Service (album)

Service
Studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra
Released December 14, 1983
Recorded September – October 1983
Studio Alfa Studio “A”, Shibaura, Minato, Tokyo
Genre Electronic, dance, experimental, rock, J-pop, new wave, synthpop
Length 50:44
30:18 (original EU pressing)
Label Alfa Records
Producer YMO
Yellow Magic Orchestra chronology
Naughty Boys Instrumental
(1983)
Service
(1983)
After Service
(1983)
Singles from Service
  1. "You've Got to Help Yourself (以心電信)"
    Released: September 28, 1983
  2. "Every Time I Look Around (I Hear THE MADMEN Call) (EU only)"
    Released: 1984
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Service was the sixth and, at the time, final studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra. The band dissolved the following year after a world tour, but would later reform in 1993 for a one-off reunion album, Technodon. Each member would continue their already established solo careers, while Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi also formed the band Sketch Show (with Ryuichi Sakamoto assisting), which later turned into YMO. Like ×∞Multiplies, it contains a mixture of YMO songs and comedy sketches performed by Super Eccentric Theater, or S.E.T. The first Dutch/German edition of the album omitted the sketches, effectively cutting the album's length in half. In 1999, the album was remastered under Hosono's supervision with new liner notes provided by lyricist Peter Barakan.

Service features "You've Got to Help Yourself", which was previously featured in instrumental form on the previous album, Naughty Boys Instrumental. The 2nd "S.E.T." track featured a sample of Casiopea's song "Time Limit". "以心電信" more accurately transliterates to "Telegraph from the heart".

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "Limbo"  Yukihiro Takahashi/Haruomi Hosono/Peter BarakanTakahashi/Hosono 3:21
2. "S.E.T."     4:21
3. "The Madmen[2]"  Hosono/BarakanHosono 4:40
4. "S.E.T.[3]"     1:23
5. "Chinese Whispers"  Takahashi/BarakanTakahashi 4:27
6. "S.E.T."     4:16
7. "You've Got to Help Yourself" (以心電信 Ishin Denshin)Hosono/BarakanRyuichi Sakamoto/Takahashi  
Side two
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "S.E.T.+YMO"     5:53
2. "Shadows on the Ground"  Sakamoto/Takahashi/BarakanSakamoto/Takahashi 4:20
3. "S.E.T."     3:25
4. "See-Through"  BarakanYMO 3:36
5. "S.E.T."     4:09
6. "Perspective"  Sakamoto/BarakanSakamoto 5:12
7. "S.E.T."     0:46

Personnel

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Arrangements, Electronics, Mixing engineers, Producers
Guest musicians
Super Eccentric Theater
Staff

References

  1. Allmusic review
  2. This song was inspired by Daijiro Morohoshi's comics "Mud men".
  3. The introduction is "Time Limit" of Japanese jazz fusion band "Casiopea".
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