Japan’s Quiet Life was a new direction for the former glam rock band. Their work on a single song with producer Giorgio Moroder gave them a taste of electronic dance.
From the opening song “Quiet Life” I believe I have step into some weird place where there is another Duran Duran. Vocalist David Sylvian is similar to Simon LeBon of Duran Duran. The music is also similar to Duran Duran. It seems obvious that they borrowed heavily from Japan. Although they were a bit of contemporaries, Duran Duran did not release their first album until 1981.
Other songs to listen to are “Fall in Love with Me“, “Despair“, “Halloween” and “Alien”.
Japan deserve a place in the history for creating proto-New Romantic synthesizer music. This genre would explode in the next couple years with artists like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Gary Numan, Spandau Ballet, and A Flock of Seagulls. Overall, the album is really great, but vocally Sylvian cannot compare to LeBon and his vocals are drowned in music. At times, the vocals are a bit whiny. The music is incredible all the way through. 8.8/10.
an ocean roars 