Japan's Quiet Life to get new vinyl and 3CD reissue

(Image credit: Fin Costello - Getty)

British 80-s art rockers Japan are to have their 1979 album Quiet Life reissued through BMG on March 5.

The new reissue new reissue features a brand new half-speed remaster of the original album, alternate mixes, b-sides, singles, rarities and live material including an audience recording of the sought after ‘lost’ Live at Budokan show from March 1980 previously only available as the 4 track EP Live in Japan. The release features newly restored original album artwork, exclusive new liner notes with a foreword by original producer, John Punter, rare and unseen photography and memorabilia.

Originally released in 1979 (and 1980 in some territories), Quiet Life, the band's third and final release for the Hansa label, saw them shift away from the glam rock of their first two albums Adolescent Sex and Obscure Alternatives (both 1978) to the more sophisticated art rock the band became famous for.

“It’s as if we discovered sophistication, subtlety and nuance overnight," says keyboard player Richard Barbieri. "A big change was that David started writing more on the piano and I think this produced stronger song material at that time. This lent itself towards more open and spacious sounding pieces and we started to understand about how to build arrangements.”

“It felt like a more accomplished body of work as a group of musicians who had begun to find a voice rather than simply proving the ability to write/play music," adds drummer Steve Jansen.

Pre-order Quiet Life.

Japan: Quite Life
LP & CD1
1. Quiet Life
2. Fall In Love With Me
3. Despair
4. In-Vogue
5. Halloween
6. All Tomorrow’s Parties
7. Alien
8. The Other Side Of Life

CD2: A QUIETER LIFE
ALTERNATIVE MIXES & RARITIES
1. European Son (Steve Nye 7” remix 1982)
2. Life In Tokyo (Steve Nye 7” special remix 1982)
3. Quiet Life (Original German 7” mix 1980)
4. I Second That Emotion (Steve Nye 7” remix 1982)
5. All Tomorrow’s Parties (Steve Nye 7” remix version 1983)
6. European Son (John Punter 12” mix 1980)
7. Life In Tokyo (Steve Nye 12” special remix version 1982)
8. I Second That Emotion (Steve Nye 12” remix version 1982)
9. All Tomorrow’s Parties (Steve Nye 12” remix version 1983)
10. European Son (Steve Nye 12” remix version 1982)
11. Quiet Life (Japanese 7” mix 1980)
12. A Foreign Place
13. All Tomorrow’s Parties (John Punter 7” mix 1979)
14. Life In Tokyo (Theme Giorgio Moroder version 1979)

Live In Japan EP
15.Deviation (Live In Japan)
16. Obscure alternatives (Live In Japan)
17. In-Vogue (Live In Japan)
18. Sometimes I Feel So Low (Live In Japan)

CD3: LIVE AT BUDOKAN 27/03/1980
1. Intro
2. Alien
3. ...Rhodesia
4. Quiet Life
5. Fall In Love With Me
6. Deviation
7. All Tomorrow’s Parties
8. Obscure Alternatives
9. In-Vogue
10. Life In Tokyo
11. Halloween
12. Sometimes I Feel So Low
13. Communist China
14. Adolescent Sex
15. I Second That Emotion
16. Automatic Gun

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.