Reviews (page 8 of 8)
80s af, and that's not a good thing.
Decent stuff. Not extravagant, but easy enough to have on in the background. Favorite song: Alien
Terrible.
very of the times, still nice
4/5. The 80s are back baby 😎
I'm really enjoying early synthpop as I learn more about it. This album seems really really well formed for the time it was made. The production of the album is excellent. Giorgio Moroder's influence on the album seems like it adds a lot, though I haven't heard the bands earlier works to compare it to. Super fun pop album that has a lot of elements of synth music that will come to prominence in the decades to follow. This album also features what might be my favorite Velvet Underground cover in All Tomorrow's Parties 4/5
Never had heard of this group but I really enjoyed the music.
Not bad, solid New Wave.
6/10 the most outstanding thing about this album is how much the guy sounds like morrisey
6/10. Bit better than I expected.
I don’t care for the vocals and it was generally slow paced for me. I enjoyed most of the vibes of the songs though and it’s maybe worth a revisit in a different setting. 6/10
80s oversincere
This album was FINE, and by that I mean "adequate." It just sounded like the back end of a second tier Duran Duran album. When do we get to see Duran Duran on this list? "All Tomorrow's Parties" just made me wonder when we're going to get to get to see the Velvet Underground on this list. I needed to know why this album is on the list, because I couldn't hear it. It was completely listenable, mind you, just not very memorable or distinctive to me.
I don’t know if I have heard of Japan before or not…maybe…but I have definitely never listened to an album. Not likely to dig this one out to listen again. I was confused at what band I was listening to. Wait, is this Duran Duran on a couple of tracks…maybe Depeche Mode on another. The album did not capture my attention, in any case. I was often bored. I guess that none of the tracks made much of an impression on me…forgetting the tune just after it ended. In fact, I was listening to a version of the album with some bonus single-versions of one of the tracks and when I got to them I paused and thought, “This song is familiar. Where have I heard it before?” Turns out that I had heard it just a couple of track earlier on the album… Thankfully I wasn’t being quizzed on what I had been listening to.
Fun, synth-y, sax-y late 70s/early 80s pop. A clear influence on Duran Duran. Not my favorite but good enough and the right beats per minute for an afternoon walk in the sunshine. Love the cover of All Tomorrow's Parties.
Japan instantly brought to my mind Duran Duran to me as their sound seemed very similar. But I see that this was released several years before Duran Duran, so I can assume Japan were one of the early creators of this 80s sound. I started out a little ambivalent about this album. It was hard not to compare the infectious hooks present in the best songs from Duran Duran, The Human League, A Flock Of Seagulls, Spandau Ballet, ABC and the like. On my first listen of this nothing stood out like the best of those bands... But every time I listen to this I discover new great moments. It seems I had to listen a little harder to discover these moments, but they are emerging. Maybe it is just a matter of time until Japan becomes one of my staples of the synth-pop sound. I keep adding to the list of favorite songs at the bottom of these notes and it has become nearly a list of all of the tracks… My favorite songs: Quiet Life, Fall In Love With Me, Despair, In Vogue, Halloween, All Tomorrow's Parties
I dunno, I have enjoyed some of the eletropoppy stuff on the list, but this is a bit boring. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood
Pretty good! I was surprised! Remember these from being a kid but never really knew much of the their music but I enjoyed it. Like a cross between Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and the Cure
recht fad, hab mir nix gemerkt
Den Gesang halt ich kaum aus...ansonsten so gar nichts Besonderes. Aber für nebenbei ok
I was mostly astounded to learn about this band and hear how similar they are to Duran Duran (they came out around the same time in the same country). Kind of interesting that they fell apart right as Duran Duran were on the road to super-stardom. A solid album with some strong early-80s cuts.
