Stand Up For The Future

RAILROAD, a melodic hard rock band formed in Tokyo's live-house circuit in 1995, release their first full-length album, Stand Up For The Future, on 21 October 2026. B.T.H. Records issue it as BTH-121: ten tracks, with instrumentals at either end and the band's own name as the title of track nine. Two songs reached streaming services ahead of the CD, the title track on 16 September 2026 and "Secret Game" on 30 September, and their streaming credits name guitarist Kenji Onizuka as the composer of both, Onizuka and keyboard player Takuo Kobayashi as producers, and singer Tatsu Sakiyama as the title song's lyricist. Onizuka and Sakiyama founded the group; bassist Hajime Morikawa arrived after several changes in the rhythm section, Kobayashi later made it a five-piece, and they played clubs such as Ikebukuro Adm and Club Goodman in Akihabara before an open-ended break. The death of their original drummer in 2016, and the memorial concert held for him, brought them back together. They formally resumed in 2019 and spent the pandemic years recording until the sessions were complete in 2022, gaining drummer Junichi Yamamura along the way, then went back to regular shows in November 2022. The EP TIMELESS followed on 1 June 2023, after its launch show at Koenji Showboat on 27 May. The label presents the new album as melodic hard rock with 1980s-style arrangements, aimed also at fans of Western hard rock.