Customer Reviews

Made In Japan

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I heard a few months ago that Deep Forest was going to release a live Cd I was surprised. One would think this studio mastered group combining world beats with dance grooves might not be able to pull off a live album. Prepare to be surprised!

The CD combines their most popular songs from the preceeding three albums. Performing with Deep Forest are several singers from various backgrounds. This is a very beautiful CD and relaxing too. If you want a great CD and are new to the World beat realm pick up a copy. I think you will enjoy this CD.

A couple of years ago, Deep Forest toured through my area, and I thought that a live concert by a band whose music is built almost entirely on samples an sequencers seemed a bit pointless. Next time Deep Forest comes my way, I won't make the same mistake. This album is nothing less than brilliant. Each song is completely reinterpreted, with live vocals and gorgeous instrumentation. They walk a delicate line between making these reinterpretations pointless and making them completely unrecognizable, and they do it with uncommon grace. Every track sounds fresh, the album has an unlikely consistency considering the differences between the albums from which the original songs are culled, and the production on the entire disc is perfect. When most bands who try their hands at live recording fall flat on their faces, the best concert album I've ever heard has come from an unlikely source.

I'm not too much into live albums. In general, I am more into the studio recorded albums than I am into live albums and I hate the redundant clapping and shouting but Made In Japan is a HUGE exception. They actually improved the songs!

Many of the songs on here while they sound good on their parent albums sound greatly improved especially those from the Comparsa albums. Green & Blue in it's parent album sounds good but the live version on Made In Japan sounds absolutely incredible! I especially love the live versions of Deep Weather, The Hunter and their internation smash hit Sweet Lullaby. While the original version has a sort of danceable beat the live version on this CD to me is better. It's great to hear their older songs given different drum loops with Sweet Lullaby being the prime example. In fact I like the live version alot more with the beats sounding a bit more original. The more complex sound of Sweet Lullaby magnifies that tracks power.

The musicianship is absolutely incredible. Forest Power is just plain breathtaking with fusions of rock, world, pop, jazz, funk and New Age all melted together.

While I don't really recommend live albums that much Made In Japan however I have to say is a must have.

I at first wasn't going to get this cd because normally I hate live music, with people clapping and stuff. That and I already had all the other Deep Forest cds so I was like "Why bother buying one that has no new songs?" I finally got a chance to listen to it at a store and I was amazed. Talk about different! The songs are wonderfully remastered to sound good at a live concert. Plus, I have to argue with people who say they didn't get the same people to sing. These ARE the voices you hear on all their other albums. I found many of the tracks to be a lot more enjoyable on this cd than on the original that they came from. If you like Deep Forest, and you want something to make you smile and dance, this is the cd for you!

This is the best single CD out by Deep Forest. All the tracks are live, and it is completely different. Some might not like the different variations of the live tracks, but I certainly do. This is a really excellent, relaxing, inspirational CD. If you are a Deep Forest fan, you'll love it. If you are new to Deep Forest, this would make a great first-time CD. It's got most of their hits on it, but most importantly, it's LIVE!

I never thought Deep Forest could ever pull off a live album, because of all the technology used in their music. Boy, was I wrong. This CD shows how versitile they are. I love it. Great for chillin' out.

This is very refreshing. I picked up on this group on the new age channel of Real Player. There's four cuts that I particularly love, the first three and then Sweet Lullaby. Very upbeat and happy as opposed to Enigma's inspirational sound. An impressive melding of African Music and the best of Western Pop. Give it a chance and you'll love it.

I find this album unlistenable. As someone who enjoys the first album (Deep Forest), and even parts of the second (Boheme), but detests the third (Comparsa), I had my doubts before listening to "Made in Japan." Unfortunately, these doubts were well founded.

Most of Deep Forest's appeal comes from their meticulous manipulation of samples and the rich, spacious atmosphere of their recordings. This live album strips away all of that, leaving behind mere skeletons of the original songs.

The vocal samples (which are the most fun part of DF's albums) are replaced by live people who cannot replicate the exotic otherworldly-ness of the originals.

The result is a painful hodgepodge of keyboard noodling and cheerful-but-awful imitations of DF's original tracks. Sad but true.

Very well recorded with some brilliant performances all around. I did not know what to expect initially, since the DF sound seems to be primarily sample based, sequenced and synthetic. The vocal performances are breathtaking. Also, it never hurts to have a terrific kit drummer on hand. The song arrangements are done well and it turns out that the music lends itself particularly well to live performances.
Apparently, there are people who do not understand that bands do tend to perform live at times - and when they do, they generally perform songs in their personal repertoire. That there are songs from other Deep Forest albums here should not come as a big surprise. The surprising part is how much energy is infused into their music as the result of performing live. It's some big noise. There is plenty of applause and shouting as there should be - one of the best parts about live performances is hearing the crowd's reaction to the music as it is taking place. That's why we have audience mics running into the board.
Anyhow, this my personal favorite from Deep Forest. The studio stuff is brilliant, but sounds quantized next to this album with its live vocalists and the band grooving to a smoking kit drummmer. Enjoy and bear in mind that it hasn't been all that long that human beings have been able to go back and listen to a performance that occurred in the past.

This is my first review at Amazon ever, and that's just because i love this album. It's so trong and emotional, makes me laugh and cry. It's just so beautiful! The performance is very genuine, they seemed to have a good time that evening in Japan. I like this recoding better then the studio recordings.