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Rating: After the well-deserved success of "Gentlemen Take Polaroids," Japan released in '81 what would be their last studio recorded album (in '83 the live "Oil On Canvas" would be released, the final chapter of the group). The cover is one of the most original of its time... and the music will not disappoint expectations. The opening "The Art Of Parties" is a truly engaging dance track: sounds that smell of the East are entangled in a disco club-like rhythm section, resulting in a truly irresistible cocktail. If your limbs don't move while listening, it means you're dead and you haven't noticed. The following track, "Talking Drum," is even more contaminated by "almond" sounds, managing to be more refined due to a more hypnotic pace, a broken and inconsistent rhythm that interacts with well-crafted arrangements of extreme grace. Immediately after, we are invited into the mysterious garden of "Ghost," a refined elaboration by Sylvian. Its sound is menacing, enigmatic, without breaks of serenity, and at a certain point, it seems like being catapulted into a forest illuminated by dim moonlight without knowing why or how. Sinister noises penetrate the dark atmosphere, constantly disorienting you. Great song and great vocal performance. "Canton" is a joke in Chinese disguise, a dance that doesn't take itself too seriously and contrasts the previous dark track. "Still Life in Mobile Homes," on the other hand, suffers from a mannerism a bit self-serving, with offbeat rhythms and meticulous sound refinements that certainly do not benefit a song that nevertheless has a weak backbone. "Visions Of China" was one of their biggest "hits," and it must be said well-deservedly so. Its rhythm is truly engaging, its chorus easily catchy, in short, all the ingredients required for a chart-topping song without (and this is their greatness) selling out, always maintaining a high percentage of class. The album closes with the alley melody of Chinatown of "Cantonese Boys," which neither detracts nor adds to a very "unified" album, more "concept" than the previous one, with decidedly Eastern-inspired sounds. As soon as it starts playing, you recognize it immediately in an unmistakable way, and this is perhaps Japan's greatest note of merit, having had a very personal identity.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Talking Drum (03:36)
I hear a voice I hear a sound
But nothing plays on my mind
I take the car I travel round
But nothing stays on my mind
What do you do when things go wrong ?
I'm winning
In the heart of the bushland
What do you do when things go wrong ?
I'm winning
In the heart of the bushland
But now I'm scared
Now I'm lost in love
All these things were never done
Your burning bridge my talking drum
Now we're too late for heaven
03 Ghosts (04:34)
When the room is quiet
The daylight almost gone
It seems there's something I should know
Well I ought to leave but
The rain it never stops
And I have no particular place to go
Just when I think I'm winning
When I've broken every door
The ghosts of my life
Blow wilder then before
Just when I thought I could not be stopped
When my chance came to be king
The ghosts of my life
Blew wilder than the wind
Well I'm feeling nervous
And I find myself alone
The simple life's no longer there
Once I was so sure
Now the doubt inside my mind
Comes and goes but leads nowhere
Just when I think I'm winning
When I've broken every door
The ghosts of my life
Blow wilder then before
Just when I thought I could not be stopped
When my chance came to be king
The ghosts of my life
Blew wilder than the wind
06 Visions of China (03:39)
I'm walking young and strong
But just a little too thin
I may be happy but I haven't clue to this life in my mind
Stay with me
We could learn to fight
like every good boy should
Cling to me
We are blacked out in visions of China
Tonight
I'm building heroes again
I never thought of before
I remember the fashion but don't have clue to your life in my mind
Stay with me
We could learn to fight
Like every good boy should
Cling to me
We are blacked out in visions of China
Tonight
We walk backwards say nothing
My visions of China
We're young and strong in this party
We're building our visions of China
We walk backwards say nothing
Visions of China
We're young and strong in this party
We're building our visions of China
We walk backwards say nothing
Our visions of China
We're young and strong in this party
We're building our visions of China
08 Cantonese Boy (03:50)
We're pushing through these farming towns
We worked hard ploughing over ground
Red army calls you the call of the crowd
Red army needs you they call you now
Cantonese boy
bang your tin drum
Cantonese boy
civilian soldier
Cantonese boy
bang your tin drum
Cantonese boy
Red army calls you home
We're singing marching through the hills
We're changing the lives we've led for years
Red army calls you the call of the crowd
Red army needs you they call you now
Cantonese boy
bang your tin drum
Cantonese boy
civilian soldier
Cantonese boy
bang your tin drum
Cantonese boy
Red army calls you home
Red army calls you
Red army needs you
Gentlemen you heard us call
raised your glass and called for more
Only young men broke the wall
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By Blackdog
"The androgynous David Sylvian, with a voice like a serene and mystical mountain stream, seemed as related to China as Christmas in August."
"Tin Drum is a great wall of sounds, colors, and visions between us and them, East and West, new-wave and the first cries of new romantics."
