Orange (Katakana: オレンジ, typically written in capital letters as ORANGE) is the fourth studio album by Fishmans. It was first released on October 21, 1994 by Media Remoras, mostly recorded in previous months at Metropolis Studios in London, England. It would be the last Fishmans album to feature Hakase-Sun on keyboards. Despite its funk rock leanings, the album also heavily foreshadows Fishmans' future dream pop-oriented sound with songs like 帰り道 and Woofer Girl. On Fishmans' official website, the latter half of the album is described as "slow reggae", elaborating that this sound inspired their later albums. It also defines Orange as the band's turning point in direction. The album is the most universally praised of Fishmans' pre-Polydor works.
English Auto-translated Using Google Translate, Edited for Comprehension
Orange (title)
1. A citrus fruit. Or the color of that fruit, a mixture of red and yellow. Because the wavelength of the light is long, the morning and early evening sun is this color.
2. Fishmans' 4th album. In the spring of 1994, Fishmans, who were in a slump, were led to London on genius PA & programmer ZAK's suggestion. London's dry air, mediocre food, and the environment of only being surrounded by foreigners quickly lifted Fishmans' spirits and Shinji Sato created one masterpiece after another. In Japan, they were thoroughly shy, but in this work they are quite extroverted. A great album that makes the best of Fishmans' unexpected bravery. Released on October 21, 1994 (exactly 2 years after their second album "King Master George"). Also simultaneously released on vinyl. This jacket photo is also....
How are you all doing? It's been really hot this summer. That's what it was like in London. Hahaha.
Tuesday, July 19, 11:50 A.M. We finally left on a flight from Narita! We've been rehearsing with very little rest after our one-man show at Shibuya Quattro, so "We're going to sleep on the plane!" But just like our debut album flight to Australia, I hardly slept, and I was completely exhausted after about 12 hours of flying.
It was only a 20 minute taxi ride from the airport to our hotel. We stayed at a place called Columbia Hotel, and right in front of our hotel was Hyde Park! We all dropped our stuff off and promptly walked into Hyde Park and went to dinner in the dusk (it was about 9pm) thinking, "Oh, the Stones played a free concert here".
Recording began on Thursday, July 21. I'm sorry for the delay, but Sugar Yoshinaga of Buffalo Daughter played guitar for this recording! Thanks for playing the best.
We played ping-pong at Metropolis Studio, a four-story building built with the future city in mind. It was especially fun after dinner as we would test our ping-pong skills with Yuzuru before returning to the recording session.
I would take the subway when I went out to the studio, and I would always buy mineral water on the way to the studio after arriving at the station. The recording went very well, and in many ways I think it was the right decision to do the recording in London this time.
Things were really good. (I was the only one who said so.)
We had Wednesday, July 27th off. Everyone went out as they wanted. I went to the Tower Bridge and walked around the city center. On the way, I met Hakase and he suggested we go to Abbey Road. Yes, we went to the street famous for the recording studio of The Beatles. We left the hotel around 6:00 pm and took the subway for what seemed like 20 minutes. There it was! Basically, there was no change in the scenery from the Beatles' album photos and I thought, "The four of us were definitely here". I'm glad I came. In the evening, I had dinner with Hakase.
R. Stones was playing a lot on the radio, and I heard their new single "Love Is Strong" by Katsuto over and over again as their new album "VOODOO LOUNGE" had just come out.
The second half of the recording session was mainly spent recording Sato's vocals. He seemed to be able to devote himself to singing, and I remember him saying something like, "I don't want to go back to Japan yet". Hakase and Sugar-san enjoyed going to see the shows. I wanted to gamble, but well, I just went to the arcade and played a little bit.
In the meantime, August 2nd, the last day of recording, arrived. It was a little bit sad to say goodbye to the people in the studio after all the work was done.
We left London in the morning of August 3, and came back to Narita Airport via Amsterdam at a little after 9 o'clock in the morning of August 4. I'd heard about it earlier, but it's really hot in Japan this year. But still I was relieved to be back.
........So, it was a smooth and comfortable time in London. The album comes out in October, so you'll have to wait a bit longer. I'm already absolutely confident in it! Great!
