John Sykes/Osaka,Japan 2004

Congratulations! John Sykes is back! He has announced that his new album “SY-OPS” will be released in November 2017, his first in 17 years. Concrete steps are finally in sight for his comeback. The last time Sykes stood before us was in Japan in 2004. This tour was also recorded on the official album “BAD BOYS LIVE!”, and this is a full live album of the 100% live performance. This work contains the “April 16, 2004 Namba Hatch performance.” First, let’s take a look at the outline of his last Japan tour, which was 13 years ago. April 16: Osaka Namba Hatch [This work] April 17: Nagoya Club Diamond Hall April 20: SHIBUYA-AX April 21: Kawasaki Club Citta All four performances. Initially, it was announced under the name BLUE MURDER, but that was a unilateral decision by the Japanese side. Sykes himself and the members were unaware of this, and it ended up being a solo concert. The official album “BAD BOYS LIVE!” does not have detailed recording data, and is credited as being made up of all four performances. In contrast, this work is an audience album recorded on the first day of the tour. The appeal of this work is twofold: excellent sound quality and full recording. In fact, the sound of this work is super powerful. It is undoubtedly an audience recording that has absorbed hot enthusiasm, but the musical tones and singing voices are full of wonderful directness, and the details are super detailed. It is so clear that it even captures the faint noise of “jiji…” leaking from the amplifier on site. That’s because this work was created by a legendary recording artist who was known for his skill in Osaka from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Our shop has made many of these virtuoso collections into CDs, and has delivered many masterpieces and masterpieces from Osaka, such as RAINBOW, AC/DC, SYKES, Yngwie Malmsteen, and THE BLACK CROWES. I especially want to tell Sykes fans about the masterpiece “OSAKA 1998”. To be honest, this work is the work of the same recordist who created that transcendent sound, and it is a “sequel” that is close in quality. It is a live album that turned that famous recording into a CD from the original DAT. And the show depicted in that hyper sound is the key. As mentioned above, the official version “BAD BOYS LIVE!” was mixed from four performances, and if the songs were cut to fit on one CD, the order of the songs would have been significantly different. However, this work is a full live performance of one performance. It is a complete recording including “Cautionary Warning”, “Billy”, “She Knows”, and “Defcon 1”, which were cut from the official version. Its power is enormous. This year’s tour is not an album promotion, but “SYKES HISTORY” itself. The presence of the above four songs makes the feeling of “Sykes’ culmination” even more explosive, but the unique flow of the seamless live performance is also wonderful. The mood is completely different from “BAD BOYS LIVE!” from the opening “We All Fall Down”, and the flow from the fast “Cautionary Warning” to the killer “Billy” is superb. After that, it continues with “Bad Boys” and “Cold Sweat”, which are familiar from the official album, and features “beautiful melody and sharpness” in various types of songs. Sykes’s symbol is heavy numbers such as “Crying In The Rain” and “Still Of The Night”, but this “beautiful melody and sharpness” is what he never lost throughout his career. Those who continue to love him as a solo artist as well as White Snake will be dizzy just from the first half. Of course, the WHITESNAKE numbers that were a hot topic at the time are also great, and the strongest ensemble with Marco Mendoza & Tommy Aldridge, who were seconded from WHITESNAKE, and even the skilled Derek Sherinian is also superb. Anyway, this is a great album with good songs, good sound and good performance. Sykes is about to make a comeback. If he were to visit Japan again, would he be able to show us his singing voice and guitar playing to this extent? This is such a wonderful live album that it even makes you worry about such prematurely. The cutting edge of “Sykes Music” that you can enjoy right now. Live at Namba Hatch, Osaka, Japan 16th April 2004 TRULY PERFECT SOUND(from Original Masters) Disc 1 1. Intro. 2. We All Fall Down 3. Cautionary Warning 4. Billy 5. Bad Boys 6. Cold Sweat 7. Crying in the Rain 8. Drum Solo 9. Jelly Roll 10. She Knows Disc 2 1. Defcon 1 2. I Don’t W anna Live My Life Like You 3. Is This Love 4. Still of the Night 5. Please Don’t Leave Me 6. Look in His Eyes 7. Thunder and Lightning John Sykes – Guitar, Vocal Marco Mendoza – Bass Tommy Aldridge – Drums Derek Sherinian – keyboards