X JAPAN –New Single “Born To Be Free” Featured In Japanese Trailer For Clive Owen Movie

Japan’s conquering sons X Japan released a new single, “Born To Be Free”, on October 13^th. The track is featured a Japanese trailer for the new Clive Owen movie, Last Knights, released in North America earlier this year. Check it out below along with a full length audio version of the song.

X Japan are gearing up for the release of their first album in 20 years. The as-yet-untitled record will be unleashed on March 11th, 2016 and a documentary charting the band’s career will be issued the day after the album launch.

Drummer Yoshiki confirmed reports that X Japan will debut the film at London’s SSE Wembley Arena as part of their #XDAY celebrations on March 12th. A video trailer for the event has since been released and can be viewed below.

The film chronicles the evolution and groundbreaking history of Japan’s most iconic rock band, from their start to their current projects – including 2014’s magnificent Madison Square Garden concert, the band’s first US show in 4 years.

The documentary is directed by Stephen Kijak who was commissioned by The Rolling Stones to direct their 2010 documentary Stones in Exile chronicling the making of their 1972 album Exile on Main St. which premiered in Cannes and on BBC1. He is also well known in the UK for his earlier work Scott Walker – 30 Century Man, which was executive produced by David Bowie and earned great critical acclaim.

The new album will be the follow-up to their fifth record, 1996’s Dahlia, while the The film is produced by Passion Pictures’ John Battsek, producer of the 2013 BAFTA and Academy Award-winning feature documentary, Searching For Sugar Man.

X Japan drummer/founder Yoshiki spoke with TeamRock.com earlier this year for Metal Hammer. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: You’ve spoken before about how KISS were the first Western rock band you fell in love with: what was it about that band that so captivated you?

Yoshiki: “I first discovered KISS with the Love Gun single, and then I bought the live album, Alive. Then I got the chance to see their show, and I was like ‘What the hell is going on?’ At the time I was studying classical music, so to see KISS play was a big shock. I encountered the band first by accident. I was in a record shop and saw this record with crazy make-up and four people standing and I thought ‘What is this?’ so I asked the people in the shop to play it. And it was like ‘Wow!'”

Q: Did discovering this new world offer an escape from your reality at the time?

Yoshiki: “I think so. My father committed suicide, so at the time I was very sad, crying every day and angry. When someone takes their own life there are lots of thoughts: ‘How about my mother? My brother? Our family?’ You think about those things. But rock music absorbed my anger, especially. And KISS was my entrance to that world. I remember listening to Led Zeppelin, and when I first heard Stairway To Heaven that really affected me too. It was rock music, but it was so beautiful. And then another real big turning point for me was Iron Maiden: I bought the first album and Killers, with Paul Di’Anno, and then of course Number Of The Beast when Bruce Dickinson joined the band. Those three albums changed me: they had beautiful melodies but were still very heavy. And when we started our own band we wanted to be even faster and heavier!”

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