TIN DRUM

The fascinating development of Japan necessarily brought them to the pinnacle of their career, in the conception and recording of the band's final studio album, 1981's progressive masterpiece 'Tin Drum', a recording that still stands as a marvelous musical achievement for a band in their early twenties with its subtlety, experimental edge, catchiness and the sense of dreamy longing, that has only been captured by the finest of English bands. At a point at which the musical direction is entirely clear and with the experience of four albums having explored different parts of the rock and pop world, Japan had finally not only cemented a vision of the perfect sophisti-pop album, but they had also crafted a brilliant brew of sounds that complement each other and work as a whole towards the birthing of that creative vision.

'Tin Drum' explores once again themes related to isolation, travel, movement, and mysticism, seemingly dressed in the usual glam-rock swagger, yet this time minimally but lavishly punctuated by a visionary use of electronics and a graceful and intelligent use of each instrument - the album does have a timeless sound, even if it represents its decade more delightfully than heaps of other albums from the early 1980s. The gloomy vocals as well as the introspection and eventual "poetic philosophy" of the lyrics, together with the entire conceptual framework of 'Tin Drum', from the cover photograph to the song titles and the album's structure only confirms the view that this is an art-pop masterpiece, a truly special album that has a luminosity and ambience of its own. The meaty bass, the minimal but brilliant drums of Steven Jansen and Richard Barbieri's crafty and quirky keys all give the songs this recognizable characteristic that make 'Tin Drum' an artwork. Experiments with Oriental sounds only enhance the sonic presentation of the album, which is much more than the masterful hit-single 'Ghosts'. Just listen to the audacious opening track 'The Art of Parties', the brittle playfulness of 'Talking Drum', or the groove of 'Still Life in Mobile Homes'. Fantastic music on an essential, ambitious, gorgeous album from 1981.