Feature

All sample videos contained in this article are publicly sourced and are reproduced here only for accessibility.

Hot off the previous year’s multiple tours, the band began 2004 in the studio recording new material. While the year would yield no new B’z studio album, both Koshi and Tak would embark on respective solo projects that were yet unprecedented for both musicians.

The year’s first release, however, came in the form of home video Typhoon No.15 ~B’z LIVE-GYM The Final Pleasure “IT’S SHOWTIME!!” in Nagisaen~ on February 25, 2004. Released on DVD and VHS simultaneously, the set offered full coverage of the band’s 15th anniversary concert at Nagisaen—the very site where they had previously performed their only other open-air concert: B’z LIVE-GYM Pleasure’93 “JAP THE RIPPER”. The release also came bundled with the documentary The Days of Pleasure, documenting the hall tour and rehearsals leading up to the finale show on the band’s anniversary, along with footage of the band recording the year’s studio album BIG MACHINE.

Prior to fully committing the year to solo projects, a new single entitled “BANZAI” from the earlier sessions was released on May 5, 2004. The song proved to be an immediate hit on the live stage in the years that followed, with repeated performances at various LIVE-GYMs, including 2005’s “CIRCLE OF ROCK” and 2008’s 25th anniversary tour GLORY DAYS.