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Michael Baryshnikov
Nov 9, 2021, 7:01:02 AM11/9/21
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Hello All!
Залиты диски Social_Tension:
(1989)_MacBethia
(1990)_It_Reminds_Me_Of_Those_Days
(2000)_It_Reminds_Me_Of_MacBethia
Дискограифя японских "эмерсона лейка и палмера".
За свою недолгую жизнь группа выпустила всего два диска, но каких!
Отличный "классик-рок", не совсем калька с ЭЛП, но практически - да.
Третий диск - это поздний ремастер первых двух в одном флаконе. Именно с него и
советую начинать.
ВЕСЬМА РЕКОМЕНДУЮ!
===
Social Tension biography
This Japanese progrock trio consisted of Nobuo 'Kodomo' Endoh (keyboards),
Masahiko Ota (bass) and Suguru 'Yataro' Iwasaki (drums). They released two
albums: "MacBethia" in '89 and "It Reminds Me of Those Days" from '90. In 2000
Made In Japans Records/Musea released the compilation CD "It Reminds Me of
MacBethia" containing their best work from the two studio-albums. SOCIAL
TENSION is the Japanese answer to early EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER.
Their first CD "MacBethia" is nothing less than "an ELP fan's wet dream",
keyboard player Endoh sounds like the second coming of Keith EMERSON with his
play on the Hammond and Minimoog. But he's not an ordinary clone and has more
to offer: lots of fine orchestrations, many modern sounds from his Yamaha -,
Korg - and Roland keyboards and the Mellotron (Keith EMERSON refuses to use
this instrument). The compositions (mainly instrumental) have many exciting
moments because of the spectacular Hammond runs and Minimoog flights and
swirling pianoplay, supported by a powerful rhythm-section. The highlight is
the epic titletrack, it sounds like "The best of early ELP"!. The second album
"It Reminds Me of Those Days" has a compelling titletrack (some beautiful
Mellotron eruptions) but most of the other tracks fail to generate the same
excitement as on the debut-CD. In fact it's a rather disappointing second
attempt (that's why most of the tracks are deleted on the compilation-CD).
(c) Erik Neuteboom, PA
===
MACBETHIA
(c) Review by progaeopteryx, PA
Social Tension is a Japanese keyboard-dominated trio led by Nobuo "Kodomo"
Endoh. If you're into ELP, this is a must have little-known masterpiece. Social
Tension's music shows a strong ELP influence with a nice blend of old and new
keyboards, including the Hammond organ, Moog, Mellotron, piano, harpsichord,
and digital synths. Although the ELP influence is quite obvious, I noticed
other styles such as Trespass-era Genesis, East European symph prog, and
Italian symph prog.
Macbethia starts off with the almost 13-minute long "Go On My Way." Of all the
songs off this album, this one shows the strongest ELP influences. The keyboard
playing is fantastic (as good as anything Emerson ever did), the bass is far
superior to Lake's playing, and the drummer, though not a Palmer clone, does a
great job. The vocals are in Japanese, but the song is primarily an
instrumental. This song is amazing with some strong Hammond playing. I note
some influences from Trespass-era Genesis and the overall feel is more
symphonic than ELP's material. I attribute that to the wonderful, lush
soundscapes.
The next three songs are shorter pieces. "Bolero" sounds a lot like East
European symph prog. "Inner Vision" has some ELP influences, but has some odd
sections with eerie key solos and a sort of spacey feel. Great song. "Wish for
the Time" is piano-based, slightly similar to a mix of ELP and Italian symph
prog. The piano solo section reminds me of Supertramp.
The final piece is the three-part title track. I can only guess that this was
inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth, but beyond that and my lack of knowledge of
Macbeth, plus my inability to read Japanese, I can't suggest anything else. The
first part, "Overture," has some amazing keyboard work, and is a good mixing of
ELP and East European symph prog influences. The second part, "On the Lake
Side," consists of nothing but strange, but beautiful keyboard soundscapes. It
kind of has a slight Eloy feel to it. Finally, the third part, also called
Macbethia, again is a beautiful work with strong ELP influences and a touch of
East European symph prog.
