X Japan - Art Of Life (1993) - Japan's answer to Queen, Savatage and Guns N Roses - 88% (14/11/11)

"Art Of Life" isn't actually a real album by X Japan but one single track that might not please that much to metal fans or those who adored the first more speed metal orientated records of the band. On the other side, fans of X Japan's calmer attitude and later works should consider thsi as their new bible.

As we talk about one single song, let's try to subdivide this track and rate each part of it to give you a good impression of what's waiting for you. Let me give you the advice that you really should take your time to listen to this track in a calm moment to focus on its high degree of details. After a first weird impression, you will get the combination of the music that fits the story about life, with its regular and easy parts and its ugly and desperate passages. This song will grow on you and the whole concept is about a very epic circle of life.

The song kicks off with calm keyboard melodies and some soft vocals. The track pretty much starts as any other standard ballad by the band. This part is more commercial but has a very emotional and especially romantic attitude. While this part is a good introduction, it is nothing special and only worth around seventy percent in my opinion.

After three minutes, some melodic guitars, a bass guitar and drums kick in and the track develops into a beautiful power hard rock ballad with some great harmonies. The track gets somewhat heavier and slightly faster and reminds me of an epic Guns 'N Roses ballad with a more Japanese feeling to it. The problem with this part is that it offers nothing really new and is not as heavy as it could have been. The vocals are still really pop orientated and somewhat cheesy at some points but this mixture of pop and metal has always made the charm of the band. There are some narrative passages that lead to a solid guitar solo which can be cited as the highlight of this part. Overall, this part is maybe worth eight percent or so.

After five minutes and a half, another guitar solo leads us to the third part that focuses on a slower rock opera passage with epic orchestrations, some piano melodies and some more cheesy vocals. The part finishes with a melodic metal solo that reminds of the power and heavy metal tracks of the band. The orchestra supports several solos and the speed is steadily risen. This is probably the most dynamic part of the track and one of my favourite ones of this epic song. This part is easily worth ninety-five percent and should please to anybody that likes a dynamic fusion of melodic rock and metal with classic and symphonic elements. This rat race only finds an end after four and a half minutes with a return to the slower main part with the romantic vocals.

The next break is dominated by some beautiful violin melodies and narrative passages. This part really creates a lot of images in your mind before the track goes once again back to the slower main part with the pop vocals. This short part of one and a half minute is quite well done and is worthy of around eighty percent for me.

Around fifteen minutes, the song calms rapidly down and is dominated by some calm piano melodies that remind of epic classic tracks and give us a sweet break. But slowly, the piano melodies get more engaging and slightly more discordant but they always come back to a calm main melody. With each circle, the piano solo gets weirder and more experimental. The melodies get more and more random and almost aggressive but there are still beautiful passages that represent both sides of life. While the melodies are random and discordant, they still have a very systematic chaos. This piano solo is surely impressive and not a pleasure for everyone to listen to but I really adored this part. This stunning and maybe one of the most unique piano solos in rock history goes on for about nine crazy minutes. I would honestly give about ninety-five to one hundred points to this part. This is where the song takes it or breaks it. Some people might hate this part and state that is overlong, weird and pointless but other people like me might say that it's unique, fascinating and very emotional. It's hard to be in between those two opinions you either like or hate this. I can understand both sides and this part of the song might provoke and justify a variation of as much as thirty or forty percent in the final rating.

The piano part leads to a short symphonic part that is an interlude to a faster part with great guitar solos. The heavy and power metal rat race is back. Even if this part repeats the previous rat race part, I would still give another ninety-five percent to this as the piano passages, guitar solos and heavy drum fills are what early X Japan have always stood for in my opinion. The vocals are once again very sweet, maybe too sweet for some.

After another three minutes, the track gets back to the slower and more commercial part which I would once again rate around eighty percent. This song closes the circle and finishes with a high vocal note and also ends the song and album at the same time.

Mathematically, considering all parts and their different lengths and proportions, this leads to a final rating around eighty-eight percent. It's the band's most unique release and while some passages are too cheesy and a little bit too long, it's despite its flaws an outstanding work of art that you should have listened to once in a lifetime. This song is X Japan's opus magnum. It's not their best track after all but their most ambitious and detailed one and a lot of creativity and passion has flown into the final result. Be sure to check this unique piece of music out. This is Japan's stunning answer to Queen, Savatage and Guns 'N Roses and fusions hard rock and melodic metal with classic elements and especially a lot of piano melodies. It's not so unique overall but still an exciting experience that is worth your time and your attention.