The Yellow Monkey
In 1997, The Yellow Monkey came back with the album that is considered their magnum opus, "Sicks". This album brought a different sonority compared to the two previous works. It was a mix of their current sound combined with that of their first albums. Bringing more complex and mature songs, "Sicks", was an amazing critical success and repeated the sales of the previous album. The main characteristic of the record is the concern of the band with the arrangements, which becomes more evident already in the first track, "Rainbow Man". The only single of the album was "Rakuen", which was successful and is still one of their best known songs. Despite being a concise album, whose songs are all equivalent in quality, there are three songs that made the album legendary. The first one is the already cited "Rakuen", with a strong chorus. "Rakuen" ("Paradise") was covered by Eric Martin, known as Mr. Big vocalist, in his album "Mr. Rock Vocalist" released in 2012. The second is the ballad "End of Life (for Grandmother)" (Jinsei no Owari (for Grandmother)), considered by many as the best ballad by The Yellow Monkey. The third song is the long eight-minute epic, "Trip in Heaven" (Tengoku Ryokou), again considered among the best songs of the group.