Trexasle's Tantilizing Items of Curio

[Trexasle]

Fancy Title aside.

This thread will probably be where I post a majority of my reviews of albums. Usually, I will try to touch on those weird albums from a band's well known discography...Mostly I am a man who loves a tall tale behind the music, and sharing that around with my opinion on the music in question of course will I think be a fun exercise.

Starting off, I think I will go back to 1984 to follow up with a topic I covered previously in another thread.

[Trexasle]

This is a continuation of a previous post I made in another thread about the History of Alcatrazz

Getting Flex’Able

Alcatrazz seemed to have done the impossible at first and that was to temper the creative juices of Yngwie Malmsteen. That was at least for a little while, during this time Yngwie would record a sideproject away from Alcatrazz, mostly instrumentals but he did manage to grab a vocalist for a few songs.

But we’ll get back to that.

Unfortunately, things with Alcatrazz were slowly starting to fall apart, not exclusively because of either party but because of where they were on their world tour

Japan.

Japanese fans have a tendency to love the more technical side of guitar playing and rock, and Yngwie sadly fit that bill. Combine their reaction to the man to the ego you know he has and what you get is the Showoffy guitar wanker that we unfortunately know today. This as you may have guessed lead to a bit of a breaking point within the Alcatrazz lineup. Graham having enough of Yngwie’s shit one day unplugged his cable to the guitar one day LIVE ON STAGE and told Yngwie to calm his prissy ass down. Yngwie responded by socking Graham in the face, leaving the stage that instant and leaving alcatrazz behind. With little to no time left Graham Bonnet and Jimmy Waldo now had to find a new guitarist for his band, and well, against all odds and all sense of rock logic, dude struck gold TWICE. The Greatest Showman needs a bard to pair up with after all.

This bard had just finished with his time working with Frank Zappa as his main guitarist and music writer, the kid clearly knew his stuff. He was a bit kooky however, being a Zappa guy this shouldn’t be surprising. However, unlike Yngwie he was a lot more mellow and reflective, more focused on creating beautiful landscapes with his guitar WHILST ALSO Rocking out and creating a balance for the rest of his band. This Guitarist also happens to be my favorite guitarist on this planet.

That man is Steve Vai.

Steve didn’t have the smoothest job on file. Originally, Graham wanted to get Yngwie back, just Jimmy Waldo was up to here with Yngwie’s shit and decided to hire Steve Without him. Graham however, acquiesced temporarily until the Tour was done. However, that Temporary replacement became permanent one He along with the rest of Japan saw Steve Perform and how well he matched with the band. With that Japanese Tour done Alcatrazz began to work hurried on the subject for today Disturbing the Peace. Unlike the period where Graham was essentially babysitting a young and immature Yngwie, The opposite occurred with Vai. Vai being much more experienced in touring and Music was actually the best pairing for Graham, as while Grahan can sing and write lyrics, he was sort of weak as a songwriter, something that Vai was ALL but willing to help his bandmate with.

And this is where Disturbing the Peace has the one up against No Parole for Rock and Roll.

Band camaraderie.

Because of Vai’s willingness to actually LET his godlike vocal partner do his things…The production actually increases tenfold in the direction it Should. This is showcased almost immediately with The Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Standout: “God Blessed Video.” Bonnet’s Vocals absolutely soars whilst Vai is a bit more restrained with his guitar playing, even in his solos.

That isn’t to say Steve Vai doesn’t get his chance to shine in certain songs. His Solo in “Mercy” absolutely crushes but everyone get’s their day in the son. Whether it’s Former Alice Cooper Drummer Jan Uvena absolutely smashing the Drums on the Aforementioned song. The sensual and calming basswork of Gary Shea on “Will You Be Home Tonight.” (along with Jimmy Waldo’s writing and keyboard work.) Usually I am not exactly with the Ballady Stuff in 80’s Metal, However when it is done like with the Above song, or even songs like Desert Diamond, It absolutely awesome.

Especially with Graham singing it all.

However, there is no better Standout in my opinion than “Stripper” the oddest combination of the Harder heavy metal sounds and Graham’s love for more romantic songs. The end result is a Fairly fast…grimy ass song about the women of the night. It’s a weird Dichotomy but it all works overall helps again with Steve Vai and Graham being 100% with each other on the direction of it all.

Overall THIS is what a sophomore album should be at the onset, from the growth of a band to its ultimate cooperation. Even with Graham’s original hesitation on Steve Vai, they slowly became fast friends due to Steve’s cooperation and willingness to actually be APART of the band, with the album being a modest success as well…it seems that Everything was finally looking up for Alcatrazz…

Sadly…Steve Vai answered his phone and David Lee Roth was on the other end.

