Hiromi Iwasaki 'Pandora's Box' - 1978 Japanese Quad Album Reissued on SACD

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steelydave

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I know this is probably going to be greeted mostly with a collective "meh" here, after all the good stuff that's been announced lately, but I just discovered this when I was browsing one of the Japanese CD vendors.

Hiromi Iwasaki's 1978 LP 'Pandora's Box' apparently was just reissued in Japan as a hybrid SACD (NCS-80014) - this album was (obviously) a Japan-only CD-4 originally, Victor CD4B-5106. The music is actually better than I was expecting, pop-tinged disco/funk sort of in the ABBA mould. A bit of a surprise to me that the album was from as late as 1978 - I thought Tomita was the only RCA/Victor artist doing quad by that point.

It sounds like a pretty lush production too - lots of horns, strings, layered background vocals, and at times two drum kits, which would certainly lend itself well to an aggressive quad mix.

You can preview the LP on YouTube if you're curious:



Some of the verbiage associated with the listings is interesting too:

Multichannel (4.0ch) from The CD-4 (Compatible Discrete 4 channel) mixing original master
Alternative 2ch stereo mix from The CD-4 (Compatible Discrete 4 channel) mixing original master
Sale on Tower Records Japan Only
Limited 700
2020 New DSD Re-Mastering


Only 700 copies, and the stereo layer is a fold down of the quad mix - it appears this album was previously released as a stereo-only SACD (NCS-80003) so they're trying to give the double-dipper an incentive to buy this version.

There's a discogs entry for this SACD here - I originally found it listed at the 'Stereo Sound Store' website, but it looks like it's also available from the Tower Records Japan website as well.

Like I said, maybe not the most exciting thing that's happened lately, but an interesting development that Sony Japan is digging into their domestic quad back catalog as well - there were hundreds of these releases in Japan on both the Victor and CBS/Sony labels and some of them are quite good, especially some of the jazz/fusion stuff. I wonder how much more of this they'll do.
 
I know this is probably going to be greeted mostly with a collective "meh" here, after all the good stuff that's been announced lately, but I just discovered this when I was browsing one of the Japanese CD vendors.

Hiromi Iwasaki's 1978 LP 'Pandora's Box' apparently was just reissued in Japan as a hybrid SACD (NCS-80014) - this album was (obviously) a Japan-only CD-4 originally, Victor CD4B-5106. The music is actually better than I was expecting, pop-tinged disco/funk sort of in the ABBA mould. A bit of a surprise to me that the album was from as late as 1978 - I thought Tomita was the only RCA/Victor artist doing quad by that point.

It sounds like a pretty lush production too - lots of horns, strings, layered background vocals, and at times two drum kits, which would certainly lend itself well to an aggressive quad mix.

You can preview the LP on YouTube if you're curious:



Some of the verbiage associated with the listings is interesting too:

Multichannel (4.0ch) from The CD-4 (Compatible Discrete 4 channel) mixing original master
Alternative 2ch stereo mix from The CD-4 (Compatible Discrete 4 channel) mixing original master
Sale on Tower Records Japan Only
Limited 700
2020 New DSD Re-Mastering


Only 700 copies, and the stereo layer is a fold down of the quad mix - it appears this album was previously released as a stereo-only SACD (NCS-80003) so they're trying to give the double-dipper an incentive to buy this version.

There's a discogs entry for this SACD here - I originally found it listed at the 'Stereo Sound Store' website, but it looks like it's also available from the Tower Records Japan website as well.

Like I said, maybe not the most exciting thing that's happened lately, but an interesting development that Sony Japan is digging into their domestic quad back catalog as well - there were hundreds of these releases in Japan on both the Victor and CBS/Sony labels and some of them are quite good, especially some of the jazz/fusion stuff. I wonder how much more of this they'll do.

1978 is really quite a ways back for J Music. I kind of see late 80's as being the origin of popular Japanese music. I could be wrong. This sounds like a mix of Shaft & Donna Summer to me. I am definitely going to buy it. Thanks for the tip!
 
1978 is really quite a ways back for J Music. I kind of see late 80's as being the origin of popular Japanese music. I could be wrong. This sounds like a mix of Shaft & Donna Summer to me. I am definitely going to buy it. Thanks for the tip!
Already beat you to it last night SW; this sounds good to me. Now let’s see if it actually makes it to my mailbox? Or, doorstep, may need to sign for it. Only 700, better hurry Sensei !
 
Like I said, maybe not the most exciting thing that's happened lately, but an interesting development that Sony Japan is digging into their domestic quad back catalog as well - there were hundreds of these releases in Japan on both the Victor and CBS/Sony labels and some of them are quite good, especially some of the jazz/fusion stuff. I wonder how much more of this they'll do.

Very cool find! Eleanor Rigby - Rock & Drums (CD4B-5009) is one I'd love to see them do. There's a pretty outrageous instrumental cover of "25 Or 6 To 4" where the sax and guitar solos go spinning around the room.
 
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Already beat you to it last night SW; this sounds good to me. Now let’s see if it actually makes it to my mailbox? Or, doorstep, may need to sign for it. Only 700, better hurry Sensei !

Who did you order from? I notice another Japanese site, CDBANQ.com has it for a reasonable price, along with several other SACDs - there aren't a lot of reviews of this seller online, but the few I found seem to suggest they're a "legit" company.
 
Is this the same Hiromi who recorded for Telarc?
BTW, this Hiromi's last year's album Spectrum was mixed in a 7.1.4 format and also delivered as a 5.1 DSD master.
No word since on a possible release though.
1598827661023.png
 
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Who did you order from? I notice another Japanese site, CDBANQ.com has it for a reasonable price, along with several other SACDs - there aren't a lot of reviews of this seller online, but the few I found seem to suggest they're a "legit" company.
I ordered through Tower Records Japan via PayPal from the link you provided. I'm cool being the Guinea Pig on this however it turns out.
 
I'd recommend you buy it through stereo sound. I have bought through them With no issues shipping to US. No tricks and work a rounds needed during shipping.
 
I'd recommend you buy it through stereo sound. I have bought through them With no issues shipping to US. No tricks and work a rounds needed during shipping.

Thanks for the endorsement. I will probably give stereo sound a shot & order from there later today.

Usually I order items like this from yesasia.com or cdjapan.jp. More often the latter as they tend to be less expensive. Indeed searching there turned up a bunch of appealing stuff of Hiromi's; CD. DVD, Blu-Ray lives.

https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/searches?term.media_format=&q=Hiromi+Iwasaki
Unfortunately not the original post about Pandora's Box SACD.
 
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