Beauty (Ryuichi Sakamoto album)

Beauty
Studio album by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Released	November 21, 1989 (Japan)
Studio	Take One Studio, Zero Studio, Onkio Haus, Sound Inn Studio; (Tokyo); Platinum Island Recording Studio, Right Tracks Studio, Bear Tracks, The Power Station; (New York City); Complex; (Los Angeles);
Genre	Synthpop, experimental rock
Length	59:02 (Japanese release)
Label	Virgin
Producer	Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto chronology

Beauty is the eighth solo studio album by Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. Both a Japanese and an international version were released by Virgin Records in 1989 and 1990, respectively. The international release contains the track "You Do Me (Edit)" featuring singer Jill Jones, a song previously released as a single.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]

Overview

Beauty is notable for its "collage of styles" that range from rock, techno, and classical to flamenco, African, and Japanese traditional.[4] In discussing whether music is narrative and illustrative or an abstract medium, Sakamoto said, "I have visions sometimes when I'm writing contemporary music, even when it's very logical. For example, for one of my songs on the album Beauty, I was always having visions of Amazonian rainforests, a little plane flying very low over the trees. Trees, trees, trees, and some birds. But the title of the song is 'Calling from Tokyo'."[5]

Recorded at various sound studios throughout Tokyo, New York, and Los Angeles, Beauty features many collaborators that include Arto Lindsay, Brian Wilson, Robbie Robertson, and Sly Dunbar.[6] On his time working with Wilson, Sakamoto said, "I had asked Brian Wilson to sing on the album so I went to Los Angeles and we recorded with him. I had been informed that he had had a difficult time, some kind of mental illness, and I could sense that, even though he wasn't that surprising in the studio. But then the following day, I flew from LA back to New York to continue recording and he showed up without telling me, with his whole family in tow. The schedule was already tightly planned, but I was so grateful he'd come, so we made some time to work with him. It was a beautiful moment – one I won't forget for the rest of my life."[7]

Track listing

Japanese version
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Calling from Tokyo"	4:26
2.	"A Rose"	5:12
3.	"安里屋ユンタ" (Asadoya Yunta, "Yunta village")	4:35
4.	"Futique"	4:09
5.	"Amore"	4:55
6.	"We Love You"	5:16
7.	"Diabaram"	4:13
8.	"A Pile of Time"	5:34
9.	"Romance"	5:29
10.	"ちんさぐの花" (Chinsagu no hana, "Flowers of Chinsagu")	7:26
11.	"Adagio" (CD only track)	7:47
Total length:		59:04

International version
No.	Title	Length
1.	"You Do Me (Edited Version)"	5:02
2.	"Calling from Tokyo"	4:25
3.	"A Rose"	5:02
4.	"安里屋ユンタ" (Asadoya Yunta, "Yunta village")	4:31
5.	"Futique"	4:03
6.	"Amore"	4:50
7.	"We Love You (Remix)"	5:02
8.	"Diabaram"	4:12
9.	"A Pile of Time"	5:28
10.	"Romance"	5:24
11.	"ちんさぐの花" (Chinsagu no hana, "Flowers of Chinsagu")	7:26
12.	"You Do Me (7" mix)" (hidden track)	4:00
Total length:		59:51

Personnel

Performers

Ryuichi Sakamoto – composer, producer, mixing, engineering, arranger, keyboards, piano, vocals
Arto Lindsay – vocals, rap
Brian Wilson – vocals
Kazumi Tamaki – vocals, shamisen
Misako Koja – vocals, shamisen
Nicky Holland – vocals
Yoriko Ganeko – vocals, shamisen, castanets
Youssou N'Dour – vocals
Laura Shaheen – vocals
Robert Wyatt – vocals
Jill Jones – vocals ("You Do Me")
Alex Brown – backing vocals ("You Do Me")
Angel Rogers – backing vocals ("You Do Me")
Anita Sherman – backing vocals ("You Do Me")
Kirk Crumpler – keyboards, programmer ("You Do Me")
Carlos Lomas – guitar
Bun Itakura – guitar
Dali Kimoko-N’Dala – guitar
Eddie Martinez – guitar, soloist
Robbie Robertson – guitar
Pino Palladino – bass
Mark Johnson – bass
Larry White – bass ("You Do Me")
Sly Dunbar – drums
Pandit Dinesh – tabla
Naná Vasconcelos – percussion
Paco Yé – percussion
Seidou "Baba" Outtara – percussion
Sibiri Outtara – percussion
Magatie Fall – talking drum
Milton Cardona – shekere
L. Shankar – double violin
Sang Won Park – zither
Sham Guibbory – string section leader
Jiang Jian Huo – erhu

Technical

Greg Calbi – engineer, mastering
Jason Corsaro – engineer, mixing
Ikuo Honma – engineer
Kinji Yoshino – engineer
Mark Lynette – engineer
Naoto Shibuya – engineer
Roger Moutenot – engineer
Yutaka Arai – engineer
Carmen Rizzo – engineer, mixer, programmer ("You Do Me")
Dan Gellert – assistant engineer
Douglas Rose – assistant engineer
Gary Solomon – assistant engineer
John Herman – assistant engineer
Junichi Yamazaki – assistant engineer
Michael White – assistant engineer
Seiichi Yoritomi – assistant engineer
Tetsuya Ishizuka – assistant engineer
Yuuki Mizutani – assistant engineer
Darin Prindle – assistant engineer ("You Do Me")
Kevin Casey – assistant engineer ("You Do Me")
Sylvia Massy – assistant engineer ("You Do Me")
Masaya Nishida – programming
Jeff Bova – programming (drum sound, keyboards)
Bill Seery – programming (drums)
Yuji Suguyama – programming, computer operation
Shingo Take – sampling

Charts

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[8]	14

References

Szatmary, David. "Beauty". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
Sandow, Greg (March 2, 1990). "Beauty". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
Christgau, Robert (1990). "Robert Christgau: CG: Ryuichi Sakamoto". Consumer Guide. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
"Ryuichi Sakamoto: Classical & Pop Fusion". Sound on Sound. SOS Publications Group. April 1998. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
Johnston, Sheila (October 8, 1992). "Knowing when to keep quiet: Ryuichi Sakamoto, writer, pop star, 'not very good' actor and composer of film scores - including the Oscar-winning The Last Emperor - talks to Sheila Johnston about music and the movies". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
"Discography of Arto Lindsay". New York Downtown Scene. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
Berning, Dale (May 12, 2011). "Fused: Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
オリコンチャートブック〈LP編(昭和45年‐平成1年). Minato, Tokyo: Oricon Books. 1990. ISBN 4871310256.

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[1] Szatmary, David. "Beauty". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved January 30, 2016.

[2] Sandow, Greg (March 2, 1990). "Beauty". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.

[3] Christgau, Robert (1990). "Robert Christgau: CG: Ryuichi Sakamoto". Consumer Guide. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.

[4] "Ryuichi Sakamoto: Classical & Pop Fusion". Sound on Sound. SOS Publications Group. April 1998. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.

[5] Johnston, Sheila (October 8, 1992). "Knowing when to keep quiet: Ryuichi Sakamoto, writer, pop star, 'not very good' actor and composer of film scores - including the Oscar-winning The Last Emperor - talks to Sheila Johnston about music and the movies". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.

[NYDS-6] "Discography of Arto Lindsay". New York Downtown Scene. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.

[7] Berning, Dale (May 12, 2011). "Fused: Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved August 31, 2016.

[8] オリコンチャートブック〈LP編(昭和45年‐平成1年). Minato, Tokyo: Oricon Books. 1990. ISBN 4871310256.