Overall Rating: 9.5/10
Favorite Tracks: Ride On Time / Silent Screamer / 夏への扉 / Daydream
Tatsuro Yamashita's professional music career had been faced with some very rough barriers since it officially started in 1974. From Songs to Moonglow, and even with the wonderful double album live experience of "It's A Poppin Time" in early 1978, Yamashita had been practically staying ahead of its time within the Japanese pop scene. Songs can, and it usually is, credited as the birth of City Pop and the new wave of Japanese pop that was prominent during the 80s, starting a trend of drifting towards an occidental approach of pop and soft rock, giving it a personality of its own, as well as fleshing out instrumental ideas to their fullest extent with the talent, the charm, and the energy of all the people involved in the performances. Songs had a huge importance in the way things would evolve from that point onward, with most artists involved with the record managing to get involved in other groundbreaking and important projects years later. Tatsuro's career drifted to his solo aspect, as well as starting to get recognized as a talented arranger and guest musician working with other artists and labels. By the time 1976 came in, Circus Town presented a significant challenge for him, and despite the somewhat mixed recording experience, proceeded to introduce him to a new technical style of writing music by partiture, as well as expanding his tastes to jazz, funk, and rock.
While his first debut showed an artist with a lot of potential, but a lot of space for improvement, Spacy offered a much more complete, polished, and well crafted view at what Tatsuro was able to do with his music in 1977. He had wasted no time applying all the things he learned on the US, and proceeded to gather a fantastic range of talented musicians and artists that would help him to fulfill his artistic vision, delivering a consistent and coherent experience that invited the listener to a lot of re-visiting in order to truly dive in to the layers of detail provided on his work. The sad thing relied on the fact that reception towards these two albums were not notable, ending up in poor sales that barely made up for the budget invested in such a recording, with Yamashita relying on his live shows to make up for that part of the income and try to move forward (with the idea of releasing a live album being presented to him, ending up on Its A Poppin Time, a beautiful and masterful live archive that truly showed the range of influences, talent, and onstage dominance that Tatsuro and his band carried in order to make up for great performances that tried to flesh out ideas to their fullest and loosest extent). All his musical efforts and collaborations up to that point had been worthwhile, unique, and very well made; but it simply wasn't enough to get over the rough times that Yamashita was facing with his solo career.
Rough criticism, poor reception from the mainstream, and a label that was pressuring him to get a hit incoming simply took a toll on Yamashita's mindset and the attitude towards his work. The main issue relied on both the reception from the mainstream, as well as the fact that the man didn't really do much when it came to promoting his music and try to generate a reputation outside of a small, yet very impressive, circle. His underground fanbase was loyal and slowly moving forward, but most of it was condensed in Tokyo, as well as Yamashita having a considerable reputation among professional and big music artists at the time, with Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Eiichi Otaki being the most notable ones (with projects like Pacific, a collaboration with Hosono and Suzuki, in 1978 being the thing that kept a glimpse of hope in both Tatsuro and the label that he would eventually rise in popularity, letting him record more albums), being the ones that recognized him as an artist with a lot of potential, and whose music had a lot to deliver if given the opportunity to get immersed on it. But that doesn't sell records, it doesn't let the man or the label get much income, and it certainly isn't enough to keep a career floating, specially with the rough criticism and almost non-existent attention from the mainstream, leading to anyone getting frustrated about the direction of their solo career.
Yamashita took a pessimistic attitude by 1978, and was completely certain that his third solo album would be the last, with him already determined to continue as an anonymous producer and songwriter for other artists, taking the liberties to simply try things out without getting them to make sense in the context of a full album, ending up in the release of Go Ahead! later that year. And that frustration transcribes very well to the album, offering a very unfocused record, that dived into a considerable range of genres, approaches to songwriting, tones, and even different production and mixing styles between tracks, making up for an inconsistent experience in the whole scheme of things, with some of his most forgettable material up to that point. However, Tatsuro is Tatsuro, and while the album could have been much better, it still provided with fantastic songs that stole the spotlight and served as proof that the man was still able to craft pop masterpieces whenever he wanted. And even then, Go Ahead! turned out to be a turning point for Yamashita's career as a whole. Since he decided to experiment a little with different genres, songs like Paper Doll and Let's Dance Baby had a big appeal in a groovy and upbeat style of pop and soft rock, being practically "single material". In fact, Let's Dance Baby was decided to be used as a single a few months later, but the B side of the single, also a song from the album, would be the start of Yamashita's rise in popularity during that period. Bomber was simply a perfect and unique pop track for the Japanese mainstream scene at that time, becoming a considerable hit on dance clubs at the time, leading to the mainstream starting to get familiar with Tatsuro Yamashita as a prominent artist that had a discography, and that was able to offer catchy and engaging songs such as that one within his catalog.