I really enjoyed this. I thought it was better than anything ELP had ever done.
It contains no filler, each song a wonderful experience. It is one the best
symph prog keyboard performances I have ever heard. I would not call Social
Tension a clone, but the influences are quite obvious. Easily five stars and
highly recommended, especially to ELP fans and symph prog lovers.
===
IT REMINDS ME OF THOSE DAYS
(c) Review by progaeopteryx, PA
Clearly, there are spelling issues with this group. I guess it's no fault of
the group, but most likely the translator didn't quite get it. It Remainds
[i.e. Reminds] Me of Those Days is the second and last album by keyboard power
trio Social Tension, led by the highly-skilled keyboard virtuoso Nobuo "Kodomo"
Endoh. I concluded that their debut Macbethia was a masterpiece. How does their
sophomore release compare? Well, it's not quite as good, one of the biggest
problems being that it is too short.
It starts off with "Evil Intention," a very odd song compared to their previous
output. It's radio-friendly and sounds like Deep Purple without guitars.
Imagine that. Still, I like it. The vocals are in Japanese and I don't find
this a distraction in the very least. It has some great bass playing by bassist
Masahiko Ota.
The second track is the most important piece of this album, the title track.
Note that the title track is also spelled wrong using "Remains" instead of
"Remainds" from the album title, of which both should be "Reminds." This track
has a combination of ELP and Genesis influences. The ELP influences are much
smaller than on their debut album. It contains an interesting section that
sounds like a psychedelic wipe-out complete with weird keyboard noodlings.
Other sections of the song contain some great keyboard and bass playing. The
bass work on this album is an improvement over their debut.
The rest of the album contains three short songs. "Childish Concerto" is a
short instrumental with some very exceptional keyboard work. Really nice stuff
here. "Waltz" doesn't have the energy of the previous tracks, but has a more
romantic feel to it from the flute-like keys and harpsichord. Social Tension
ends the album with the energetic instrumental "Out of March," containing some
great keyboard work and showing some ELP influences.
I would really like to give this something between four and five stars,
although I am leaning closer to four stars. It's not quite as good as Macbethia
and it's too short. On the flip side, the bass playing is better and they have
shed some of the obvious ELP influences. If it had only contained one more
10-minute or so energetic keyboard-dominated instrumental, I would have easily
given it five stars.
This was Social Tension's last album and that's too bad. They were really
coming into their own with this album, shedding the ELP influences and
developing a sound of their own. In 2000, a compilation called "It Reminds Me
of Macbethia" was released that contained the entire Macbethia album and the
two best tracks from this album. Their last studio release gets a well-deserved
four stars.
===
IT REMINDS ME OF MACBETHIA
(c) Review by erik neuteboom, PA
"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, ladies and gentlemen, ..
Social Tension!". Altough SOCIAL TENSION sounds like an 'ELP fan's wet dream',
they do not deserve to be described as just an ELP clone. Keyboard player Nobuo
'Kodomo' Endoh is a virtuosic but he has a more varied an refined sound than
Keith EMERSON, using synthesizers, organ, piano, harpsichord, strings,
classical orchestrations and ... Mellotron (Keith EMERSON refuses to play this
instrument, it would cause unemployment for classical musicians he used to
say). This CD is a compilation from the two albums "MacBethia" and "It reminds
Me Of Those Days", fortunately the record company has deleted the lacklustre
tracks from the second CD for this compilation. The result is a very impressive
tribute to the wonderful "Pictures../Trilogy" years: seven spectacular and
dynamic keyboard-driven symphonic rock compositions with bombastic keyboard
play and a powerful, very propulsive rhythm-section. Highlights are the two
'epic' title tracks with lots of breaks, changing of atmospheres and amazing
keyboards solos. Breathtaking!
