Their deal with the German Hansa label at an end, Japan began the decade with a switch to Virgin Records, with the new single “Gentlemen Take Polaroids” (#60) released in October, 1980, just a couple of weeks before the album of the same name (51) was in the shops. They've been getting stronger and more interesting with each release and this LP continues the trend. The biggest highlight is the fantastic “Methods Of Dance” which picks up where “Quiet Life” left off, the wonderfully complex dance rhythms being subtly bolstered with female vocals and brass. A stately-but-haunting piano-based waltz accompanies David Sylvian's sombre-but-cultured croon on “Nightporter”. Just what does that worker see in the dead of night? The album closes with “Taking Islands In Africa”, co-written in collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto of the Yellow Magic Orchestra. That ought to shift a few extra units in Japan. Cynical, moi?
The Jukebox Rebel
19-Nov-2016
| A1 | [07:08]  Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids (David Sylvian) New Wave |
| A2 | [06:23]  Japan - Swing (David Sylvian) New Wave |
| A3 | [05:23]  Japan - Burning Bridges (David Sylvian) Electronica |
| A4 | [03:52]  Japan - My New Career (David Sylvian) New Wave |
| B1 | [06:53]  Japan - Methods Of Dance (David Sylvian) New Wave |
| B2 | [04:40]  Japan - Ain’t That Peculiar (Warren Moore, William Robinson, Bobby Rogers, Marvin Tarplin) New Wave |
| B3 | [06:57]  Japan - Nightporter (David Sylvian) Songwriter |
| B4 | [05:12]  Japan - Taking Islands In Africa (David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto) Electronica |
