FRIENDS: Difference between revisions
| Line 40: | Line 40: | ||
::::[[File:m04_04.ogg]] As with other instrumentals on the album, "Love Is..." is performed by one instrument, in this case a keyboard. Its melody is sourced from the the next track, "Koi Jyanakunaru Hi", and is effected to sound akin to a music box. | ::::[[File:m04_04.ogg]] As with other instrumentals on the album, "Love Is..." is performed by one instrument, in this case a keyboard. Its melody is sourced from the the next track, "Koi Jyanakunaru Hi", and is effected to sound akin to a music box. | ||
:<small>SCENE 3:</small> '''[[Koi Jyanakunaru Hi (Lyrics)|Koi Jyanakunaru Hi]]''' — ''The Day Love Ceased to Be'', 恋じゃなくなる日 | :<small>SCENE 3:</small> '''[[Koi Jyanakunaru Hi (Lyrics)|Koi Jyanakunaru Hi]]''' — ''The Day Love Ceased to Be'', 恋じゃなくなる日 | ||
:::[[File:m04_04.ogg]] '''Conflict''' | :::[[File:m04_04.ogg]] '''Conflict:''' | ||
::::<font color="white">.</font> | ::::<font color="white">.</font> | ||
:<small>SCENE 4:</small> '''SEASONS''' | :<small>SCENE 4:</small> '''SEASONS''' | ||
| Line 49: | Line 49: | ||
::::<font color="white">.</font> | ::::<font color="white">.</font> | ||
:<small>SCENE 6:</small> '''[[Itsuka no Merry Christmas (Lyrics)|Itsuka no Merry Christmas (Reprise)]]''' — ''A Merry Christmas Once Upon A Time'', いつかのメリークリスマス | :<small>SCENE 6:</small> '''[[Itsuka no Merry Christmas (Lyrics)|Itsuka no Merry Christmas (Reprise)]]''' — ''A Merry Christmas Once Upon A Time'', いつかのメリークリスマス | ||
:::[[File:m04_08.ogg]] '''Conclusion''': '' | :::[[File:m04_08.ogg]] '''Conclusion''': ''Christmas has come around once again as it all returns to the beginning.'' | ||
::::To close the album, this piano-only reprise of "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" brings the story back to the where it began. | ::::To close the album, this piano-only reprise of "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" brings the story back to the where it began. | ||
Revision as of 11:39, 12 November 2017
| FRIENDS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Mini album by B'z | ||||
| Released | December 9, 1992 | |||
| Genre | Adult rock | |||
| Length | 26:47 | |||
| Producer | Tak Matsumoto | |||
| B'z chronology | ||||
| ||||
FRIENDS is the fourth mini album by B'z, released on December 9, 1992. The release is their first concept album, with each song contributing to an overall story for the first time in the B'z catalogue. The music was composed to be akin to that of the soundtrack to a movie, with each track being labeled as "scenes". A follow-up album entitled FRIENDS II would be released four years later in 1996 but would not feature a connected narrative.
The mini album would be the band's first venture into "adult-oriented rock" music when it hit shelves in December of 1992. It stood in stark contrast to their fall album RUN that contained hard rock numbers such as "ZERO" and "Out Of Control" and aided in demonstrating their versatility. Tak Matsumoto noted that the genesis of the project was that, "I wanted to make an album that was like a movie's soundtrack." The songs' connected lyrics were all written in the course of one flight, according to Koshi Inaba. The vocal tracks are thus represented by four themes: "Recollections", "Reunion", "Conflict", and "Resolution". The title of the album, "FRIENDS", is meant to encompass the overall theme of the narrative as the protagonists are not romantically linked at the time of the story.
The album's opening vocal song "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" has proven one of the band's most popular songs of any sort. It has been downloaded over 500,000 times as a ringtone according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan, and has sold more than 100,000 in the form of a full-length download for cell phones alone. To date, decades later, the song is often requested and played in Japan during the holiday season and is the subject of frequent covers on numerous television programs, including a popular cover performed by fellow Japanese artists Gackt and Ayumi Hamasaki as a duet in 2001. B'z themselves have only performed the song on television three times: in 1994, 2002, and 2005. The song would also be the subject of two reversions on two separate winter compilations, with the releases of The Ballads ~Love & B'z~ in 2002 and B'z The Best "Pleasure II" in 2005.
Despite its enduring popularity, "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" is suitably only performed at LIVE-GYM concerts when the band's tour schedule runs into winter months. Fellow album track "Boku no Tsumi" has never been performed live, with "Koi Jyanakunaru Hi" and "Doushite mo Kimi wo Ushinaitakunai" being performed only during B'z LIVE-GYM '93 "RUN".
Upon release, concept album FRIENDS sold 706,950 physical copies in its first week. This would make it their highest-selling mini album debut to that point, with its sequel FRIENDS II succeeding it. As with all other B'z mini albums released to date, FRIENDS has been certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for sales in excess of 1,355,530 physical copies sold. The lasting legacy of the album has led to significant digital and ringtone sales of lead track "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" in subsequent years.
Track listing
All music and guitar by Tak Matsumoto. All lyrics and lead vocals by Koshi Inaba.
- PROLOGUE: Friends
- File:m04 01.ogg An instrumental song, Friends lacks even guitar with its arrangement being performed entirely with strings instead.
- SCENE 1: Itsuka no Merry Christmas — A Merry Christmas Once Upon A Time, いつかのメリークリスマス
- File:m04 02.ogg Recollections: The titular "FRIENDS" spoken of in the album's title were once romantically involved but no longer. It is now December as the male protagonist describes the festive mood that only reminds him of their past relationship. He laments the loss ("I felt we were always going to be together, my hands forever holding yours"). A past Christmas spent together spent in happiness is recounted, until it's revealed he now walks the streets alone, watching smiling couples pass by arm in arm.
