98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare

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98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare
Live album by Fishmans
Released	September 29, 1999[1]
Recorded	December 28, 1998
Venue	Akasaka Blitz
Length	130:32
Label	Polydor
Fishmans chronology
8 Tsuki no Genjō (1998) 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare (1999)

98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare (98.12.28 男達の別れ, 98.12.28 Otokotachi no wakare) is the third and final live album by Japanese dub band Fishmans. It documents the band's final live performance with frontman Shinji Sato. The show was recorded and filmed at Akasaka Blitz on December 28, 1998, and was first released on September 29, 1999 by Polydor Records in Japan. The album title roughly translates to "A Men's Farewell: December 28th, 1998", a reference to the tour name, and to bassist Yuzuru Kashiwabara's departure from the band and the end of the band's three-piece era. The performance was released on DVD under the name Otokotachi no Wakare 98.12.28 @ Akasaka Blitz (男達の別れ 98.12.28 @赤坂Blitz) in 2005.

Background[]

On December 28, 1998, the last day of the Otokotachi no Wakara tour, Fishmans would perform their final concert at Akasaka Blitz. While initially intended as a farewell to bassist Yuzuru Kashiwabara, who was departing from the band, it ultimately served as a farewell to frontman Shinji Sato and to Fishmans as a whole, as Sato suddenly died within months, more or less ending the band as they did not release any new music and only performed reunion shows from then on.

Performance[]

Fishmans performed a multitude of their most beloved songs and singles, including "Hikōki", "Ikareta Baby", "Night Cruising", "Melody", "Walking in the Rhythm", and "Yurameki in the Air". As a finale, they played an extended adaptation of the entirety of their sixth studio album Long Season. The concert encapsulated the band's progression stylistically from music heavily influenced by reggae and dub, to dream pop and neo-psychedelia at the end of their career.

Underground recognition[]

While Fishmans received only scarce international recognition during their active years, 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare is highly-rated among several online music communities.^[2][3] On the rating aggregate website RateYourMusic, the album is ranked in the top 20 albums of all time,^[4] as the top album of 1999^[5] and as the highest-rated live album of all time, as of 29 May 2021.^[6]

In a review for The Michigan Daily, Sayan Ghosh wrote the album is "a triumph", specifically praising Sato's powerful and passionate voice and the embellishments on "Long Season" that "add new dimensions to the music".^[7]

Track listing[]

Personnel[]

Fishmans

• Shinji Sato – vocals, guitar
• Yuzuru Kashiwabara – bass guitar, chorus
• Kin-ichi Motegi – guitar, drums, chorus, sampler

Supporting guest musicians

• Honzi – keyboards, violin, chorus
• Michio "Darts" Sekiguchi – guitar, chorus

Technical personnel

• Zak – recording
• Yuka Koizumi – mastering

References[]