First Finale

First Finale (Japanese: ファースト・フィナーレ; stylized as FIRST FINALE) is the fifth and final studio album by Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe, released by VAP on December 11, 1985, shortly before their breakup on December 24. Then album peaked at the #1 spot of the Oricon charts[2], and the album's single, "Glass No Palm Tree," peaked at #5.[2][3]

First Finale
Studio album by Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe
Released	December 11, 1985 (1985-12-11)
Recorded	August 12, 1985 - November 29, 1985
Studio	Nichion Victor Aoyama Sound Inn Two Two One Studio Sky Studio Hawaii
Genre	City pop · synth-pop · kayōkyoku[1]
Label	VAP
Producer	Koichi Fujita
Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe chronology
Single's History (1985) First Finale (1985) Live Emotion (1986)
Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe studio album chronology
Another Summer (1984) First Finale (1985)
Singles from First Finale
"Glass No Palm Tree" Released: November 7, 1985

Background

At the end of 1985, the group decided to have a "developmental dissolution." The best album Single's History was scheduled to be the last album, but at the suggestion of Tetsuji Hayashi, it was decided that they would make another album. The title was also given by Hayashi.[lower-alpha 1] In addition, Yasushi Akimoto, who has provided many lyrics since the debut in the lyrics, did not participate in this work, while producer Koichi Fujita did. Also, in the arrangement, Masanori Sasaji, who will later work on Sugiyama's solo work, also participated.

During the group's last tour of the same name from October 4th to December 24, no song from this album was played.[4] This is because the production of the album was parallel to the tour, and they couldn't get the time to rehearse.[5] After that, "Glass No Palm Tree" and "First Finale" were played at the 2004 reunion tour "First Finale 2". Also, "Kimi Wa In The Rain" has been featured many times in Sugiyama's solo performances.

Like with their previous album, Another Summer, First Finale reached the #1 spot, recording the largest sales. It was also ranked 6th on the 1986 annual album chart.

Many best albums have been released since this work, and the best album The Omega Tribe, selected by the members, was released at the time of the reunion in 2004, but no new song under the name "Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe". From September 2016, it is available on MEG-CD.

The portrait of the back jacket is a photo selected from the photos solicited from the public.

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"Glass No Palm Tree (ガラスのPalm Tree)"	Chinfa Kang	Tetsuji Hayashi	Tetsuji Hayashi	4:30
2.	"Yunagi Tsushin (タ凪通信)"	Kiyotaka Sasaki	Shinji Takashima	Ken Shiguma	4:37
3.	"November Blue"	Masako Arikawa	Kiyotaka Sugiyama	Masanori Sasaji	4:34
4.	"Remember The Brightness"	Kumiko Aoki	Kiyotaka Sugiyama	Ken Shiguma	4:31
5.	"Kiri No Down Town (霧のDown Town)"	Koichi Fujita	Shinji Takashima	Ken Shiguma	4:56

Side B

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"Platonic Dancer"	Kumiko Aoki	Tetsuji Hayashi	Tetsuji Hayashi	4:56
2.	"Nidome No Eve ( 二度目のイヴ)"	Masako Arikawa	Tetsuji Hayashi	Tetsuji Hayashi	4:55
3.	"Kimi Wa In The Rain ( 君はIn The Rain)"	Masako Arikawa	Kiyotaka Sugiyama	Masanori Sasaji	4:32
4.	"First Finale"	Masako Arikawa	Tetsuji Hayashi	Tetsuji Hayashi	4:45

Personnel

• Bass – Takao Oshima[lower-alpha 2]
  
• Session Coordinator – Nicky Enterprises, Velvet Line
  
• Design – Rikaco Furuya, Takeharu Tanaka
  
• Directors – Ken Shiguma, Shigeru Matsuhashi
  
• Drums & Percussion – Keiichi Hiroshi
  
• Digital Editor – Kenji Takeda
  
• Overdubbing Engineers – Hiroshi Fujita, Jun Wakao, Tatsuo Sekine, Yoshiaki Matsuoka
  
• Second Engineers – Hiroshi Shitamiya, Junichi Fujimori, Kazuyoshi Inoue, Mizuo Miura, Toshio Misu, Yoshiyuki Kaneko
  
• Executive-Producer – Atsushi Kitamura, Katsuhiko Endo
• Guitar – Shinji Takashima[lower-alpha 2]
  
• Keyboards – Toshitsugu Nishihara[lower-alpha 2]
  
• Lacquer Cut By – Osamu Shimoju
  
• Artist Management – Triangle Production
  
• Photography – Kohga Sekido (Front cover), Yukiya Negami (Back cover)
  
• Producer – Koichi Fujita
  
• Recorded By, Mixed By – Kunihiko "Jr." Shimizu
  
• Supervised By – Tetsuji Hayashi
  
• Vocals – Kiyotaka Sugiyama
  

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Oricon[2][6][7][8]	1

References

1. "S. Kiyotaka & Omega Tribe = 杉山清貴&オメガトライブ* – First Finale". Discogs.
2. "Hits of the World". Billboard. December 28, 1985. p. 78. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
3. "Hits of the World". Billboard. December 21, 1985. p. 55. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
4. "Island afternoon – Kiyotaka Sugiyama Official Website".
5. "Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe Original Album 5 titles 2016.8.3 High resolution distribution start" (in Japanese). August 3, 2016.
6. "Hits of the World". Billboard. January 25, 1986. p. 61. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
7. "Hits of the World". Billboard. January 18, 1986. p. 53. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
8. "Hits of the World". Billboard. January 18, 1986. p. 53. Retrieved May 29, 2020.

1. From two episodes of "Message" on the website "Samurai Music" (now Hayashi's official website). In both episodes, Hayashi has confirmed this on the website. Since 2012, the episodes cannot be viewed.
2. Also sang chorus