B'z Official Website

>> B'z in 2008
B'z kicked off their tour B'z LIVE-GYM 2008 "ACTION" on January 28th at Nagasaki Brick Hall. A new website for the tour (http://www.bz-livegym.com) has started for more details. On February 20th, a live DVD "B'z LIVE in Nanba" which took place in September 2006, organized by Control Room (ex. Network LIVE) as their first Asian artist contents for their catalog. Only the limited number of people who won tickets in a drawing was able to attend the show. New single "BURN –Fumetsu no Face-" was released on April 16th and topped the National Oricon Chart. This song is used as KOSE ESPRIQUE CM song.
B'z announced releasing a new best-of album, 30 songs 2 disc set, B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure" on June 18th. In 1988, B'z released their first best-of album B'z The Best "Pleasure" and a request-best album B'z The Best “Treasure” sold more than 9 million units together. After B'z The Best “ULTRA Pleasure” in June, a new request-best album B'z The Best "ULTRA Treasure" will be released on September 17th. B'z 20th Anniversary website (http://bz20th.com) is now open and fans can poll their favorite songs to B'z The Best "ULTRA Treasure".

>> B'z in 2007
The first single in 2007 "Eien no Tsubasa" was released on May 9th. This song was written as a theme song for a movie "Ore wa Kimi no Tamenikoso Shini ni Iku" (Toei). The movie production asked Tak Matsumoto to write an image song first, then asked a theme song too. Both Tak and Koshi read the script based on true story and visited its location, Tokkou peace memorial museum in Chiran, Kagoshima where the original events happened. They were moved by those young solders who dedicated their life to protect whom they loved, and wrote the image song "THE WINGS" and the theme song "Eien no Tsubasa".
The single includes two movie theme songs, another song is "Lonely Stars" for a movie "Hokuto no Ken Raou Gekishou no shou" which is the 3rd movie series of the "Hokuto no Ken".
Instead of having a tour named "LIVE-GYM", B’z carried out a series of secret live shows between June and August. The tour was named "B’z SHOWCASE 2007 -19-" and "B’z SHOWCASE 2007 –B’z In Your Town-". They also appeared on one of most successful rock festival in Japan called SOMMER SONIC. On September 21st, their 20th anniversary day, B'z announced to release new album in December and tour schedule for 2008. B'z released 44th "SUPER LOVE SONG" on October 3rd. The single also includes an English lyric song "FRICTION" which was used in EA's popular racing game BURNOUT -Dominator- sold millions over 40 countries.

On November 19th, B'z was inducted to Hollywood's RockWalk at Guitar Center Hollywood. Hollywood's RockWalk was established in 1985, its sidewalk gallery is dedicated to honoring those individuals and groups who have made significant impact and lasting contributions to the growth and evolution of music industry. RockWalk also offers a museum with lots of memorabilia along with those handprints of inductees on the RockWalk sidewalk, always attracting music lovers. Before B'z, 175 individuals/groups were inducted such as Elvis Presley, Jimmy Hendrix, KISS, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Eric Clapton to name a few. Now, the handprints and signatures of B'z reside alongside of those great musicians. B'z is the first Asian artist to be inducted. Steve Vai is the one recommended B'z to the RockWalk committee, also who has already been inducted, made a speech at the ceremony. Many musician friends gathered to the ceremony to cerebrate as well as lots of fan from both Japan and US.

Their 16th original album "ACTION" was released on December 15th and topped the national Oricon chart on the first week. B'z re-wrote their record for consecutive first week No.1 albums and total album sales.

