Iconic Japanese heavy metal outfit Loudness are touring Australia for the first time in May. On episode 110 of The Australian Rock Show, vocalist Minoru Niihara discusses everything from touring with AC/DC, his Nishidera Minoru project, original drummer Munetaka Higuchi, the band Earthshaker, and the success of the 1986 single "Let It Go". He also talks about recording with Tower Of Power on his 1989 solo album One, and chats about the most recent Loudness record, Rise To Glory. 

Niihara: "When we were recording the Thunder In The East album, I was not able to speak English at all, but I had to learn how to sing, how to speak, especially pronunciation, I had a lot of problems - but it took me a couple of months to be done - on the Thunder In The East album. It was so hard for me to sing in English, still it is hard."

Loudness will release a new 2CD+DVD, Live In Tokyo, on May 17. Pre-order here, and watch a video for "Soul On Fire" below

Loudness has been dominating the worldwide heavy metal scene ever since their birth in 1981 with classic albums like Thunder In The East (1985 / #74 US national chart) and Lightning Strikes (1986 / #64 US national chart). Their latest studio album from 2018, Rise To Glory -8118- was released worldwide through earMUSIC and was highly acclaimed both by the heavy metal maniacs and the critics.

In September of 2018, the event named Metal Weekend was held at the famous Zepp DiverCity Tokyo. Loudness headlined the event for four nights in a row alongside guest bands such as Riot V and Anthem, making every evening a huge success.

The set on CD 1 is based on the setlist from their legendary North America tour from 1985, while CD 2’s songs mainly base on songs from Loudness’ third album, The Law Of Devil's Land, and their fourth album, Disillusion. The DVD includes many songs from their latest album Rise To Glory -8118- along with all smash hit classics like “Crazy Doctor”, “In The Mirror” and “Crazy Nights”.

Tracklisting:

CD 1
"The Lines Are Down"
"Crazy Nights"
"Like Hell"
"Heavy Chains"
"Get Away"
"We Could Be Together"
"Loudness"
"In The Mirror"
"Crazy Doctor"

CD 2
"In The Mirror"
"The Law Of Devil's Land"
"Black Wall"
"Sleepless Night"
"Speed"
"Crazy Doctor"
"Milky Way"
"Ares' Lament"
"Dream Fantasy"
"Esper"

DVD
"Soul On Fire"
"I'm Still Alive"
"Like Hell"
"Heavy Chains"
"The Sun Will Rise Again"
"Go For Broke"
"Ares' Lament" / "Until I See The Light"
"Kama Sutra" (Instrumental)
"Crazy Doctor"
"In The Mirror"
"S.D.I."
"Loudness" (With Masayuki Suzuki)
"Crazy Nights" (With Riot V)

"Soul On Fire" video: