''Satori'' is the second album by Japanese rock band

Flower Travellin' Band was a Japanese Rock music, rock band that was formed in 1967. They were connected to Japan's Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture movement and noted for their mixture of early heavy metal music, heavy metal with psychedelic rock, psyched ...

, and their first of original material. It was released in Japan by Atlantic Records in 1971 and in the US and Canada by

GRT Records GRT Records was the name of both a U.S. and a Canadian record label, both created by General Recorded Tape, a California-based company that existed from 1965 to 1979.Richard GreenGRT of Canada, Ltd. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2013-02-26. ...

Production

Yuya Uchida formed the Flower Travellin' Band as a way to create a group with international appeal. At

Expo '70 The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

, Canadian rock band Lighthouse saw Flower Travellin' Band perform, liked what they saw and suggested they go to Canada. Sensing the chance for international popularity, the group quickly recorded ''Satori'' to have something to bring with them. Tired of covering Western blues bands, the Flower Travellin' Band wanted to create their own material. The members would get together and

Hideki Ishima is a Japanese musician, known primarily for his work with Flower Travellin' Band and for creating the sitarla instrument. A guitarist and sitar player for nearly forty years, he now exclusively plays the sitarla, an instrument he invented in 2 ...

would come up with guitar riffs while everyone tried new ideas on each other. Because Ishima was interested in

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...

, the Oriental aspect became a part of the band's sound.

Joe Yamanaka , better known as , was a Japanese singer and actor. He is known for both his work with Flower Travellin' Band and as a solo musician; singing at a vocal range of three octaves. As an actor, he appeared in many television shows and movies, such ...

revealed that there are relatively few lyrics on the album because of the band's love for improvisation. He stated that because you can not suddenly change direction with lyrics as you can with instrumentation, he consciously stepped back and trusted the other musicians. The album was recorded in just two days; one day recording and one mixing.

Release

The North American release differed from the Japanese original, as it contained songs from their then upcoming album ''Made in Japan'' and the bonus track "Lullaby". The original Japanese version was reissued on CD by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

in 1988. A re-release in 1991 contained the bonus track "Map", which was written by

Kuni Kawachi Kuni or KUNI may refer to: People * Kuni-no-miya (久邇) ''ōke'' (princely house), the second oldest branch of the Japanese Imperial Family created from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya house * Kuni Nagako (1903–2000), member of the Imperial ...

and originally on his album ''

Kirikyogen is a 1970 album by Japanese musician Kuni Kawachi and the Flower Travellin' Band. It was originally credited to when initially released. The album showcases Kuni Kawachi's progressive rock influences, as well as the growing Heavy metal music, hea ...

'', which featured Joe Yamanaka and Hideki Ishima, under the name "Works Composed Mainly By Humans". This version of the song was previously released as a single by Flower Travellin' Band. The album was digitally remastered in 1998. In 2009 it was remastered on the new SHM-CD format.

Reception

In September 2007, ''

Rolling Stone Japan ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its c ...

'' rated ''Satori'' #71 on their list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".

David Fricke David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' declared ''Satori'' his "favorite Japanese rock album of all time." Hernan M. Campbell of Sputnikmusic said that ''Satori'', with its traces of early heavy metal,

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

and

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

, captures "the eclecticism of the '70s rock scene, and all of the different philosophies that were steadily evolving into fully recognized genres." Giving the album a 4.8 rating out of 5, he also wrote that like Ishima and Yamanaka's previous work on Kuni Kawachi's album ''Kirikyogen'', ''Satori'' has "the formidable and ominous sound that would become the essence of doom metal."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Thom Jurek gave the album 4½ stars out of 5 and made it their pick as the band's top album calling it "a real classic"; "From power chords to Eastern-tinged, North African, six-string freakouts, to crashing tom toms, to basses blasting into the red zone, ''Satori'' is a journey to the center of someplace that seems familiar but has never before been visited." ''

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''s Rob Fitzpatrick stated that the album "blends edge-of-your-seat psychedelic shamanism with hair-shaking proto-metal rifferama".

Legacy

"Satori Part III" was later re-imagined into Flower Travellin' Band's staple song "Hiroshima", on their next album '' Made in Japan''. The entirety of ''Satori'' was used as the music score for

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent a ...

's 2002 film '' Deadly Outlaw: Rekka'', which features Yuya Uchida and Joe Yamanaka as actors. "Satori Part I" was covered by

The Claypool Lennon Delirium The Claypool Lennon Delirium is an American psychedelic rock band, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, known for his work in Primus, guitarist/vocalist Sean Lennon from The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger, keyboardist/vocalist Joã ...

, which consists of

Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...

and

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The ...

, for their 2017 EP ''

Lime and Limpid Green Lime And Limpid Green is a 2017 EP of covers released by the psychedelic rock duet of Les Claypool and Sean Lennon, under the name The Claypool Lennon Delirium. The album comprises four covers of songs originally by Pink Floyd, the Who, King Crims ...

''. Lennon, whose mother

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

introduced him to the band's work and who knew the Flower Travellin' Band members, chose the song as a nod to his fellow Japanese, who he said had been suffering since the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

. A sample from ''Satori'' is used prominently in Cypress Hill's 2018 single "Band of Gypsies". "Satori Part I" was also covered by Iron Age on the b-side their 2008 single "The Way Is Narrow."

Track listing

Personnel

The band

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Jun Kozuki – bass * George Wada – drums

Technical staff

* Flower Travellin' Band – arranger * Yuya Uchida – producer * Ikuzo Orita – producer * Norio Yoshizawa – mixing * Shinobu Ishimaru – cover art

References

{{Authority control 1971 albums Flower Travellin' Band albums Atlantic Records albums