This is the best introduction album that you can give anyone who is willing to get into Tatsuro Yamashita, and it is also an essential listen for anyone who considers himself a fan of his RCA material from 1979 to 1982. It is a record full of charisma on the way it's presented to the listener, with Kobayashi's fictitious radio show being engaging and enjoyable from beginning to end. It may be incredibly cheesy at points, with some of the skits and interludes being questionable on the point they were trying to make, being the main and only reason why this record completely perfect, but it is simply flawless on the musical aspects. The selection of tracks and the way they all flow into each other, with the first side being the "night side" of the record, tackling a made up love story presenting some of Tatsuro's most danceable tracks, while keeping the second side to something much lighter and relaxing in mood and tone, is simply wonderful. This gathers most of Tatsuro's masterpieces from that period (with essential songs like Ride On Time and Sparkle being complemented by fantastic tracks like Silent Screamer and Funky Flushin') in their album presentation, with no changes or re-recordings whatsoever (including small details like the wonderful and memorable acapella reprise at the end of Ride On Time), making up for a memorable listen from beginning to end, presenting the most essential compilation that Tatsuro's catalog could be able to offer in 1984.
By the time Ride On Time was released in 1980, Tatsuro Yamashita's career seemed to have arrived to the end of an era that had been on a constant build up ever since he properly kicked his solo career with Circus Town in 1976. Throughout his first five solo projects, a double live album, and the many side collaborations he had, the artist had faced a very rough path towards the success he truly deserved from the very beginning on his early days as being part of Sugar Babe. Problems with critics, issues with the label ending up on his artistic visions being limited in many different aspect, off putting experiences while recording his music abroad, and even unsuccessful sales due to the lack of singles. His name was only being recognized on Tokyo's underground music scene, with the mainstream barely acknowledging his existence regardless of the fact that he had offered nothing but captivating projects throughout until that point. However, every barrier that he was faced with ended up bringing him a positive outcome in the long run, with most of the negative experiences being the reason of why Tatsuro's musical ambitions and attitude ended up being the way they were. The bad experiences with the recording of Circus Town lead to him constantly looking for musicians that met his expectations (even if it meant to risk things with the budget by working with giants like Haruomi Hosono), as well as being introduced to a variety of new influences that would shape his musical approach for years to come. The unsuccessful sales almost lead to the end of his career, with his solo ambitions being pessimistic and unmotivated, ending up on messy records like Go Ahead!. But even then he managed to deliver some pop masterpieces in the form of songs like Bomber, a funk influenced track that was used as part of his first official single, becoming his first notable success, and being the thing that reignited his passion for music and his hope for a better solo career.
Those years of stress went by along with a constant refinement of a formula, and a constant search for a unique identity and personality on the music that was being written. But everything started to come out on a better light, leading to the creation of Yamashita's main successful records under the RCA/RVC label. Moonglow in 1979, presenting the beginning of a streak of focused projects that had a lot to offer musically, with it putting what were previously loose ideas to better use, giving them a purpose within the context of an album, with a record that presented one unique atmosphere and tone throughout all its runtime (as well as marking the proper start for his career to find success with the singles that were being released). Ride On Time on 1980, being the culmination of the mellow atmosphere and the musical ambitions he had been showcased since 1976 on a record that simply catapulted his career and personal life to stardom, finally getting recognized by the mainstream as one of Japan's most talented and prolific musical artists. It practically symbolized the end of an era by celebrating the past on a lighthearted way, and presenting some of Tatsuro's most iconic songs on a mature and emotional project where he finally found a stable lineup that met his expectations both onstage and on studio.
The success of the record and the single brought the beginning of a new era where Tatsuro was finally free to handle the writing and recording of his records the way he saw fit, with constant touring where he was able to constantly write new material in order to try it on stage and then decide if it was to be recorded on studio, tack ling a much more upbeat and joyful atmosphere (mainly due to him inclining more towards a "summer like" feeling) while keeping the things that made him unique as present as ever, ending on the release of For You in 1982. Once again, Tatsuro had reinvented himself, but this time for the best, and with a mindset full of happiness and love, with his popularity only keeping on rising constantly with the release of different TV jingles, different singles, and constant touring all over Japan. Both his musical career and his personal life (more stable economically, and even with him getting married with Mariya Takeuchi that same year) shining brighter than ever. Tatsuro found his instrument of choice, with the Fender Telecaster finding its place on the new summer-like atmosphere that had taken over his music. It was not a perfect album, but just like Ride On Time, it became an undeniable classic of Japanese pop, with a considerable amount of successful masterpieces taking over its runtime, making up for an engaging and memorable experience that only Tatsuro was able to provide.
