It was an electronic pop album, released in 1979 under the label, Warner Bros.[1] By 1978, Susumu Hirasawa, guitarist and vocalist of Mandrake, one of the few Japanese progressive metal bands at the time, was unsatisfied with the style the band worked in, feeling that progressive rock had lost its social relevance and became solely for entertainment.

The band's final live performance was a three-hour show at the Shibuya Jean-Jean, meant to be the symbolic burial of Mandrake's aborted body.

The lyrics reflect on the sociopolitical issues of Japan at the time, during the Japanese post-war economic miracle, and were influenced in part by Nineteen Eighty-Four.

[7] Described by Hirasawa as "an honest man who acted with a life-sized air of cleanliness", Sakuma was swiftly trusted by the band, who were cautious with making their debut.

"White Cigarettes" contains an interpolation of the Arabian riff (believed to originate from a 17th century traditional Algerian song, published as part of various other compositions by various other musicians over time).

Two other songs were considered for the album: The Hirasawa-penned "Alien" (異邦人, Ihōjin) and the Tanaka piece "White Shoes" (ホワイト・シューズ, Howaito Shuuzu).