IT REMINDS ME OF THOSE DAYS

Clearly, there are spelling issues with this group. I guess it's no fault of the group, but most likely the translator didn't quite get it. It Remainds [i.e. Reminds] Me of Those Days is the second and last album by keyboard power trio Social Tension, led by the highly-skilled keyboard virtuoso Nobuo "Kodomo" Endoh. I concluded that their debut Macbethia was a masterpiece. How does their sophomore release compare? Well, it's not quite as good, one of the biggest problems being that it is too short.

It starts off with "Evil Intention," a very odd song compared to their previous output. It's radio-friendly and sounds like Deep Purple without guitars. Imagine that. Still, I like it. The vocals are in Japanese and I don't find this a distraction in the very least. It has some great bass playing by bassist Masahiko Ota.

The second track is the most important piece of this album, the title track. Note that the title track is also spelled wrong using "Remains" instead of "Remainds" from the album title, of which both should be "Reminds." This track has a combination of ELP and Genesis influences. The ELP influences are much smaller than on their debut album. It contains an interesting section that sounds like a psychedelic wipe-out complete with weird keyboard noodlings. Other sections of the song contain some great keyboard and bass playing. The bass work on this album is an improvement over their debut.

The rest of the album contains three short songs. "Childish Concerto" is a short instrumental with some very exceptional keyboard work. Really nice stuff here. "Waltz" doesn't have the energy of the previous tracks, but has a more romantic feel to it from the flute-like keys and harpsichord. Social Tension ends the album with the energetic instrumental "Out of March," containing some great keyboard work and showing some ELP influences.

I would really like to give this something between four and five stars, although I am leaning closer to four stars. It's not quite as good as Macbethia and it's too short. On the flip side, the bass playing is better and they have shed some of the obvious ELP influences. If it had only contained one more 10-minute or so energetic keyboard-dominated instrumental, I would have easily given it five stars.

This was Social Tension's last album and that's too bad. They were really coming into their own with this album, shedding the ELP influences and developing a sound of their own. In 2000, a compilation called "It Reminds Me of Macbethia" was released that contained the entire Macbethia album and the two best tracks from this album. Their last studio release gets a well-deserved four stars.

Second album of Japanese power trio Social Tension called "It Reminds Me of Those Days"(spelled on artwork as "It Remainds Me of Those Days"!) isn't on the same level as groundbreaking debut one, but it's very entertaining release for symphonic prog fans. The main problem of this disk, is it's very short duration time. I suppose that less than 36 minutes wasn't enough even in 1990 (it was already era of cassettes and CDs!). But as I've heard the band call it a day during recording process so maybe they just weren't able to include all ideas into "It Reminds Me of Those Days" because of budget circumstances...who know? Anyway while "MacBethia" was a top notch gem from beginning to the end, this effort includes more uneven moments which can be a slight disappointment considering short length of this CD (especially dumb "Childish Concerto"). But don't worry, 80% of disk space is still filled with high quality Hammond/synthesizer/mellotron/pianos-drenched ambitious music in the vain of ELP, Trace or Triumvirat. I can add that Masahiko Õta got bigger chance to prove his vocal abilities here too, but of course his incredible bass guitar skills are the most evident.

1. "Evil Intention" - album begins very unusual for this band because opening track doesn't have too much in common with Social Tension's style. It's harder & more straightforward than anything these guys recorded on the debut. "Evil Intention" is an up-tempo heavy prog song which would perfectly fit on Deep Purple, Birth Control or Frumpy's album. Extremely sharp-sounding, over-driven Hammond organ is the main attraction here, those mean riffs and two furious solos remind me Lucian Büeler's work in Krautrock formation "Wind". Masahiko's vocals seem to be a bit goofy in this aggressive style, but they're good enough. By the way the most funny thing is that this track seems to be some kind of cover (plagiarism?) of song called "Copper Sunset" from repertoire of obscure British 70s act called "Aardvark". I don't know if the lyrics are the same (I don't know Japanese) but the main melody is absolutely the same. I love it anyway.

