Artisan (album)
Introduction '''''Artisan''''' is the thirteenth studio album recorded by the Japanese singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita. It was released in June 1991, led by a string of hit singles he produced. ''Artisan'' became his first album that was not released on LP. Like his 1989 live album ''Joy'', illustration for a front cover of ''Artisan'' was drawn by Andre Miripolsky, who painted a cover art of Bette Midler's 1983 ''No Frills'' album. It debuted at the No. 1 on the Oricon, and spent 20 weeks on chart with sales of over 710,000 copies in total. In December 1991, the album won the 33rd Japan Record Awards for "Best Pop/Rock Album" and "Excellent Albums" prizes.
Songs and composition "Endless Game" was featured as the theme for a TV drama ''Yūwaku'' aired on TBS in 1990.It was released as a single in April 1990, and became his third top-5 hit as a performer on the Japanese Oricon singles chart. Also in the same year, Yamashita contributed a song "Without You" for Debbie Gibson, which was issued as a Japan-only single and the bonus disc for Japanese edition of her third album ''Anything is Possible''. Yamashita rewrote the song and recorded by himself, under the title "Sayonara Natsu no Hi". His rendition of the song was released as the second lead single for ''Artisan'' in May 1991.It gained a similar commercial success to its predecessor, though it couldn't reach the top-ten.The lead-off track of ''Artisan'' is a song dedicated to the late Osamu Tezuka, a Japanese manga artist who died in 1989 ("Atom" is a protagonist for ''Astro Boy'', one of Tezuka's most prominent works). In 1992, it was released as the fourth single from the album. He also sings of a painting ''Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway'' by J. M. W. Turner on the third track entitled "Turner's Steamroller" which similarly became a single. Fifth track of the album is a cover version of "New York is a Lonely Town", a song written by Anders/Poncia and recorded by their group The Trade Winds. Yamashita interpreted the mid-1960s U.S. top-40 charting hit, slightly changing the part of the lyrics. On the eighth track, Yamashita's spouse Mariya Takeuchi wrote the lyrics to his composition. Aside from "Mighty Smile", the couple wrote three songs together for Masayuki Suzuki's second solo album ''Radio Days'' in 1988.Among them, Yamashita recorded "Misty Mauve" for ''Artisan'', although it was not released until 2002 on his  ''Rarities'' album. The closing track of ''Artisan'' is a cover version of The Young Rascals' 1967 U.S. number-one hit. It has been also the ending theme for ''Sunday Songbook'', a weekly radio program that Yamashita has hosted since 1992.
Track listing All songs written and composed by Tatsuro Yamashita, except where indicated#"" – 4:26#"" – 4:36#" -Turner's Steamroller-" – 4:34#"" – 4:39#"Tokyo's a Lonely Town" (Vincent Poncia Jr., Pete Andreoli, lyrics adaptations by Yamashita) – 2:41#"" – 1:48#"Splender" – 5:25#"Mighty Smile ()" (Yamashita, Mariya Takeuchi) – 3:14 #" "Queen of Hype" Blues" – 5:15#"Endless Game" – 4:10#"Groovin'" (Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati) – 3:20===Bonus tracks for 30th Anniversary Edition===#"Morning Shine (モーニング・シャイン)" – 4:21#"Atom no Ko" (アトムの子, Atomu no Ko)" Remix version – 4:28#"Sayonara Natsu no Hi (さよなら夏の日)" Alternate vocal version – 4:35#"Turner no Kikansha (ターナーの汽罐車, Tānā no Kikansha) -Turner's Steamroller-" Single version – 4:33#"Sayonara Natsu no Hi (さよなら夏の日)" Original karaoke – 4:36#"Endless Game" Original karaoke – 4:08
Personnel *Tatsuro Yamashita – Lead and backing vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, acoustic piano, electric sitar, synthesizer, hammond organ, glocken, percussion, hand bells, drum programming, computer programming, effect*Kouki Itou – Electric bass*Hiroyuki Nanba – Acoustic piano*Masato Matsuda – Acoustic piano*Tōru Shigemi – Synthesizer*Jun Aoyama – Drums*Motoya Hamaguchi – Percussion*Shin Kazuhara – Trumpet*Yasuo Hirauchi – Trombone*Jake H Conception Tenor sax*Satoru Hirahara – Baritone sax*Tadanori Kogawa – Trombone*Mariya Takeuchi – Background vocals*Kazuhito Murata – Background vocals*Masamichi Sugi – Background vocals
Awards  '''Japan Record Awards'''YearTitleCategoryWinner1991 (33rd)''Artisan''Best Pop/Rock AlbumTatsuro YamashitaExcellent Albums
Chart positions ===Album===YearAlbumChartPositionSalesRIAJ Certification1991''Artisan''Japanese Oricon Weekly Albums Chart (top 100)1710,000+Platinum2021''Artisan'' (30th Anniversary Edition)Japanese Oricon Weekly Albums Chart (top 100)Billboard Japan Hot Albums3——===Singles===YearSingleB-Side (or Double A-Side)ChartPositionSalesRIAJ Certification1990"Endless Game""The Theme from Big Wave" Live versionJapanese Oricon Weekly (top 100)5180,000—1991"Sayonara Natsu no Hi""Morning Shine"12185,000Gold"Turner's Steamroller""Only with You" Live version3038,000—1992"Atom no Ko""Blow"1895,000—1998"Blow" Remix882,000—
Release history  Country Date Label Format Catalog numberJapanJune 18, 1991MMG/MoonCDAMCM-4100CTAMTM-4100June 2, 1999Warner/MoonCDWPCV-10026August 18, 2021WPCL-133052xLPWPJL-10143/4
References