Tin Drum is the fifth and final studio album by English band Japan, released in November 1981 by record labelVirgin. It peaked at No. 12 on the UK charts, and featured the top 5 single "Ghosts." It has received acclaim as the band's best and most original work.
Content
Tin Drum continued the band's now-established mix of electronic elements with traditional instrumentation, but leans far more towards Far Eastern and Orientialist influences than any of their previous albums. Lead guitarist Rob Dean had departed in May 1981 and vocalist/songwriter/second guitarist David Sylvian had taken on his duties, which had been very greatly reduced by the band's change of musical direction. Writer Paul Grimstad described the album's sound as a "mannered cubist pop." Musically, the album was a meticulously crafted blend of complex rhythms, keyboard textures, and Karn's bass playing. Keyboardist Richard Barbieri said: "it was a very laborious process, but creatively satisfying... it was the first album where we actually produced something... completely original." Also important for the band finding their own unique sound was the work with Steve Nye, who had replaced John Punter as the band's producer. Lyrically, the songs include notions of romance, melancholia, travel and escape, and particulary David Sylvian's fascination for Eastern culture, which at times has a satirical undercurrent. "Ghosts" was Sylvian's most personal lyric to date, expressing notions of self-doubt, ambiguity, regret and hope.
Release
Tin Drum was released on 13 November 1981 by record label Virgin. Four of the album's eight songs were released as singles in the UK—"The Art of Parties", "Visions of China", "Ghosts" and "Cantonese Boy"—whilst a live version of "Canton" was issued as a single to promote the Oil on Canvaslive album in 1983. "The Art of Parties", a single in April 1981, was re-recorded for the album. Of all the singles the most commercially successful was "Ghosts", a minimalist, drum-free song which reached No. 5 in the UK. "Visions of China" reached No. 32 and "Cantonese Boy" reached No. 24. The album itself peaked at No. 12 in the UK, and was certified "Gold" by the BPI in 1982. In 2000 Sylvian re-recorded "Ghosts", using the original Japan backing track, and this version was included on his compilation albums Everything and Nothing and A Victim of Stars 1982–2012. Tin Drum was reissued on CD in 2003 as a deluxe boxed set containing a 6 panel digipak housing the remastered original CD with original cover art, a gatefold sleeved "The Art of Parties" CD and a 24-page booklet with pictures of the band. Later came a budget single CD version. On August 24, 2018 two new half speed mastered vinyl pressings were released; a single 33rpm version and a deluxe double 45rpm version. Both mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road. For the first time all lyrics were printed inside the gatefold sleeve of the deluxe album.
Reception
In the contemporary UK music press Tin Drum got Japan some of the best reviews of their career. NME's Paul Morley wrote "Gorgeously erotic, perfectly evanescent, It accepts transitoriness, yet delights in sensation" and particulary praised David Sylvian: "The LP is also a triumph for David Sylvian, the sensitive individual, the deep feeling loner, his voice stricken on the tensions between confidence and gloom, whose lyrics are a questing expression of love and loss, doubt and despondency. His old clumsiness at describing his position, at probing his passion has been replaced with a sublime simplicity." However, Melody Maker's Lynne Barber were less impressed: "The music slots together in jigsaw fashion, leaving plenty of space and clean air... but there seems to be little purpose to their constructs, a dearth of aesthetic sensibility. Japan's music is pre-fabricated, built from an architect's well-laid plan, yet not sculpted with an artist's passion or insight." Retrospectivly The Quietus called Tin Drum "unique in pop history, a fearlessly ambitious, unusual and conceptual work of art that defies genre categorization." AllMusic retrospectively called it Japan's "most unique, challenging, and striking album". Trouser Press wrote: "Tin Drum presents Japan at peak form". Writing in Smash Hits, critic David Bostock announced that, "Japan have made their best album yet". Roland Orzabal of the band Tears for Fears has called Tin Drum "an absolute conceptual masterpiece from lyrics to artwork... just everything", and that it was a main influence on Tears for Fears first album The Hurting. On 6 September 2011, BBC Radio 6 Music awarded Tin Drum a 'Goldie' award for the best album of 1981.
Track listing
All tracks written by David Sylvian, except where noted. Side A
"The Art of Parties" – 4:09
"Talking Drum" – 3:34
"Ghosts" – 4:33
"Canton" – 5:30
Side B
"Still Life in Mobile Homes" – 5:32
"Visions of China" – 3:37
"Sons of Pioneers" – 7:07
"Cantonese Boy" – 3:44
Note: The bonus tracks were included only on the limited edition two-disc version of the album. The single-disc version features no bonus tracks.
