JAPAN

Jeez!, this one really has set the cat amongst the pigeons in the Archives. I can fully understand the aloofness most proggers take with regards to the merit of this 'pop' album. Personally, it's one of my all time favourite albums and if you don't like that, then what the hell is it doing here in the first place? Am I supposed to give this a low rating because I Iove it to bits but it appears on the 'Prog Archives'?

Superb fretless bass by the now deceased Mick Karn, enigmatic wobbly vocals by Sylvian, waves of synths by Barbieri , piano by Ryuchi Sakamoto and good solid offbeat drumming by Steve Jansen make this one of the best 80's albums full stop.

It's smooth in the way 'Roxy Music' were in the same era. Japan, however had something far more inventive about them that set them apart from all contemporaries. Über cool, mature for their age and downright sauve without even trying. This is the album that Duran Duran clearly worshipped before they hit the big time. You've only got to look at Nick Rhodes stupid painted face.

Mick Karn's bass is the driving force behind the entire album. Particularly on the first two tacks where it pumps and bleeps like Jaco Pastorius from 'Weather Report'.

Truthfuly I can't write a review of this album without mentioning Bowie's "Low' from '76 which clearly influenced a lot here from side two of that album.

Awash with wonderful electronics, echoey instruments and clear track separation between sounds, this is a superbly clear recording which flows beautifully into my favourite tune of all time... 'Nightporter'. Stunningly beautiful and melancholic. Ryuichi Sakamoto of YMO and his piano makes this utterly gorgeous. Quite simply the best song I've ever heard. These are not small words - In '99 I held a party on New Years Eve where everyone had to bring along their favourite song of all time where it was played after a speech about it's merits. This still stands true today.

'Gentlemen Take Polaroids' is spacious and wide in sound, where everyone gets to play their instruments without any rush and is full of waves of cold keyboards.

The masterful 'Taking Islands in Africa' is a gem in it's own right with Barbierie's proto sequencer coming to the fore. There was only so much New Romanticism could offer, but Japan pushed the boat out so much further than any other band of their time. It's hard to believe that anyone could progress and change so rapidly within the space of 3 years, considering their '78 New York Dolls efforts.

As if all this wasn't enough, if you buy the cd you get the brilliant 'Experience of Swimming' as a bonus. A Richard Barbieri masterpiece, a keyboard driven slab of doom using beautiful sounds that were virtually unheard in those days of long past.

One of my 5 albums of all time.

These reviews on here are ridiculous.

I would hardly consider Gentlemen Take Polaroids a prog album, but that doesn't mean it's not a brilliant POP album.

I purchased the album on a whim this year and was beyond surprised by what I heard. I expected some catchy Duran Duran-style pop, expected to maybe like half of it. Not the case.

This is some seriously smooth and classy 80's music, I hate even calling it "pop" because it's not terribly accessable. It did take a few listens before it clicked with me.

The synthesizer work is atmospheric, icy and sounds like it came from another planet, Mr. Barbeiri may not be the most technical player but the atmosphere he creates is otherworldly and intriguing. Steve Jansen is a solid, almost mechanical drummer, and Mick Karn's fretless bass work is easily the most appealing element in this band, with basslines that purr and growl with a presence that really gives things an interesting flavor. Though he never resorts to flash his parts are always unique. Then there's David Sylvians sexy, understated baritone which strongly remind one of Bowie and Bryan Ferry, the epitome of cool with a look to match, singing lyrics that are vague enough that they could be about anything you wanted them to. I've heard few male singers in my life that just melt me but this guy manages to do it, and typcially I prefer much higher ranges.

Things get off to a great start with the title track, a great slab of atmospheric 80's pop with a chorus that won't leave your head anytime soon. There's no way to deny the greatness of the amazing fretless bass work in "Swing." I don't see how any prog fan can't get into the head-spinning timings of "Methods of Dance" which ironically ends up being one of the least danceable items on this record. This track has some of the most inventive use of 4/4 time I've ever heard, and a beautiful chorus iced off with a beautifully haunting female vocal line.

The record also has a ridiculously awesome cover of the old soul tune "Ain't That Pecular" that is so far-removed from the original that I didn't even recognize it until I had heard it many times. Peculiar indeed, a seasickeningly out of tune koto plays a vaguely eastern sounding melody at random times, and even features a meandering recorder part, in unison harmony with itself of course. Take that, Gentle Giant. This one's a riot.

