| Love Classics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | January 28, 2015 | |||
| Genre | J-pop, pop-classical crossover | |||
| Length | 51:26 | |||
| Label | Avex Trax | |||
| Producer | Max Matsuura | |||
| Ayumi Hamasaki chronology | ||||
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Love Classics is a compilation album by Japanese entertainer Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on January 28, 2015, by Avex Trax.
This was Hamasaki's first for 2015, and dubbed as a "mash-up album" between Hamasaki's love songs and classical music, [1] it was composed of previously-released ballad love songs, which were rearranged using classical pieces from renowned European compositors, such as Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Frédéric Chopin, and Claude Debussy, among others. The album was commercially prepared to be a Valentine's Day present. [2] The album cover, created by visual artist Aki Miyajima, is based on one of the covers of Hamasaki's single "Zutto.../Last Minute/Walk" released in December 2014. [3]
All lyrics are written by Ayumi Hamasaki
| No. | Title | music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Voyage" (Johann Pachelbel's Pachelbel's Canon ) | Ayumi Hamasaki + D.A.I. | 4:50 |
| 2. | "Seasons" (Antonín Dvořák's Going Home, from Symphony No. 9 From the New World, 2nd Movement) | D.A.I. | 4:21 |
| 3. | "Days" (Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons , Winter, 2nd Movement) | Kunio Tago | 5:59 |
| 4. | "To Be" (Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier , Book 1, Prelude) | D.A.I. | 5:11 |
| 5. | "You" (Christian Petzold's Minuet ) | Yasuhiko Hoshino | 5:44 |
| 6. | "Virgin Road" (Frédéric Chopin's Raindrop Prelude) | Tetsuya Komuro | 6:03 |
| 7. | "Dearest" (Antonín Dvořák's Humoresque No. 7) | Naoto Suzuki | 5:04 |
| 8. | "Honey" (George Frideric Handel's Messiah Oratorio - "Hallelujah" chorus) | Tetsuya Yukumi | 4:43 |
| 9. | "Winding Road" (Claude Debussy's Préludes Book 1, La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin ) | Ayumi Hamasaki | 4:35 |
| 10. | "Who..." (Edward Elgar's Salut d'Amour ) | Kazuhito Kikuchi | 4:52 |
| Total length: | 51:26 [4] | ||
The album debuted at number 16 on the Oricon charts, with 6,192 copies sold. Love Classics charted for 4 weeks, selling 8,272 copies in total. [5]
Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and producer. Nicknamed the "Empress of Pop" on account of her influence throughout Asia, she is widely recognized for her versatile music production, songwriting, and live performances. Hamasaki is the best-selling solo artist in Japan, and a cultural icon of the Heisei era.
My Story is the sixth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki, released on December 15, 2004, by Avex Trax. The album's lyrics were written in their entirety by Hamasaki herself, with composition on the album handled by a team of composers including Kazuhito Kikuchi, Bounceback, Tetsuya Yukumi, and, on some songs, Hamasaki, under the pen name Crea.
Loveppears is the second studio album by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on November 10, 1999 by Avex Trax, ten months after her debut album, A Song for xx (1999). It was additionally distributed in a variety of formats and on different dates throughout Asia. Loveppears was written entirely by Hamasaki, produced by Max Matsuura, and includes collaborations with composers such as Hal, Dai Nagao, D.A.I, Yasuhiko Hoshino, and Kazuhito Kikuchi, among others. Musically, it is a departure from her previous record and incorporates more electronic and dance sounds with elements of trance, house, J-pop, and rock. Lyrically, it explores themes of love, frustration with 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.
"Surreal" is a song by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, taken from her third studio album Duty (2000). It was written by Hamasaki and produced by Max Matsuura. The song is a rock with elements of alternative rock. "Surreal" describes Hamasaki's madness and sense of confusion, while the themes of "Surreal" are based on Hamasaki's concept of loneliness, chaos, confusion, and the burden of her responsibilities, aimed mostly toward her public image as a recording artist. It was released as the fourth single from the album on 27 September 2000 by Avex Trax and Avex Taiwan.
(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.
"Love (Destiny)" (stylized as "LOVE ~Destiny~") is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, serving as the second single for her second studio album, Loveppears (1999). It was released by Avex Trax in Japan and Taiwan on April 14, 1999, and through Avex Entertainment Inc. worldwide in September 2008. The track was written by Hamasaki herself, while production was handled by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. Three versions of the recording have been made available—a ballad version arranged by Tsunku, an edited version with vocals by Tsunku, and a dance-influenced version included on Loveppears.
"To Be" is a song by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It served as the third single from Hamasaki's second studio album Loveppears (1999). The track was released by Avex Trax in Japan and Taiwan on May 12, 1999, and through Avex Entertainment Inc. worldwide in September 2008. It was Hamasaki's final single to be distributed as a Mini-CD, a format that debuted at the start of her career in April 1998. "To Be" was written by Hamasaki herself, while production was handled by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. Musically, it is a J-Pop that was written in third person perspective, much like the content from the parent album.
"Vogue" is a song recorded 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 April 26, 2000 as the lead single from the album. Her third consecutive lead single to be produced by Matsuura, the song is part of a trilogy from Duty; the other two singles being "Far Away" and "Seasons".
"Far Away" is a song recorded 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 May 17, 2000, as the second single from the album. The song is part of a trilogy from Duty; the other two singles being "Vogue" and "Seasons".
"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".
"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).
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.
"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.
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.
A Classical is an orchestral compilation album by Ayumi Hamasaki, released January 8, 2013 by Avex Trax. The album consists of classical arrangements of her past works, rearranged by Kousuke Yamashita. It was released on January 8, 2013.
Colours is the fifteenth studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on July 2, 2014, in Japan by Avex Trax, worldwide by Avex Entertainment Inc., and on July 18 in Taiwan by Avex Taiwan. The songs on the album were entirely written by Hamasaki, while production was led by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura; it also included a variety of Western producers such as Armin van Buuren, members from RedOne Productions De Paris and Rush, Darkchild, and Fedde Le Grand, among others. This became Hamasaki's first studio album to have not been fully produced by Matsuura, and her first album to incorporate a large amount of English language. Musically, Colours is an electronic dance music album.
Made in Japan is the seventeenth studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It initially debuted on the streaming service AWA Japan on May 11, 2016, before receiving a physical and digital release on June 29, 2016. It is Hamasaki's seventeenth consecutive studio album, since her debut album A Song for ×× (1999), to be fully written by her and produced by Japanese musician Max Matsuura. Musically, the album encompasses a variety of genres including hard rock, ballad, and electronic dance music.