If it wasn't for Bomber, a one of a kind attempt at making a polyrhythmic funk song, Tatsuro's career would have been completely different. The funk and loose, but still technical approach, the songwriting, arrangement, solos from the talented members involved, the catchy melodies, the slapping bass, and the memorable vocal performance from Tatsuro made for a perfect pop song, an essential track from the artist, that would be the spark to reignite the passion of the artist, who wasted no time and started drifting towards that style of music for his next solo album. A second single was released a couple of months later, with Let's Kiss The Sun taking over and being a considerable hit, with The Whispering Sea serving as the B side, promoting both his upcoming and previous albums. Glimpses at the style of the new project were starting to be displayed on his live shows, ones that were starting to expand outside of Tokyo (even getting to his first national show), taking members from the Go Ahead sessions along and making up for some popular performances in Osaka (where he got the assurance that his music could captivate audiences outside of his local underground fanbase, receiving some fantastic reception and changing his pessimistic attitude), that inspired Yamashita to take a more upbeat tone and musical style that resonated more with the atmosphere of those times. Yamashita's manager, and only person who supported his decisions within the label, Riuzo Kosugi started AIR, his own independent label inside of RVC/RCA, as a place where artists could develop freely and without pressure, and he took Tatsuro as the first artist to be allied with that part of RVC, leading to the release of Moonglow, his fourth studio album, in 1979.
At that point, most things Tatsuro had been tackling with his music started coming full circle, with more concise ideas, making for a much more coherent and consistent ideas on an album. Moonglow was the result of a new inspiration that was represented on a very specific atmosphere, with tracks that ranged from various styles and genres, but that still kept the initial tone set from beginning to end. In many ways, Moonglow was his most consistent work up to that point, with an A side that was simply flawless in many aspects, presenting some of his most engaging and varied work, with tracks like Funky Flushin', Storm, and Full Moon being definitive stand outs from the experience. The B side was somewhat weaker, but that still presented the man and his band having evident fun in the recording sessions with tracks like Taxi Driver, and that also kept including some of his absolute best material, with the closer Let's Kiss The Sun being the definitive highlight of the entire album. This would be the start of an important and prolific era for Tatsuro, where his works seemed to be inclined to either a specific atmosphere or a specific concept in order to be fleshed out throughout and entire project. In order to complement these records, Tatsuro's singles would become important part of his income, with a lot of songs being released fairly frequently in promotion of his new material, while the label also helped with getting an audience with small projects like the Come Along compilation, gathering attention for both new and old material from the artist, increasing his fanbase and presenting a new stable and prosper era for him in his creative aspects.
But why go through all this history in order to get to an specific album? Well, Moonglow was the start of a new era for Tatsuro, and while it still was a fantastic and important turning point for him, it wasn't the culmination of either the new approach at crafting an album nor the musical peak of the artist. Nevertheless, it did allow Tatsuro to start polishing his craft even more, with the new world of single releases opening a lot of new doors for him. Evidently, Tatsuro didn't stop at that point, and he kept pushing forward with new ideas, as well as polishing the newly acquired funk style with bittersweet atmospheres he had been executing on his last couple of records. In early 1980, Tatsuro started a series of iconic tours under the name "Ride On Time Concert '80", across all of Japan, proving a big success for the direction of his career (along side the somewhat unofficial release of Come Along being popular on record stores) by having an incredibly positive reception of the new material that debuted during that tour. He was starting to gather attention, but there was one single that immediately catapulted his entire career to a new level. No time was wasted, and a couple of months later, the Ride On Time single was released as a teaser in promotion of his upcoming new album, along side Moonglow's Rainy Walk as a B side, and the single jumped straight into Japan's top 10, being a one of a kind hit that can be pinpointed as the moment where Yamashita's career took a vital turning point into his future. Tatsuro kept collaborating with different artists, as well as giving some of the most iconic live performances of his entire career (with the Hayama's Ride On Time concert being one of his most fondly remembered due to the conditions it took part in), kicking a tour that would continue until 1981. In the middle of that tour, Yamashita's fifth album, Ride On Time, was released, immediately jumping at #1 on the charts, and cementing Tatsuro as a promising and talented artist recognized all over the country.