Then there's what may be the runaway track on the album which is the drumless waltz "Nightporter," a dark and devastatingly beautiful track. The simple, yet effective minor-key piano riff gets things off to a great start, and gradually Sylvians vocals, muted synth strings, and a lovely oboe line make appearances, and through its 7 minutes builds itself slowly up and down and gradually reaches a cathartic climax, with Syvian wordlessly singing the melody of the chorus at the end. The album ends on a high note with the uplifting "Taking Islands In Africa."

I've played the album at least 50 times in the last couple months and can wholeheartedly say it's flawless start to finish and I don't say that about many albums at all. I simply cannot tire of listening to it. I dont see how any prog fans who appreciate pop music couldn't enjoy it, after all Japan meant business as evidenced by their stylish appearance and deadly serious tone to the record. Let's not forget Mick Karn's awesome fretless bass playing. Keep an open mind and give it a spin or several. :-D

Mellotron Storm, are you serious? You know coming to think of it, I can't be arsed to make a sensible well thought out comment to your moronic drivel. You have to understand that personal taste should not enter in to an objective review, understand? Didn't think so. This album is of its time, and is actually very good. There you are, how more comprehensive a review do you want? It gets 3 stars rather than 4 or 5, because it is not prog rock! Um well it isn't see. No more than Kanye West is prog rock, but he is very very good, just not prog rock.

I found "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" to be a very interesting and intriguing listen. While you can hear that this album must have influenced the New Wave style that was about to hit, this isn't that melodic or catchy.There's nothing on here that I could see as even remotely being considered a hit single.Yet that 80's vibe is here with those synths and guitar sounds especially, but also the electronic sounding beat. I've never been a huge fan of Sylvian's vocals but he keeps it fairly laid back and reserved which for me is a good thing.The bass and sax from Mick Karn is impressive to say the least. And of course Barbieri on synths and Jansen on guitar are always top notch. Interesting too to see the songs average in at almost 6 minutes. So yes this is intriguing with that flavour of new Wave and Pop yet stretching it out in that Brian Eno style. An interesting mix.There's no doubt that this was an influencial album, and as others have mentioned TALK TALK comes to mind first.

"Gentelmen Take Polaroids" is one of my favourites. Sure everything hints at the eighties style of music that was about to open the door (this was released in 1980) but I like it ! "Swing" kicks in at 30 seconds and vocals arrive a minute in. Sax in this one too. Nice. I like the synths after 4 1/2 minutes. "Burning Bridges" sounds like Electronic-Prog and the synths get loud after 1 1/2 minutes. Sax follows and we don't get vocals until after 4 1/2 minutes. "My New Career" has a solid beat with synths as the vocals join in. Sax before 1 1/2 minutes when the vocals stop briefly. "Methods Of Dance" has a beat as the sax plays over top then the tempo picks up and the vocals join in. Excellent sound after 1 1/2 minutes. I like the instrumental section after 4 minutes as well.This is one of the best tracks on here.

"Ain't That Peculiar" is actually a Marvin Gaye cover. Lots of intricate sounds with vocals.The beat is prominant and the synths slowly pulse. "Nightporter" has this laid back piano as the vocals join in. It does get fuller and I like the vocal melodies after 6 minutes. "Taking Islands In Africa" opens with a beat as synths then vocals join in. Love the track "The Experience Of Swimming" a definite top three although I understand that this and "The Width Of A Room" are bonus tracks. Both are instrumentals and they both are fantastic !

3.5 stars but i'm bumping it up. I can appreciate all the 1 and 2 star ratings.This is Prog- Related and as such a target for those who are into Progressive music only. But like Tom Ozric, UMUR and Bonnek I think this was fairly unique in it's day and influential, and have rated it accordingly.

The critics seemed to love this album, I guess because it was unique at the time. I read an interview with Richard Barbieri recently where he said a lot of musicians over the years have told him how much they liked "Tin Drum", including his fellow PORCUPINE TREE band mates Steven Wilson and Gavin Harrison. I took a chance on this because I thought it would be New Wave which was popular when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I liked a lot of what came out of that. It was fun. As Zowie Ziggy notes this is not New Wave.This is like the opposite of it. All four guys in the band should be well known to prog fans as their names are often seen over the years in connection with prog bands. In fact Barbieri,Karn and Jansen all worked with NO-MAN while Sylvian has worked with Fripp and Czukay (CAN) amongst others.

