HEAVY GAUGE

1999 is a year that, in a way, ends an era in GLAY's career. In that year, GLAY seemed to test just how high they could reach with their phenomenal "Expo'99 - Survival" concert, which lured no less than 200,000 paying attendants. They played big sold out tours and made some more records to their list of big achievements. In such a scenery, HEAVY GAUGE brought a sound that was much like anything GLAY had released the years before, but not quite. A little more mature, lacking the "fun-oriented" tracks which were present in every GLAY album, this one made some people believe GLAY was changing. That didn't do any harm to the album's success, though, as it kept up to the high sales their albums and single had been having. However, 10 years later, we can tell it was at least the beginning of a bigger change that would come with their next studio album "One Love". Regardless of anything, this is a great album. All five single tracks included are big hits, with the highlight being "Winter again", surely one of their biggest classics. It's an essential album for any GLAY fan and anyone who loves Japanese rock.