Pictures at an Exhibition

1975.2.25
RCA LP 3010 (Album) RCAK 3010/RCAV 60576 (Cassette)
RCA/Plasma AR*1-0838--fill in the "*" with D=Quadradisc, L=LP, K=Cassette, S=8Track, T=Q8 Cartridge. DRF-3902 (?) PD80838/RCD1-0838 (1980s CDs?) RCAV 60576, RCA 60576 (1990s Surround CD from U.S. and E.C.) BVCC-2515, BVCC-37406

Firebird

Includes the earlier made Debussy track Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. The Firebird Suite is a little too massive for Tomita to cope with at this early date, but he still pulls off an imaginative interpretation. Night on Bare (Bald) Mountain is properly frenzied .

I first got the stereo 8-Track cartridge of this album! It includes the title track from Snowflakes Are Dancing as filler (due to the nature of 8-Track, a recording has to be broken up into 4 similar length "programs".) More recently the Debussy piece was added to the 2000 Snowflakes U.S. remaster.

The U.S.A. Dolby Surround edition is sold out. (unlike other albums in the series)

pictured left is the Japanese cover by animation legend Osamu Tezuka

The Planets

1976.12.20
RCA ARL1-1919 (LP), RCAV 60518 (Cassette), RCAV 60518 (CD), RCA60518, RCA 60518-2-RG (US Surround CD) BVCC-2508 (Japan cd) BVCC-37408

Maybe Tomita's most unified and exciting album. Fantastic synthesis. I'll go on the record saying this is one of the finest moments in Synthesis.

Unknown to Tomita, San Francisco synthesist Patrick Gleeson was working on the same piece (by Gustav Holst). His came out on a Mercury (cat# SRI 80000 LP - never released on CD) and his was called Beyond The Sun. Gleeson's record is stiff and dry compared to Tomita's. What can be said to the positive is that Gleeson does not take liberty with the original score, unlike Tomita who made silly alien sounds and broke into an interpretation of a clever traditional English melody quoted by Holst and other stuff between tracks. On the other hand Tomita's version is thrilling, powerful and emotional.

There was much contreversy surrounding Tomita's album. Though Holst wrote the music in the 1910s, his estate was successfully able to block the albums release in England (a few years earlier Carlos had had a piece similarly blocked by the Edward Elgar estate for UK release). It was released there many years later though. There do seem to be more Holst fans who object to this album than any other classical afficiandos of any of the other works Tomita has adapted over the years. When pressed they definitely object to some added material and the abridgement of the Uranus and Neptune movements (both there, just in shorter form). Asking Tomita in person he mentioned that in their full length these pieces just didn't lend themselves to sustained synthesizer arrangement. To be honest though the pieces are much shorter now I can't tell you any parts I can identify as removed though perhaps in this day and age a full length version Neptune would surely guarantee the ranking of a chillout ambient classic. (if it doesn't already regardless of the cuts)

The Planets 2003

In 2003 Tomita released a DVD-A remix/remake in 4.1 channel surround sound, it contains a duplicate set of tracks to playback surround audio on regular Video DVD systems besides playing in higher fidelity on DVD-A equipment. (though a warning that it's region 2 NTSC so it may or may not play worldwide) Overall this release sounds like the 1976 version though of course very much in surround. Some people have picked out quite a few small differences and changes. You'd have to order this one from Japan. I've never seen it exported (perhaps being region 2)

Kosmos

1978 RCA (US) PL 42652/RL 42652 (Album), RK 42652/RCA 2616 (Cassette), BMG 2616-2-RG (US Surround CD) BVCC-2509 (Japan cd) BVCC-37410

Some of Tomita's best work. Includes the despicable disco Star Wars Theme. Side B lags just a little bit but has a sublime Bach medley inspired by Tarkovsky's SF film Solaris. Later Carl Sagan this track in his (unrelated and later ) 1981 TV series Cosmos . The RCA compilation soundtrack lp: ABL1-4003, includes an excerpt from that piece along with classical cues and other synth composers previous work.) Also rumored to be renamed Space Fantasy (somewhere).

The Japanese version has a different track sequence hence some arrangement/mix differences on at least Star Wars.

