Summary
Gauze (stylized as GAUZE) is the debut studio album by Japanese heavy metal band Dir En Grey. 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 ($27.87). The album was later re-issued as standard version only, with a silver disc on October 31, 2001, through Free-Will. Five tracks were produced by X Japan co-founder Yoshiki Hayashi,[3] all of which had been previously released as singles.
| Gauze | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 28, 1999 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 64:47 | |||
| Language | ||||
| Label | East West Japan | |||
| Producer |
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| Dir En Grey chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
 2001 re-issue cover | ||||
| Singles from Gauze | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Ultimate Guitar | 9/10[1] |
| CD Journal | (Positive)[2] |
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 edit
All lyrics are written by Kyo
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Gauze -Mode of Adam-" | Dir En Grey | 2:07 |
| 2. | "Schwein no Isu" (Schweinの椅子; "Chair of the Pig") | Die | 3:31 |
| 3. | "Yurameki" (ゆらめき; "Waver") | Shinya | 5:05 |
| 4. | "Raison Detre" | Shinya, Toshiya | 4:48 |
| 5. | "304-gōshitsu, Hakushi no Sakura" (304号室、白死の桜; "Room 304, Cherry Blossoms of White Death") | Die | 5:18 |
| 6. | "Cage" | Kaoru | 5:35 |
| 7. | "Tsumi to Batsu" (蜜と唾; "Crime and Punishment") | Kaoru | 5:08 |
| 8. | "Mazohyst of Decadence" | Kaoru | 9:22 |
| 9. | "Yokan" (予感; "Premonition") | Die | 4:39 |
| 10. | "Mask" | Kaoru | 4:25 |
| 11. | "Zan" (残-ZAN-; "Remains") | Kaoru | 5:03 |
| 12. | "Akuro no Oka" (アクロの丘; "Hill of the Acropolis") | Kaoru | 9:42 |
| 13. | "Gauze -Mode of Eve-" | Dir En Grey | 0:04 |
Notes edit
- "Raison Detre" is French for "reason for being" (raison d'être with conventional diacritics).
- 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 Romanization of the Japanese loanword for masochist, マゾヒスト ("mazohisuto".)
- 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 "残-ZAN-", simply titled 残 (Zan), appears as a b-side on the 2009 single "Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami".
- A remake of "残-ZAN-", also titled 残 (Zan), appears on the 2024 remake single "19990120" along with the other two major debut singles, "Yurameki" and "Akuro no Oka". The single's title refers to the original release date of the three debut singles, January 20, 1999.
- A remake of "Tsumi to Batsu" was released in 2011 on iTunes and as a live-limited single. A censored version, aptly titled 罪と規制 (Tsumi to Kisei, Crime and Regulation), appears as a b-side on the 2011 single "Different Sense".
- A remake of "Mazohyst of Decadence" appears on the second disc of the Limited and Deluxe Editions of the 2022 album Phalaris.
- Remakes of "Cage" and "Yokan" are slated to appear as b-sides on the 2024 single "The Devil In Me".
Personnel edit
Musicians
- Dir En Grey – producer, arrangements
- Shelly Berg – violin ("Akuro no Oka")
- Baez FX. - breathing (Zan)
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, and Takeyasu Hashizume – executive producers
- Joe Chiccarelli – mixing (on Yurameki)
- Eric Westfall – (on Cage)
- Bill Kennedy – (on Zan)
- Stan Katayama – (on Akuro no Oka)
- Shelly Berg, Tom Halm & Yoshiki – string arrangements ("Cage" and "Akuro no Oka")
- Michio – artwork[4]
References edit
- ^ "Gauze Review". Ultimate Guitar. August 20, 2009. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- ^ "DIR EN GREY". CD Journal. ONGAKU SHUPPANSHA Co. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ Gauze (CD liner). Dir En Grey. Japan: Free-Will. 1999. FWR-030.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ album liner note (East/West Japan - AMCM-4440 1999 edition)