Wikipedia

Charmed Life (Half Japanese album)

Charmed Life is an album by the punk rock group Half Japanese, released in 1988.[6] It is their second studio album released on their label, 50 Skidillion Watts.

Charmed Life
Studio album by
Half Japanese
Released1988
GenreIndie rock, lo-fi, twee pop
Length51:18
Label50 Skidillion Watts[1]
Half Japanese chronology
Music to Strip By
(1987) 		Charmed Life
(1988) 		The Band That Would Be King
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Robert ChristgauB+[3]
Pitchfork8.9/10[4]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[5]

The eighth song, "Bright Lights, Big City," was originally sung and recorded by the American blues musician Jimmy Reed, in 1961.

Critical reception edit

The Quietus wrote: "Less whiny and needy than Music To Strip By, the lyrics are spouted from a lip with more curl and less pucker ... as accessible as Half Japanese get."[7] Trouser Press called the album "a guileless burst of optimism that mutes the shriller frequencies considerably, replacing them with an unaffected, exuberant guitar/harmonica backdrop played by a band."[8]

Track listing edit

No.TitleLength
1."Said and Done"2:53
2."Penny in the Fountain"1:58
3."Evidence"2:04
4."Vietnam"2:00
5."Roman Candles"2:22
6."Love at First Sight"2:43
7."Snake Line"2:08
8."Bright Lights, Big City"2:10
9."Face Rake"0:59
10."Later in a Magazine"1:28
11."Red Dress"2:16
12."Charmed Life"1:47
13."Day and Night"2:53
14."1,000,000,000,000 Kisses"1:55
15."Terminator"1:58
16."I'll Change My Style"2:18
17."Charmed Life"1:59
18."Trouble in the Water"3:00
19."Miracles Happen Every Day"2:20
20."Fortunate"2:05
21."Poetic License"2:08
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
22."Day and Night"3:51
23."1,000,000 Kisses"2:06
24."Madonna Nude"1:35
25."I'll Change My Style"2:35
26."George Steele"1:57
27."Real Cool Time"8:54
28."How Many More Years"2:13
29."King Kong Bundy"1:53
30."Something New in the Ring"1:15
31."Terminator"1:56

Personnel edit

  • Jad Fair - guitar, harmonica, vocals
  • David Fair - guitar, harmonica, vocals
  • Don Fleming - guitar, vocals[8]
  • John Dreyfuss - organ, saxophone
  • Rick Dreyfuss - composer
  • Mark Jickling - bass guitar, guitar
  • John Moremen - guitar
  • Jay Spiegel - drums
  • Don Zientara - engineer, mixing

References edit

  1. ^ "Strange but True". www.austinchronicle.com.
  2. ^ "Charmed Life - Half Japanese | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Half Japanese". www.robertchristgau.com.
  4. ^ "Half Japanese: Music to Strip By/Charmed Life/The Band That Would Be King". Pitchfork.
  5. ^ Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 174.
  6. ^ Buckley, Peter (August 8, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "The Quietus | Reviews | Half Japanese". The Quietus.
  8. ^ a b "Half Japanese". Trouser Press. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
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