MARS

MARS
Mini album by B'z
Released	May 29, 1991
Genre	Hard rock
Length	23:16
Label	BMG Victor
Producer	Tak Matsumoto
B'z chronology

MARS is the third mini album by B'z, released on May 29, 1991. The self-expressed genre of the album was "hard rock dance". While the album opens with a new Japanese song titled "Kodoku no Runaway" and is followed by a mostly instrumental title track, the track closes with three English reversions as had become a staple of their mini album releases to that point.

Notably, "Kodoku no Runaway" was originally written by B'z for another artist, female guitarist Ataka Miharu. Although not explicitly advertised as much, her version of the song actually features B’z outright. For the sessions, Tak wrote all-new music and Koshi provides chorus vocals throughout. It would be a year later that B'z would return to the composition as the source for the song found here, with Koshi completing the lyrics and often utilizing it as a vocal showcase in live shows for years to come.

The B-side to "LADY-GO-ROUND" and BREAK THROUGH album song "Love & Chain" was given its only reversion here as "Love & Chain ~Godzilla Style~", while OFF THE LOCK inclusion "LOVING ALL NIGHT" received similar treatment. This would also be the first album to feature an English version of 1991 single "LADY NAVIGATION" which had just been released two months earlier. Later, for 1994's double album The 7th Blues, a bluesy rendition would be released under the original title.

The title and harder sound of the album as opposed to previous mini album releases BAD COMMUNICATION and WICKED BEAT was inspired by the New York City club "MARS". The band visited the establishment whilst filming their first home video FILM RISKY the previous year where they also worked with mixer Jason Cosaro for the first time. He would return to mix all of the tracks found here as his last collaboration with the band.

Upon release, MARS debuted at the top of the Weekly Oricon Album chart with 664,010 copies. The release came eleven months after previous effort WICKED BEAT and saw a 550,000 copy increase over its sales total. As with all other B'z mini albums released to date, MARS has been certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for sales in excess of 1,730,500 physical copies sold. This would prime it as the highest-selling of the B'z mini albums, trailed by FRIENDS II.

Track listing

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

Kodoku no Runaway — Lonely Runaway, 孤独のRunaway
File:m03 01.ogg Not originally a B'z song, "Kodoku no Runaway" was first written for and released by Ataka Miharu, who would soon become the guitarist for female rock duo KIX-S. It was not marketed as such but her version featured B'z outright, with Koshi providing chorus vocals and an intro on an otherwise instrumental song while Tak aided with additional guitar work. Overall, the original composition is retained with some changes to the guitar riffs. Koshi expressed difficulty at writing the lyrics after the fact, as an image of the song being an instrumental had already been formed by the earlier release. When it came time to record their own version a year later, Koshi's original partial lyrics were retained but expanded with verses and a fuller chorus. The song was remade with even more of a hard rock sensibility for 2000's re-recordings and remixes album B'z The "Mixture". An early staple of the band's live shows, the song has not been performed as much in the band's later years outside of a highlight performance from B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure 2008 -GLORY DAYS-.
Mars
File:m03 02.ogg Not so much a traditional B'z song but more in line with an introduction track, "Mars" features Koshi Inaba speaking over a wailing guitar. According to him, the brief song was meant to change the tone of what people expected from the band. Interestingly, the lyrics are all written in hiragana with no kanji included.
Loving All Night ~Octopus Style~
File:m03 03.ogg An English remake of the OFF THE LOCK album song from two years prior, "Loving All Night ~Octopus Style~" retains the same lyrical theme as its predecessor. The harmonica solo in the interlude was provided by Tomohiko "cha cha" Katoh.
Love & Chain ~Godzilla Style~
File:m03 04.ogg Originally released the year prior as a B-side, "Love & Chain ~Godzilla Style~" sheds almost its entire original arrangement in favor of a hard rock-inspired take. The digital synthesizer used as a primary instrument in the source song is almost entirely omitted here. Notably, Japanese pop singer Maki Ohguro provides backing vocals on the song. The subtitle for the song was inspired by Jason Corsaro's mixing, in which the band compared the thumping bass to the sound of Godzilla's stomping. The English dialogue read at the end is done so by Japanese-American artist Rima Fujita, a longtime friend of Koshi's. To date, the song has never been performed live.
LADY NAVIGATION ~Cookie & Car Stereo Style~
File:m03 05.ogg A fully English remake of the single of the same name, "LADY NAVIGATION ~Cookie & Car Stereo Style~" has been re-recorded but still shares many similarities with its original counterpart. The drums are heavier and the guitar takes a more prominent part in the song with an overall sound that is distinctly more hard rock, yet the arrangement is still quite similar. The subtitle was inspired by Koshi eating cookies while listening to music from a car stereo. Three years later, a bluesy remake using the same English lyrics was included on studio album The 7th Blues.

Reversion history

Main article: B'z Reversioned Songs

Original Song	Reversion History
Kodoku no Runaway MINI ALBUM SONG (1991)	KARAOKE: Kodoku no Runaway [Karaoke Version] (1992) Karaoke version found only on B'z TV Style SONGLESS VERSION. RE-RECORDING: Kodoku no Runaway -Mixture style- (2000) Hard rock reversion of the original track found only on B'z The "Mixture".
LOVING ALL NIGHT ALBUM SONG (1989)	ENGLISH: Loving All Night ~Octopus Style~ (1991) Fully English version found only on mini album MARS in 1991.
Love & Chain B-SIDE & ALBUM SONG (1990)	ENGLISH: Love & Chain ~Godzilla Style~ (1991) One of the band's earliest English songs, found only on 1991 mini album MARS.
LADY NAVIGATION SINGLE (1991)	ENGLISH: LADY NAVIGATION ~Cookie & Car Stereo Style~ (1991) Fully English version released only on 1991 mini album MARS. KARAOKE: LADY NAVIGATION [Karaoke Version] (1992) Karaoke version found only on B'z TV Style SONGLESS VERSION. ENGLISH: LADY NAVIGATION [Bluesy English Version] (1994) Released on studio album The 7th Blues under the original title. This version is also completely in English but done in a bluesy style and was later released on the 2002 Korea-only mini album DEVIL as well.