Like it says, it's a tribute album to the group JAPAN. The original group
was around from '78 to '82, and I'm not quite sure where they're from (my
Ongaku Shuppansha catalog lists them under Western artists, but also
lists some of their song titles in Japanese...). If anyone can help
me figure it out, please let me know. The liner notes for the album
describe them as being comparable to David Bowie and YMO, influencing artists
like Buck-Tick's Atsushi and X-Japan's Hide (neither of whom appear on the
album). Oh, and judging from the thanks section, JAPAN consisted of
David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and Rob Dean.
The track listing: (note: I don't recognize a lot of these names. Anyone care to tell me what they've done before?)
1) Life in Tokyo - kyo & Alien's Stripper ("Crazy" Cool Joe on bass)
2) Automatic Gun - Scudelia Electro
3) Ain't That Peculiar - Fujii Shou?ki: programming, metal, guitar RYUICHI (Luna Sea): vocal, Japanese lyrics
4) The Experience of Swimming - Le Fou, consisting of: SUGIZO (Luna Sea): guitars NORIKO (Dream Dolphin): vocal, Japanese lyrics d-kiku: synth, programming
5) Fall In Love With Me - SUICIDE, consisting of: Issay (Der Zibet): vocal Morioka Ken: keybd TATSU (La-ppisch): bass Fujita TAKASHI (Doom): guitar
6) Quiet Life - SUGIZO (Luna Sea): guitars, wood bass, synth, violin, vocal d-kiku: synth, programming
7) Sons of Pioneers ~ kaitakusha no KIMI~ - R.H.D., consisting of: RYUICHI (Luna Sea): vox, Japanese lyrics HIROKI (Media Youth): bass kiku: synthesizer programming
8) Communist China - Burning Fire featuring SHOTA, consisting of: Tamura Naomi: vocal KEN: guitar Tomoda? Shingo: drums Nakamura KOMETARO: bass
9) Visions of China - Tsuchiya Masami
10) NightPorter - TORRID
It's an interesting album, lots of early electric/synth sounds and murky vocals. Nice to hear the pop singer Tamura ('Yuzurenai Negai') Naomi really screaming her lungs out on track 8. :) I think my favorite track is Sugizo's "Quiet Life", where he sings almost intelligible English. I'd recommend it if you're an obsessive fan of any of the above artists, or if you happen to like early not-so-pop electronic bands. I think the bands that come closest to this feel are ELO (though not much, they've got more chorus) and YMO (what extremely little I've heard of it).
This is at least as impressive as Hide's first album ("Hide Your Face"), and bears a striking resemblance for many of the songs. The sound is still industrial, heavy guitar rock, with a bit more attention paid to ambient (meaning "ordinary", not the modern jazz/new-age sense of the word) noises. Whether the sounds (which include a ping-pong ball and a dog barking among other things) are recorded or artificial, I don't know. Again, a good deal of experimentation of style, though in this album limited to intros and solos rather than entire songs (cf. the brass sound of "Blue Sky Complex", the country/western "50% & 50%" on HYF). Lyrics are at least as rebelious, if not a bit more obscene than his last album, especially on the tracks "Beauty & Stupid" and "Bacteria".
The tracks are:
1) Psyence - a big-band number, sounds like a James Bond opening. Starts with an aluminum can pop-top sound.
2) Erase - rock electric guitar melody with an acoustic rhythm guitar. Sounds like the chorus for "Blue Sky Complex" stretched into a song.
3) Genkai Haretsu - slightly more pop, still a rockin' song. Strong on the bass.
4) Damage - heavy industrial, with perhaps the best intro on the album. I can't believe Hide can sing this fast...
5) LEMONed I Scream (Choco-chip version) - A single, kind of '70s soul/Motown style, good use of the "wah-wah" effect... Lyrics in English, as incomprehensible as they are.
6) Hi-Ho - very rhythm-oriented, lots of acoustic sound.
7) Flame - fairly mellow song.
8) Beauty & Stupid - A very high-energy song, brought out nicely on Hide's Music Station appearance.
9) Oedo Cowboys (In Low-Fi Mono!) - Quick instrumental. Almost surf-guitar, but also reminds me of flamenco. My friend says it sounds like Konami video-game music. :)
10) Bacteria - a good bass solo on this one. The song is very hard-driving, reminds me of Oblaat.
11) Good-Bye - a slow, brooding acoustic-ish tune.
12) Cafe Le Psyence - an understated instrumental, lounge piano along with an upright bass.
13) Lassie (demo master version) - Fast, guitar-driven rock, with slightly distorted vocals and guitar "barks" that sound like a dog. The guitar solo is done in bluegrass style, and at the end the song cuts into a two-tone ska-like version that fades out quickly. In general, it reminds me a bit of "Frozen Bug".
