Yoshiki - Anime Convention Personality of the Week - September 24, 2006
If
you called him the Elvis of Japan you'd get close to expressing
Yoshiki's popularity, but his talent goes further than that. You'd have
to toss in some Bob Dylan and Quincy Jones too, to get across this
musician's composing and performance talent across several types of
music. Both Dylan and Jones changed styles as their talent evolved, and
so has Yoshiki. He began as one of the kings of the outrageous visual
kei genre with the X Japan, and for years he was among the undisputed
kings of Japanese rock. But X Japan faded and broke up, and here's
where the Elvis comparison is especially true. Presley had a bleak
period of his career where his popularity declined, and Yoshiki stopped
performing after X Japan broke apart. But Elvis returned to popularity,
and Yoshiki also returned to performances with new bands. The Jones
comparison comes into play from Yoshiki's experience as a producer;
like Jones, Yoshiki has been as effective as a producer as he's been as
a performer. And Yoshiki's fans have a lot to anticipate from him,
especially after his Otakon announcement that he was going to form a
band with the legendary Gackt.
If
you called him the Elvis of Japan you'd get close to expressing
Yoshiki's popularity, but his talent goes further than that. You'd have
to toss in some Bob Dylan and Quincy Jones too, to get across this
musician's composing and performance talent across several types of
music. Both Dylan and Jones changed styles as their talent evolved, and
so has Yoshiki. He began as one of the kings of the outrageous visual
kei genre with the X Japan, and for years he was among the undisputed
kings of Japanese rock. But X Japan faded and broke up, and here's
where the Elvis comparison is especially true. Presley had a bleak
period of his career where his popularity declined, and Yoshiki stopped
performing after X Japan broke apart. But Elvis returned to popularity,
and Yoshiki also returned to performances with new bands. The Jones
comparison comes into play from Yoshiki's experience as a producer;
like Jones, Yoshiki has been as effective as a producer as he's been as
a performer. And Yoshiki's fans have a lot to anticipate from him,
especially after his Otakon announcement that he was going to form a
band with the legendary Gackt.