===
Enjoy!
WBR, Michael Baryshnikov.
Залиты диски Social_Tension:
(1989)_MacBethia
(1990)_It_Reminds_Me_Of_Those_Days
(2000)_It_Reminds_Me_Of_MacBethia
Дискограифя японских "эмерсона лейка и палмера".
За свою недолгую жизнь группа выпустила всего два диска, но каких!
Отличный "классик-рок", не совсем калька с ЭЛП, но практически - да.
Третий диск - это поздний ремастер первых двух в одном флаконе. Именно с него и
советую начинать.
ВЕСЬМА РЕКОМЕНДУЮ!
===
Social Tension biography
This Japanese progrock trio consisted of Nobuo 'Kodomo' Endoh (keyboards),
Masahiko Ota (bass) and Suguru 'Yataro' Iwasaki (drums). They released two
albums: "MacBethia" in '89 and "It Reminds Me of Those Days" from '90. In 2000
Made In Japans Records/Musea released the compilation CD "It Reminds Me of
MacBethia" containing their best work from the two studio-albums. SOCIAL
TENSION is the Japanese answer to early EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER.
Their first CD "MacBethia" is nothing less than "an ELP fan's wet dream",
keyboard player Endoh sounds like the second coming of Keith EMERSON with his
play on the Hammond and Minimoog. But he's not an ordinary clone and has more
to offer: lots of fine orchestrations, many modern sounds from his Yamaha -,
Korg - and Roland keyboards and the Mellotron (Keith EMERSON refuses to use
this instrument). The compositions (mainly instrumental) have many exciting
moments because of the spectacular Hammond runs and Minimoog flights and
swirling pianoplay, supported by a powerful rhythm-section. The highlight is
the epic titletrack, it sounds like "The best of early ELP"!. The second album
"It Reminds Me of Those Days" has a compelling titletrack (some beautiful
Mellotron eruptions) but most of the other tracks fail to generate the same
excitement as on the debut-CD. In fact it's a rather disappointing second
attempt (that's why most of the tracks are deleted on the compilation-CD).
(c) Erik Neuteboom, PA
===
MACBETHIA
(c) Review by progaeopteryx, PA
Social Tension is a Japanese keyboard-dominated trio led by Nobuo "Kodomo"
Endoh. If you're into ELP, this is a must have little-known masterpiece. Social
Tension's music shows a strong ELP influence with a nice blend of old and new
keyboards, including the Hammond organ, Moog, Mellotron, piano, harpsichord,
and digital synths. Although the ELP influence is quite obvious, I noticed
other styles such as Trespass-era Genesis, East European symph prog, and
Italian symph prog.
Macbethia starts off with the almost 13-minute long "Go On My Way." Of all the
songs off this album, this one shows the strongest ELP influences. The keyboard
playing is fantastic (as good as anything Emerson ever did), the bass is far
superior to Lake's playing, and the drummer, though not a Palmer clone, does a
great job. The vocals are in Japanese, but the song is primarily an
instrumental. This song is amazing with some strong Hammond playing. I note
some influences from Trespass-era Genesis and the overall feel is more
symphonic than ELP's material. I attribute that to the wonderful, lush
soundscapes.
The next three songs are shorter pieces. "Bolero" sounds a lot like East
European symph prog. "Inner Vision" has some ELP influences, but has some odd
sections with eerie key solos and a sort of spacey feel. Great song. "Wish for
the Time" is piano-based, slightly similar to a mix of ELP and Italian symph
prog. The piano solo section reminds me of Supertramp.
The final piece is the three-part title track. I can only guess that this was
inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth, but beyond that and my lack of knowledge of
Macbeth, plus my inability to read Japanese, I can't suggest anything else. The
first part, "Overture," has some amazing keyboard work, and is a good mixing of
ELP and East European symph prog influences. The second part, "On the Lake
Side," consists of nothing but strange, but beautiful keyboard soundscapes. It
kind of has a slight Eloy feel to it. Finally, the third part, also called
Macbethia, again is a beautiful work with strong ELP influences and a touch of
East European symph prog.