>> B'z in 2006
The sales of B'z The Best "Pleasure II" reached a million by the end of 2005, then as the first single in 2006 "Shoudou" was released. Jay Baumgardner, the engineer and producer for Linkin Park, Evanescence, who is also the owner of NRG recordings in Los Angeles (where B’z recorded the album "Brotherhood" in July 1999) did the mix. In addition to that, mastering was done by Ted Jensen,, the first winner as a mastering engineer for Grammy Award in 2002, who is also the chief mastering engineer of Sterling Sound in NY. Following singles "Yuruginaimono Hitotsu" "SPLASH!" are also by both Jay and Ted. B’z had a fresh start 2006 with new production stuff.
On April 12th, B’z released the 41st single “Yuruginaimono Hitotsu” which was the theme song for a movie "Detective Conan –Tanteitachi no Requiem-. The 3rd single in 2006 "SPLASH!" was already released on June 7th. For the first time with B’z, the single comes with a free DVD. There are 3 different DVDs, each contains a live performance on the center circle stage from B’z LIVE-GYM 2005 "CIRCLE OF ROCK", songs are "Ai no Bakucan" "Pulse" "Fever". It was first press only so people made reservation, the CD was sold out even before its release.
NETWORK LIVE (Los Angeles, USA) chose B’z as the first Japanese artist for its broadcast, with the fact B’z is the best selling and no.1 artist in Japan. The B’z performance is broadcasted all over the world through the internet. International top artists have been already on their list, B’z joined as the first artist from Asia.
On the June 28th, their 15th original full album "MONSTER" was released. It include 3 singles in 2006, "Shodou-MONSTER Mix-" (remix new version), "Yuruginaimono Hitotsu" "SPLASH!", and the 2005’s big hit single "OCEAN –2006 mix-" (remix new version). Wide variety of 14 songs is well balanced and constructed, truly make a "MONSTER" album. Most of the recording took place in Los Angeles, completed with two great engineers mixed by Jay Baumgardner and mastered by Ted Jensen.
B’z kicked off the tour B’z LIVE-GYM 2006 "MONSTER’S GARAGE" from Amami Bunka Center on the July 2nd. B’z just finished the tour final at Osaka Dome,17shows including 5 big domes in 11 locations, 450,000 audience all together.
As a closing of 2006, B’z released a live DVD, B’z LIVE-GYM 2006 "MONSTER’S GARAGE" on December 20th. The package shows both side of the tour; "LIVE DISC" includes all the songs from the stage, and "DOCUMENT DISC" includes behind the scene, all the procedure to create the tour from scratch with new stage crew. It scored No.1 on the Oricon DVD chart.

>> B'z in 2005
B'z had been recording since the previous year; the first single in 2005 "Ai no Bakudan" was released on March 9th.
On April 6th, B'z released their 14th album "THE CIRCLE". For this album recording, they were very particular about its live sound and recorded with Akihito Tokunaga and Shane Gaalaas who are both tour members. After the long solo period in 2004, B'z came to life again as a band.... this process reminded them of the transmigration of the soul, and they named the album "THE CIRCLE".
With this album, B'z started the tour B'z LIVE-GYM 2005 "CIRCLE OF ROCK" that ran from April to September, 27 shows in 41 locations. For the arena venues, they set a round stage in the center as a metaphor for their album THE CIRCLE and the tour title "CIRCLE OF THE ROCK". The stage was 360

surrounded by the audience.
After the arena tour, the 39th single "OCEAN" was released on August 10th. "OCEAN" is an uplifting tune which was written for the Fuji TV drama Umizaru. The second track of this single is "Narifuri Kamawazu Dakishimete" which has been aired as the Asahi Shinbun Soccer cheer song.
House of Strings label, which Tak established a year before, released the 2nd album, Theatre of Strings, on October 19th. This album is an omnibus album including popular movie theme songs played by four guitarists: Michiya Haruhata(TUBE), Takashi Masuzaki(DIMENSION), Yoshinobu Ohga(OOM), and Tak himself.
On November 30th, B'z The Best "Pleasure II" was released. This is the 3rd best of album, following B'z The Best "Pleasure" and B'z The Best "Treasure" which were both released in 1998, delightfully coinciding with the band's 10th anniversary. This new best of album includes all the singles after the first "Pleasure", from "HOME" to "OCEAN". All the singles scored No.1 on the Oricon Chart and the album became the talk of the time.

