Charmed Life (Half Japanese album)
# Charmed Life (Half Japanese album)

Professional ratings :

| Review scores ||
| - | - |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Pitchfork | 8.9/10 |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 |

Charmed Life is an album by the punk rock group Half Japanese, released in 1988. It is their second studio album released on their label, 50 Skidillion Watts.

The eighth song, "Bright Lights, Big City," was originally sung and recorded by the American blues musician Jimmy Reed, in 1961.

## Critical reception

The Quietus wrote: "Less whiny and needy than Music To Strip By, the lyrics are spouted from a lip with more curl and less pucker ... as accessible as Half Japanese get." Trouser Press called the album "a guileless burst of optimism that mutes the shriller frequencies considerably, replacing them with an unaffected, exuberant guitar/harmonica backdrop played by a band."

## Personnel

* Jad Fair - guitar, harmonica, vocals
* David Fair - guitar, harmonica, vocals
* Don Fleming - guitar, vocals
* John Dreyfuss - organ, saxophone
* Rick Dreyfuss - composer
* Mark Jickling - bass guitar, guitar
* John Moremen - guitar
* Jay Spiegel - drums
* Don Zientara - engineer, mixing
