Buck-Tick Zone

Original Titles in Japanese

Makka Na Yoru

Umbrella

Katte Ni Shiyagare

Suzumebachi

Serenade - Itoshi No Umbrella

Tenshi Wa Dare Da

Titles Translated

Makka Na Yoru - "A Dark Reddish Night" or "Deep Red Night"

Katte Ni Shiyagare - "To Hell With You". This phrase is hard to translate exactly, just know that it's rude. To do something katte means to do as you please but often in a way that is against others or the norm so more literally it's akin to "do what you want". To use existing lyrics, I think you could translate from as nice a phrase as "Do as you please" (You're My Disease) to as rude as "Go fuck yourself!" (Nakayubi). To look at past pop cultural translations as a refrence point, perhaps the most relevant is the album "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" by the Sex Pistols which was translated as "Katte Ni Shiyagare" in Japan. The 1960 French film À Bout de Souffle (known as "Breathless" in the English-speaking market) was known as Katte Ni Shiyagare in Japan but this is back when many film titles were released as something entirely different in Japan.

Suzumebachi - a type of insect, literally "sparrow bee", but may be called a vespine wasp, hornet, or yellow jacket in English. These are eaten in some parts of Japan as a delicacy.

Serenade - Itoshi No Umbrella - "Serenade - My Beloved Umbrella"

Tenshi Wa Dare Da - "Who is the Angel?!"

Notes

Ranked #7 on the album chart. ? copies sold.

The singles released from this album were "Heaven" and "Galaxy". Both singles charted in the top 10. Buck-Tick has not had multiple singles chart in the top 10 since Six/Nine (1995).

Label director/producer Junichi Tanaka was fully back in the picture with this album after a 9 year absence. He has had a hand in most of the band's career, especially when they were signed to Victor/Invitation. Prior to this, the last album he worked on was Cosmos. Inbetween, he had a hand with Atsushi's solo project and Hisashi's side project Lucy.

"Memento Mori" is a Latin phrase that is often translated as "remember your mortality", "remember you must die", or "remember you will die". It is associated with art that reminds humans of their mortality. Hisashi wrote the words and music for the title track. The lyrics contain the lines "Love and Death, ai to shi, deai to wakare" (love and death, encounters and parting) and "Remember to die". Hisashi may have chosen to explore this theme as he was forced to contemplate his own mortality when he learned the year before in 2008, when the album was recorded, that a close friend since childhood was diagnosed with cancer and wasn't given much time to live. That friend passed away a few months after the album's release. He has also said in an interview, when asked about the title's meaning, that "even if you do [say] nothing, tomorrow will happen regardless so why not just live life looking forward." Separately, around the same time Atsushi's brother was also diagnosed with cancer but he lived through it with treatment.

The lyrics to "Les Enfants Terribles" contains the words "no no boy", which was a Buck-Tick song from the 1987 indie album Hurry Up Mode. The song also contains the words "go go girl", which would be a nice companion song one day.

The original title of "Jonathan Jet-Coaster" was "Driver."

The song "Lullaby-III" is obviously continuing the "Lullaby" series from the Juusankai Wa Gekkou album, which contains the song "Lullaby II". The first "Lullaby" song has never been released, much like the first "Plastic Syndrome" song has never been released, but parts II and III were on separate albums.

Satoshi Mishiba provided hammond organ and pianoforte for "Katte Ni Shiyagare" and "Message". He is best known as the keyboardist of Kinniku Shoujo-tai in the late 80s (first 2 major albums).

Yuiko Tsubokura provided backing chorus for "Message". She is best known for being one of the singers in B.B. Queens who debuted with their hit song "Odoru Ponpokorin" which was used as the ending theme song for the cartoon show "Chibi Maruko-chan".

This is the 3rd Buck-Tick album to have the last song be a single and the second where said single was recorded and released before the album was.

This is the 2nd album that they recorded at Prime Sound Studio Form. This is the first album that they recorded at Galva Studio.

This is the 11th album to be engineered by Hitoshi Hiruma.

The album was mastered by Ian Cooper of Metropolis Mastering Studios. Ian is a Grammy-award winning mastering engineer who has worked with David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Cure, Elton John, Kate Bush, Bob Marley, Tina Turner, Placebo, Tomoyasu Hotei, etc. He retired a few years after working on this album.

There was a contest to send in the proof of purchase for the album and 50 would win a 2008 Budokan live concert photo panel. Contest ended March 2009. The other side of the proof of purchase paper listed the dates for "Memento Mori Tour".

Booklet Images

group

Atsushi

Hisashi

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U-ta

Toll

Photocards

Atsushi

Hisashi

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U-ta

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Recording Documentary Video Stills

group

Atsushi

Hisashi

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U-ta

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Music Video Stills

Galaxy

Heaven