LOUDNESS
Loudness (Japanese: ラウドネス, Hepburn: Raudonesu) is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in 1981 by guitarist Akira Takasaki and drummer Munetaka Higuchi. They were the first Japanese metal band signed to a major label in the United States. Loudness has released twenty-eight studio albums (five licensed in America) and eleven live albums as of 2026, and had reached the Billboard 200 during their heyday as well as charting on Oricon dozens of times. Despite numerous line-up changes in the band's history, leaving Takasaki as the sole constant member, the band continued their activities throughout the 1990s, finally reuniting the original line-up in 2000. This incarnation released a further seven albums until November 30, 2008, when original drummer Munetaka Higuchi died from liver cancer at a hospital in Osaka at age 49. He was replaced by Masayuki Suzuki.
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