Japan - Tin Drum

Japan's Tin Drum is nothing like the glam swagger of their debut, Adolescent Sex. Their trajectory across albums seems to run parallel to that of Talking Heads. Around 1980, when the Heads turned to Africa for rhythmic ideas, Japan turned to, well, Japan. Really, this is the only thing I've heard outside of the Eno-related sphere that comes close to what the Talking Heads were going for at the height of their arty new-wave, taking-funk-seriously success. But in the decades since, Remain in Light has achieved mythical status while Tin Drum is lucky to get an honorable mention among the best albums of the '80s. Granted, there's no "Once in a Lifetime" here, but "Ghosts" is pretty phenomenal.

Part of the eastern influence here is credited to lead singer David Sylvian's connection to Yellow Magic Orchestra's Ryuichi Sakamoto; I expect I will seek out some YMO and Sakamoto solo work later on.

Ultravox - Systems of Romance

This was Ultravox's last chance, having previously struck out (in my mind) with their debut, which I think is called David Bowie's Players, and their Vienna which, other than the phenomenal title track, didn't seem like the New Wave statement I was searching for.

Systems of Romance was produced by German Conny Plank, who is better associated with Krautrock and early electronica.  Here, Plank grafts Ultravox's guitar lines onto a more synthetic backdrop.  Indeed, take out the vocals and some of these tracks might as well be a Neu! outtakes.  Basically this is a sound that others would put to better use on some of the best albums of the coming decade.  (Gary Numan in particular credits this album as his Polaris for Pleasure Principle; Julian Cope hints that Numan's 'inspiration' was closer to 'duplication'.) 

So Ultravox finally delivered on the kind of album I was looking for.  It's unlikely to displace anything in my list of favorite New Wave albums, but Systems of Romance works as a bridge between two genres I severely enjoy: German motor-tik Krautrock and New Wave/Romantic.

Japan - Adolescent Sex

YES, how did it take so long to come across this. An album from 1978 that straddles funkish punk or glam-rock of the 70s and the synthesized New Romantic movement of the 80s, confidently dipping its essence square on your head. It's as if Nile Rodgers of Chic produced a David Bowie album...except that actually happened in 1983 and it's not as good as Adolescent Sex. Or if Gang of Four sang about sex instead of politics, although Japan does have a song about "Communist China." Maybe I'm not good at analogies. At any rate, this album is swagger incarnate. Witness halfway into "Performance," when those high xylophone notes hit. YES.

Ultravox - Vienna

When exploring synth-pop, Ultravox was a name that came up often. I believe I briefly tried their best-of, Dancing with Tears in My Eyes but I don't remember. Any anyway, if a band is worth a damn, their albums are usually better than best-of compilations. So I started their 1980 album Vienna, as it was rated the highest on AllMusic. Because iTunes is generally worthless, my first few listens to this album were with an out-of-order tracklisting, and I was not impressed.

It's amazing what a difference the tracklisting can make, but even upon correcting the mistake, I still feel like this is a pretty inconsistent album. The opening track is great, as are the two penultimate tracks, "Western Promise" and "Vienna"; really the album should've ended with the title track. The remainder of of the other songs are cringe-worthy ripoffs of other synth-heavy bands, like Kraftwerk ("Mr. X") and Devo ("All Stood Still"). Vienna ends up as a slight disappointment, as this album easily could be sliced down to a very solid EP.

Still, I expect I'll try some other Ultravox albums and will hopefully have better results. If not, then I guess it's back to Dancing with Tears in My Eyes.

In the meantime, I could live in this song for quite a while:

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture & Morality

If there was a clear high point for OMD in terms of balancing relentless experimentation and seemingly unstoppable mainstream success in the U.K., Architecture & Morality is it. Again combining everything from design and presentation to even the title into an overall artistic effort, this album showed that OMD was arguably the first Liverpool band since the later Beatles to make such a sweeping, all-bases-covered achievement -- more so because OMD owed nothing to the Fab Four. All it takes is a consideration of the three smash singles from the album to see the group in full flower. "Souvenir," featuring Paul Humphreys in a quiet but still warm and beautiful lead role, eases in on haunting semi-vocal sighs before settling into its gentle, sparkling melody. The mid-song instrumental break, with its shifted tempos and further wordless calls, is especially inspired. "Joan of Arc," meanwhile, takes the drama of "Enola Gay" to new heights; again, wordless vocals provide the intro and backing, while an initially quiet melody develops into a towering heartbreaker, with Andy McCluskey and band in full flight. If that wasn't enough, the scenario was continued and made even more epic with "Maid of Orleans," starting with a quick-cut series of melancholic drones and shades before a punchy, then rolling martial beat kicks in, with Malcolm Holmes and technology in perfect combination. With another bravura McCluskey lead and a mock-bagpipe lead that's easily more entrancing than the real thing, it's a wrenching ballad like no other before it and little since. Any number of other high points can be named, such as the opening, "The New Stone Age," with McCluskey's emotional fear palpable over a rough combination of nervous electronic pulses, piercing keyboard parts, and slightly distorted guitar. "She's Leaving" achieves its own polished pop perfection -- it would have made an inspired choice for a fourth single if one had been forthcoming -- while the heartbreaking "Sealand" and "Georgia" hint at where OMD would go next, with Dazzle Ships.

(Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture & Morality)