Japan Quiet Life Half-Speed Remastered 180g LP & 3CD Box Set

Stereophile: Performance 5/5 Stars / Sonics 4/5 Stars

That Japan's breakthrough record Quiet Life was released in both 1979 and 1980 is uniquely fitting for a band who were about to step out of the glam rock, post punk shadows of the late 70s and deliver a record with a brand new sound that would come to define the 80s.

Quiet Life was the third, final and most successful release on the Hansa Records label. A forerunner for the alternative/new wave sound of the new decade, the album would become one of the great classic British albums.

The record is now the subject of a major new reissue featuring a brand new half-speed remaster of the original album, alternate mixes, B-sides, singles, rarities, and live material - including the sought after "lost" Live At Budokan show from March 1980, previously only available as the 4 track EP Live In Japan. The box set is limited to 500 in North America and is the most extensive and complete issue of the album to date.

The release features newly restored original album artwork, exclusive new liner notes with foreword by original producer, John Punter, rare and unseen photography and memorabilia. Multi-format set housed in a 12" rigid slipcase with anti-scratch matte laminated finish with spot UV gloss.

Released in 1979, Japan's third album signaled a move away from rock to a more electronic sound. Lying somewhere between Giorgio Moroder and David Bowie's Low, with a touch of the Far East for good measure, this creative reboot allowed the band space for experimentation. Quiet Life even has strings (arranged by Ann O'Dell, who, like producer John Punter, had worked with one of the band's key influences, Bryan Ferry), the only time a Japan album ever saw such an indulgence. David Sylvian's baritone voice seduces, while Mick Kern's fretless bass, Richard Barbieri's (later of Porcupine Tree) synthesizers, and Rob Dean's guitar - often played with an EBow - set the mood... The quality of the remastering allows the music to embrace the listener, sounding clear but not clinical. Quiet life is also available as a single LP, but the extras here make it worth consideration: a CD version of Quiet Life, a disc of remixes and singles, and a fun, if sonically raw, live album. The booklet is an apt addition for such a visually conscious band.