Highway X

Highway X is the twenty-second studio album by the Japanese rock duo B'z. It was released on August 10, 2022, and was their first album released after the COVID-19 pandemic started.

The album was released in three editions: A standard edition, a first press edition with a DVD and a photo book, and a first production limited edition featuring the DVD and photo book as well as a cassette.^[1]

The album debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly albums chart and number two on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums Chart.^[2]^[3]

Release and promotion

As it was their first album since the COVID-19 pandemic had started, the band said the album presented "the trajectory of two years that have been running through this chaotic era without stopping, and the current state of the present."^[1] Unlike other albums, the album was released right before the supporting tour ended, meaning that most of the songs were first heard live.^[1]

"Unite" was released as the first digital single on October 1, 2021, where it debuted at number 1 on the Oricon weekly digital singles chart.^[4]^[5] "Sleepless" was released as the second digital single on June 24, 2022, where it also debuted at number 1 on the Oricon weekly digital singles chart;^[6] it was also used as an opening theme in the anime Detective Conan.^[7] "Comeback -Itoshiki Hahen-" was used as the theme for the Asahi TV drama Mirai e no 10 Count.^[8] "Live" was used in the film Lie Eater.^[9]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Koshi Inaba; all music is composed by Tak Matsumoto

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sleepless"	3:39
2.	"Hard Rain Love"	4:18
3.	"Comeback -Itoshiki Hahen- (Comeback -愛しき破片-, Comeback -Dear Pieces-)"	4:29
4.	"Yes Yes Yes"	3:45
5.	"Highway X"	4:56
6.	"Mamirena (マミレナ, Get Stained)"	3:31
7.	"Yamate Doori ni Kaze (山手通りに風, Wind on Yamate-dori)"	3:44
8.	"Live (リヴ, Live)"	3:59
9.	"Daydream"	4:56
10.	"Unite"	5:18
11.	"You Are My Best"	4:15
Total length:		46:50

DVD: B'z Live-Gym 2022 -Highway X-
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sleepless"
2.	"Hard Rain Love"
3.	"Highway X"
4.	"Comeback -Itoshiki Hahen- (Comeback -愛しき破片-, Comeback -Dear Pieces-)"
5.	"Live (リヴ, Live)"
6.	"You Are My Best"

Cassette

Side 1
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Live (リヴ, Live)" (Movie Size)
2.	"Sleepless" (TV Size)
3.	"Comeback -Itoshiki Hahen- (Comeback -愛しき破片-, Comeback -Dear Pieces-)" (TV Size)

Side 2
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Yes Yes Yes" (Live Ver. from 5 Eras)
2.	"Unite" (Live Ver. from Unite #1)

Personnel

B'z

Koshi Inaba – vocals
Tak Matsumoto – guitars, background vocals on "Yes Yes Yes" and "Mamirena"

Additional musicians

Yukihide "YT" Takiyama – bass on tracks 1, 8, 10
Rhonda Smith – bass on tracks 2–5, 9
Takeshi Taneda – bass on tracks 6–7, 11
Brian Tichy – drums on tracks 1–5, 8–10
Tom Tamada – drums on tracks 6–7, 11
Akira Onozuka – piano on tracks 1, 5, 7, 8, 11, organ on tracks 1–2, 4, 7–9, Wurlitzer on "Hard Rain Love" and "Mamirena", Clavinet on "Yes Yes Yes" and "Mamirena", synthesizer on "Mamirena", Mellotron on "Daydream"
Ken Kawamura – organ, theremin, and synthesizer on "Unite"
Watanabe Fire – tenor saxophone on "Hard Rain Love" and "Live"
Takahiro Miyazaki – baritone saxophone on "Hard Rain Love"
Osamu Ueishi – trumpet on "Hard Rain Love" and "Live"
Motoko Hasegawa – trumpet on "Hard Rain Love" and "Live"
Azusa Tojo – trombone on "Hard Rain Love" and "Live"
Nobu Saito – tambourine on tracks 3–5, 7, 11, reco-reco on "Comeback -Itoshiki Hahen-", conga on "Yes Yes Yes" and "Yamate Doori ni Kaze", cowbell on "Highway X", wind chimes, shaker, and triangle on "Yamate Doori ni Kaze"
Mai Origami – background vocals on "Yes Yes Yes" and "Unite"
MissTy – background vocals on "Yes Yes Yes" and "Unite"
Yuki Asanuma – background vocals on "Yes Yes Yes"
Michiya Nakahara – background vocals on "Yes Yes Yes"
Rie Kodera with Lime Ladies Orchestra – strings on "Live" and "You Are My Best"

