BTTB

Ryuichi Sakamoto | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 1, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00004KH9J
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,102 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Energy Flow

2. Put Your Hands Up [Piano Version]

3. Railroad Man [Piano Version]

4. Opus

5. Sonatine

6. Intermezzo

7. Lorenz and Watson

8. Choral No. 1

9. Choral No. 2

10. Bachata

11. Chanson

12. Prelude

13. BTTB (Back to the Basics) for solo piano (metawork): Uetax

14. Aqua

15. Tong Poo

16. Reversing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to "Back to the Basics", March 6, 2002

By 

A. Rue (Kansas City, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: BTTB (Audio CD)

It's somewhat difficult to describe the impression "BTTB" made when I first listened to the album nearly two years ago, but in the very least I can say this: it was, at the time, my single inspiration for learning the piano and proved an accessible gateway into the music of Romantic and Contemporary Classical. For this reason alone I'm deeply indebted to Sakamoto. Yet rather than persuade with articulated opinions....

"BTTB" is nearly a tribute album to Sakamoto's classical influences. Erik Satie, perhaps the single most influential composer on Sakamoto's piano style, can be heard all over the album. Most noticeably on the very French-like "Opus," "Lorenz and Watson," "Chanson," and the nearly Bach-like Chorales. John Cage is also emulated more conspicuously on the album's prepared piano pieces (particularly "Sonata," which sounds very much like Cage's fifth sonata for prepared piano which, as coincidence would also have it, was sampled on David Sylvian's "Pollen Path" from "Dead Bees on a Cake" featuring Sakamoto). But two Romantic composers seem to be more carefully hinted at: a tilt of the hat to Brahms on the beautiful "Intermezzo" and towards Ravel on the challenging "Sonatine" and "Bachata." Yet Sakamoto draws no more heavily from his classical influences than his own output. "Energy Flow," "Put Your Hands Up," and "Railroad Man" are new piano arrangements of recent commercial compositions and are all uniquely Sakamoto, except perhaps for "Aqua," a simple piece originally composed for his daughter Miu's album, but no less beautiful than the more sophisticated compositions. "Snake Eyes," the main theme for the film of the same title, was also recorded as bonus material along with the playful YMO fanfare "Tong Poo," here in a new two-handed piano four-hands arrangement courtesy of a little computer processing. And the too often over-looked "Reversing," a unique track to the otherwise castrated international release, is in my opinion a hidden gym.

It's also worth mentioning a little more clearly the differences between the numerous versions of "BTTB." The album was originally released in Japan sans "Energy Flow," "Put Your Hands Up," and "Railroad Man" (which were released separately on the enormously successful EP "ura-BTTB") and featured several tracks not included on the international release: "Distant Echo," "Do Bacteria Sleep?", which features, oddly enough for a piano album, a Mongolian mouth harp, and the prepared piano piece "Sonata." "Snake Eyes" and "Tong Poo" were later included as bonus tracks on the Japanese reissue. For fans of Sakamoto's music, I would recommend buying the import "BTTB" featuring the bonus tracks along with "Ura-BTTB," but you very well might want the international release for "Reversing" alone. Yes, that is how they get you.... Oh, and "Choral No. 3" can be heard in Sakamoto's opera, so I also recommend any of the many, many releases of "Life." Otherwise, the international release provides a decent "best of" from the wealth of piano music either originally composed or arranged for the album.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As simple as a flower, April 26, 2000

By 

hosono98 (privacy, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: BTTB (Audio CD)

As far from "simple impressionist-inspired piano ditties that often sound more like diluted Vangelis" as possible, with 'BTTB' Ryuichi Sakamoto has released a simply beautiful album illustrating the many different voices of his beloved "pet", the piano. At times part Satie, Debussy and Ravel and other times part Cage and Eno the largest part of this album remains Sakamoto himself. The majority of this album could certainly be enjoyed as "relaxing background music" but to do so would be to miss the point, to miss the purity of 'Opus', the calm of 'Energy Flow' or the depth of 'Distant Echo'. Buy this album and listen.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great piano solo album, from a great musician, April 13, 2001

By 

Chad A. Lauterbach "chadl2" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: BTTB (Audio CD)

Ryuichi Sakamoto has written some great film scores in his time, and from his solo works come a collage of music styles. His mastery of the piano shows its face in some songs, and is amiss in others, but each piece still has a mellow beauty to it. This is not a shocking piece, nor is it extremely exciting. Energy flow is definitely worth a listen though, and it's likely the best song on the CD. If you are new to Ryuichi Sakamoto I would recommend first buying his CD "1996" first. His compositions combined with the strings on that CD are heart stopping, and nothing short of amazing. This CD left me unsatisfied because I know what he is capable of, but his genius shown threw a few times, which is still enough to justify the album to me.