A band I know very little about. The opening song 'Quiet Life' is giving me Duran Duran vibes - upon reading the wiki on this album, the band dismiss being of the genre New Romantic. Crazy to learn that this band was once a Glam Rock band, moving onto being synth pop with a one-off single made with Giorgio Moroder. It's a shame they didn't continue working with Giorgio on this album. The star rating is absent for me on this album, ✰✰ from me. Not an album I need to listen to again. I would rather listen to Duran Duran (or Sparks or INXS) - this album predates Duran Duran's debut album, maybe they heard this album by Japan and bettered it.
Not good, sounds like the same song over and over
Not really my thing
Enjoyed it. Very 80's
Super enjoyed this proto new wave album
Late 70s but sounds 80s. Hated this. The Velvet Underground cover was excruciating
Meh Some vague Duran Duran vibes in the middle...
This seems like a hipster wanker's choice. Plenty of 80s pop out there that's way more interesting than this. Points for production values but that's about it.
This was interesting but not great. 3
Cover Impressions: More 80s New-Wave, fantastic. Do you like Glam and Synthesizers? If you answered yes then this should be right up your alley. On listen: Overall it's not bad, doesn't lean too heavily into the 80s weirdness but it is still there, there are some good hooks in this. I like the melody in "Fall in love with me". Giving me Depeche Mode or Duran Duran vibes, vocals are very familiar sounding but they are the weakest part of this. The more I'm listening the more forgiving I'm feeling of this after my initial distaste for what I was about to be getting into, it's not cringey and there's some pretty solid arrangements. I'm usually not one for the moody depressing stuff but Despair, and In Vogue both had lengthy brooding instrumental sections that I was just vibing with. Probably wouldn't go out of my way to revisit but I appreciated this one.
"despair" certain lives up to the title. At the tip of the new wave era, I think this would have lived up with a lot of the genre.
It seems a strange mash up of Roxy Music (without so much warble) and Duran Duran. I like the horns used with the synth and the broodiness of many of the tracks. Nothing stands out as amazing, but overall reasonably enjoyable.
There's no way this isn't going to be new wave. Yeah, it is. I actually fell asleep. 2/5.
Basically 80s but it ain't so... cool
Boring.
Not bad, not great.
A little taste of synth pop new wave, which I wish they'd taken further. I guess it was early days for that genre - I think bands like Duran Duran probably took this vibe and ran with it much better. I did like the title track and 'FalIing Love With Me' though. This is more of a 2.5 really but it falls into the 'ok but forgettable' category.
Sounds a lot like early DuranDuran
Wasn’t familiar with this but it was an enjoyable listen!
New to me! Really interesting listen. I enjoyed it and will return to it in the future
Contrairement à mon rival eltrapeze, j'ai globalement apprécié la proposition musicale de cet album. J'écris d'ailleurs en ce moment même cette critique en pleine heure de cours avec ma classe de sixième au sein de mon collège situé en Basse-Saxe (vous savez déjà que j'exerce comme professeur assistant). Voici comment j'ai obtenu le droit de me comporter ainsi en toute liberté. Hier s'est en effet tenue dans mon école une longue réunion entre syndicats de professeurs et syndicats de directeurs dont l'objet était une renégociation des conditions de travail et la conclusion d'un accord de branche applicable à l'ensemble des écoles du Land de Niedersachsen. Bien qu'étant nouveau et n'ayant aucun mandat, j'ai réussi à localiser la salle dans laquelle se tenait cette réunion, ai ouvert discrètement la porte et me suis assis à la table des négociations parmi les syndicalistes sans que personne ne remarque ma présence. La discussion portait au moment de mon arrivée sur le nombre de jours de congés à attribuer en période de maternité. Pendant que les négociations se poursuivaient, je lançai lentement le fil d'une canne à pêche miniature de ma propre conception vers le papier sur lequel les points d'accord étaient rédigés et, une fois celui-ci accroché, le tira furtivement vers moi en enroulant le fil de la bobine. Une fois à portée de main, j'y annotai mes quelques revendications et le refis glisser vers sa place d'origine avant de repartir par la même porte que celle par laquelle j'étais rentré plus tôt. L'accord de branche négocié a été publié ce matin au Journal Officiel allemand, je vous joins l'extrait qui nous intéresse : « ... Das ist also der Grund, warum Frauen, die Babys machen, sich ruhig ein paar Tage ausruhen können. Sagen wir grob zehn Tage. § 14 Et donc comme je disais les profs, parmi lesquels Robfourmilière, pourront écouter les albums fournis par Robert et les critiquer pendant les heures de cours sans qu'on vienne les emmerder. § 15 Eltrapeze est interdit de séjour en Basse-Saxe. § 16 Die Jungs, die Babys herstellen, dürfen auch ein paar Tage frei haben, aber nur vier. So einfach ist das. » J'ai donc maintenant la possibilité d'exercer mon activité principale sur mon lieu de travail en toute légalité.
