By A. Lee Graham    
                                                                     

There’s more to Loudness than “Crazy Nights.” Much more.

Before the metal anthem met chart success in 1985, its creators released four studio albums that stirred a tsunami of support among a growing fan base.

And now comes Rise to Glory, the Japanese quartet’s 29th studio album and latest stab at stateside success. Despite visa issues that sometimes scuttled tours, the loud boys reach these shores every few years to remind fans what a lethal metal machine they continue to be.

Following its 1981 formation, Loudness crafted four albums entwining metal energy and progressive ambition, with Disillusion making a fan of this rock journalist. Then came Thunder In The East, released by Atco Records the following year and scoring a major hit with “Crazy Nights.”

U.S. audiences flocked to see the first Japanese metal band to gain stateside popularity. Sure, Vow Wow, Anthem and Earthshaker made waves in the Far East, but only Loudness managed to penetrate Western culture. The momentum continued with Lightning Strikes when “Let It Go” gained MTV exposure, albeit muted compared with “Crazy Nights.”

But vocalist Minoru Niihara got the boot after 1987’s Hurricane Eyes, with American vocalist Mike Vescera taking over for Soldier of Fortune and On the Prowl.

What followed were decades of stylistic schizophrenia as the musicians downtuned, got heavier and lost the sound that built their fan base. But the past decade saw a turnaround as Loudness embraced the guitar soloing, vocal screaming and melody that marked its ‘80s glory years.

As Rise to Glory enjoys its moment in the rising sun, Minoru Niihara took time to answer a few questions.

Lee: Congratulations on Rise to Glory. To these ears, it returns to your ‘80s sound without sacrificing the power of later albums. Would you agree?

Minoru: I don't think we intentionally tried to sound like ‘80s, but I guess that's a great opinion, anyway.

Lee: Did you set out to capture the guitar solo approach, vocal style and production of albums like Thunder In The East, Lightning Strikes and Hurricane Eyes when writing and recording Rise to Glory?

Minoru: I didn't have those albums in my mind. But 90 percent of the vocals melodies were written by [guitarist] Akira Takasaki, which was the same way we had done in the ‘80s, so probably that's why it reminds you of the ‘80s.

Lee: What’s your favorite song from the new album? And what made you decide to re-record some early Loudness songs for the second disc?

Minoru: My faves are “Go For Broke", “The Voice" and “No Limits.” 

We were asked to do something special for 35th anniversary and decided to re-record the songs from the first three albums. I was 55 years old at that time and it was a very interesting challenge to redo the songs which we wrote at the age of 20! We recorded them with the same key and the same arrangement and it was big fun. We thought it'd be a good opportunity to have those who were not aware of us listen to our early works.

Lee: How would you compare Rise to Glory to The Sun Will Rise Again, its immediate predeccessor? What makes it different?

Minoru: The Sun Will Rise Again was recorded in 2011, just after the big earthquake hit Japan. All the Japanese people were completely down then. So we wanted to let the album have a message, "Don't give up hope.” I think it's a very heavy and metallic album with some edge soundwise. 

Rise To Glory has a message "Make an action with a dream.” In other words, "Living is not a bad thing.” I believe the vocals got a more melodic approach compared to "The Sun Will Rise Again.”

Lee: Loudness dramatically changed its sound in the ‘90s, going for a more downtuned, heavy approach that went unnoticed in the states and caught many of your fans off guard. Were you trying to fit in with the ‘90s by downplaying guitar solos and going for a sound more akin to Pantera or nu metal? The rise of grunge definitely made the decade rather challenging for most metal bands.

Minoru: Probably you're right about it, although I was not in Loudness in the ‘90s so I don't know the details. Definitely ‘90s metal bands tend to have darker sounds.

Lee: You scored a major hit with “Crazy Nights,” but is it frustrating for a band with 27 studio albums to be known for a single song, at least in North America?

Minoru: I’d rather say we're lucky enough to have one famous song and we're honored about it.

Lee: I saw Keel open the Thunder in the East tour. What do you remember about that tour? Did you and the Keel guys interact much, party together, or did each camp mostly stick to itself?

Minoru: The Keel members were nice guys. They were not a so-called party band, so we didn't go through any crazy things. They were quiet and nice people. As Loudness had a big tour bus, they were sometimes travelling and sleeping on it. I remember being surprised that Ron Keel was keeping drinking beers from sound check and still his shout was strong enough every night. 

We were hanging out together at backstage, but basically each band stuck to itself. We all were exhausted after long drive.

Lee: I always wanted to know what you thought about being replaced by Mike Vescera. Why did you decide to leave the band, or were you fired? (keep in mind that American press didn’t really cover this chapter in Loudness history).

Minoru: I was fired. Right after the recording of Soldier of Fortune was started, they told me that they wanted to change the vocalist. Probably they had a lot of complaints against me. When I was fired, they didn't have a new vocalist yet. So they stopped recording and started auditioning. That's what I heard. I guess they wanted to re-start Loudness with an American vocalist.

Lee: What did you think of Mike’s performance on Soldier of Fortune and On The Prowl?

Minoru: He did a great job. Especially “Soldier of Fortune” is a classic song and his vocal performance on it is perfect! He has an amazing voice! I guess it wasn't easy for him to work with Loudness without understanding Japanese.

Lee: Did you ever expect to rejoin the band? What brought you back?

Minoru: Akira contacted me and told me about his idea about the reunion of the original Loudness members for the 20th anniversary.  Back then I had just started my own band and was never thinking about going back to Loudness. But I also thought the idea about reunion for 20th anniversary was good so decided to take his offer.

Lee: Masayuki Suzuki entered the ranks for King of Pain in 2010, succeeding Munetaka Higuchi on the drum throne. Munetaka was a really beloved guy and such a strong drummer. How did you find Masayuki and how would you describe his drumming style compared to Munetaka?

Minoru: One day Akira's friend introduced Masayuki to him and they had a jam session together. Akira seems to have been thinking that Masayuki was a good drummer since then. So he took Masayuki to the audition claiming that he could be the only candidate to take Munetaka's place. Masayoshi and I met him for the first time at the audition. 

Munetaka was a huge fan of John Bonham and he was good at playing a heavy groovy beat with one bass drum. Masayuki is rather good at thrash-metal-like speedy beat with double bass drum. 

Lee: You guys have toured exhaustively through the years and were a successful act years before Thunder In The East earned your U.S. following. After that success in your homeland, what was it like touring the West when you couldn’t speak English? I always wanted to know what went through your mind as you traveled the country, meeting fans, yet were unable to understand what they were saying.

Minoru: Imagine you tour in Japan communicating in Japanese. Well, but you'll get used to the situation in 1 or 2 months. Interviews weren't easy though. You don't need a lot of vocabularies for rock concert or everyday life, you know.

Lee: Do any of you speak English now?

Minoru: The girls I was dating in the ‘80s were all Americans and none of them understood Japanese. My English is at least good enough to deal with them without having any problem.

Lee: Can fans expect a world tour this year? Your last tour was canceled due to visa issues, if I remember correctly. We were quite disappointed when you canceled the tour.

Minoru: We’re very sorry about the cancellation. We apologize to fans who were looking forward to the shows and the promoters. We're working hard on Visa things right now so that we can come to the U.S. before this summer.

Lee: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions, Minoru. Is there anything else you would like to tell your fans?

Minoru: Thanks to your support, we've been together for as long as 37 years. We truly appreciate it. Listen to our new album Rise To Glory! Keep on rockin’!

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