With one fairly successful release, two number one albums, a considerable amount of popular singles, and even having his previous releases having a slow rise in sales; Tatsuro's career had a lot of expectation built around it, with fans and people waiting to see the things that would come up with in the future. 1982 was a year of important events in Yamashita's life, and not only because of his second #1 album. He got married with Mariya Takeuchi, he had achieved a positive and joyful attitude in most aspects of his life, he had finally found a stable lineup of talented musicians that gave their all on each concert and studio recording, but above all that, he finished his contract with RCA/RVC after six years of working together. it was all done mainly because both Tatsuro and the label started thinking that he might be turning too old to be part of such a fierce and competitive music scene. Tatsuro had finally found the success he was looking for with his music, but he was also close to turning thirty years old, which lead to him thinking to continue with his solo career for a few years before changing paths to becoming a full time production manager at any label that decided to hire him under that position. Of course, he would eventually take that position, but mainly because it was something he had been doing for years with other artists, but even then his career would still keep on delivering major hits.
Following that false and inaccurate prediction, Tatsuro would change labels by stablishing a new contract with Moon Records in 1983. In many ways, this would be the beginning of a new era for Tatsuro, where his conditions to getting signed to a label were very strict. Now that he had finally found success, he decided to go back to the Sugar Babe style of writing and recording music, trying out as many genres as he wanted, and doing whatever he pleased on studio, having the freedom he always aimed for, instead of being limited by a label. Of course, this would be a very risky move for any label, but Moon Records were very much aware of the hit maker that Yamashita was, so they agreed to those conditions and were immediately rewarded with Tatsuro's third #1 album, and his best selling record up to that point: Melodies. In many ways, this had a lot of similarities to Go Ahead!, looking to deliver a record that had a lot of variety between tracks, just without the inconsistency and the pessimistic tone in the recording of the songs. It was quite different from the summer like emotion conveyed on For You, going for a more calm, simple, and mellow tone, which took many audiences by surprise. Melodies focused on Tatsuro trying out different styles of writing and arranging his music within one consistent melancholic atmosphere, ending up on a mixed bag where some tracks came out as underwhelming and others simply stood out as masterpieces from his catalog. Even if it was far from perfect, and somewhat of a step back compared to his previous efforts, it started a new golden era for his creative ambitions, as well as still successful regarding sales. The singles that came out in promotion of the record would also go down as some of his most popular material, further elevating Tatsuro's reputation all across Japan in 1983, and that is where Riuzo Kosugi started to step in.
Despite finishing his contract with RCA, Tatsuro still held a good relationship with Kosugi, the man that had supported his musical ambitions for years, such a good relationship in fact, that Tatsuro made him the president of his producing company, Smile Company/Smile Music Publishing (taking the name from the legendary Beach Boys project),which was affiliated to Moon Records, in 1984. Even then, Kosugi still held a contract between RCA and Air Records, his own independent division, which lead to him starting to think about the idea of releasing a new compilation following the success of Yamashita's music in 1983. The last official release between Yamashita and RCA had been the Greatest Hits! compilation in late 1982, where Tatsuro himself curated the music that would end up on the project, choosing tracks from all his six albums at that point with some minor differences in some aspects (which turned out for better or for worse, resulting on things such as a slightly inferior rendition of Funky Flushin' or the butchered abridged version of Solid Slider), giving a great introspective look to his work. The compilation would end up selling well, but Riuzo Kosugi saw a lot more potential for further expanding the reach of Tatsuro's work due to the success of Melodies on 1983. Therefore, Riuzo decided to bring back a project that didn't really had Tatsuro's approval as an official release on his catalog, but that was built in order to be displayed on record stores, catching the attention of new audiences with a selection of great tracks from the master's catalog, leading to the release of Come Along II in 1984.
The first Come Along compilation had been built in promotion of Moonglow's single, Let's Kiss The Sun, picking songs from Tatsuro's early albums in order to make try to make them more popular due to them being used as background music for different record stores across Japan. It was all delivered on a very particular way, with the songs being presented as part of a fictitious radio show from Hawaii, having different skits between tracks courtesy of the charming and fluent English-speaking Japanese DJ Katsuya Kobayashi, being accompanied by a young Mariya Takeuchi at some points. This charismatic and likeable presentation lead to the compilation becoming a surprising success, with audiences asking for an official release. Since this was done without consulting Yamashita, he only allowed for the record to be available on cassette, but it still sold pretty well, and it would eventually be accepted as part of his catalog years later with the reissue of all the RVC/RCA releases. By 1983, Tatsuro's name had finally become a big stable in the mainstream music scene, and with Yamashita parting ways with RCA, Kosugi decided to bring back Come Along with its second volume in order to further embrace the popularity of the artist, bringing back Kobayashi as the main host of the fictitious radio show, this time around accompanied by Kamasami Kong, and publishing the album under the Air Records label on an "unofficial" way (unofficial meaning without the complete permission of Tatsuro, but it still being a main part of RCA's catalog at the time).
