Adolescent Sex

Adolescent Sex
An oriental-style painting of the men in glam dress-up, alongside a red moon and "Japan" in big red letters, all in front of a black background.
Studio album by Japan
Released March 1978
Recorded Late 1977 to early 1978
Length 47:24
Label Hansa
Producer Ray Singer
Japan chronology
Adolescent Sex
(1978)		 Obscure Alternatives
(1978)
Singles from Adolescent Sex
  1. "Don't Rain on My Parade"
  2. "Adolescent Sex"
  3. "The Unconventional"

Adolescent Sex is the first album by the English band Japan, released in March 1978 by record label Hansa.[1] To avoid controversy over the title, the album was renamed simply as Japan in some countries.

Release

Though not a commercial success in their native UK, the album was better received abroad, particularly in Japan itself, where it peaked at No. 20, and in the Netherlands where the single "Adolescent Sex" reached number 27 in the Dutch Top 40 in 1979.[2]

The Japanese release contained several mistranslations of song titles. "Transmission" became "Invitation to Fascination", "Suburban Love" became "Carousel of Love", and "Television" became "Temptation Screen".

Aftermath

Within a couple of years of its release, the band publicly denounced the album.

"The band were not totally happy with the first album or the way it had been marketed, and were dismayed by its poor reception in the UK. Their record company were not that ecstatic with the British sales either and required another album, this time aimed at the lucrative US and European markets."

— Paul Rymer[3]

The album was remastered and re-released as a digipak CD in April 2004, with four videos as bonus material.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Trouser Pressunfavourable[4]

Trouser Press wrote that the album "introduces Japan in all its guitar-rock misery, playing such Bowie-influenced tripe as "Wish You Were Black" with less style than a sense of urgency".[4] AllMusic gave the album a 4.5 out of 5 grade, writing: "A more exciting album than just about anything else they'd ever record, Japan were young, hungry, and more than a little rough around the edges."[1]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by David Sylvian, except for "Don't Rain on My Parade" by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill. 

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Transmission"   4:46
2. "The Unconventional"   3:02
3. "Wish You Were Black"   4:49
4. "Performance"   4:36
5. "Lovers on Main Street"   4:09
6. "Don't Rain on My Parade"   2:54
Side two
No. Title Length
7. "Suburban Love"   7:27
8. "Adolescent Sex"   3:46
9. "Communist China"   2:44
10. "Television"   9:15

Personnel

Japan


Additional personnel

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hanson, Amy. "Adolescent Sex – Japan | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 10, 1979 (Dutch)". Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  3. ↑ Paul Rymer, liner notes, Obscure Alternatives, SONY BMG (2006)
  4. 1 2 Robbins, Ira; Aswad, Jen. "TrouserPress.com :: Japan". Trouser Press. Retrieved 3 October 2015.

External links

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