''Ambitions'' is the eighth studio album by Japanese rock band

One Ok Rock (stylized in all caps as ONE OK ROCK) is a Japanese rock band, formed in Tokyo, Japan, in 2005. Originally five members, the band currently consists of vocalist Takahiro Moriuchi, guitarist and bandleader Toru Yamashita, bassist Ryota Kohama, a ...

. It was released on January 11, 2017 for the Japanese version album under the Japanese label

A-Sketch is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services. The artists include idols, musicians, and so on. Amuse produces TV and radio programs, commercial films, and movies. Other interests are in publication, music software ...

and on January 13, 2017 for the international version under the American label

Fueled by Ramen Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City. History John Janick conceived of the ...

. The song "Always Coming Back" was featured in NTT Docomo's phone commercial series, "Kanjou no Subete / Nakama". After signing with Fueled by Ramen on September 11, 2016, they released the lead single "Taking Off" on September 16, 2016 that was used as a theme song for the Japanese movie "Museum", which starred

Shun Oguri is a Japanese actor and voice actor, son of stage director Tetsuya Oguri, and the youngest of 3 siblings, including older brother Ryo, who is also an actor. He started in small roles as extra in the works in which his father and brother worked ...

, and the second single "Bedroom Warfare" on November 18, 2016. The song "I was King" was released on December 15, 2016. On January 9, 2017, they released their single "We Are". Sold in both Limited and Regular editions, the album was available for pre-order on iTunes starting November 18, 2016. The Japanese Limited edition album features bonus tracks and a DVD of studio acoustic sessions, while the ''Ambitions'' international version CD came with a T-shirt bundle.

Background

In an interview with UK rock magazine ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a on ...

'' issue number 1649 dated December 10, 2016, One Ok Rock vocalist Moriuchi explained the three themes on this album: Hope, ambition, and singing together. He said that the band were at a point in their career where they were trying to break a new market and go worldwide. It was the ambition that was inside of them that pushed them to try new things and to be successful, which became a prevailing theme on the record. The album artwork is yellow, which is the colour of hope. The overall themes of the album are: "Ambition", the title, yellow is the hope, and the songs are anthemic in quality especially in the choruses. In another interview, Moriuchi said, "We wanted to make an album where we can all sing along together. By singing strongly in unison about hope, we wish to reinforce the importance of not giving up."

Themes

Most of the album themes are more personal topics compared to their previous album ''

35xxxv ''35xxxv'' (read as ''thirty five'' or ''Sātīfaibu'') is the seventh studio album by the Japanese band One OK Rock. It was released on February 11, 2015. This is their first album recorded abroad, primarily in the US. The song "Mighty Long Fal ...

''. It focuses mostly about achieving dreams, life, family, and struggles of depression. Their second track, "Bombs Away" tells about fighting the inner demons or "you versus yourself". "We Are" and "Jaded", are encouraging tracks for the people who lost their hopes and symbolizes empowerment for achieving their goals. "Hard To Love" and "Always Coming Back" are more personal tracks in Ambitions, Moriuchi wrote those songs dedicated to his father. "I Was King" tells the band's ambition to reach some bigger dreams. In Japanese edition, "20/20" is a breakup song, and tells about lovers being cheated by their own beloved ones. "Listen" is about people's struggles with suicide and depression, the band wanted to wake them up and not giving up their life. "Lost in Tonight" is merely a party song. Meanwhile, their first single "Taking Off" tells about "passions for doing what you love". "Start Again" and their last track along 5 Seconds of Summer, "Take What You Want" are the band's notes and commitment to leaving their past and being ready to overcome what's ahead on their future.

Promotion

released One Ok Rock's music videos of "Taking Off" on October 25, 2016 and "Bedroom Warfare" on November 17, 2016 which were both directed by Sitcom Soldiers. Then on December 16, 2016, they released the band's visualizer video of "I was King" which was directed and animated by Ruth Barrett along with two assistant animators Eva Wagner and Sam Thompson. On November 13, 2016, One Ok Rock released a compilation of footage from One Ok Rock 2016 Special Live in Nagisaen and mixed with the song "Taking Off" then on November 30, 2016, they released a Studio Jam Session video of "Taking Off" which were both directed by Naoto Amazutsumi. On January 1, 2017, One Ok Rock opened a special site called "World Ambitions". This is a celebration of the album "Ambitions" which will be released on January 11, 2017. "World Ambitions" is a website that visually represents images of "hope" being shared and spread from users around the world through the website and Twitter/Instagram. People from all over the world can upload pictures with yellow in it that symbolize hope and connecting them all. The user shares the desired image by SNS (Twitter, Instagram). It is also possible to upload simultaneously with multiple names. On January 9, 2017, the band released the music video of "We Are" (Japanese version) while Fueled by Ramen released their music video of the international version of "We Are". Both videos were directed by Mark Staubach. In January 2017, the band went on their North American tour for 6 concerts, and from February till May 2017, they held 32 concerts in some Japanese arenas.

Commercial performance

In Japan, ''Ambitions'' debuted at number one on the Daily

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Al ...

, selling 102,408 units. For its first week on the Weekly Oricon Albums Chart, it entered atop the chart with over 232,710 copies sold; It sold more copies than its competitor of the week,

SMAP SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six- ...

