"Inspire" | ||||
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Single by Ayumi Hamasaki | ||||
from the album My Story | ||||
B-side | "Game" | |||
Released | July 28, 2004 | |||
Recorded | 2004 | |||
Genre | J-pop, hip-hop | |||
Length | 17:35 | |||
Label | Avex Trax | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ayumi Hamasaki (lyrics) Tetsuya Yukumi (music) BOUNCEBACK (music) | |||
Producer(s) | Max Matsuura | |||
Ayumi Hamasaki singles chronology | ||||
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Official Music Video | ||||
"Inspire" on YouTube | ||||
Official Music Video | ||||
"Game" on YouTube |
Inspire is the thirty-third single released by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on July 28,2004,by Avex Trax. "Inspire" was used as the image song for a Fuji TV special about the Guggenheim Museum in New York [1] as well as a tie-in for Avex auditions 2004. The B-side "Game" was used as the Panasonic 700MD CM song. This was her first release in about 4 months since her previous single,"Moments." It was released in two formats;"CD only" and "CD+DVD". The single was her last to be released in CCCD format. Both songs were featured on the album My Story ,which came out in December that same year.
The lyrics to "Inspire" and "Game" were written by Hamasaki and the songs were composed by Tetsuya Yukumi and BOUNCEBACK respectively;while both songs were produced by Max Matsuura. [2] "Inspire" is a heavy digital beat number with rock influences,and with lyrics that have a strong message,showcasing her more aggressive side. [3] The song "Game" starts with a nostalgic intro like a reminiscence,and then changes gears to a hard rock number. [4]
The music video for "Inspire" was directed by Inoue Tatsuo and was filmed in Los Angeles,California. [2] [5] The synopsis is that Hamasaki is walking down the city and sees a promotional poster of "Inspire" with arid earth as the promotional image. Then it shows Hamasaki going to a tropical island by raft. There she sings and dances in the ocean water with her dancers,and also does a versioned tribal dance.
The music video for "Game" was directed by Sunaga Hideaki. [2] It shows Hamasaki singing in a hall full of screens on the walls,on a platform with her band and a mysterious being in black leather.
"Inspire" debuted at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart,with 181,325 copies sold in its first week. [6] The single slid to number three the following week,logging sales of 59,179 units. [7] It descended to number four on its third week,shipping 37,357 units, [8] before dropping out of the top ten on its fourth week. [9] The single charted in the top 100 for fifteen weeks, [10] selling a reported total of 329,145 copies, [11] making it Hamasaki's highest selling single of 2004. It also was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. [12] "Inspire" ranked at number 16 on the year-end Oricon Singles Chart for 2004. [13] "Inspire" was also successful in digital markets,being certified Triple Platinum for Chaku-uta downloads of 750,000 in August 2006. [14]
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Japan (RIAJ) [15] Physical | Platinum | 329,145 [11] |
Japan (RIAJ) [16] Chaku-uta | 3× Platinum | 750,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Loveppears is the second studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released in Japan, Hong Kong and China on November 10, 1999, through Avex Trax and the China Record Corporation, and distributed worldwide on April 10, 2001, by Avex Entertainment Inc. It was entirely written by Hamasaki herself, while the production was handled by Japanese musician Max Matsuura. Musically, Loveppears is a dance album and lyrically focuses on themes of love, frustration of life, loneliness, and individualism.
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.
Rainbow is the fifth studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, released on 18 December 2002 by Avex Trax. Production of Rainbow had commenced after the release of Hamasaki's fourth studio album I Am... that January; All lyrics were written by Hamasaki, and Japanese producer Max Matsuura returned to produce the album. The album was Hamasaki's first to feature conversational English lyrics, where in her previous works she had only used single words.
Memorial Address is the debut mini-album by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki. Avex Trax released the album on December 17, 2003, in both physical and digital formats, and it was her first physical release including a DVD due to popularity of her music videos. The mini-album contains eight songs and features a number of collaborators, including Tetsuya Yukumi, Bounceback, CMJK, and Dai Nagao, among others, with Hamasaki serving as co-composer and songwriter. Memorial Address's musical influences include dance music, electronic, R&B, rock, and alternative metal.
"Carols" is the thirty-fourth single released by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on September 29, 2004, by Avex Trax. It was released on the same day as her ARENA TOUR 2003~2004 A DVD. "Carols" was used as the Panasonic Digital Camera "LUMIX FX7" CM song. It was the last single to be released from her sixth studio album, My Story (2004).
