LONG SEASON '96-7 - 96.12.26 AKASAKA BLITZ赤坂

Full disclosure: I love Fishmans! And hearing them play live, even if recorded is a wonderful thing, and I so wish I knew the band while in Japan in the 90s.

Fishmans has made several great live albums, and I do count its "98.12.28 Otokotachi no wakare" as my favourite live album of all, but hot dang, this has serious highs too and I would absolutely recommend this to not just fans of Fishmans but many fans of funky and groovy music. It's a wonderful hour and 52 minutes spent, well, for me anyway.

I love the rendition of "Long Season" (I do prefer to return to this live version, and especially the one on 98.12.28, than to the studio album), "Oh Slime" is great and this is a terrific version of "Go Go Round This World!". Like on "Sunny Blue", this can be a really bluesy rockin' album, and it is a very funky release from Fishmans. It is less dreamy than later releases and more in your face, I might say. While I tend to veer towards more atmospheric music, I love this for what it is.

And Honzi (RIP), the violinist and keyboardist shines. She is electrifying. And I really like this drummer's work and the guitars. By the way, the drummer, and chorus contributor Kin-ichi Motegi proves how good he is as a front-man, drummer and vocalist when Fishmans reforms later with surviving members and others (Fishmans+).

This album has groove, and it also plays looser than other Fishmans releases. I like its less obviously structured and controlled dynamics.

An issue I do have seems to be the mastering/mixing. Honzi and other instrumental parts shine, and the chorus is wonderful in "Long Season", but Sato's (RIP)'s vocals are too prominent in the mix. It sounds too forward. It can take away from the instrumental parts. Of course Sato is dearly missed by many... but so is Honzi, which is not to say that Sato was put more forward in the mix due to his status among many fans. And while this is a very energetic performance by Fishmans, I don't feel Sato's vocals were at their best -- I am particularly comparing the vocals here to a live performance from earlier in the same year that also was released much later. "Long Season" off this live has significant sonic quality differences to my ears, and does sound recorded at a different time or times. It sounds later and I find the mixing/mastering better in that, and maybe it was how the equipment was set up. Again, it's a different and wonderful version of "Long Season". than the studio album version or the 1998 live.

Also, while I should take this album on its on merits, fun though this is, it is not as emotionally resonant to me as the December of 1998 concert. That feels more heartfelt, and also bittersweet since Sato's life was so short at the time. There is a kind of weariness and fragility and sensitivity in the 1998 album that I don't find here. But being lively/ energetic is of course not a bad thing commonly.

This album is very lively, very funky, and a good listen. I am giving it four stars because while very good in its own right and having some superb renditions and moments, the mixing could work better to my ear, and it is not as emotionally resonant to me (and lacks the atmosphere) of the 98.12.28 concert, a concert that takes place in the same venue. If you're looking for a harder funking Fishmans than you might know, this album could be the Fishmans album for you. The falsetto vocals, which can be very screechy, seem to be the main impediment some have in enjoying Fishmans. Your ears have been warned.

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