Exorcising Ghosts

Product Information

Not sure if this just applies to later batches as couldn't find anyone else commenting about warped vinyl. I used to have this on vinyl and it includes all their best known material from 'Quiet Life', 'Ghosts' and 'Night Porter' to the less familiar but equally brilliant 'Other Side of Life'. The LPs are housed in a gatefold sleeve with printed inner bags, a print of the band, the all important Abbey Road half-speed master certificate, and a cover-empathetic obi strip.

It features three recordings from the band's early career on the Hansa Records label (such as 1979's Quiet Life) but mainly focuses on material from their two studio albums on Virgin Records; Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) and Tin Drum (1981). David Sylvian and Mick Karn etc produced some great songs during their time together and this CD encapsulates that period brilliantly. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Exorcising Ghosts was compiled and produced in consultation with lead singer David Sylvian two years after Japan dissolved. The print, has been made from a high-resolution scan of the original 5” x 4” colour transparency of the actual painting used for the album’s cover.

Mastering on LP1 was warm but a bit murky (vocals), however the instrumentation definitely did seem crisper and more detailed - just a shame neither copy were playable throughout. It's also for me really worth having for the both sides of the pre-Tin Drum 12" Art of Parties single, with Life Without Buildings b-side (one of their finest tracks for me) that has never been re-issued. This career spanning ‘Best of’ features three recordings from the band’s early career on the Hansa Records label (including 1979’s Quiet Life) but mainly focuses on material from their two seminal studio albums on Virgin Records; Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) and Tin Drum (1981). Seven years after the release of Exorcising Ghosts, Japan recorded a new studio album, but under the new moniker Rain Tree Crow. Exorcising Ghosts is a compilation album by the British band Japan, released in November 1984 by record label Virgin.

This new 2022 pressing is really excellent - there's detail I can hear that I have never heard before.This career spanning ‘Best of’ features three recordings from the band’s early career on the Hansa Records label (including 1979’s “Quiet Life”) but mainly focuses on material from their two seminal studio albums on Virgin Records; Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) and Tin Drum (1981). Limited edition print of the complete mixed media painting made for use on the gatefold album cover of Japan’s compilation double album Exorcising Ghosts (1984). And while I was always a bit dismissive of this compilation because I had all of the tracks, listening to it now, it's really well sequenced - it flows really well. It’s notable for a few song variations, including the 1981 remix of ‘Taking Islands in Africa’ and the extended version of ‘The Art of Parties’. As to fit the album onto a single disc, the original CD release omitted five of the sixteen tracks; "Swing", "A Foreign Place", "Taking Islands in Africa", "Sons of Pioneers" and "Voices Raised in Welcome, Hands Held in Prayer".