Playboy & Playgirl [Import]

Pizzicato 5 | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 13, 1998)
• Format: Import
• Label: Pid
• ASIN: B00000AE4M
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #990,659 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars P-5's Latest Album amusing, but not the most memorable..., December 7, 1998

By 

Anthonio Mighel Bishop Pettit (Mount Vernon, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playboy & Playgirl (Audio CD)

Pizzicato Five's Latest excursion, "International Playboy Playgirl Record" will probably not go down as their most inspired album, but for hard-core fans, this is a must have. There is a sort of international, airport-y flavour tieing the album together which can probably be attributed to the previous year's world tour. Musically, there are very few new tricks - a few more instances of moog than previously heard, but overall the songs tend to blend together. Many of the songs are kind very poppy and less exotic than previous releases. A few of the highlights include track three, The International Pizzicato Five Mansion, which allows the listener a tour of life at Readymade Records etc., Fushugi no Futatsu (Magic Twin Candle Tale) is a dream-like fairy tale with soothing cartoon like use of harpsichord and whispering, and of course, the title track, Playboy / Playgirl which is destined to go down as the 'keeper' track from this album. It is a fast-paced high-energy number quite possibly the calibre of 'Twiggy Twiggy' and other big hits. Other points of notes include the danceable The Great Invitations and The brasilian-esque fusion piece Drinking Wine. Also included are the incorporations of songs previously released as singles in Japan such as Concerto, Weekend, and a brilliant scaled-back version of I hear a Symphony. While not the most memorable musically, the packaging alone is worth the hefty import price tag. Konishi and crew have pulled out all stops with the first release of this album, packaging the cd in a larger-than-standard package literally crammed with a virtual press-kit of Pizzicato-abilia. There are photos and postcards and a crossword puzzle making you wonder if there is actually a cd to be found inside. Any true fan would not want to be caught without the complete package. In summary - buy the album for the kitchy-ness collectability, but be prepared to wait for the songs to 'grow' on you... There is talk of an eventual release on Pizzicato Five's U.S. Label Matador, but the wait could be awhile - also I wouldn't count on having anywhere near as elebourate packaging - However, unfortunately, I don't see this album as having too much popularity outside of Shibuya, Tokyo - let alone in the United States...

Regards,

Anthonio Mighuel Bishop Pettit Washington State #1 Pizzicatomaniac