X Japan - Dahlia (1996) - A collection of ballads and modern experiments - 73% (30/11/11)

During the last years, X Japan have more and more shifted away from their powerful power and speed metal roots and created more and more complex rock opera symphonies that highlighted with the release of the twenty-nine minute masterpiece "Art Of Life". The band had also discovered its talent for emotional rock ballads like "Kurenai" or "Say Anything".

This is what the record "Dahlia" mainly focuses on. More than half of the tracks are epic rock opera ballads that vary on the thin line between intense and romantic as "Tears" and too artificial kitsch as on "Forever Love". The band surely has a lot of talent to write these kinds of songs but they offer nothing new on this album and are too dominant and lose their charm after a while. This is the ideal soundtrack for sensual hours with a Japanese girlfriend, a great album for Japanese radio rock fans and a fest for young female Visual Kei fans but I miss the variety and the high degree of surprises the band had on earlier releases. There is also not much metal about this record, it's more a very Japanese rock and pop record.

The only exception is the opening title track "Dahlia", a nice speedy hard rock anthem with some voice effects that is tough a little bit overlong as many tracks on the release. The other tracks that stand out and are no ballads are more experimental and can't be considered as metal tracks. We have for example the dark industrial grunge track "Scars" that focuses a little bit too much on the trends of the time when the album came out. Finally, the band offers us the interlude "Wriggle" that leads to "Drain" which are two interesting experimental rock tracks with a danceable and commercial approach and many effects. This double pack could play in any eccentric discotheque.

While these experimental songs are all interesting, I miss a truly outstanding song on the record with the exception of the epic ballad "Tears". Many tracks on this record just don't get to the point and too long, too predictable and too similar. This album is filled with potential hit singles but lacks a truly outstanding and experimental track and I miss the open-minded madness of the earlier releases. This record is a very good romantic rock and pop record with many catchy moments but a rather weak metal release and slightly disappointing album for X-Japan that only mostly collected the single outputs of the last years on one single record. Nevertheless, this is a record for special moments and musically, I have nothing to approach to the band. The piano work is excellent, the guitar solos are melodic and tight, the drumming is dynamic, the bass guitar solid but not outstanding and the vocals high pitched and unique as usual. In the end, this is still worthy of a slightly positive rating but check this record out before you buy to make sure you like the ballads and the general style of "Dahlia". This album is good but far from being the masterpiece many fans are talking about. Anyway, the brand new single "Jade" already beats the ballads on this album and X Japan seem to be back stronger than ever before while we wait for a new release to come out soon.