Solid State Survivor

{{Infobox album

| name = Solid State Survivor

| type = studio

| cover = YMO SolidStateSurvivor.jpg

| alt =

| released = September 25, 1979

| recorded = March 2 – June 1979{{Cite book |author= |authorlink= |date=April 20, 1998 |chapter=YMOクロニクル |trans-chapter=YMO Chronicle |title=コンパクト YMO |trans-title=Compact YMO |language=Japanese |publisher=Tokuma Shoten |page=63–110 |isbn=9784198608316}}

| studio = Alfa Studio "A", Shibaura, Minato, Tokyo

| genre = *Electronic

synth-pop

| length = 32:23

| label = Alfa

| producer = Haruomi Hosono

| prev_title = Yellow Magic Orchestra

| prev_year = 1978

| next_title = Public Pressure

| next_year = 1980

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Solid State Survivor

| type = studio

| single1 = Technopolis" / "Solid State Survivor

| single1date = October 1979

| single2 = Rydeen

| single2date = June 1980

}}

Solid State Survivor is the second album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, released in 1979. Later, Solid State Survivor was released in 1982 in the UK on LP and cassette, also in 1992 in the United States on CD, but many of the songs from this album were compiled for release in the US as the US pressing of ×∞Multiplies (1980), including the tracks "Behind the Mask", "Rydeen", "Day Tripper", and "Technopolis".{{cite AV media notes|title=x∞Multiplies|title-link=x∞Multiplies|others=Yellow Magic Orchestra|publisher=A&M Records|year=1980|id=SP-4813}} Solid State Survivor is only one of a handful of YMO albums in which the track titles do not have a Japanese equivalent.

The album was an early example of synth-pop, a genre that the band helped pioneer alongside their earlier album Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978), and it also contributed to the development of techno. Solid State Survivor won the Best Album Award at the 22nd Japan Record Awards, and it sold two million records. In 2020, Jonathan McNamara of The Japan Times listed it as one of the 10 Japanese albums worthy of inclusion on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.{{Cite web|last=McNamara|first=Jonathan|date=2020-09-30|title=Ten Japanese albums that Rolling Stone missed on its '500 Greatest Albums of All Time' list|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/09/30/music/top-ten-japanese-albums/|access-date=2021-01-03|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US}} Additionally, the album has been referred to as "one of the godfathers of techno music," according to Matt Mitchell of Paste Magazine.{{Cite web |title=The 50 Greatest Synth-Pop Albums of All Time |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-albums/50-greatest-synth-pop-albums-of-all-time |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=Paste Magazine |language=en-US}}

Background

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Bush|first=John|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/solid-state-survivor-mw0000194299|title=Solid State Survivor – Yellow Magic Orchestra|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=January 11, 2014}}

| rev2 = The Guardian

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|last=Sweeting|first=Adam|author-link=Adam Sweeting|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jan/09/popandrock.shopping2|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra, Solid State Survivor|newspaper=The Guardian|date=January 9, 2004|accessdate=February 11, 2018}}

| rev3 = Record Mirror

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Reid|first=Jim|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra: Solid State Survivor / Yukihiro Takahashi: Murdered by the Music|magazine=Record Mirror|date=March 20, 1982|page=14}}

| rev4 = Smash Hits

| rev4score = 7/10{{cite magazine|last=Black|first=Johnny|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra: Solid State Survivor|magazine=Smash Hits|volume=4|issue=5|date=March 4–17, 1982|page=29}}

}}

The album is also known for "Behind the Mask", which YMO had first produced in 1978 for a Seiko quartz wristwatch commercial.{{cite AV media notes|title=UC YMO: Ultimate Collection of Yellow Magic Orchestra|title-link=UC YMO: Ultimate Collection of Yellow Magic Orchestra|others=Yellow Magic Orchestra|publisher=GT Music|year=2003|id=MHCL 295-6}} YMO made use of synthesizers for the melodies and digital gated reverb for the snare drums.{{cite web|last=Tanaka|first=Yuji|url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/11/yellow-magic-orchestra-gear|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra: The Pre-MIDI Technology Behind Their Anthems|publisher=Red Bull Music Academy|date=November 11, 2014|accessdate=October 28, 2020}} The song has had numerous cover versions produced by other artists, most notably Michael Jackson.{{cite news|last=Heckel|first=Aimee|url=http://www.dailycamera.com/entertainment/ci_17086830|title=Chris Mosdell, quirky Boulder lyricist, wrote lyrics for newly released Michael Jackson song|newspaper=Daily Camera|date=January 15, 2011|accessdate=June 19, 2011}}{{cite magazine|last=Browne|first=David|author-link=David Browne (journalist)|url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2036294,00.html|title=The New Michael Jackson Album: Not Bad, but Pretty Good|magazine=Time|date=December 10, 2010|accessdate=October 28, 2020}} Alongside Quincy Jones, Jackson produced a slightly more dance-funk version of the techno classic with additional lyrics, originally intended for his best-selling album Thriller (1982). Despite the approval of songwriter Sakamoto and lyricist Chris Mosdell, it was eventually removed from the Thriller album due to legal issues with Yellow Magic Orchestra's management. Nevertheless, various cover versions were later performed by Greg Phillinganes, Eric Clapton (with Phillinganes as part of his backing band), Orbital, and The Human League, among others, before Jackson's cover version eventually appeared on his posthumous Michael album in 2010.

