Solid State Survivor [Original recording remastered] [Import]

1. Technopolis

2. Absolute Ego Dance

3. Rydeen

4. Castalia

5. Behind The Mask

6. Day Tripper

7. Insomnia

8. Solid State Survivor

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
2003 reissue of the Japanese progressive rock act's 1979 album. Epic.

Tracks:

Technopolis
Absolute Ego Dance
Rydeen
Catsalia
Behind the Mask
Day Tripper
Insomnia
Solid State Survivor

Album Description

2003 reissue of the Japanese progressive rock act's 1979 album. Epic.

Customer Reviews:

YMO re-united for the Earth Live in Japan!.......2007-06-24

This is Yellow Magic Orchestra's 2nd and probably most famous album. The first vinyl version came out in 1979, and YMO was awarded the annual grand prize for the best album of the year in Japan (1979) when the rest of the world didn't know much about computer electric pop music, something YMO called 'Techno Pop'. Germany's Kraftwerk was one of only a few other groups of this kind.
This album contains famous pieces, including 'Technopolis', which starts with a computerised voice saying 'TOKIO', written by Ryuichi SAKAMOTO ('The Last Emperor', 'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence'); 'Absolute Ego Dance' (by Harry HOSONO); and probably the most famous YMO number 'Rydeen' (by Yukihiro TAKAHASHI). I personally love the YMO version of the Beatles 'Day Tripper' and the main theme 'Solid State Survivor (SSS)', in which the guitarist of Sheena & the Rokkets, Makoto AYUKAWA, takes part. By the way, SSS contains some strange electric 'coughs' and 'laughter', and a Japanese expression 'Moshi Moshi? (Hello Hello?)' can also be heard a few times. 'Rydeen' contains some 'horse running' noises too. The sound of synthesizers (especially 'Prophet 5'), synthe-drums and the futuristic melody are all amazing! But the most amazing thing is that this album was released in 1979! YMO came to the USA & Europe in 1979, even before they became famous in their home country of Japan.

FYI: YMO was re-united for one night only for the Earth Live event from Kyoto(07/07/07). They were the last group to appear on stage in Japan and played a few pieces including the legendary 'Rydeen' with a new interpretation, which you can see on YouTube.

From the golden age of analog synthesis -- don't miss it.......2007-04-09

Many of the cuts on this CD were originally released on a vinyl record called "X Multiplies", with replicated mannequins of Sakamoto, Hosono, and Takahashi on the cover, staring at the camera. It was one of the coolest covers ever! It kinda makes you miss the days when cover art was, to a large extent, what sold music. Solid State Survivor was released later.

There are many wonderful cuts on this essential YMO CD, among them "Behind The Mask", with it's incredibly tight vocoder vocal and percussion section. It's one of my three favorite songs of all time -- I am a pro musician myself with a very broad musical perspective, and I'm telling you, I never tire of "Behind The Mask". Technopoly is pretty cool too. Nearly all the tracks are excellent, but Behind The Mask remains a classic for all time.

I can't strongly enough recommend YMO's other albums, as well. It's techno rock and it doesn't get any cleaner or tighter than this.

Great synthpop album.......2006-09-23

YMO is one of the pioneers of the synthpop as well as Kraftwerk and Devo. "Solid State Survivor" is considered to be the most famous album of them. Although it was released almost 25 yeas ago, you will never feel it old-fashoned. There is a story related to this album. Although Michael Jackson offered YMO to cover "Behind the Mask", YMO refused. Later, YMO regretted because it would be included in "Thriller" the mega hit album. In 1986, "Behind the Mask" was covered by Eric Clapton with Michael Jackson's lyrics.

Important album.......2006-08-06

While as usual not everything is first rate, and also some of this album has aged quite a bit, it is one of the better and more essential YMO albums. They were quite innoveative at the time and should not be forgotten for what they were: one of the most innovative early synth groups that were working in the tradition of Kraftwerk.

Yes!.......2006-06-18

Lighten up.
Ignore the sad clown at the top. Judging music based on the production technology used at the time of it's recording is an obvious sign of ignorance and one of the pitfalls of dealing with many electronic music fans ($$$$) in general. For those of us who understand context and know how to have a good time, this album is a gem. The sound of the production on this album gives it a timelessness and the overall character of this group, specifically this album, is wonderfully idiosyncratic and just can't be replicated. There are a few filler tracks, sure. Maybe two at the most. If that bothers you, you probably need to be reminded that this is YMO and not Stockhausen. If you're looking for a landmark synthpop album... BUY IT. If you like it, give Naughty Boys a chance. It sounds a lot different, but it's a welcomed runner up.

Average customer rating:

Pioneering, but badly dated
the best video game soundtrack you never heard
Awesome technopop from Japan!
THIS IS THE ONE OF MOST GREATEST ALBUM.

