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Releases: Albums

Sweet Strange Live Disc

release date: August 12, 1998
company: Mercury/PolyGram
formats: CD (PHCL-5099)
initial price: ¥3059
goodies: ?

Tracklisting

Sexy Stream Liner (Imai/arranged by Imai and Kazutoshi Yokoyama)
Heroine (Sakurai/Imai)
Chouchou (Sakurai/Hoshino)
Kalavinka (Sakurai/Imai)
Sasayaki (Sakurai/Imai)
Rasenchu (Sakurai/Hoshino)
Tight Rope (Sakurai/Imai)
Chaos ~ Kirameki No Naka De (Sakurai/Imai)
My Fuckin' Valentine (Imai/Imai)
Lizard Skin No Shoujo (Imai/Imai)
Muchi No Namida (Sakurai/Imai)
Mienai Mono Wo Miyou To Suru Gokai Subete Gokai Da (Sakurai/Imai)
Kimi Ga Shin..dara (Sakurai/Imai)
Schiz•o Gensou (Sakurai/Imai)
Thanatos (Sakurai/Imai)
Candy (Sakurai/Imai)

Credits

Atsushi Sakurai: vocals
Hisashi Imai: guitars, noise & vocals
Hidehiko Hoshino: guitars & keyboards
Yutaka Higuchi: bass
Toll Yagami: drums

additional musicians:
Kazutoshi Yokoyama: special effects (manipulate, keyboards & noise)

produced by Buck-Tick

Buck-Tick Tour Crew:
tour manager: Tatsuya Yamanaka (Sogo)
stage producer: Yoshiharu "Komaru" Sasaki (Back-Up Project)
stage directors: Keizo Kotaki (Back-Up Project), Hitoshi Ebina (Back-Up Project), Mamoru Takao (Back-Up Project), Masashi Kondo (Back-Up Project)
stage carpenters: Takashi Maeyama (Shimizu Butai Kogei), Katsutoshi Miyaji (Shimizu Butai Kogei)
stage designer: Yusuke Miyazaki (Shimizu Butai Kogei)
lighting operators: Yoshiharu Horii (Barnstorm Network), Toshiyuki Suzuki (Barnstorm Network), Ryoichi Kishiue (Barnstorm Network)
moving light operators: Saori Kobayashi (Master Company), Chikara Abe (Master Company), Tatsuya Hagiwara (Master Company)
lighting effect: Katsumi Tanaka (Wonder Light)
sound engineers: Hiroshi Inoue (Hibino PA Division), Masanori Hirakawa (Hibino PA Division), Kengo Matsumoto (Hibino PA Division)
drum technician: Shigeo Azami
guitar technicians: Kazuyuki Arai, Katsuhiro Kubo, Kazutaka Minemori (Master Tone)
bass technician: Junya Satou (Moby Dick)
transportation: Yasuaki Yazaki (Trans World), Kazuyuki Hoshino (Trans World), Masaharu Yasui (Trans World), Yoshiyuki Abe (Trans World)
power supply: Masamichi Fujibe (ICC)
costume & styling: Tomoharu Yagi
hair & make-up: Takayuki Tanizaki (Fats Berry), Hisako Araki (Fats Berry), Ayumi Iwanaga (Fatts Berry), Hideaki Sakanoi (Fats Berry)
merchandising: Tetsuo Kihara (Sogo Publisher), Takashi Shiratori (Sogo Publisher), Kazunori Wagatsuma (Arte Cube)
concert promoter: Masato Kihara (Sogo)
security Mitsuaki Wagatsuma (Project Guard Service)
concert manager: Akira Tsutaoka (Sogo)

Live Recording Crew:
recorded & mixed by: Hitoshi Hiruma (Sound Sky Studio)
recorded at: Nihon Budokan (8th & 9th.May 1998)
live recording coordinator: Takeo Uchida (Tamco)
live recording operators: Takeshi Higuchi (Tamco), Keiichi Yamada (Tamco)
live recording assistants Koji Ito (Tamco), Chika Takakita (Tamco), Hiroaki Matsumoto (Tamco)
live recording mobile: Tamco Co., LTD.