Je ne pense pas grand chose de cet album, qui ne m'a ni surpris, ni interessé, ni plu. Mais j'accepte la sentence, après une série des plus excitantes concoctée par Robert. L'occasion pour moi de vous en dire un peu plus sur cet homme. Suite à ma récente promotion en tant que bras droit de Robert, j'ai la chance de pouvoir vivre au plus près du gourou du générateur, et d'ainsi me rendre compte du travail formidable qu'il propose. Il faut savoir que Robert est en contact permanent avec les quatres coins du globe, afin d'être mis au courant des dernières sorties musicales, mais également afin d'organiser des descentes de police/milice si necessaire. Il entretient d'excellentes relations avec la plupart des chefs d'état, qui le laissent opérer sans la moindre barrière. Là où la journée de Robert devient complétement formidable, c'est sur le coup de 19h. C'est à cet instant que Robert décide de l'album qui arrivera sur vos écrans au petit matin. Pour se faire, Robert a un long processus de pensée, bien trop complexe et trop long à décrire ici, qui débouche toujours sur un album qui n'est pas là par hasard. Alors la prochaine fois que vous critiquerez l'album généré du jour, tournez sept fois votre langue dans votre claque merde, si vous ne voulez pas vous exposer à la vendetta de Robert.
Znam i dobri su
Dobar je ovaj Japan, kao država! Sviđa mi se album. Fall in Love With Me i Alien su mi najdraži sa albuma, a iskreno po mojoj definiciji covera, treba biti kao što je on napravio za All Tomorrow's Parties (inače izvorno od Velvet Undergrounda gdje je Nico na vokalu). Despair je takva pjesma koja paše u noć, definitivno ima taj štih, dok In Vogue dosta podsjeća na stari The Cure. Sve u svemu, album nije overstajo svoju dobrodošlicu.
Nisam pozorno, igro sam roket ligu dok sam slušo. Šta sam pohvato svidlo mi se.
This was OK. I'm not a new-wave guy, but the songs were varied and some were catchy.
Other than the name David Sylvian, it doesn’t sound like this album has much to offer. Yes, it’s ok background music, but it never takes off and all the songs sound the same.
Very distinctly New Wave. Interestingly enough, belongs to the New Romantic scene form the UK in the early 80's (see: Duran Duran) that took New Wave and added a glam spin on it à la Bowie. Tres chic! Big focus on ambience with this album. Japan likes to fully flesh out their environmental soundscapes, which ultimately sets them apart from other New Wave artists of the day. Otherwise it's not all that notable. Not bad!
Not bad
Don't like it, David Bowie did it better.
Not a bad album, but didn't stick with me that much
80s vibe from a late 70s album. I enjoyed some of it
Nothing special, at best, and I'm starting to suspect some heavy British favoritism in this list...
Nah not for me
Dull.
80's cheese but very bland
I judged an album by its cover and expected some Depeche Mode/OMD-like music. Wasn't floored by it, but did enjoy. Prob addition to library.
this was surprising good, with combinations of folk and jazz. smooth easy complexity.
Good early new wave, but didn't really hook me on any of their songs.