- Not only the foremost song on the album, "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" quickly became one of the band's signature songs—a distinction it carries to this day decades later. Although never a single, it rivals many in the band's catalogue in terms of popularity and remains a Christmas staple in Japan.
- File:m04 02.ogg Recollections: The titular "FRIENDS" spoken of in the album's title were once romantically involved but no longer. It is now December as the male protagonist describes the festive mood that only reminds him of their past relationship. He laments the loss ("I felt we were always going to be together, my hands forever holding yours"). A past Christmas spent together spent in happiness is recounted, until it's revealed he now walks the streets alone, watching smiling couples pass by arm in arm.
- SCENE 2-1: Boku no Tsumi — My Sin, 僕の罪
- File:m04 03.ogg Reunion: Time continues to pass as he reaches for cigarettes he quit long ago and decides to call her. Hearing her voice, everything changes ("While sewing up the hole in my heart, the words came bursting out: 'I want to see you'"). The title, "My Sin", refers to his inability to let go or even let enough time pass before trying again ("I know, I know, I understand; Not yet, not yet, not enough time has passed yet"). When they decide to meet, he sees that her hairstyle has changed but "the smile I've become accustomed to is just the same". The song ends as he oscillates between trying to win her back and accepting the realization that time is slowly forgetting their time together.
- .
- File:m04 03.ogg Reunion: Time continues to pass as he reaches for cigarettes he quit long ago and decides to call her. Hearing her voice, everything changes ("While sewing up the hole in my heart, the words came bursting out: 'I want to see you'"). The title, "My Sin", refers to his inability to let go or even let enough time pass before trying again ("I know, I know, I understand; Not yet, not yet, not enough time has passed yet"). When they decide to meet, he sees that her hairstyle has changed but "the smile I've become accustomed to is just the same". The song ends as he oscillates between trying to win her back and accepting the realization that time is slowly forgetting their time together.
- SCENE 2-2: Love Is...
- File:m04 04.ogg As with other instrumentals on the album, "Love Is..." is performed by one instrument, in this case a keyboard. Its melody is sourced from the the next track, "Koi Jyanakunaru Hi", and is effected to sound akin to a music box.
- SCENE 3: Koi Jyanakunaru Hi — The Day Love Ceased to Be, 恋じゃなくなる日
- File:m04 04.ogg Conflict:
- .
- File:m04 04.ogg Conflict:
- SCENE 4: SEASONS
- File:m04 06.ogg Seasons: The passage of time.
- Recorded only here on this album, "SEASONS" is used to bridge the time between the third and fifth scenes on the album. It is performed solely by Tak on an acoustic guitar.
- File:m04 06.ogg Seasons: The passage of time.
- SCENE 5: Doushite mo Kimi wo Ushinaitakunai — No Matter What, I Don't Want to Lose You, どうしても君を失いたくない
- File:m04 07.ogg Resolution:
- .
- File:m04 07.ogg Resolution:
- SCENE 6: Itsuka no Merry Christmas (Reprise) — A Merry Christmas Once Upon A Time, いつかのメリークリスマス
- File:m04 08.ogg Conclusion: Christmas has come around once again as it all returns to the beginning.
- To close the album, this piano-only reprise of "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" brings the story back to the where it began.
- File:m04 08.ogg Conclusion: Christmas has come around once again as it all returns to the beginning.
Reversion history
| Original Song | Reversion History |
|---|---|
| Itsuka no Merry Christmas MINI ALBUM SONG (1992)
|
RE-RECORDING: Itsuka no Merry Christmas (Reprise) (1992) |
Live appearances
Live Performances
- Itsuka no Merry Christmas [18 SHOWS]
B'z LIVE-GYM '94 "THE 9TH BLUES -Part2-" [1/32 SHOWS]- Merry X'Mas ~ Mary Had a Little Lamb/Silent Night [1/1 SHOWS] (Acoustic Version)
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2003 "BIG MACHINE" [2/12 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2011 -C'mon- [9/26 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM 2017-2018 "LIVE DINOSAUR" [5/18 SHOWS]
- Boku no Tsumi
- Koi Jyanakunaru Hi [34 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM '93 "RUN" [34/49 SHOWS]
- Doushite mo Kimi wo Ushinaitakunai [20 SHOWS]
- B'z LIVE-GYM '93 "RUN" [19/49 SHOWS]
- B'z SHOWCASE 2020 -5 ERAS 8820- [1/5 SHOWS]
Home Videos
Sales data
| No. | Cover | Mini Album | Physical Copies Sold | Chart Positions | Certification | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIRST WEEK | LIFETIME | WEEK | MONTH | YEAR | ||||
| 4 | 
|
FRIENDS |
706,950+ |
1,355,530+ |
1 |
— |
— |
Million |
Personnel
B'z
- Tak Matsumoto: Guitar, Music Composition, Arrangement
- Koshi Inaba: Vocals, Lyric Composition
Support Members
- Masao Akashi: Bass, Manipulator, Arrangement (Prologue, Scenes 1, 2-1, 3, 5)
- Ikkoh Tanaka: Drums
- Akira Onozuka from DIMENSION: Keyboards (Scenes 2-1, 2-2, 3, 5, 6)
- Hiroshi Sawano: Trumpet (Scene 5)
- Hiroyuki Nomura: Trombone (Scene 5)
- HIIRO Strings: Strings (Prologue)
- Maki Ohguro: Chorus (Scenes 2-1 & 5)
- Shinichi Furukawa: Chorus (Scenes 1 & 3)