Production

Yukihide "YT" Takiyama – arrangement on tracks 1–9, recording
Yoshinobu Ohga – arrangement on "Unite"
Hideyuki Terachi – arrangement on "Unite" and "You Are My Best", vocal direction
Hiroyuki Kobayashi – recording, mixing

B'z Live-Gym 2022 -Highway X- support members

Yukihide "YT" Takiyama – guitar
Kiyoshi – bass
Ken Kawamura – keyboards
Hideki Aoyama – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2022)	Peak position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[10]	1
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)^[3]	2

Year-end charts

Chart (2022)	Position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[11]	22
Japanese Albums (Billboard Japan)^[12]	25

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)^[13]	Gold	100,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "B'z、22thフルアルバム『Highway X』を8月リリース". BARKS (in Japanese). 12 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
^ "2022年08月08日～2022年08月14日オリコン週間アルバムランキング". ORICON NEWS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-08-19.
^ ^a ^b "Billboard Japan Hot Albums 2022/08/17". Billboard Japan (in Japanese).
^ "B'z新曲「UNITE」自身初のデジタルシングル1位獲得【オリコンランキング】". ORICON NEWS (in Japanese). 7 October 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
^ "オリコン週間デジタルシングル（単曲）ランキング 2021年09月27日～2021年10月03日". ORICON NEWS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-09.
^ "オリコン週間デジタルシングル（単曲）ランキング 2022年06月20日～2022年06月26日". ORICON NEWS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-09.
^ "B'z新曲「SLEEPLESS」、「デジタルシングル」初登場1位【オリコンランキング】". ORICON NEWS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-09.
^ "B'zニューアルバム「Highway X」全国ツアー終盤の8月にリリース". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-09.
^ "B'zが横浜流星主演の映画「嘘喰い」に主題歌「リヴ」書き下ろし（コメントあり / 動画あり）". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-09.
^ "Highway X | B'z". ORICON NEWS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-08-19.
^ "2022年度オリコン年間アルバムランキング 21～30位". ORICON NEWS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
^ "Billboard Japan Top Albums Sales Year End | Charts". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
^ "Japanese album certifications – B'z – Highway X" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan.
^ 編集部. "INI、3rdシングルがレコ協トリプル・プラチナ獲得自身の記録を更新". MusicVoice (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-11-09.

v t e B'z
Tak Matsumoto Koshi Inaba
Albums	B'z Off the Lock Break Through Risky In the Life Run The 7th Blues Loose Survive Brotherhood Eleven Green Big Machine The Circle Monster Action Magic C'mon Epic Day Dinosaur New Love Highway X
EPs	Bad Communication Wicked Beat Mars Friends Friends II Friends III
Compilations and remixes	B'z TV Style Songless version B'z TV Style II Songless version B'z The Best "Pleasure" B'z The Best "Treasure" B'z The "Mixture" The Ballads: Love & B'z The Complete B'z B'z The Best "Pleasure II" B'z The Best "Ultra Pleasure" B'z The Best "Ultra Treasure" B'z The Best XXV 1988–1998 B'z The Best XXV 1999–2012
Videos	Film Risky
Live	Just Another Life Live Ripper "Buzz!!" The Movie Once Upon a Time in Yokohama: B'z Live Gym'99 "Brotherhood" a Beautiful Reel. B'z Live-Gym 2002 Green ~Go★Fight★Win~ Typhoon No.15 ~B'z Live-Gym The Final Pleasure "It's Showtime!!" in Nagisaen~ B'z Live-Gym 2006: Monster's Garage B'z Live in Nanba B'z Live-Gym Hidden Pleasure: Typhoon No.20 B'z Live-Gym Pleasure 2008: Glory Days B'z Live-Gym 2010 "Ain't No Magic" at Tokyo Dome B'z Live-Gym Pleasure 2013 Endless Summer -XXV BEST-
Related articles	Discography Tak Matsumoto Group "Heat"
Categories	B'z B'z albums B'z songs

This page was last edited on 7 February 2024, at 19:35

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia