5X

In 1981 guitarist George Azuma, late of Midnight Cruiser, and Carmen Maki, previously the voice of Oz, launched a Japanese hard rock outfit. Bassist Kinta Moriyama and drummer Jun Harada rounded out the roster, and the group’s sound drew from Motörhead, Van Halen and AC/DC while sometimes veering into thrash metal. On their third album the band adopted a modestly revised name that placed greater emphasis on its singer, steering the music into mainstream rock territory as Carmen Maki sought to become Japan’s counterpart to Heart’s Ann Wilson.