's greatest hits album ''Smap 25 Years'' (2016). ''Ambitions'' became the band's second number one album, and also resulted in becoming their highest first week sales for one of their albums. One OK Rock had the world's best-selling album with ''Ambitions'' during the week of January 25, 2017. It topped the Global Album Chart with 315,000 equivalent sales (including paid downloads and streaming).

Accolades

Year-end lists

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

'' listed the song "Jaded" (with Alex Gaskarth) in their ranking of 12 Best Vocal Collabs of 2017.

Track listing

Notes

* "Ambitions" (Introduction) is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

song composed by Takahiro Moriuchi, Toru Yamashita,

Tomoya Kanki , better known mononymously as Tomoya, is a Japanese musician and drummer of the band One Ok Rock. Although not an original member, he has appeared on every One Ok Rock album. Tomoya attended ESP Musical Academy where one of his lecturers who wa ...

Ryota Kohama , better known by his stage name Ryota, is a Japanese musician who is best known for being the bassist of the rock band One Ok Rock. He was in the hip-hop dance group Heads along with Toru Yamashita (guitarist of One Ok Rock) before they disban ...

and Colin Brittain * denotes an additional producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are des ...

of ''Ambitions (Japanese edition)''. One Ok Rock * Takahiro "Taka" Moriuchi –

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Toru Yamashita , better known by his stage name Toru, is a guitarist and the leader of the Japanese rock band One Ok Rock. He was in the hip-hop dance group Heads along with Ryota Kohama from One Ok Rock before they disbanded in 2002. Personal life Toru wa ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Production *

Colin Brittain Colin Cunningham known as Colin Brittain is an American songwriter and producer signed to Warner Chappell Music. He has written and produced for acts such as Papa Roach, Hands Like Houses, Basement, Dashboard Confessional, 5 Seconds of Summ ...

– production, mixing (1), production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

, programming (2, 4, 5, 10, 13, 14), engineering, editing, programming, additional production (6, 9), production, recording, programming (12) *

Dan Lancaster Dan Lancaster is a producer, mixer, songwriter and artist from the UK. He is best known for his mixing and production work in contemporary rock music, and has worked with prominent global acts such as Blink-182, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Bring M ...

– mixing (2, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14), production, engineering, mixing (3) * Jonathan Gerring – additional programming, additional production (2, 12), programming, additional production (4, 10) * Neil Avron – mixing (4) * Ben Sabin – additional engineering, digital editing, piano (4) * Nick Long – additional instruments,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

(4, 10, 13) *

Zakk Cervini Zakk Cervini is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. He was born in Monroe, Connecticut on June 2, 1993. Cervini's work includes collaborations with Simple Plan, Limp Bizkit, Blink-182, All Time Low, Machi ...

– mixing (6), engineering, editing, programming, additional production (6, 9) * John Feldmann – production, recording (6, 9) * Matt Pauling – engineering, editing, programming, additional production (6, 9) * Şerban Ghenea – mixing (7) *

Andrew Goldstein Andrew Scott Goldstein (born March 25, 1983 in Milton, Massachusetts) is the first American male team-sport professional athlete to be openly gay during his playing career. He came out publicly in 2003 and was drafted by his hometown team, the ...

– production (7) * John Hanes – engineering for mixing (7) * Kane Churko – production, engineering, mixing, mastering (8) *

CJ Baran Christopher John Baran is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and actor. He is a founding member of Woolf and the Wondershow and cowriter, creator, and producer of their Los Angeles future theater musical CAGES in which he plays the lead ...

– production (11) *

Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda (; ja, 篠田賢治, Shinoda Kenji; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and was the band's collaborative vocal ...

– additional production (11) * Mitch McCarthy – mixing (11) * Florian Ammon – additional vocal recording, engineering (10, 12) *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography T ...

– mastering (1–7, 9–14) *

Bruno Agra Bruno Agra (born September 1, 1980 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is formerly drummer of the American rock band We Are Harlot and also Aquaria and Revolution Renaissance. Musical career Aquaria (1999-2007) Bruno begun as drummer of the Brazi ...

– drum tech Additional personnel *

Nolan Sipe Nolan Sipe is an American songwriter and record producer. He is the son of the Cleveland Browns football player, Brian Sipe Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Oc ...

– additional vocals (7) *

Aimer is a Japanese pop singer and lyricist signed to SACRA MUSIC and managed by agehasprings. Her name comes from the verb "Aimer" in French, which means "to love". Aimer uses the name aimerrhythm for lyrics credits. Debuted in 2011, she has relea ...

– backing vocals (10) *

Tyler Carter Derek Tyler Carter (born December 30, 1991) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer from Gainesville, Georgia. He is most notable for being the former vocalist and founding member of American metalcore band Issues. Cart ...

– vocal direction (12) * Chris Baseford –

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, '' Let Go'' (2002), is the best-selling album of the 2 ...

's vocal production (10) * Phil Threlfall – 5 Seconds of Summer vocal recording (14) Design * Kazuaki Seki – art direction * Daichi Shiono – design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Other charted songs

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums One Ok Rock albums A-Sketch albums Fueled by Ramen albums Albums produced by Colin Brittain Albums produced by John Feldmann Alternative rock albums by Japanese artists