News

B’z have just wrapped up their appearance on the 2017 FNS Music Festival aired on Fuji TV in Japan. The event, which will continue with a second day next week, sees artists perform more than once over the course of the evening. B’z first appeared on the stage to perform the modern megahit “Ichibu to Zenbu”. The song, despite being released in 2009, was first performed on television as part of Music Station SUPER LIVE 2012 and later on LIVE MONSTER in 2015.

Later in the show, B’z returned to perform their most recent single “Still Alive” from earlier this summer.

Images courtesy of @mahime1091783 & @orange0799

News

After a brief hiatus following B’z SHOWCASE 2017 -B’z In Your Town- to finalize recording on DINOSAUR, B’z have returned to the live stage with tonight’s 7-Eleven presents B’z PREMIUM LIVE at Zepp Tokyo! The intimate venue’s capacity is just over 2,700 and was last played during B’z SHOWCASE 2007 -19-.

Entry to the show was determined via lottery amongst those that purchased and pre-ordered the premium release B’z COMPLETE SINGLE BOX. While today’s show took place in Tokyo, a second show will take place Thursday in Osaka, presumably with the same setlist.

Given that the aforementioned album’s titular tour is just over a week away, the event served as the live debut for many of its tracks. It also saw the return of a single not played in fifteen years, a beloved mini album song not heard since 2008, and the stage premiere of a certain digital single!

To avoid potential B’z LIVE-GYM 2017-2018 “LIVE DINOSAUR” spoilers for for those attending, we have preserved the full setlist after the break.

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News

It has just been announced that B’z will appear in a cover story for Rolling Stone Japan‘s relaunch issue. The story will center on readers’ topics, their latest album DINOSAUR, and the creative secrets therein. The magazine will hit shelves later this month on Christmas Day in Japan.

B’z previously appeared in the December 2009 issue of the former version of the magazine, also in a cover story. At the time, the band were promoting MAGIC and provided background information on the album’s production.

News

DINOSAUR has debuted at the top of the Daily Oricon Albums chart and is their seventeenth consecutive studio album to do so.

B’z have returned with their latest studio album DINOSAUR and have done so at the top of the Oricon charts. First day data shows 107,723 physical copies sold as pre-orders. The numbers are in line with the first day sales of recent studio albums ACTION (109,680), C’mon (111,549), and EPIC DAY (118,540) despite the decreased appetite for physical releases even in Japan—where the drop has not been as drastic as other markets.

Thus far, numbers indicate the album is on track for a debut just under 200,000 physical copies ahead of its digital debut a few weeks later. Second day sales were tracked at 44,271 copies, which is nearly a thirty percent increase over EPIC DAY‘s sales in the same frame and puts it slightly ahead of its predecessor.

You can also now hear samples of all the album’s tracks on the B’z Wiki in the corresponding article. You can expect full details on the album and its production in the near future.

News

B’z have just wrapped up their appearance on Nippon TV’s Best Artist 2017 program with the debut television performance of “Still Alive“. The appearance comes on the eve of the release for their twentieth studio album DINOSAUR. The band appeared for a brief interview beforehand prior to a video package being run featuring footage from ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2017. The band were supported by Barry Sparks on bass and Shane Gaalaas on drums.

Tak also brought back his first ever Gibson signature guitar: the 1999 Gibson Les Paul Tak Matsumoto Signature model in Canary Yellow. This is the guitar’s first appearance on a live stage in sixteen years after last being seen for B’z LIVE-GYM 2001 “ELEVEN”. The guitar was supplanted later by the Tak Burst model before he segued to his Double Cutaway models beginning in 2004. Given the band’s thirtieth anniversary is coming next year, it’s possible Tak will be revisiting many of his older guitars for the upcoming tours.

Tak performing the finger tap solo for “Still Alive” with his original signature guitar

News

Next week’s release of the next B’z studio album DINOSAUR will come in three editions: a CD only version as well as DVD and Blu-ray editions. Those sporting bonus video discs feature their full appearance at ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2017. The eleven-song appearance ran just over an hour and featured many of their staple hits such as “ultra soul“, “Ichibu to Zenbu“, and new single “Still Alive“.

Today, a video was added to the official B’z YouTube channel with most of the songs sampled. Others, such as “Sayonara Kizu Darake no Hibi yo” and “Shoudou“, will be featured on the discs but are not shown here.

CD+DVD / CD+Blu-ray Limited Edition
B’z at ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2017

For the first time ever, the limited edition will come in both DVD and Blu-ray-bearing editions and will cover the band’s full setlist from ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2017. The show featured many of the band’s most-beloved hits with some of their most recent output and a few lesser-played gems all in tow.

1. Samayoeru Aoi Dangan
2. Liar! Liar!
3. Sayonara Kizu Darake no Hibi yo
4. Uchouten
5. Hadashi no Megami
6. Ichibu to Zenbu
7. Still Alive
8. Shoudou
9. juice
10. girigiri chop
11. ultra soul

CD+DVD / CD+Blu-ray Editions: 4,500yen + tax
CD Only Edition: 3,000yen + tax

The album is due out on November 29, 2017 and can be pre-ordered internationally from the retailers below:

CDJapan: Regular Edition, Limited DVD Edition, Limited Blu-ray Edition

YesAsia: Regular Edition, Limited DVD Edition, Limited Blu-ray Edition

Amazon Japan: Regular Edition, Limited DVD Edition, Limited Blu-ray Edition