1986 Omega Tribe -- Crystal Night (album)

 

Last night, I was listening to one of the fine albums that KKP contributor JTM had been kind enough to gift me over the years, and one was 1986 Omega Tribe's（1986オメガトライブ）"Crystal Night".

The album was the second one under the 1986 Omega Tribe name released in February 1987, and yep it was a good album to warm up folks in winter of that year. Of course, included on the release was the title track "Crystal Night", a really downtown City Pop tune with that Omega Tribe taste that I'd already written about back in 2017. In fact, I also provided my articles on a couple of other tracks from "Crystal Night": "Indian Summer" and the single "Super Chance". So I gather that I will be doing some clean-up here.

Arrangement for the tracks was handled by both Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）and Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）, as we begin with the first track "Counterlight", a bouncy dance-pop tune written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）and composed by Omega Tribe keyboardist Toshitsugu Nishihara（西原俊次）and sung by Carlos Toshiki（カルロス・トシキ）. There seems to be some major tension building within what could be the end of a relationship although the music promises that it will be one of the coolest and maybe coldest breakups.

"Lady Free" comes across as if Omega Tribe had wanted to launch more on the rock side of AOR with that thrumming intro but when Carlos hits the mike, the old Omega Tribe smoothness flows in like the tonic water that comes with every song. Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）provides the lyrics telling the story of a woman who won't let something like romance tie her down in the big city, especially following a breakup, although the male observer (maybe her ex) points out that the lass is using her freedom as a shelter and maybe as a crutch. Guitarist Shinji Takashima（高島信二）came up with the music here.

I guess this romance trouble is the overarching theme for "Crystal Night" since the third track "Phoenix" now deals with a love triangle involving a young lady and a couple of buddies vying for her affections. Urino is once again behind the lyrics while Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常弘）comes in as the composer. Things are a tad more synth-heavy but slightly mellower here in Funayama's arrangement, and as the song proceeds, the chirpiness in the keyboards increases reflecting the growing tension in the relationship.

"I'll Never Forget You" is the one song that has returned to my memories after many years on hearing that twinkly synthesizer opening. Some lovely solo guitar work reminding us of the City Pop of it all, thanks to Izumi's melody and Shinkawa's arrangement. The late Masami Tozawa（戸沢暢美）contributed the bittersweet lyrics of...what else?...love about to be lost for some reason; in bed, the young man is watching his paramour sleeping soundly next to him as he thinks about what he's had and then what is to become of it.

Urino, Izumi and Shinkawa worked together on "Ipanema Rain", a song concocted in honour of the fact that Carlos hails from Brazil. It's got some of that Latin rhythm mixed in with some spacey keyboards, and the melody has a few of Madonna's "La Isla Bonita" vibes.

The final track "For Each Other" smacks of West Coast AOR via a lot of those 80s romantic ballads that were hitting the Top 10 on Billboard or RPM in my high school/university days. Koichi Fujita（藤田浩一）and Carlos came up with the lyrics with Izumi providing the music. The final trumpet adds some lasting class. After all of that sturm und drang of love in the earlier tracks, it's nice to end things on an optimistic note.

"Crystal Night" the album hit No. 1 and finished 1987 as the 20th-ranked album.