David Sylvian – Gone to Earth

Of Sylvian’s immediate post-Japan work, 1986’s Gone to Earth is the most under appreciated. It receives a mere 3 1/2 stars on allmusicguide (ie. roughly a decent score of 70%). Perhaps this is due to its nature as more of a ‘mood piece’ than Brilliant Trees and Secrets of the Beehive (not that those two aren’t mood pieces, but the near hit single potential of quite a few of their songs is immediately obvious). It is a double album, half song, half instrumental (although I only have the original CD edition, condensed to 13 tracks, so I’ve not quite heard all of it). Coincidentally, its 30th anniversary approaches as I’ve been spending some time with it, so an appreciation post was a must.

Here, we find Sylvian approaching more atmospheric territory, even on the song side. The hooks are less obvious than they were on Brilliant Trees (and would be on Secrets of the Beehive), but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. The ghostly decending keyboard line on opener ‘Taking the Veil’, the introductory guitar line on easy listening single ‘Silver Moon’. Some of this stuff is seriously muzak. It’s well done muzak, however, conjuring up memories of long forgotten trips to department stores in the 1990s in the best nostalgic way possible, with the use of flugelhorn and sax. Plus the gorgeous guitar tones – fairly clean, but sometimes lightly distorted, not too chorusy.

Sylvian’s voice retreats further from the carefully affected croon he used in Japan (the bleach blonde hair is gone too). It’s still a carefully affected croon (no other way to describe it really), but now it’s pitched a bit lower and loses what could be described as the new-romanticisms (he’d hate that I’d used that term). The vocals bring the goods on the song side; careful phrasing and considered harmonies abound, but for me the best moment is the heartbreaking “If I’m losing you/Then there’s nothing more that I can say… As time’s come to show/I’m told nothing more than I should know” refrain on the lengthy ‘Before the Bullfight’, which may be the best piece on the whole album. It has no need to hurry, as a comforting blanket of synths envelop you, gently surrounding you with more beautiful guitar work, only reaching the verse after 2:43.

The instrumental songs are haunting and melancholy in the way the best instrumental/ambient/mood music is. My pick of the bunch is possibly ‘The Healing Place’, a long dreamy guitar piece. It mostly consists of a repeated riff (reminds me of Bad Moon Rising/EVOL Sonic Youth) with jazzy guitar soloing. Or ‘Answered Prayers’, an ambient bed of synths that wouldn’t sound out of place in an anime soundtrack.

Sylvian’s overall vision and songwriting is at its peak on Gone to Earth, as is his ability to assemble/attract musicians to aid in the execution of his ideas (one of his more Bowie-like qualities) – in addition to Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri, we get Robert Fripp, Bill Nelson, Mel Collins (plus others I’m not familiar with) all contributing to an album that is beautiful, haunting, melancholy, nostalgic. ❤️❤️❤️❤️💔 (that symbolises 4 1/2 stars).

Zelda

1982-1985

Sachiho Kojima (bass)
Sayoko Takahashi (vocals)
Ako Ozawa (drums)
Fukie Ishihara (guitar 1983-90)
Yōko Suzuki (guitar 1979-1982)

 

At one time Japan’s Zelda were the longest running all-female band, but this seems to be all that’s noted on the internet (at least among the English speaking part). They also boasted a fantastic collection of hats 👒

Zelda began as a punk/new wave band, their first, self-titled album is mostly comprised of upbeat, catchy punk songs. But things aren’t always that clearcut, as there are elements of tribal beats and electronics and effects even this early on in their career. Sayoko Takahashi is an engaging vocalist, seemingly untrained but full of charisma, while the rest of the band already demonstrate a level of technical skill at least the equal of any Western contemporaries (within the early 80s new wave).

Like a lot of Japanese popular music, the songwriting seems a bit, well, sophisticated. At least compared to Western popular music (a big generalisation, I know). As in the songs use minor tonality, chord progressions from older popular music, and comfortably moving from one style to another. An example of this would be track 2 on Carnaval. A music hall, mock opera kind of thing, just strings and voice, very ‘playful’; in the wrong hands this would just be a weird jokey interlude, but Zelda have the skill to pull it off as both sendup and genuinely good song.

