The Yellow Monkey
The Yellow Monkey, sometimes abbreviated as Yemon, is a Japanese rock band originally active from 1988 to 2001, before officially disbanding in 2004. They announced their reformation in 2016.
The band's name was derived from the ethnic slur that Japanese people look like monkeys, and that Asian people are said to be "yellow" in skin color. The Yellow Monkey is considered an important Japanese rock group, having achieved major success selling 10 million records, including 6.2 million singles. The group has had three consecutive number one albums, 18 top ten singles and in 2003 were ranked number 81 on HMV's list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. Outside Japan the band is best known for their song "Tactics", one of the many ending themes of the Rurouni Kenshin anime.
History
1988–1994: The Beginning
The Yellow Monkey has its roots in 1988, formed by Kazuya Yoshii when his previous band Urgh Police disbanded. When fellow heavy metal band Murbas disbanded, Yoshii switched from bass to guitar and recruited their bassist Youichi Hirose because he liked his personality and playing style. Similarly, drummer Eiji Kikuchi joined when his band Killer May disbanded. After vocalist Kenichi Matsuo left due to musical differences, they recruited Eiji's older brother Hideaki as lead guitarist. Yoshii was temporarily providing vocals while they looked for a new singer, but when they received an offer to make a record, he permanently became frontman of the band.The Yellow Monkey started to play in the underground circuit, being well known for not only their latent songwriting quality, but also because of their live performances, which would soon become the main characteristics of the group. A December 28, 1989 show at Shibuya La Mama is regarded as the first with these four members. The fans of the band grew vertiginously, preparing the band for their first studio work.
In 1991, the band finally launched their first album, Bunched Birth, which had seven original songs. It was an independently released album with raw sonority, with many influences from hard rock, and containing well-shaped but peculiar lyrics. The work was very well received by the public, opening the doors for their major label debut album, The Night Snails and Plastic Boogie, of 1992 on Triad/Nippon Columbia. The new album brought eleven songs more elaborate than the first work. The band had a considerable increase in popularity, which added to single "Romantist Taste" and to the ballad "Pearl Light of Revolution", that already gave samples of the potential of Kazuya in composing powerful ballads.
In 1993, the band launched their second major album, Experience Movie. The songs had a better production and care with the sonority. The songs of the album were very strong and with high emotional text. The band also started to be admired for their live performances, due to the band's charisma and Kazuya's extreme performances. However, the band had not yet become a large public success in Japan.
In 1994, they released the concept album Jaguar Hard Pain 1944–1994. It tells the saga of Jaguar, a World War II soldier who died in combat and comes back to life in the present day and tries to find his love, Mary. This was the last album from the first period of the band, when their songs did not have as much popular sound appeal.
1995–2000: The Success
By the year 1995, The Yellow Monkey had already become successful in Japan, playing their first show at the Nippon Budokan on April 11. They released the album Smile, which was another critical and public success, and the band released the single "Love Communication". Other songs that became classics of the band are "Fantasy", "Scorching Night", the powerful ballad "Hard Rain" and "Venus's Flower". The tour for this album in Japan booked more than 40 major shows.When it seemed that the band would rest, at the end of that same year, they released the album Four Seasons, which was recorded in London. The album reached No. 1 on the Oricon charts. The album had more-accessible songs, and reached a warm reception by the fans. There were also fans of anime because the song "Tactics" was used as the first ending theme of the Rurouni Kenshin anime, becoming their most successful single up until that point. Many other classics were already identified, such as "The Sun Is Burning", the rock-and-roll track "I Love You Baby" and songs such as "Father", "Remembering a Mermaid" and "The Moon Song". Despite the thundering success of the record, The Yellow Monkey continued being a cult band, since their lyrics and live performances remained consistent. On May 5, 1996, they performed in London with The Spiders from Mars.
After two back-to-back album releases, the band decided to take a break for one year. The decision was aided by Kazuya's stress from the constant and exhausting work of the two previous albums. The compilation album Triad Years Act 1 was released and was certified by the RIAJ for sales of a million copies. They also changed record labels to BMG Funhouse/Ariola Japan. On December 28, 1996, the seventh anniversary of what they consider their first concert, The Yellow Monkey held a special concert at the Nippon Budokan titled Mekara Uroko 7, where they played older songs. According to Kazuya, performing "Pearl Light of Revolution" with an orchestral arrangement at the show was one of the best moments of his career. The band continued to sporadically use the Mekara Uroko name for special concerts and events, which were usually held on December 28.
In 1997, The Yellow Monkey came back with the album that is considered their magnum opus, Sicks. This album brought a different sonority compared to the two previous works. It was a mix of their current sound combined with that of their first albums. Bringing more complex and mature songs, Sicks, was an amazing critical success and repeated the sales of the previous album. The main characteristic of the record is the concern of the band with the arrangements, which becomes more evident already in the first track, "Rainbow Man". The only single of the album was "Rakuen", which was successful and is still one of their best known songs. Despite being a concise album, whose songs are all equivalent in quality, there are three songs that made the album legendary. The first one is the already cited "Rakuen", with a strong chorus. "Rakuen" was covered by Eric Martin, known as Mr. Big vocalist, in his album Mr. Rock Vocalist released in 2012. The second is the ballad "End of Life ", considered by many as the best ballad by The Yellow Monkey. The third song is the long eight-minute epic, "Trip in Heaven", again considered among the best songs of the group.
Image:The Yellow Monkey with Kamasami Kong.jpg|thumb|right|Yoshii and Hirose with Kamasami Kong,
The band released the commercially successful album Punch Drunkard in 1998, although not to the extent of their previous album, it was named one of the top albums from 1989 to 1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze. The singles "Kyūkon", "Burn", and "Love Love Show" became hits. Although containing accessible songs, the album used the song-writing method of the previous album, Sicks. The success of the album made it possible for the band to begin a large tour of 113 concerts, the most of their career, which continued into 1999. They also did a small, two-date tour of the United Kingdom in July 1998, and held Mekara Uroko 9 at the Nippon Budokan on December 28, 1998.
After completing the extensive Punch Drunkard tour in March 1999, the group took the rest of the year off; performing only two more concerts. This included Mekara Uroko 10 at the Nippon Budokan on December 28, which featured guest musicians and celebrated their tenth anniversary. Coming back in 2000, the Yellow Monkey released their last studio album, 8, and released many singles such as "Holy Sea and Sunshine", "Pearl", "Rosy Days" and "Shock Hearts", all of which achieved great success. The album is considered the most occidental of the band, which was common for all Japanese bands at the time. Despite the success of the album, the group performed only the 10-date Spring Tour, already showing that the end was coming.
2001–2004: The End and post-activities
In 2001, The Yellow Monkey began a hiatus for an indefinite period of time after performing their final concerts at the Osaka Dome on January 4, and at the Tokyo Dome on January 8. Both were titled Mekara Uroko 8, in reference to their latest album. January 31 saw the release of their last single, "Primal.", which was produced by Tony Visconti. The compilation album Golden Years Singles 1996–2001 followed in June. The members released many solo albums, with Kazuya continuing to have success and adopting the stage name of Yoshii Lovinson, which he abandoned some years later. Hirose also obtained relative success with his band, Heesey with Dudes. Annie teamed up with Anchang and Natchin to form the trio Big Bites. Hideaki formed the loose musical collaboration project brainchild's.In 2004, the band released a large compilation Mother of All the Best, which included three discs with some singles, all b-sides, some demo-version songs and live performances. The Yellow Monkey officially announced their disbandment on July 7, 2004. However, the four members got together one last time for the final day of The Exhibition and Video Festival of The Yellow Monkey Mekara Uroko 15 held at the Tokyo Dome on December 26, 2004, and performed "Jam".
A two-disc tribute album titled This is For You ~ The Yellow Monkey Tribute Album was released on December 9, 2009, featuring artists such as Mucc, Fujifabric, 9mm Parabellum Bullet, Morgan Fisher and Kreva. Their song "Jam" was covered by Chemical Pictures on the album Crush! 2 -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-, which was released on November 23, 2011.
In 2012, a remix of their first single was released in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their major label debut. Mastered by Ted Jensen, "Romantist Taste 2012" was released on October 10.
A documentary film of their 113 date tour from April 1998 to March 1999 was released in theaters nationwide in 2013, titled Pandora: The Yellow Monkey Punch Drunkard Tour The Movie. It includes an interview with all four members together, the first time since the band broke up.