1001 Other Albums<p>Breaking radio silence for a bit of fun this fine seventh best day of the week. I feel like us Mastodonians have been conditioned to recoil at the mention of “X” these days, which is ridiculous since the letter has existed for, well, x number of years. And, more relevant to our interests here, “X” has been used as the name of (at least) three separate bands: the punk rock band from Australia, the heavy metal band from Japan, and the punk rock band from the US. So, as ye ol’ hardcore band Too Pure To Die once so eloquently said, let’s “X the fuck up” and take X back, if only for a few album spins. In other words, though only the latter band is in <a href="https://1001otheralbums.com/the-list/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The List</a> (or at least <em>was</em>, prior to this post), we’re going to look at all three X bands today.</p><p><strong>X – <em>X-Aspirations</em> (1980, Australia)</strong></p><p>Okay, first up: the Australian X, formed in 1977 by Ian Rilen (a founding/ex-member of hard rock band <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Tattoo" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rose Tattoo</a>), Steve Lucas, Ian Krahe, and Steve Cafiero. The album we spotlight here is their debut album (also just called <em>Aspirations</em>), which was included in the 2010 book <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Best_Australian_Albums" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">100 Best Australian Albums</a></em>. Recorded in a single 5-hour session in 1979 (without Krahe, who had died of an overdose in 1978), the album was released the following year. The band broke up/went on hiatus after the album’s release until 1983, and then would go on to release two more studio albums and three live albums. In 2011, an amazing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6q_ZtAvZJo" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">album of DIY recordings from 1977</a> with the entire original line-up was also released, mixed/mastered from the original four-track masters. While the band is still active, Lucas is the only remaining original member (Cafiero died in 1988, and Rilen in 2006).</p><p>I had never heard <em>X-Aspirations</em> before and enjoyed every single millisecond of it. Standout tracks for me are “I Don’t Wanna Go Out” (a fitting theme song for a pandemic world), “Coat of Green”, and, my favorite, “Waiting”. Also, included on the 2009 reissue (the version in the below YouTube link) is their fantastic cover of John Lennon’s “Mother”, originally released in 1984 as a 7″. If you’re a fan of great punk rock (and bands like Green River), I think you’ll really dig this band. In fact, this album has now been added to The List, it’s that good.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqY4RQ_WrF8" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">YouTube: X – <em>X-Aspirations</em></a></li><li><a href="https://www.discogs.com/master/185155-X-Aspirations" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Discogs: X – <em>X-Aspirations</em></a></li><li><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_(Australian_band)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Wikipedia: X (Australian band)</a></li></ul><p><strong>X – <em>Under The Big Black Sun</em> (1982, US)</strong></p><p>Next up: the American X, also formed in 1977, by John Doe, Exene Cervenka, D.J. Bonebrake (who also played drums for the Germs), and Billy Zoom. The album featured here is number 766 from The List (submitted by <a href="https://esoteric.party/@puffer" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@puffer</a>). This is the album that sparked this post, as it was randomly chosen as the next for me to spotlight, via a Mastodon survey put up the day of the solar eclipse (the winning choice being “Sun 12”, or the 12th album in The List to have “sun” in the title).</p><p>In a later spotlight we’ll take a look at the band’s beginnings and their first album, <em>Los Angeles</em> (as it’s also on The List). <em>Under The Big Black Sun</em>, X’s third album, retains their rockabilly foundation but sounds a bit different than their previous work, being closer to hard rock than punk, and with a more somber mood due to Cervenka’s sister’s tragic death in 1980. While it perhaps didn’t make official lists like the previous two albums, this album is considered by many to be their best, and isn’t a bad place to start if you haven’t checked out (this) X before.</p><ul><li><a href="https://xtheband.bandcamp.com/album/under-the-big-black-sun" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Bandcamp: X – <em>Under The Big Black Sun</em></a></li><li><a href="https://www.discogs.com/master/97600-X-Under-The-Big-Black-Sun" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Discogs: X – <em>Under The Big Black Sun</em></a></li><li><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_(American_band)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Wikipedia: X (American band)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.xtheband.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Website: X the band</a></li></ul><p><strong>X – <em>Vanishing Vision</em> (1988, Japan)</strong></p><p>And lastly: the Japanese X (エックス), formed in 1982 originally as a punk band by Yoshiki and Toshi, fellow Kiss fans who were in high school at the time. They switched to metal, and established their original complete lineup around 1987 when Pata, hide, and Taiji joined. In 1992, the band would change their name to X Japan (エックス・ジャパン), so as to not be confused with the American X (sorry, Australian X…).