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Releases: Albums

Seventh Heaven

release date: June 21, 1988
company: Victor/Invitation
formats: cassette (VCF-19357), 12" vinyl (VIH-28330), CD (VDR-1514)
initial price: ¥3000
goodies: the first copies of the vinyl were in a limited edition packaging; a poster came with the first copies sold (possibly this one)

digital remaster info: September 19, 2002 (VICL-60962; cover image) for ¥2415 (first copies sold included sticker)

remaster reissue info: September 5, 2007 (VICL-62542 for ¥2520)

Tracklisting

Fragile Article (Imai)
...In Heaven... (Sakurai/Imai)
Capsule Tears -Plastic Syndrome III- (Imai/Imai)
Castle in the Air (Imai/Imai)
Oriental Love Story (Sakurai/Imai)
Physical Neurose (Imai/Imai)
Desperate Girl (Sakurai/Hoshino)
Victims of Love (Sakurai/Imai)
Memories... (Sakurai/Imai)
Seventh Heaven (Imai/Imai)

2002 digital remaster first pressing extra tracks:
Sexual Intercourse (unreleased version)
...In Heaven... ~ Moon Light (from "Climax Together" live, probably the version on the CD included with limited edition Climax Together DVD box set)

Credits

Atsushi Sakurai: vocal
Hisashi Imai: electric guitars, backing vocal
Hidehiko Hoshino: electric & acoustic guitars, backing vocal
Yutaka Higuchi: bass
Toll Yagami: the drums

additional musicians:
Ken Morioka (Courtesy of Fun House): all keyboards

all songs arranged by Buck-Tick
produced by Buck-Tick
engineered by: Yasuaki "V" Shindoh
recorded at: Onkio Haus, Sound Atelie, 1988
directors: & Junichi Tanaka, Takafumi Muraki
art direction & design by: Ken Sakaguchi
photography: Kazuhiro Kitaoka
stylist: Sayuri Watanabe
coordinators: Takashi Furui, Akiko Ohno
chief promoter: Naoki Toyoshima
all management: Shaking Hands Inc., Osamu Takagi, Yoshihiko Masuoka, Shotaku Yasuhara
lord manager: Shigeo Azami
artist producer: Kazuo Sawaki
supervisor: Kazumitsu Higuchi
special thanks to: La Kengington [sic], Crazy Cat, Pearl, Yuko &, Tomoko, Shigeru Aoki (Doll House)

vinyl extra booklet illustrated by: Hisashi Imai

[this page was last updated on Friday, 15-Feb-2008 11:51:00 PST]

Notes

Ranked #3 on the album chart. 110,000 copies sold.

No singles were released from this album but music videos were made for "...In Heaven...", Physical Neurose", and "Victims of Love".

"Fragile Article" is an instrumental.

"Seventh Heaven" was originally titled "Chatty Bunny". In the original lyrics, which are almost completely different from what became the lyrics for "Seventh Heaven" as we know it today, instead of singing in the chorus "whisper to so far away", Atsushi would sing "whisper to chatty bunny".

At the time, "Victims of Love" was a song Buck-Tick tended to draw out live and have an improvised jam in the middle with Hisashi creating various solos as well as Atsushi singing random lines.

Atsushi begins to write more of the lyrics. Songs with his lyrics outweigh lyrics by Hisashi.

This is the first album to have a song written by Hide.

Guest musician Ken Morioka was a member of Soft Ballet at the time.

The cassette came in a slipcase with the album cover on one side and on the other side, the group picture on the back of the CD.

The first pressing of the vinyl was in a special packaging that included a slipcase with alternative artwork and an extra booklet of images (catalogue number BT-1). The extra booklet, oddly, has it's own catalogue number and price (KK1, ¥400). Perhaps it was (intended to be) sold separately later on.

The 2007 reissue was packaged like the first pressing vinyl.

Gregor Samsa, who is mentioned in the lyrics for "Physical Neurose", is the main character in the book "Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka. Incidentally, metamorphosis in Japanese is "Henshin", which is the title of another Buck-Tick song that came along a few albums later on Kurutta Taiyo.

When performing "...In Heaven..." live, Atsushi would often get very close to Hisashi, as do many vocalists and lead guitarists during performances, however Atsushi's carressing of Hisashi at the given moment in the lyrics 'I want! I kiss you in heaven' was along the lines homosexual teasing that delighted many of their straight female fans. (Please note that Atsushi would do this sort of thing to Hisashi during other songs as well and though he gets close to the other members during performances, never in the same way as his interactions with Hisashi. Though this died down over the years, other Visual-kei bands picked up on this, that female fans liked the homosexual teasing and feminine male musicians.)

Buck-Tick re-recorded the tracks "Victims of Love", "Oriental Love Story", and "...In Heaven..." for the album Koroshi No Shirabe ~ This is NOT Greatest Hits.

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