Dahlia (album) - Overview

Overview

Only a few months after the release of Art of Life in 1993, X Japan began recording and releasing singles that would appear on their next studio album Dahlia, which released in 1996 turned out to be their last. In the meantime, the band continued by holding two consecutive New Year's Eve concerts at the Tokyo Dome. 1994 held few performances for the band as the members were focusing on their solo and side projects, but they did return to the Tokyo Dome for their New Year's concerts. The same can be said for the following year, until November when the Dahlia Tour began and they once again performed New Year's shows at the Tokyo Dome. One of the Dahlia concerts would later be released as the live album Live in Hokkaido 1995.12.4 Bootleg.

Dahlia was recorded from July 1993 to July 1996 entirely at One on One Recording Studios (later named Extasy Recording Studios) in North Hollywood, California, which Yoshiki bought in 1992. The cover of the album was taken on the street of Broadway in New York City. The Dahlia Tour continued from 1995 into 1996 with quite a few dates cancelled because of Yoshiki's neck injury. The tour's final concert at the Tokyo Dome, once again the second of two New Year's concerts, was recorded and partially released as the Live Live Live Extra album, and later in its entirety as the Dahlia Tour Final 1996 DVD.

Besides a handful of releases, the beginning of 1997 was quiet for the band, with no concerts performed. Until September, when it was officially announced that X Japan would disband as vocalist Toshi decided to leave the group. X Japan performed their farewell show at the Tokyo Dome on December 31, making it the last of five consecutive New Year's Eve series the group performed at that stadium. It was released as a live album and on home video.