X∞Multiplies
×∞Multiplies (増殖, Zōshoku, lit. "multiplication") was a mini-album and the third studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra released in 1980. It contains a mixture of songs and instrumentals by YMO (including a humorous reworking of Archie Bell & the Drells' "Tighten Up"), interspersed with comedy sketches. These sketches are performed by Snakeman Show in both Japanese and English, with YMO participating in some of them.
×∞Multiplies | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 5 June 1980 (10", Japan) | |||
Recorded | 1980 | |||
Studio | Alfa Studio “A”, The Studio Doo Wap | |||
Genre | Electronic, dance, electro-funk, experimental, art rock, new wave, synthpop, world, ska | |||
Length | 29:20 (Japanese version) 30:16 (American version) 36:33 (European version) | |||
Label | Alfa Records | |||
Producer |
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Yellow Magic Orchestra chronology | ||||
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Singles from ×∞Multiplies | ||||
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Reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Smash Hits | 5/10[2] |
Stereo Review | "Terrific"[3] |
Upon release, the US version was well received by the Stereo Review, which described the recording as "terrific" and the performance as "Techno-pop fun." The magazine stated that the "time is right" for the band's "highly technological blend of dance rhythms, heavy metal, and pop melodies" while noting that "Rydeen" in particular "sprints by at a fast clip, ticking off a sprightly tune against a continuous bass-and-drum texture," though the "more rock-style efforts" were not as well received, with the magazine stating that "YMO's electronic tricks" and "the rock sensibility just don't seem to mix."[3] AllMusic later reviewed the Japanese version, describing the record as a "bizarre album" and scoring it 2.5 out of 5 stars.[1]
Release history
×∞Multiplies was released in several formats worldwide. The original Japanese pressing came on 10" vinyl. The United States pressing compiled tracks from both this record and from Solid State Survivor, which had not been released there, while dropping the comedy sketches. The United Kingdom released ×∞Multiplies with additional tracks culled from Yellow Magic Orchestra. All re-issues from 2003 onward reverted to the original Japanese track list (the version with the American track list had been re-issued various times over the years until 1999, when both Japanese and American issues were remastered under Haruomi Hosono's supervision and each received a new set of liner notes--the Japanese by Fantastic Plastic Machine and the American by Derrick May).
The tracks differ slightly between the Japanese and US versions: In the original release Nice Age has an abrupt ending and other tracks crossfade between the Snakeman Show sketches; in the US version these have clean intros and endings and Jingle 'YMO' is listed as part of the Nice Age track.
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
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Japan | 5 June 1980 | Alfa Records | 10" LP | YMO-1 |
United States | 29 July 1980 | A&M Records | LP | SP4813 |
Japan | 5 September 1980 | Alfa | LP (as above US version, with obi) | ALR-28004 |
Track listing
Japanese version
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Jingle “Y.M.O.”" | Yellow Magic Orchestra | 0:21 | |
2. | "Nice Age" | Chris Mosdell | Yukihiro Takahashi, Ryuichi Sakamoto | 3:46 |
3. | "Snakeman Show: KDD" | 1:56 | ||
4. | "Tighten Up (Japanese Gentlemen Stand Up Please!)" | Billy Butler | Archie Bell | 3:41 |
5. | "Snakeman Show: Mister Ōhira" | 2:05 | ||
6. | "Here We Go Again ~ Tighten Up" | Butler | Bell | 1:07 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Snakeman Show: Koko wa Keisatsu Janai yo (ここは警察じゃないよ)" | 1:26 | ||
2. | "Citizens of Science" | Mosdell | Sakamoto | 4:29 |
3. | "Snakeman Show: Manpei Hayashiya (林家万平)" | 2:08 | ||
4. | "Multiplies" | Elmer Bernstein, YMO | 2:58 | |
5. | "Snakeman Show: Wakai Yamabiko (若い山彦)" | 3:44 | ||
6. | "The End of Asia" | Sakamoto | 1:32 |
American version
Some pressings included "Tighten Up" as the opening track for side one.
