Dragon Ash - The Best of Dragon Ash with Changes Vol. 1 and 2 5 September 2007
With these torrents I have tried to focus more on Japanese musicians and bands that I do not feel are commonly known, particularly to those of us whose exposure to Japanese music comes via other mediums like anime. However, there are some major artists and bands so important that it would feel wrong to not share their music for anyone who has not heard it. And Dragon Ash is one such band.Beginning in 1996 as a collaboration between Sakurai Makoto and “KJ” Kenji Furuya, Dragon Ash was one of the earliest groups to make hip-hop popular. Yet their earliest music is much closer to punk rock. It was always their intention to focus on hip-hop but punk was popular in the mid-90’s, and that created pressure on KJ in particular which brought a punk influence to their first release in 1997: The Day Dragged On. By 1999 Dragon Ash had taken in more members and had enough success—and more importantly the creative control that can come with it—to focus more on their original hip-hop intentions. In that year that had three singles in the top ten of Oricon charts at the same time, and their 1999 album Viva la Revolution debuted at the number one spot, selling a couple million copies along the way. Dragon Ash had cemented themselves as an important fixture in Japanese hip-hop and gained popular for their experimenting with metal, alternative rock, reggae, rap, and other genres.Dragon Ash released this two-disc album, The Best of Dragon Ash with Changes, to celebrate their tenth anniversary. They have since released a few more albums and singles, but for anyone unfamiliar with Dragon Ash this two-disc set is a comprehensive introduction. And even if you’re already a fan this is a great ‘best-of’ sample of Dragon Ash’s first decade that I think any fan would enjoy.