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Rating:
Tak Matsumoto is a Japanese glory: a guitarist who, with his band "B'z," has sold about 80 million copies of his albums in just a few years.
A truly excellent guitarist, I would say outstanding, is however unknown in the rest of the world, remaining anchored to the Japanese market, which still grants him boundless glory. I believe this is precisely the reason that pushed him to call upon artists of the caliber of Eric Martin (formerly of Mr. Big) on vocals and Jack Blades (formerly of Night Ranger) on bass, along with drummers Brian Ticky (Pride & Glory, Slash's Snakespit) and Cindy Blackman (Lenny Kravitz).
The resulting sound is far from the oriental atmospheres of B'z, creating an album of melodic hard rock of the highest quality. The title is simply "TMG1," with no pretension or excessive wordiness. And it's also the simplicity and direct aspect of this album that make it great and of unexpected quality. Some have found similarities between the opener "Oh Japan (our time is now)" and "In the End" by Linkin Park. The comparison is truly out of place. Let's not confuse a song of this value, on the edge of crossover, with a ditty by 5 angry kids. The song in question has an incredible appeal when listening, not for nothing was it the leading single but also a sort of anthem for Japanese athletes at the Athens Olympics. Powerful, with an over-the-top vocal performance.
Powerful is also the following track, almost with a persuasive gait. "Everything Passes Away" is an energetic and incredibly engaging track. "King for a Day" features a guitar arpeggio that continues throughout the track, a backdrop to the guitars which, distorted, set the pace, and Martin launches into a performance rarely heard from him. "I Know You by Heart" could be considered the first ballad. The lyrics would indicate so, but the music stays on hard sounds that make this piece fascinating and captivating.
More rocking is "I Wish You Were Here," which presents hints reminiscent of recent Mr. Big. "The Great Show on Earth" brings us to oriental, charming, and unpredictable melodies. Martin is excellent once again, as is the work behind the drums. The rhythm section is impeccable and of excellent quality and so far supports the guitar rhythms and Eric's voice excellently. "Sign of Life" remains suspended with these oriental melodies, yet it still is a great, easily digestible hard rock. Just like "Red White and Bullet Blues" sweet at the beginning and robust during the choruses, even if it follows too closely a hard rock template, thus not very original. With "Trapped" the guitar rhythm returns energetic and powerful, supporting the vocal cords, which once again don't miss a beat, of Eric. It continues with the funk rhythm of "My Alibi" and the powerful melody of "Wonderland," to move to the slow and seductive rhythms of "Train Train" and the romantic melodies of "Two of a Kind." This splendid walk in the finest hard rock is closed by "Never Goodbye", amidst distorted bursts and relaxing and dreamy atmospheres. Certainly not the pinnacle of originality, but a quality track.
The album we are faced with is of superior and astonishing quality. I have found few releases that could reach this qualitative level. We are not dealing with a revolutionary piece of work, being a hard rock without excessive pretensions. I am surprised by its very Western aspect, being written by a Japanese I expected more Japanese atmospheres, but perhaps it's better this way, as I would not have digested the result very well. Instead, these sounds closer to our lands make it an excellent, easy-listening work without sacrificing truly excellent quality.
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