Pizzicato Five

In early 1994, the remaining members of the Pizzicato Five (Yasuharu Konishi and Nomiya Maki) played in America for the first time, and it shows in Overdose. The album is a tribute to New York City, soul music, and Stevie Wonder in particular. Wonder-esque instrumentation and harmonica pop up in "Questions," "Hippie Day," and especially "On the Sunny Side of the Street," one of their best singles. Elsewhere, Konishi is lifting riffs from the not-exactly-New-Yorker-but-it'll-do Donovan ("Airplane"), using a rapper for the first time (Takagi Kan on "Statue of Liberty"), and, while "Superstar" may sound like Lenny Kravitz, adding a lush orchestral break American artists would never think of. The album loses some energy when it hits the ten-minute remix of "The Night Is Still Young," and none of the following tracks apart from the closing number match the energy of the opening seven. A mixed bag, but it does show that a Takanami-less Pizzicato Five could carry on. ~ Ted Mills, All Music Guide