BLUE BLOOD

This is the major-label debut, issued under the name X. It was recorded between 6 January and 12 March 1989 at CBS/Sony's Roppongi and Shinanomachi studios and at Sound City, self-produced, and released by CBS/Sony on 21 April 1989. The band did not become X Japan until 24 August 1992. The line-up is Toshi on vocals, hide and Pata on guitars, Taiji on bass and Yoshiki on drums and piano. Fast songs and piano-led ballads sit on the same record, and Yoshiki wrote both kinds. It reached number 6 on the Oricon chart, stayed on it for 108 weeks, sold about 712,000 copies and was certified gold in December 1989. The slogan printed on the sleeve, "Psychedelic Violence Crime of Visual Shock", is where the Japanese term visual kei comes from. The running order here is the CD's as printed; the double LP issued the same day runs in a different order.