Japan’s “Quiet Life (Deluxe Edition)” is an awesome collection of music, remixes and live music. Highly recommended!
Click here to purchase Japan – Quiet Life (Deluxe Edition) on Amazon
BAND: Japan
ALBUM: Quiet Life (Deluxe Edition)
DURATION: 42 Songs (3 Hours, 21 Minutes)
ORIGINAL ALBUM RELEASE DATE: November 17, 1979 / 2020 for Deluxe Edition
CD1 – QUIET LIFE
- Quiet Life (2020 Remaster)
- Fall In Love With Me (2020 Remaster)
- Despair (2020 Remaster)
- In Vogue (2020 Remaster)
- Halloween (2020 Remaster)
- All Tomorrows Parties (2020 Remaster)
- Alien (2020 Remaster)
- The Other Side of Life (2020 Remaster)
CD2 – A QUIETER LIFE: ALTERNATIVE MIXES & RARITIES
1. European Son (Steve Nye 7” Remix 1982)*
2. Life In Tokyo (Steve Nye 7” Special Remix 1982)
3. Quiet Life (Original German 7” Mix 1980)*
4. I Second That Emotion (Steve Nye 7” Remix 1982)*
5. All Tomorrow’s Parties (Steve Nye 7” Remix Version 1983)
6. European Son (John Punter 12” Mix 1980)
7. Life In Tokyo (Steve Nye 12” Special Remix Version 1982)
8. I Second That Emotion (Steve Nye 12” Remix Version 1982)
9. All Tomorrow’s Parties (Steve Nye 12” Remix Version 1983)
10. European Son (Steve Nye 12” Remix Version 1982)
11. Quiet Life (Japanese 7” Mix 1980)* [18/01/21]
12. A Foreign Place
13. All Tomorrow’s Parties (John Punter 7” Mix 1979)
14. Life In Tokyo (Theme Giorgio Moroder Version 1979)*
Live In Japan
15. Deviation (Live In Japan)
16. Obscure Alternatives (Live In Japan)
17. In Vogue (Live In Japan)
18. Sometimes I Feel So Low (Live In Japan)
CD3 – LIVE AT THE BUDOKAN 27/03/1980
- Intro*
- Alien*
- …Rhodesia*
- Quiet Life*
- Fall In Love With Me*
- Deviation*
- All Tomorrow’s Parties*
- Obscure Alternatives*
- In Vogue*
- Life In Tokyo*
- Halloween*
- Sometimes I Feel So Low*
- Communist China*
- Adolescent Sex*
- I Second That Emotion*
- Automatic Gun*
*Unreleased
Back in 1974, the new wave band from Catford, South London known as “Japan” was formed.
Consisting of vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist David Sylvian, drummer Steve Jansen, bass guitarist Mick Karn, followed by Richard Barbieri (keyboard) and Rob Dean (lead guitarist).
Brothers Sylvian and Jansen (their real life last names were Blatt) and Karn began singing as a band at Karn’s brother’s wedding back in the early ’70s. In fact, at the time, Karn was the lead vocalist until Sylvian took over for the lead vocalist role in ’74.
Needing a band name, the band chose the name “Japan” (after finding a holiday brochure to Japan in a double-decker bus), which was supposed to be a temporary name. When the band won a label-sponsored talent contet, the band signed a recording contract with German disco label Hansa-Ariola in 1977.
Inspired by the glam rock look of the ’70s which David Bowie, Lou Reed, T.Rex, Roxy Music and New York Dolls were sporting, the band would adopt the look, despite their music was more guitar-based funk music.
The band released their first single “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and would follow with their debut album in 1978 with “Adolescent Sex”. Unfortunately for the band, the musical tastes in the UK started to go more punk and new wave and their music was deemed uncool to music listeners. While the band didn’t gain popularity in the UK, they were extremely popular in Japan and built a fan following.
The band would release more singles and their second album “Obscure Alternatives” but the album failed to gain any traction in the UK, while doing slightly better in the US. But again, did very well in Japan and also in the Netherlands.
So, popular in Japan, they sold out all 11,000 seats at Budokan Theatre for three days in a row.
Knowing that they had to do something different with their music, they worked with the popular Euro disco producer, Giorgio Moroder and they would release “Life in Tokyo” which set the stage for a new musical direction for the the band.
The band would collaborate with John Punter (producer for Roxy Music) and by becoming less glam rock and more electronic synth pop, the band released “Quiet Life” in November 1979 and became the first album by the band to chart. And was later certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (with sales over 100,000 copies) and would become the last album for the Hansa-Ariola label.