I really enjoyed this. I thought it was better than anything ELP had ever done.
It contains no filler, each song a wonderful experience. It is one the best
symph prog keyboard performances I have ever heard. I would not call Social
Tension a clone, but the influences are quite obvious. Easily five stars and
highly recommended, especially to ELP fans and symph prog lovers.
===
IT REMINDS ME OF THOSE DAYS
(c) Review by progaeopteryx, PA
Clearly, there are spelling issues with this group. I guess it's no fault of
the group, but most likely the translator didn't quite get it. It Remainds
[i.e. Reminds] Me of Those Days is the second and last album by keyboard power
trio Social Tension, led by the highly-skilled keyboard virtuoso Nobuo "Kodomo"
Endoh. I concluded that their debut Macbethia was a masterpiece. How does their
sophomore release compare? Well, it's not quite as good, one of the biggest
problems being that it is too short.
It starts off with "Evil Intention," a very odd song compared to their previous
output. It's radio-friendly and sounds like Deep Purple without guitars.
Imagine that. Still, I like it. The vocals are in Japanese and I don't find
this a distraction in the very least. It has some great bass playing by bassist
Masahiko Ota.
The second track is the most important piece of this album, the title track.
Note that the title track is also spelled wrong using "Remains" instead of
"Remainds" from the album title, of which both should be "Reminds." This track
has a combination of ELP and Genesis influences. The ELP influences are much
smaller than on their debut album. It contains an interesting section that
sounds like a psychedelic wipe-out complete with weird keyboard noodlings.
Other sections of the song contain some great keyboard and bass playing. The
bass work on this album is an improvement over their debut.
The rest of the album contains three short songs. "Childish Concerto" is a
short instrumental with some very exceptional keyboard work. Really nice stuff
here. "Waltz" doesn't have the energy of the previous tracks, but has a more
romantic feel to it from the flute-like keys and harpsichord. Social Tension
ends the album with the energetic instrumental "Out of March," containing some
great keyboard work and showing some ELP influences.
I would really like to give this something between four and five stars,
although I am leaning closer to four stars. It's not quite as good as Macbethia
and it's too short. On the flip side, the bass playing is better and they have
shed some of the obvious ELP influences. If it had only contained one more
10-minute or so energetic keyboard-dominated instrumental, I would have easily
given it five stars.
This was Social Tension's last album and that's too bad. They were really
coming into their own with this album, shedding the ELP influences and
developing a sound of their own. In 2000, a compilation called "It Reminds Me
of Macbethia" was released that contained the entire Macbethia album and the
two best tracks from this album. Their last studio release gets a well-deserved
four stars.
===
IT REMINDS ME OF MACBETHIA
(c) Review by erik neuteboom, PA
"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, ladies and gentlemen, ..
Social Tension!". Altough SOCIAL TENSION sounds like an 'ELP fan's wet dream',
they do not deserve to be described as just an ELP clone. Keyboard player Nobuo
'Kodomo' Endoh is a virtuosic but he has a more varied an refined sound than
Keith EMERSON, using synthesizers, organ, piano, harpsichord, strings,
classical orchestrations and ... Mellotron (Keith EMERSON refuses to play this
instrument, it would cause unemployment for classical musicians he used to
say). This CD is a compilation from the two albums "MacBethia" and "It reminds
Me Of Those Days", fortunately the record company has deleted the lacklustre
tracks from the second CD for this compilation. The result is a very impressive
tribute to the wonderful "Pictures../Trilogy" years: seven spectacular and
dynamic keyboard-driven symphonic rock compositions with bombastic keyboard
play and a powerful, very propulsive rhythm-section. Highlights are the two
'epic' title tracks with lots of breaks, changing of atmospheres and amazing
keyboards solos. Breathtaking!
===
Enjoy!
WBR, Michael Baryshnikov.
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