Various Artists — Tokyo Symphonic Syndrome
(Belle Antique 9464, 1994, CD)
by Mike McLatchey, 1994-10-01:
by Peter Thelen, 1996-03-01:
The Japanese symphonic rock scene didn't really pick up steam until the mid-80s, at least as far as record releases were concerned. Numerous bands existed prior to that time but were generally ignored by the Japanese labels, many releasing only demo tapes or flexi-discs. A few of the uncompromising outfits (like Shingetsu, for example) were picked up by majors, but quickly dropped when their albums didn't sell well, while others, like Novela, had to moderate their albums with more commercially viable material. The CD release Tokyo Symphonic Syndrome on Belle Antique attempts to document the studio recordings of four of Tokyo's most uncompromising bands who never made it to a proper album release. The Made In Japan session band is first up, a four-piece featuring members of Outer Limits and two other bands in a special studio side-project from 1981, and the only track on this compilation featuring vocals. Next up is Time Unit, featuring Takeshi Naganuma who would later go on to Lacrymosa and Golden Avant Garde; their contribution, the heavily Crimson influenced "The Clap" was originally released on a flexi in 1982. Aquapolis offers their "Aquapolis Suite," a sixteen-minute epic from mid-1981 that has never seen release in any form until now. Likewise with Green, offering the collection's shortest track at six minutes, "Miyako" exhibits a high degree of originality, fusing intense ELP like keyboards with an almost-Magma-esque rhythm section. Since most of the material here was taken from old tapes or flexis, the sound quality tends to be a little substandard, but is more than made up for by the inspired performances.
Filed under: New releases , Issue 9 , 1994 releases
Related artist(s): Various Artists
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