Search - Japan :: Oil on Canvas

Is it live or is it...

08/25/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"on account of those cheekbones, david sylvian was allegedly offered the job of being in the maxwell tape ads (you might remember if you're of a certain age, a guy on a couch being blown away by the speakers)...unfortunately no live album he's done comes close to the impact the image conveys. sylvian was a perfectionist not a performer, and if you ever caught japan live you couldn't help noticing how the other guys seemed to be having a blast while he seemed almost disdainful. The last tour in particular (from which this album was compiled) was a fairly harrowing episode during which the band essentially split. it's a pity you don't hear this tension in the album but take it for what it is, which is an almost greatest hits thing with a few instrumental nuggets thrown in. the title track ups sylvian's satie-fixation up one notch, voices raised..is a slice of ethno-percussion mixed with the chipmunks, and temple of dawn is what it sounds like, an eno composition by someone else. songwise, the one bum note is a refashioned "quiet life" which is given an excruciating, pimple-proud guitar solo. nightporter was apparently re-recorded in the studio and replaces some of the paris-at-dawn polish with synths, which generally reduces the grandeur of the song. otherwise the songs are carbon copies of the album tracks, with some extra reverb and sometimes backbeat thrown in. It would probably have made a better album if they'd left off the slower, instrumental numbers in favor of other live favorites at the time; in other words it would be nice to see Virgin raid the vaults for a full setlist sometime."

Great introduction to Japan

David Castenson | Reston, VA United States | 05/02/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Roxy Music and Bowie inspired many bands of the 80's (Duran Duran, The Cars, Flock of Seagulls, Bauhaus, OMD, Ultravox, Icehouse). A band overlooked in the United States was Japan. This album was my first introduction to Japan, so it is also my favorite. Very dark and moody, it is just the thing to listen to when feeling dark and moody. Although the sound quality of this live cd does not measure up to quality of their studio work, the outstanding quitar work by Masami Tsuchiya makes this cd worth owning. Tsuchiya haunting, and at times eery, quitar lifts the music to a level Japan never achieved in the studio."