SPLASH!

SPLASH!
Single by B'z
from the album MONSTER
Released	June 7, 2006
Promotions	#1 (DWANGO Commercial)
Length	7:33
Label	Vermillion Records
Producer	Tak Matsumoto
B'z singles chronology
"Yuruginai Mono Hitotsu" (2006) "SPLASH!" (2006) "Eien no Tsubasa" (2007)

B'z during the stylish video for "SPLASH!", which featured a storyline like other videos of the same era.

The three limited editions of the single that, for the first time, had B'z release bonus DVDs as part of limited edition singles. This practice would become a standard beginning in 2009 with the release of "MY LONELY TOWN", which then began to include the music video.

The band during B'z LIVE-GYM 2005 "CIRCLE OF ROCK". For the shows, B'z performed on a circular stage with the audience around them on all sides. The stage was also able to spin, as utilized in the performance of "juice".

SPLASH! is the forty-second single by B'z, released on June 7, 2006. The rock sound and extremely fast tempo meshed to create an immensely successful summer hit for the band. Most notably, with this release, for the first time in its history, B'z offered limited editions that included a DVD as the purchase bonus. The title song was found one month later on the band's next studio album, MONSTER, along with the year's earlier singles "Shoudou" and "Yuruginai Mono Hitotsu". It would also be collected with a bevy of other singles on both B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure" in 2008 and B'z The Best XXV 1999-2012 in 2013.

Three different color-coded editions were released in addition to the normal single itself, each with differing contents. The standard red edition only contained the CD single, while the yellow, blue, and green-colored editions each contained one DVD performance each from the then-unreleased previous year's concert, B'z LIVE-GYM 2005 "CIRCLE OF ROCK". The yellow edition contained a performance of "Fever" from the show, while, the blue version featured "Pulse", and the green package brought with it a performance of the band's 2005 single "Ai no Bakudan". Later, as part of the band's 25th anniversary campaign in 2013, the full concert was released on DVD and included all of the aforementioned performances.

Only one alternate edition of the song exists. In 2011, an English version was premiered live during the North American tour B'z LIVE-GYM 2011 -long time no see-. So popular was this rendition that it was also retained for B'z LIVE-GYM 2011 -C'mon- later in the year, becoming the only English song to make the setlist. The song was performed for all stops of the tour and was included on the tour's subsequent home video release the following year. After much fan speculation, in 2012, six years after its original release, a studio version of the English variant entitled "Splash" served as the second track on the band's self-titled English debut album. The English song would again be performed during the band's ensuing second North American tour in as many years, B'z LIVE-GYM 2012 -Into Free-.

The full single of both "SPLASH!" and its B-side "MVP" were included during all stops for the band's 2006 tour, "MONSTER'S GARAGE". "MVP" became a particularly memorable song, as Koshi led the audience during each performance in choreography spelling out the letters in the title. As of 2012, neither song has been performed in their original versions since 2006, although the English version of "SPLASH!" was performed numerous times in the years after.

The music video was directed by American director Lionel Coleman, and featured a story progression akin to those started with the video for "IT'S SHOWTIME!!". In additional promotional efforts, "SPLASH!" was performed on NHK program POPJAM DX. and B'z staple stop Music Station early in June during the week of release. The title song also served as the theme to a commercial for ringtone company DWANGO, who were also promotional partners for a special live concert later in the year that was streamed live on the internet and later released on DVD as B'z LIVE in Namba 2006.

The single was a massive success for the band, with shipment of over 250,000 copies in its first week alone, ensuring it Platinum status with the Recording Industry Association of Japan. The single's number-one debut was the band's record thirty-eighth consecutive to do so, leaving the song to finish as the nineteenth highest-selling single of the year 2006.

Track listing

1. SPLASH!

   A single with among the fastest tempos in the B'z catalogue, "SPLASH!" was a defining single for the band despite its entirely new sound. The song was recorded along with the second half of MONSTER, and was produced with the mindset of creating a song that could be danced to. The suggestive lyrics of physical intimacy are among the most forward of the B'z singles, challenged only by the earlier 2000 single, "juice". An English version was premiered live in 2011 in North America before being released in studio form on the band's debut English album.

2. MVP

   In contrast to the more hard rock energy of its A-side, "MVP" is more disco rock, which the band said was a conscious decision on their part as they set out to write it. As with previous crowd-pleasers "Wonderful Opportunity" and "Koi-Gokoro (KOI-GOKORO)", the song featured choreography for the audience to take part in when performed live. The intro to the song features a sample of the hustle of a city street prior to the song beginning, in order to fit the theme of the lyrics. The instrumentation to the song features both horns and strings, and in a rare turn for a B'z song, there is only a guitar interlude but no proper guitar solo.

• Limited Editions (CD+DVD):
  • YELLOW:
    • 「Fever」 Performance from B'z LIVE-GYM 2005 "CIRCLE OF ROCK"
  • BLUE:
    • 「Pulse」 Performance from B'z LIVE-GYM 2005 "CIRCLE OF ROCK"
  • GREEN:
    • 「Ai no Bakudan」 Performance from B'z LIVE-GYM 2005 "CIRCLE OF ROCK"

Personnel

B'z

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

Drums

• Shane Gaalaas (Track 1, Track 2)

Bass

• Akihito Tokunaga (Track 1, Track 2)

Trumpet

• Osamu Ueshi (Track 2)

Trombone

• Azusa Tojo (Track 2)

Alto Sax

• Takahiro Miyazaki

Baritone Sax

• Kazuhiro Takeda

Production

• Akihito Tokunaga: Programming
• Jay Baumgardner: Mixing (NRG Recording)
• Sergio Chavez: Recording (NRG Recording)
• Ted Jensen: Mastering (Sterling Sound)

Extra Special Thanks Kanonji