Straightforward (well, straightforward for them) pop songs also made up a key part of their identity. Songs like Carnaval’s “Are You ‘Lucky’?”, and the majority of their third album are just full of hooks, both in the vocals and instrumentation. Just listen to 黄金の時間, a non-album single from 1986. A bright, hopeful guitar arpeggio, a sweet, airy vocal before the chorus payoff (a full 3 minutes into the track). Keys chime among a vocal melody that won’t leave your head.

However, my favourite type of Zelda song would have to be the more gothic post-punk kind. These ones are often haunting but very pretty, and sound somewhat oriental to my ears. Track 5 on Carnaval effortlessly combines sad guitar arpeggios, melancholic strings, and recited vocals drenched in reverb, before switching to a melodramatic cry for the chorus. 3 of this kind are sequenced together on their third album (tracks 7-9, 8 being my very favourite Zelda song); if this were the only thing they were capable of, they would’ve been big in the goth scene (being English would’ve helped too of course). It’s a testament to their talent that it wasn’t the only thing they did.

It seems strange to me that the fascination for all things Japanese, and the widespread love for left field 80s has not lead to Zelda becoming a bit more known. Understandably their albums are difficult to get, but information on them is pretty scarce. This is really unfortunate, as they were a great band. Their first 3 albums all have a lot to offer.

Laughing Clowns – Cruel, But Fair

Active from 1979 to 1985, the Laughing Clowns were Ed Kuepper’s post-Saints band. Kuepper left the punk sound behind after (I’m) Stranded, and The Saints displayed a continuous evolution with their next two albums, Eternally Yours and Prehistoric Sounds. The Clowns evolved this sound even further. They were often described as ‘jazz-punk’ or ‘jazz-rock’, but Kuepper rejects this term. Only a handful of times would it seem they were consciously aiming for a ‘jazz’ style; most of the time I would describe it as rock, or post-punk, with brass providing the leading voice.
The core of the band comprised of Kuepper on guitar, vocals and songwriting, and Jeffrey Wegener on drums. There were many lineup changes throughout, with Louise Elliott on saxophone (1981-1985) the next longest serving member (also of note is Peter Milton Walsh on bass (1983) who had his own group, The Apartments).
Kuepper’s not quite a natural as a singer; he sounds kind of flat and a bit emotionless, but I find him quite likeable nonetheless (his singing would improve as he moved into his solo career). His guitar playing, as always, is very good, and Wegener is an inventive drummer.
The songs generally feature interesting chord progressions (they don’t go where you expect them to), and memorable melodies; in fact, every single song has something going for it. This is no small praise for a three disc boxset, comprised of three albums, four EPs, and a handful of singles and compilations.
The most well known Clowns song is Eternally Yours. It is an absolute anthem, based on an uncharacteristically simple progression (A-D-C) with its slow-building harmonics laden intro, concluding with a superb sax solo that won’t leave your head.
My personal favourite, one which I couldn’t stop listening to when I was 16, is the overlooked Winter’s Way. Its main melody (played by sax before the verses, voice during verses, then piano for coda) is pretty haunting (slightly reminiscent of Scarborough Fair), and has an excellent free-jazz sax solo for coda, all crammed into a less than three minutes pop song.

Generally speaking, you can split the songs into four categories.
1. Pop songs – Sometimes, Crystal Clear (the refain with Kuepper singing ‘who’s been talking…’ over a soaring sax makes my heart swoon), Laughing Clowns (always enjoy an eponymous song). Catchy and memorable, but never predictable.
2. Moody, introspective songs – Collapse Board, Everything That Flies, Knife in the Head. Pretty dark and depressing.
3. Extended songs – Nothing That Harms, I Want to Scream, Laughter Around the Table. Topsy-turvy structures, lengthy solo excursions; somewhat ‘progressive’.
4. Jazz songs – Mr Uddich-Schmuddich Goes to Town, When What You See. Sound quite improvisatory to my ears, perhaps the only ones where patience can wear thin.

