Beauty [IMPORT]

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 1992)
• Original Release Date: 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Emd Int'l
• ASIN: B00000DR5W
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #164,941 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sakamoto at his peak, March 6, 2004

By	cupiemayo "cupiemayo" (Nowhere to Go) - See all my reviews

It is hard to define what kind of musician Ryuichi Sakamoto really is; his musical style has changed so much throughout his long career which started in 70s. Outside Japan, his native country, Sakamoto probably is best (yet barely) known for his much acclaimed film scores (e.g., The Last Emperor), but to me his most interesting work came during the late 80s and early 90s, when he began collaborating with authentic ethnic musicians from Okinawa, India, and so on.

This kind of music never gets played in radio, and I think it really is a shame. Those who really wish to expand their musical taste bud should actually start exploring stuff like this that never gets played even in college radio stations. Beauty offers music that is earthly yet sophisticated enough that any music lover with a taste for appreciating different kinds of "beauties" can find interesting --- it is no way "experimental" music that is often just another word for boring music. If anything, Beauty should have been the springboard for Sakamoto's career outside his native country --- too bad it did not work out that way. Yet, Sakamoto, to me, is one of the most creative musicians that came out during the unforgettable 80s. Beauty is the distillation of his creativity in his most prolific era, I think.

Another cool album, if you like this one, is Neo Geo --- where Sakamoto's ethnic fusion all started, I guess. While I personally think Neo Geo lacks the kind of sophistication that you can hear throughout in Beauty, it instead has that appeal of cutting-edge electronic music which came out in 80s.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beauty redefined., October 5, 2000

By	Kelvin S. Yew (Singapore Singapore) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A recent Benetton ad shows individuals of mixed racial origin and is captioned "why should any group hold the copyright to beauty?" This is the essence of Sakamoto's work.

Drawing from Okinawan influences a la Champloose Kina, Youssor N'Dour from Senegal, fretless bassist Pino Palladino (then with a portfolio of work ranging from Tears for Fears to Paul Young), Sly Dunbar and Arto Lindsay, Sakamoto eclectic blend of world music is a surprisingly cohesive whole.

From the brooding "Rose" and "Diabaram", to a remake of "We Love you" and the odd Okinawan folk song (Asadoya Yunta), this collection will pretty much attempt anything. This is much in contrast to the minimalist "1996" album (which might have resulted as a response to the excesses of this album). It is as though Sakamoto attempts to showcase his eclecticism.

The first two tracks ("Tokyo Calling" and "You Do Me"), are reminiscent of his earlier album, "Neo Geo". The background cast of Okinawan singers (now with the group Nenes), and the seemingly random bluesy vocal inflections from N'Dour is classic Sakamoto in composition: musical pop art. The atmospheric "Rose" is perhaps the best track on the album with Palladino's legato fretless lines holding the piece together, despite Sakamoto's average vocal attempts. "Diabaram" is N'Dour at his emotionally charged best.

My only gripe... there is something to be said of someone who titles his album "Beauty" and has an arty picture of himself on the front cover.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flavorful and Eclectic Japanese Pop..., February 13, 2001

By	Armando M. Mesa (Chandler, AZ) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The opening track You Do Me is faintly reminiscent of a Prince pop-dance number both in title and sound due to large part that lead vocals are supplied by Jill Jones (once a part of the Paisley One's list of protogees).Other tracks are quite simply eclectic and highly likeable or contagious. At times you're not sure if he's going for the whole nine yards of r&b/ hip-hop/club or is going to pull something grandiose in the tradition of a movie soundtrack or new age;He does them all effortlessly. There's even a hidden bonus track or shorter version of You Do Me at the end of the disc. The song Calling From Tokyo was actually featured on the soundtrack of Black Rain (Michael Douglas/Andy Garcia cop thriller which takes place in Japan).The only change was that it was titled Laser Man and was an instrumental with background singing only.For eclectic music collectors this is one of Sakamoto's more main stream projects that contains such diverse yet popular stylings or material.