[Repo]

[Trexasle]

[Trexasle]

Neon Nights: Japanese Music of the 80’s


- Preamble -

Along with City Pop and it’s multiple variants, Jazz Fusion took off in a MAJOR way in the mid 80’s. Originally more closer to Traditional Jazz Fusion alot of the Japanese bands began to mix in the trends of the day into their music. A Bit of Fun here, and alot of the asthetics of their fellow city pop acts, and they managed to create their own unique for of the genre. One I may argue is probably the most Influential style of music…very few except internet geeks and gamers have ever heard of (The latter without even realizing it.). Today I will be covering one that I believe is probably the most influential of them all and the album I argued…Opened the floodgates for alot of fans for not only Japan, but for other composers as well.

Now known as T-Square, The Square just releasing The Out of the Water album, the first where they mixed their Fusion sensibilities with the more poppier sounds of City Pop. Fitting as the band who had a heap of in and out band members (Even at this time) was finally starting to get a sense of stability after decreasing to a five piece. A blessing in disguised because regardless of how well their prior albums are…there more disco influenced fusion sound was…a bit on the generic side, not terrible by any means but clearly wasn’t…THEM.

However, as the band shrunk, and more collaboration came into the fold we began to see a more focused band who can vary their sound by so many degrees their music becomes a literal grabbag, This was Teased with the Prior album, but reaches full bloom with the ACTUAL album that is the topic today.

Adventures

With a more focused direction in terms of writing and song subject one would not think that they capitalized on this with what was essentially a concept album. Highlighting well..an Adventure and journey of their sound, and it is absolutely perfect for that as the album slowly showcases not only the evolution of the band, but the direction of Japanese composition going forward…but not in the way you think.

I’m going to select a few songs from this cut (As reviewing a concept album track by track, let’s face it…can kind of get dull.) and see if you might…hear something. I will be posting The Watch code for all of the mentioned songs accordingly (At least until I can start hyperlinking.)

Let’s start with my favorite from this album

Night Dreamer

Studying the history of this album, I discovered that while this song being keyboard driven Via Hirotaka Izumi, was originally supposed to have it’s melody supplied by…overall EWI and Saxophonist GOD Takeshi Ito Who was actually running late for the studio when the song was set to be recorded. When the melody was played on the keys as he arrived, Ito convinced the band it was best for the keyboardist to take control of this song.

And he was NOT wrong.


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A Sort of a callback to their disco/funk influenced days. The Piano melody doesn’t overpower rest of the instruments, making the drum and bass groove pop instead of fighting AGAINST Ito’s usually overpowering Saxophone work. The benefit is a song I actually randomly dance to whilst in the shower (DON’T JUST ME.) with one of the catchiest melodies and bridges in jazz. Not to say that Ito doesn’t get his just desserts on this song, his Saxophone solo absolutely slays, along with the more Relaxed Masahiro Andoh guitar rhythm underneath. You get the grooviest song on the album that doesn’t go all the way down to complete overindulgence.

You get that…but you also get a sense of nostalgia.

I wonder why….

Probably nothing.


Let’s get to another notable song.

Rodan



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Okay, Now This song is just adrenaline into your veins, Something you can go on a track and race to, maybe a track that is futuristically placed with high speed vehicles of a…Zero Degree styling.


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No?

Just me?

Well then, back to my point, T-Square had another love and it was Motorsport, and this song…and another song on a Prior album I might cover later is the start of what believe is The Square slowly melding themselves into Autosport. Why do you ask? More on that later. But I think it’s time to talk about Masahiro Andoh and his impressive play on this song. He shows just enough restraint to never let the melody be lost, but still shows enough skill to make this song a memorable and hype cut on this track, and hints at the more rock direction the band will later go into.

That and my last song to speak of.

Travelers


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Now This so…

Wait….

This song.

It’s Just…

It’s JUST GUILE’S THEME!

THIS SONG IS FUCKING GUILE’S THEME.

No Seriously, hear it for yourself.


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Yeah…Remember when I said this?

The most Influential style of music…very few except internet geeks and gamers have ever heard of (The latter without even realizing it.)

- Now is where I get to my point. -

I wasn’t lying. This song is probably the highlight of the album because it shows the main goal of this series for me. Why does Travelers, a song from a band you never heard of with it’s EWI Tinged melodies and smooth, dramatic bass tone and groove, and probably the most crushing guitar tone in fusion history give you a sense of nostalgia even though this is PROBABLY your first time hearing it?

Because it’s technically not.