The set is not in chronological order – initially I’d have preferred it to be, to hear the albums as they were, but I find that the order decided on by Kuepper works very well eg. a particular song will ‘sound’ like a disc one song to me, and it’s hard to imagine it surrounded by anything other than the preceding and following titles. Though this could be a product of many, many listens on my part.
Unfortunately Cruel, But Fair is now out of print, as I found to my dismay when I tried to get it in stock for the store I work at. This is also the case for most of Ed Kuepper’s solo work – it appears that Hot Records and Didgeridoo Records no longer exist, so shopping secondhand is the only way to go. A shame, as I belive the Laughing Clowns are an unjustly overlooked band, not only for Australia, but for ‘alternative’ and 80s music in general.

Arcadia – So Red the Rose

In 1985, Duran Duran temporarily went their separate ways, resulting in two side projects. John and Andy went to The Power Station, Simon and Nick arrived in Arcadia (Roger played with both a bit). Simon Le Bon has one of the most distinctive voices in popular music, so of course Arcadia sound a lot like Duran Duran, but without their bass and guitar players, the dance and funky elements are quite reduced and the artiness increases to the nth degree (Le Bon famously described it as “the most pretentious album ever made”).

The album is quite derivative as you can easily play ‘spot the influence’. However this is no bad thing if it’s the kind of sound you enjoy. There are two tracks where it’s almost as if they were actively trying to sound like someone else: ‘Lady Ice’ and ‘The Promise’. The former is a lengthy Japan/David Sylvian knockoff, with its atmosphere, fretless bass (though it is the 80s ‘bwow-bwooow’ kind, not the utterly unique Mick Karn kind), ‘Ghosts’ish electronics, oboe (I think) interlude, and a massive oriental synth riff that reminds me of Talk Talk’s ‘The Party’s Over’. The latter is amazing in its approximation of the Roxy Music Avalon sound, it genuinely could be an outtake from that album. Featuring David Gilmour on echo/reverb drenched guitar, Herbie Hancock on keys and Sting on backing vocals, it’s pretty star studded.

Le Bon is in fantastic form throughout, showing his full range, from the heavenly falsetto in ‘The Promise’, the high pitched whine in ‘Election Day’ (think Duran’s ‘Union of the Snake’) to the bombastic double tracked chorus in ‘The Flame’. Rhodes also does well, appropriately creating or filling out the atmosphere, and taking the lead with brassy stabs and sequencers when required.

So Red the Rose is nothing more than a footnote in Duran Duran’s career, but it really shouldn’t be. Pretentious, self consciously arty, full of 80s flourishes, derivative, yes. But in the best way. The only thing missing is John Taylor’s dashing good looks.

Fascination

Pictured, me about three years ago, makeup courtesy of someone infinitely more talanted than I.

 

Top 5 (somewhat overlooked) Bowiesongs:

1. ‘All the Madmen’ – dual guitar heaven from Mick Ronson, and the suberb high-pitched ‘ah-ah-ah’ backing vocals.
2. ‘Quicksand’ – beautiful chorus, as Bowie slips in and out of falsetto followed by the wordless refrain, perhaps the single sweetest moment in his whole discography.
3. ‘African Night Flight’ – eerie sounding rap, gives off a sense of dread, possibly a ritual or ceremony or something.
4. ‘Teenage Wildlife’ – much more than just a structureless ‘Heroes’ retread, as some have suggested. Incredible vocal performance with loads of vibrato (inspired by Ronnie Spector). Robert Fripp is excellent, of course.
5. ‘Strangers When We Meet’ – I enjoy both the Buddha of Suburbia and Outside versions equally. Such a straightforward, catchy song, should’ve been a big hit (replacing the likes of ‘Dancing in the Street’ on his best ofs). Interesting, affecting, lyrical jumble.

