As most of you already know, I am a HUGE fan of 90’s idol Chisato Moritaka and consider her works to be among the BEST that J-pop has to offer! As well, her Live Concert performances are top-notch and her laserdsic releases are also some of the all-time GREATEST ! And of them all, Chistato’s 1992 Live Concert LIVE ROCK ALIVE has GOT to be my HANDS DOWN favorite!
In 2015, Warner’s gave Chisato’s 1991 “Kokon Tozai” concert the Deluxe Treatment, remastered sound and picture on a blu-ray disc, extras and bonus tracks, etc, and I was beside myself with excitement! I consider Kokon Tozai to be another one of her great Live Concerts, and was blown away not only by the remastering, but with the deference and love with which it was made!
Now, with such a wonderful treatment going to Kokon Tozai, I was wondering and HOPING that someday Live Rock Alive would get the SAME treatment!
I waited. And I waited. And I waited! Warners Music continued to release new DVD collections (mostly from early 90's) , but never that fateful one! And as this short post in 2017 shows, I was giving up hope that they’d ever get around to giving Rock Alive that remastered touch!
After years, I began to worry if they were ever going to get around to releasing a Deluxe Rock Alive and when I recently complained to Saburo, he felt that Chisato was now focused on touring and concentrating on new recordings, and doubted there would be any more Remastered Blu Ray releases...So imagine my utter, UTTER surprise when, not ONE WEEK later, seeing THIS announcement on the Chisato facebook page:
WHAAAT! I can’t even BEGIN to tell you how spazzing out I was seeing that! I read the details once, then I read it again. And then, wasting no more time, RAN to CD Japan to see if they has it available for pre-order! Scrolling thru her items, I crossed my fingers and sure enough, THERE it WAS!!! It came in three options:
Of course I HAD to pick the Complete 3 UHQCDs and 2 Blu-ray Box Set- it if was anywhere NEAR as beautiful as the Kokon Tozai release, I knew I was gonna be in for a treat, and made my payment right then and there!!
Gotta say it was an ANXIOUS few weeks waiting for the release date and for my package to get shipped, but JUST today it FINALLY made it, and WOWWW, it was more BEAUTIFUL and DAZZLING than I hoped it could be!
Housed in a gorgeous glossy slipcase box with awesome artwork on both back and front, the box was just LOADED with goodies: The original ROCK ALIVE CD, now remastered and released as a “UHQCD” and the original LIVE ROCK ALIVE concert on Blu-ray...
The COMPLETE Live Rock Alive concert on BLU-RAY, as well as the remastered concert on two CDs!
Flyers, Pamphlets and Stickers- For this celebration, They announced different bonus goods for the different dealers, we buyers at CD Japan got this postcard
Also included was a Replica Live Rock Alive Tour Program,a TREASURE TROVE of pics, interviews, and info!
And then there was the CONCERT ITSELF! This was ALREADY my favorite Chisato concert (and up for fave J-Pop concert of all time, TBH), but this was a SPECIAL treat- with clear, colorful video and bright, crisp audio, it was like seeing the concert for the first time all over again!
Already had tears in my eyes when Chisato went into her wonderful song “Fight”, and I was covered in goosebumps when she hit “Watashi Ga Obasan Ni Nattemo”! Tracks like “Mitsuketa Saifu”, “Wakarimashita” and “Yacchimaina” were as thunderous and SONOROUS as could be, and I had that volume all UP!
The box set boasted two tracks that were cut from the original Live Rock Alive release, “Benkyo No Uta” and “Sono Go No Watashi” and MAN, I cannot fathom why they would cut these songs out, they are great and Chisato is practically ON FIRE performing them!
My only guess is that they sounded like other songs in the set list: “Benkyo” sounding a bit like “Wakarimashita” and “Sono Go Watashi” like “Konomachi” and since the former had both been performed on the Kokona tozai Concert, maybe they had to make a choice. SO grateful to be able to enjoy it NOW!
I’ve also said that Chisato’s version of both “17sai” and “Ame” in this concert will always be the ‘true” versions, they are the ‘takes” that I love the most, the version that all others must compare. Just wonderful! Well, you could say that about the WHOLE CONCERT!
Once the concert was over, I immediately went back and rewatched my fave performances , (including those newly-added songs, they are so great!) and probably gonna watch some more before I pack the box up and carefully wrap it back into its cases!
With such wonderful care and details put into making this awesome release happen, one can only wonder what they have in store for LUCKY SEVEN!
NOTES:
-One thing about the audio remixing that I’ve noticed and thought it worth mentioning here is that it seems (to MY ears, anyway) that they’ve toned down the volume of the audience’s cheering and clapping, makes for a cleaner sound, but I REALLY noticed their absence in “Wakarimashita” and “Get Smile”, two songs where the cheering REALLY adds to the overall performance!
-Just realized that the picture of Chisato on the Live Rock Alive laserdisc (the one of her holding her cupped hand to her ear) looks like it is from a performance of “Benkyo No Uta”, one of those songs that wasn’t even on the original release! Now that’s some irony!
-Oh, and I'm GLAD to say that the Live Rock Alive Complete Box is sized in the same dimensions as the aforementioned KOKON TOZAI Set- makes it look SO much prettier when placed together on my shelf!!!!!
