Prism

Prism (プリズム)
Origin	Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Jazz Fusion Jazz Rock Progressive Rock
Years active	1975-2018
Labels	Polydor Warner Bros. Records Moon Records TDK Records SMS Records Emotion Apollon Eastern Gale WEA Japan MELDAC Turnon-C Universal Cosmos Records Beat On Beat Athos Alvatoz
Past members	Akira Wada Ken Watanabe Daisaku Kume Yoichi Haneda Masaru Fukuda Hideki Nakamura Yusuke Ono Toru (Rika) Suzuki Katsutoshi Morizono Koki (Corky) Ito Yasuhisa (Papa) Shirao Yasukazu Sato Masahiro Sayama Jun Aoyama Satoshi Nakamura Mansaku Kimura Jun Fukamachi Yoshikazu Matsuura Jiro Okada Cheru Watanabe
Website	prismjapan.com

Overview

Prism (プリズム, Purizumu) was a Japanese Jazz Fusion band lead by guitarist Akira Wada. They are largely considered to have been the country's first fusion band, having formed in 1975. Their debut record was released in 1977 under Polydor records, titled PRISM. Since then, they have released a total of 35 records, including both studio and live albums.

Live Performances

See Live Performances.

History

Prism was formed in 1975 by Akira Wada and Ken Watanabe. In 1976, the group were signed to Polydor Records and toured nationwide. Prism released their debut album in 1977, Prism, which ran out of stock after its release. Shortly after, the band went on to support Eric Clapton at the Budokan.Their 1986 song 'Take Off' was featured in a Mild Seven commercial.

Members

The band's final line-up was composed of Jiro Okada (bass), Satoshi "Mansaku" Kimura (drums), Akira Wada (guitar) and Tatsuya "Cheru" Watanabe (keyboards, vocals) as of their suspension of activities in 2018. On March 28, 2021, Wada died at the age of 64.

Defining who was a support member rather than simply a guest was based on live performances and if they were consistent members of the recording band, rather than simply making a short appearance with the band, be it live or on an album. Additionally, some of who was considered an official member in the 70s—along with the dates they necessarily joined the band officially—are ill defined, so interpretations were made based on known live performances and liner notes.

Discography

Prism have released a total of 25 studio albums and 10 live albums since 1977. The band was signed to Universal Music Group in 2003, which re-released the band's first four albums, and remained their record publisher.

• Prism (1977)
• Second Thoughts/Second Move (1978)
• Prism III (1979)
• Prism Live (1979)
• Surprise (1980)
• Community Illusion (1981)
• Live Alive (Absolutely) (1981)
• Visions (1982)
• ∞（永久機関） (1983)
• Nothin' Unusual (1985)
• Dreamin (1986)
• Live Alive Vol. 2 (1987)
• The Silence of the Motion (1987)
• Mother Earth (1990)
• Rejuvenation (1991)
• A Personal Change (1992)
• Prism Jam (1995)
• Uncovered (1995)
• Prismania (1997)
• Whiter (1997)
• In the Last Resort (2001)
• Present I (2003)
• Present II (2003)
• 【Mju:】 (2003)
• 1977 Live at Sugino Kodo (2004)
• Homecoming 2004 (2004)
• 三位一体 (2005)
• Blue... (2007)
• Prism 30th Anniversary Live! [Homecoming] (2007)
• Prism Homecoming Vol. 3 (2008)
• Invite (2009)
• Palace in the Sky (2011)
• Mode:Odd (2013)
• Celebrate (2017)
• What You See (2017)