In Japan! – The Jackson 5

By the time of this April 30, 1974 show at Koseinenkin Hall in Osaka, Japan, both Michael Jackson and Jermaine Jackson had already become successful solo artists while remaining as cornerstones within the Jackson 5 (J5). The brothers' latest effort, Skywriter (1973), had just been issued a few weeks earlier, yet none of the tunes on that album were included. Instead, In Japan! (1973) contains 11 tracks with a surprisingly strong showing from Jermaine's eponymously-titled 1972 debut, with his Top Ten remake of Shep & the Limelites' "Daddy's Home," as well as "That's How Love Goes" and an overhaul of a vintage Motown classic, "Ain't That Peculiar." Michael also offers up a trio of his platters with "I Want to Be Where You Are" and the title tunes from his first and second long-players "Got to Be There" and "Ben," respectively. In fact -- and perhaps tellingly -- the solos outweigh the group selections in number and performance quality. The proceedings commence with an ambivalent run-through of Rare Earth's "We're Gonna Have a Good Time" and a similarly rote reading of their recent single "Lookin' Through the Windows." The pace is picked up on the J5's funk -filled take on Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" -- one of In Japan!'s undeniable zeniths. A further highlight comes from the catalog of another Motown act in the form of a rousing rendition of the Temptations' concurrent hit "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." Oddly, "Never Can Say Goodbye" is the only cut to have been drawn from the J5's own considerable chart-toppers. Although the boys were rapidly maturing from the fresh-faced five-some that had burst on the scene with "ABC," "I Want You Back," "The Love You Save" and "Sugar Daddy" -- among others -- none of them can be found here. In 2004 Hip-O Select released In Japan! in North America for the first time in a limited edition of 5,000 copies. The packaging is unique with a miniaturized gatefold LP jacket replicating the original Japanese pressing. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide