{"product_id":"happy-end-st-2023-reissue","title":"Happy End - S\/T (2023 Reissue)","description":"\u003cp\u003eHappy End is seminal Japanese folk rock band featuring \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/products\/haruomi-hosono-hochono-house-2019-re-recorded\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eHaruomi Hosono\u003c\/a\u003e, Eiichi Ohtaki, Takashi Matsumoto and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/products\/haruomi-hosono-shigeru-suzuki-tatsuro-yamashita-pacific-2017-reissue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eShigeru Suzuki\u003c\/a\u003e and formed by Hosono and Matsumoto after the disbanding of Apryl Fool in Autumn 1969. The band's pioneering sound was regarded as avant-garde to most Japanese at the time. They are considered to be among the most influential artists in Japanese music. MTV had described Happy End's music as \"rock with psych smudges around the edges.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProlific as sidemen, the members contributed to numerous projects during the band's output, and went on to find commercial success with solo and group ventures (in Matsumoto's case as a hugely successful lyricist). \u003cspan\u003eDomestic critics celebrated the band’s works from the start, with 1971’s \u003cem\u003eKazemachi Roman \u003c\/em\u003ehailed as a masterpiece. It still regularly tops lists of the best Japanese albums. “Musicians back then admired Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and so on. Everyone copied them and competed against each other,” says Hosono, who went on to even greater fame with the synthpop group Yellow Magic Orchestra. “I grew up in that scene, but with Happy End we decided to use our own words to create something original.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTheir self-titled debut impressed critics with its combination of hard-edged sounds and Japanese sounds, and intensified the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNihongo Rokku Ronsō\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003ethe “Japanese rock controversy” revolving around whether it was possible for rock music to be authentic if it wasn’t sung in English. So Happy End returned to the studio for its second album looking to underline the point that Japanese rock could absolutely flourish. “We fine-tuned our strengths and figured out what directions we wanted to go … and dug into them,” Matsumoto says. — (via The Guardian)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/4fEjCLRwWqVjcrGLqnzhQr?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e↓\u003cbr\u003eLabel: URC\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Clear Red\u003cbr\u003eReissued: 2023 \/ Original Release: 1970\u003cbr\u003eGenre: Rock\u003cbr\u003eStyle: Psychedelic Rock, Folk Rock\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFile under: Psychedelic Rock\u003cbr\u003e⦿\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"URC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44637997858974,"sku":"4547366626759","price":60.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/files\/81eqJBzCfhL-_SL1500.jpg?v=1733224841","url":"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/products\/happy-end-st-2023-reissue","provider":"The Analog Vault","version":"1.0","type":"link"}