Ja, Zoo
| Ja, Zoo | ||||
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| Studio album by hide with Spread Beaver | ||||
| Released | November 21, 1998 | |||
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| Label | Universal Victor | |||
| hide with Spread Beaver chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Ja, Zoo | ||||
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Ja, Zoo is the third album by Japanese musician hide, released on November 21, 1998. It is also his last studio album as he died on May 2 while recording it, and the only one released under the name hide with Spread Beaver.
It is his best-selling album, reaching number 2 on the Oricon chart and having sold over 1.4 million copies. It was also named "Rock Album of the Year" at the 13th Japan Gold Disc Awards, while its single "Pink Spider" was named "Song of the Year".
It is the only full-length record to be released under the hide with Spread Beaver name; hide had retitled his solo project to formally include his live band. It was completed without him, due to his death on May 2, 1998.
Although all songs are credited to hide, his ultimate level of involvement in the finished product is not entirely clear. In June 1998, Zilch bassist Paul Raven said in an interview: "He was under a lot of pressure to finish his solo record. He had three songs completed the day before he died, and now mysteriously a full album is coming out nine days before ours." However, hide's brother and manager Hiroshi wrote in his 2010 book Brothers: Recollections of hide that at the time of his death hide had six out of ten songs finished for Ja, Zoo. This is supported by the fact that I.N.A is credited with additional arrangement on four songs. The album's release was eventually postponed until November 21, 1998, with Zilch's debut album 3.2.1. released on July 23, 1998 and including the song "Inside the Pervert Mound" which is an English version of "Leather Face".
Eric Westfall, one of the album's recording and mixing engineers, revealed that a week or so after hide's death, he and I.N.A had an emotionally difficult time finishing the album as televisions they had on in the studio were still showing footage of and talking about the dead musician. He said that I.N.A had a particularly difficult task with the vocals for "Hurry Go Round", which were not fully recorded and have a "heavy" or somber lyrical theme to them. Westfall went on to state that hide's work is the best material he has ever worked on.
A song called "Co Gal" was originally demoed for Ja, Zoo but was not completed following hide's death. Sixteen years later, the song was finished and commercially released after Yamaha utilized their Vocaloid technology to mimic the deceased musician's voice.
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