If I heard this in 1979 upon release I probably would have dismissed it since my hatred for disco had, by that time, extended to almost anything played to fill a dance floor. The first few songs are quite good. I have one question about the ballads: Why? The album recovers a bit with All Tomorrow's Parties but I wish they had more dance floor stuff on this LP. I just made 1979 Johnny cringe.
The title track is epic early synth-pop and I thank 1001 for bringing back that memory. The next two tracks caught my attention too, Despair at first with its haunting intro, the again with the clumbsy singing in French. I like the song-writing and arrangements enough to give this a higher mark but I find David Sylvian's voice wears on you after a half-dozen songs.
I was a heavy listener of Japan in the late 70s so I've tried to get past my early fan bias. Now I also have to get past the silly hair, makeup and New Romantic costumes. Actually it wasn't as bad as I expected with some songs holding up pretty good eg All Tomorrow's Parties. Kudos to them for being such early pioneers in the Synth-Pop genre and influencing groups such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, ABC, Human League etc. But is there anything gloomier sounding than David Sylvain’s voice?
Kinda like Duran Duran. Relatively enjoyable listen.
Kuuntelin kolmessa osassa eri päivinä niin vaikea muodostaa mielipidettä kokonaisuudesta, mutta ihan vekkulista äänimaailmasta huolimatta tylsä levy.
Muutama ihan toimiva biisi/hetki levyllä auttoi saattelee levyn loppuun, mut loppupuolen japaniskeida ei toiminu
Pretty weird for my liking
Interesting album. I wouldn't have guessed it was released in 1979. Good electro/synth vibes, with variance enough between tracks to let me know there were differences. With that said, the album itself didn't strike me as powerful enough for 4 stars, so it gets a good 3.
I enjoyed this album quite a bit. It sits on the border of New Wave and Glam Rock and anticipates Goth Rock. Some of the songs were a little too drawn out but it was an easy listen. The album wasn’t overly reliant on synth and had a good balance with a strong backbeat
Not very fond of this one
Meh
I was quite enjoying it then he murdered and buried the body of all tomorrows parties and i was too annoyed to hear anything else than nico gasping for air. I think there is a lot of interesting proto-synth pop development here and its probably a very important record, so fair play to it but my longlasting impression im afraid is nico silently crying.
Horrible
Italo disco meets Bowie met een vleugje Air. Heerlijk poppie album met veel potentiele hits. Heel erg modern voor zijn tijd, veel synthesizers maar ook gewoon nog gitaren en drums. Dan nog zo'n typisch Engelse zanger en ik vind het leuk! Sommige nummers hebben iets duisters waardoor je een beetje een hardrock sfeertje proeft, maar het blijft toch allemaal in de poppie Italo disco hoek. Helaas zitten er aardig wat "quiet" oftewel langzame balads bij, die mij niet zo aantrekken. Leukste nummers zijn "Fall In Love With Me" en "In Vogue".
Niet mijn kopje thee.
Excellent
eh. cute velvet underground cover i suppose.
Too loud
the first couple of songs are ok but the rest is legit bad
Really not my thing at all. Found it quite boring. Couple of ok tracks. 2 stars
Muy buen disco. Tuve que escucharlo más de 1 vez para sentir su potencial.
It seems a little ahead of it’s time - I can’t really comprehend that it’s from the 70s. Kind of a classically good album, I don’t think it’s anything completely unique, but it’s pretty solid.
Gosh, I've listened to some Japan before but never this album. It's so whiny and I've had enough of this style. Maybe if I'd heard this first I would've liked it, but now I was just skipping songs when I couldn't stand them anymore.
synths 80....que decir
seems like bad david bowie, esp since it's the same time
Asian video game music. Not terrible.
A cool, moody, Duran Duran-esque new wave record. A lot of really good songs and the album flows really well. Loved the singer’s voice, and the bass was AWESOME.
I really liked the first 30 seconds but then this went a little too nerdy/Japanese anime soundtrack for me
Lovely spicy 80s album
Some catchy songs but nothing really stands out. Overall it's good, but nothing extraordinary.
