Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Japan
Label: EMI Records
Release: 2006
Rating: 3.5/5
“The Very Best Of” is yet another solid compilation of the best work by the cult band Japan, and the first to put the band’s output from their early label Hansa and from their Virgin Records days side by side. What we’ve got here is a retrospective of the endlessly fascinating musical journey of one of the strangest, most sophisticated and most original bands of the late 70s and early 80s. Formed in London in 1974, Japan started out as a five-piece made up of singer/lyricist David Sylvian, bassist Mick Karn, keyboardist Richard Barbieri, drummer (and Sylvian’s brother) Steve Jansen, and guitarist Rob Dean. In their original incarnation they went for the sound and image of glam rockers like David Bowie or the New York Dolls. Sylvian’s oddly melancholic yet pompous vocals, which sounded a lot like Bryan Ferry, earned Japan frequent (though not always fair) comparisons to Roxy Music. Japan’s evolution from fairly obscure glam rock beginnings to a stylistic shift into synthetic pop attraction, which thanks to all the experimenting often bordered on art rock, made them one of the most interesting and successful bands of their time. Their bad luck was that commercial success came pretty late, which also went a long way toward their premature demise.
This collection, whose title reflects the staggering lack of imagination of the folks at Virgin Records, offers 15 of their more or less famous tracks (their biggest hit “Ghosts” shows up twice, in two different versions). It has all the band’s key singles like “Ghosts”, “The Art of Parties”, “Visions of China”, “Cantonese Boy”, as well as the fan favorites “Gentlemen Take Polaroids” and “Methods of Dance”. Most of it is superb avant-pop that owes a lot to the likes of Roxy Music, Brian Eno, David Bowie and Yellow Magic Orchestra. The compilation also includes some of the band’s more adventurous pieces, like the excellent ambient instrumental “Canton” (which gives a good glimpse of Sylvian’s later musical career in world music and instrumental music) and other more experimental works like “Nightporter” and “Taking Islands in Africa”. Just like “Ghosts”, “Nightporter” has all the band’s trademarks, such as Sylvian’s melancholically pompous vocals draped over subtle piano. “Taking Islands in Africa”, meanwhile, is a slice of electronic pop featuring Sylvian’s longtime collaborator Ryuichi Sakamoto. “Quiet Life” is a great pop tune, closely related to Roxy Music’s “Angel Eyes” and Bowie’s “Boy’s Keep Swinging”, while Sylvian’s collaboration with Giorgio Moroder on “Life in Tokyo” is yet another highly successful electronic experiment. “European Son” is a classic new wave piece that captures the musical spirit of the time pretty well and is slightly reminiscent of Ultravox. What I don’t see, though, is any real reason to include the Velvet Underground cover “All Tomorrow’s Parties” on the compilation. In its place they could have picked something from the band’s far more interesting material, like “The Other Side of Life”, “Fall In Love with Me”, “Adolescent Sex”, “Despair”, “Swing”, “Voices Raised in Welcome”, “Hands Held in Prayer”, and so on.
“The Very Best Of” has plenty of great music, but in the end, anyone who knows most of the band’s studio albums will realize it’s just one more in their admittedly rather rare run of compilations. This latest one does a decent job of presenting the first chapter of Sylvian’s brilliant musical career, but to cover his whole body of work you’d need at least one more disc. For getting to know this band that burned out far too soon, and that hardly anyone remembers today, though, the compilation is a pretty solid jumping-off point into their career, and it should leave plenty of listeners itching to explore the band through their studio albums too.
Line-up
David Sylvian – vocals
Rob Dean – guitar
Mick Karn – bass guitar
Richard Barbieri – keyboards
Steve Jansen – drums
Tracklist
1. Ghosts
2. I Second That Emotion
3. Quiet Life
4. Gentlemen Take Polaroids
5. Art Of Parties
6. Visions Of China
7. Taking Islands In Africa
8. European Son
9. Cantonese Boy
10. Life In Tokyo
11. Nightporter
12. Methods Of Dance
13. All Tomorrow’s Parties
14. Canton
15. Ghosts