RVC wasn't able to use the new big singles that Yamashita had delivered with Moon Records, but they decided to continue with the narrative of the first Come Along using material from his last three records with RCA, tackling his most popular material from 1979 to 1982. Of course, all the tracks are placed between interludes where Kobayashi gives a little opinion piece or tells a small story to give more context, setting a particular tone that is carried on a great way throughout the record. The material selected for the album is simply, as Kobayashi himself states: "The cream of his artistry". It contains the big singles from these three albums (with Ride On Time, Sparkle, and the lovely jingle that was Loveland Island being part of the tracklist), as well as a selection of other wonderful masterpieces from his catalog. Just looking at the selection is more than enough reason to check the compilation out:
Moonglow: Funky Flushin' / 永遠の Full Moon / 夜の翼 (Nightwing)
Ride On Time: Silent Screamer / Ride On Time / いつか
For You: Love Talkin' (Honey It's You) / Sparkle / Loveland, Island / Your Eyes
Greatest Hits! / Single: あまく危険な香り
Another thing that makes the record very special is that, contrary to something like Greatest Hits!, all the songs are kept in their album form, with no re-recording whatsoever, and even then they hold a surprising consistency despite the slight differences in production thanks to the radio interludes. This helps a lot to keep smooth transitions from things like Funky Flushin' as the energetic opener to あまく危険な香り as the calm and somewhat mellow closer of the first side, or the placement of the Nightwing overture without it being next to Full Moon. All small details from the studio versions are kept in their right place, keeping the tracks in their definite versions, making up for a memorable and highly engaging experience. Sadly, not everything is perfect. If it were the songs alone, this compilation would be flawless without any doubt, but some of the radio interludes are the thing that end up being dragging the experience down a little bit.
For the most part, Kobayashi's and Kong's contributions help up with the aesthetic of the album on a fantastic way, setting up a charismatic and captivating atmosphere of Come Along II being a fictitious radio show separated on two clear segments. The first one tells a love story between a boy at a girl that meet up in a dance club, presenting the "night side" of the record, filled with danceable tracks from Yamashita's catalog, while the second side goes for something more relaxing, much more calm and passionate in tone, with interludes talking about different facts, without following a sort of made up story (with topics like the surf boards one should use, or small facts about some of the songs, which helps one get surprisingly more comfortable with what is being presented). However, even if there is a consistent charisma all the way through, there are very odd choices for some interludes. They don't go unnoticed, and they certainly don't kill the experience, but they do come out as incredibly cheesy and off putting, with the biggest example of this being the small rap segment telling the story of Tatsuro's life before Love Talking. Small details that, even if harmless, do drag down the experience.
Even then, despite all its minor flaws and the fact that this really isn't an "official" Yamashita release, but more of a way from RCA to try and get more sales while further spreading Tatsuro's name across Japan, this is simply a fantastic compilation. Official Tatsuro compilations would be few and carefully curated by the man himself, but at that point these "unofficial" entries on his catalog were not uncommon. Years later, records like Ballad For You, and the Best Pack volumes would be released by RCA as well in order to further promote his early material, while Tatsuro himself was still releasing hit after hit with Moon and Warner. Even with all the extra compilations, and including official releases like the third Come Along (this time with Tatsuro handling the project) and the fantastic Opus compilation (going through his entire career on a massive box sets that takes its time to give a complete introspective look to his career), Come Along II stands out as being the perfect collection of Yamashita masterpieces from 1979 to 1982, what could be argued as his first, and most prolific, golden era. Along side Greatest Hits!, this is simply THE compilation that any fan should listen to at least once.
The presentation, with the radio host gimmick, although somewhat questionable and cheesy at times, ends up being very charming and engaging overall, and it does work very well for what it is. And even then, the music is as excellent as ever, and I really couldn't recommend this more if I tried. It is just an experience filled with joy, passion, and a huge love for music, inviting anyone that is willing to listen to go along on a wonderful journey through some of the most captivating and sweet soundscapes that Japanese pop is able to offer.
Overall Rating: 9.5/10
Favorite Track: Silent Screamer Full Moon / Sparkle / Ride On Time
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