"The Art Of Parties" like most of the songs has all these intricate sounds that come and go as the vocals join in.The guitar is making some noise 1 1/2 minutes in. "Talking Drum" is again filled with intricate sounds and this has an Eastern flavour as well. "Ghosts" was actually released as a single. I guess when the synths comes in it sounds good but it's hard to believe how successful this song was. "Canton" is an instrumental. It builds with a heavy beat and again an Eastern vibe is present. "Still Life In Mobile Homes" is kind of catchy with vocals and lots of intricate sounds. I like the synths but they're brief. "Sons Of Pioneers" has some fairly deep sounds that pulse and beat.Vocals just before 2 minutes.This is all about the prercussion. "Cantonese Boy" has a beat with synths as vocals join in.

A difficult listen to say the least. I just don't like it to be honest.

I guess I'm on the wrong website to review this album, considering the feeble score that 'Tin Drum' has received in the Archives. Personally, I think it's a classic. The problem is that it's not a prog album in any shape or form. Although, it is probably their most 'concept' album, if such a thing were possible, where there is a continuous feeling of the far east.

The only comparison is 'Yellow Magic Orchestra'. And that's pretty much it.

One of the most inventive and individual albums of the New Wave era of the early 80's. Japan came on in leaps and bounds by the time of 'Tin Drum' - creating an album unlike anything else at that time. Considering the way they sounded three years earlier, I find it incredible how much they developed so rapidly. Japan were far more sophisticated than other bands of the era and somewhat more humourlesss and cold which I guess is one of the reasons that people love taking digs at them.

There's actually quite a lot of 'Yellow Magic Orchestra' lurking about in here. It makes you wonder how much of an influence Sakamoto actually had on the band.

'Tin Drum' has had the misfortune of being discarded by Sylvian (bar Ghosts), and discarded by critics as being pretentious. People seem to love kicking the corpse of this album into oblivion.

One great thing about later Japan was the fact that there's so much 'space' in the recordings, where they weren't afraid to drop bass, guitars and even vocals for certain tracks. Most 80's bands had everyone playing at the same time on all songs.

Among the many highlights, the best is probably 'Sons of Pioneers' where Mick Karn is at the forefront with his brilliant wobbly fretless bass. A very foggy and atmospheric track. Sounding unlike any of their contemporaries, the jerky drumming by Steve Jansen is superb throughout, with many unusual time signatures, timbres and effects.

The cornerstone track 'Canton' takes Sylvian's Eastern obsession to it's furthest point, with wisely absent vocals but an array of percussion and a very oriental melange of sounds.

Mick Karn is the outstanding player on 'Tin Drum', giving it a very original flavour indeed. A musical triumph and in my top three albums of the 80's.

Despite this not being Prog I'm giving it five stars for originality, execution and plain catchy tunes. Wonderful even after 30 years.

A fascinating album by an enigmatic band. By 1981 they sounded like the missing link between early Roxy Music and the (heavily Kraftwerk-influenced) Yellow Magic Orchestra. I don't actually know if YMO (a Japanese band, led by Ryuichi Sakamato) influenced Japan or if Japan influenced YMO. Most likely it was a case of cross-pollination.

The problem with Japan was that they were such poseurs. Their cover art alone must have put millions of (not-so sensitive) teenagers off. Yes, Mr Sylvian (not his actual name, of course), if you're going to eat rice in front of a picture of chairman Mao, why do you have to bleach your hair, and why can't you even hold your chopsticks properly?

And then there's the slight problem of David Sylvian's lead vocals. If Bryan Ferry's languid barytone tends to discourage you, just wait until you hear Sylvian trying to emulate Ferry! It took me a while to get used to this album. This was a band that tried oh-so hard to sound diffident and ultra-decadent. One of the tracks on TIN DRUM is entitled "Cantonese Boy". It gives the impression the singer would like nothing better than sex with a dozen Cantonese boys in a single day. You must remember China was still very much in the sway of Maoism when this album was made; economic liberalisation of the country had only just started.

What makes this album so enjoyable, then? Well, to start with there's a handful of truly remarkable tunes. For my money, "Ghosts" is one of the best things Japan recorded: a haunting ballad ten times more memorable than anything the so-called New Romantics (or other early eighties electro-pop bands) committed to vinyl. The sweetly melancholic "Still Life in Mobile Homes" is unforgettable as well: strongly influenced by late-seventies Bowie albums like "Low" and "Lodger" but a little gentler, less harsh. Just like "Talking Drum" it features a fleeting guest vocal by Sylvian's then girlfriend (or soon-to- be girlfriend) Yuka Fujii. One earlier reviewer has called these guest vocals "Arabic", an obvious mistake: anyone who's familiar with traditional Japanese singing will immediately recognise the Japanese "folk" influence.

