| Luna Sea | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Luna Sea |
| Cover: | Luna Sea album.jpg |
| Caption: | The album cover featuring the band, clockwise from top-left: Sugizo, Ryuichi, J, Inoran, Shinya |
| Released: | April 21, 1991 |
| Recorded: | 1990–1991 |
| Studio: | Gok |
| Length: | 38:02 |
| Label: | Extasy |
| Producer: | Luna Sea |
| Next Title: | Image |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
Luna Sea is the debut studio album by Japanese rock band Luna Sea, released on April 21, 1991, by Extasy Records.[1] It sold over 30,000 copies by July 1992.[2] After reuniting in 2010, Luna Sea re-recorded the whole album and released it on March 16, 2011, through HPQ.
At a sold-out February 11, 1991, concert at Meguro Rock-May-Kan, Lunacy were discovered by X Japan guitarist hide and were signed by X Japan co-founder Yoshiki to his independent record label Extasy Records.[3] The band changed their name from Lunacy to Luna Sea and took part in the label's sold out Nuclear Fusion Tour in March with Gilles de Rais and Sighs of Love Potion.[3] On the tour, a 3-track sample CD including a song from each band was freely distributed, to which they contributed a short sample of "Precious".[4] The album was released on April 21, 1991. In support of the record, they held their first nationwide tour Under the New Moon, which started on June 13 and was separated into two legs or "Episodes" with a final concert held on September 19. However, a third leg of 17 shows was performed from October 13 to December 30. Luna Sea is the band's only release on an indie label as they signed to MCA Victor for their second album, 1992's Image.
The album's cover photo was taken in Inokashira Park in the winter. "Time is Dead" is a re-written version of "Sexual" (later called "Sexual ") from their 1989 demo tape "Lunacy". It is the first original song that J ever wrote.[5] "Shade" was re-recorded from their 1989 demo of the same name. is translated as "Almost Transparent Blue," which comes from the Ryū Murakami novel of the same name. A longer, reworked version of "Moon" was recorded for their second album Image. "Precious..." was re-recorded for the 2000 compilation album Period -the Best Selection-.[6] It was also covered by Merry for the 2007 .[7]
The album was remastered by Ted Jensen and re-released by Universal Music Group on December 5, 2007. This edition came with a DVD which contained live promotional videos for the songs "Moon" and "Precious...", that were recorded at Nippon Seinenkan on September 19, 1991. It reached number 123 on the Oricon Albums Chart.[8]
All lyrics written by Ryuichi, except "Shade" by J and Ryuichi.
Personnel per album's liner notes.[9]
| Luna Sea | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Luna Sea |
| Cover: | Luna Sea 2011 Japan CD sleeve YICQ10050.jpg |
| Caption: | The album cover featuring the band, from left to right: Shinya, J, Ryuichi, Sugizo, Inoran |
| Released: | March 16, 2011 |
| Recorded: | 2010–2011 — Victor Studio, Studio Sound Dali, Kamome Studio, Art Terro Studio, Wonder Station |
| Length: | 43:55 |
| Label: | HPQ/Avex |
| Producer: | Luna Sea |
In 2011, the band re-recorded the whole album and released it on March 16 on their new label HPQ, which is owned by Avex Group. When asked why they chose to re-record the album, Sugizo said "It’s sort of like returning to our origins. After ten years, we have to recreate ourselves, and going back to something as original and basic as our first album is part of the process. It’s very important to be able to recapture that feeling, and to recreate it with our current skills to show how we’ve improved over the years.", and Ryuichi added "The sound we have now has a similar feeling to our first album."[10] It is notable that the version of "Moon" that appears on the re-recording is of the longer version of the song from their second album, Image.
It was released in three editions; a regular, a limited with a DVD of a music video for "Shade" that uses footage from their Lunacy Kurofuku Gentei Gig ~the Holy Night~ free concert on December 25, 2010, and a premium which includes a reproduction cassette of their 1989 demo "Shade" and a reproduction shirt from their 1991 Under the New Moon Episode I-III tours.[11] [12] The album reached number six on the Oricon Albums Chart and charted for seven weeks.[13]
Personnel per album's liner notes.[14]