Music

According to Matt Mitchell of Paste Magazine, "tapping into the album is like taking a time machine to a mecca of arenas built with dashing, gauzy, glamorous walls of relentlessly crystalline noise."

"Technopolis" is considered an "interesting contribution" to the development of techno, specifically Detroit techno, as it used the term "techno" in its title, was a tribute to Tokyo as an electronic mecca, and foreshadowed concepts that Juan Atkins and Rick Davis would later have with Cybotron.{{cite book|last=Sicko|first=Dan|title=Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk|publisher=Wayne State University Press|edition=2nd|year=2010|isbn=978-0-8143-3438-6|pages=27–8}} A chiptune arrangement of the album's third track, "Rydeen", would later appear as the main theme of the 1982 Sega arcade game Super Locomotive.{{cite web | last=Plasket | first=Michael | title=Super Locomotive | website=Hardcore Gaming 101 | url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/super-locomotive/ | date=September 13, 2017 | access-date=January 3, 2025}}

The album's title song "Solid State Survivor" is a new wave synth rock song.{{cite magazine|last=Sullivan|first=Denise|url=http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2011/05/13/what-makes-a-legend-ryuichi-sakamoto/|title=What Makes A Legend: Ryuichi Sakamoto|magazine=Crawdaddy|date=May 13, 2011|accessdate=May 31, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515103440/http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2011/05/13/what-makes-a-legend-ryuichi-sakamoto/|archive-date=May 15, 2011|url-status=dead}} The popular anime series Dragon Ball Z later paid homage to the song and the album with the song "Solid State Scouter" as the theme song of the 1990 television special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku. The album also features a cover of the Beatles song "Day Tripper."

This was YMO's most successful album in Japan. It was the best selling album on the Oricon LP chart for 1980, beating Chiharu Matsuyama's {{nihongo3|Kishōtenketsu|起承転結}} – Godiego's {{nihongo|Magic Monkey|西遊記|Saiyūki}} was the best seller in 1979. In 1980 the album won a {{nihongo|Best Album Award|ベスト・アルバム賞|Besuto Arubamu Shō}} in the 22nd Japan Record Awards.{{cite web|url=http://www.jacompa.or.jp/rekishi/s1959.htm|title=第1回日本レコード大賞|publisher=Japan Composer's Association|accessdate=September 1, 2007|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219170108/http://www.jacompa.or.jp/rekishi/s1959.htm|archive-date=February 19, 2010|url-status=dead}} The album went on to sell two million records worldwide.{{cite book|editor1-last=Hardy|editor1-first=Phil|editor2-last=Laing|editor2-first=Dave|title=The Encyclopedia of Rock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgcKAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=May 25, 2011|publisher=Macdonald Orbis|edition=2nd|year=1987|page=476|isbn=9780356142746}}

Track listing

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Technopolis

| length1 = 4:14

| music1 = Ryuichi Sakamoto

| title2 = Absolute Ego Dance

| length2 = 4:37

| music2 = Haruomi Hosono

| title3 = Rydeen

| length3 = 4:26

| music3 = Yukihiro Takahashi

| title4 = Castalia

| length4 = 3:31

| music4 = Sakamoto

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = Behind the Mask

| length1 = 3:36

| lyrics1 = Chris Mosdell

| music1 = SakamotoTakahashi was listed as a composer before because Sakamoto wrote song's melody in collaboration with him.

| title2 = Day Tripper

| length2 = 2:40

| lyrics2 = Lennon–McCartney

| music2 = Lennon–McCartney

| title3 = Insomnia

| length3 = 4:57

| lyrics3 = Mosdell

| music3 = Hosono

| title4 = Solid State Survivor

| length4 = 3:58

| lyrics4 = Mosdell

| music4 = Takahashi

}}

Personnel

Yellow Magic Orchestra – arrangements, electronics, remix, cover conception
Haruomi Hosono – bass guitar, synth bass, keyboards, vocoder, production
Ryuichi Sakamoto – keyboards, vocoder
Yukihiro Takahashi – vocals, drums, electronic drums, costume design

Guest musicians

Hideki Matsutake – Microcomposer programming
Chris Mosdell – lyrics
Sandii – vocals on "Absolute Ego Dance"
Makoto Ayukawa – electric guitar on "Day Tripper" and "Solid State Survivor"

Staff

Kunihiko Murai and Shōrō Kawazoe – executive producers
Norio Yoshizawa – recording engineer, remixing
Mitsuo Koike – recording engineer
Masako Hikasa and Akira Ikuta – recording coordinators
Lou Beach – logo type
Masayoshi Sukita – photography
Heikichi Harata – art director
Bricks – costumes
Takehime, Fumiko Iura and Mayo Tsutsumi – stylists
Mikio Honda (Clip) – hair

Chart history

class="wikitable"

! Year

! Release

! Chart

! Peak
position

! Weeks

! Total sales

1979

| LP

| Oricon LP Chart{{cite web|url=http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_ymo.html|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra|publisher=Yamachan Land (Oricon archives)|accessdate=June 1, 2011|language=ja|archive-url=https://archive.today/20071111034237/http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_ymo.html|archive-date=November 11, 2007|url-status=dead}} ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_ymo.html Translation])

| 1

| 82

| 766,000

1979

| Cassette

| Oricon CT Chart

| 1

| 65

| 255,000