Casiopea (album)
| Casiopea | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 25, 1979 | |||
| Recorded | December 1978–March 1979 | |||
| Studio | Studio A, Tokyo Power Station, New York City | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion | |||
| Length | 36:28 | |||
| Label | Alfa | |||
| Producer |
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| Casiopea chronology | ||||
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Casiopea is the debut studio album by Japanese jazz fusion band Casiopea, released on May 25, 1979 by Alfa Records.
Recording and production
The album was recorded between December 1978 and March 1979 in Japan. It was the first album released by the group since their debut performance on EastWest '77.
Several notable American jazz musicians, such as The Brecker Brothers and David Sanborn, contributed to the album.
Cover art
The cover depicts two race cars battling on a circuit, possibly Fuji Speedway's hairpin turn.[1] The cars are late-1970s Group 6 sports prototypes from the Japanese Fuji Grand Champion Series, most likely a Lola T290 -Mazda[2] and a March 74S[3] from the 1978[4] and 1979[5] championships respectively.[6]
While the cover featuring two race cars is used on current releases, the original cover of the first pressing featured a picture of the band standing with pills falling in front of them. This release also had different pictures on the insert (the insert notes remained the same as later pressings) and a red circular label with yellow numbers on the left.[7] The 1980 reissue pressing features the same picture as the first pressing but with different circular label, this time featuring an Alfa Records logo on the right.[8]
The album is one of Casiopea's most famous, being their most streamed album on Spotify.
Track listing
All tracks were written and arranged by Issei Noro, except for horn arrangements by Jun Fukamachi and string arrangements by Hiroki Inui.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Time Limit" | 3:07 |
| 2. | "Tears of the Star" | 4:32 |
| 3. | "Space Road" | 5:14 |
| 4. | "Midnight Rendezvous" | 5:20 |
| Total length: | 18:13 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Far Away" | 3:55 |
| 2. | "Swallow" | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Dream Hill" | 5:39 |
| 4. | "Black Joke" | 4:17 |
| Total length: | 18:15 | |
Credits
Casiopea
- Issei Noro – Yamaha SG2000 electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals on "Dream Hill"
- Minoru Mukaiya – Fender Rhodes piano, acoustic piano, Yamaha SK-20, Yamaha Electone EX-1, vibraphone
- Tetsuo Sakurai – 1974 Natural Finish Fender Jazz bass guitar
- Takashi Sasaki – Drums
- Additional musicians
- Randy Brecker – trumpet on "Time Limit" and "Black Joke"
- Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone on "Time Limit," "Tears of the Star," and "Black Joke"
- David Sanborn – alto saxophone on "Time Limit" and "Black Joke"
- "Tomato Strings" ensemble – strings
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Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | May 25, 1979 | Alfa Records | 30 cm LP | ALR-6017 | stereo |
| December 21, 1986 | 12 cm CD | 32XA-104 | |||
| March 21, 1992 | ALCA-271 | ||||
| June 29, 1994 | ALCA-9001 | ||||
| July 23, 1998 | ALCA-9196 | ||||
| May 31, 2000 | Toshiba EMI | remastered 12 cm CD | TOCT-24364 | LP paper jacket | |
| December 19, 2001 | Village Records | VRCL-2201 | DSD, LP paper jacket | ||
| January 17, 2002 | VRCL-2221 | DSD | |||
| May 27, 2009 | Sony Music Direct | MHCL-20003 | DSD, Blu-spec CD, LP paper jacket | ||
| February 3, 2016 | Music download | 1076209054 | iTunes Store[9] | ||
| 4582290414218 | mora AAC-LC 320 kbit/s[10] | ||||
| A1003862605 | Recochoku AAC 128/320 kbit/s[11] | ||||
| B01B5AQMDC | Amazon.com[12] | ||||
| Bp5pyuaz4lfka3vcvx5ough23ra | Google Play Music[13] | ||||
| July 27, 2016 | 4582290418575 | mora DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit[14] | |||
| smj4582290418575 | e-onkyo DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit[15] | ||||
| 11180 | HD-music DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit[16] | ||||
| 4582290418568 | mora FLAC 96.0 kHz/24bit[17] | ||||
| A1004668200 | Recochoku FLAC 96.0 kHz/24bit[18] | ||||
| smj4582290418568 | e-onkyo FLAC 96 kHz 24bit[19] | ||||
| 11170 | HD-music FLAC 96 kHz/24bit[20] | ||||
| November 10, 2016 | 5ShaVOG8QHOltyWh5ZCxuB | Spotify[21] |
See also
References
- ^ the after hours (2024-03-22). "Casiopea — Casiopea". Medium (Blog). Retrieved 2024-10-31.
The cover depicts two racing cars engaged in a heated duel on the "Hairpin" curve of the Fuji Speedway.
- ^ "Lola T290 Mazda Grand Champion". Racecarwarehouse.co.uk. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
- ^ "マーチ７４Ｓ Ｂｍｗ". F1-web-gallery.sakura.ne.jp.
- ^ "Grand Champion Series 1978". Classiccars.com. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
- ^ "Grand Champion Series 1979". Classiccars.com. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
- ^ adhdel (2023-07-10). "Comment on r/whatisthiscar". Reddit. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
- ^ "Casiopea – Casiopea". Discogs. 25 May 1979. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
- ^ "Casiopea – Casiopea". Discogs. 1980. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Apple Inc. 25 May 1979. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". LevelGate Co., Ltd.. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". RecoChoku Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Amazon.com, Inc.. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Google Inc. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". LabelGate Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Onkyo & Pioneer Innovations Corporation. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". JVCKENWOOD Victor Entertainment Corporation. Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". LabelGate Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". RecoChoku Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Onkyo & Pioneer Innovations Corporation. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". JVCKENWOOD Victor Entertainment Corporation. Archived from the original on 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Spotify AB. 1979. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
External links
- CASIOPEA at Discogs
- CASIOPEA at MusicBrainz