This past Monday marked the 15th anniversary of QUEEN BEE's debut with a major label, together with the streaming event for the 2024 anniversary concert where more than five thousand fans tuned in live to celebrate the occasion and leave supportive comments.
Kujyaku marked QUEEN BEE's major label debut. Amano reflects on how music fans at the time were saying that 'a crazy band from Kobe had emerged'; he remembers their name being written on the whiteboard in the conference room when he was still a freshly-graduated magazine editor. Back then, the talk was about how the band's singer could freely switch between different vocal registers, and the more Amano learned about them through their music and visuals, the harder he found it to categorise and describe QUEEN BEE in words.
Their first major label album included Desco, the main theme from the film Moteki (Love Strikes!) where QUEEN BEE also had a cameo. That 'uncannily spontaneous' garage track Desco was the band's breakout song, capitalising on the momentum they'd built since their ROOKIE A GO-GO festival appearance at FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL the year before and the release of their indie album Majogari (Witch Hunt) in March. Compared to their current work, Kujyaku has a more 'primitive' sound but the band's ability to arrange music already shines; it notably captures their soul (in a literal, rather than genre sense).
Amano notes that the three songs which close the album, Tsugeguchi (Snitch), Kuchisakeonna (Slit-Mouthed Woman) and Moeruumi (Burning Sea), are all classics which haven't aged. He singles out Avu-chan's lyric from Moeruumi as a statement even back at the beginning: "Even if you no longer exist tomorrow, I'll keep on living".
蛇姫様 (Hebihimesama / Snake Princess) - release date 23/05/2012
Things which have been broken, cast away or lost... QUEEN BEE paints them all in gold. Amano notes that it's as though the band is confronting listeners with the idea that a future can be only achieved by looking at the things people would rather avert their eyes from. The jacket artwork for their second major label album was photographed at a scrapyard on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Contrary to the visual elements, the underground feel evoked by their previous album is less pronounced; the recordings are clearer and the public image they'd established with Desco was quickly refreshed by this diverse lineup of songs. There is a sense that the band wanted to communicate with the world authentically through their music at that time, rather than simply being a sensation.
It's amazing that Avu-chan wrote the magnificent opener Kagami (Mirror), the sharply driven Imitation and the passionate love song Strawberry when they were just 15 years old. Furthermore, Avu-chan was only 16 when they penned the abortion-themed piano ballad Mudai (Untitled). The closing track Teppeki (Impregnable) is beautiful and gentle, like a last-minute bouquet of flowers presented to a fading person standing precariously on a cliff edge. It offers healing and resolve to people whose lives are caught between the 'iron wall' of the world getting in their way and the 'iron wall' of the barriers people create to protect themselves through love and prayer ('iron wall' is the literal meaning of 'impregnable' in Japanese).
QUEEN BEE's guitarist Gigi-chan left the band shortly after the album was released. Then, after their solo concert Hakuheisen (Close Combat) at the now-closed venue SHIBUYA-AX on 22/02/2013, the band indefinitely ceased their activities.
奇麗 (KIREI / Beautiful) - release date 25/03/2015
The band resumed activities after a break of approximately one year. Early in 2015, support guitarist Hibari-kun formally joined and their third major label album was released, with QUEEN BEE a four-person group once again.
This album collects tracks which elevate their characteristic kayoukyoku-flavoured, hybrid feel into more polished pop music, such as the electro-pop masterpiece Baishun, which also gave rise to duet versions with Shinozaki Ai and Shima Ryohei; the sweetly-scented Wonder Kiss and the single Venus, which had a remix by Ishino Takkyu as a coupling track. With its hard riff and danceable beat, is still a favourite at live shows even now. The songs are more sophisticated than on their previous album Hebihimesama, marking a major turning point.
Back when the album was released, Amano interviewed Avu-chan for the first time and was told that even back in their indie period, they had already decided that their fourth album would be themed around love. When Avu-chan said that 'they experienced a love that was like a matter of life and death for the album', what they said was so unexpected - all the while maintaining a pleasant expression - that it was a struggle for Amano to avoid freezing up in the record company's conference room mid-interview.
And thus KIREI, which describes the heavenly and hellish aspects of romantic love, became the band's most frank album at that time. It turned into an album which embodied the secret of pop music: rawness is what makes it universal. It was from this point that Avu-chan's presence as a pop star increased significantly, permeating the mainstream.
Q - release date 05/04/2017
"Shura shu shu shu, shura shu shu shu, life is a conscious battle."
Avu-chan sings as though they're dancing all night, likening that dance floor to the path of carnage we call 'human life'. It's as though the waking world - or reality itself - is a furious combat. If the band's work up to Hebihimesama was etched with the screams of a girl furious and sorrowful at the absurd, brutal world in front of her, then as this fourth major album Q flows on from KIREI, Avu-chan hurtles away from where they began, acknowledging the world as a battlefield and presenting a vision where they are a tough survivor who perseveres with dignity.
Hedonistic, danceable tracks are at the core of the album. There's the single Kinsei (Planet Venus), which achieves even more romanticism with DAOKO as a featured guest, as well as another updated single, Chou Thriller (Super Thriller), together with DANCE DANCE DANCE and Shitsurakuen (Paradise Lost). The imagery evoked by the song lyrics - nightlife, clubbing and forbidden love - is hedonistic too, yet surging forth from the depths of those fleeting scenes comes immeasurable sadness, unparalleled joy and an affirming reassurance: 'right here, I'm alive'.
The final three tracks - Q, Tsuduraori (Switchback) and Hinaichi (Doll Market) - are steeped in a peaceful atmosphere; it's as if a person is soliloquising upon leaving the decadent, bustling night behind and returning to their own room, where they confront the 'the issue called life'. Hinaichi is an especially painful, heartrending, beautiful, triumphant masterpiece which feels as though it's tearing a person apart.
十 (Juu / Ten) - release date 22/05/2019
Rather than grieving what has been lost, facing up to the reality that 'it was already gone' and moving on; that's the kind of unwavering spirit which quietly rumbles like thunder in the words "Party is over". With their fifth major album Juu (Ten), QUEEN BEE further expand the possibilities of the 'pop potential' awakened in their previous work Q.
Until this point, many of QUEEN BEE's songs displayed a 'dance = disco beat' structure. The band shatter preconceptions of how their music usually sounds by themselves with Kaen (Fire), a frenetic track which blends trap, drum and bass and tribal beats with an overall 'Japanese essence', creating an unrivalled originality.
HALF is a fearless hard rock song which loudly proclaims that 'everything here is complete' even while bearing a title meaning 'half'. Introduction brings the album to a close with an overwhelming sense of power; including the lyric "It hadn't been started so I started it, that's all. Even though I'm not afraid of anything, I can't let myself get scared, right?" (hearing this song - and phrase - live is moving enough to give a person goosebumps).
The album includes a number of songs which still represent the band now. Looking back on that time, Kaen (Fire) was the opening theme of the anime Dororo, HALF was the ending theme of Tokyo Ghoul:re, Introduction was the theme song for the movie Tokyo Ghoul 【S】etc.; it's clear that the band was riding on that momentum and putting out one hit tie-in song after another. The middle of the album, flowing from Sensei (Teacher) - which references the melody of the nursery rhyme Musunde Hiraite - to the instrumental Q.5 (9.5) then the monologue-like Juu (Ten), is also a highlight.
BL - release date 19/02/2020
Not even a year had passed since the previous one when their sixth major label album came out; a rather short gap. Considering that Juu (Ten) had been released and Avu-chan had been performing on stage the year before as well, it's clear that QUEEN BEE were working extraordinarily frenziedly at that time. Perhaps the short gestation of this album paid worked in its favour. Despite its short runtime - the eight tracks clock in at less than 30 minutes - every tiny detail has been finely honed and unified just like Avu-chan's stage presence; solid, wild and beautifully formed. The result is an album which strips away anything unnecessary with a focused energy.
Further exploring the minimalism seen in the earlier songs Kaen (Fire) and Chou Saiminjutsu (Super Hypnotize), in the title track BL a restless guitar riff and a creeping, shadowy bassline are blended with an urgent drum beat and ostentatious chorus, producing a provocative sound with a cool, horror vibe.
The fourth song, Shinjuu Date (Suicide Dating) harkens back to the heartrending, splendid electropop of the KIREI-era with even more polish. In contrast to BL and the closing song P R I D E, the melodic songs - opener HBD, Abu To Hachi (Horsefly & Bee), Kuromaku (Mastermind) and CRY - don't portray Avu-chan's 'strength' as a resilient messenger but rather give a sense of the determined pride they take in 'loneliness'.
When listening to this album, that's the intent which keeps on resonating throughout: "My own aspirations, my own loneliness; I mustn't let someone else take them from me."
十二次元 (Juuni Jigen / 12D) - release date 01/02/2023
The single Yaten (STARRY NIGHT) was released in 2021. That song was a gentle, powerful message for people living through the COVID-19 pandemic, which even forced QUEEN BEE to cancel live shows and tours. The band held their first solo concert at the Nippon Budokan across two consecutive dates that same year. While this demonstrated even more momentum, six months later QUEEN BEE's drummer Ruri-chan took an extended break from activities. And this album was released in 2023.
During this period, Avu-chan's activities outside of QUEEN BEE broadened in scope, including voice acting in the anime movie Inu-Oh and serving as 'teacher' in the audition show 0-nen 0-gumi (0th Grade, Class 0 -Avu-chan's Classroom-). That may be why this album carries the sense that QUEEN BEE has been vastly growing in scale.
Nagashima Minori (Mii-chan), who is also the band's support keyboard player, handles the arrangement for the traditional instruments in the two opening songs Abura (OIL) and INU-HIME (12D ver.); starting off with the emotive sound of native Japanese instruments creates a huge impact. In addition, while it wasn't so apparent on the previous album BL, the immersive band sound returns for Yonaki Uguisu (Nightingale) and Daten (Fallen Heaven), which is a reworking of Yaten (STARRY NIGHT).
Following in the footsteps of Kaen (Fire) and BL, Utashiro Nina and Avu-chan perform a brawl-like duet in KING BITCH. Later on, Kaishun (Rejuvenation) is a sequel to the earlier song Baishun (Prostitution); a duet version was also released with Mitsushima Hikari. The album also includes VIOLENCE, an ending theme from the anime Chainsaw Man.
While it could be said that the album is jam-packed with a richness including everything about the QUEEN BEE of that era, special mention must also go to the two-and-a-half minutes of Nagazerifu (Long Lines), which include only the sound of feet walking across a stage as accompaniment. As with the lyrics to Kaen (Fire), the spoken words seem to reference the motif of Yaoya Oshichi, a girl so fixated on seeing her lover that she committed arson during the Edo period. It captures a silence brimming with tension, and the breathing of a person detachedly burdened with their own sorrow.
悪 (AKU / Evil) - release date 05/03/2025
Ruri-chan left the band in 2023, then Avu-chan took a break from June 2024 to January 2025 due to health problems. Even as the circumstances around the band were on fire with the hit Mephisto, which was written as the ending song for the anime Oshi No Ko and the 15th anniversary concert at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, it was evident that QUEEN BEE were in an uncertain period. In the midst of that, after Avu-chan's return an album was released two years after the previous one.
Although AKU was put together after Avu-chan's recovery, it includes a string of hit songs which are like 'killer blows' at recent lives: the aforementioned Mephisto, 01 (ZERO ICHI) which was the opening to Undead Unluck and Kubi No Nai Tenshi (Headless Angel), the 1.5th anniversary song for mobile game Goddess of Victory: NIKKE (which was themed around the ancient Greek statue Winged Victory of Samothrace). That majestic presence gives a sense of what makes QUEEN BEE who they are.
In addition, while daring tracks like the 15th anniversary song Chou Memorial (Super Memorial) (AKU ver.) and OMAMAGOTO (Playing House), a self-cover of a song created for Hypnosis Mic, once again give the sense of audacious strength, the first time Amano listened to the album the opener Murasaki (Purple) - a ballad about living a splendidly righteous life - left an unforgettably deep impression.
And then there are the tracks Kyoushikyoku (Rhapsody) and the finale AKU (Evil). These songs, with lyrics which symbolise 'forgetting' and 'remembering', bring to mind a person who has been going from battle to battle quietly coming to a halt and facing up to their own past and future. Realising that you 'forgot' holds the same meaning as 'remembering'. As the waves break, their own shape changes. Yet even so, there's still no way they can give up.
Source: "QUEEN BEE major debut 15th anniversary special feature: tracing the path of their noble battles and evolution through an eight-album review" by Amano Fumiaki, Natalie.
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