Retro Review — TMG

Tak Matsumoto Group — TMG 1

Tak Matsumoto is a legend in Japan. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call him the Eddie Van Halen of Japan. In 2004 he decided to do a record in English and assembled quite an impressive band including Jack Blades and Eric Martin. I don’t remember it getting a lot of play here so if you missed it, you missed a great record.

I’m a huge fan of both Martin and Blades, so to have them in the same band is pretty crazy. They are both fantastic singers and songwriters. They came up with some great songs.

With 14 tracks, there’s a lot here so I’ll just hit the highlights. The album kicks off with “Oh Japan — Our Time Is Now’. I would describe it as Night Ranger’s “Rock In America” but for Japan. A huge rock anthem that’s a great start to the record.

“Everything Passes Away” is next and is a heavy track. We get Blades and Martin trading vocals which I wanted more on the record. It’s one of my favorites on the record.

“Kings For A Day” and “Signs of Life” sound like they could have been a Mr. Big tracks even though the latter was written by Blades.

“Train, Train” and “Wonderland” are two of my favorite tracks on the record. Both are written by Martin with his songwriting partner Andre Pessis.

The album closer, “Never Goodbye”, is a solid finish to the record. No ballad here. Just more guitar and another quality rock track.

This is simply a stunning record. Lots of guitar but the songs take center stage. The only improvement is on the live DVD called “Dodge The Bullet” which takes these songs to another level.

Any fan of Mr. Big, Night Ranger or high quality hard rock should absolutely love this record and live DVD if you can get your hands on them. For me, there weren’t many hard rock highlights from the 2000s, but this record certainly is one of them.

95 out of 100

Track Listing

1. Oh Japan — Our Time Is Now
2. Everything Passes Away *
3. Kings For A Day
4. I Know You By Heart
5. I Wish You Were Here
6. The Greatest Show On Earth
7. Signs Of Life *
8. Red, White And Bullet Blues
9. Trapped
10. My Alibi
11. Wonderland *
12. Train, Train *
13. Two Of A Kind
14. Never Goodbye *

*Best Songs