Cosmic*Gilbert

Art of Life is a tremendous song. To think they played it live boggles my mind. It is not an easy song to play or easy listening. To truly appreciate the song you must disect it with your ears. It starts off with a slow ballad-like approach. Toshi's voice is sort of in-between the raspy voice we grew to love from Vanishing Vision to Jealosy, and the clear, beautiful voice found on the Dahlia album. It's the best of both worlds. Then, with a serious of rolls, the tempo changes and the first of many excellent guitar riffs begin. Listen to how in sync hide and Pata are. It's like a guitar orchestra. The solos in this song are breath taking to say the least. They're awesome. Then the piano solo(which many say is strange or ruins the song) is a work of art in it's own. It starts with the main rythm and after a while Yoshiki begins to place inconsistencies throughout the melody. You almost feel as though Yoshiki's messing up, but its a well-orchestrated solo that shows us the genius mind of Yoshiki. You could also relate the solo to the progression of life. You start off young, sweet, and innocent(the slow beautiful melody) then life begins to through you curve balls(the minor incosistencies) and then finally its like a torent of problems being thrown your way(all of the inconsistencies thrown together) and then finally the sweet release of death(the change back to the beautiful melody and re-emergence of the symphony to the foreground). Then the ripping guitars break back into the song going faster, and more technically difficult than ever before. Once again listen to how well hide and Pata play together. Never have I heard two guitarists play so well together. Fianlly, the song slows down a bit as the main them of the song is played and echoed through are minds as the song ends. Art of Life is truly a heavy metal anthem, it has everything Stairway to Heaven has to offer, and much, much more. In terms of the skill behind the song, the killer riffs, excellent timing, and awesome lyrics I dare to say that this might be the greatest metal song ever composed. It took the art-form Yoshiki created with Rose of Pain, and perfected it. This is a true classic.

The war of opinions going on here just begs for more input:

"Art of Life" is a masterpiece, a novel of a song, that encompasses all the colors of the rainbow and so much more. I don't believe most people who initially listen to it will realize just how exceptional a composition this is. And--remarking on some of the less "polished" comments posted here--it's easy for a teenager who's exposed to nothing but the power cord repetitiveness and bland mediocrity of emo "rock" to have absolutely NO conceptualization of how perfect a song this is. Granted, some of the emotion is raw, and some of the lyrics can seem a bit jarring without further exploration into their hidden meanings, but "Art of Life" is not only an accomplishment in terms of musical composition, but a juggernaut legacy for each individual member of X JAPAN.

And, really, what a firecracker for Heath to start off with in '93 as the newest member of the band! But it is not only Yoshiki who has outdone himself, but hide, Pata, Toshi, and Heath as well. Yes, this is Yoshiki's essence and soul crafted into music, but it could not be without the talent and integrity of the other bandmembers. Truly, I have issue with some of X JAPAN's earlier pieces in terms of content, but never structure or talent; "Art of Life" outshines everything from "Kurenai" to "Dahlia" and is an epic, a legend, an artistic masterpiece that few Westerners will ever hear or even begin to understand. While it may not be for everyone, anyone who says that this song lacks talent or appeal is either lying to themselves or completely ignorant of music and the structure of classical composition.