Solid State Survivor
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Manufacturer: Restless Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000003BJA
Release Date: 1993-07-01

Tracks:

Technopolis
Absolute Ego Dance
Rydeen
Castalia
Behind The Mask
Day Tripper
Insomnia
Solid State Survivor

Customer Reviews:

Pioneering, but badly dated.......2005-08-11

"Solid State Survivor" is one of those frustrating albums that deserves to be called "ahead of its time," but is hardly the best example of its particular genre. The AMG calls YMO--the unit of Yukihiro Takahashi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Harumi Hosono and several second-level members, here on their second outing--a "trailblazing force behind the emergence of the Japanese techno-pop sound of the late '70s," and while "Solid State Survivor" breaks new ground, it's more than a little unsatisfying. Frankly, I think the album's reputation as a classic comes more from nostalgic hindsight and estimation of influence than it does from evaluation of the actual music contained therein.

As mentioned before, "Solid State Survivor" is the band's second album, and it finds them refining the YMO "concept" into a much tighter, less gimmicky sound. The arcade-game bleeps and bloops of "Yellow Magic Orchestra" are mostly gone. "Solid State Survivor"'s eight tracks are, for the most part, synth-driven, poppy numbers, and are mostly instrumental.

Note the "poppy" in the preceding paragraph, for while YMO may not be that well known to American audiences today, this was not always the case. They were *hugely* popular in Japan, and did in fact tour America. Their aspirations to international pop stardom worked, but can leave the music itself feeling more than a little orientalist and gimmicky.

And thus, on to the music itself. Some of the other reviewers here have mentioned that "Survivor" sounds an awful lot like video-game music. This is of course a slight inversion--more accurately, video-game music sounds like YMO--but is otherwise a fair charge. Yes, the band is about ten years ahead of its time; unfortunately, that plants us squarely in the era of the Sega Genesis, and more than one track sounds uncomfortably like the soundtrack to "Sonic the Hedgehog" ("Absolute Ego Dance" is particularly guilty in this regard).

Highlights, in my opinion, include the driving "Rydeen," and the oddly moody "Castalia" (the best track on the album, in my opinion, and the one that best presages best YMO's later development). I don't, however, particularly care for "Behind the Mask," which everyone and their mother seems to love; it's a bit of orientalist fluff that has an interesting riff, but doesn't really go anywhere. "Day Tripper" is fun in a let's-deconstruct-the-Beatles sort of way.

Verdict: "Solid State Survivor" isn't a bad record by any means, and there's a very good chance that little else on the planet sounded quite like it in 1979. Age hasn't been kind to it, however, and when you strip away the hyperbole, what you're left with is a handful of enjoyable but unremarkable happy-Kraftwerk technopop (emphasis on "pop") instrumentals. If you're a big technopop fan, go for it. Most others, however, are best off starting elsewhere.

the best video game soundtrack you never heard.......2003-03-05

maybe it's because i grew up playing more nintendo than anyone should, but Solid State Survivor is one of the funnest albums i've ever had the pleasure of listening to. on this album ymo manage to seamlessly blend the organic(bass, drums, piano, and guitar)with some of the oddest synth sounds ever recorded. the vocals, when present, are either ran through a vocoder("technopolis" and "behind the mask") or sang in english care of a thick japanese accent("solid state survivor" and a wonderfully quirky cover of "day tripper"). the rhythms are mostly upbeat in a disco-y sort of way, with the exceptions being "castalia" and "insomnia"(the two darkest tracks...both with slow ronnettes type beats). this is a tough one to find, but if by chance you're led here to read this, take my advice and track a copy down. fans of kraftwerk(who realize that they're joking more than half of the time)will be delighted with this.

Awesome technopop from Japan!.......2003-01-13

Often compared to Kraftwerk, and rightly so, Yellow Magic Orchestra displays however a much lighter and funnier tone, but never leaving the futuristic and technologic frame. It's incredible how this album has influenced... videogame music! Yes, I can name at least four Sega Genesis tunes which are, um, carbon copies of Technopolis! But, anyway, that's a good thing... everything on Solid State Survivor sounds clean, well produced, is catchy and well, if you like both Kraftwerk and videogame music, and have a preference for synth sounds, I don't see why you shouldn't enjoy this album!

THIS IS THE ONE OF MOST GREATEST ALBUM........1999-06-11

Check 'Rydeen' the third song of this album. You'll be blow out

Average customer rating:

Yellow Magic Orchestra

Solid State Survivor
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Manufacturer: Sony Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00007KKZ3
Release Date: 2003-02-03

Tracks:

Technopolis
Absolute Ego Dance
Rydeen
Castalia
Behind The Mask
Day Tripper
Insomnia
Solid State Survivor

Album Description

Japanese reissue of 1979 album. Sony. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

Yellow Magic Orchestra.......2003-07-11

It's incredible this was made in 79, this album sounds far ahead of that! I heard this CD from a friend who gave me no background on the group, and I had no idea when it was recorded, some sounded 70's some 80's and some like new things happening. It's still amazing this was made so long ago. The cover of the Beatles "Day Tripper" is worth the whole cd itself in my opinion, all jerky and cut up yet danceable (and hard to dance to at the same time) reminiscent of devo's satisfaction as well.

The last song, Solid State Survivor is my favorite. It's dark and super impactful/creepy like early Oingo Boingo or Danny Elfman (forbidden zonesque) yet has a sort of a cute space theme running alongside it. I could tell it had been arranged and rearranged quite a bit, super thought out.