Top Ten Greatest YMO Songs
Second only to Kraftwerk in influence, YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra) is one of the most important and influential groups of all time. The Asian pioneers of technopop helped to germinate and further the synthesized revolution that Kraftwerk began, shaping the direction of popular music with their intricately composed counterpoint masterpieces in electronic dance music. Their signature classic and greatest success is "Behind the Mask."Although they disbanded in 1984, YMO reunited in 1993 to release an album titled Technodon under the name "Not YMO," due to creative differences between the band members. The group continued to reunite for performances and collaborations at various times afterward, up until the deaths of Ryuichi Sakamoto and lead vocalist/drummer Yukihiro Takahashi.
YMO is often referred to as "the Kraftwerk of Japan," much like Studio Ghibli is often called the "Walt Disney of Japan." While YMO's grandiose synthesized arrangements and sublime, elegant, and catchy melodies bear similarities to Kraftwerk's style, YMO has a distinctive Asian touch. Their synthesizer sounds range from vibrant and colorful to somber and violin-like, and often mimic the tones of indigenous instruments.
Their music also varies greatly in mood and style, with songs ranging from cheerful and sugary to exotic, dramatic, and elegant. This variety is similar in spirit to anime aesthetics. YMO's ability to balance breezy playfulness with serious artistry makes them uniquely captivating in the world of electronic music.
Originally written for a watch commercial, Behind the Mask is a head-spinning, glamorous space synth-pop classic and the group's signature track and greatest success.
A layered, frenetic technopop piece with beautiful melodies and galloping rhythms, Rydeen is one of YMO's strongest compositions.
A perfectly composed, scintillating electronic symphony that gives us a sonic gaze into the future of society. No words are present, nor are any needed.
Tong Poo is a beautifully somber quasi-instrumental piece of electronic music with a tasty, bouncy electronic bass and beautiful melodies expressed through a vibrating, violin-like synthesizer.
Over a Kraftwerk-inspired bassline, various synthesizers, varying in expressive and interesting ways in quality from acoustic-like fuzziness to whimsical vibrato, perform sublime, Asian-like melodies.
One of the darkest and grandest songs YMO has ever written. YMO's dramatic and irresistible melodies merge with the dark, bleak lyrics of betrayal and love.
A semi-English, beautiful technopop song whose message conveys the obscure value of self-love. It originated as a brief motif from their previous album, "Naughty Boys." Believe it or not, Keane covered it!
Probably the best track off the crystalline, sublime third album BGM!
A marvelously catchy, galloping song with festive melodies and a mysterious interlude featuring enigmatic melodies and unintelligible lyrics eerily muffled through a vocoder.
"Naughty Boys" wasn't quite the technopop giant akin to their magnum opus "Solid State Survivor" and instead focused on vocalized pop supported by synthesized backgrounds, as demonstrated in the initial tracks of "BGM." It also sounds similarly crystalline to that album.
Those who have heard "Ballet" and "Music Plans" should certainly expect more of that style.
As for this song, a joyous and lush, masterfully written 80s pop song sung in Japanese, it is certainly one of the album's standouts.