Outerlimits

For anyone looking to peruse not just Show-Ya's discography, but the early days of the all-girl Japanese metal scene in general, Outerlimits is where to begin. This album glistens with a crisp production and runs the gamut from atmospheric balladry and head-bangin' good times to triumphant power metal fury. It's the band's defining moment, arguably their most metallic and my personal favorite. It's also their best-selling disc with two of their biggest hits, which in a way is amusing since their prior three records seemed tailor-made to attract a mainstream audience apparently yearning for hairspray rock, but those albums never came even close to the success of this monster. Outerlimits ditched the bullshit, Western producer with glam metal in his eyes and plays like a document of a bunch of girls venting all this pent-up rage by bringing back the fury of heavy/speed metal while retaining some AOR pep, now with more muscle than during the bands early days when they had the attitude but not the heavy tone.

When I first heard this, I knew I was in for some serious entertainment with Keiko belting out "Start your engines!!" ringing out like "STAH DA EJJAAA!!!" before the Motorhead-inspired opening set of riffs burst through the gate like el toro through a matador's ass. It was pretty much an announcement that the unabashed poppy days starting with the execrable Trade Last were over, and Show-Ya were back with vengeance in their loins. Other ripping tracks include the famous and quintessential "限界Lovers" that's not only propulsive yet catchy, but boasts a tripped-out echo-cloaked guitar solo. Speed and acid can make for quite a combo. My favorite number though, not just for this album but Show-Ya's entire discography, is the closing beauty known as "Battle Express". Broadsword swinging power metal glory that's epic in scope yet less than five minutes in length; it's an utterly perfect song. I want a fucking motorcycle license when I hear this thing, that is, until the magic wears off and I deduce that it's not really a practical option these days. 'Responsibility' crap getting in the way of my fun.

Unlike most of their other releases, every damn song is pretty much exactly what I would wish for. I'm not a particularly big fan of ballads, but "祈り" is sincerely wondrous, beautiful and heartfelt. Nice acoustic strumming, Keiko singing to the heavens, and a Pink Floyd-like keyboard solo followed by Miki Igarashi's guitar brilliance. "Paranoia Paradise" is another favorite, like a demented G-n-R tune with some tempo shifts into 'double-time'. "Trouble" is an upbeat steampunk engine and "Look at Me!" is hard rock at its anthemic finest. Even a lesser song like "戒厳令の街 -Cry for the Freedom-" that would have fit snuggly within one of the band's previous three full-lengths is pretty good shit.

There's really nothing for me to bitch about in regards to Outerlimits. If it's not the most important and influential all-female no-frills heavy metal album in the Japanese scene, it's pretty fucking close. And it has every right to be, since this landmark has aged quite well, with a special call-out to keyboardist "Miki Nakamura" for minimizing the silly synths for more Hammond hammering. Now that there's a slew of all-female power metal bands wailing away and singing their hearts out all over Japan, it's worth it to check out where all this craziness began.