Gauze (album)

Gauze
Studio album by Dir En Grey
Released	July 28, 1999 (EW Japan) October 31, 2001 (re-issue)
Recorded	Warner Music Recording Studio, Greenbird Studio, One Voice Komazawa Recording Studios, Epicurus Studio, Tokyo Bay Studio, Victor Studio (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13) One on One Recording North L.A. (3, 6, 9, 11, 12)
Genre	Alternative metal hard rock alternative rock pop rock
Length	64:47
Language	Japanese English German
Label	East West Japan (1999) Free-Will (2001 re-issue)
Producer	Dir En Grey (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13) Yoshiki (3, 6, 9, 11, 12)
Dir En Grey chronology
Missa (1997) Gauze (1999) Macabre (2000)
Singles from Gauze
"Akuro no Oka" Released: January 20, 1999 "Yurameki" Released: January 20, 1999 "-Zan-" Released: January 20, 1999 "Cage" Released: May 26, 1999 "Yokan" Released: July 14, 1999

Gauze is the first studio album released by Dir En Grey on July 28, 1999. It is the band's first full-length record. Five tracks were produced by X Japan co-founder Yoshiki Hayashi,^[2] all of which had been previously released as singles. The album was originally released on July 28, 1999 as a standard version with a thick CD case, 36-page booklet with the CD reading surface painted red, through East West Japan. An initial limited version was released on the same day, including a translucent red sleeve with a cloud pattern, 12-page picture booklet, a 36-page lyrics booklet, and the red painted CD in a maxi-CD single case for a sticker price of ¥3,059. The album was later re-issued as standard version only, with a silver disc on October 31, 2001 through Free-Will. Although live performances of songs from this album have been extremely rare since 2003, the album still contains some of the band's most popular songs like "Cage" and "Yokan".

The lyrics booklet features two pages for each song; one features the lyrics, while the facing page features a picture and a small poem or verse, as a companion piece.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Kyo. 

Notes

• "Yurameki" was covered by R-Shitei on the compilation Crush! 2 -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-, the album was released on November 23, 2011 and features current visual kei bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement.^[3]
• "Raison Detre" is French for "reason for being", the correct spelling being "raison d'être".
• "Cage" was covered by Mejibray for Crush! 3 - 90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Love Songs-, which was released on June 27, 2012 and features current visual kei bands covering love songs by visual kei artists of the 90's.^[4]
• The kanji of the seventh track are printed in reverse on the packaging, transliterating as "Mitsu to Tsuba" (honey and saliva). "Tsumi to Batsu" (crime and punishment), however, is still considered the official title. This peculiarity is an example for lyricist Kyo's penchant for wordplay.
• "Mazohyst" in "Mazohyst of Decadence" is a misspelling of masochist.
• Most of the song "Gauze -Mode of Eve-" is a hidden track at the end of "Akuro no Oka". "Akuro no Oka"'s actual length is 8:30. The four second 13th track is a Red Book standard designed to accommodate the hidden outro.
• A re-recording of "-Zan-" appears as a b-side on their 2009 single "Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami".
• "Schwein no Isu" was covered by Merry for the compilation Crush! -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-, the album was released on January 26, 2011 and features current visual kei bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement.^[3]
• A remake of "Tsumi to Batsu" appears as a b-side on their 2011 single "Different Sense" under the title "Tsumi to Kisei".

Personnel

Musicians

• Dir En Grey – producer, arrangements
  • Kyo – vocals, lyricist
  • Kaoru – guitar
  • Die – guitar
  • Toshiya – bass guitar
  • Shinya – drums
• Shelly Berg – violin ("Akuro no Oka")

Additional chorus

on Schwein no isu

• Matsuyama
• Mikio
• Okuyama
• Ōsaka
• Shintani
• You (Death Side)
• Zigyaku
• バンチUFO

on Mazohyst Of Decadence

• Kazue Tatsumi

Technique

• Yoshiki – producer, arrangements ("Yurameki", "Cage", "Yokan", "-Zan-" and "Akuro no Oka")
• Toru Yamazaki – co-producer ("Yurameki", "Cage", "Yokan", "-Zan-" and "Akuro no Oka")
• Dynamite Tommy, Toshiyuki Takano, Norio Higuchi & Takeyasu Hashizume – executive producers
• Joe Chiccarelli – mixing (on Yurameki)
• Eric Westfall – (on Cage)
• Bill Kennedy – (on Zan)
• Stan Katayama – (on Acro no Oka)
• Shelly Berg, Tom Halm & Yoshiki – string arrangements ("Cage" and "Acro no Oka")
• Michio – artwork^[5]

References