The Japanese album The Cosmos of Isao Tomita (BVCC-37296 - not seen) is a 1999 best of album and not the 1978 album (at the left). It can be identified by a large "RCA Red Seal Best 100" logo at the bottom of the cover unlike the original at the left.

The UK LP version is missing 2 tracks. Pacific 231 (by Honegger, a deceased Swiss composer who's work was still under copyright) and Aranjuez (by Rodrigo who was still alive then along with enough added material that Tomita was co-credited though not a collaboration afaik).Probably problems with rights to those tracks in the UK. I'm sure RCA in the UK wasn't happy after the problem with the Holst estate on the last album.

There is a longer version of "Star Wars" on some less common releases - for example I think on the U.K. LP and perhaps some best ofs. This version has a much longer intro and more sounds at the end. The U.S. version just jumps into things.

The current Japanese remaster CD I think replicates the Japanese LPtrack order. It starts with "Thus Sprach Zarathustra" and "Star Wars" follows "Unanswered Question"

Various Artists
Music For The 3rd Millennium, Vol.1

(*) 1999 AMP-CD039 (U.K.)
Isao Tomita Pacific 231 (6:46)

Apparently through a misunderstanding this UK various synth artists compilation album was billed as containing an unreleased track by Tomita when actually the track is from Kosmos and remained unreleased only in England before this compilation.

Sound Creature

A rare a 2 LP set where Tomita explains with step by step sound examples and Japanese text how he goes about recording his albums. This album contains some alternate binaural mixes and an exclusive original suite of synthesized pieces One Night On The Milky Way Railroad. It begins with a track by track build up example of a short segment of Daphnis et Chloe which was released some years later in completed form.

Never released on CD despite a bootleg with a somewhat convincing cover) Apparently by the era of CDs it seems to have been mutually decided the 1970s technology explained had changed too drastically in the years since the original release. Interestingly by the late 90s popular concensus has turned to more appreciation of Analog Synthesis often citing it as simply sounding better than digital technology.

Bermuda Triangle

Follow up to Kosmos, Includes Close Encounters and plenty of Prokofiev. Some of it is a little abrasive for my tastes. Has bite and plenty of strange atmosphere and massive synthesis. More original material than most Tomita albums. The Japanese CD has slightly different longer track names but the same music as far as I can tell (at one point I had heard that there was a different track order somewhere but I see no evidence, perhaps the generally longer English track names on the Japanese releases confused some collectors). The CD is only available in Japan. I always tell people this one is great for electronic fans who find his other stuff tame.

(left) Bermuda Triangle Japanese cover art by Tadanori Yokoo

Daphnis et Chloe (Japanese title_

Bolero (U.S. Title)

The Ravel Album (German Title)

1979.9.5
RCA ARL1-3412 (Album) RK 13412 (Cassette) PD 83412 (European CD), RCCD-105, RCD1-3412(CD) current Japan CD BVCC-2517, BVCC-37409

One of my favorites. Certainly not Tomita's flashiest and his Bolero is a little dull, though still nice. But Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2 and Ma Mere l'Oye are brilliant and IMHO his best balanced interpretations. His last album with almost exclusively analog synths. I'd say his 4 best albums are this, Snowflakes , Planets and Kosmos. CD only available in Japan

I've heard from Eurpoean fans that the out of print German CD of this album was titled The Ravel Album

Grand Canyon Suite

By Grofé. This is a symphonic suite of middle of the road American West tone paintings. This is probably exotic in Japan I'm not too excited by it. Also Leroy Anderson's Syncopated Clock, a witty piece of kitsch from TV game shows. Tomita's interpretation is cool. Both pieces are the kind of repertoire the Boston Pops would play under Arthur Fiedler. Tomita used his Synclavier II, a then state of the art digital synth system on this album. Out of print in the U.S. Some databases call this just "Grofe". No U.S. CD release.

Syncopated Clock wasn't on the older Japanese release (BVCC-2518) though it's been available on some U.S. and Japanese best of CDs. The recent Japanese CD remaster (BVCC-37412) now includes it on CD .