Shizuka

Heaven’s Persona & Live/Traditional Aesthetics

As it’s almost six years to the day since the passing of Shizuka Miura, I felt it appropriate to pen an overview of her band. Shizuka were a 90s band on the PSF Records label, a label beloved by those record collectors into guitar noise. They’re fairly overlooked, they lack the reputation the likes of Fushitsusha, Kousokuya, White Heaven and High Rise have managed to build. This could in part be due to a lack of documentation; all that remains of them is one studio and one live album on PSF, two tracks on the label’s Tokyo Flashback series, and two live albums on other labels (I’ve not yet tracked these down). Though come to think of it, some bands build reputations on being wilfully obscure, so the lack of appreciation is rather strange. I’d say they’re probably the most accessible of all the psychedelic speed freaks.

Speed, however, is not what Shizuka were about. All the songs are delivered at a snail’s pace, in that Velvet Underground 2-3 chord ballad style. Similarities are also shared with the legendary Les Rallizes Denudes; the songs are relatively simple, and usually build to a crescendo of guitar noise or guitar solo freakouts. Apparently, lead guitarist Maki Miura (Shizuka’s husband) did some time in Les Rallizes Denudes, in addition to playing on Fushitsusha’s Live I (PSF3-4).

Shizuka’s voice is not the strongest, per se, but it performs very nicely, delivering simple and sweet melodies while drenched in reverb, over a simple major/minor chord progression. I’m talking in very general terms here, as the songs are honestly quite interchangeable, they follow a simple formula. This is not a negative however, as it just works beautifully, and when listening I find I lose track of time as I slip into the songs.

Heaven’s Persona is a very restrained album, and it can be a little bit jarring hearing the contrast in dynamics as Maki begins to let fly and torture his guitar. It’s much more natural on the live album, where Shizuka just take off and ascend to the heavens. This is best illustrated on the song ‘6g no Hoshi’ (6g star). A slow build up over a G-C-G-C-D-C progression, followed by Maki’s gorgeously melodic first solo, Shizuka’s impassioned chorus and anthemic ‘laa-lalalala-la-la-laa’ coda. Then Maki’s guitar absolutely explodes, and the song joins the stars. Possibly my favourite song ever, it’s just so sad and beautiful and cathartic, no other song touches me like this one.

PSF appears,to have had some financial difficulties in recent years, I’m not sure if they’re still operating as usual, but ordering these albums (PSF-52 and PSF-178) is well worth a try as I don’t think you’ll find them anywhere else. http://www.psfrecords.com

Luna Sea

Luna Sea (1991)

Ryuichi – vocals
Sugizo – guitar, violin
Inoran – guitar
J – bass
Shinya – drums

To my mind, there is no direct Western comparison; Luna Sea played a unique mix comprised of ethereal jangle, goth, heavy metal technique, punk energy with a knack for catchy hooks.
From the beginning, their albums were split between three songwriters (the string players). Most songs followed a fairly simple formula, Inoran’s clean chorus-y jangle and Sugizo’s distorted guitar hero theatrics, a catchy bass line from J, and maybe some violin from Sugizo for even more ‘atmosphere’ (it’s always impressive when someone is a genuine multi instrumentalist).
‘Fate’ opens the album with an excellent minute and a half burst of energy that isn’t just an intro track, it’s a miniature song.
Ryuichi’s singing can take some getting used to, he employs a somewhat strained, full of vibrato style, but it definitely works for this kind of music; the exception is the disgustingly phlegmy ‘metal’ voice he uses on ‘Blue Transparency’ and ‘The Slain’. This is forgivable as it’s their first album (they used to be more on the metal side of things when they formed), and every song has something going for it – a memorable refrain, an interesting guitar part, a catchy bass line.
The last two songs are where they really take off – ‘Moon’ gradually builds up to anthemic crescendo (with a cyclical Emi7-Fmaj7-G6 progression), and ‘Precious’ is fantastic pop song with the catchiest singalong chorus on the album.
The album, at 38 minutes, is short by 90s standards, but I find 30-40 minutes the perfect length. As someone raised on the likes of the Ramones and The Beatles, I believe it allows the songs to leave a more lasting impression, and if the songs are good then the listener will be left wanting more.
(Beautiful album cover – reminiscent of the House of Love’s first one.)

