Duty is the third studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on September 27, 2000, by Avex Trax. Duty is Hamasaki's first studio album inside the 2000s decade, and her third consecutive studio album to be fully produced by Japanese musician and businessman Max Matsuura. The album's composing and arrangement was handled by several music collaborators, such as Ken Harada, Kazuhito Kikuchi, Dai Nagao, HΛL, among many others. Hamasaki contributed to the album as the primary and background vocalist, and songwriter to every song. Three different formats were released to promote the album: a standalone CD, a limited edition Playbutton, and a digital download. The cover art portray Hamasaki wearing a leopard-print catsuit.
"Heaven" is the thirty-seventh single released by Ayumi Hamasaki, released on September 14, 2005. "Heaven" ended up selling over 325,000 copies, making it Hamasaki's second highest-selling single of 2005 as well as her last single to date that has sold over 300,000 physical copies. "Heaven" was used as the theme of the Japanese film Shinobi Heart Under Blade, while "Will" was used in a television commercial for Panasonic.
"Step You"/"Is This Love?" is the 35th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was a double a-side single released on April 20, 2005. "Step You"/"Is This Love?" was the first single released by Ayumi Hamasaki in 2005. "Step you"/"is this Love?" was the best-selling solo single of 2005 by a female artist until September 2005, when Mika Nakashima's "Glamorous Sky" outsold it. The DVD featured 3 PVs, including one for "Step You", "Is This Love?", and also for "My Name's Women" from Hamasaki's 2004 album, My Story. Chiharu and Etsu from TRF were featured alongside Ayu in the PV. The "My Name's Women" PV is currently the second most expensive music video by a Japanese artist, behind Hamasaki's "Fairyland" PV. To date, the single has sold over 345,000 copies, making it her best-selling single of 2005.
(Miss)understood is the seventh studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on New Year's Day 2006, by Avex Trax. Hamasaki acted as the album's sole lyricist, as she had on all of her preceding albums. (Miss)understood marked new musical directions for Hamasaki: she explored new influences such as funk and used gospel choruses in some of the songs, foreign to her previous works. This was the result of her having heard compositions by Geo from the German-based pop music project Sweetbox and asking him for his works. Subsequently, Hamasaki rewrote the lyrics entirely to fit (Miss)understood.
"Appears" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released by Avex Trax on November 10, 1999 as the sixth single from her second studio album Loveppears (1999), which was released on the same day. Alongside this, it has been released in several other territories with different release dates under her Western alias Ayu. It also served as Hamasaki's first limited edition single, limiting physical sales to 300,000 copies. The track was written by Hamasaki herself, while production was handled by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. Musically, "Appears" is a dance song written in third person perspective, and is about the third person watching what appears to be a happy and loving relationship. Upon its release, "Appears" received positive reviews from music critics. Alexey Eremenko, writing for AllMusic, selected the track as the best song from the album and her career. However, an editor from CD Journal criticized the amount of remixes on the CD single.
"Seasons" is a song by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki for her third studio album, Duty (2000). It was written by Hamasaki, while production was handled by Avex Trax chairman Max Matsuura. It premiered on June 7, 2000, as the third single from the album. The song is the final part of a trilogy from Duty; the other two singles from the trilogy being "Vogue" and "Far Away".
"M" is the nineteenth single by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. "M" serves as the lead single to her first greatest hits album A Best (2001) and her fourth studio album I Am... (2002). The track marked Hamasaki's increased creative control over her music, as it was the first song she composed, under the pen name "Crea". The lyrics of "M" are about Hamasaki talking to Maria, or also possibly to Mary Magdalene, hence the title "M".
"Evolution" is the 20th single by Japanese recording artist and lyricist Ayumi Hamasaki, released on January 31, 2001, by Avex Trax as the second single from her fourth studio album I Am... (2002).
"Startin'/Born to Be..." is the 39th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on March 8, 2006. "Startin'" is used as the opening theme of video game Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. The 2nd track on the single, "Born To Be..." is the official theme song of Nittele's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics. "Born To Be..." is a happy, inspirational pop tune. The single debuted at #1 on the Oricon Charts beating off competition from Zard and Lead. This is Hamasaki's 14th consecutive number one single and 26th #1 single in total. The release of "Startin'/Born To Be..." makes Hamasaki the female singer with the most #1 singles in Japan, surpassing Seiko Matsuda. Lastly, the third track on the single, "teens ~acoustic version~" is also included.
"Blue Bird" is a song by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released as her 40th single under Avex Trax on June 21, 2006. "Blue Bird" was Hamasaki's 15th consecutive single to top the Oricon Singles Chart and 27th number one single in total. Initially planned to be a triple A-side single, it features two new songs, "Blue Bird" and "Beautiful Fighters". "Blue Bird" was the CM song for Zespri Gold Kiwifruit while "Beautiful Fighters" is featured on a Panasonic D-snap and D-dock commercial. A rearrangement of "Ladies Night", featured in her (Miss)understood album, called "Ladies Night " is also featured on this single. A trance remix to "Blue Bird" is also on the single. On her official website, she describes "Blue Bird" as being a summer song, and "Beautiful Fighters" as being a song praising women.