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Nice Age" | Mosdell | Takahashi, Sakamoto | 3:55 |
2. | "Behind the Mask" | Mosdell | Sakamoto[4] | 3:36 |
3. | "Rydeen" | Takahashi | 4:26 | |
4. | "Day Tripper" | Lennon–McCartney | Lennon–McCartney | 2:40 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Technopolis" | Sakamoto | 4:14 | |
2. | "Multiplies" | Elmer Bernstein | 2:58 | |
3. | "Citizens of Science" | Mosdell | Sakamoto | 4:29 |
4. | "Solid State Survivor" | Mosdell | Takahashi | 3:58 |
European version
On this pressing, the first "Snakeman Show" is actually "Jingle “Y.M.O.”", while the second "Snakeman Show" is the "Mister Ōhira" skit from the Japanese pressing.
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Technopolis" | Sakamoto | 4:14 | |
2. | "Absolute Ego Dance" | Haruomi Hosono | 4:37 | |
3. | "Behind the Mask" | Mosdell | Sakamoto[4] | 3:36 |
4. | "Computer Game 'Theme from The Circus" | YMO | 1:48 | |
5. | "Firecracker" | Martin Denny | 4:50 | |
6. | "Computer Game 'Theme from The Invader" | YMO | 0:43 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Snakeman Show" | 0:21 | ||
2. | "Nice Age" | Mosdell | Takahashi, Sakamoto | 3:46 |
3. | "Multiplies" | Bernstein, YMO | 2:58 | |
4. | "Snakeman Show" | 2:05 | ||
5. | "Citizens of Science" | Mosdell | Sakamoto | 4:29 |
6. | "Tighten Up (Japanese Gentlemen Stand Up Please!)" | Butler | Bell | 3:06 |
Personnel
- Yellow Magic Orchestra – arrangements, electronics, directors, mixing engineers
- Haruomi Hosono – bass, synth Bass, keyboards, production
- Ryuichi Sakamoto – keyboards
- Yukihiro Takahashi – vocals, drums, electronic drums, percussion, mannequin costume design
Snakeman Show – counterparts
- Moichi Kuwahara – voice on "Jingle “Y.M.O.”", script supervisor
- Katsuya Kobayashi – voice on "Tighten Up" & "Here We Go Again"
- Masato Ibu – voice on "Tighten Up" & "The End of Asia"
Guest musicians
- Hideki Matsutake – microcomposer programming
- Chris Mosdell – lyrics, voice on "Citizens of Science"
- Kenji Ōmura – electric guitar
- Sandii – vocals on "Nice Age"
- Mika Fukui – voice on "Nice Age"
- The Studio Doo Wap – script supervisors
Staff
- Shōrō Kawazoe – executive producer
- Mitsuo Koike – recording and mixing engineer
- Norio Yoshizawa, Atsushi Saito, Yasuhiko Terada & Michitaka Tanaka – recording engineers
- Takahisa Kamijyo – art director
- Kiichi Ichida (Cinq Art) – mannequin modeling
- Masayoshi Sukita – photography
US/Europe versions alternative staff
- Sakamoto – vocoded vocals, piano, electric piano, percussion, orchestration
- Makoto Ayukawa – electric guitar on "Day Tripper" and "Solid State Survivor"
- Sandii – vocals on "Absolute Ego Dance"
- Kunihiko Murai and Kawazoe – executive producers
- Yoshizawa – recording engineers, remix
- Saito & Koike – recording engineers
- Al Schmitt – mixing engineer
- Mike Reese – mastering engineer
- Shunsuke Miyasumi, Masako Hikasa & Akira Ikuta – recording coordinators
- Tommy LiPuma – supervisor
Charts
Year | Release | Chart | Peak Position |
Weeks | Total Sales |
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1980 | 10" LP | Japan Oricon LP Chart[5] | 1 | 24 | 331,000 |
1980 | Cassette | Japan Oricon CT Chart[5] | 3 | 30 | 81,000 |
1980 | 12" LP | Japan Oricon LP Chart[5] | 7 | 34 | 18,600 |
1980 | LP | U.S. Billboard 200[6] | 177 |
×∞Multiplies was the eighth best selling album of 1980 in Japan[7] – the best selling was Solid State Survivor as sales continued from the previous year.
References
- X∞Multiplies at AllMusic
- Hepworth, David. "Albums". Smash Hits (August 21 – September 3, 1980): 30.
- Stereo review, Volume 46. Stereo Review. 1981. p. 114. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- Takahashi was listed as a composer on earlier issues because Sakamoto wrote the song's melody in collaboration with him.
- "Yellow Magic Orchestra" (in Japanese). Yamachan Land (Oricon archives). Retrieved 2011-06-01. (Translation)
- Xoo Multiplies at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
- Archived May 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine