Japan Quiet Life

The last album with Rob Dean, Gentlemen Take Polaroids was also unquestionably the album in which Japan truly found its own unique voice and aesthetic approach. The glam influences still hung heavy, particularly from Roxy Music, but now the band found itself starting to affect others in turn…

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...

Japan (David Sylvian) - Oil On Canvas (1983) {2006 Virgin Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 454 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 172 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 138 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2003, 2006 Virgin Records | 0946 3 63053 2 5
Rock / New Wave / New Romantic / Alternative

The final Japan release was sold and marketed as a live album, though actually it's a bit of a catchall – it is indeed mostly from concerts, but also includes a variety of studio instrumentals and a re-recorded version of "Nightporter" mixed in to sound like it's part of the show. The various re-releases of the albums over the years confused matters further, with re-sequencings, the excision of cuts, and more adding to general confusion about the release (not to mention the fact that some reissues completely omitted where the shows were recorded anyway!).

The last album with Rob Dean, Gentlemen Take Polaroids was also unquestionably the album in which Japan truly found its own unique voice and aesthetic approach. The glam influences still hung heavy, particularly from Roxy Music, but now the band found itself starting to affect others in turn. Even the back cover photo says as much – looking cool in glossy, elegant nightwear, the quintet had a clear impact on Duran Duran, to the point where Nick Rhodes obviously was trying to be Sylvian in appearance. Musically, meanwhile, the swooning, hyper elegant Euro-disco sheen of Quiet Life was polished to an even finer edge throughout, the title track and the obvious descendant of "Quiet Life" itself, "Methods of Dance," in particular sheer standouts. Sylvian's sighing, luscious croon is in full effect on both, and the arrangements are astonishing, Karn's fretless purring between Jansen's crisp, inventive, and varied drumming, Barbieri's icy keyboards filling out the corners. What makes Gentlemen Take Polaroids even more of a success is how the group, having reached such a polished peak, kept driving behind it, transforming their exquisite pop into something even more artistic and unique.

Japan (David Sylvian) - Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) {2006 Virgin Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 356 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 141 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 144 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2003, 2006 Virgin Records | 0946 3 63057 2 1
Rock / New Wave / New Romantic / Alternative

The last album with Rob Dean, Gentlemen Take Polaroids was also unquestionably the album in which Japan truly found its own unique voice and aesthetic approach. The glam influences still hung heavy, particularly from Roxy Music, but now the band found itself starting to affect others in turn. Even the back cover photo says as much – looking cool in glossy, elegant nightwear, the quintet had a clear impact on Duran Duran, to the point where Nick Rhodes obviously was trying to be Sylvian in appearance.

The 1981 compilation Assemblage gives a skewed, incomplete picture of Japan's early career; this is not necessarily a bad thing, as Japan's early career frankly wasn't very good, and it certainly had little to do with the mature, studied art-pop of their later albums…

Oil on Canvas is a live album by the British band Japan, released in 1983 by Virgin Records. Although it is a live recording of their established material, the album also contains three new studio tracks...

Japan - Adolescent Sex (1977)
Genre-Rock | 1CD | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps | 106.16 Mb

Most people will land on this album by way of researching David Sylvian, Japan, et al. If you are interested in that vein, this is probably not your wisest first shot. If however, you have a craving for long-neglected, trashy, mascara-drippin' rock (guitars that cross Sly Stone with Sticky Fingers-era Stones, sneering heroin vocals, androgyny and alienation) you won't find a better album. This is L.A. gutter rock at its finest.