Due to Moonglow achieving some considerable success, Yamashita got access to a more considerable budget, as well as cementing a very stable lineup for his live performances and his studio sessions (presenting the iconic lineup of Jun Aoyama on drums, Hironori "Koki" Ito on bass, Kazuo Shiina on guitar, Hiroyuki Namba on keyboards, and the wonderful Minako Yoshida on backing vocals; as well as having the honor of presenting a range of guest artists in order to complement the main instrumentals for each song), both of these reasons being vital as to why the album came out the way it did. The first track, いつか (SOMEDAY), kicks thing off on a great way, already showcasing the well crafted and arranged instrumentals that this new era presented for Yamashita's music. It is a track that uses the style of writing of Sugar Babe, with each instrument having a distinct and separate rhythm pattern that makes up for one coherent melody once played together, but that has a bigger focus on the technical aspects and the interactions between all the elements. Ito's bass is as prominent as ever, following the spirit of the funk basslines present as important parts of Tatsuro songs, with Namba's keyboards being important part of the atmosphere, with even a brief synth solo courtesy of guest Hiroshi Sato to keep the track dynamic and engaging, while the guitars and drums simply keep track of the main beat on a great way. Yamashita slowly starts to unveil his vocals on a very calm performance that increases on his range and ability with the progression of the song, being supported by Minako's impressive backing vocal arrangements, captivating with the reprise of the main chorus right at the end, giving space for Tatsuro's vocals to slowly capture the main spotlight. SOMEDAY, just like Full Moon on Moonglow, sets the atmosphere and presents the main characteristics that will be expanded throughout the record, and it starts a momentum that is carried with all the tracks on their particular way, maintaining the tone but keeping the arrangements and performances dynamic and engaging.
That is slowly the case with DAYDREAM, the second track on the album (quoted by Yamashita as being Minako's songwriting masterpiece, and also used as the B side to the main single that was My Sugar Babe), setting a much more upbeat melody due to the drums being the subtle key element of the song, very simple and effective at marking a particular beat where all the instruments are built upon. New elements are introduced while others are absent, most notably the trumpet arrangements replacing the backing vocals at giving a very well wounded atmosphere to the vocals and the instrumentals as a whole, with even solo sections where the tone and atmosphere is embraced and carried in a wonderful way. Just like many other tracks, this is done with a live setting in mind, and it definitely shows, specially with the way Tatsuro's vocals start to unveil their true potential, being much more concise and varied in their performance, specially between the interaction from verse to chorus, as well as the instrumentals being sort off loose in the way they are structured, but still providing for a very tight, engaging, and memorable performance. A somewhat more laid back track, but definitely a good build up and expansion of the ideas and aspects of the production and mixing, slowly leading into one of the true highlights of the album.
The album wastes no time, and the laid back tone is immediately contrasted with an explosion of energy and intensity in every main aspect. SILENT SCREAMER might as well be used to encapsulate the entire energy of the 80's on one single, polished, engaging, energetic, and explosive track. Once again, a companion track to the polyrhythmic funk style started in Bomber and expanded in Funky Flushin', with a different and unique approach this time around. The powerful and loose bass lines are the soul of the instrumentals, but the rest of the instruments don't stay far behind in taking the spotlight. The drums make their presence be noticeable by providing a powerful beat, as well as stablishing the main bridge between different sections, the keyboards are slightly more simply in their composition, serving more as the key aspect of the atmosphere, fulfilling that role on a subtle way. The wonderful production and mixing achieve a perfect balance where nothing stays too far behind, and everything shines to its full potential, with the guitars taking as much of a spotlight as the bass across the song. One guitar helps to set the main rhythm, much like the keyboards and drums, while the second one makes its appearance at the two fantastic and explosive guitar solo segments, with the second one serving as an outro where the interaction between dual guitars simply provide for one of the most memorable and engaging instrumental segments on any Tatsuro track. Tatsuro's vocals just flesh out on this song (with the fantastic backing vocals being introduced halfway through in order to make for a more complete experience), presenting his fantastic range at full power, punching the listener with every verse and chorus that comes along, climaxing at the end segment where his vocals simply explode on an incredible way. A track full of passion, personality, energy, and an incredible chemistry between all of those involved. Providing for one of the most impressive and unique tracks of his entire discography, and serving as one of the highlights of an already fantastic album.
