Loudness - Disillusion (1984)^{Release ID: 5884}

Osaka-based four-piece heavy metal outfit Loudness haven’t been a band that I’ve connected with much over the years to be honest & none of their first three studio albums left me craving more. 1981’s “The Birthday Eve” & 1982’s “Devil Soldier” albums saw the band trying to find their sound by experimenting in a number of different territories with 70’s hard rock & progressive rock being the main influences. But 1983’s “The Law Of Devil’s Land” album would see Loudness sporting a substantially more modern & well-defined sound presented in a noticeably more polished & commercially accessible package. Sadly, I can’t say that either version of the band offered much for me in the way of lasting appeal but that brings us up to date with album number four “Disillusion” which arrived in January 1984.

This time the band have opted to record the album in London with well-known sound engineer Julian Mendelsohn who had previously worked with popular artists such as Yes, Elton John, Jimmy Page & Bob Marley & I’d have to say that the result sounds pretty decent without ever touching on a glossy high-budget major label-style production. Interestingly enough though, the record prompted a bit of major label interest & given that Loudness had struggled to break out of their home country thus far the decision was made to re-release “Disillusion” with English vocals for the first time. The English release saw the light of day six months after the Japanese language release in July 1984 & it certainly had the desired effect with the album going on to become arguably the most acclaimed Loudness release still to this day. It’s notable that this might actually be the most METAL Loudness record to date too which isn’t what you’d expect from a band who were supposedly trying to break out of the underground into mainstream accessibility. Perhaps heavy metal was making such a big impact at the time that this was less of a risk & more of a positive move? I dunno... but the progressive rock influences we heard on previous releases are still very clear. In fact, there’s a case for “Disillusion” being the most ambitious & complex Loudness record to date from a compositional point of view with that long-standing Rush influence coming right out into the open on a couple of these tracks. There are several moments when Loudness touch upon a more aggressive speed metal sound too & I find those sections to be amongst the most enjoyable. Not so positive though are the couple of sections that hint at a cheesier European power metal sound while second track “Esper” seems to come from a different realm entirely; drawing most of its influence from hardcore punk which isn’t a genre that I generally associate with the band. 

The rhythm section had held back a bit in the name of accessibility on the previous album “The Law Of Devil’s Land” but they put in a much more expansive display here & I find it to make for a more captivating listen. Guitar virtuoso Akira Takasaki is in fine form as usual with his solos once again representing the highlight of the album. He even has a two minute unaccompanied shred piece entitled “Exploder” which is an exciting listen even though it borrows far too much from Eddie Van Halen’s classic “Eruption”. It’s almost as if he’s taken every lick in that piece & reworked it for his own similar version. Front man Minoru Niihara’s vocals have always been a prime feature of the Loudness sound & while he undoubtedly has some talent I do find him a bit grating at various stages of the album. He’s not always bang on the money as far as pitch goes & the English lyrics are absolutely atrocious. Just check out this beautiful poetry from the awful closing ballad “Ares Lament”: 

"You make me smile when I think of you

Although you’re many miles away, far away 

But my heart’s lonely, I love you still 

This clown can’t laugh today 

My arms are open for you 

I need to hold you closer 

Can’t you see, you leave me so breathless 

Why do you do this to me 

I can’t go on without you 

I’ll never leave you any more 

I am so lonely, so what can I do? 

Oh baby, oh baby 

I am so lonely, so lonely for you 

Oh baby, oh baby 

I have nowhere to go, no one to hold 

Nothing to keep me here, I’ve thrown it all away 

My heart is lonely, but still I’ll try 

This clown won’t cry today" 

Wow! That’s some dark & nasty underground metal s**t right there, isn’t it? Satan would be throwing in the towel after hearing that. I’m genuinely hopeful that it’s all lost in the translation but given how terrible the song is I won’t get my hopes up. And ultimately, this is a big part of the problem I have with Loudness. They can undoubtedly play their instruments. In fact, they’re all very strong musicians when you look at them individually. Bassist Masayoshi Yamashita puts in a fabulous display here & Akira is right up there with the absolute elite metal shredders of the time. But sadly, Loudness still have this habit of ruining their good work with cheesy & decidedly unintimidating rubbish like “Ares Lament” & also some tracks that are clearly leftover filler. I mean I like more than half of the songs on the tracklisting here but I simply can’t recover from the obvious duds. If only they’d stick to their guns & focus all their attention on making the classic progressive metal record they’ve always hinted at on songs like “Butterfly” then we’d all be sitting here singing their praises but as long as they continue to focus some of their attention on satisfying the Japanese pop market I’ll find very little sustained enjoyment in their records.