>> B'z in 2004
B'z started recording as soon as the year started. On February 25th, a DVD, Typhoon No.15 B'z LIVE-GYM The Final Pleasure "IT'S SHOWTIME!!" in Nagisa-en, was released. This DVD includes not only the Nagisa-en shows on September 20th, 21st in 2003 but also the documentary pictures from the hall tour, the live rehearsals, the recording.
The year of 2004, they mainly worked on their solo project. To begin with, Tak started his new project "TMG (Tak Matsumot Group)", making an album with international musicians, Eric Martin (ex. MR.BIG) on vocal, Jack Blades (ex. NIGHT RANGER, DAMN YANKEES) on bass, Brian Tichy (ex. PRIDE&GRORY, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT) on drums, and Tak played guitar and produced the album. Tak wrote songs, Eric and Jack wrote lyrics. On March, the single, OH JAPAN -OUR TIME IS NOW-, was released. The number become a powerful rock tune yet has the oriental sound of Japan. The members came over to Japan as the promotion of this single, appearing on TV and radio. More than 100 media people showed up for the press conference at Meguro Gajyoen, indicated their high expectation on this project.
The album TMG I that made Tak go back and forth to US for the recording, was released on June 23rd. Tak has had this project idea for a long time, the album reflects his dream mixing rock and oriental sound. The album topped the chart on the first week.
Tak energetically kept working. On July 18th, 19th, 20th, Tak had a collaboration concert with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra at Suntory Hall. At this special concert named Tokyo Special Collaboration 2004 Matsumoto Takahiro -HANA-, Tak played B'z tune such as LOVE PHANTOM and solo number like HANA with his only guitar and the Orchestra. The audience clapped up long after the end of the show.
Soon after, TMG started its tour rehearsal. From July 30th, the Dodge The Bullet" tour started at ZEPP Fukuoka. Chris Frazier who played songs on the B'z album BIG MACHINE joined as drummer for this tour. TMG had 16 shows in 8 locations including the last show at Nihon Budokan, drove the audience wild every show.
On the other hand, Koshi has been working on his solo and released a single, Wonderland, on July 14th. This single includes 3 songs, having musicians such as Stevie Salas (guitar), and also Greg Upchurch (drums) from Puddle of Mud. After releasing Wonderland, Koshi's first ever solo tour Inaba Koshi LIVE 2004 -en- started in Nagano. The tour was 20 shows in 17 cities. The tour members are Yoshinobu Ohga and Masaaki Watanuki on guitar, Hiroshi Asai on bass, Masato "PON" Yamaguchi on drums, and Yoshinobu Kojima on keyboards. During this tour, the band performed at summer festivals such as THE ROCK ODYSSEY 2004 (Yokohama) on July 24th, and SUMMER SONIC '04 (Tokyo, Osaka) on August 7th and 8th. This SUMMER SONIC '04 was the only show both Koshi and TMG performed even though they were at the different stage locations. Koshi touched audience's heart with his incomparable talent as a vocalist.
On September 22nd, after his first solo tour, an album Peace of Mind was released. It consists of 14 songs including the songs he had been performing on the tour. The album was recorded in Tokyo, Osaka, New York, and Los Angeles, with his the musician friends. The album expresses his originality in every song and lyrics.
Even though Tak and Koshi were working on their own solo project, they kept releasing as B'z. A single "BANZAI"(Asahi Super Dry commercial song) was released in May, another "ARIGATO", (the 37th single) was released in September 1st. This song was the theme song for TV Asahi network 2004 Sports, and cheered any sports events including Athene Olympic.
Soon after finishing each solo tour, they started the recording again.
November, Tak established his own label "House of Strings" which emphasizes guitarists and string musicians. He recorded again at a studio the songs played with orchestra in July, and released it as the first House of Strings CD with the same title on the album. It is a beautiful instrumental album including christmas numbers such as "Itsukano Merry Christmas" and "HOLY NIGHT". Tak is planning to release more album in the future to show how fascinating these strings are.
In December, the live DVDs, TMG Dodge The Bullet and Koshi Inaba Koshi LIVE 2004 -en- were released. Each title shows everything about the tour, a great source tracking both solo activities.

>> B'z in 2003
The year 2003 was their 15th anniversary. They started recording from the beginning of the year, and went to US in February for additional recording.
As the first act of 2003, the 34th single "IT'S SHOWTIME!!" was released on March 26th. This song had been aired since the end of last year as the theme song for TV ASAHI NETWORK SPORTS 2003. On the same day of the single, they re-released 10 single titles which previously released as smaller size of 8cm CD. All songs are re-mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Los Angeles. As the result, B'z amazingly occupied 11 titles from No.1 to 12 on the Oricon single chart.
Apart from B'z, Koshi released his solo single, KI, on June 11th. The first track AKATSUKI had been aired on Nihon TV as the image song for K-1 JAPAN and awaited for its release.
B'z released the 35th single, Yasei-no ENERGY in July. This song was also the theme song for TV ASAHI NETWORK SPORTS 2003.
Along with these continuous releases, the tour B'z LIVE-GYM The Final Pleasure "IT'S SHOWTIME!!" started in July. The tour "Pleasure" series started since '91 would end this year. The tour kicked off July 3rd at Hakodate Shimin Kaikan and finished at Nagisa-en on September 21st which is the day of their debut, 23 shows all together. It has been 10 years since B'z had shows at Nagisa-en in '93, B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure '93 "JAP THE RIPPER", it gathered 100,000 audience for 2 days. Even though the shows were hit by typhoon and it rained so hard, various impressive stage direction effect from the last 15 years (e.g. Koshi dives from the top of a tower with the song LOVE PHANTOM) has been reproduced, they had 1,500 fireworks at the ending, it made a great finale for the last Pleasure.

After the Nagisa-en, they flew to US. The tour B'z LIVE-GYM 2003 BANZAI IN NORTH AMERICA, 7 shows including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver took place and got a good reception.
Their 13th album, BIG MACHINE, was released on September 17th. As they came back to Japan, B'z started their 3rd tour in 2003, B'z LIVE-GYM 2003 BIG MACHINE. It was a dome tour in 6 lacations, from Saitama Super Arena to Tokyo Dome in December.
During the tour, Tak announced his solo project. He released Japanese cover song s which he was influenced with his produce and guitar play. As the start, he worked with Izumi Sakai from ZARD for the song "Ihoujin", and second single with Mai Kuraki for the song "Imitation Gold". Then the compilation cover album THE HIT PARADE with various vocalist was released on November 26th. Koshi also cover the song "Katteni Shiyagare" originally sung by Kenji Sawada in this album, the song was used in a drama series.
As the 15th anniversary, B'z has been very energetic releasing 2 singles and 1 album, having 3 different tour, also both Tak and Koshi released their solo work.

>> B'z in 2002
While B'z started recording as soon as the year 2002 starts, Tak finished his solo albums. On February 27th, 2 solo albums are released at the same time, DRAGON FROM THE WEST which consists of hard rock tunes, and HANA which includes more melodic and Asia orientated tunes. Both title became within top 5 in Oricon Chart on the first week, rarely have done with all instrumental album.
B'z finished their recording in the middle of May, and started the rehearsal in Tokyo for the LIVE-GYM tour soon beginning.
During these time, B'z announced a new song, DEVIL, on the FIFA World Cup 2002 official album. And June 5th, their 33rd single Atsuki Kodono Hate was released. Opening with simple acoustic guitar and voice, the song changes to the band sound later on. This song was the theme song for TV ASAHI NET WORK SPORTS 2002 and Pan-Pacific Swimming Championship Yokohama 2002.
As the excitement of the World Cup increasing, B'z performed with Aerosmith on the stage of FIFA WORLD CUP KOREA/JAPAN OFFICIAL CONCERT INTERNATIONAL DAY, at Tokyo Stadium on June 27th.

On July 3rd, right before the main tour starts, new album GREEN which is also the name of the tour this year was released. The tour started from Saitama Super Arena on July 8th to the last show at Osaka Dome on September 9th, it gathered 700,000 audience all together for 14 shows in 11 cities including the stadiums still holds the excitement of the world cup. Band members were the former MR.BIG bass player, Billy Sheehan and the drum player Shane Gaalaas who has played for so many artists' live and recordings. Having these skillful musicians, the sound become more powerful and heavy. In addition, all the direction and various effects including the 11 figures of Rockman towering on the back of the stage, acoustic performance at the center stage, fascinated the audience.
September, after the last show at Osaka, long time longing first US tour at a live house on the west coast took place, San Diego "Canes" on September 22nd and Los Angeles "The Palace" on September 24th. This US tour "LIVE-GYM 2002 Rock n' California Roll" was announced and sold only in the US. Then, the show in Los Angles was live broadcasted over the internet throughout the world, total access to the site was more than 1.5 million. October 5th, additional show was planned at Hibiya Yagai Ongakudo for Japanese fans. For 3000 capacity, the ticket had instantly sold out. On the day of the show, fans who could not get the ticket surrounded the venue hoping to hear the music from outside. The number of people outside was more than the audience inside.
October 9th, Koshi released 2nd solo album, Shian, 5 and half years after of his first solo album. The album has accomplished more wide variety of music style and lyrics.
November 27th, a live video a BEAUTIFUL REEL packaged everything happened at the GREEN tour was released. This title was not only about the GREEN tour but also it has the 2nd disc including the tour "LIVE-GYM 2002 Rock n' California Roll". This DVD is more like a documentary film showing both live and backstages, it made huge success as a live video, the total sales of 200,000 units.
December 11th, their first ballad best-of album The Ballads -Love & B'z- was released. The album consists carefully selected 15 beautiful ballad songs including Itsuka-no Merry Christmas which is very popular in the christmas time. Also B'z tree was decorated at Tokyo Dome and Odaiba and became the news of the christmas time.

>> B'z in 2001
The beginning of February, B'z started the rehearsal in Tokyo to get ready for LIVE-GYM. They immediately started to go over whole set, engaging each of the members with great enthusiasm. They started its intensive rehearsal in Osaka in the middle of February looking for better and tighter sound. They made the first appearance in 2001 on February 24th at Zepp Osaka B'z Show Case -kobushi wo nigire-. "Show Case" are more like the worming-up shows before the main tour. They showed to audience what they had been rehearsing then adjusted for the final touch towards the main tour.

February 26th, B'z LIVE-GYM 2001 -ELEVEN- kicked off at Ehime Kenmin Bunka Kaikan. Concert hall shows such as -Preview-, March 2nd (Niigata), 6th (Sasebo), and -Intermission-, June 26th (Okinawa), July 3rd (Nemuro), and also -Extra-, August 5th (Tottori), 7th (Nagaragawa), 8th (Wakayama) took place. Except -Intermission- shows, all those shows were exclusive for the fan club members to get a ticket. B'z returned to Tokyo after the Sasebo show on March 6th, did the rehearsal for the arena venue shows which include more direction effect.
Right before the arena tour started, March 14th, the 31st single "Ultra Soul" was released. It was the theme song for TV Asahi "The 9th World Swimming Championship in Fukuoka 2001", and cheered the event throughout. B'z reset its own record of No.1 single on the first week to 27 singles.
The four months arena tour has started at Saitama Super Arena on March 18th. As the tour title indicates, they mainly played the songs from their latest album ELEVEN but also the new single "Ultra Soul" and their hit single in the past years. The stage was showed up with big screens and two trailers, special effects. The huge trailers appeared on the stage for the performance of "TOKYO DEVIL" was a big surprise to the audience.
After the Okinawa show on June 27th and 28th, B'z departed abroad. They officially released their CDs in Taiwan and Hong Kong and having LIVE-GYM this year, they made a promotion trip for the first time there. They were greatly welcomed with local fan and all the media which shows their high expectation towards the LIVE-GYM in August.
July 7th, the dome tour started at Sapporo Dome. Even though creating almost same stage as the arena tour, upscaled play and direction made the audience intoxicated. A month of July they had dome shows over the 5 biggest cities in Japan. The ELEVEN tour ended in Fukuoka where the 2001 world swimming championship took place, with B'z single "Ultra Soul" and the new song "GOLD" (the song played from the Sapporo show) for its theme song. B'z LIVE-GYM 2001 -ELEVEN- had 46 shows in 19 locations and 600,000 audiences all together. On August 8th, new single "GOLD" was released, which had been played at the dome tour.
After the ELEVEN tour, B'z was preparing for the first Asia tour which includes "B'z LIVE-GYM in Taipei 2001" on August 25th, 26th and "B'z LIVE-GYM in Hong Kong 2001". Since B'z officially released their CD this year for the first time, the show was focused on the play and song without heavy special effect on the stage. The 2 days show at Taipei Nankou 101, Taiwan, was filled with the local fans, got so excited to see their live show in person. At the Hong Kong International Hall 3, B'z made the Hong Kong fans crazy over their MC in Kantonees. The first B'z Asia tour was very successful.
Except the TV appearance of the Music Station Special at the end of this year, B'z finished their activity as B'z in 2001 by August. Each of them spent rest of the year concentrating on their own solo production.

>> B'z in 2000
On February 9th, the 28th single, Konya Tsukinomieru Okani, was released. This single was also the theme song of the popular drama series Beautiful Life, which had been airing since January. Also, on February 23rd, they released the album, B'z The "Mixture", which includes re-mastered tracks of past songs, songs form past singles that were not the featured track, remixes, and a new song. For promotion of this album, from 2a.m. on the day of release, they appeared live, on the Japan Network radio program called B'z @llnightnippon.com Media "Mixture" Special. This program was specially handled so that its listeners could also view the program through the internet, doing the radio show. On this night, there were a total of 14,600 people accessing this program simultaneously, and set a Japanese record. A heavy recording schedule continued through this part of the year, including several tracks recorded in Los Angeles. Then on May 24th, their 29th single, MAY was released. Again, this single topped the charts.
In the middle of May, they started a rehearsal for the summer tour B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure 2000 -juice-, starting a hall class venue show in Toyama, May 30th. The big part of the tour was total 18 shows in 10 cities, including a famous Budokan on June 20th as a start. This was the 6th "Pleasure" tour which differs from an ordinary album tour. The stadium class venue starting Sapporo Tsudome on July 13th, 14th had a special direction such as showing all the Pleasure tour logos from different years at the opening, projecting the videos from the past on the screen during the show, to make the show more exciting and fun. On the contract of these stadium shows, previous shows at a smaller concert hall and an arena (5 shows) size venue was directed to make it quite simple getting rid of all the heavily equipped effect,. Those people who has only seen recent shows were very impressed, every show had full of excitement different from those with usual LIVE-GYM tour.
Right before the stadium tour started, on July 12th, the 29th single " juice" was released. This song which is the tour title as well is an upbeat tune, indicates the excitement of the tour. The song had been played at the tour and audience enjoyed very much. They set Japanese record of marking No.1 on the first week, and this No.1 was the 25th in sequence. During the tour, August 2nd, awaited 6th video once upon a time in Yokohama -B'z LIVE-GYM 99' Brotherhood was released. The video released in the end of last year, The True Meaning of "Brotherhood"? was more like the back stage side of its production, and this new video was a pure live performance video.
The Pleasure tour has successfully ended at Osaka Dome, August 20th, and the 30th single RING was released on October 4th which had been perfected as a song already for an year. This sublime ballad song was played with strings on the summer tour and moved the audience.
The year of 2000 has been with a lot of title released with 4 singles and a live video, as finishing of this year the 11th album ELEVEN has released on December 6th. Not only before and after the tour, they kept recording as soon as they found the time to do it and made about 20 songs, not like the recording only just to release. The 14 songs of the album were carefully selected, including 4 singles, to accomplish the album's best quality. As the album released, they were very busy for the promotion throughout Japan, which had not done since 1997 for the album SURVIVE. They appeared on the live radio programs in Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, many fans reacted to the radio stations.
B'z finished their work in 2000 with the appearance on the TV show called Music Station Special on December 29th, and would start the rehearsal for the tour B'z LIVE-GYM 2001 -ELEVEN- which kicks off on February 26, in the following year.

>> B'z in 1999
There was not much activity as a band in the beginning of this year, but Tak, released his first solo maxi single, THE CHANGING on March 25th. This was the first time, he had ever sung on a released record. The single entered in at No. 2 its first week on the charts. The second track on the maxi single, ONE FOR THE ROAD was in the live video, "LIVE RIPPER". Having never been released since then, it was long awaited for by many fans. On April 14th, he released the album, KNOCKIN' "T" AROUND, which contains many other tracks with full vocals and also includes, the Formula-1 '99 theme song, GO FURTHER. The album has both instrumental and vocal tracks.
However, even before the release of this album, B'z had already started recording again. They recorded as a band in Osaka and Tokyo from late January till early March. They recorded a song that would be the basis of their next album in Osaka, called Brotherhood, which is also now, the title of the new album. On June 9th, the 27th single, the Tokyo recorded Giri giri chop, was released. They were very busy promoting this single and their 10th album Brotherhood, which was released on July 14th. As usual, promotion included many magazine and radio interviews.
On June 8th, a press conference was held in a Tokyo live house, to announce Tak's original Gibson Signature Model, the "Tak Matsumoto Les Paul". A large crowd of newspaper and magazine media personnel gathered to celebrate this honor of becoming only the 5th Gibson Signature Artist, in the world. In the same month, this guitar's "custom-shop" model became available, which is used in most of the Brotherhood album.
In July, another done-class tour began starting in Sapporo. The title of this tour, B'z LIVE-GYM '99 "Brotherhood" included 14 performances in 7 locations. They did away with extra stage acts and concentrated on their musical performance playing songs from the new album and many hits from the past. On August 28th and 29th, the final two days of this tour, they played in the Yokohama International Stadium. B'z concert was the first ever to be held in this stadium and gathered a stunning 140,000 people in just two days. Although the second day at Yokohama experienced heavy rain, the tour ended successfully.
During this tour, they also toured three concert halls naming it "Intermission". Another set of hall concerts, named it "EXTRA", was suddenly scheduled after the end of Yokohama. These extra shows, which played in concert halls with a capacity of about two thousand people, were only advertised and limited to locals, in locations outside of big cities. These shows were geared to give their fans a more personal performance. Again, B'z started recording in September and continued throughout the rest of the year without rest.

>> B'z in 1998
B'z played showcases in concert halls in Akita, Hakodate, Kouchi, Shiga, and Nagasaki, before plunging into the main tour. "B'z LIVE-GYM '98 SURVIVE" started on January 24th. There was an interactive animation feature which was incorporated into the performance along with, yet again, another spectacular stage set. The 24th single, Samayoeru Aoi Dangan, was released during this tour on April 8th. On May 20th, B'z released their first official best-of album, B'z The Best "Pleasure", which also marks their 10th year since debuting. Every song included in this album was a huge hit, and was highly acclaimed and widely spoken about by the media in newspapers, TV, magazines, and the internet. Its first shipment had sold more copies than any other Japanese artist in history.
On June 6th, the "SURVIVE" tour had successfully ended, and on July 8th, they released their 25th single, HOME, which was recorded during tour. The 2nd track in this single, The Wild Wind, was the theme song for the film, Fuyajo, featuring Takeshi Kaneshiro, and had been screening since the end of June.
After all the promotion for HOME finished, B'z entered a period of both rest and recording. Both Tak and Koshi had wanted to start on their own solo projects since the "SURVIVE" tour, and finally got a chance to begin. During this period, on September 21st, B'z marked their 10th Anniversary. A day before, their second best-of album, B'z The Best "Treasure" was released. This album consists of songs requested by their fans, including KOI-GOKORO, TIME, Moichido Kiss Shitakatta, which are coupling tracks and tracks that are only contained in albums.
After a lengthy period, on December 16th, Koshi released his first solo maxi single, Toku-made. This is his second solo release after the Magma album, and is considered a sequel.

