Service (album)

Service
Studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra
Released	December 14, 1983
Recorded	September – October 1983
Studio	Alfa Studio “A”, Shibaura, Minato, Tokyo
Genre	Electronic, dance, experimental, rock, J-pop, new wave, synthpop
Length	50:44 30:18 (original EU pressing)
Label	Alfa Records
Producer	YMO
Yellow Magic Orchestra chronology
Naughty Boys Instrumental (1983) Service (1983) After Service (1983)
Singles from Service
"You've Got to Help Yourself (以心電信)" Released: September 28, 1983 "Every Time I Look Around (I Hear THE MADMEN Call) (EU only)" Released: 1984

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Service was the sixth and, at the time, final studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra. The band dissolved the following year after a world tour, but would later reform in 1993 for a one-off reunion album, Technodon. Each member would continue their already established solo careers, while Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi also formed the band Sketch Show (with Ryuichi Sakamoto assisting), which later turned into YMO. Like ×∞Multiplies, it contains a mixture of YMO songs and comedy sketches performed by Super Eccentric Theater, or S.E.T. The first Dutch/German edition of the album omitted the sketches, effectively cutting the album's length in half. In 1999, the album was remastered under Hosono's supervision with new liner notes provided by lyricist Peter Barakan.

Service features "You've Got to Help Yourself", which was previously featured in instrumental form on the previous album, Naughty Boys Instrumental. The 2nd "S.E.T." track featured a sample of Casiopea's song "Time Limit". "以心電信" more accurately transliterates to "Telegraph from the heart".

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Limbo"	Yukihiro Takahashi/Haruomi Hosono/Peter Barakan	Takahashi/Hosono	3:21
2.	"S.E.T."			4:21
3.	"The Madmen[2]"	Hosono/Barakan	Hosono	4:40
4.	"S.E.T.[3]"			1:23
5.	"Chinese Whispers"	Takahashi/Barakan	Takahashi	4:27
6.	"S.E.T."			4:16
7.	"You've Got to Help Yourself" (以心電信 Ishin Denshin)	Hosono/Barakan	Ryuichi Sakamoto/Takahashi

Side two
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"S.E.T.+YMO"			5:53
2.	"Shadows on the Ground"	Sakamoto/Takahashi/Barakan	Sakamoto/Takahashi	4:20
3.	"S.E.T."			3:25
4.	"See-Through"	Barakan	YMO	3:36
5.	"S.E.T."			4:09
6.	"Perspective"	Sakamoto/Barakan	Sakamoto	5:12
7.	"S.E.T."			0:46

Personnel

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Arrangements, Electronics, Mixing engineers, Producers

• Haruomi Hosono - Bass, Synth Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
• Ryuichi Sakamoto - Keyboards, Vocals
• Yukihiro Takahashi - Vocals, Electronic drums, Cymbals, Keyboards

Guest musicians

• Takeshii Fujii & Akihiko Yamazoe - Technical assistance
• Peter Barakan - Lyrics

Super Eccentric Theater

• Yūji Miyake, Hisahiro Ogura, Osamu Hagihashi, Daisuke Yamazaki, Kōichi Nagata, Etsuyo Mitani, Keiko Ishii & Akemi Imamura - Counterparts

Staff

• Mitsuo Koike - Recording & Mixing engineer
• Akitsugu Doi - Assistant Engineer
• Teppei Kasai (CBS/Sony Shinanomachi Studio) - Mastering engineer
• Kazusuke Obi - A&R Coordinators
• Tsuguya Inoue - Art director, Painting
• Beans - Design

References

1. Allmusic review
2. This song was inspired by Daijiro Morohoshi's comics "Mud men".
3. The introduction is "Time Limit" of Japanese jazz fusion band "Casiopea".