''Masquerade Show'' is the debut album of the Japanese rock group

Show-Ya are a Japanese all-female Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1981. The group disbanded in 1998 but reformed with the original line-up in 2005 for the 20th anniversary of their first release. Their music is deeply rooted in classic ro ...

. The album was released on 6 September 1985 in Japan. Its release was preceded by the pop single "Suteki ni Dancing" (trans. Dancing Is Great), used for an advertising campaign by

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Overview

The single "Suteki ni Dancing", used for the TV spots of the Coca-Cola campaign, gave the band a wide and immediate visibility all over Japan. A Coca-Cola can is depicted on the back cover of the album to remind the link to the band's sponsor. The album, mixed at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

in London by Haydn Bendall (

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

, Alan Parsons Project,

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

, Toyah) and the Japanese media coverage of the event, pushed the band to an even higher level of popularity. During their sojourn in London, Show-Ya had the occasion to play live in the clubs that usually hosted bands from the

new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that began in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis (music journalist), Alan Lew ...

scene, making their name known to the British musical press. The album presents a large variety of compositions, ranging from

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

, showing the

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

influences of the young musicians but a sound not yet distinctive. Mixing the album, a large emphasis was generally given to vocals and keyboards, keeping the volume of the guitars very low. The result is a distinctly soft tone, quite different from the loud live performances of the band. "Talon of King" is an adaptation of a song from Japanese metal band Helen and "Touch Me" is a cover of

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

' song from the album '' The Soft Parade''. The title of the song "Touch Down" was adopted by Show-Ya's official fan club.

Track listing

;Side one #"Touch Down" ''(Show-Ya)'' – 4:51 #"Mado" (マドゥー) ''( Tetsurō Oda,

Keiko Terada is a Japanese rock singer. She was co-founder and lead singer of the successful Japanese female hard rock and heavy metal band Show-Ya from 1982 to 1991, before going solo. On her solo albums she expanded from hard rock and heavy metal to blue ...

)'' – 4:23 #"Talon of King" (ターロン・オブ・キング（爪王）) ''(HELEN, Terada & HELEN)'' – 4:46 #"Au Revoir (Last Scene)" ''(Miki Nakamura, Terada)'' – 5:21 ;Side two #

"Mind Collection" ''(Kenshi Arai, Terada)'' – 4:47 #"Actor" ''(Yū Izawa, Terada)'' – 4:41 #" Touch Me" ''( Robby Krieger)'' – 3:12 #"Masquerade" ''(Arai, Terada)'' – 4:05 #"Hurry Up" ''(Show-Ya)'' – 4:14

Personnel

Band members

– vocals *Miki Igarashi – guitars, guitar synth, backing vocals *Miki Nakamura – keyboards, backing vocals *Satomi Senba – bass *Miki Tsunoda – drums and electronic percussion

Production

*Hiroaki Takei, Akira Tanaka – producers *Kenshi Arai, Takayuki Negishi, Hide Inoura & Show-Ya – arrangements *Seizi Yamazaki – engineer *Fujieda Darling Godwin – assistant engineer * Haydn Bendall – remix engineer

References

External links

Show-Ya discography
{{Authority control Show-Ya albums 1985 debut albums EMI Records albums 1980s Japanese-language albums