You’ve heard of The Square before…In almost every 90’s action or racing game that peeked it’s way through japan, because 9 times outta 10 your favorite Japanese Composer was probably listening to it whilst they were futzing around in their sweatbox of a gaming studio and ripped it RIGHT The fuck off. In this case, Yoko Shimamura, a great composer in her own right could not help but hide how much T-Square influenced her sound.

This is what I call Nostalgia via Simulacrum.

The act of feeling Nostalgia from a song or any piece of media, due to the influence of the things influenced by it (The Simulacrum.)

This is the feeling you get when you suddenly bop your head to Plastic Love as if the song was a jam throughout your entire life.

This is the feeling when you listen to the car selection in Gran Turismo and just chill out at the booming tones. Intentional as the composer for that game Masahiro Andoh was the GUITARIST FOR THIS BAND.

The rise of the internet have made it so that songs we’ve never heard of, are now being linked to songs we’ve been hearing in Video Games and Anime our entire lives and now we’re swooning over it.

The Benefit is that these treasure troves of 80’s Japanese Music Not just City Pop is not a treasure trove of these, and it’s not like this acclaim was unknown to the japanese audience, This album was #8 on the Omnicron charts, an INSANE Achievement for a Jazz album at the time. This wasn’t just a otaku or a geek things…these acts were touchstone bands of their genre, and hopefully with this series, I can showcase why.

[Trexasle]

Neon Nights II: Journey Into Dreams

Preamble

Now, believe it or not when it comes to the City Pop side of Japanese Music, I ain’t exactly THAT well versed. Yeah, my grandfather’s Jazz background meant I got in on the ground floor with a lot of Jazz and Fusion (I.E. Why I am a major Yuji Ohno Nut.) However, it never crossed over until just recently. So another thing I want to do on this Japanese Expedition is discover an act I didn’t know about. In This case, it just so happened the one I knew about the least is also the most successful.

Dreams Come True, was formed in 1988 Well into the later half of City Pop. Now usually a band that comes in this late while well-polished tend to fall into competition with other bands in terms of ears from the audience and get drowned out. However, they buck this trend, with their first album selling almost a million out of the gate. Singer Miwa Yoshida and Bassist Masato Nakamura…

Wait…That name sound familiar.

…

Anyway.

Both Yoshida and Nakamura would essentially slowly work their way up to the echelons of late 80’s early 90’s City Pop. Culminating into what was their most successful album of that Era—The Swinging Star.

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After a Snappy Jazz intro The Swinging Star to introduce us to the proceedings we start off hot with what can best be translated to The Fireworks of That Summer An amazing tune with a soulful approach. The First thing to talk about is Miwa Yoshida’s voice. Simply Put damn good vocal performance throughout this entire album let alone thing song. Her delivery lets the more RnB passages of this song breathe a bit without it going into pure quotation like more…subpar city pop acts tend to do. Nakamura’s basswork also does well to put the more soul and jazzier parts into focus.

Megane Goshi no Sora slows things down a bit and gives us a more downpaced soulful tune. Again Miwa’s Vocals is the star of the show. A Small complain I have and it’s nothing that can’t be helped is that, a lot of City Pop acts mix in Romaji and some English in their music, possibly as a way to call back to influence or to be more internationally pleasing and understandable. Dreams come True sings almost exclusively Japanese. Not an issue (Especially for me who tend to listen to INSTRUMENTAL Bands.) But the issue becomes that It’s hard for me to write about the concept of a song, and can only go on sound and vibes. Luckily this song has both in spades, you want a good song to sit and relax with your significant other this track is absolutely perfect, especially with by the ending of the song itself.

Hide and Seek is probably my favorite track on the album, A Perfect blend of the early funk and soul that City Pop managed to mix while still keeping a polished and simple poppy feel. This is where I have to give props to principal songwriter and Bassist Masato Nakamura. He knows exactly the best way to make a good pop song without making it saccharine and giving it enough bite to be able to grip onto it without it being diabetes-inducing.

And Then there is The Penultimate Track on this Album. “Sweet Sweet Swe-“

Waitaminute.

Is this the ending theme to Sonic 2?


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Holy shit it is…

Yep…Masato Nakamura was the principal composer of Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. Listening back on this album (and this track for that matter.) It should honestly come as no surprise, the bass driven rhythm, excellent taste in lead chords and structure, it all sort of checks. He doesn’t really attempt to hide the fact that he’s just playing compositions of his Dreams Come True songs in Chiptunes. (Nor would the composers that REPLACED him in sonic 3 either…) While the song itself is good…Listening to the entire album It’s not actually my favorite…a good trip of nostalgia, but not exactly something that pumps me up like the rest of the album.

And what a damn good album it is. While it’s Far from my favorite City Pop, I can see the appeal that it has to others who adore this genre.

