ADOLESCENT SEX

"Japan". On prog archives.

When you see how little reviews this band collected on this site, you can easily come to the conclusion about their "progressiveness" which is close to none of course.

Due to my old age, I was rather involved in the post punk / new wave or even "new romantic" movement when it raised. Still, "Japan" has never been a favourite of mine. IMO, a band as Ultravox! was waaaaaaay more creative than this one.

This album was absolutely not successful commercially (except in The Netherlands and in .Japan of course). To have them compared to the greatest like "Roxy" or "Bowie" is just exaggerated. They just come excessively lower in my musical scale (even if some of their work has the mark of the late "Roxy").

While I was enchanted with bands like "Talking Heads", "Television", "Magazine", "Ultravox!", "Patti Smith" etc. I was not enthusiastic at all about "Japan". And seeing them on PA was really a MAJOR surprise.

If ever you are willing to experience an awful disco beat song, you are welcome to discover "Suburban Love". Pretty awful.

This album has very little to do with prog music. In those days (the late seventies), there were a bunch of great bands playing some creative music waaaaaaaaaays better than this poor offering. But creative doesn't mean prog (see bands mentioned above).

I just don't like this album. Weak. All the way through. One of the very few good songs is "Communist China" (but don't expect any masterpiece of course).

One little star.

"Adolescent Sex" is the debut full-length studio album by UK rock/New wave act Japan. The album was released through Hansa Records in March 1978. The title of the album was changed to "Japan" in some countries to avoid issues as a consequence of the original album title.

Stylistically the material is a combination of many different music styles and influences. Glam rock (David Bowie is an influence), art rock (Roxy Music is a huge influence), funk, reggae, punk, and pop and electronic music. It´s therefore a highly eclectic affair and it was obviously recorded by a very young and immature band who hadn´t yet found a signature sound or a musical direction to follow. While not everything on the album is great, it´s the restless energy and the many odd musical experiments which ultimately make "Adolescent Sex" an interesting release. Japan are a well playing band and lead vocalist/guitarist David Sylvian often snarling punk attitude combined with a more melodic glam rock singing style, make for a confusing but very intriguing listen. There´s great focus on groovy rhythms, and the atmospheric synths/keyboards add texture and climatic moments.

Album opener "Transmission" is among the highlights of the album, but despite the eclectic nature of the music and a few less remarkable tracks "Adolescent Sex" is generally a good quality release, featuring a well sounding production, high level musical performances, and some decent to great songwriting. The band themselves weren´t happy with the end result, but you should never trust the artist to review their own output, and to my ears "Adolescent Sex" is better than its reputation. A 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.