Sweet Revenge (Ryuichi Sakamoto album)

Sweet Revenge
Studio album by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Released	17 June 1994
Studio	11-K Studios, Clindton Studios, Unique Studios, Skyline Studios, Right Track Studios (New York City) Paradise Studios, Sedic Studios (Tokyo) Metropolis Studios, Westside Studios (London)
Genre	Downtempo, Trip-hop, Chillout
Length	60:26 (Japanese version) 51:29 (International version)
Label	Güt / For Life Music (Japan) Elektra (USA)
Producer	Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto chronology
Little Buddha (1994) Sweet Revenge (1994) Smoochy (1995)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
NME	5/10[2]
Select	[3]

Sweet Revenge is a 1994 album by Ryuichi Sakamoto.[4] The Japanese and international releases have different track listings, with the international pressing featuring (uncredited) re-mixes of half of the songs. The title track is an instrumental piece originally composed for the soundtrack of Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha.[5]

A re-recording of "Psychedelic Afternoon", featuring original lyricist David Byrne on vocals and sporting modified lyrics, was released in 2013 as a way to raise money and awareness for children who survived the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. An animated music video was released concurrently with the new version.[6]

The album includes other collaborations, with Amedeo Pace, Holly Johnson[7] and Roddy Frame, among others.

Track listing

All music is composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto

Japanese version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Tokyo Story"		1:16
2.	"Moving On"	J-Me	5:45
3.	"二人の果て" (Futari no hate, "The two people have split up")	Taeko Ohnuki	5:56
4.	"Regret"	J-Me	5:38
5.	"Pounding At My Heart"	Paul Alexander	5:32
6.	"Love and Hate"	Holly Johnson	5:27
7.	"Sweet Revenge"		4:07
8.	"7 Seconds"	J-Me	3:33
9.	"Anna"		4:47
10.	"Same Dream, Same Destination"	Roddy Frame	4:04
11.	"Psychedelic Afternoon"	David Byrne	4:10
12.	"Interruptions"	Latasha Natasha Diggs	4:51
13.	"君と僕と彼女のこと" (Kimi to boku to kanojo no koto, "You and me and that girl")	Taeko Ohnuki	5:20
Total length:			60:26

International version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Tokyo Story"		1:16
2.	"Moving On" (different mix)	J-Me	5:45
3.	"Sentimental" (English language version of "二人の果て")	Vivien Goldman	5:56
4.	"Regret" (different mix)	J-Me	5:38
5.	"Pounding At My Heart" (different mix)	Paul Alexander	5:32
6.	"Love and Hate"	Holly Johnson	5:27
7.	"Sweet Revenge"		4:07
8.	"7 Seconds"	J-Me	3:33
9.	"Same Dream, Same Destination" (different mix)	Roddy Frame	4:04
10.	"Interruptions" (different mix)	Latasha Natasha Diggs	4:51
11.	"Water's Edge" (English language version of "君と僕と彼女のこと", different mix)	Vivien Goldman	5:20
Total length:			51:29

Personnel

• Ryuichi Sakamoto – keyboards, programming, percussion, vocals
• J-Me – vocals
• Vivian Sessoms – vocals
• Holly Johnson – vocals
• Latasha Natasha Diggs – vocals
• Paul Alexander – vocals
• Arto Lindsay – vocals
• Roddy Frame – vocals
• Miki Imai – vocals
• Towa Tei – programming
• Satoshi Tomiie – programming and arrangements
• Cyro Baptista – percussion
• Amadeo Pace – guitar
• David Nadien – string section leader
• Lawrence Feldman – bass clarinet
• Romero Lubambo – guitar
• Hiroshi Takano – guitar
• Jean-Baptiste Mondino – photography

Reception

The Rough Guide to Rock wrote that the album "moved his post-Tangerine Dream electro-chamber music into the corporate soul realm of Soul II Soul and M People."[8]

Remix album

A remix album, titled Hard Revenge, was released in December 1994.[9]

Tour and live album

The album was followed by a live tour "Sweet Revenge Tour", resulting in a live album, Sweet Revenge Tour 94, released in January 1995.[10]

References

1. "Sweet Revenge". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
2. Dee, Johnny (17 September 1994). "Long Play: Short Cuts". New Musical Express. p. 55.
3. Grundy, Gareth (November 1994). "New Albums". Select. p. 106. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
4. A. Magazine: The Asian American Quarterly. Metro East Publications, Incorporated. 1995.
5. Elola, Joseba; Jarque, Fietta (1994-09-07). "Ryuichi Sakamoto se venga de Bertolucci y se toma una copa con Pedro Almodóvar". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
6. Mineo, Mike (12 March 2013). "Ryuichi Sakamoto + David Byrne – "Psychedelic Afternoon"". Obscure Sound. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
7. Hadleigh, Boze (1997). Sing Out!: Gays and Lesbians in the Music World. Barricade Books. ISBN 978-1-56980-116-1.
8. Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-457-6.
9. Hard Revenge - Ryuichi Sakamoto | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 2025-01-23
10. Arena, Vittorio (2017-07-31). La filosofia di Sakamoto: Il wabi/sabi dei colori proibiti (in Italian). Mimesis. ISBN 978-88-575-4281-2.