Japan: Original Album Classics 2011 (3 CD Box - Set) + Gentlemen Take Polarooids 1980 + Tin Drum 1981

Japan's evolution from rather humble glam rock beginnings into stylish synth pop (and beyond) made the British group one of the more intriguing and successful artists of their era.
                                                         

                                           

Formed in London in 1974, Japan began its existence as a quintet comprised of singer/songwriter David

Sylvian, bassist Mick Karn, keyboardist Richard Barbieri, drummer (and Sylvian's brother) Steve Jansen and guitarist Rob Dean. In their primary incarnation, the group emulated the sound and image of glam rockers like David Bowie and the New York Dolls; Sylvian's over-the-top vocals, much in the vein of Bryan Ferry, also earned Japan frequent (if derisive) comparisons to Roxy Music.
                                                 

After winning a label-sponsored talent contest, they were signed to Germany's Ariola-Hansa Records in

1977 and debuted a year later with a pair of LPs, Adolescent Sex and Obscure Alternatives, which received little notice at home or in the U.S. but did find favor among Japanese audiences. With 1979's Quiet Life, Japan made a tremendous leap into more sophisticated stylistic and subtle territory; a subsequent hit single covering Smokey Robinson's "I Second That Emotion" further underscored the newfound soulfulness of their music.
                                            

After three albums with Ariola-Hansa, they switched to Virgin Records in 1980 and found their fortunes dramatically improving thanks to the surge of popularity in the New Romantic movement.

Japan's androgynous image made them suddenly fashionable and they registered several UK Top 20 singles. Their albums Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) and Tin Drum (1981) were also well received. Rob Dean left the band after Gentlemen Take Polaroids but continued working with the band for one more tour thereafter. 1980s Gentlemen Take Polaroids continued to broaden Japan's scope, incorporating a variety of exotic influences into their increasingly atmospheric sound.
                                                           

With 1981's Tin Drum (recorded minus Dean), the band peaked: tapping sources as diverse as funk and

Middle Eastern rhythms, the album moved beyond pop confines into experimental tones and textures, and scored a U.K. smash with the single "Ghosts."
                    

However, Tin Drum also proved to be Japan's swan song: long-simmering differences among the

bandmembers came to a head when Karn's girlfriend moved in with Sylvian, and the group disbanded in 1982. Disagreements between Karn and Sylvian undermined the band's progress just as they were achieving some long-overdue success, and they split in late 1982. The members diversified into collaborative work and solo careers, reuniting (minus Dean) in 1991 for a project under the moniker of Rain Tree Crow.  
                                                 

The individual members quickly forged ahead with their projects: Sylvian began a successful solo career and also entered into a series of collaborations with performers like Ryuichi Sakamoto,

Holger Czukay and Robert Fripp, while Karn issued a 1982 solo LP, Titles, before founding the short-lived duo Dali's Car with Bauhaus' Peter Murphy. In 1986, meanwhile, Jansen and Barbieri issued Worlds in a Small Room under their own names before recording together as the Dolphin Brothers.
                                                      

In 1987, Karn released Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters, a solo LP which featured contributions

from Sylvian and Jansen, spurring rumors of a reunion which came to fruition in 1989 when the four principal members re-teamed under the name Rain Tree Crow.
                                          

By the time an eponymously-titled album appeared in 1991, however, relations had again dissolved in

acrimony, and the musicians went their separate ways; while Sylvian continued working independently, as the decade wore on Karn, Jansen and Barbieri occasionally reunited in various projects while also maintaining solo careers.                                                                                                 

JAPAN - ORIGINAL ALBUM CLASSICS  2011
Label:    Sony Music – 88697859512, Legacy – 88697 85951 2, Ariola Hansa – 88697859512
Series:    Original Album Classics
Format:    Box Set, Compilation
CD, Album, Reissue
CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered
CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country: UK & Europe
Released: Mar 28, 2011
Genre: Electronic, Rock

Style: New Wave, Synth-pop, Glam, Art Rock

JAPAN - OBSCURE ALTERNATIVES 1978
 

01. Automatic Gun     4:06
02.  . . . . Rhodesia     6:50
03. Love Is Infectious     4:12
04. Sometimes I Feel So Low     3:45
05. Obscure Alternatives     6:50
06. Deviation     3:25
07. Suburban Berlin     5:00
08. The Tenant     7:16

Bonus Tracks

09. Deviation (Live In Tokyo)
10. Obscure Alternatives  (Live In Tokyo)
11. In Vogue  (Live In Tokyo)
12. Sometimes I Feel So Low  (Live In Tokyo)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 143 MB
Flac  Size: 385 MB

JAPAN - ADOLESCENT SEX 1978

     

01. Transmission     4:46
02. The Unconventional     3:02
03. Wish You Were Black     4:48
04. Performance     4:36
05. Lovers On Main Street     4:07
06. Don't Rain On My Parade     2:53
07. Suburban Love     7:25
08. Adolescent Sex     3:42
09. Communist China     2:42
10. Television     9:12

MP3 @ 320 Size: 112 MB
Flac  Size: 324 MB

JAPAN - QUIET LIFE 1979

  

01. Quiet Life     4:52
02. Fall In Love With Me     4:37
03. Despair     6:01
04. In-Vogue     6:36
05. Halloween     4:26
06. All Tomorrows Parties     5:43
07. Alien     5:07
08. The Other Side Of Life     7:29

Bonus Tracks

09. All Tomorrow's Parties (12' Version 1983 Remix) 5:17
10. All Tomorrow's Parties (7' Version) 3:35
11. A Foreign Place 3:12
12. Quiet Life (7 Version) 3:51

MP3 @ 320 Size: 141 MB
Flac  Size: 364 MB

JAPAN - GENTLEMEN TAKE POLAROIDS 1980

      

01. Gentlemen Take Polaroids     7:06
02. Swing     6:25
03. Burning Bridges     5:20
04. My New Career     3:54
05. Methods Of Dance     6:53
06. Ain't That Peculiar     4:40
07. Nightporter     6:57
08. Taking Islands In Africa     5:15

2003 CD reissue bonus tracks

09. The Experience of Swimming        4:04
10. The Width of a Room        3:14
11. Taking Islands in Africa          4:53

MP3 @ 320 Size: 140 MB
Flac  Size: 345 MB

JAPAN - TIN DRUM 1981

 

01. The Art Of Parties     4:09
02. Talking Drum     3:34
03. Ghosts     4:33
04. Canton     5:30
05. Still Life In Mobile Homes     5:32
06. Visions Of China     3:37
07. Sons Of Pioneers     7:07
08. Cantonese Boy     3:44

MP3 @ 320 Size: 92 MB
Flac  Size: 229 MB

Japan - Oil On Canvas On Urban Aspirines HERE