The Yellow Monkey
| The Yellow Monkey | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Yemon |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | Rock, hard rock |
| Years active | 1989–2001 |
| Labels | BMG/Funhouse |
| Website | www.theyellowmonkey.com |
| Past members | |
| Kazuya Yoshii Hideaki Kikuchi Yoichi Hirose Eiji Kikuchi |
|
The Yellow Monkey (ザ・イエロー・モンキー), often abbreviated as Yemon (イエモン), was a Japanese rock band active from 1989 to 2001. They officially disbanded on July 7, 2004.
The band's name was derived from the ethnic slur that Japanese people look like monkeys, and that Asian people are said to be "yellow" in skin color. The Yellow Monkey took part in the first Fuji Rock Festival in 1997, and their song "Kyūkon" reached #1 on the Oricon weekly single charts in 1998.
The Yellow Monkey is considered an important rock group of Japan. They achieved major success in Japan and were ranked 81 in HMV's list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. Outside Asia, the band is known for their song "Tactics", one of the many ending themes of the Rurouni Kenshin anime.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1989–1994: The beginning
Towards the end of the 1980s, many rock bands had appeared in Japan, some of which, like The Yellow Monkey, would become important for the musical scene. Officially, 1989 was considered the first year for the band. Kazuya had played bass in a band called Urgh Police, a hard rock – glam rock band, before they disbanded. He met Youichi in the show houses of Tokyo. They, along with Eiji, and brother, Hideaki, decided to join and form a rock-and-roll band.
Kazuya Yoshii, Hideki Kikuchi, his brother Eiji and Youichi Hirose started to play in the underground circuit, being well known for not only their latent songwriting quality, but also because of their live performances, which would soon become the main characteristics of the group. A show house at which the four formerly played was the La Mama, in Shibuya. The fans of the band grew vertiginously, preparing the band for their first studio work.
In 1991, the band finally launched their first indie album, Bunched Birth, which had seven original songs. It was an album with raw sonority, with many influences from hard rock, and containing well-shaped but peculiar lyrics (all of them written by Kazuya Yoshii). The work was very well-received by the public, opening the doors for their first major album, The Night Snails and Plastic Boogie, of 1992. The new album brought eleven songs more elaborate than the first work. The band had a considerable increase in popularity, which added to single "Romantist Taste" and to the ballad "Pearl Light of Revolution", that already gave samples of the potential of Kazuya in composing powerful ballads.
In 1993, the band launched their second major album, Experience Movie. The songs had a better production and care with the sonority. The songs of the album were very strong and with high emotional text.[citation needed] The band also started to be admired for their live performances, due to the band's charisma and Kazuya's extreme performances. However, the band had not yet become a large public success in Japan.
In 1994, they released the album Jaguar Hard Pain, a conceptual album which tells the saga of Jaguar, a World War II soldier who dies in combat and comes back to life trying to find his love, Mary. This was the last album from the first period of the band, when their songs did not have as much popular sound appeal. By the end of that tour, the band made what many others[who?] took many years to obtain, a show in the Nippon Budokan.
[edit] 1995–2000: The Success
The Yellow Monkey had already become successful in Japan. However, by the year 1995, they had released the album Smile, giving the band the momentum to do a show in London. The album was another critical and public success, and the band released the single "Love Communication". Other songs that became classics of the band are "Nagekunari Waga Yoru no Fantasy", "Nettaiya", the powerful ballad "Hard Rain" and "Venus no Hana". The tour for this album in Japan booked more than 40 major shows.
When it seemed that the band would rest, at the end of that same year, they released the album Four Seasons, which was recorded in London. The album reached #1 on the Oricon charts. The album had more-accessible songs, and reached a warm reception by the fans. There were also fans of anime because the song "Tactics" was used as the first end theme of the anime Rurouni Kenshin / Samurai X, becoming their most successful single up until then. Many other classics were already identified, such as "Taiyou Ga Moeteiru", the good rock-and-roll track "I Love You Baby" and songs such as "Father", "Tsuioku no Mermaid" and "Tsuki no Uta". Despite the thundering success of the record, the Yellow Monkey continued being a cult band, since the lyrics and live performances remained consistent.
