Southern All Stars, also known by the abbreviations Sazan (サザン) and SAS, are a Japanese rock band that first formed in 1974.
Namie Amuro is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a teen idol, and transitioned into a leading pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentation. Due to her career reinventions and longevity, she is known as an icon across Japan and Asia. She has been referred to as the "Queen of Japanese Pop", and her influence domestically has drawn equivalent comparisons to artists such as Janet Jackson and Madonna in Western pop culture.
E-Rotic are a Eurodance duo act formed in 1994 by German record producer David Brandes. The act is best known in Europe for the hits "Max Don't Have Sex With Your Ex" and "Fred Come to Bed". E-Rotic originally consisted of German born singer Lyane Leigh and American rapper Richard Allen Smith. The act is known for its extensive use of sexual themes in their songs and music videos.
MAX is a Japanese female vocal group. The name is an acronym for "musical active experience". The original members of MAX made their musical debut as members of the Super Monkey's along with lead vocalist Namie Amuro. They branched out on their own in 1995, becoming stars in their own right with selling several million albums and a string of consecutive top 20 singles from 1996 to 2000. Their lead singer, Mina, left the group in 2002 due to pregnancy and was replaced by Aki Maeda who assumed the stage name Aki. Aki left the group in August 2008 to pursue a solo career. Original member Mina returned to the group on October 28, 2008 ushering in the group's comeback after a two-year hiatus.
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.
Valenti is the second Japanese studio album by South Korean recording artist BoA, released through Avex Trax on January 29, 2003. The album's lyrics were written by multiple contributors including Natsumi Watanabe and Kenn Kato, with composition on the album handled by a team of composers including Kazukiro Hara, Bounceback, Kosuke Morimoto, Ken Harada, and Akira. Valenti is a pop record containing influences from R&B and dance music, and is primarily recorded in Japanese with minor phrases in English.
Love Enhanced Single Collection is the second greatest hits album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro. It was released on March 13, 2002, through Avex Trax. This was Amuro's first greatest hits album in about four years, since 181920. It was also her first greatest hits album since her return to the music scene. Although the album is labeled as a "singles collection," nearly all of the songs on the album have been re-recorded, re-mixed, or re-arranged, all of which remain exclusive to this album's release. In addition, only "lovin' it" was recorded as a single take. The album also contains the last of the work she created with her longtime creative partner Tetsuya Komuro.
Genius 2000 is the fourth studio album by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro, released on January 26, 2000, through Avex Trax. The album was released three years after her last album, Concentration 20 (1997), and was produced by Tetsuya Komuro and Dallas Austin, marking her first collaboration with an American producer, the album spawned four singles: "I Have Never Seen", "Respect the Power of Love", "Something 'bout the Kiss" and "Love 2000".
Onyanko Club was a large all-girl Japanese pop idol group in the 1980s. Some members of the group participated in spin-off groups, such as Nyangilas, Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi and Ushirogami Hikaretai. Many of the latter two groups' songs were used as theme songs of the popular 80s anime series High School! Kimengumi and Tsuide ni Tonchinkan. Several big-name idols stemmed from the group; one of the best known being Shizuka Kudo. The group was produced by Hiroshi Ishida and Kazuji Kasai, both of whom were producers of Fuji TV's show Yūyake Nyan Nyan.
"Movin' On Without You" is a song recorded by Japanese–American singer and producer Hikaru Utada taken from her debut studio album First Love (1999). The song was written, arranged, and produced by Utada herself, and it became her first ever hit. "Movin' On Without You" was written, produced and composed while Utada was attending college in Tokyo, Japan, during 1997. Utada, who received a record contract by Toshiba-EMI, had written an English-language version of the song, but the song remains unreleased.
Dahlia is the fifth studio album by Japanese rock band X Japan, released on November 4, 1996, by Atlantic Records. It is the band's last album before breaking up the following year, and the last to feature new work by guitarist hide, due to his death two years later. The album is composed largely of ballads, with only a few tracks retaining the band's heavier musical traits seen on previous releases. It topped the Oricon chart and stayed on the chart for only 15 weeks, but managed to sell over half a million copies. Seven, nearly all, of the album's songs were released as singles, most of which also topped the singles chart and sold well.
Jealousy is the third studio album by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan, then known as simply X. The album was released on July 1, 1991, by Sony, as the band's second major label release. Jealousy is the band's best-selling album, having sold more than one million copies, it topped the Oricon chart and stayed on the chart for 50 weeks. The album's singles would also reach the top three on the chart. It is their last album under the name "X", before changing to "X Japan", and the last to feature Taiji on bass, who would be replaced by Heath.
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.
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.
Supreme Show is the seventh and most recent studio album by Japanese singer Ami Suzuki. Avex Trax distributed it in CD and DVD formats on November 12, 2008. It was released ten months after her previous studio album, Dolce, and was promoted to commemorate the singer's tenth career anniversary. Yasutaka Nakata, who had previously appeared as a featured artist and produced on Dolce, handled the album in its entirety. Crafted to re-invent her sound and image, Supreme Show is an electronic album with additional dance notes, and includes tracks in English and Japanese language.
"Spring Rain" is MAX's 23rd single on the Avex Trax label and their second ballad single. It was released on February 20, 2002 after the announcement of lead singer Mina's pregnancy and marriage. It was Mina's last single with the group before she was replaced by Aki on their next single, "Eternal White."
Super Girl is the second Japanese studio album and fifth overall studio album by South Korean girl group Kara. It was released digitally on November 16, 2011 and physically on November 23, 2011. A special Tour Edition of the album was released on April 11, 2012.
Japonesque is the tenth studio album by Japanese recording artist Kumi Koda. It was released on January 25, 2012 by Rhythm Zone. It was also released just a little under a year after her 2011 album, Dejavu. Japonesque marks Koda's tenth consecutive studio album to be produced by Japanese producer and manager Max Matsuura, amongst many other producers, while she contributes to the album as the lead vocalist, background vocalist, and songwriter to majority of the songs. Recorded in Japanese with minor phrases in English language, Japonesque is a Japanese pop album with numerous musical elements such as dance music, R&B, electronica, and rock music.
E.G. Time is the third studio album by Japanese collective unit E-girls, released digitally on December 24, 2014, and physically on January 1, 2015 by Rhythm Zone and Avex Music Creative Inc. The record was produced by Exile Hiro's, and created by a variety of producers, composers and songwriters outside and from Japan, namely Clarabell, Yasutaka Nakata, Fast Lane, T.Kura, amongst others. It was distributed in 10 different formats, with various artwork sleeves and musical and visual material. E.G. Time also serves as the final record for numerous vocalists and performers in the band.
Sandaime J Soul Brothers, formerly simply J Soul Brothers and also known as Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, are a J-pop vocal and dance group formed by Exile ex-leader and producer Hiroyuki Igarashi in Japan in 1991. Sandaime J Soul Brothers are managed by Hiroyuki's talent agency LDH and are a part of the supergroup, Exile Tribe. Reformed exclusively by Exile's Vocal Battle Audition in 2010, Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their first single "Best Friend's Girl" in November 2010, which peaked at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart. Their self-titled debut album J Soul Brothers, released in 2011, also peaked at number three. In 2013, they achieved their first number-one record with their third album Miracle.
