Music videos
The PVs for Startin' and Born to Be... were both directed by Takahide Ishii. The video for Startin' has a lighter and comical tone than the other PVs of the album which have a consistently deeper tone. It starts off with two young male friends in a video store. They are conversing when suddenly,Hamasaki drills a hole through the brick wall and comes in. She dances and rejects one of them who makes an advance on her,and points a finger at the other man which shocks him. In the next scene,she is riding a motorcycle in a sports suit,and initiates a little "race" with a Hummer like vehicle with three passengers. She points a finger at them,which shocks the three passengers as well. She then stands up while driving her motorcycle and suddenly jumps off while the motorcycle crashes into a building,causing an explosion. The motorcycle scene has been criticised for being similar to the music video of Britney Spears' "Toxic",but looks similar and her look is more recognizable to the brief motorcycle scene in Kill Bill Vol. 1 . Hamasaki lands safely and walks away. In the end,it goes back to the video store (in the state before Hamasaki came in) with the two friends conversing. One complains that it is hot in the building and takes off a mask,revealing it to be Hamasaki. Segments of dancing are also present throughout the PV,in between scenes. One is on a platform,while the other dancing scenes are in a dark,desert like setting,similar to "Work It",and the style of dancing is also similar to the dancing in the "Work It" video. This song was used as the opening song for the videogame "Onimusha:Dawn of Dreams" of Capcom for the PlayStation 2.
The PV for Born To Be... had thematic ties to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin,Italy,which TV channel Nittele promoted using "Born To Be...". Hamasaki is standing and singing in front of bright orange/yellow lights in a dark room which change brightness. In effect,sometimes the viewer cannot see much due to the brightness and sometimes they cannot see much due to the darkness. There is a band playing in the water (in the same setting),and an aerobic dancer also performs in the water. Later,people of all ethnicities around the world,mostly children,are individually projected against a white wall stating what they would like to be when they grow up. Since their voices are not heard due to the song,they have visual aids. (For example,a girl is speaking in an ice skating uniform,holding a pair of ice skates). Hamasaki also appears on this backdrop,saying something although it cannot be heard.
"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.
"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. "Carols" is to date Hamasaki's only single to be released on the DVD-Audio and SACD formats. It was the last single to be released from her sixth studio album, My Story (2004).
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 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.
"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.
"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.
"For My Dear..." is the fourth single released by Ayumi Hamasaki on October 7, 1998.
"Whatever" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki for her second studio album, Loveppears (1999). It was written by Hamasaki, while production was handled by Max Matsuura. The track is Hamasaki's sixth single with Matsuura since her debut single in April 1998, "Poker Face". "Whatever" premiered on February 10, 1999 as the lead single from the album. It was re-released on February 28, 2001 as a CD single.
"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.
"Boys & Girls" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, serving as the fourth single for her second studio album, Loveppears (1999). It was released by Avex Trax in Japan and Hong Kong on July 14, 1999, and through Avex USA in North America in early 2001, while being re-distributed in 2003. "Boys & Girls" marks Hamasaki's first single to be made available for purchase as a maxi single with additional remixes. The track was written by the singer herself, while production was handled by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. Musically, the song is a dance recording, a genre that heavily influences Loveppears. The single's lyrical content is written in third-person perspective.
"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".
"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.
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.
"Glitter"/"Fated" is the forty-first single by Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki, released on July 18, 2007. "Glitter"/"Fated" was Hamasaki's first single of 2007 and first single in over a year, since the release of "Blue Bird" in June 2006.
"Sunrise/Sunset " is Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's forty-sixth single, released on August 12, 2009. The song "Sunrise: Love is All" is used as the theme song to the 2009 Japanese drama show, Dandy Daddy? In addition, the song "Sunset: Love is All" was used in advertisements for the Panasonic Lumix FX-60 digital camera. The single debuted at #1 on Oricon weekly charts and became her 44th Top 10 single, making her the first artist to have 44 Top 10 singles in Oricon history. The single became Hamasaki's 21st consecutive single to debut at number-one position since her 2002 single "Free & Easy" on the Oricon weekly charts, making her the first solo artist and the first female artist to have 21 consecutive singles to debut at number-one position. It is also her 33rd number-one single on the Oricon weekly charts.
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.
"You & Me" is a song by Japanese musician Ayumi Hamasaki. It was the leading promotional track from her summer song compilation album A Summer Best, released on August 8, 2012. The song was a commercial success, certified gold by the RIAJ, and became a part of the track list for Hamasaki's 14th studio album, Love Again (2013).
March 8, 2006
March 14, 2006
March 14, 2006
March 21, 2006
