Casiopea is the debut album of Japanese jazz fusion group Casiopea, released on May 25, 1979. Recorded between December 1978 and March 1979 in Japan, it is Casiopea's self-titled debut album.

The record includes the participation of some notable contemporary jazz players, such as David Sanborn on the saxophone, giving a special touch to Issei Noro's compositions. Tracks like "Black Joke" are part of the multiple performances and variances along Casiopea's career. The album was recorded on LP in 1979 and on CD in 1986, with both releases being the first editions on LP and CD.

The cover depicts two racing cars battling on a circuit, possibly Fuji Speedway's "Hairpin" turn. The cars are late-1970s Group 6 sports prototypes from the Japanese Fuji Grand Champion Series, most likely a Lola T290-Mazda^[1] and a March 74S^[2] from the 1978^[3] and 1979^[4] championships respectively.

Track listing

All tracks were written and arranged by Issei Noro, except for horn arrangements by Jun Fukamachi and string arrangements by Hiroki Inui.

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Time Limit"	3:07
2.	"Tears of the Star"	4:32
3.	"Space Road"	5:14
4.	"Midnight Rendezvous"	5:20
Total length:		18:13

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Far Away"	3:55
2.	"Swallow"	4:24
3.	"Dream Hill"	5:39
4.	"Black Joke"	4:17
Total length:		18:15

Credits

Casiopea

Issei Noro – Yamaha SG2000 electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals on "Dream Hill"
Minoru Mukaiya – Fender Rhodes piano, acoustic piano, synthesizers, Yamaha Electone electronic organ, vibraphone
Tetsuo Sakurai – Fender Jazz Bass bass guitar
Takashi Sasaki – Drums

Additional musicians

Randy Brecker – trumpet on "Time Limit" and "Black Joke"
Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone on "Time Limit," "Tears of the Star" and "Black Joke"
David Sanborn – alto saxophone on "Time Limit" and "Black Joke"
"Tomato" – strings

Production and design

Executive producer – Kunihiko Murai, Syoro Kawazoe
Producer – Shinji Sawada, Kazusuke Obi
Recording engineer – Al Schmitt, Norio Yoshizawa, Yasuhiko Terada
Assistant engineer – Mitsuo Koike
Recording engineer – Neil Dorfsman

Assistant engineer – James Farber
Mixing engineer – Yasuhiko Terada
Art Direction & Design – ALPHABET (nh ad system)
Photographer – Shigeru Wada
Illustrator – Toshikuni Okubo
Remastering engineer – Kouji Suzuki (2016)

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog	note
Japan	May 25, 1979	Alfa Records	30 cm LP	ALR-6017	stereo
	December 21, 1986		12 cm CD	32XA-104
	March 21, 1992			ALCA-271
	June 29, 1994			ALCA-9001
	July 23, 1998			ALCA-9196
	May 31, 2000	Toshiba EMI	remastered 12 cm CD	TOCT-24364	LP paper jacket
	December 19, 2001	Village Records		VRCL-2201	DSD, LP paper jacket
	January 17, 2002	Village Records		VRCL-2221	DSD
	May 27, 2009	Sony Music Direct		MHCL-20003	DSD, Blu-spec CD, LP paper jacket
	February 3, 2016		Music download	1076209054	iTunes Store^[5]
				4582290414218	mora AAC-LC 320kbps^[6]
				A1003862605	Recochoku AAC 128/320kbps^[7]
				B01B5AQMDC	Amazon.com^[8]
				Bp5pyuaz4lfka3vcvx5ough23ra	Google Play Music^[9]
	July 27, 2016			4582290418575	mora DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit^[10]
				smj4582290418575	e-onkyo DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit^[11]
				11180	HD-music DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit^[12]
				4582290418568	mora FLAC 96.0 kHz/24bit^[13]
				A1004668200	Recochoku FLAC 96.0 kHz/24bit^[14]
				smj4582290418568	e-onkyo FLAC 96 kHz 24bit^[15]
				11170	HD-music FLAC 96 kHz/24bit^[16]
	November 10, 2016			5ShaVOG8QHOltyWh5ZCxuB	Spotify^[17]