Dawn Chorus

Canon of the Three Stars (U.S. Title)

A mix of classical pieces with wordless synthesized choruses. Several pieces are by Villa-Lobos. Tomita took astronomical data and used it as waveforms for his Fairlight CMI. While the data does seem to have been used, he seems to have tweaked it into sounding like the sounds he normally uses . Weirdly the US vinyl edition is stamped "Digitally Remastered" but there was no prior version (except maybe in Japan) and there was never a CD in the US so the "Digitally Remastered" blurb is kind of a tease. Rumor has it that the album had a fairly short deadline. The whole idea of the sounds made from outer space data seems so exciting so it is a little bit of a let down that it sounded like a digital orchestra.

Out of print in the U.S.. I've heard mention of American CDs floating around and being sold at collectors prices. If they are legitimate I do not believe they were normally sold to the public. The CD is normally available in Japan, but of course with the title Dawn Chorus rather than Canon of the Three Stars

The Japanese CD seems to contain Tomita's original track order. The U.S. album contains the same tracks but they are in a very different order probably connected with U.S. marketing. The Japanese CD opens with the title track which makes sense as to the title of the album but more importantly starts with sounds of the dawn, the U.S. order places it later which may make the albumn start with more drama but messes up the overall sense of piece to piece flow overall. Sort of a mute point now since the U.S. album is long unavailable but at the time I noticed the feeling of just a bunch of tracks when it came out and was saddened as years later this seemed to be his last album of all new material (at least for a while) and most of the aspects were a little dissapointing. The Japanese track sequence gives the listener much more of a Tomita experience.

The Pachelbel track shows up on: Pachelbel's Greatest Hit: Canon 60712-2-RG(CD) RCA Victor

Back to the Earth

Live in New York. I was there and Tomita signed my program. I and one other person knew what he looked like.

Some new material, (some of which was done by his collaborators) many of the pieces have an acoustic soloist. He had surround sound and the performers were on boats that floated by. Tomita was in his Casio Pyramid hoisted high above the river by a crane. Unlike Linz, he doesn't seem to have played the finale live-- as far as I know all the synth was on tape with the soloists performing along live. It was free so Battery Park was packed solid with audience. It coincided with the Statue of Liberty Centennial year, I came there about 3 hours early, chose a great wall to sit on only to be kicked off so the press could sit on it. Fortunately I was kicked out early enough to get a front row standing spot. There I spotted Tomita and greeted him. He kindly gave me a signed program. The CD is shorter than the concert.

click on the photo to see the program book

Kodo with Isao Tomita

Nasca Fantasy

This one is not quite part of the main body of classical synth albums. It has a South American theme to it. The album showcases Kodo, a famous drum ensemble. (Which means Tomita plays a supporting role though he plays on and composes the tracks - other than one by Edmund Portena Zaldivar and Bachianas Brasileiras No.2 by Villa-Lobos) Tomita does synth-orchestral backings to Kodo. Some musicians from Peru also perform on ethnic instruments. The first new album in many years in the U.S. and no newer ones have received a U.S. release.

This album appears to still be available internationally and is usually found filed under "Kodo" in the world music section rather than "Tomita".

Tomita's Greatest Hits

Side a

1. Syncopated Clock (2:30)
2. On the Trail (3:25 )
3. The Sea Named Solaris (3:32)
4. Reverie (4:45)
5. Great Gate of Kiev (4:12 )

1. Mercury, the Winged Messenger (4:30 )
2. Bolero (4:33 )
3. Symphony No. 5 II: Allegro Marcato (3:22 )
4. Firebird Suite Finale (3:11)

The Best of Tomita

The Best of Tomita Vol. 1

The Best of Tomita Vol. 2

How many Best Ofs does the guy need? Buy the real albums already! Apparently Syncopated Clock was only available on CD on these best ofs before 2004. The Star Wars theme is remixed on some of these remixes. The transitions between tracks are often altered also.

The Cosmos of Isao Tomita

(*) 1999 BVCC-37296

is a Japanese best of the synth classical music album and is not to be confused with the well known 1978 album Cosmos. Or for that matter the Carl Sagan series Cosmos (which has an album with a track from Kosmos!) This one can be identified by a large "RCA Red Seal Best 100" logo at the bottom of the cover. This seems to be released around the time Tomita departed from BMG.

Different Dimensions

(*) 1997 BMG/Camden (UK)

A UK released Best Of album. The album contains no tracks by Holst. Perhaps they remain a problem in England so this compilation was created. The photo of course dates from early in his career.