Quiet Life

Quiet Life Artist: Japan
Label: Blue Plate Caroline
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 017046120326
EAN: 0017046120326
ASIN: B000000HQR


Release Date: 1994-02-04

Quiet Life


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Tracks:

  1. Quiet Life
  2. Fall In Love With Me
  3. Despair
  4. In Vogue
  5. Halloween
  6. All Tomorrow's Parties
  7. Alien
  8. The Other Side Of Life

Similar Items:

  1. Adolescent Sex
  2. Tin Drum
  3. Obscure Alternatives
  4. Gentlemen Take Polaroids
  5. Exorcising Ghosts

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Smooth New Romantic Synth Music.......2007-01-16

In 1980 at the height of the New Wave explosion Japan managed to secure themselves a unique foothold on the music scene. After the very interesting Metallic Reggae stylings of `Obscure Alternatives' they came out with this all ultra-smooth outing. With the beautifully played Synths of `Richard Barbieri' who acknowledged his Eno-influences and the fabulously assured & powerful bass playing of `Mick Carn', the music beyond what most bands were able to accomplish in this genre. With big nods to Roxy Music, Brian Eno & David Bowie and the distinctive vocal stylings of David Sylvian they garnered themselves a big following in the U.K. although aside from `Ghosts' from their following album they never really hit the charts in a big way. This album has a very unique sound and was pretty advanced for the time - 1980. It's fabulously well produced and starts off with the super bouncy `Quiet Life' track which has great synth playing accompanied by the catchiest chorus line on the album. After this though the mood pretty much mellows out and everything is either mid-tempo (In Vogue) or slow (All Tomorrow's Parties). However this played to their strengths in creating atmospheric soundscapes. All in all a very unique album and a good reason why some albums need to be listened to as a whole rather than distilled into some of the numerous greatest hits packages `Japan' has out there right now which lose the feeling their individual albums had. For fans of New Wave/New-Romantic or just good Electronic Music from the early 80's.

5 out of 5 stars Japan's best!.......2006-08-06

OK this is one of my top 10 or 20 albums of all time. The records rpeceding it were not that great abd also Tin Drum as not as satisfying. This was Japan reaching their maturity. They were the sophisticated synth band with a great singer and great bass player. Daid Sylvian's voice has reached a maturity on tracks as Alien or All tomorrow's parties that he would never equal later on in his solo career.

4 out of 5 stars An extraordinary leap forward........2005-08-19

"Quiet Life" was an emormous leap for Japan. Released less than two years after their debut and just fifteen months after their most recent album, it seems as if just about everything about the band changed in that window.

Gone were the overt guitars, the aggressive rock songs, and nearly all of the glam overtones in the music. David Sylvian's compositions became more atmospheric, relying heavily on synthesizers rather than the guitars that were so prevelent and taking advantage of Mick Karn's saxophone talents to add more variety to the music. Equally critical were the stylistic developments of both Sylvian's vocal and Karn's bass playing-- coming nearer to their final sound, Sylvian sung in a more comfortable tenor-- not quite the smoky depth he'd pursue in his solo career, but without that nasal/glam edge he'd been singing with, and Karn totally embraced the fretless bass, having developed into the organic and rubbery sound that he would use for the remainder of his career.

From the opener, this is clear--"Quiet Life" is synth driven, with a dance beat and glistening guitars providing a highlight. Rob Dean's guitar solo, when it arrives, it largely ebow driven, weaving in and out of the synthesizers. And while admittedly, there are songs that show the pedigree of the last album (the excellent "Fall in Love With Me"), largely its this new synth pop direction that dominates (moody "In Vogue", a superb cover of the Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties"), with an occasional nod towards Sylvian's minimalist instincts as a composer that are starting to manifest (moody ballad "Despair", closer "The Other Side of Life").

Interested parties should consider the remaster, which improves the somewhat muddy sound on this old LP transfer and includes several (admittedly largely unessential) bonus tracks, although it hasn't been released in the US and carries a large price tag as a result.

Regardless of sonic flaws, this is quite a good album, and clearly points the way to the future. Recommended.

5 out of 5 stars The Lush Life.......2005-01-08

I'm not sure whose idea it was, but David Sylvian's sustained homage to Bryan Ferry began here and is easily forgiven given the remarkable original material. And if you're going to cover the venerable Velvet Underground, you'd better make the song your own; that Sylvian and company did so as effectively as they did attests to their creative genius. Play the churning original and Japans's shimmering version back-to-back sometime and be wowed. THE QUIET LIFE was Japan's most atmospheric album to date (their third); Richard Barbieri's keyboard work everywhere lends an appropriately otherworldy ambience, but especially on the otherwise hard-edged 'Halloween'. Even the only track that bears much resemblance to ADOLESCENT SEX or OBSCURE ALTERNATIVES, 'Fall In Love With Me', has a remarkably detached feel to it thanks to the production of Simon Napier Bell and the band. You can practically sink into this music, and you might well do so if you're not careful.

5 out of 5 stars

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