Customer Reviews

Disillusion (Reis)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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!!!

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.

Underrated and overlooked by circumstance, this album has stood the test of time. Loudness was struggling to find their direction on Disillusion, and what we the listeners get, as a result, is a disc full of kick-@55 hard rock of several styles. The production isn't very good, but the music more than compensates. Standout tracks are Esper, a rabid speed metal track, Butterfly, a rock voyage whose power belies it's name, and Ares Lament, a soulful and dignified ballad.

There are elements of Van Halen, Accept, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and even Bad Company here.

Highly recommended for any serious metal or rock library.

This is Loudness' 4th album, and certainly one of their two overall best. The music has a cutting-edge (for 1984) metal sound. This 24-bit remastered release includes two extra tracks: 'Crazy Doctor [live]' and 'Dream Fantasy [live]'- these bonus tracks are decent, but are not up to 'Live Loud Alive' and '8186' standards. I can definitely jam to the entire album, but 'Crazy Doctor' and 'Exploder/Dream Fantasy' are my favorites from the original release.

Around 1992 I saw a Guitar World list of favorite albums by well know guitarists. Scott Ian of Anthrax rated Disillusion in his top 5. Even though I had (and loved) Thunder In The East and Lightning Strikes and didnt need to be told about this band I had never heard of Disillusion. Sadly I could never find a copy back when you had to drive store to store to look for music. So now 20 years later I finally get Disillusion and wow...I was missing out! If you were like me and Thunder.. and Lightning Strikes are favorites you should like this. Its a bit more raw, bit more unpolished (nothing wrong with that). At first listen this is an obvious predecessor to those two, its worth buying for that reason alone.

The first thing to strike me was the vocals being sung in japanese, it does take some getting used to. But the songs and playing are so good it begins to matter less and less. Akira is as on fire here as other albums, an amazing player...someday when kids ask just what was hard rock/metal in the 80s, they should just play them a clip of Akira...classic marshall 80s heaviness. Exploder is basically his "Eruption"..and you will hear some simliarities with what was going on at the time..theres a little run that is note for note something Eddie Van Halen does in his live solo...or did before he drank himself into a moron, but so what....this guy can play.

Ares Lament is the highlight for me, there is a "bigger than an 80s metal band" quality about this tune, I cant put my finger on it....its way more than just another cheesy 80s ballad, its got an epic quality about it, this song is hard to get out of your head. Overall after FINALLY having got to hear this CD I say pick it up.... if you are a fan of Loudness its a must have. Scott Ian knew what he was talking about.

This is THE Loudness album to own: certainly many are good, if you're into powerful yet singable heavy metal. The 80s have not been kind (in retrospect) to many bands, but Loudness remains a quality team over time. They had a lucky combination of things: catchy songwriting, speed and power when necessary, GREAT guitar chops (an essential for 80s metal!), and good-quality recordings.

I'd have to say that Disillusion has the best production of all their albums, just the right combination between raw and polished. It shoudl appeal to those who like the sound of bands like Van Halen, Judas Priest, or Alcatrazz, a sharp combination of pop and metal.

Both the English version and Japanese version are excellent. With this band, I have no preference for either... I did not enjoy their later "English only" albums as much - they seemed too Westernized and much slicker.

This album kicks!!

The songs on this CD sound like a combination between Old Dokken/Judas Priest/Rush/Van Halen.

Its worth getting!

"Disillusion" is by far one of the best Loudness albums and maybe one of the best pure metal albums of all time! Akira Takasaki is probably the most underrated guitarist ever. One of the very best in the mold of Edward Van Halen! I loved this album when i was in high school and still love it just as much today! To me it's value has gone way up! They just don't make albums like this anymore!!! check it out!

I had been looking for this record for more than ten years! Together with "Law of devil's land" this is one of the finest Loudness albums. Too bad that Loudness turned too much oriented towards the American market later on. They were original, brilliant and exotic in the " Disillusion" era. One of my favourite bands when I was sixteen and these records are still as great today as then. A band that never tires....

Great metal record, a must have if you like original metal from the 80's.