But the band would later switch to Virgin Music and while their music became more popular afterward, personal and creative tensions between the label and also within the band members started to rear its ugly head. The final straw was when bassist Mick Karn’s girlfriend, photographer Yuka Fujii moving in with David Sylvian would lead to the band’s demise.
Letting these tensions simmer over the years and Sylvain embarking on a solo career, Jansen working with Richard Barbieri created the musical unit, the Dolphin Brothers, while Mick Karn released his own solo album (and would later find success in a musical collaboration known as Nina back in 1999 with Karn, The B-52’s Kate Pierson, Judy and Mary’s YUKI, the Plastics musicians Shima Takemi, Sakuma Masahide) and Steven Wolf).
But the original band members of Japan were able to reunited under a different name, Rain Tree Crow, in 1989 and a self-titled album in 1991, but creative tensions from the band’s past never disappeared and while they were able to release an album under the new band name, the band disbanded.
Needless to say, if one was to look back at Japan today, the band would be looked as one of the first New Wave or New Romantic bands, but the band didn’t embrace that classification. Which is fine, because during the British explosion, many British bands music were associated with the genre and didn’t like it.
But many do consider them part of the New Romantic music era alongside Ultravox, Visage, Soft Cell, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Human League and they were sporting the makeup before many bands started to.
In fact, famed photographer Yamaguchi Herbie blogged about his memories of Boy George and memories of he and friends singing karaoke to Japan and Sylvian’s music. The band inspired man young musicians, considering what Japan was doing earlier in their careers with the change of the musical scene in the mid-to-late ’70s, they may have not yet been a chart topping group but they were a band that knew they could have a follow for their music. It just wasn’t in the UK or the US, it was Japan during those years as the band was trying to find its way.
So, reviewing the Deluxe Edition of “Quiet Life”, while many music critics dismissed their music, especially their new musical direction, retrospective reviews would now look at the album as important, for its part in lighting the spark of the New Romantic music movement.
“Quiet Life” was am amazing song for its time. That move to a more synth pop sound worked perfectly and the melody and the vocals were just awesome.
But by listening to “Quiet Life”, you can’t help but hear that sound that would be adopted by many other bands a few years later.
You can hear it in their music throughout the album. In fact, if I had played this band to a person not familiar with Japan’s music but are familiar with ’80s music, songs like “Fall in Love”, “Halloween” and “Alien” could be mistaken as an early-to-mid ’80s Duran Duran song.
And just to think, this was Japan’s music from 1979. I emphasize “1979” because Sylvain would sing with a more baritone voice during this time, as his vocals were much different.
They did a cover of The Velvet Underground and Nico’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties” and it was a short album which fit just perfectly as it fit perfectly for vinyl and 8-track tape.
But fastforward to 2020, the album received a 2020 remaster and now you get 33 extra tracks.
After the band broke up, music producer Steven Nye would remix many of Japan’s songs. “All Tomorrow’s Parties” would receive a remix and reached no. 38 on the UK singles charts. But you also get the remix of “European Son”, which the original song was considered for the album but was dropped.
Many of the Steven Nye remixes would appear on this Deluxe Edition of “Quiet Life”, but you also get the Giorgio Moroder collaboration single “Life in Tokyo” which featured an electronic dance style.
You also get “A Foreign Place” which was the B-side to “All Tomorrow’s Parties”, you get the German and Japanese 7″ mixes of “Quiet Life” and also John Punter’s 7″ mix of “All Tomorrow’s Parties”.
And you get the Live in Japan EP featuring the songs “Deviation”, “Obscure Alternatives”, “In Vogue” and “Sometimes I Feel So Low” and you’ll love the girls loudly cheering for the band.
And while the EP was well-recorded, you get the “Live at Budokan” concert recorded on March 27, 1980.
The screaming from the Japanese audience, especially the young women, were going crazy for Japan. A testament of the band’s huge popularity in the country.
Now the recording for the “Live at Budokan” is not perfect and the quality is not as crystal clear as the “Live in Japan EP” but you can’t be picky, but just be happy that these recordings are released for the first time on an album.
Overall, Japan’s “Quiet Life” was a groundbreaking album for its time. It was unfortunate that the music media and it’s UK and USA listeners didn’t care for it or understand it. But as more and more retrospective reviews of “Quiet Life” are reanalyzed and are released, one can see this album and the band’s change of musical direction as being one of the catalyst of the New Romantic movement.
Japan’s “Quiet Life (Deluxe Edition)” is an awesome collection of music, remixes and live music. Highly recommended!
Click here to purchase Japan – Quiet Life (Deluxe Edition) on Amazon