14) Pose - Begins with a ping-pong ball bouncing sound that becomes its main drumbeat. Heavy on the bass chords, with interludes of an electric piano and an incomprehensible radio voice.
15) Misery (remix version) - fairly pop compared to the rest of the album.
16) Atomic M.O.M. - an instrumental, starts with a computer voice stating "Enter your password" and launches into a reprise of Psyence.
The packaging: The first edition of the album came in neon green, yellow, and pink cardboard boxes, along with a postcard you could send in to win a "Psyensuit". The liner notes feature pictures of Hide wandering around New Mexico.
The credits feature mostly L.A. musicians, though the only one I recognize from HYF is the engineer Rich Breen. The thanks section lists the other members of X (of course), as well as the groups that appeared on LEMONed (trees of Life, VINYL, Zeppet Store, DEEP) and the musicians that helped on the "indian summer" concert (Chirolyn, Ran, D.I.E., and Media Youth's Kiyoshi Honma).
My opinion: It's worth getting if you enjoyed Hide's earlier works. The
album is more hard-core than all its singles put together, so if you've
been disappointed by the singles, give it a try anyway. I'm always amazed
at the level of experimentation Hide puts into his stuff, and this is no
exception. Not necessarily a guarantee you'll find something you like
on the album, but it certainly doesn't become repetitive quickly. I think
I like "Hide Your Face" slightly better (if I had to choose between the two),
but that in no way invalidates the quality of Psyence.
From what I heard, Style was somewhat critized by some for have too uniform a sound. I thought the opposite that the album really contained a diverse variety of music. One can really hear the devolpment of Luna Sea as musicains when comparing this album to some of their first ones. The technics used by Sugizo, Inoran, Shinya, and J are amazing as ever, but I got the feeling that they were going for a little more on this album, trying some new methods in some places. I though I heard some different vocal harmonies, and alterations on the part of Ryuichi. Truely the album is differnt from their others but well worth it. It represents their maturation and talent really coming together.
The Track list:
1.)WITH LOVE~ Starts out with a needle being put on a record player effect, aged sound. a lower tune with some interesting blends of guitar, a mix of light electric, with what sounds like a slide too.
2.)G.~ Heavier, faster song. Repitious guitar riffs, but they fit well. Interesting pitch changes in the lead guitar.
3.)Hurt~ Wavelike sound effect to start it off, later joined by a great guitar riff, and like always J's dominating bass lines. During certan vocal segment, the guitar cut out, and then jump back in at some unexpected times. Not a heavy song, but it definatley has a darker atmoshpere(IMO).
4.)Ra-Se-N~ A steady, somewhat slower tempo song, kept moving by Inoran's rythiym riff. Intresting slide bass. Periodic interludes by Sugizo's lead, produce some weird, but cool effects. The tempo picks up during the chorus. The whole band chorus, and following instrumental segment are incredible.
5.)LUV U~ The main thing about this song is the dominating bass line. J's bass normaly stands out, but in this song, it runs the show. Guitar is a bit softer, thus allowing the bass to come through.
6.)Forever and Ever~ Slow song, with an enchanting melody. Vocals in this one are great. The melody works well with Ryuichi's voice tone. Prime example of Luna Sea's epic songwriting ability.
7.)1999~ An interesting contrast to the previous song. This one reminds me of old school thrash, definatley upbeat a kick-you-in-the-ass type of song. Also got a dark, panicked feel to it.
8.)End of Sorrow~ Some constant guitar pitch changes, and sudden solos make this one great. The fade out of the lead guitar to frame the vocals, bass, and drums is used again. The song also allows Ryuichi to carry the end notes of words longer, thus put some more power into them.
9.)Desire~ I though this shared some parts with End Of Sorrow, however, this song is a bit faster paced. Though the drum beats seem somewhat normal at the first listen, they really are different in some of the combinations of rate and mixture of drums.
10.)In Silence~ A dose of accoustic here, a interesting change for luna Sea. The lead guitar in this song is amazing. The song switches between an accoustic/vocal duo to an incredble mixture of sounds and harmonies.
11.)Selves~ Bell sound effects, and a mournfum bass start this one off. The Whispered lyrics of Inoran are chilling and mysterious. A very hypnotic song.
The Cover: It is a kalediscope image of the facial features of the band members. The images are all mixed together and the cover is dominated by darker colors. A interesting colloage of images. As is the normal style for LS, the booklet contains one picture of each member and lyrics.
My Opinion: A must have, even for moderate Luna Sea fans. A great album with a definately noticable maturity and experience about the music. It makes us Luna Sea fans wonder if they can get even better huh? Once again, this is a great album to have for any J-rock/Visual fan and a must have for a Luna Sea fan. Also a great album to intorduce Luna Sea and J-rock to people who have never heard it before.