BOØWY - Beat Emotion (1987)

Boøwy were the top Japanese band of the '80s, and Beat Emotion is the top Boøwy album -- and a prime example of that decade's commercial music, delivered with a slight Far Eastern twist that was later mirrored in bands of the "anime revolution" of the 2000s. Boøwy used to play punk rock, but by 1986 that was all in the past, even though the roots were showing -- the voice of Kyosuke Himuro had a hoarse ring to it, and Boøwy were still a guitar band, although the rough textures were clumsily buried in the mix. Still, the rudiments of punk don't count for much, as Beat Emotion seethes with the spirit of early-'80s pop/rock -- it's on the softer side of the Police, not far from Huey Lewis & the News and, in goofier moments, even close to Cyndi Lauper ("Super Califragilistic Expiari Docious"). This is music that ages fast -- the incessant plastic beat alone is a sure date stamp -- but it's hard to deny that these simplistic melody lines have their charm, even if their energetic naïveté makes them guilty pleasures. There is also an important nuance that differentiates Beat Emotion from the output of the Lewises and Laupers: the songs, while catchy, have no instant hooks. This is not due to a lack of songwriting skills -- it's a trait of the regional scene, where the music is too polite to really impose itself on the listener, but shows obvious signs of talent and is entertaining throughout. It's not really a disadvantage, because the lack of immediate hooks can prolong the impact: Beat Emotion, which has no hidden depths, lasts for several spins without becoming boring. While most of the album sounds like one big song, there are, in fact, things that do stand out: the streamlined "Runaway Train" (the one song that really could easily top the Billboard charts); the reggae detours in "Super Califragilistic Expiari Docious"; the closer, "Sensitive Love," that trades the straightforward pop/rock for a new wave influence. It's not hard to see how J-rock evolved from Beat Emotion to Aikawa Nanase and Bump of Chicken, but while this record primarily came to be viewed as a historical curiosity, it's definitely an interesting one.