However, the main dish, the main highlight, and the most important piece of the entire album, and one of the most essential tracks on Tatsuro's entire catalog, comes as the closer of the first side in the form of the memorable and timeless title track. The track found here is a re-recording somewhat different to the single version, but it is the definitive way to experience such an accomplishment. This is it, the key moment of the album, the piece where every single aspect of the man's songwriting, arrangement, and performance comes together for a one time achievement. The main mellow keyboard melody with a simple drum kick, accompanying Yamashita's passionate vocal performance, leading into the main shift in tone in the chorus, where the funk like bass and the energetic guitar are implemented to a better extent, with none of them taking the spotlight but instead working as one. The song keeps building up introducing new elements with each verse, from to the wonderful soul like background vocals to the powerful saxophone, which also leads to a spectacular solo segment. The buildup from chorus to chorus is simply unmatched, with the song as a whole being the culmination of years of hard work, resulting on one of the most iconic and polished songs from Tatsuro's entire career, and the definitive peak of his fifth studio album. The main song works amazingly, but the experience is climaxed and carried on with the small acapella reprise of the chorus that simply tops everything off in a fantastic way, closing up one of the best sides on any pop album to ever be released. The studio version of Ride On Time is a fantastic song, a pop masterpiece that is the perfect blend between melancholy, passion, and an upbeat energy. A timeless track that just knows what to do and how long to do it, and reason enough to simply dive into such a fantastic album.
Ride On Time's first half is a constant buildup of tone, atmosphere, and emotion through four distinct tracks, each with their own style and musical approach, but all of them sharing the same personality and charismatic attitude that only Tatsuro is able to provide. It continues with the trend of his work being much more focused and fleshed out, while also expanding its horizons with new ideas and concepts implemented on a fantastic way. This side alone is a definitive highlight of Tatsuro's entire career, but the rest of the album doesn't stay too far behind, keeping up with this being his most consistent and coherent album up to this point. 夏への扉 starts the second side on an excellent way (also being the proof that concepts for the album were a long time in the making, with this song being the result of a lot of onstage trial and error), using all the elements seen on Ride On Time on its own groove, but shifting the tone towards something much more laid back and relaxed. The funk like spirit on the bass leads the melody once again, but both the vocals and the instrumental are calm, with a song that seems to focus more on the lyrics than anything, and this being evidently the case considering the emotional and somewhat nostalgic tone on the lyrics, with the main vocals following that tone on their own particular intonation and spirit. The tempo, arrangements, and performances themselves appear to be nothing out of the ordinary, but the way every element complements each other is simply magnificent, as well as doing so within what seems like a very common structure, but that really is something of its own, a way to give every single member its own space to breathe and shine. The guitar is very prominent, while the synth and bass dance with each other beautifully while being glanced by the drums and the fantastic vocal layers. The trumpet solo adjusts itself on a perfect matter, and Tatsuro's vocal performance is simply on par with the main highlights of the album, presenting something fairly enclosed within his vocal range, but doing so on the most sentimental way possible. A very sweet, personal, and incredibly captivating track that sets up the tone and focus of the second side, inclining towards something much more mellow in spirit. What a perfect follow up to an already wonderful experience.
The emotion and passion on the vocal performances, as well as the more laid back and calm atmosphere and tone on the arrangements, is followed right away with My Sugar Babe, the second single of the album, also being very popular among fans and the mainstream public. As the title might imply, this is a track that Tatsuro wrote in memory of his time with Sugar Babe, taking a very melancholic/ballad like spirit, and pulling it off on a fantastic way. The chemistry between the keyboard and the guitar, these being the key elements for the melody, is something truly unique (with even a small solo segment between the two of them that just ends up tying everything together), with the drums and bass being the ones to set the beat on a subtle way while staying in the background. Tatsuro's vocals are not on full display here, they don't go overboard with their powerful range, but they don't have to, His vocals here have as much impact as any of the previous tracks, mainly because of how much emotional and passionate his performance ends up being, having as much impact as his most energetic performances, and making up for something truly charming (specially with small details such as himself doing the background vocals for the track). This particular laid back, calm, and mellow atmosphere is carried on to Rainy Day. This is perhaps the weakest moment on the album, but it stays in line with the rest of the experience, still offering a good track that keeps up the pace and the consistency, and serving more as an extension of Rainy Day than anything else. It has a bigger focus on the melancholic piano, which suits the title and the atmosphere on a great way, but still presenting Yamashita's passionate vocals (also using himself as the background vocalist for the entire experience), and the rest of the instruments following along with it, with some suiting rain recordings introduced right at the end.
