One of the most important rock bands in Japan's music history, the Yellow Monkey were one of the early players in the rock movement that sprang up in the late '80s and early '90s.

After a formative period leading up to 1996, the band released a series of albums that received exceptional critical acclaim: Punch Drunkard, 8, and Sicks (the latter often regarded as their greatest album).

All of the important singles from these albums were gathered on Golden Years Singles: 1996-2001 (released just after the Yellow Monkey announced an indefinite hiatus, although they would later split officially), from the poppy "Rakuen" to the darker "Tengoku Ryokou" and all points in between.