>> B'z in 1997
On January 29th, Koshi's first solo album, Magma, was released. He had been recording the album since the previous year, writing all the music and lyrics. This record, which topped the charts, shows another side of him, different from that of Koshi of B'z.
In March, the dome tour "Pleasure '97 FIREBALL", consisted of 9 performances in 5 locations. Tickets for each dome, which have a capacity of about 30 to 50 thousand people each, were all sold out, these dome shows, which included Tokyo (3 nights), Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Maebashi, all were very successful and filled with rock and roll power and passion.
FIREBALL, also became the name of their 21st single and was released on March 5th. On July 9th, the 22nd single, Calling, was released. This was a song that was played in each encore set on the tour and came to be a popular, and much awaited release. They again, devoted themselves to recording after the tour, releasing another single, their 23rd, Liar! Liar! on October 8th. On November 19th, their 9th full album, and SURVIVE seemed to show, yet again, another new direction in sound and style. B'z would prepare for the tour which would start in January, the following year.

>> B'z in 1996
On March 6th, the 19th single, Mienai Chikara/MOVE, was released. The B'z LIVE-GYM '96 "spirit loose" tour, started on March 15th and held 44 performances in 21 locations. The show opened featuring a short B'z action movie, shot in Los Angeles. The 20th single, Real Thing Shakes, was performed as the opening number in each show, and was released on May 15th. This all English single, was done completely in Los Angeles under the producer, Andy Jones. They had never done anything like this and it was a total new challenge for them.
A short while afterwards, B'z made another mini album, their 3rd, titled FRIENDS II and released it on November 25th. This record, displaying more of an adult oriented rock, proved their musical capacity was unlimited.

>> B'z in 1995
They concentrated on recording in the first half of 1995 and after creating many demos, they made their 16th single, Negai, and released it on May 31st. Then, the 17th single "love me, I love you" was out on July 7th. In the summer, they held the Pleasure '95 " BUZZ" stadium tour with 12 shows in 7 cities.
Their new album, which they'd been recording since February, was finished, just as the completion of the tour came about. This next single was performed on tour prior to its release. Along with the buzz about the song's theatrical effects, their 18th single, LOVE PHANTOM, was released on October 11th. The 8th album, LOOSE, was released on November 22nd, a year and 8 months since their previous album. LOOSE was concentrated on the original concept of a two-man band. While combining rock with pop sounds, this album is well balanced with a variety of sounds. This album sold over 3 million copies, marking it as the best seller for B'z thus far.

>> B'z in 1994
February 9th, 1994 the "B'z LIVE-GYM '94 - The 9th Blues" tour started. This tour is the longest and biggest they've ever experienced thus far. They did 87 performances in this year. During this long tour, the 14th single, Don't Leave Me, was released on February 9th, the album, The 7th Blues, on March 2nd, and their 15th single, MOTEL, on November 21st. Both these two single that were released have very strong Blues influences.
The tour finished in Sapporo's Gekkan Dome on December 24th.

>> B'z in 1993
In late January, they started again, with the "RUN" tour included 49 performances in 21 locations. During this tour, the 12th single, Ainomamani Wagamamani Bokuwa Kimidakewo Kizutsukenai and the 13th single, Hadashino Megami were released on March 17th and June 2nd, respectively.
In this year, they held an open-air concert for the first time, called JAP THE RIPPER. This show took place in Bentenjima of Hamamatsu-city, Shizuoka on July 31st and August 1st. This successful event gathered 50 thousand people each day, totaling 100,000 people.
Following this, B'z concentrated on recording once again, this time, producing a two-disc 7th album, The 7th Blues. The album title not only came from it being their 7th album, but also after the 7th chord, that is frequently used in Blues. Becoming much more bluesier and soulful, this album evidently shows their lean towards Blues, the roots of rock music.

