Solid State Survivor is the second album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, released in 1979. Later, Solid State Survivor was released in 1982 in the UK on LP and cassette, also in 1992 in the United States on CD, but many of the songs from this album were compiled for release in the States as the US pressing of ×∞Multiplies, including the tracks "Behind the Mask", "Rydeen", "Day Tripper", and "Technopolis". Solid State Survivor is only one of a handful of YMO albums in which the track titles do not have a Japanese equivalent. The album was an early example of synthpop, a genre that the band helped pioneer alongside their earlier album Yellow Magic Orchestra, and it also contributed to the development of techno. Solid State Survivor won the Best Album Award at the 22nd Japan Record Awards, and it sold two million records.
Overview
The album is also known for "Behind the Mask", which YMO had first produced in 1978 for a Seikoquartzwristwatch commercial. YMO made use of synthesizers for the melodies and digital gated reverb for the snare drums. The song has had numerous cover versions produced by other artists, most notably Michael Jackson. Alongside Quincy Jones, Jackson produced a slightly more dance-funk version of the techno classic with additional lyrics, originally intended for his best-selling albumThriller. Despite the approval of songwriter Sakamoto and lyricist Chris Mosdell, it was eventually removed from the Thriller album due to legal issues with Yellow Magic Orchestra's management. Nevertheless, various cover versions were later performed by Greg Phillinganes, Eric Clapton, Orbital, and The Human League, among others, before Jackson's cover version eventually appeared on his posthumous Michael album in 2010. "Technopolis" is considered an "interesting contribution" to the development of techno, specifically Detroit techno, as it used the term "techno" in its title, was a tribute to Tokyo as an electronic mecca, and foreshadowed concepts that Juan Atkins and Rick Davis would later have with Cybotron. The album's title song "Solid State Survivor" is a new wavesynth rock song. The popular anime seriesDragon Ball Z later paid homage to the song and the album with the song "Solid State Scouter" as the theme song of the 1990 television special '. This was YMO's most successful album in Japan. It was the best selling album in the Oricon LP Chart for 1980, beating Chiharu Matsuyama's ' – Godiego's Magic Monkey was best seller for 1979. In 1980 the album won a Best Album Award in the 22nd Japan Record Awards. The album went on to sell two million records worldwide.