Image (1992)

Early on, Luna Sea display a bit of artistic growth; more progressive elements on this one, with six songs in the 5-7 minute range. Thankfully, this isn’t at the expense of hooks and catchy choruses – ‘Wall’ and ‘Mechanical Dance’ are perhaps the best examples of ‘young’ Luna Sea mixing with ‘older’ Luna Sea. This was their first album for a major label, and they clearly didn’t want to mess with the formula too much, as the album follows a similar structure to its predecessor.
Once again, the penultimate track is the epic ‘Moon’. This time it’s a rerecording with prominent use of keyboards (in contrast to the “NO SYNTHESISER” statement found in the first album’s booklet). I find this one unnecessary, as the original had managed its evocative atmosphere by guitar work alone.
It is followed by ‘Wish’, another catchy closer(with a “lalalala” coda somewhat typical of 90s visual kei bands).
The live DVD ‘Image or Real’ documents a show from this tour; for me, it sums up the contradiction in terms of music, image and fan base – thousands of screaming teenage girls, aching for these beautiful androgynous beings, who enter the stage to the sounds of ‘De Profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)’ by Dead Can Dance, a haunting gothic-medieval chant piece.
Cover matches the music well.

Eden (1993)

Probably their best, most consistent work. They scale back on their progressive tendencies to produce a very solid album where almost every track is at least pretty good.
Opener ‘Jesus’, a weak rocker, can be ignored, it’s the second track where it really gets going. ’Believe’ is perhaps their definitive song, a driving ethereal rocker. It’s mostly just based on a IV-V chord progression (with strings 1 and 2 left open to give it that off-kilter ‘heavenly’ sound, of course) and features relentless drums, extremely memorable vocal melodies and guitar bits. The dazzling keyboard part in the chorus just makes the song however.
I’d also rate this album as Ryuichi’s best vocal performance – his high harmonies on ‘Rejuvenescence’, his blending into the music on ‘Anubis’ and his desperate whine on ‘Recall’ are among the highlights. In fact, ‘Recall’ is another incredible song, a subtle shoegaze-y number to drift away on.
The album just continues on a high – the six song run from ‘Believe’ to ‘In My Dream (With Shiver)’ is part of their discography. Unfortunately, ’Steal’ ends this run, its ‘quirky’ guitar riff is pretty irritating. Things pick up after that, and the record is again brought to a close by a straightforward hook-filled song, this time in ‘Stay’. The way the guitar part resolves at the end of the pre-chorus is pretty majestic.
Mother (1994)

Where can you go after an album as fantastic as Eden? Mother is a more ‘mature’ work, moving towards a more standard 90s J-rock sound. Not really for me, but it’s still a nice album all the same.
‘Rosier’, the main hit from this album, is like a cleaned up cousin of ‘Believe’. It’s an instantly memorable pop/rock single, but that’s just it. The ‘ethereal’ is disappearing from their music.
Most of the album sounds rather nice, but isn’t particularly memorable. It sounds pretty big, in the way a blockbuster massive rock album should. ‘Civilize’ begins as a lame attempt at punk/hard rock in verse before the payoff comes in the chorus with its massive jangle (why did 90s visual kei bands have these type of songs? The ones with two chord punk riffs, distortion on the vocals… needless attempts to be diverse and ignoring what their strengths are). Luckily, the record finishes pretty strongly (like all the others up to this stage), with two more catchy pop/rock songs in ‘Fake’ and ‘True Blue’ followed by Inoran’s haunting title track. Based on a lovely G6-Dsus2/F#-Cadd9/E progression on a 12-string acoustic and filled out by… I’m not sure what. Keyboard or Sugizo making some strange noises on his guitar? The chorus of ‘mother of love’ gets a little overbearing, but it’s still a beautiful song. The video for it was shot in snowy Ireland and fits it well.
It probably sounds like I don’t think Mother is very good, but on the contrary, I’m glad that it exists. They’d made three albums following a similar formula and had to move on, as they’d pretty much perfected it.
Aftermath

 

Style, Shine and Lunacy followed. Broadly in the same style as Mother, what strikes me about these ones is that they sound like a rather typical J-rock band. Their songs should be the theme to some anime series. In addition to ‘diluting’ their sound, Ryuichi’s vocal technique is different. Apparently this was due to him putting too much strain on his voice, so it was in his best interests to change and preserve his voice, so I can’t blame him for that. And their late 90s work is some of their most beloved, so I don’t know. I just think their early work mixed a unique sound with solid song craft to create some great albums that are unjustly overlooked in the West.