雲のゆくえに (initially written and arranged to be part of Minako's new studio album, but the track debuted first on Tatsuro's live shows and on this album) picks up the pace, but still follows the calm atmosphere, having much more in common with the opener of the second side than anything else (as well as following along the trend of Tatsuro making songs inspired on his experiences and influences from the US, with this one being somewhat a knock to the R&B Chicago scene on Aoyama's drums, with the bass following more on a slight funk style), with the most noticeable things here being Tatsuro's vocal perfomance, the captivating saxophone solo that appears right at the end, and guest Hiroshi Sato setting the atmosphere with his subtle keyboards. Finally, おやすみ comes in as the most straight forward track on the entire album, closing up the entire experience on a very particular and unique way. An overlooked gem on his discography, with a mellow piano that sets the atmosphere along side Tatsuro's emotional and hard hitting vocals, with the only other element used being the synth implemented along side the fantastic background vocals recorded by the man himself. It is a very short track, but it doesn't need to be much longer, presenting a vocal performance as emotional as the one on My Sugar Babe, being the farewell of the entire experience, wishing goodnight to everyone that had the pleasure of sitting through the entire album.
Ride On Time is a very special record. It was the result of the constant hard work from a man that faced some rough times for both his career and the confidence on his own talent for a considerable amount of years. It presents one of Tatsuro's most varied, dynamic, passionate, and engaging projects; being one of the most consistent albums to be found on his catalog. It sets a particular atmosphere and focus that is approached on different ways across the album, sometimes presenting a very funk driven spirit, others simply laying back and going for a more hard hitting emotional tone on the performances, but always keeping the main tone that drives the entire experience on a very coherent way. The first side alone can be pinpointed as one of the pinnacles of his entire career, with a collection of four tracks that have a lot to offer individually, but that as a whole build up and present old and new ideas that are executed on a tremendous way due to the incredible chemistry of the lineup for the album, as well as the notably higher production and mixing values that Tatsuro had access to for this record, resulting on masterpieces like Silent Screamer and the re-recording of the title track (with just these two tracks alone being excuse enough to check this album on full).
For You might be the more popular record, but Ride On Time was the vital turning point that allowed that experience to be even possible for Tatsuro's discography. It was the first notable success on his entire career, debuting at number one on the charts, with some amazing singles following along, cementing Tatsuro as a promising and talented artist that just seemed like having a bright future ahead of him (and eventually fulfilling those expectations on a great way). Ride On Time was not an album that got where it got just for the inclusion of the memorable and iconic title track. It is the result of a constant evolution from the artist in refining his own formula, being an extension of the most prominent ideas seen on his work, as well as the structure and tone presented on the previous album, while also implementing new formulas into the mix, making up for one of his most dynamic, varied, and engaging releases. A pop bonanza that grabs influences from a lot of different places and implements them in a particular atmosphere, providing some of Tatsuro's most memorable and perfect arrangements, compositions, and performances. A personal and creative statement that is full of soul, passion, and emotion from beginning to end.
Yamashita finally narrowed down a way to carefully track a coherent experience. His somewhat loose, but still prolific, studio experimentation got translated to a live setting, where the man expanded concepts for individual songs with each new concert on the Ride On Time Concert '80 tour. And this was also done by getting a much more stable and talented lineup that met his expectations (initially presented in the title track single), instead of relying on the big all-star set of guests that he got for previous albums, and only presenting a handful of guest artists for very specific moments (with Hiroshi Sato being the most notable of these inclusions). It is true that artists like Hosono and Sakamoto were important to the execution of songs from Yamashita's catalog, but this magnificent lineup, their particular chemistry and bombastic performances, were the reason why Ride On Time came out the way they did, and all these artists deserve their respective credits:
Jun Aoyama on the precise, simplistic, and energetic Drums
Hironori "Koki" Ito on the amazing and essential Bass
Kazuo Shiina on the rhythmic Guitar with its memorable solos
Hiroyuki Namba on the atmospheric and mellow Keyboards
Minako Yoshida on the fantastic vocal arrangements and the beautiful backing vocals
And of course
Tatsuro Yamashita on main vocals, guitar and other instruments, production, arrangements, and being the SOUL of the entire experience.
Ride On Time is an album full of creativity, personality and emotion, being a celebration of his entire career with songs that thank those who helped him start this route as well as having fun and exploding in energy with other tracks. A timeless journey that invited anyone that is willing to just get lost on the charming and captivating soundscapes that it has to offer.
If the words "beautiful and sweet" could be represented with one album, this would be it, and I really can't recommend it enough.
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