mixed at: Sound Sky Studio
assistant engineers: Yasumasa Yamashita (Sound Sky Studio), Jiro Nakajima (Sound Sky Studio)
mastering engineer: Yasuji Maeda (Bernie Grundman Mastering)

art direction: Ken Sakaguchi
design: Tomoya Sakurai (Sakaguchi Ken Factory)
photography: Masa
A&R director: Hiroyuki Namiki (Mercury Music Entertainment)
artist promotion chief: Hisanori Kato (Mercury Music Entertaiment)
sales promotion chief: Koji Morishita (Mercury Music Entertainment)
artist managers: Satoshi Kayama (Banker), Taeko Nomura (Banker)
Buck-Tick Official Fan Club: Saori Yoshida (Fish Tank), Rie Aoyama (Fish Tank)
management desk: Toshiko Kashiwaya (Banker)
executive producer: Akira Terabayashi (Mercury Music Entertainment)

special thanks to: Greco, Fernandes, Ludwig, Moridaira Musical Instruments, Shimura Guitar Tech, Sogo Tokyo, Sogo Osaka, Flip Side, Flipside Utsunomiya, FOB, Kanazawa FOB, Nagano FOB, Niigata Wess, Takasaki Onkyo, Kiryu Onkyo, Sunday Folk Promotion, Sunday Folk Promotion Shizuoka, G-I-P, BEA, Kagoshima Onkyo, Greens Corporation, Duke Takamatsu, Duke Matsuyama, Candypromotion Okayama, Candypromotion Hiroshima, PM Agency, Now West One, 3AP, RPM Works, Process, Suda Seisakusyo, manFraiday [sic], Up-Field, Spooky, Fish Tank Club Member and all fan

[this page was last updated on 2022.03.12 @ 18:45:22 CST]

Notes

Ranked #17 on the album chart. 20,000 copies sold.

This is Buck-Tick's first live album, (11 years after their major debut), though they had already released a few live videos. It was recorded May 8 & 9, 1998 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. A live video under the title of Sweet Strange Live Film was also released.

The logo for this album, as displayed on the cover, was comprised of the letters S S L, the initials for the album title. This logo was first used for the album Sexy Stream Liner.

Differences between the album and the film:

the album does not include "Gessekai"
the video does not include "Tight Rope", "Chaos ~ Kirameki No Naka De", "Mienai Mono Wo Miyou To Suru Gokai Subete Gokai Da", and "Candy"

The booklet includes photos from the live show. The liner notes talk about choosing to put out a live album. What follows are the first lines translated by me, followed by a summary:

"When is the best timing to release a live album? The orthdox pattern would be to release 3-4 albums after debuting, then record at a club or hall as there are many bands that persue live recordings. If you release even 3-4 albums, you have 30-49 songs in stock to choose from. In a live situation, there will be some songs with mistakes, but you will have songs to choose from to replace them with. Also, on a tour there will be some trouble at various venues which you must recover from quickly..."

Then the liner notes go on to say that there are foreign bands who have existed for 20 years that decide to release an anniversary "Live at Budokan" album. There are also bands that have existed over 10 years that encounter lineup changes and release a live album that is similar to a "Best of" album. Then there are bands that put out 2 albums but have trouble putting out a third studio album and end up putting out a live album. Which pattern will Buck-Tick follow? This is not a case of timing after 3 or 4 albums, nor an extraordinary concert at Budokan; there have been no member changes and neither is this a cutoff/marked year for the band. The only thing left to think is that this is a pattern not yet encountered. Yes, like the fans and staff, Buck-Tick personally desired to release a live album; it was just that it was possible to release one with the most superb contents--a high pattern.

Continuing on with the liner notes...making their major debut in November 1987, it has been 11 years and Buck-Tick this is the first live album--hard to believe in the Japanese music scene. For live products, there is the live video Climax Together, recorded September 11 & 12, 1992 at Yokohama Arena. This release was not coupled with a CD or record. However, this time the recording has a video version as well. Then it is mentions that "Sexy Stream Liner" incorporated loops and sampling, broadening Buck-Tick's horizon. It also mentions the single "Sasayaki" with remixes by KMFDM's Gunter Schultz, Pig's Raymond Watts, and Love And Rockets's Daniel Ash. Then it goes on about the shows on May 8 & 9 at Budokan were not without trouble and the CD captures some of the magic.

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