BAD COMMUNICATION

BAD COMMUNICATION
Mini album by B'z
Released	October 21st, 1989
Recorded	1989
Genre	Dance rock
Length	22:24
Producer	Masao Nakajima
B'z chronology

The special promotional vinyl issued to radio stations around the time of release. The record contained the shortened four-minute versions of both the Japanese and English versions of "BAD COMMUNICATION".

BAD COMMUNICATION is the first mini album by B'z, released on October 21, 1989. Billed as a "dance oriented special" release, the mini album was not expected to be a hit, instead originally meant to serve as a bridge between their second and third studio albums. Upon release, however, it proved a massive success and gave the band their first taste of national fame. The dance and rock blend was received extremely favorably within the Japanese music scene, giving the band the opportunity to perform on television for the first time in November and again in December of 1989, performing the album's title track. The buzz generated from the album also resulted in three brief touring events at the end of 1989 during which the title song was routinely performed to much fanfare.

Since the year of its release, "BAD COMMUNICATION" has become one of the most popular songs the band has ever produced, even two decades later. Due to the song's immense popularity, several variants exist throughout the B'z catalogue. A promotional vinyl was made available to radio stations and club venues that included an abbreviated Japanese version that cut the runtime down to four minutes that was otherwise not released. A karaoke version of the title song could be found on cassette tape copies of the album. This karaoke version would later be one of the many karaoke tracks included on the 1992 karaoke album B'z TV Style SONGLESS VERSION.

Additionally, at the time of the original recording, B'z also prepared an English version as one of the earliest examples of their English songs. The resulting version, entitled "Bad Communication E.Style", saw several live performances in its infancy period. The English version was originally only made available to radio stations on a promotional vinyl, and was produced in both four and seven minute variants. It would be released the next year on their follow-up mini album WICKED BEAT. Koshi later said in a 1998 interview that he was not sure which version's lyrics he liked most, having grown attached to both. Years later, B'z returned to the original song for LOOSE—their 1995 studio album that would also contain fellow perennial hit "LOVE PHANTOM" and become their best-selling album of the sort in their history. The bluesy, rock-infused acoustic reversion was retitled "BAD COMMUNICATION (000-18)" and featured the Japanese lyrics.

In the nearly twenty years since its original release and countless live performances later, the band had gradually formed a more hard rock arrangement for the song as part of their LIVE-GYMs. Fans had long wanted to hear a studio version of this hard rock reversion on an official release, and in 2008, their wish was finally granted. One of two 20th anniversary compilations, this one titled B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure", featured two new re-recordings amongst thirty total hit songs from their entire history. The opening track, "BAD COMMUNICATION -ULTRA Pleasure Style", was the hard rock, definitive version of the all-time classic that fans had clamored for in the decades since it came to be on the live stage.

Unlike the band's other most popular works, the original version of "BAD COMMUNICATION" has never been collected on any other official B'z work. This is due to the band's very earliest releases belonging to a different publisher than their later works. After B'z left the label, their original representatives, BMG Japan, did release an unauthorized compilation of B'z material still under their control with the title Flash Back -B'z Early Special Titles-. The release, which contained all tracks from the mini album, was not endorsed or supported by Tak and Koshi, whose images were legally prohibited from being used to promote the release in any way. Later, in 1998, when B'z released their first official compilation, B'z The Best "Pleasure", the four-minute English version was included in place of the original since B'z held its rights. Subsequently, the compilation quickly became the best-selling album in the history of Japanese music. The English version would also later be included on the 2002 Korea-only mini album DEVIL that suitably featured all English songs.

Although a mini album by design, the Recording Industry Association of Japan certified its Million seller status for that of a single, though Oricon certified the release as a mini album. The release is one of only two releases in Japanese history to achieve one million sales without having entered the top ten. Ultimately, the mini album finished at number 12 on the Oricon charts for the year of 1989. However, due to the rise of the band's popularity in the years immediately following, it was the 29th highest seller of 1990, and again made the year-end charts in 1991 and 1992, where it placed 26th and 87th, respectively.

Track listing

All music and guitar by Tak Matsumoto. All lyrics and lead vocals by Koshi Inaba.

BAD COMMUNICATION
File:m01 01.ogg Undoubtedly one of the band's most popular songs for any number of reasons, it has remained a classic since the day it was released in every sense. It remains one of the few songs that was recorded in both Japanese and English in its initial recording sessions, with the English version being featured on several releases, including WICKED BEAT in 1990, B'z The Best "Pleasure" in 1998 and DEVIL in 2002. The hard rock re-recording found on B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure" was the culmination of nearly two decades of live performances in which the song gradually became a hard rock song from its original dance-infused roots. To this day, the song remains one of the five most performed songs by the band, ranking at the top with fellow classics "ZERO" and "ultra soul". Among its many appearances on various album tours over the years, it is also virtually always expected to appear at some point during the band's special Pleasure tours, where their most beloved tracks are showcased for fans on anniversaries and other special occasions.
OUT OF THE RAIN -OFF THE LOCK STYLE-
File:m01 02.ogg An entirely English version of "Kimi wo Ima Dakitai" from their 1988 self-titled debut album. The resulting track became and remains the longest song in their catalogue, with a runtime of 7 minutes and 38 seconds. It has been performed on only one tour, that being B'z BAD-CLUB GYM's three dates in October 1989.
DA.KA.RA.SO.NO.TE.O.HA.NA.SHI.TE -OFF THE LOCK STYLE-
File:m01 03.ogg The English version of the band's very first song and their first single, "Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite". The English version's lyrics develop on the same thematic elements of the original, though the song is much longer with nearly four minutes of additional runtime. The arrangement and composition are significantly altered from the original, featuring an even greater emphasis on the electronic and dance sound of the original. Notably, the lyrics still retain the two most prominent Japanese lines from the chorus as the crux for the melody. As with the previous track, it has been performed on only one tour: B'z BAD-CLUB GYM's three dates in October 1989.

Reversion history

Main article: B'z Reversioned Songs

Original Song	Reversion History
BAD COMMUNICATION MINI ALBUM SONG (1988)	REMIX: BAD COMMUNICATION (JAPANESE SHORT VERSION) (1989) Released only on a promotional BAD COMMUNICATION vinyl sent to Japanese radio stations. ENGLISH: Bad Communication E.Style (1990) The full entirely English version found only on 1990 mini album WICKED BEAT that runs over seven minutes. KARAOKE: BAD COMMUNICATION [Karaoke Version] (1992) Karaoke version found only on B'z TV Style SONGLESS VERSION based on the original song. RE-RECORDING: BAD COMMUNICATION (000-18) (1996) Acoustic version released only on 1995 studio album LOOSE that also features harmonica. ENGLISH: Bad Communication E.Style [English Short Version] (1998) Shortened version of "Bad Communication E.Style" from WICKED BEAT released only on B'z The Best "Pleasure" and later the 2002 Korea-only mini album DEVIL. RE-RECORDING: BAD COMMUNICATION -ULTRA Pleasure Style- (2008) Hard rock re-imagining released only on B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure" as the opener.
Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite SINGLE & ALBUM SONG (1988)	ENGLISH: DA.KA.RA.SO.NO.TE.WO.HA.NA.SHI.TE -OFF THE LOCK STYLE- (1989) One of the band's first English reversions, found only on the mini album BAD COMMUNICATION in 1989. KARAOKE: Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite [Karaoke Version] (1992) Karaoke version found only on B'z TV Style SONGLESS VERSION. RE-RECORDING: Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite -Mixture style- (2000) Hard-rock re-recording released as a B-side to single "Konya Tsuki no Mieru Oka ni" and later as part of remix and re-recordings compilation B'z The "Mixture".
Kimi wo Ima Dakitai ALBUM SONG (1988)	ENGLISH: OUT OF THE RAIN -OFF THE LOCK STYLE- (1989) English version found only on English mini album BAD COMMUNICATION. With a runtime of 7:41, it is the longest song in the B'z catalogue.