you feel something. Lots of bands try, and often fail, to write songs like this, so seeing LOUDNESS pull it off is like a breath of fresh air. If you’ve never heard LOUDNESS or this album, do yourself a favor and bask in the glory of Japanese steel for 38 minutes.

Encyclopædia Metallum

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Originally published in Aug. '24 (Issue No. 4)