Strange to find Japanese guest vocals in an album dealing with Chinese themes, full of little melodies (performed on electric European instruments, of course) that seem to have been borrowed from one of Madame Mao's post-revolutionary operas. Strange, too, to find so much eclectic stuff on an album named after Günter Grass's best-known novel. But then eclecticism has always been Mr Sylvian's forte (or, if you're a non-believer, his downfall). It is bassist Mick Karn, though, who shines most of all on the album's pièce de résistance: the seven-minute, near-minimalist "Sons of Pioneers", strongly influenced by Roxy Music's "For Your Pleasure" but, well, a true pleasure all the same...

After TIN DRUM, Sylvian would go on to write more emotionally mature music for such masterly albums as RAIN TREE CROW and BRILLIANT TREES. TIN DRUM cannot be called a major masterpiece, but it has its moments, and it definitely deserves a place in any broad-minded progger's collection.

80s New Wave is something I have really hated when it appeared as it was extremely stereotyped. All that keyboard sound made of Yamaha, Roland and Fairlight when possible, everything sounding in the same way. All these singers using their throats like David Bowie (or just trying to do it), the electronic drumming and all that waste of hair-gel.

But knowing that Ryuichi Sakamoto has worked with Japan and also knowing that this was the former band of David Sylvian I decided to try. I looked at the PA ratrings and this is why I have this album.

Unfortunately it is exactly what I could have expected: A 80s new wave album with Roland keyboards, Bowie like voice, electronic drums and looking at the cover sleeve, also a lot of hair-gel.

The songs are lightly dark, not very different from things like Depeche Mode, but there are some highlights. "Despair" is a David Sylvian's song, slow and athmospheric. Still close to Bowie, but the Bowie of Warszawa.

Sometimes it's possible to hear some spacey sounds with a Krautrock flavour but not too often.

"The other Side of Life" is the other decent song of the album and also the closing track. I don't like the too much standardised voice but if it was possible to erase it from the track, what's behind is Sylvian's stuff.

As counterparts there are things like "All Tomorrow's Parties" and the following "Aliens" that are the same poor 80s song. I think this is prog related because they were making 80s music in 1979.

I have listend to things worse than this in the 80s, and even if this could have been decent actually, I don't see a reason to give it another spin today.

For fans only.

This band is one of the most surprising additions into ProgArchives in my opinion. Surely David Sylvian has brilliantly continued his solo career, never afraid of taking risks and experimenting with new ideas, but JAPAN is very much a product of the times, Techno/ New Wave pop of England from the late 70's and early 80's. Maybe it's their usage of Oriental elements and a notable originality compared to many other New Wave acts, but my guess is that very few Prog enthusiasts would fall for this band. But onto this compilation.

I admit I haven't heard all of their albums and since this CD doesn't clearly tell which tracks come from which albums (or if they are only single tracks), I feel a little lost with this compilation that seems heavily to concentrate on single mixes, remixes and such. All I can say is that the majority of these songs are not very good and haven't stood the test of time. They are cold and monotonous electro-pop songs without the catchiness of the best songs by, say, Duran Duran. Even Sylvian's voice sounds worse than later on in his career.

There are few quite good songs, and one jewel: 'Night Porter', a moody slow piano ballad reminding a lot of Erik Satie's Gymnopedies. In the leaflet there's only some piece of obscure short prose that I don't get at all. What it has to do with music? Why there is no useful information of any kind? I'm afraid I can't give this more than 2 stars. I also believe JAPAN's final albums (Tin Drum at least) are better as a whole than this compilation.

The begining of the electronic Pop with the new music movement. The music is not the musician performance but the studio performance. Japan is an example of this context that give a comercial context but not quality. How many other artists done this movement? David Bowie, and all 80 decade groups that begin with a high quality music and change to a comercial and not interesting music. This album it's nothing special. Some parts are a litle spacey but the hearth of this album it's a pop comercial songs. I don't like this change and the electronic adiction to made music. I like some electronic works but with musicians with inspiration but this is not this work. 3 stars for the spacey parts but this is not a good stuff