</p><p>So, like, this X is Huge, with a capital “H”. They’ve been playing the biggest venues since 1991. They’re credited as being an originator of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_kei" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Visual Kei</a> movement/subculture. They’ve released more live albums than studio (six vs. five). They were featured in Sam Dunn’s 2008 documentary <em>Global Metal</em> (including an interview with Yoshiki). The 2016 documentary on Yoshiki and the band <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_X" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">We Are X</a></em> included interviews with Gene Simmons and Stan Lee, premiered at Sundance, and won a number of awards. They’ve influenced not only countless other J-rock/metal bands, but also K-pop. They’ve made greatest Japanese band/album lists for over 20 years. Etc. etc. etc.</p><p>Though their second album, the 1989 <em>Blue Blood</em>, is considered to be their breakthrough album and has made a number of best-of lists, we’re going to spotlight their debut album here, <em>Vanishing Vision</em>, released in 1988. This is 42 minutes of absolutely quality speed/power metal, with lyrics in both Japanese and English. A couple of the tracks would be reworked for the more symphonic/ballad-tinged and polished <em>Blue Blood</em> (including the album’s final unfinished song, which is actually finished for <em>BB</em>), but I think <em>Vanishing Vision</em> has more charm and is more cohesive as an album. Really though, you’ll have a great time listening to either, and, for more X content, you do need to check out the fantastic crowd-friendly song “X” (e.g., <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psGM9zN2Ygc" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">this live 1990 performance</a>), on <em>Blue Blood</em>.</p><p>There’s a lot to dig in with this band – the music, the aesthetics, the drama, multiple tragedies, etc. – so I’ll leave it up to you to go down the X Japan rabbit hole on your own. But one more nugget, seeing as we’re X’ing the fuck up – because the band owns the name, the regional site formerly known as Twitter Japan was not able to rebrand to “X Japan” like a clearly non-metal fan wanted. And so, thank you for existing, X Japan, for multiple reasons. You’ve now been added to The List.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODHgK6fLk9M" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Youtube: X – <em>Vanishing Vision</em></a></li><li><a href="https://www.discogs.com/master/365407-X-Vanishing-Vision" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Discogs: X – <em>Vanishing Vision</em></a></li><li><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Japan" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Wikipedia: X Japan</a></li><li><a href="http://xjapan.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Website: X Japan</a></li><li><a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/X_Japan/2150" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Metal Archives: X Japan</a></li></ul><p>Happy listening, I’ll meet you here again in a couple weeks.</p><p class=""><em>[Alt text for accompanying image: Three album covers are in a row, X-Aspirations in the back left, Vanishing Vision in the back right, and Under The Big Black Sun in the front center. The cover art for X-Aspirations is an image of a black X with a black and white background, with the album title in red font in the left bottom corner. The cover art for Under The Big Black Sun is a black and white drawing of a bedroom with a window looking at a city. The band name is a big gold letter in the top left corner, with the album title in blue font beside. The cover art for Vanishing Vision is a painting of a woman’s torso, wearing a leather corset and neck piece, with a bit of a nip slip situation. A hand is grabbing her right breast, and another hand is holding a knife dripping with blood, presumably the knife that slashed a bloody x into the torso. The band’s name is a grey letter in the top right corner, and the album name is written on a slant across the bottom right corner.]</em></p><p><a href="https://1001otheralbums.com/2024/05/21/x-up/" class="" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://1001otheralbums.com/2024/05/21/x-up/</a></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/1001otheralbums/" target="_blank">#1001OtherAlbums</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/1980s/" target="_blank">#1980s</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/australia/" target="_blank">#Australia</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/metal/" target="_blank">#metal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/post-punk-2/" target="_blank">#postPunk</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/power-metal/" target="_blank">#powerMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/punk/" target="_blank">#punk</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/rock/" target="_blank">#rock</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/speed-metal/" target="_blank">#speedMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/visual-kei/" target="_blank">#visualKei</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/x-band/" target="_blank">#XBand</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/x-japan/" target="_blank">#XJapan</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/yoshiki/" target="_blank">#Yoshiki</a></p>