Aurora | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 25, 1994 | |||
Recorded | 1993 | |||
Studio | Various
| |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 60:11 | |||
Label | Polydor K.K. | |||
Producer |
| |||
Susumu Hirasawa chronology | ||||
|
Aurora is Susumu Hirasawa's fourth solo album.
His first main solo album in three years following a period where focus was directed on the Defrosted P-Model, Aurora, which Hirasawa has said can be considered a second solo debut, [1] is a turning point in his career. Unlike the previous solo albums, Aurora doesn't feature guest musicians, with almost all instrumentation handled by MIDI-compatible devices. [2] The music was composed with the Amiga The Blue Ribbon SoundWorks programs Bars & Pipes Professional, which he started using for "more natural orchestration", [3] and SuperJAM!, [4] whose "Bartok" style he modified by inputting data from his own songs, irreversibly turning its patterns and variations into "Hirasawa" style ones. [5]
Aurora was created to appeal to the instinctual side of the listener as opposed to the logical, in likeness to tales and myths, [6] emphasizing vocals and melody. The songs were written so that the album would lack any inherent story or concept, inviting the listener to create their own reading. [3] However, as he wrote the lyrics out, seven of the album's ten songs ended up having to do with "you" (キミ, kimi), which accidentally created undertones of a story about two people. Hirasawa wanted to avoid that if at all possible, but felt that was just the way the language worked and left it as is. [3] Many words representing natural phenomena were included in an attempt to resolve complaints about the lyrics being opaque. Hirasawa chose words that were easy to understand and had a large impact, the word Aurora came from this decision as well. [3]
The album's booklet is adorned with Buddhist imagery. Advertisements for Aurora used the phrase "The Greatest Music of All" (至高の音楽, Shikou no Ongaku). [7]
All tracks are written by Susumu Hirasawa
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Stone Garden" (石の庭Ishi no Niwa) | 6:02 |
2. | "Love Song" | 7:02 |
3. | "Aurora" (オーロラŌrora) | 4:17 |
4. | "Song of the Force" (力の唄Chikara no Uta) | 5:28 |
5. | "Take the Wheel" (舵をとれKaji wo Tore) | 4:32 |
6. | "Snow Blind" (スノーブラインドSunōburaindo) | 6:40 |
7. | "The Double of Wind" (風の分身Kaze no Bunshin) | 4:51 |
8. | "In the Square" (広場でHiroba de) | 4:34 |
9. | "Island Door (Paranesian Circle)" (トビラ島 (パラネシアン・サークル)Tobira Shima (Paraneshian Sākuru)) | 13:29 |
10. | "Ringing Bell" (呼んでるベルYonderu Beru) | 2:57 |
Date | Label(s) | Format | Catalog | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
February 25, 1994 | Polydor K.K. | CD | POCH-1328 | |
July 1, 2005 | Universal Music Japan, Universal Sigma | Digital Download | none | |
February 29, 2012 | Chaos Union, Teslakite | CD | CHTE-0057 | Remastered by Masanori Chinzei. Disc 4 of the HALDYN DOME box set. |
November 5, 2014 | Universal Music Japan | SHM-CD | UPCY-6930 | Part of Universal's "Project Archetype" (supervised by Osamu Takeuchi & Kasiko Takahasi). Remastered by Kenji Yoshino (supervised by Chinzei) with both original liner notes and new ones. [8] |