REVIEW: Loudness – Disillusion (1984 Japanese version)

LOUDNESS – Disillusion (1984 Nippon Columbia)

For a few albums starting with their fourth record Disillusion, Loudness began recording English lyrics for outside Japan.  For the Japanese versions, the lyrics are a mixture of both languages with the choruses usually sung in English.  Whichever version you hear, Disillusion will satisfy your craving for memorable heavy riffs, brilliant vocals, and incredible guitar shredding.

Guitarist Akira Takasaki was considered the Japanese Eddie Van Halen and you can hear why on Disillusion.  Though Loudness are heavier than Van Halen, Takasaki employs techniques similar to King Edward.  Disillusion opens with the thunderous “Crazy Doctor”, on which you can hear the Van Halen chords loud and clear, though the track sounds more like heavier vintage Dokken.  As outstanding as Akira is, also unmistakable is singer Minoru Niihara.  The original Loudness frontman could really sing with all the necessary panache and metal inflection.

The opening guitar shreddery on the speed metal “Esper” recalls St. Edward once again, but Loudness could have given Metallica a run for their money on this one.  Completely over the top!  A number of fans think that Loudness softened their sound when they released their American major label debut Thunder in the East in ’85.  You can understand why they think that when you hear “Esper”.  However this is a balanced album, and the more melodic “Butterfly” slows things down so you can catch your breath.  Unfortunately “Butterfly” is the closest thing to a mistep on this otherwise brilliant disc.

There’s a Maiden-y vibe to “Revelation” circa Piece of Mind, but not just because of the name.  I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Loudness were influenced by Maiden.  We do know that both Loudness and Maiden were influenced by Deep Purple so there might be some convergent evolution going on.

The parallels to Sir Edward continue on side two with an instrumental called “Erupt…” err, sorry, it’s called “Exploder”.  Whatever the similarities, Takasaki is an enticing guitar player and he came to public attention exactly when this kind of playing was most popular.  “Exploder” blows away most of the competition.  Only a handful of players could do stuff like this and they usually had names like “Rhoads” and “Halen”.

Vocals return on “Dream Fantasy”, another blazing hot metal extravaganza, with solid chorus intact.  It’s worth noting that Takasaki was not alone in musical excellence.  Drummer Munetaka Higuchi (R.I.P.) was a heavy-hitter who could thrash it up and come up with interesting fills.  Masayoshi Yamashita has a knack for a busy, melodic bassline, though mostly holds down the fort so Akira can fly.

“Milky Way” boasts a cool, smoother style of riff and another exemplary Minoru Niihara chorus.  It’s a challenging arrangement with different rhythms and textures.  Loudness were not simply banging out metal riffs for your rock and roll crazy nights.  They were stretching the boundaries of their abilities, playing intelligent metal like the Scorpions and Priest did in the 70s.  But they also weren’t afraid of getting down n’ dirty, as they do on “Satisfaction Guaranteed”.  Though you can’t tell without the lyric sheet, it’s the only song that is completely sung in English.  It’s not the lyrics, but the riff that will hook you.  Note the passing Maiden-esque gallop.

This version of Disillusion concludes with an epic “Ares’ Lament”.  It’s a cross between early Maiden and Scorpions with a touch of darkness, with a long shadowy outro reminiscent of “Child in Time”.  It’s a brilliant end to a pretty stunning album.

Disillusion is not immediate, except for “Crazy Doctor” which will hook you at first listen.   It’s a busy record, so you need to give it a couple proper listens to let the riffs and hooks come to the fore.  Once they do, you will uncover many elements of pleasure in the grooves within.  It sounds uncompromised and is more unique than the albums that followed.  It’s a fine example of metal forged in integrity.

4.5/5 stars

32 comments

  1. King Edward, St. Edward, Sir Edward, how many Edwards we got on this ship anyhow?

    Moranis is coming out of retirement, and it’s not for Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money, or Spaceballs 3: The Search for Spaceballs 2. That’s God damn disappointing. Strangre Brew 2 would even be better.

    I came up with a bunch of album titles when I was nine, I believe Crazy Doctor was one of them, not influenced in any way by Loudness yet. A nine year old me on the same wavelength as dudes in their 20s. I feel genius. My album titles have gotten much more creative since then. Disillusion is one of their best.

    I’m really disappointed that the Unstoppable Kamikaze Idiots aren’t a Japanese band. That name would have been so much more awesome if they were.

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    1. Ahh, you caught the “Edward” stuff! I’m glad somebody did. I don’t throw that kind of thing in just for shits n’ giggles you know. Well, yes I do.

      Too bad about Moranis. I can’t help but think he needs money. Shame he didn’t need it when they were making Ghostbusters.

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        1. I have to wonder what is lost in translation. Now, I’ve been in many canoes, and I would say that some of those trips had spiritual moments of beauty in nature. But nothing to make me think “I have the perfect album title!” And of course the bald head fits perfectly with canoes, right?

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        1. They did. To my ears though, their US albums don’t have the unique twist that a band needs. They sounded like a cross between a lot of bands, and I think like a band such as Dokken, they just were not unique enough to hit the “A” list. And I think from reading, a lot of fans felt that their US albums were more compromised. They were definitely more mainstream.

          Having said all this I’m eager to keep exploring. I’ll get the album before this. I’ll get some 90s albums. I’ll get their most recent.

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        3. Yeah it doesn’t happen often anymore! Especially after so many years since I first heard Loudness. But here I am playing Disillusion at my desk AGAIN. (I just finished Storm Force, again.) So it’s legit. It’s love.

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  9. I really like Loudness. Thunder In The East, Lightning Strikes and even the more commercial laden Hurricane Eyes. Great albums.
    But this? I actually listened to this one like a month ago. Oh the torture.
    I can’t agree with you on this one, Mike but I enjoyed the write-up.
    I’d give it a 3/10 and that’s only because of Takasaki’s skills as a guitarist. And the fact that they used parts of Ares’ Lament in So Lonely on Hurricane Eyes.

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