4 Hot Wave is the 32nd single by Japanese singer Koda Kumi, released through Rhythm Zone on July 26, 2006. The singles contains the quadruple A-side tracks "Ningyo-Hime", "I'll Be There", "Juicy", and "With Your Smile". All four songs were included on Kumi's fifth studio album Black Cherry, released in December 2006.
Secret is the eighth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki, released November 29, 2006, by Avex Trax. As with all of her previous works, Hamasaki wrote all of the lyrics on Secret. The album's composition was handled largely by Dai Nagao and Tetsuya Yukumi, both of whom were frequent collaborators with Hamasaki. Generally a rock-pop influenced album, Hamasaki said that the meaning of the album was itself a secret, and that it incorporated secrets she was keeping about herself that the public did not know.
"Talkin' 2 Myself" is J-Pop singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki's 42nd single, which was released on September 19, 2007. The single contains two rock tracks, one acoustic orchestra remix of her previously released "Fated", and the instrumentals of the main tracks. It is her 29th #1 single, breaking her own record for the most #1 singles by a solo female artist. The drums in both Talkin' 2 Myself and Decision are played by Andy Selway from the band KMFDM.
Guilty is the ninth studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on New Year's Day 2008 by Avex Trax. Guilty marks Hamasaki's ninth consecutive album to be fully produced by Japanese producer and manager Max Matsuura, while she contributes to the album as the lead vocalist, background vocalist, and songwriter to all songs. Recorded in Japanese with minor phrases in English, Guilty is a rock album with numerous musical elements such as pop rock, heavy metal, synthrock, and power ballad melodies.
"You Were..." is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, taken from her tenth studio album, Rock 'n' Roll Circus (2010). It was written by Hamasaki with production being done by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. The song premiered on December 29, 2009 as the album's second a-side single with the album track, "Ballad". Four formats were released for the single; a CD format, a CD and DVD bundle, a limited edition box set, and a digital download. The first three artworks feature Hamasaki laying in snow, whilst the limited edition box set has a long-shot of Hamasaki in a dress.
Love Songs is the twelfth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. The album was released on December 22, 2010, through Avex Trax, eight months after her eleventh studio album Rock 'n' Roll Circus. A stylistic return to the aesthetic of her albums before Secret, Love Songs contains pop songs with lyrics primarily revolving around love, many of them ballads.
"Fairyland" is the 36th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on August 3, 2005. It instantly shot to #1 on the Oricon charts where it stayed for the entire week. After one week of sales, "Fairyland" sold over 172,000 copies, the most any of Hamasaki's singles sold in one week in 2005. "Fairyland" is also Hamasaki's first single that featured different covers for both the CD and the CD+DVD.
Ayumi Hamasaki A 50 Singles: Live Selection is 27th live DVD by Ayumi Hamasaki, released on April 20, 2011. It is the compilation of her 50 best live performances selected from each of her singles, from her 1st single, Poker Face, to her 50th single, L. It was released on the same day with Ayumi Hamasaki Rock 'n' Roll Circus Tour Final: 7 Days Special. It was originally scheduled to be released at March 30, but was pushed back till April 20 due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. It charted strongly at #2 while Ayumi Hamasaki Rock 'n' Roll Circus Tour Final: 7 Days Special charted at #1, making her the first artist to hold #1 and #2 positions on the Oricon DVD Weekly Chart. The sales of this 2 DVD make her the female artist with the highest DVD sales of 2,313,000 units sold, behind Arashi. As her song, Kanariya, had not been performed live before, it was replaced as a video clip.
"Feel the Love" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released in six different formats on December 25, 2013 by Avex Trax, Avex Taiwan, and Avex Entertainment Inc. worldwide. It was also her first physical release in three years since her EP–single L (2010), and her first double A-side single, alongside the track "Merry-Go-Round", since "Moon" and "Blossom" that same year. The track was written by the singer, whilst production was handled by Japanese musician and long-time collaborator Max Matsuura with the assistance of DJ Hello Kitty; this marks the singer's first single to be produced with another producer outside of Matsuura. Musically, "Feel the Love" is an electronic dance song that lyrically focuses on love and having a good time.
"Next Level" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist and songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki taken from her tenth studio album Next Level (2009). The song was written by Hamasaki herself while the composition was by Dai Nagao and arrangement by HΛL. The song was conceived while Hamasaki was working on the studio album during her anniversary year, which was in April 2008. This year was to commemorate her ten-year anniversary since her debut single "Poker Face". "Next Level" was released as the album's lead and only promotional single on the same date as the album release digitally.
