Casiopea is the debut album of Japanese jazz fusion group Casiopea, released on May 25, 1979.

Casiopea
Casiopea album cover with two race cars
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 25, 1979
Recorded1978–79
Studio
GenreJazz fusion
Length36:28
LabelAlfa Records
Producer
  • Kunihiko Murai
  • Syoro Kawazoe
Casiopea chronology
Casiopea
(1979)
Super Flight
(1979)

Recording and production

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The album was recorded between December 1978 and March 1979 in Japan. It is the first album released by the group since their debut performance on EastWest '77.[citation needed]

Notable American jazz musicians The Brecker Brothers and David Sanborn contributed to the album.

Cover art

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The cover depicts two race cars battling on a circuit, possibly Fuji Speedway's hairpin turn.[1][better source needed] The cars are late-1970s Group 6 sports prototypes from the Japanese Fuji Grand Champion Series, most likely a Lola T290-Mazda[2] and a March 74S[3] from the 1978[4] and 1979[5] championships, respectively.[6][better source needed]

There is an alternate cover, for a slightly earlier pressing and promotional materials that is a picture of the band standing, with pills falling in front of them.[7]

The album is one of Casiopea's most famous, being their most streamed album on Spotify.[citation needed]

Track listing

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All tracks were written and arranged by Issei Noro, except for horn arrangements by Jun Fukamachi and string arrangements by Hiroki Inui.

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Time Limit"3:07
2."Tears of the Star"4:32
3."Space Road"5:14
4."Midnight Rendezvous"5:20
Total length:18:13
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Far Away"3:55
2."Swallow"4:24
3."Dream Hill"5:39
4."Black Joke"4:17
Total length:18:15

Credits

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Casiopea

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Additional musicians

Release history

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Region Date Label Format Catalog note
Japan May 25, 1979 Alfa Records 30 cm LP ALR-6017 stereo
December 21, 1986 12 cm CD 32XA-104
March 21, 1992 ALCA-271
June 29, 1994 ALCA-9001
July 23, 1998 ALCA-9196
May 31, 2000 Toshiba EMI remastered 12 cm CD TOCT-24364 LP paper jacket
December 19, 2001 Village Records VRCL-2201 DSD, LP paper jacket
January 17, 2002 VRCL-2221 DSD
May 27, 2009 Sony Music Direct MHCL-20003 DSD, Blu-spec CD, LP paper jacket
February 3, 2016 Music download 1076209054 iTunes Store[8]
4582290414218 mora AAC-LC 320 kbps[9]
A1003862605 Recochoku AAC 128/320 kbps[10]
B01B5AQMDC Amazon.com[11]
Bp5pyuaz4lfka3vcvx5ough23ra Google Play Music[12]
July 27, 2016 4582290418575 mora DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit[13]
smj4582290418575 e-onkyo DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit[14]
11180 HD-music DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit[15]
4582290418568 mora FLAC 96.0 kHz/24bit[16]
A1004668200 Recochoku FLAC 96.0 kHz/24bit[17]
smj4582290418568 e-onkyo FLAC 96 kHz 24bit[18]
11170 HD-music FLAC 96 kHz/24bit[19]
November 10, 2016 5ShaVOG8QHOltyWh5ZCxuB Spotify[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ the after hours (2024-03-22). "Casiopea — Casiopea". Medium (Blog). Retrieved 2024-10-31. The cover depicts two racing cars engaged in a heated duel on the "Hairpin" curve of the Fuji Speedway.
  2. ^ "Lola T290 Mazda Grand Champion". Racecarwarehouse.co.uk. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  3. ^ "マーチ74S Bmw". F1-web-gallery.sakura.ne.jp.
  4. ^ "Grand Champion Series 1978". Classiccars.com. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  5. ^ "Grand Champion Series 1979". Classiccars.com. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  6. ^ adhdel (2023-07-10). "Comment on r/whatisthiscar". Reddit. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  7. ^ "Casiopea – Casiopea". Discogs. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  8. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Apple Inc. 25 May 1979. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  9. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". LevelGate Co., Ltd.. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  10. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". RecoChoku Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  11. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Amazon.com, Inc.. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  12. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Google Inc. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
  13. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". LabelGate Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
  14. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Onkyo & Pioneer Innovations Corporation. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
  15. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". JVCKENWOOD Victor Entertainment Corporation. Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
  16. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". LabelGate Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
  17. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". RecoChoku Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  18. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Onkyo & Pioneer Innovations Corporation. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
  19. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". JVCKENWOOD Victor Entertainment Corporation. Archived from the original on 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
  20. ^ "CASIOPEA CASIOPEA". Spotify AB. 1979. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
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