Endless Rain

"Endless Rain" is the fourth single released by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan (then named X) on December 1, 1989. It is their second single on a major record label and reached number 3 on the Oricon chart.

This article is about the song. For the manga, see Endless Rain (manga).
"Endless Rain"
Single by X
from the album Blue Blood
ReleasedDecember 1, 1989 (1989-12-01)
FormatCD single (8cm)
RecordedJune 10, 1989 at Hibiya Yagai Ongaku (track 2)
GenreSymphonic metal
Length16:25
LabelCBS/Sony
Songwriter(s)Yoshiki
Producer(s)X
X singles chronology
"Kurenai"
(1989)		 "Endless Rain"
(1989)		 "Week End"
(1990)

Summary

The title track is taken from the group's breakthrough album Blue Blood, and is their first ballad released as a single. The B-side is a live version of the song "X", recorded on June 10, 1989 at Hibiya Yagai Ongaku.

Yoshiki said that after members of Sony saw him play a composition by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky on piano while X was waiting to play at a club, they asked him to write a ballad. The resulting song was "Endless Rain".[1]

Rolling Stone referred to the song as "November Rain, minus the bullshit" and called it X's first big chart hit.[1]

A live performance of "Endless Rain" was included as the B-side to their 1990 single "Week End"'.

"Endless Rain" was covered by Japanese singers Angela Aki, at one of her concerts, and Ayumi Nakamura, on her 2008 album "Voice",[2] and by Hong Kong singer Aaron Kwok at one of his concerts. It was also used as the theme song for the movie Zipang.[3][4]

Music videos

Two music videos have been created for "Endless Rain". The first was included on the Shigeki! Visual Shock Vol. 2 home video in 1989.

The second was released on the X Japan Showcase in L.A. Premium Prototype DVD on September 6, 2010. Directed by Russell Thomas and featuring the band performing live on top of the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California in January 2010,[5] it has the sound of the audience added to the audio.

On November 21, 1993, SME Records released X² (ダブルエックス, Daburu Ekkusu, lit. "Double-X"), a short film based on the manga series X by Clamp and set to X Japan's music. It features a slideshow of the manga's artwork set to a medley of X Japan's "Silent Jealousy", "Kurenai" and "Endless Rain" and a music video for the song "X" directed by Shigeyuki Hayashi.[6]

Commercial performance

The single reached number 3 on the Oricon charts, and charted for 31 week.[7] In 1990, with 357,680 copies sold was the 21st best-selling single of the year, being certified Gold by RIAJ.[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Yoshiki.

No.TitleLength
1."Endless Rain"6:35
2."X" (Live Version)9:40
Total length:16:15

Personnel
X
Other
  • Mixing engineer – Motonari Matsumoto
  • Recording engineers – Gremlin, Tetsuhiro Miyajima, Mitsuyasu Abe
  • Assistant engineers – Takashi Ohkubo, Fujishima, Naoki Yamada, Akiko Nakamura, Shigeki Kashii, Lee Chun Fin, Mitsumasa Iwata
  • Orchestral arrangements – Neko Saitō

References
  1. "X Japan's Incredible Ride: Meet Rock's Most Flamboyant Survivors". Rolling Stone. 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  2. "Ayumi Nakamura - Releases - Oricon Style Music" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
  3. "YOSHIKI、米2大殿堂を制覇。夢の舞台でこぼれ落ちた大粒の涙" (in Japanese). Barks. 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  4. "Zipang" (in Japanese). toho.co.jp. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  5. "X JAPAN、LAの空を切り裂いた未曾有のシューティング" (in Japanese). barks.jp. 2010-01-12. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  6. Clamp. Clamp no Kiseki, Vol. 11. Tokyopop. p. 31.
  7. Ｘ　ＪＡＰＡＮのシングル売り上げランキング. oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  8. "月次認定作品　認定年月：1990年 3月" (in Japanese). RIAJ. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
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