>> B'z in 1992
After the "IN THE LIFE" tour, they started recording their 10th single, BLOWIN'/TIME and was released on May 27th. Both songs on this single were regarded as the featured track and have grown to become very popular numbers in their shows.
In the summer, the "Pleasure '92-TIME" tour took place with 12 performances in 3 major cities. The arena-class tour had amazing featured such as a huge lighting set, called the "Starfish", and has seats that were able to rotate 360 degrees.
On October 7th, the 11th single, ZERO, was released. This hard rock number went No. 1 in its first week and again, proved their powerful artistic talent.
October 28th marks the release of their 6th album, RUN, and proved to be more hard rock oriented than the previous. On December 9th, they released a slightly different mini album titled Friends. Different from RUN, its concept is somewhat similar to that of a movie soundtrack.

>> B'z in 1991
The 8th single, LADY NAVIGATION, was the first to be relased in this year on March 27th. The second track on this single, Pleasure '91, came to be the name of their first Arena-class tour.
The third nimi album, Mars was recorded with Jason Corsaro again, and released on May 29th. The 9th single, ALONE was released on October 30th, and the 5thalbum, IN THE LIFE, on November 27th.
B'z veered away from their advanced-digitally sounds and moved more toward rock. Their first live video, JUST ANTOHER LIFE was out on December 11th.
Tight before their featured tour in December, they toured live-houses in Kobe, Nagoya, Omiya and Sapporo with the alias. "Z'b", and playing mainly cover songs of western artists.
The B'z tour, "IN THE LIFE '91-'92", with 66 performances, started in the same month and lasted into the next year. The total number of "LIVE-GYM" they did during this year exceeded 100. 1991 was a year with many shows and a year of displaying their new musical direction.

>> B'z in 1990
On February 21st, the third album BREAK THROUGH, and the single, LADY-GO-ROUND, were released. At the same time, they started a tour with 22 shows nationwide. The signs of their "Break through" onto the market was appartent at this time.
The 4th single, BE THERE, was released on May 25th. Soon after, their 5th single, Taiyo no Kamchi Angle, was released on June 13th and went No. 1 on the national chart.
WICKED BEAT, their second mini album was then released on June 21st. Without much rest , they started recording their 4th album, RISKY. For this album, they worked with an engineer named Jason Corsaro, who has worked with various artists such as Madonna, Power Station, and others. The mixing took place in New York and they were at the top of the music scene with this rock-dance blend.
The 6th single, EASY COME, EASY GO!, (which also is a fan favorite) was released on October 3rd, and Itoshii Hitoyo Good Night..., their 7th single, on October 24th.
The album, RISKY, was released on November 7th, and went platinum. The "RISKY" tour, totaling 49 performances, also started this month.
Their first Video, FILM RISKY, was recorded in New York and London within 4 weeks, and was released on December 16th. With a barrage of releases, 1990 came to be the busiest year for B'z.

>> B'z in 1989
The Japanese rock scene around this time had a notion that bands were supposed to immediately do live shows after debuting. However, B'z chose not to do this. Instead, they had a clear vision of how they wanted to perform and decided to wait until they had enough material to play for at least 90 minutes. So, they concentrated on recording and to raise the quality of their music.
Their efforts resulted in a second album, OFF THE LOCK that included their second single, Kimino Nakade Odoritai, both released on May 21 st, 1989.
With this second album came their first series of live performances known better to their fans as "LIVE-GYM". LIVE-GYM #00 started in Nagoya, and then continued to Osaka, and finished in Tokyo. Tickers were sold out on the day they became available, which is surprising, considering that these were the first shows ever of this new band.
On October 21st, their first mini album, BAD COMMUNICATION was released. This title track was a blend of rock and dance music, and still is a classic in their LIVE-GYMs.
Their first nationwide tour, B'z LIVE-GYM #001, finished with 16 shows around the country.

>> B'z in 1988
Tak Matsumoto, who was a professional guitarist, had been extremely busy with various recording sessions and live performances. He always had the dream of forming a permanent band to express his own music. Day by day, there was a growning desire which was building up inside. On May 21st, 1988, Tak released his first solo album, Thousand Wave. He saw this as a finishing of a chapter as a solo guitarist, and began his search for band members.
He met a vocalist by the name of Koshi Inaba. In only one session, the two bonded and promised to start a band. At the time, Japan's music scene was loaded with digitally generated sounds and was a time when many new bands were being created. They thought to themselves that creating a band like everyone else, at the time, would not be successful. With all the digital sounds in mainstream music, the only sounds that they felt could not be expressed and replicated were the guitar and the human voice. As a result, they decided to keep it a two-man unit. It was thought to be the most minimal and most efficient form of a band.
On September 21st, 1988, B'z, with their first album, B'z, and single, Dakara Sonote o Hanashite, made their debut.