Oil on Canvas

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Professional reviews
Oil On Canvas

Studio album by Japan
Released	June ?, 1983
Recorded	November 1982
Genre	Post-Punk, New Wave
Length	71:58
Label	Virgin Records
Producer(s)	John Punter & Japan
All Music Guide: [1]
Japan chronology
Tin Drum (1981)	Oil On Canvas (1983)	Rain Tree Crow (1991)

Oil on Canvas is predominantly a live album by Japan, released in 1983 by Virgin Records, after the band had split in 1982. However it also contains some new studio tracks ("Oil on Canvas", "Voices Raised in Welcome, Hands Held in Prayer" and "Temple of Dawn"), recorded separately by Sylvian, Sylvian/Jansen and Barbieri respectively. (The name of Barbieri's track is taken from the novel The Temple of Dawn by the acclaimed Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima.)

The live tracks on the album were taken from Japan's performances at a series of concerts during November 1982, just one month before the band split. Since guitarist Rob Dean had left the band two years previously, Japanese session musician Masami Tsuchiya was added to the line up to play guitar and additional keyboards. The band also used backing tracks to supply additional instrumental parts (for example, in contrast to some previous tours where a guest saxophonist was recruited, many of Karn's saxophone lines were played from tape).

The album was re-released in 2004 as a two-disc remastered edition with two additional tracks, Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Swing. In 2006 the album was re-released again, this time as a single disc remastered edition containing all the same tracks as the two-disc version.

A video version of Oil On Canvas was also available, from Virgin Records; this was re-released on DVD in 2006.