Liar! Liar!

Liar! Liar!
Single by B'z
from the album SURVIVE
Released	October 8, 1997
Promotions	#1 ("Music Freak TV" CM Theme) #1 ('97 NHL Japan Opening Theme) #2 ("J-Rock Artist Count Down 50" Ending Theme)
Length	6:55
Label	Rooms Records
Producer	Tak Matsumoto
B'z singles chronology
"Calling" (1997) "Liar! Liar!" (1997) "Samayoeru Aoi Dangan" (1998)

Liar! Liar! is the twenty-third single by B'z, released on October 8, 1997. The song became the lead single for the band's ninth album, SURVIVE, released later in the year. In 1998, it would be collected for the first time on B'z The Best "Treasure", where it was voted in at seventh place by fans and was found in a slightly remastered form. The single version was found again in 2013 on the singles collection B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998. The single's B-side "Biribiri" would later be remixed for B'z The "Mixture" in 2000 as "Biribiri -Mixture mix-" and has not since been made available elsewhere. The title song saw its live debut during the course of B'z LIVE-GYM '98 "SURVIVE" and has become a hit on the stage ever since, with follow-up performances continuing for over ten years since. On the contrary, its B-side has not yet been performed in any form.

Marty Friedman, guitarist of American heavy metal band Megadeath, became a fan of the band due to the single. While visiting Japan with his own band, he confessed to being shocked upon hearing "Liar! Liar!" and asked, "Whose song is that?" After being told it was the latest single by B'z, he visited a local record shop, bought the CD, and has been a fan ever since.

The promotional video for the single was filmed in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. In addition, a number of offbeat commercials were filmed in the city as well, including Tak at a bar, Koshi performing ventriloquism, and the two of them hitchhiking together. In a later televised roundup of the ten best commercials by the band, the "Liar! Liar!" promotions ranked as the best of the many to that point. In addition, there were tie-ins to promote the single's release as well. "Liar! Liar!" served as the theme to "Music Freak TV" on SKY's PerfecTV service as well as the opening theme to 1997 broadcasts of the NHL in Japan, while "Biribiri" became the ending theme to "J-Rock Artist Count Down 50".

The single sold over 469,000 in its first week on shelves and would go on to become certified Triple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. The sales warranted ranking at the top of the weekly and monthly charts at the time of release, and resulted in the single becoming the twentieth highest selling of the year of 1997.

Track listing

1. Liar! Liar!

   A hard rock, guitar-driven song, it was not chosen easily as the single from SURVIVE. It was at the end of recording when a single couldn't be settled on that the song came to fruition and immediately was chosen for the occasion. In contrast with the next single, "Calling", which took over seven months to complete, Tak claimed that "Liar! Liar!" was completed in the shortest time to date for the band. The song has found great popularity on the live stage, where its high energy has permitted it fairly frequent inclusion over the years. The song was performed in LIVE-GYMs in 1998, 1999, internationally in 2002, and the band's 15th anniversary tour in 2003. It would be revived for B'z LIVE-GYM 2008 "ACTION" after a five year absence, and would be performed again three years later for B'z LIVE-GYM 2011 -C'mon-.

2. Biribiri — Shiver, ビリビリ

   As is the case with the title song, the B-side is driven by guitar riffs. It was completed in the early stages of the SURVIVE sessions with Akihito Tokunaga, but remains one of several B-sides to have never been played live by the band. Apart from this release, it can only be found in remixed form on B'z The "Mixture", released in 2000.

Personnel

B'z

• Tak Matsumoto: Guitar, Music Composition, Arrangement
• Koshi Inaba: Vocals, Lyric Composition, Arrangement

Drums

• Yamaki Hideo: Drums

Bass

• Akihito Tokunaga: Bass (TRACK 1), Arrangement