Now…next up?

Easily the most influential Japanese band not only in just their genre but in forms of entertainment in general.

I’ll give you a hint.

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[Trexasle]

Neon Nights III: Race to the Finish

WHEW On our third stop on this Japanese Train we actually take a personal look. I’m not going to mince words here. Everyone has their favorite Japanese Fusion or City Pop Artist. Some have their Dream Come True, Some are more standard like Mariya Takuechi, Tatsura Yamashita, Or even the Titanic Though Inconsistent Omega Tribe and their multiple Incarnation. However, my personal belle of the ball is probably the quintessential Japanese Jazz Fusion act. Four Tokyo born music geeks, Introducing.

Casiopea

From their progressive but straight laced 70’s stylings to their 80’s bouncy heyday, Casiopea in VARIOUS Incarnations have been dominating Japanese Jazz Fusion for 50+ Years. So with that in mind, I’ve actually had a hard time deciding on exactly which album I wanted to review. However, I believe with me wanting to tie this with my thoughts on how Japanese Music has sort of snuck it’s way into our collective conscious via Video Games and Anime…I decided if I was gonna start…I am going to start with their first Album. The 1979 Self titled Album.

And We’ll start with this album cover.

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Funfact: Japan and their Jazz Fusion is VERY Popular with the autosports crowd in that area, and we have albums like this to thank. You’ll find out more when the time comes, but safe to say when it comes to influence it wasn’t just Interactive Media in which Japanese Jazz Fusion got it’s play. Fitting that an album clearly about Auto racing as a concept start with the song

Time Limit.


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This is a Freeform Jazz section, but Christ does it already show the skill of…well…everyone Specifically Tetsuro Sakurai’s Bass Grove. It’s Goddamn godly here, One of the things you’re going to find out about this band and immediately is that everyone get’s a chance to show off their skill, From the first sections Keyboard and Guitar solo section, To the insane Drumwork of Takashi Sakaki everyone get their work, but Imma send props to the American Horn players The Brecker Brothers of Randy and Michael Brecker, and David Sanborn, Who turn this Freeform session intro a work of Art.

Luckily we get some actual songwriting next with Tears of the Star, and we get something to slow the pace down and show off Issei Noro’s amazing taste in playing sounds with more of a Spanish and mexican influences. The benefit is a smooth and relaxing song that shows that the Noro (At the time main songwriter and Guitarist.) Isn’t here to wax on his guitar wankery but give you a sound tapestry that you can enjoy along with being amazed by the talent of it.


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Midnight Rendevous is the next track I wanna highlight as it is PROBABLY the most known song from this album, but not necessarily from this album. You see if you are familiar with Casiopea, it’s probably not from this album but instead of the Live Album Classic Mint Jams

where that song is damned there a feature. However, I personally prefer the official over the live album version for ONE thing: Original Casiopea drummer Takashi Sasaki. Whilst Akira Jimbo is a damned good drummer in his own right Takashi being a more technical drummer has a miles better drum Solo here.


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While Casiopea after getting Akira will have more influences coming from City Pop, Early Casiopea is much closer to the funk and rock affectation. Something that this and the Next Song Represents Greatly.

Swallow is my favorite track on this album.


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This one song is what you have to thank for the soundtracks of Mario Kart and Gran Turismo.


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The Bouncy funk based jazzy grooves, psychotic drum work, amazing groovy melodies, it is all sourced from here. Especially the piano solo Which is damned there the origin of Mario’s Starman theme. Which is where we come to what I believe is the real superhero of this band. Minoru Mukaiya is probably the best keyboardist to ever jump out of Japan’s Jazz Fusion scene, and can make a good argument on being top 10 period of all time. Dude sound and tune on that damn Yamaha stand tall against even some of the greats. However, everyone brings it here, Tetsuro’s Basswork and groove is perfect, Issei get’s a bitching guitar solo, and Takashi get’s another damn good drum solo before the main melody of the song begins again.

Now usually a final track on a jazz album is more introspective and downtuned.

Nah…

Not this one.

This is Black Joke.


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Possibly the craziest The current lineup ever got in terms of just insane melody combined with songwriting ability. This is my preferred way to end what is mostly a pure Jazz Fusion album. Later Casiopea would mix in more city pop and electric elements into their sounds, but the combined efforts of everyone here is a more by-the-numbers but overall excellent Jazz Fusion album. Issei Noro (Who wrote all of these songs.) Deserves credit for that alone.

This was actually quite a long one, and I think my trip is done….

But I wanna make one more stop.

But instead…

I want something more…Anthemic…

Louder…

Faster…

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Stay Tuned.