Rowland S. Howard

A brief overview of his (mostly) non-birthday Party/solo years (as these are covered extensively everywhere). He was a fine young specimen, with his slim frame, gaunt features, dangling cigarette and impeccable dress sense. Most well known for his guitar style – spaghetti-western, feedback, intense etc. but I’m a big fan of his voice – he couldn’t really sing, but that doesn’t matter when you know how to use it, which he certainly did.

Young Charlatans

Cool Melbourne punks, hear “Shivers” as RSH originally intended – a sarcastic parody of melodramatic depressed teens – not the overly serious Boys Next Door ballad with Nick Cave hamming it up. Also of note is “She’s Not the Chosen One”, same chords as Bauhaus’ “Passion of Lovers”, and the more arty songs like “Broken Hands”. All the band members went on to bigger things, Ollie Olsen with Max Q (w/ Michael Hutchence), Janine Hall with a mid-80s incarnation of The Saints, and Jeff Wegener with the Laughing Clowns.

The Boys Next Door/The Birthday Party

Apparently Rowland only joined on the condition that hew could be co-frontman, but this never came to pass. In my opinion it would have made the album much more interesting if it had  Rowland fronted versions of “Shivers”, “Cracked Portrait” (three chord synth rocker) and, most mysteriously of all, the ‘unnamed duet’, of which only a minute long fragment exists. It seems to be a piano-led showtuney number, Nick singing about ‘a vision’ and ‘the christian thing to do’ while Rowland interjects ‘brush my hair, cut my teeth, sign my life away…’

Among the Birthday Party’s oeuvre are a couple of Rowland sung songs: “The Red Clock”, an eerie, quirky new wave kinda song, and “Ho-Ho”, in which he sings ‘puff puff a sick wind blows’ and is backed up by a suitably unhealthy musical arrangement. Also of note, from the Peel Sessions compilation, is a song called “Marry Me (Lie! Lie!)”. It’s good, a pretty normal BP style song, but the coda is what I’m interested in. The song suddenly shifts gears, Rowland begins singing and you realise it’s the chorus from These Immortal Souls debut single five or so years later. RSH evidently liked it (and the title) enough to keep it with him all that time.

Crime and the City Solution

Another band like the Birthday Party, in which he plays a supporting role. The album, Room of Lights, is pretty good, in that typical post-punk-gothic-western style. I can’t say I’m a fan of Simon Bonney’s voice though (kind of like Ian Curtis, really straining for that baritone they just don’t have). They make an appearance in the film Wings of Desire, Rowland struts about the stage as they perform the excellent “Six Bells Chime”.

Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc (w/ Nikki Sudden)

A more acoustic affair, with a kind of London-folk-gypsy atmosphere to it. The songs are split pretty evenly. Highlights include the intense “Better Blood” (double tracked Rowland singing!), the moody “Wedding Hotel” (originally a non-album single), the absolutely hopeless sounding “A Quick Thing” and a sparse cover of “Don’t Explain”.

These Immortal Souls

Finally Rowland has his own band, and is writing all the songs! Unfortunately both albums are long out of print and are a bit expensive to track down, but it’s totally worth it. Get Lost (Don’t Lie!) is an all time favourite of mine. It begins with the catchy death march of “Marry Me (Lie! Lie!)”, and the quality never slips. The song “These Immortal Souls” (love it when a band has a self-titled song!) is an epic featuring some of the most pained and desperate singing ever (‘stranger hold my haaaaaaaaand!’); “Hide” has a beautiful slide guitar part; “One in Shadow, One in Sun” totally goes off into the stratosphere in its coda, lovely chord progression and great backing vocals.