"Moments" is the thirty-second single released by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki and was her first to be offered in both CD and CD+DVD versions. It was released on March 31, 2004, by Avex Trax. "Moments" was the first single in 2004 released by Hamasaki and was the lead single to her sixth studio album My Story (2004). "Moments" was used as the KOSÉ "VISÉE" CM song. This work marked her sixth appearance in the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen held later the same year.
"No Way to Say" is the thirty-first single released by Ayumi Hamasaki and her eighteenth number-one single. It came out November 6, 2003. The video won the award for "Best Pop Video" at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, and the single won the Japan Record Award at the 2003 Japan Record Awards. The song is featured on the mini-album Memorial Address.
& is an extended play by Japanese recording artist and songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on July 9, 2003, by record label Avex Trax. Hamasaki's fourth extended play, & consists of four recordings; "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", "Hanabi: Episode II", and "Theme of A-Nation 03", with three additional instrumentals of the first three tracks. It was released in two different formats; a stand-alone CD, and a digital EP. The artwork for the EP depicts Hamasaki posing in front of a cloudy backdrop, with the title of the work superimposed over her hair. & contains predominantly J-pop and dance music.
(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. Lyrically, the album was a departure from her previous work, My Story, which had been primarily autobiographical.
"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 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 being "Vogue" and "Far Away".
"Audience" is a song by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki from her third studio album Duty (2000). It was released as the album's fifth and final single on 1 November 2000 by Avex Trax. Hamasaki wrote the track and Max Matsuura Lewis produced it. Dai Nagao and HΛL composed both the single and album version. The single artwork was shot by Japanese photographer Toru Kumazawa and features duplicate clones of Hamasaki, resembling an audience. Musically, "Audience" is a dance–pop and disco song.
"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).
H is an EP by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, featuring songs later included on her fifth studio album Rainbow (2002). The EP contains the songs "Independent", "July 1st" and "Hanabi", all written and co-composed by Hamasaki, alongside composer Dai Nagao and producer Max Matsuura. Hamasaki had written and recorded the three songs when she was still hurt and influenced by the events of the September 11 attacks and the completion of her fourth studio album I Am... (2002).
"Be My Last" is Hikaru Utada's 14th Japanese single, released on September 28, 2005. It was used for the 2005 film Spring Snow, an adaptation of the 1966 Yukio Mishima novel of the same name.
Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki has released eighteen studio albums, five compilation albums, twenty-six remix albums, four live albums and numerous singles and promotional singles. She debuted in 1995 under Nippon Columbia with the stage name Ayumi, releasing an extended play Nothing from Nothing, which was a collaboration with Dohzi-T and DJ Bass. Three years later, Hamasaki debuted again as a singer under Avex Trax with the single "Poker Face" (1998). Her first album A Song for ×× (1999) debuted at number one on Oricon's albums chart, and sold over 1.4 million copies.
"Movin' On Without You" is the second single by Japanese–American singer and producer Hikaru Utada. It serves as the second single from her debut studio album First Love (1999). The song was the first song that Utada had written and composed by herself. "Movin' On Without You" was incepted while Utada was attending high school in Tokyo, Japan, during 1997. Utada, who received a recording contract by Toshiba-EMI, had written an English-language version of the song, which remains unreleased to this day.
Guilty is the ninth studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on January 1, 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.
A Complete: All Singles is a greatest hits album by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki. Avex Trax released it on September 10, 2008 in a variety of formats, and was created to commemorate the singer's tenth anniversary since the release of her 1998 single "Poker Face". The album is divided into three sections, each highlighting a single released by Hamasaki from her debut in 1998 to her most recent single, "Talkin' 2 Myself" in 2007. Additionally, the compilation includes two new songs: the stand-alone single "Mirrorcle World" and a re-recorded version of "Who...".
Rock 'n' Roll Circus is the eleventh studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on April 14, 2010, by Avex Trax. It was also released just a little over a year after her 2009 album, Next Level. Rock 'n' Roll Circus marks Hamasaki's eleventh 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, Rock 'n' Roll Circus is a rock album with numerous musical elements such as electropop, J-pop, rock, pop ballad, and dance music.
"Terminal" is a song by Japanese musician Ayumi Hamasaki. Produced by Dutch trance DJ Armin van Buuren, the song was released as a single from her fifteenth studio album Colours on October 1, 2014.
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