Luxury Disease is the newest album that Japanese rock band ONE OK ROCK has added to their discography. It was released at the beginning of this school year (on September 9, 2022), but I only first heard about it in March of this year.

In March I had the opportunity to attend a Muse (another rock band) concert, and one of the bands that opened for them was ONE OK ROCK. (The other opening band was Evanescence.) Before that concert, I had never heard of ONE OK ROCK, but after they played a few of their popular songs and some from their new album, I knew I had to check them out. I looked into their most recent album, Luxury Disease, and it quickly became one that I now frequently listen to.

ONE OK ROCK is a Tokyo-based rock band that formed in 2005. I’m looking at their entry on Google and it says their genre is J-pop, but I don’t think that’s accurate. While they do lean towards pop in some songs off the new album, throughout their whole discography, they’re still a mainly rock-focused group. The band’s vocalist, Taka, said that this album was a return to a more rock-focused sound compared to their previous album. 

ONE OK ROCK has released 10 studio albums and 2 EPs. After their 2012 single “The Beginning” got popular outside of Japan, they started releasing their albums in both Japanese and English versions. You can listen to the Japanese version of Luxury Disease if you want, but since we all speak English and because not everyone would enjoy songs in Japanese, I’ll only be covering the English version.

Like I said, Luxury Disease is the 10th album of the group, but enough about that, let’s look at some of the songs. I’m gonna cover every song, so I recommend you listen to the album as you read the article… It would probably help everything make more sense.

Save Yourself-

This is the album’s first song, and it is a VERY strong start in my opinion. The song is full of energy, and it sets the tone for the rest of the listener’s experience. The song urges one to leave when love hurts deep. This is one of my favorite songs off the album.

Neon-

Neon is another great song early on in the album. It’s reminiscent of a song from Panic! at the Disco. This makes total sense because Brendon Urie literally helped write the song. It tells the story of Shibuya, a major nightlife district of Tokyo.

Vandalize-

Vandalize is another banger track. It is pretty upbeat and gives off some vibes similar to the early days of ONE OK ROCK. It’s a really good track in my opinion. If you aren’t hooked on the album after these first three tracks, then I’d say just stop now, you probably won’t like the rest.

When They Turn the Lights On-

This song is “musical and operatic” and draws inspiration from bands like Queen and My Chemical Romance. The latter is very evident, it really sounds like something My Chemical Romance might put out. Despite this song being way different from the previous songs, I still like it. I’m still biased though because I like MCR and Queen. I could totally see how this song isn’t someone’s cup of tea.

Let Me Let You Go-

Let Me Let You Go- is a very good song. It was co-written by 5 Seconds of Summer drummer Ashton Irwin. It tells the story of someone who can’t return the affection of someone who loves them. This song is one of the more “pop” focused songs. It’s still really good though. This might be my second favorite track.

So Far Gone-

The sixth track off the album is about someone trying to be strong after losing a loved one. It’s definitely more pop than rock, but that’s not a bad thing. While it isn’t as good as some of the other songs off the album, it’s definitely not unlistenable. I wouldn’t even call it bad. I don’t think  any of these songs are bad, so if you were hoping for that, sorry to disappoint. Still, that doesn’t mean this review is fake or anything. These are still my real opinions, all the songs are just good.

Prove-

Prove, co-written by Bring Me the Horizon keyboardist Jordan Fish, is a very motivational song. It describes the determination to continue going after facing failure. This song has some cool guitar parts in it. (I can’t really go into too much detail or the article will be 100 pages lol.) But listen to it!

Mad World-

This song is one that I originally didn’t like much. After listening a few times, I realized that I was wrong. It’s really good. The lyrics depict some personal problems Taka experienced as a young kid. Overall the song might take some getting used to, but once you realize how good it is, you can’t go back.

Free Them-

Track 9 features Teddy Swims, who I didn’t know before listening to the song, but he seems pretty cool. He isn’t known for rock, but by bringing his pop influence into the track, it becomes a good mixture. The song is definitely another one of the “pop” songs off this album, but again, it’s still good. If you’ve made it this far and don’t like it, skip it, but don’t stop listening because this next song is super good.

Renegades-

Renegades is an alternative rock/pop song. It was co-written by Ed Sheeran, and I can hear his influence. But if hearing Ed Sheeran’s name made you click off, come back. Eh they’re probably already gone… If you’re still here, I hope you like this song. It has the most streams on Spotify out of any of the songs on the album. I know I already have a #1 and 2 favorite, so I guess this has to be #3, but it could be #1 or 2 also.

Outta Sight-

Outta Sight is a pretty upbeat song. No Ed Sheeran though, so that’s either a massive W or a massive L. Anyway, I like this song, but it’s probably one of the weaker songs out of the 13 tracks. Ok lol… I wrote that before I listened to the full thing again. It’s definitely fire so you should ignore what I just said haha. Wow I can’t believe I said this one was weaker. This could be a number 4 or 5 contender.

Your Tears are Mine-

This song is another ballad that sounds like a Queen song. It’s pretty slow and definitely a different feeling from the rest of the songs, but it still has some cool guitar parts (lol being very vague again.) I was gonna say this is the weaker song but I’m not sure I can say that.

Wonder-

The last song off the International release, Wonder is an epic finale to the album. Its (somewhat) “classic rock vibes” (thanks wikipedia), combined with powerful drum fills and chords make it a perfect song for a stadium. I’m going to sound like a broken record, but I really like this song. I think it is a great ending to the album.

Congrats for making it this far and enduring my ramblings. Hopefully you listened to the album as you read, otherwise you’re a weirdo. “Oh yeah I totally see what he’s talking about…” (as you sit in front of your computer in silence.)

Anyway I hope you end up liking the album or listen to it some other time. If you hated it or didn’t even listen and never will, that’s cool too. At least you tried it, and that’s all I hope for.

Thanks for reading! 

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxury_Disease, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Ok_Rock