2. "It Reminds Me Those Days" - opus magnum of the album is this 18 minutes long super epic which can be a direct competitor for lengthy "Go on my Way" and "MacBethia" from their debut. It's a truly amazing composition loaded with memorable melodies played on a wide range of vintage keys. Musicians often switch between more aggressive Hammond/Moog-driven fragments and more romantic parts with sheer virtuosity. Synth-made orchestration which occasionally enters the space is also great, never too loud to not distact listeners from the main music themes. It's just excellent addition to classical-influenced atmosphere of this suite. While I love the whole epic, I have to admit that my favorite part is of course this extended organ solo between 11th and 12th minute. Melancholic vocal delivery in softer moments are also very beautiful, especially together with fantastic mellotron eruptions. While the most surprising is the madness between 6:30-8:40 minutes, when Nobuo Endoh tries to create as crazy noises from his organ as possible (like Keith Emerson during concerts or British Canterbury scene band Egg). In general I can describe this staff as a perfect mix of ELP/Trace-style of bombastic prog with melodic symphonic staff of Genesis and Yes.

3. "Childish Concerto" - I've heard people saying that Social Tension sounds cheesy but mostly this accusation are completely wrong. However on "Childish Concerto" these guys prove that they can sound horribly corny. Simplistic piano melody, artificial sounding orchestration and annoying children's singing "lalalala". Disgraceful! Thank God it's only 2 minute long.

4. "Waltz" - very pleasant progressive waltz with very melodic vocals and perfect combination of string-machine and baroque-like harpsichord. Maybe a little too mellow and slightly cheesy compared with standard Social Tension's keyboards extravaganza, but I still love it. This one is much more in Rick Wakeman or Michael Quatro style than usual.

5. "Out of March" - the last track is an instrumental which have two "faces": one "face" is a flashy organ-driven, ultra-symphonic face in clear ELP style, while the other "face" is shoddy tetris soundtrack-like melody played on sloppy-happy synthesizer. Thankfully 75% of "Out of March" is occupied by the first "face", so we can enjoy plenty of roaring Hammond organ solos here. So my general rating for this one is positive as hell.

Overall "It Reminds Me of Those Days" is another solid example of keyboards-driven symphonic prog-rock gem which was sadly forgotten by ambitious music audience. It's a pity that is has never been re-released, so most of people have to rely on compilation "It Reminds Me of Macbethia" which includes all songs from their first album & only two tracks from this one ("It Reminds Me Those Days" suite & "Out of March"). Of course I recommend this disk to fans of ELP, Trace, Triumvirat, Refugee, UK, Par Lindh Project, Nexus, Gerard, Ars Nova etc., but as usual I'd like to mention some more obscure formation with similar style. So let it be Mahoujin, very little-known Japanese prog-rock trio from 70s. Both bands have quite much in common.

Best track: "It Reminds Me Those Days"

4,5 stars from ozzy_tom

SOCIAL TENSION were a power trio of sorts out of Japan and they released two studio albums in 1989 and 1991 respectively. This is the second album and almost all feel the debut is the superior record. I will be spending some time with it in a few weeks. Without question this band is inspired by ELP as we get the same setup of bass, drums and keyboards and yes the keyboardist is incredibly talented. And there's an array of keyboards in play here including mellotron although Andy at Planet Mellotron believes they used mellotron samples. Yes they spelled "remind" wrong but keep in mind the two studio albums were released in japan only. They corrected the spelling on the compilation record which contained the complete first album along with the title track on this one and the closer,and it was released World wide. I would have included the opener as well. Amazing album covers as well on those two studio albums. There are more vocals on this one compared to the debut apparently and we get digital synths here too that weren't on that first record.

So yeah that opener "Evil Intension" is just a tornado that rips through the neighbourhood leaving everyone saying "What just happened?". The organ is absolutely filthy and reminds me of a cross between Emerson and Lord. The chorus is kind of hazy as they settle back. A fantastic way to start and how good would that song be live? The title track is almost 18 minutes long and is filled with twists and turns. "Waltz" is another excellent track that oddly reminds me of RPI in a big way. Something about the vocals and sound 1 1/2 minutes in. Anyway this is a top three tune with the opener and title track. "Out Of March" features plenty of organ including some good runs to open.

So I have to go 4 stars here, just too much enjoyment. Looking forward to the debut.