Nothing stood out about this album.
These guys need a cup of coffee before recording an influential album
goodo
All Tomorrow’s Parties was catchy, kind of relaxing. Not a bad album, but probably not my bag.
took a while to get into it, but its a chill album. would use as background music again probably.
Best Songs: Despair, A Foreign Place Worst Song: Fall In Love With Me
A perfectly fine pop album. Enjoyed
gemütlicher New Wave
Beep boop
Agh, just not very good. Pretty forgettable. Feel like their sound is quite close to The Police's but without being as iconic.
Strange mish mash of synthpop and dark sombre songs. However, even though it doesn't work the best as an album, there are some incredible songs on here. Despair, The Other Side of Life, and the cover of All Tomorrow's Parties were excellent. And I still can't get over this is from the 70s; very ahead of it's time.
As much as I love synthpop today, this early 80s synthpop is just not it for me. I think a lot of it has to do with the style of voice/singing that was popular at the time. It also all just feels very repetitive and like the songs don't have a lot of momentum. Not trying to knock it for someone else- it's just not for me.
Synth/art pop stuff like this isn’t really my thing, but I can appreciate it for what it is so a 2.5 leaning to a 3.
I do really like synth pop but maybe this was a bit early for me?
охуенно, вторая пятёра подряд. Даже, вероятно, вторая десятка (с этим сомнения, ибо сложно с пары прослушиваний прямо зафанатеть, но вообще очень зашло). Вот тот годный нью-вейв, который не совсем ударен в синтпоп и имеет значимое присутствие других инструментов. Баса в песне In Vogue, например, или гитарных ликов в Alien. По композиторству вообще никаких вопросов, каждая тема пиздец приятно и интересно звучит (и это от глемеров-то!), никаких кринжовых и дурацких моментов, я бы сказал всё очень умно сделано. Единственное, кавер на Вельвет Андеграунд не сильно заинтересовал, ещё и в расширенную версию его в трёх вариантах запихнули, что немного подкашивает. Посему ну 9, наверное, будет, в список прослушиваемого отправляется точно.
Всё же хороший альбом. Грамотно выстроенные композиции, оригинальный подбор инструментов, продуманные партии. Последние особенно в уши бросаются, когда в наушниках на фоне слышишь что-то действительно интересное. Среди треков могу выделить Despair с её сильной атмосферой. В целом, не могу сказать, что узнаю треки, если где-то услышу. Что внутренне намекает, что субъект - просто приятный проходняк. При фоновом переслушивании пытался выцепить треки, что резали бы ухо или казались явно лишними. Но не удавалось, впечатления были скорее положительными. Так что снова конформистская оценка.
Poor man’s Duran Duran... and much better than I expected.
This sounds like a scary/emo Duran Duran. Really love the use of fretless bass for texture. Good album. Dark synth pop is not something you hear too often, but these folks do a great job of making music that you know a vampire from the 80's would make.
Muy ochentas, new wave y así pero siento que un poco más dark, corríjanme sí me equivoco
which came first the japan or the duran duran? i kept thinking i was listening to a duran album. so if japan came first it deserves respect, if duran came first it deserves derision. i've checked with my sources and japan came first. nuff respec. especially like their version of ATP.
Very 80s
Not really my kind of music but the album was easy to listen, although nothing really stood out as great.
Synth pop de la New Wave. Algunas canciones chulas pero se hace largo. No brilla demasiado pero es escuchable.
Sounds like a generic New Wave band. Nothing super interesting here for me.
Dromerige New Wave muziek met een sterk pop-kantje. Ik vond dit wel een aangenaam album
Only listened to two or three tracks because I was pulled away but it didn't grab me to be honest.
Fabuloso. Una fantasía dirían algunos. Inventan a Duran Duran aquí, pero con mucha más clase, tal vez un poco más introvertido el pedo. Yo noto una influencia recia del Iggy solista berlinés. Y claro, Bowie. No suena a 1978 pero sí. El futuro desdoblado.