I’m Never Gonna Die Again (great title) isn’t quite as good, with maybe some more average alt-rock sounding stuff; nonetheless it’s very good. Opener “King of Kalifornia” is catchy and has a good groove going, the door-wop stylings of “So the Story Goes” really hit home, and “All the Money’s Gone” makes me feel sad.

Shotgun Wedding (w/ Lydia Lunch)

Apparently this one may have partially led to These Immortal Souls demise. The story goes that it killed any momentum they’d built up as Rowland used all his songs for this one and then toured for it, meaning there was a five year gap between These Immortal Souls’ albums. That’s all in the past now, and leaves us with another fantastic album, so I’ll take that. On this one, Rowland uses his more spaghetti-western guitar stylings to create a sinister gothic-western soundtrack to Lydia Lunch’s lyrics. I’m not really a Lunch fan, but here she’s absolutely perfect. Not really any standouts, as all the songs fit together brilliantly; keywords are eerie, sinister, and catchy.

A Quoi Je Sers…

Found this jacket on ASOS, for a fraction of its original price; here, I steal from Syd Barrett, Marty Willson-Piper and David Sylvian.

BUCK-TICK – Aku no Hana~Complete Works~

I recently splurged on the pricy limited 25th anniversary edition of Buck-Tick’s fifth album, Aku no Hana (1990). It comes in a fancy box (mine’s number 03026), including the original album remixed/remastered, an extra disc with B-sides, a DVD/bluray of the promo videos, the album on vinyl, plus some stickers and photo prints. When I first came across this, I was a bit tempted but also hesitant; I do think it is a fantastic album, definitely Buck-Tick’s best, but spending $140+ on it seemed rather unnecessary. What swayed me was the inclusion of the LP – the album was never released on vinyl (apparently Japan doesn’t care for vinyl much), and an album cover like this deserves the medium (the band looks wonderful in their gothic attire, posing in a place that reminds me of MC Escher, or David Bowie’s Labyrinth. I also love that in one of the photos, Atsushi is fingering a Cmaj7 chord on the accordion). Apparently the band has never been happy with the album’s mix, so they saw this as an opportunity to get it ‘right’. I can definitely see where they’re coming from, the original mix isn’t perfect; it sounds a little bit muffled and distant, with Atsushi’s vocals blending into the music, rather than standing out from it. For me however, I happened to like it that way, I saw it as part of its charm (though this could be a case of me being used to it, as I’ve only heard it this way for the last five years). I can’t say that I agree with the way it’s been remixed. Here’s the main differences I noticed: the vocals are up front and centre, more prominent guitar effects have been added in certain spots, and the opener ‘National Media Boys’ sounds quite a bit closer to heavy metal (or maybe my mind is playing tricks on me, who knows). But really, nothing will sound ‘wrong’ or out of place to anyone who hasn’t heard how it originally sounded, and I still can listen to the original mix whenever I want, so I guess it’s a bit of a moot point. As for the music itself, it’s the band’s first foray into goth after their previous new-wave-quirky-guitar-pop releases, but it’s not exactly ‘serious’ gothic music. I’d say it’s closer to Bauhaus/Love and Rockets, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, plus an excellent sense of pop music than, say, Joy Division, the Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, or someone like that. You could say it’s a little bit kitsch, but it’s done in an endearing and professional manner. Highlights include the title track (catchy!), ‘Dizzy Moon’ (flailing lead guitar, as wild and spinning as the title suggests), ‘Sabbat’ (eerie), ‘Pleasure Land’ (begins with an anthemic, pompous guitar riff, but the vocals make it sound totally melancholy). If I had to nitpick, I’d say the album could do with one classic guitar pop song, like the ones that filled their previous albums, but that’s neither here nor there. I like that the band filmed a promo video for every song (like Sonic Youth did for Goo). IT’s always cool to ‘see’ an album in addition to hearing it. The photo prints are very nice (I might frame them), and the stickers will forever remain unused. In summation, I’d say it’s a worthwhile purchase for those that love the album; it’s probably not worth the money, but that’s always the case when dealing with CDJapan, plus it’s really limited and will make people happy. Isn’t that what matters most?