For thousands of fans, this is the beginning of a dream come true. The getting back together of X Japan (albeit without the late Hide) is something that Japanese rock fans have been speculating about for a decade. And it's finally happening:
 

Legendary rock band X Japan took a major step towards their long-awaited comeback yesterday, recording the promo video for their new single. Ten years after they split, the four surviving members of the band were on the Tokyo waterfront to record a live performance on the rooftop of the Aqua City Odaiba mall. The ¥42 million production used helicopters and fire trucks to create artificial rain. Some 10,000 fans gathered to watch the performance on a large screen monitor set up in a nearby car park as leader Yoshiki on drums, Toshi on vocals, Pata on guitar and bassist Heath performed "I.V.", the all-English theme tune for the Hollywood horror movie "Saw IV" which opens in the U.S. this weekend. Yoshiki was characteristically topless as he showed that he hasn't lost his frantic drumming style. There had been plans to meet with fans in a nearby hall after the recording, but the crowd was just too big. Speaking to fans via the monitor, Yoshiki remembered former lead guitarist Hide, who committed suicide in 1998, "What I really wanted was for us to make our world debut with Hide. But seeing as you've all taken the trouble to come here tonight, we're going to play a concert in Tokyo next spring!"   Keep up to date with our Japanese Entertainment News section

Quote from Grimmstone on 10/23/07 at 18:57:50:

They gave up the more extreme visual-kei look well before they split, but they're not exactly going to look like salarymen either. The only photo of the video shoot is the one above and it's not too clear.
 
Not so much this...

 
...as this:

Sadly, without Hide (second from left), of course.
 
Quote:

There wasn't for the video and I reckon the only way they would have a replacement would be if they got some celebrity guest guitarist. One worry is that Yoshiki has performed with Komuro's globe in recent years, so his musical inclinations may not be too reliable. Bringing Komuro in as X Japan's lead axe man...no, the thought is just too sacreligeous.

Okay here it is. Now this is a video made from the monitor in the adjacent car park, so visual and sound quality are not good. But you get the idea. This sounds like a great song and Toshi shows again that he is still the best Japanese vocalist there is. And it includes previously un-released recordings of guitar tracks by the late hide, which is a perfect way to deal with his absence.
 

 
Here's a clip with much better sound quality, the new single with old video footage, though it's from a wide show and has the announcers voiceover.
 

 
You can't miss the overwhelming emotion of the thousands of fans as the band is interviewed after the video shoot. Who said Japanese are quiet understated people?!

No, all that's been announced so far is the song above for the movie soundtrack. But this could be the beginning of a full comeback. The death of hide was something the rest of the band have obviously needed time to recover from. It seems that they have finally found a way to deal with it and start working together again. Maybe it'll lead to more recordings.
 
We shall see.