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Last Active 07-27-22 7:57 am
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| Discovolante's Best of: 1998 (Japan Edition)
From the beginning of the year to the end, via the Sputnik release calendar. | | 1 |  | Pre-School
Peace Pact
Pre-School were one of the first significant bands to emerge from the 90s indie pop scene and make a huge impact on the mainstream market, acquiring several top 20 entries with their slight brush of commercial success beginning with their second full length, and first major album, "Peace Pact". The album has a distinct sound that is both retro and current, and offers the best of both worlds. | | 2 |  | Abnormals
Abnormals
Abnormals are one of the reigning kings of horror punk, alongside Balzac. Unlike Balzac, however, Abnormals have had far less success, especially overseas, which is a travesty of the highest magnitude since they released some of the most blistering and badass music the genre has to offer. Case-in-point: their 1998 self-titled debut, which is regarded as their magnum opus. At 12 songs long with most being under the 3 minute mark, this album is a slugfest of heavy spooky punk/hard rock at the highest caliber. | | 3 |  | Rei Harakami
Unrest
Mellow electronica wizard Rei Harakami seemingly came from out of nowhere and released the masterpiece "Unrest", an album that to this day receives unanimous praise for its whimsical, dreamy atmosphere and just the right amount of glitch. One of the true classics of laidback IDM. | | 4 |  | Spitz
Fake Fur
Following the iffy "Indigo Chiheisen", Spitz made their grand return to greatness with "Fake Fur", an album that quite literally bleeds emotion and only the best pop melodies. By this point, Spitz had shed much of their alternative edge and became an unabashed pop band, which is more than okay with how heavenly the melodies on "Fake Fur" are. | | 5 |  | Cocco
Kumui Uta
By 1998, Japan had a flood of solo Japanese female rock singers which would, in theory, make an artist like Cocco hard to break out. And that would be true, with her 1997 debut "Bougainvillea" having weak sales, although pretty strong critical praise. In 1998, however, commercial success would finally catch up with "Kumui Uta", her second full length and the album that firmly put her on the map with her gloomy alternative tracks being compared to Alanis Morissette. | | 6 |  | Sophia (JPN)
Alive
Visual kei legends Sophia truly let their freak flag fly with their second full length "Alive", an album that was unexpectedly bizarre and yet endearing. Its lo-fi inspired art pop sound was a very bold breakaway from their safe pop sound from just a year prior, which ultimately pushed Sophia to the top of the visual kei food-chain even more, both commercially and critically. | | 7 |  | M.O.V.E
Electrock
M.O.V.E made their album debut in 1998 with "Electrock", which is best known nowadays as housing a good amount of tracks on the amazing Initial-D soundtrack. A fantastic electropop-rock effort that was both cutting edge (for its time) and absolutely engaging with its high velocity. | | 8 |  | By Phar the Dopest
By Phar the Dopest
The greatest Japanese hip hop act to emerge in at least three years, By Phar the Dopest took the constantly expanding Japanese rap underground by storm with their self-titled debut. With its impressive production that was a notch above what most underground acts at the time had to offer and its crisp, crystal clear melodies and impressively adaptive flows of emcees Kreva and Cuezero (both of which would go on to legendary solo careers following the duo's dissolvement later in 1998, particularly Kreva), By Phar the Dopest produce an end result that is undoubtedly one of the... well, dopest albums in Japanese hip hop in years. | | 9 |  | Misia
Mother Father Brother Sister
Misia (pronounced 'miisha') is one of the all time greats in Japanese R&B music, and that reputation is totally secured with just her debut album under her belt. That album, "Mother Father Brother Sister", added an urban edge to Japanese R&B, which still for the most part needed that extra oomph of maturity to it to really match up to its Western influences. Her debut would win the Best Album of the Year at the prestigious Japan Record Awards and is still hailed as one of the all time best Japanese R&B albums. | | 10 |  | Judy and Mary
Pop Life
Following a career all-time high with 1997's colossal smash "The Power Source", Judy and Mary decided to go down a very unorthodox path with the release of their follow-up "Pop Life", an album mired with background issues, such as the group nearly disbanding due to severe musical differences and frontwoman Yuki struggling to find her voice again after a throat surgery during the album's recording. The legends would persevere and release an album that serves as a middle finger to those expecting the same simple, bubblegum ditties that became their trademark. Instead, you're greeted with a bizarre short intro and the rollercoaster experimental art pop epica "Music Fighter". One of the greatest female-fronted rock albums of all time, hands down. | | 11 |  | Morning Musume
First Time
When Morning Musume first made their official major debut in January of 1998, girl idol groups were practically on ice in Japanese music at that point, especially ones with several members, a formula that previously only really worked with Onyanko Club in the 80s. Morning Musume officially turned the tide, however, with their major label debut single "Morning Coffee" reaching number 6 on the Oricon charts. Things naturally got better from there, and by the time they released their first album, effectively titled "First Time", they had already established themselves as the next big thing. While admittedly not as coherent and concentrated as their later albums, its more unpredictable nature makes it a different kind of great album with Morning Musume attempting styles that they would never really delve deeply into again, most significantly Shibuya-kei. An album that effortlessly breathed life in girls idol pop, and was a revolution of sorts in the genre. | | 12 |  | Zabadak
Hachimitsu Hakusho
Following 1997's decent "Life", Zabadak achieves yet another creative boom with "Hachimitsu Hakusho", an album that is pure magic. An album that is like the musical equivalent of drinking hot cocoa during a snowstorm in front of a fireplace. | | 13 |  | OOIOO
OOIOO
One of many, many side projects of Boredoms drummer Yoshimi P-We, OOIOO would go on to garner critical acclaim for its experimental, psychedelic nightmarish sound. But on their self-titled debut, up is down and logic is thrown out the window in a marvelous display of audial insanity. Unabashed insanity which to this day polarizes, which is the case for every Boredoms project. | | 14 |  | hide (JPN)
Ja, Zoo
When visual kei father hide passed away in May of 1998 at the young age of 33, the entire country of Japan was in disarray, particularly among the youth. Copycat suicides were done, and his funeral was one of the largest attended in the country's history. As grim as it is to say, his third solo album "Ja, Zoo" was poised for blockbuster success, and that it did, becoming easily his best selling solo album of the three. Its heavier sound and disputes as to whether "Ja, Zoo" was really completed before hide's untimely demise divide fans, but I'm of the camp that sees the album in a very positive light. Its overall aggressive sound kicks hard, while the album closing ballad (and one of the singles) "Hurry Go Round" is heavy hearted and cripplingly bittersweet. An album that is quite an emotional rollercoaster, especially when given the backstory behind it, but also a fitting farewell to a king. | | 15 |  | La'cryma Christi
Lhasa
By the time La'cryma Christi released their second full length "Lhasa", they were already one of the faces of the new wave of visual kei due to their impressive success. With "Lhasa", the band successfully established themselves as the highly advanced musicians that went far beyond the visual kei category. While it isn't exactly have the same knockout that was "Sculpture of Time", it does a great job at creating brilliant prog-pop soundscapes and firming La'cryma Christi's place in visual kei history as one of the all time true greats. | |
DadKungFu
10.23.22 | Sorry if you've answered this elsewhere, but where do you do your research/find this music? As always, mad respect for the effort, checked a few from your most recent list some was pretty good! | discovolante
10.25.22 | I'm glad to hear it, man! And here I thought I was writing these for myself XD. I'm a huge Japanese music stan, so I've been on the hunt for new stuff up my alley for over the past decade. Along the way, I sorta nerded out and learned a lot of band bios and histories lol. |
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