Disillusion [IMPORT]

Loudness

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 12, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1984
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Columbia Japan
• ASIN: B000059HUG
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #119,279 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Crazy Doctor

2. Esper

3. Butterfly

4. Revelation

5. Exploder

6. Dream Fantasy

7. Milky Way

8. Satisfaction Guaranteed

9. Ares' Lament

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Transition, December 1, 2002

By	Nicole Emery "purpletemple" (Brussels Belgium) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If there is one Loudness album you should have it's this one.
Disillusion is the turning point in Loudness's carreer, after three albums in japanese and a double LIVE album, Loudness releases the album that will reveal them worlwide.Disillusion is also a transition between the firsts albums, very technical and heavy, and the followings ones, much too formatized for european and american Heavy Metal market.In Disillusion each member of the band shows his hability to rock heavily but with a great deal of sensitivity.I suppose you all know how well Takasaki plays the guitar-sharp and fast, but have you noticed how great the drummer is?...check out Esper, Butterfly, Milky Way and compare with almost any other heavy metal drummer, you'll hear the difference!
Of course you got to get used to the accent and the vocal tessiture very unusual yet quite irresistable!
Pure Heavy Metal made by pros, Disillusion appears like the most mature and personnal Loudness album.This review reefers to the japanese Lp version.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "CLOSE TO PERFECTION", August 11, 2004

By	M. BARRIOS "barriome" (LOS ANGELES, CA. USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Actually more like 4.5 stars. I can't believe that some people don't like this CD! This is a classic "Loudness" CD that should have never been released in English. There was simply no need to change anything about this great Metal CD. The production is very good and the band continues their conceptual album covers with this release. In my opinion, this CD is #3 behind #1 "The Law of Devil's Land" and #2 "Devil Soldier" CD's. It's too good not to have in your Metal collection. Just listen to the song "Milky Way" and you'll be blown away! These guys really ROCK!!!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Innovative '80s metal from the Far East, July 12, 2005

By	mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Disillusion was the first album released in the United States (in 1984) by the Japanese metal band Loudness. They added English lyrics to their homeland material and the result was a solid, innovative album. I like Thunder in the East (1985) and Lightning Strikes (1986) better. They are two of my all-time favorite metal albums. Disillusion is an excellent album as well and a lot of Loudness fans consider it the band's best.

"Crazy Doctor" is a unique rocker with innovative guitarwork. It has a classical guitar style riff in the middle. Akira Takasaki may be the most underrated guitar virtuoso in metal. While "Crazy Doctor" is a catchy, restrained track, "Esper" is crazy fast and furious! It has blistering guitar and a wicked feel. "Butterfly" is the most interesting track on the album. It is very innovative and moves in all sorts of directions. It is almost funky at times. It has soft, gentle verses and is a bit quirky as it moves along, but in a charming way. Then there is an absolute kick-butt flurry of guitar and drums that soon shifts gears to the quirky stuff. If they had maintained that intensity-wow! "Revelation" has a powerful, pounding opening. Again, this track has some quirkiness.

The second half begins with the instrumental "Exploder." Takasaki demonstrates his guitar virtuoso skills. It blends into "Dream Fantasy" which is a more romantic pop track but not at the expense of their heavy sound. "Milky Way" feels like it is about to burst into an exploding "Esper" style song, but it pulls back and stays retrained with an accessible chorus. It is an intense track, and one of my favorite here. "Satisfaction Guaranteed" offers some innovative stuff, especially at the opening riff. The last track is the slow, power song "Aires' Lament." I don't like Niihara's vocals on romantic tracks. Still, the pleasant verses (especially with the gentle guitar riffs) are nice and better than the chorus and the heavier stuff on this track. Loudness returned to this track fours years later on "So Lonely" off Hurricane Eyes with far less success.

As good as this album is, Loudness would hit their zenith with Thunder in the East and Lightning Strikes and then fall flat on Hurricane Eyes. Thunder and Lightning offers some of the best power metal around and Hurricane was a pop metal experiment gone horribly wrong. Disillusion is definitely their most innovative album. It has a lot of different sounds and styles. Anyone who would like something a little different in their metal collection should pick up Disillusion.