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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Endless Rain say to its date? You're draining me.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Endless Rain"
Single by X
from the album Blue Blood
ReleasedDecember 1, 1989 (1989-12-01)
RecordedJune 10, 1989 at Hibiya Yagai Ongaku (track 2)
GenreSymphonic metal
Length16:25
LabelCBS/Sony
SongwriterYoshiki
ProducerX
X singles chronology
"Kurenai"
(1989)		 "Endless Rain"
(1989)		 "Week End"
(1990)
Music video
"Endless Rain" on YouTube

"Endless Rain" is the fourth single released by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan (then named X) on December 1, 1989. It reached number three on the Oricon Singles Chart and has sold over 400,000 copies.

Summary

[edit]

The title track is taken from the group's breakthrough album Blue Blood, and is their first ballad released as a single. The B-side is a live version of the song "X", recorded on June 10, 1989 at Hibiya Yagai Ongaku. The limited edition of the single, limited to 100,000 copies, features a fold-out jacket.[1]

Yoshiki said that "Endless Rain" is the first ballad he ever wrote, previously he was only writing heavy music and thrash metal.[2] He explained that after members of Sony saw him play a composition by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky on piano while X was waiting to play at a club, they asked him to write a ballad. The resulting song was "Endless Rain".[3] Yoshiki said the song became a hit and was a shock to their fans, but they eventually came to like it and it became "X Japan's theme song."[2]

Rolling Stone referred to the song as "November Rain, minus the bullshit" and called it X's first big chart hit.[3]

A live performance of "Endless Rain" was included as the B-side to their 1990 single "Week End"'.

Music videos

[edit]

Two music videos have been created for "Endless Rain". The first was included on the Shigeki! Visual Shock Vol. 2 home video in 1989.

The second was released on the X Japan Showcase in L.A. Premium Prototype DVD on September 6, 2010. Directed by Russell Thomas and featuring the band performing live on top of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California in January 2010,[4] it has the sound of the audience added to the audio.

On November 21, 1993, SME Records released X² (ダブルエックス, Daburu Ekkusu; lit. "Double-X"), a short film based on the manga series X by Clamp and set to X Japan's music. It features a slideshow of the manga's artwork set to a medley of X Japan's "Silent Jealousy", "Kurenai" and "Endless Rain" and a music video for the song "X" directed by Shigeyuki Hayashi.[5]

Commercial performance

[edit]

The single reached number three on the Oricon Singles Chart, and charted for 31 week.[6] In March 1990, it was certified Gold by the RIAJ for sales of 200,000 copies.[7] This number doubled in two years, when it was certified Platinum for sales of 400,000 in February 1992.[7]

Legacy and cover versions

[edit]

"Endless Rain" was used as the theme song of Kaizo Hayashi's 1990 film Zipang.[8][9]

In South Korea, Japanese popular culture was banned in 1990s. However, at the time, "Endless Rain" became a hit song on the gilboard charts (streetboard charts) by street vendors, and large numbers of Korean people knew the song, as the vendors persistently played it from their boomboxes.[10]

During Guns N' Roses' July 2007 Japanese concerts, Richard Fortus and Robin Finck performed part of "Endless Rain" during their guitar duets.[11] "Endless Rain" was covered by Japanese singers Angela Aki, at one of her concerts, and Ayumi Nakamura, on her 2008 album Voice,[12] and by Hong Kong singer Aaron Kwok at one of his concerts.

In December 2020, Yoshiki performed the song at the 71st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen of New Year's Eve,[13] along with Babymetal, Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen, Sarah Brightman, SixTones, LiSA, and Milet.[14] On April 16, 2024, Yoshiki performed "Endless Rain" along with "The Star-Spangled Banner at Dodger Stadium on Hello Kitty Night.

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Yoshiki.

No.TitleLength
1."Endless Rain"6:35
2."X" (Live Version)9:40
Total length:16:15

Personnel

[edit]
X
Other
  • Mixing engineer – Motonari Matsumoto
  • Recording engineers – Gremlin, Tetsuhiro Miyajima, Mitsuyasu Abe
  • Assistant engineers – Takashi Ohkubo, Fujishima, Naoki Yamada, Akiko Nakamura, Shigeki Kashii, Lee Chun Fin, Mitsumasa Iwata
  • Orchestral arrangements – Neko Saitō

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "History & Discography". Pati Pati Rock'n'Roll August Supplemental Issue: Rock'n'Roll Risky Vol. 1. CBS/Sony Publishing. August 16, 1990. pp. 52–55. 07568-8.
  2. 1 2 "The 10 best X Japan songs, as chosen by Yoshiki". Metal Hammer. 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  3. 1 2 "X Japan's Incredible Ride: Meet Rock's Most Flamboyant Survivors". Rolling Stone. 2014-10-10. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  4. ↑ "X JAPAN、LAの空を切り裂いた未曾有のシューティング" (in Japanese). barks.jp. 2010-01-12. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  5. ↑ Clamp. Clamp no Kiseki, Vol. 11. Tokyopop. p. 31.
  6. ↑ Ｘ ＪＡＰＡＮのシングル売り上げランキング. oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Japanese album certifications" (Enter Endless Rain into the 作品名 then select 検索) (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  8. ↑ "YOSHIKI、米2大殿堂を制覇。夢の舞台でこぼれ落ちた大粒の涙" (in Japanese). Barks. 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  9. ↑ "Zipang" (in Japanese). toho.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  10. ↑ Che Seok Young (2019-04-21). "90年代韓国でX JAPAN大流行、｢日本文化禁止｣との関係" (in Japanese). News Postseven.
  11. ↑ "GUNS N' ROSES Guitarist Comments On Guest Appearance With X JAPAN". Blabbermouth.net. 2008-04-06. Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  12. ↑ "Ayumi Nakamura - Releases - Oricon Style Music" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
  13. ↑ "twitter.com NHK announcing some of the performers for the 71st Kōhaku Uta Gassen" (in Japanese). Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Watch Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor play X-Japan's Endless Rain with Yoshiki and Babymetal on Japan's biggest TV show". Classic Rock Magazine. 4 January 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Endless_Rain&oldid=1365005137"