User Pick of the Day (#1): Brilliant Trees by David Sylvian

[sp4cetiger]

Welcome all to the first User Pick of the Day. The chart selection process is ongoing, but I don't see any reason we couldn't start with what we already have. After randomly selecting a chart from the list of 16 that have already been confirmed, the first pick is:

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Brilliant Trees by David Sylvian

Chart: Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by SuzyQ
Year: 1984
Rank on BEA Overall: 1,990
Average Rating: 77/100
Summary Info: David Sylvian, formerly of the band Japan, released his first solo effort in 1984 with Brilliant Trees. The album was critically acclaimed and featured his biggest hit as a solo artist, "Red Guitar." The album is often classified as new wave or art rock.

Details on the implementation and chart selection process of "User Pick of the Day" can be found here and here, respectively.

[antiloopje]

I like the short summary!

Never heard the album though, so I'll first listen to it before commenting on that.

[drakonium]

SuzyQ's chart is amazing. I had seen this one as it's pretty high on there, so I had checked him on Wikipedia. He's the singer of a synth pop band called Japan. I gave their album Quiet Life a listen, and it was solid. I think I'll check the rest of their discography (at least, the part of it that looks interesting) before checking out this one. I'll definitely do it at some point, though.

[Guest]

I have listened to about half of:

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Secrets Of The Beehive by David Sylvian

but I really didn't get it at all. His voice wasn't my thing and I don't remember there being much special about the music. So I'm not too interested in this one.

[mickilennial]

It's not quite as good as Secrets of the Beehive but you can tell the ideas that David Sylvian was really beginning to toy with ranging from pop, ambient, soul, and jazz which all became the genre of sophisti-pop. The smooth production is quality and Sylvian's voice is smooth but much more controlled then on future releases. It's quite a good record if you really appreciate what went into it.

[Romanelli]

I love Sylvian's work. Secrets Of The Beehive is excellent. You might also want to check this one out:

cr

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Rain Tree Crow by Rain Tree Crow


This is basically a Japan reunion under the name Rain Tree Crow. Good stuff as well.
_________________
May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...

[NickVolos]

Quite a coincidence about this pick... A couple of days ago I was into an early/mid-80's music mood; stumbled upon his name and Japan but never listened to any of their stuff. Will do that next time around though.
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"And can’t you see you’re in on it?
You were born though you need not
And is that not some cause
For worship, being born among these trees?"

[Guest]

Thank you for the nomination. Very unexpected.

I am a big fan of all of David Sylvian's work. He is always trying to push boundaries and is not afraid to try something new. I like this album in particular because of the arrangement and the vocals. It is so mellow and the vocals are so rich.

As a recommendation I would like to add Japan's final studio album to the list.

Tin Drum by Japan

Different from his solo work but easy to see what ideas he is building on.

[Norman Bates]

"Red Guitar" is excellent, otherwise Sylvian will do much better later on - e.g. the aforementioned Secrets of the Beehive, or Dead Bees on a Cake, or Gone to Earth. I'd go for these ones first for a glimpse of what Sylvian does best.

[WindowAbove]

I haven't heard this but I like Secrets of the Beehive. I need to check out Japan too.