My Story (Ayumi Hamasaki Album)
''My Story'' (Stylized in all caps) 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. The track order of this album is structured so that there are rock songs at the beginning, ballads in the middle, and pop songs at the end. ''My Story'' was positively received by music critics, who appreciated its aggressive style compared to Western pop music at the time and its alternative sound. A commercial success, it became Hamasaki's sixth consecutive number-one album in Japan, debuting at the top spot with first week sales of over 574,000 copies. In its 43-week chart run, ''My Story'' sold 1.132 million copies and became the seventh best-selling album of the year in Japan. Combined ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 List of best-selling music artists in Japan, best-selling solo artist in Japan, and a cultural icon of the Heisei era. Born and raised in Fukuoka, Hamasaki moved to Tokyo in 1993 to pursue a career in modeling and acting. In 1998, Hamasaki released her debut single "Poker Face (Ayumi Hamasaki song), Poker Face"Oricon does not count ''Nothing from Nothing (EP), Nothing from Nothing'', released by Nippon Columbia, among Hamasaki's albums. and debut major-label album ''A Song for XX, A Song for ××''. The album debuted at the top of the Oricon charts and remained there for five weeks, selling over a million copies. This rapid rise to fame was attributed to her lyrics, listeners praising her insight and relatability. Her next ten albums shipped over ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lead Single
A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut single", is the first single released by a new artist. Release strategies Artists often choose songs that are more up-tempo, yet representative of the album's sound, as lead singles. Such songs are often catchier and attract the attention of listeners. The subsequent single might then be slower in tempo, in order to demonstrate the range of the album. Female vocalists like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera often maintain a formula of an up-tempo first lead single with a slow ballad follow-up. For example, two singles were released by Miley Cyrus before her album '' Bangerz'' – an up-tempo track, " We Can't Stop", was released as the first, and a slow-ballad song, "Wrecking Ball", as the second. This was a successful practice of 1980 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pen Name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise the author's gender, to distance the author from their other works, to protect the author from retribution for their writings, to merge multiple persons into a single identifiable author, or for any of several reasons related to the marketing or aesthetic presentation of the work. The author's real identity may be known only to the publisher or may become common knowledge. In some cases, such as those of Elena Ferrante and Torsten Krol, a pen name may preserve an author's long-term anonymity. Etymology ''Pen name'' is formed by joining pen with name. Its earliest use in English is in the 1860s, in the writings of Bayard Taylor. The French-language phrase is used as a synonym for "pen name" ( means 'pen') ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Instrumental
An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instrumentals. The music is primarily or exclusively produced using musical instruments. An instrumental can exist in music notation, after it is written by a composer; in the mind of the composer (especially in cases where the composer themselves will perform the piece, as in the case of a blues solo guitarist or a folk music fiddle player); as a piece that is performed live by a single instrumentalist or a musical ensemble, which could range in components from a duet, duo or trio (music), trio to a large big band, concert band or orchestra. In a song that is otherwise sung, a section that is not sung but which is played by instruments can be called an instrumental interlude, or, if it occurs at the beginning of the song, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the program notes for musical concerts, and developed into notes that were printed on the outer album jacket or the inner sleeve used to protect a traditional 12-inch vinyl record, i.e., long playing or gramophone record album. The term descends from the name "record liner" or "album liner". Album liner notes survived format changes from vinyl LP to cassette to CD. These notes can be sources of information about the contents of the recording as well as broader cultural topics. Contents Common material Such notes often contained a mix of factual and anecdotal material, and occasionally a discography for the artist or the issuing record label. Liner notes were also an occasion for thoughtful signed essays on the artist by another party, often a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cawaii!
''Cawaii!'' is a fashion magazine published in Taiwan, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, and previously in Japan. History and profile Launched as a monthly gal fashion magazine targeted at women in their teens in Japan in March 1996, ''Cawaii!'' grew to be one of Japan's major gal magazines, and spawned its two sister magazines, '' S Cawaii!'' and '' Hanachu''."Spark for the gal boom, 'Cawaii!', suspends publication" 13 February 2009, '''' Circulation peaked at 400,000 in 2000. The Chinese edition and the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mini-album
A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini-LP is not to be confused with the Japanese CDs issued in a " mini LP sleeve" or "paper jacket". Its running time is shorter than the typical album but longer than a single album. It is sometimes synonymous with extended play, especially in East Asia music market. However, some music distributors may classify mini albums with 7 or more songs as an album. In the United States, The Recording Academy's rules for Grammy Awards state that an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 15 minutes with at least five distinct tracks or a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement. In the United Kingdom, the criteria for the UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an "album" if it either has more than ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rock Music
Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew from the black musical genres of blues and rhythm and blues, as well as from country music. Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk music, folk, and incorporated influences from jazz and other styles. Rock is typically centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar, drum kit, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a Time signature, time signature and using a verse–chorus form; however, the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock was the most p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oricon Style
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc. was originally set up as a subsidiary of Original Confidence and took over the latter's Oricon record charts in April 2002. The charts are compiled from data drawn from some 39,700 retail outlets () and provide sales rankings of music CDs, DVDs, electronic games, and other entertainment products based on weekly tabulations. Results are announced every Tuesday and published in ''Oricon Style'' by subsidiary Oricon Entertainment Inc. The group also lists panel survey-based popularity ratings for television commercials on its official website. Oricon started publishing Combined Chart, which includes CD sales, digital sales, and streaming together, on December 19, 2018. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rainbow (Ayumi Hamasaki Album)
''Rainbow'' (stylized as ''RINBOW'') is the fifth studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, released on December 18, 2002 by Avex Trax. Channelling pop and trip hop genres, Rainbow focuses on lyrical themes spanning happiness, joy, loneliness, and nostalgia. Upon its release, the album entered the Oricon Albums Chart at number one with first week sales of over one million units, becoming her fifth album to reach the top spot, her fourth to debut there, and her fourth to sell over one million copies in its debut week. Hamasaki promoted the album by releasing three singles: " Free & Easy", " H", and " Voyage". All three reached number one, with "Free & Easy" becoming the first of a record breaking twenty-five consecutive number one singles. Background and development On January 1, 2002, Hamasaki released her fourth studio album '' I Am...'' on Avex Trax. The album saw a new direction for Hamasaki, whose first three studio albums were dominated by a pop rock sound ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |