Epic Riff incoming!
Akira Takasaki (Takasaki Akira, born February 22, 1961) is one of, if not the premier, Heavy Metal guitarists of Japan. Heavily influenced by Ritchie Blackmore of Rainbow and Eddie Van Halen, he started the band Lazy with Munetaka Higuchi, then, in 1981, also with Higuchi, went on to form Loudness and make history as one of Japan's longest-performing Heavy Metal musicians with one of the longest-enduring acts in Heavy Metal as of The New '10s (as in, since Loudness never technically "disbanded" even with Takasaki being the only member, the band has technically been in unbroken, active existence for over 30 years)
Akira Takasaki Provides Examples of:
- Author Appeal: Along with Higuchi and Niihara, the anti-war Protest Song - the one topic on which they all seemed to agree.
- Author Filibuster: Several of the songs in his I Am the Band era, especially Miles High and Dogshit.
- Buddhism: Is a devout Buddhist, and has written songs inspired by this (including Loudness's Wind From Tibet,) as well as having spent some time as an actual Buddhist monk.
- '80s Hair: Had it at the time.
- Epic Rocking and
Epic Riff: Many, many times, both in his "solo" works, his Loudness works, and his Loudness-as-solo works. - Improbable Hairstyle: Repeatedly. He's had everything from '80s Hair per Hair Metal standard to Afro and beard (in the 90s coming off his Hair Metal days) to shaved tonsure (during his tenure as a Buddhist monk) to braids and dreadlocks...(it's actually a wig)
- Hipster: An Alternative Character Interpretation of his looks and interests - though he'd probably prefer New-Age Retro Hippie instead per even having an album called Heavy Metal Hippies.
