Akira Takasaki "The Japanese EVH"

[outlier]

I'll call ya Sunday.

[yngwie308]

Cool
Dave

[Tone Slinger]

I'll have to apologize for the title of this thread. Akira is DEFINATELY his own man. BUT, I , like EVERYBODY else, cant hide my influences completely. I can hear a great deal of Blackmore, Schenker, Uli Jon Roth (Dissillussions 'Ares Lament') EVH, and Malmsteen in his playing (I too share those influences).

There is one particular lick on the Van Halen '25 song Demo' version of 'Somebody get me a doctor' that has almost the same lick in it that Akira played in 'Rock and Roll Crazy Nights' (or is it called 'Crazy Nights' ?) It is a kind of 'cross' picking type lick. Akira must have went beyond the VH studio albums, digging up bootlegs, like many here on th forums.

[Grosh_Guitars]

Yeah these guys are great! Saw them a few times in LA during the 80's. Akira played f**king LOUD!!

[azazael]

I've never heard of this guy.
What band was it "Loudness" is that right?

What should I check out??

[Grosh_Guitars]

I've never heard of this guy.
What band was it "Loudness" is that right?

What should I check out??

Really???? Loudness is correct. Thunder in The East was the first US release.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVx2JAob ... re=related

[azazael]

I have heard the band Loudness mentioned by people like Paul Gilbert but I have never checked them out.
Was not sure if I would have liked them because I knew they were japanese, ive heard japanese bands before they are rather unusual.
I will check them out, peaked my interested if you think he sounds like EVH.

[Tone Slinger]

Get 'Dissillusion' and 'Thunder From The East'. Akira uses the great styles of Blackmore, Schenker, Roth and EVH to great effect. He makes things more hi fi and technical (true post ww2 Japan) than before, BUT, retains the inherent soul and tone of his influences to a large degree. I love his playing on 'Dissillutions' Aries Lament. Great player !

[Grosh_Guitars]

Get 'Dissillusion' and 'Thunder From The East'. Akira uses the great styles of Blackmore, Schenker, Roth and EVH to great effect. He makes things more hi fi and technical (true post ww2 Japan) than before, BUT, retains the inherent soul and tone of his influences to a large degree. I love his playing on 'Dissillutions' Aries Lament. Great player !

I have always liked his playing on Live Aloud Live as well.

[outlier]

While learning some of his solos, licks, etc, I've found his phrasing to be quirkier than it seems with casual listening. There's definitely some hard stuff, odd note choices and note groupings, sudden and awkward shifts and so on that goes along with an extraordinarily precise technique.

I think there's also more of a Blackmore influence than I think many would expect, particularly on the early stuff.

What I also like about Akira is that his use of various influences, such as tapping, Gilbertish sextuplet groupings, etc, is that he fuses these into his playing seemlessly. It's not like some other players as in, "Oh he's out of ideas. Here comes the tapping." Oftentimes, you might not be able to tell if Akira is tapping. It's not as obvious or overt.

[Tone Slinger]

I agree, 'Like Hell' is a great example of the "Is he tapping or not ?" Akira influenced Paul Gilbert.

I agree, Blackmore was a huge influence on Akira, and a very EARLY one. Deep rooted.

I hear alot of Roth too, especially on The 'Dissillusion' version of 'Aries Lament' and "Thunder FTE's' 'Clockwork Toy's'.

Schenker figure's in there as well. Eddie obviously gave him a great inspiration, as did Malmsteen, who Akira seemed to easily digest and incorporate.

Akira is a Bad assed MF !

[outlier]

Another great example of Akira Tapping That Doesn't Sound Like Tapping would be the first half of the solo to "Soldier of Fortune" with it's two-hands over the neck tapping.

[Tone Slinger]

+1, there ya go. I alway's loved how Akira would set up his solo's with a nice chordal arrangement. He wouldnt just solo over the straight verse or chorus. He had little synchopated stops/holes with the rhythms he was soloing over , which created different tensions. He managed to not always use the same vibe/melodies, often times due to this.

For the generation of guitarist I consider myself a part of ( early/mid 80's to the early 90's) Akira was/is one of the best imo.

[KGW]

I'm still a huge Akira fan. He's probably influenced more than I realized.
He would rip-off EVH one solo, RR the next, and Yngwie on another solo; but that's OK by me. I do that, too!

Actually, I saw Loudness the first time they ever played in the USA (in Hollywood at The Country Club). We got backstage and my friend took a picture of Loudness sitting down and Yngwie is standing behind Akira with his arms crossed. At that time, Yngwie had just quit Steeler and joined Alcatraz. Ywgwie was mostly unknown at the time as the Steeler album had not been released.

As for ripping off... I agree on the old stuff. The Birthday Eve definitely sounds like Rush meets Van Halen. When Disillusion came out, we all were thinking how much of a rip off "Exploder" was of "Eruption." However, I think Akira definitely has come into his own since then. I saw them in 2011 in Seattle and they were perfect and looked to be having a great time. Akira's tone was the best and him playing was awesome.

I really like all of their albums except for On the Prowl. Besides that, all great stuff.

[Tone Slinger]

Great post ! Very cool info.