BAD COMMUNICATION

BAD COMMUNICATION
Studio album by B'z
Released	October 21st, 1989
Genre	Dance rock
Length	22:24
Producer	Tak Matsumoto
B'z chronology
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BAD COMMUNICATION is the first mini album by B'z, released on October 21st, 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, 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, releasing 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 title, 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.

1. BAD COMMUNICATION

2. OUT OF THE RAIN -OFF THE LOCK STYLE-

3. DA.KA.RA.SO.NO.TE.O.HA.NA.SHI.TE -OFF THE LOCK STYLE-

Personnel

B'z

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

Production

• Masao Akashi: Arrangement
• IKKIES: Chorus
• Amy: Female Voice in "BAD COMMUNICATION"