After two back-to-back record releases, the band decided to take a break for one year. The decision was aided by Kazuya's stress from the constant and exhausting work of the two previous albums. At the end of 1996, however, the band put on a special show, the Mekara Uroko 7. It was a concert for the oldest fans of the band, in which they had played older songs from before the Smile album. Many of these old fans considered those songs to be mainstream and pop in excess. An unforgettable part of this concert was the moment where they played "Pearl Light of Revolution" with an orchestral arrangement. This according to Kazuya, was one of the best moments in his career.
In 1997, The Yellow Monkey came back with the album that is considered their magnum opus, Sicks. This album brought a different sonority compared to the two previous works. It was a mix of their current sound combined with that of their first albums. Bringing more complex and mature songs, Sicks, was an amazing critical success and repeated the sales of the previous album. The main characteristic of the record is the concern of the band with the arrangements, which becomes more evident already in the first track, "Rainbow Man". The only single of the album was "Rakuen", which was successful and is still one of their best known songs.[citation needed] Despite being a concise album, whose songs are all equivalent in quality, there are three songs that made the album legendary. The first one is the already cited "Rakuen", with a strong chorus. The second is the ballad "Jinsei no Owari (for Grandmother)", considered by many as the best ballad by The Yellow Monkey. The third song is the long eight-minute epic, "Tengoku Ryokou", again considered among the best songs of the group.
In the year 1998, the band released the album Punch Drunkard, which was a commercial success, although not to the extent of their previous album. The songs "Kyuukon", "Burn", and "Love Love Show" easily became hits. Although containing accessible songs, such as the ones cited in this article, the album used the song-writing method of the previous album, Sicks. The success of the album made it possible for the band to begin a great tour with 115 live concerts, the most of their career. They also did a small tour in the United Kingdom.
After the exhausting succession of concerts and tours, the group took a one-year break. Coming back in 2000, the Yellow Monkey released their last studio album, 8. They released many singles such as "Seinaru Umi to Sunshine", "Pearl", "Barairo no Hibi" and "Shock Hearts", all of them achieving great success. The album is considered the most occidental of the band, which was common for all Japanese bands at that time. Despite the success of the album, the group did not stage many concerts that year, already showing that the end was coming.
[edit] 2001–2004: The End
In 2001, the group announced that it was taking a break for an indefinite time, but still released the compilation Golden Years Singles 1996–2001. The members released many solo albums, with Kazuya reaching more success, now adopting the artistic name of Yoshii Lovinson, which was abandoned some years later. Hirose also obtained relative success with his new band, Heesey with the Dudes.
In 2004, the band released a large compilation Mother of All the Best, which included three discs with some singles, all b-sides, some demo-version songs and live performances. Immediately afterward, they officially announced the end of the band.
[edit] Members
- Kazuya "Lovin" Yoshii (vocals and guitar)
- Hideaki "Emma" Kikuchi (guitar, backing vocals)
- Youichi "Heesey" Hirose (bass, backing vocals)
- Eiji "Annie" Kikuchi (drums)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio Album
| Released | Title | |
| Indies | 1991/7/21 | Bunched Birth |
| 1st | 1992/6/21 | The Night Snails and Plastic Boogie |
| 2nd | 1993/3/1 | Experience Movie |
| 3rd | 1994/3/1 | Jaguar Hard Pain 1944〜1994 |
| 4th | 1995/2/1/ | Smile |
| 5th | 1995/11/1 | Four Seasons |
| 6th | 1997/1/22/ | Sicks |
| 7th | 1998/3/4/ | Punch Drunkard |
| 8th | 2000/7/26 | 8 |
[edit] Compilation
| Released | Title | |
| Unofficial Best Of | 1996/12/7 | Triad Years The Very Best of The Yellow Monkey |
| Unofficial Best Of | 1997/4/19 | Triad Years The Very Best of The Yellow Monkey |
| Unofficial Single Collection | 1998/2/10 | The Yellow Monkey Single Collection |
| Unofficial Best Of | 2001/3/1 | Triad Years The Very Best of The Yellow Monkey |
| Single Collection | 2001/6/13 | Golden Years Singles 1996-2001 |
| Best Of | 2004/12/8/ | The Yellow Monkey Mother of All The Best |
[edit] External links
- The Yellow Monkey Official homepage
- Yoshii Kazuya Official homepage
- Youichi Hirose Official homepage
