Depends On Who You Ask
08/27/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Some would call this a cynical cross-over attempt by these naughty boys, and write it off. I won't argue that point, but I'd like to chime in with the fact that these songs are almost uniformly great. "Lotus Love" is such an amazing number that I intentionally avoid looking for a translation of the lyrics, fearing that they would ruin what for me is a first-rate mid-tempo love song. "Expecting Rivers" is a fantastic up-tempo number, and "Kimi Ni Muni Kyun" was poppy enough to get covered by the Human League. Perhaps the oddest bit was the cover of their own "You've Got to Help Yourself" (first heard on SERVICE), now down to an instrumental that's only 30 seconds long. If you like the accent on "pop" in your electro-pop, pick this up."
Naughty Boys Instrumental at Last!
Deanimator | Rocky River, OH United States | 08/05/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Naughty Boys Instrumental has always been my favorite YMO album. Unfortunately, it had been unavailable on CD. Now I see that there's a CD.Naughty Boys Instrumental maintains the feel of YMO's previous work while putting a new spin on old works. You've Got to Help Yourself and Lotus Love in particular benefit from the instrumental reinterpretation. The former takes on the aspect of the quintessential anime film score.I can't recommend Naughty Boys Instrumental too highly. It's a rare gem, now available again."
Their Poppiest and Oddly Their Best
Alf Kremer | Denver CO | 10/19/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Although YMO is best known (by some, anyway) as pioneers in electronic music, here they roll up their sleeves and, um, record pop songs. Ten of them. And they're really quite good. My understanding of Japanese is just shy of nothing, but the lyrics at least *sing* well most of the time - I can't comment on content. "Lotus Love" remains my favorite YMO track - a midtempo (love?) song with the occasional English lyric here and there (it certainly sounds quite serious, but what to make of the lyric "Blah blah blah" near the end?). The opening "Kimi Ni Muni Kyun" (guessing at the spelling there) is an uptempo number later decently covered by Human League. Other highlights include "Expecting Rivers" (another fast engaging number) and the abbreviated "You've Got to Help Yourself", which finds the best parts of the songs from SERVICE and condenses it into 30 seconds. Hardly groundbreaking, but this is the one I put on the most often."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1