I moved to Japan in the summer of 1982, three years after the release of this. The Japanese had never heard of it, but had heard of me Nigel Spackman. Their entire culture since '82 is based on my suggestions. Especially the manga porn stuff. I love a bit of that. An octopus strangling a school girl? Yes please.
It was ok, it fell flat in too many places for me to consider it any better than that. 2*
Really good, enjoyed this much more than I thought i would
Yeah is okay. Nothing stood out as bad. Listened without any worries at all, enjoyed it. Probably won't bother again...
Kind of thing Dave would rate as 5 stars.
They wanted to be Bowie so bad.
Eh. It's okay.
I thought it was alright, but nothing too special. I found the singing to be very monotonous, and not in an interesting way.
This is pretty sleepy, boring music. Alien and A Foreign Place were highlights, but this is at best driving music
Sí me gustó, está darketón. Tiene sus toques hipnóticos, que su pop, que su rock, que su post-punk, sobre todo el sonido del bajo es lo que más disfruté a lo largo del disco. Canción que más me gustó: Halloween. Mood: zombificado.
Funky electronic
Rock, cool synths, bass and drums. Worth re-listening
Pop un tanto blandengue y un tanto plano. Se puede escuchar, pero tiene un aspecto muy de los 80. Ritmos suaves y con voz relajada
au lieu du café il ya du nescafé du lait en poudre au lieu du lait ect. au lieu de bowie il y a japan
Me gustó, no tenía idea de qué esperar, pero ya que escuché sabía que es algo que disfruto. Una combinación de sintetizadores con las cuerdas y la batería y ya está ese sonido característico de los ochenta. Me sonó a lo que luego lueguito estaría haciendo Tears for Fears. Realmente no tuve skips (no escuché la versión delux), aunque mis favs quizá fueron "In Vogue" y "Halloween". Pero todo bien, a gusto. 9/10
"Despair" has a cool melody
Japan, the good old band. 😌 Lovely music as always.
The only memorable and interesting thing about this album and band, is their band name.
Pas vraiment d’interet. Je ne sais pas trop quoi penser de ca .. je n’ai pas de souvenir le lendemain sauf peut etre la 1ere toune qui annoncait quelque chose de bien, mais apres rien du tout. 2.75
Pre Duran Duran influencer. I liked the album. Although it won't be a part of the regular rotation, I'm glad I listened.
Good start and interesting but drags at the end
At times, completely forgettable early synth pop. At other times, really compelling well crafted music.
This was... fine. I was disappointed in the Velvet Underground cover.
Sehr stark
didn’t like it that much
Where is 6 stars? Duran Duran took notes from this album.
This album was…interesting. I wouldn’t say I loved it, but I didn’t hate it. It was just a bit strange to my ears.
Where has this been all my life? Eat your heart out, Spandau Ballet.
Love this album
I liked it. I has the good parts of 80's without the excessive synths and drums. 4.5
Never heard of them before. Not bad. Won't be my #1 go to, but I enjoyed half of it.
Crazy how much this sounds like Duran Duran. Obviously a big influence on many future bands.
meh
Super fun, 80s pop sound.
Kompletter Schrott. Stellenweise auch einfach unerträglich. Diese Platte hat mein Leben für ca. 50 Minuten schlechter gemacht.
It's really hard to believe this was released in 1979. When I think of Japan I think of the 80s, and this is full of their typical electronica, but it doesn't sound at all out of date, even today. I don't love it, nor hate it, but I can see that it's very impressive for its time.
"Despair" is very dark. Apart from this. not too much standout.
A surprising listen, With some synth-pop sounds I rather enjoyed. "Quiet Life" is definitely a stand-out track, and "Despair" sound great even if not a shuffle-worthy song.
Unremarkable and forgettable
Just thinking of him as an off brand Bowie isn’t entirely fair. What a voice.
Synth-pop rock, fængende hooks, melankolsk
Some solid stuff here, but sometimes it drifts into a bad Bowie impression backed by saxophones
neet