Masquerade Show


Masquerade Show is the debut album of the Japanese rock group Show-Ya. The album was released on 6 September 1985 in Japan. Its release was preceded by the pop single "Suteki ni Dancing", used for an advertising campaign by Coca-Cola.

Overview

The single "Suteki ni Dancing", used for the TV spots of the Coca-Cola campaign, gave the band a wide and immediate visibility all over Japan. A Coca-Cola can is depicted on the back cover of the album to remind the link to the band's sponsor. The album, mixed at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London by Haydn Bendall and the Japanese media coverage of the event, pushed the band to an even higher level of popularity. During their sojourn in London, Show-Ya had the occasion to play live in the clubs that usually hosted bands from the new wave of British heavy metal scene, making their name known to the British musical press.
The album presents a large variety of compositions, ranging from pop rock to hard rock, showing the classic rock influences of the young musicians but a sound not yet distinctive. Mixing the album, a large emphasis was generally given to vocals and keyboards, keeping the volume of the guitars very low. The result is a distinctly soft tone, quite different from the loud live performances of the band. "Talon of King" is an adaptation of a song from Japanese metal band Helen and "Touch Me" is a cover of The Doors' song from the album The Soft Parade. The title of the song "Touch Down" was adopted by Show-Ya's official fan club.

Track listing

;Side one
  1. "Touch Down" ' – 4:51
  2. "Mado" ' – 4:23
  3. "Talon of King" ' – 4:46
  4. "Au Revoir " ' – 5:21
;Side two
  2. "Mind Collection" ' – 4:47
  3. "Actor" ' – 4:41
  4. "Touch Me" ' – 3:12
  5. "Masquerade" ' – 4:05
  6. "Hurry Up" – 4:14

    Personnel

Band members