Released August 5, 1970 Studio Aoi Studios Producer Masaki Hata Release date 5 August 1970 Genre Folk rock | Recorded April 9 – 12, 1970 Length 35:54 Artist Happy End Label URC | |
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The very best of happy end
Happy End (Japanese: はっぴいえんど, Hepburn: Happī Endo) is the self-titled debut album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End. Because their third album is also self-titled, although written in English, this first album is also known by the name "Yudemen" (ゆでめん) after the sign depicted in the cover art.
Contents
All the album's lyrics were written by Takashi Matsumoto, with the exception of "Tobenai Sora" (Haruomi Hosono) and "Ira Ira" (Eiichi Ohtaki). Five bonus tracks were added when the album was included in the March 31, 2004 Happy End Box set.
Happy end ayakashi no doubutuen 1970
Reception
This album marked an important turning point in Japanese music history, as it sparked what would be known as the "Japanese-language rock controversy" (日本語ロック論争, Nihongo Rokku Ronsō). There were highly publicized debates held between prominent figures in the Japanese rock industry, most notably the members of Happy End and Yuya Uchida, regarding whether Japanese rock music sung entirely in Japanese was sustainable (previously, almost all popular rock music in Japan was sung in English). The success of Happy End's debut album, as well as their following album Kazemachi Roman, proved the sustainability of Japanese-language rock in Japan.
Julian Cope, English musician and author of Japrocksampler, referred to 1970's Happy End as clearly the band's best work. Both Cope and HMV Japan noted similarities to work by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
The song "Shin Shin Shin" inspired the 2013 film of the same name.
Personnel
Songs
Haruyo Koi4:21
Teki Tanatos wo soukiseyo3:14
Ayakaichi no Doubutuen3:00