The Blue Hearts - The Blue Hearts 21 May 1987
Every now and then I like to repeat why I upload these albums, so those of you who keep up with my uploads thank you! can skip this entire paragraph. There are users and groups on NyaaTorrents who do a terrific job of sharing brand-new releases. So my goal has never been to compete with them by uploading new releases with very rare exceptions. Instead I try to upload older music from bands and artists that I suspect are unknown to Japanese music fans. That is why I try to write these blurbs about each band and album. Think of it as part education and part altruism, heh. But most importantly I just love sharing my passion for Japanese music with you all.Now then, about the Blue Hearts. This four-member punk group formed in 1985 and made their debut in 1987 with this eponymous album. The Blue Hearts were controversial, to say the least; for example, they are one of the few groups I know who was banned from television for over a year. Parts of the lyrics insert for the album is also censored due to standard sat the time. That anti-establishment controversy helped spread their popularity. But the Blue Hearts was not a gimmick band, releasing a number of hits that can still be found today in film, television, and even video games.About the album itself, it contains two songs from an older band of vocalist Hiroto Koumoto, the Coats; after the band broke up in 1995 he went on to be the vocalist for the High-Lows and later the Cro-Magnons. The song Linda Linda was the only single released prior to the album. However, the version on the album is different and was the version always performed at concerts. Later in their career the band would revisit this debut album and pick songs from it to replace other songs in their concerts, usually because those other songs were deemed too offensive. I will upload some of those albums to show you what I mean, heh. This album was released in the United States in 1990 with a different track listing, but I don’t own it, and all I know is that it has a different track listing.Normally I only upload one album a day but I am not going to be on the next few days, so I wanted to queue up multiple releases for you all. I hope you enjoy!