''Concentration 20'' is the third studio album by Japanese singer

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ja, 安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie, label=none; born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, songwriter, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of ...

, released July 24, 1997 by Avex Trax. The album's genre is a fusion of styles including

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

, dance and rock. Unlike Amuro's previous effort, ''

Sweet 19 Blues ''Sweet 19 Blues'' (stylized ''SWEET 19 BLUES'') is the second studio album by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro. The album was released in four different slipcases, with the first three cases limited to 1,000,000 copies each—were put on s ...

'', which primarily had lyrics written by

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the ...

, ''Concentration 20s lyrics were mostly written by

Marc Panther A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...

. Komuro did, however, compose and arrange most of the album's songs and wrote the lyrics to three of them, it was Namie's second solo album since the beginning in 1997. After Amuro's 1996 album ''Sweet 19 Blues'' sold in excess of three million copies in Japan and for a brief period was even the best-selling Japanese album of all time, recording for a follow-up album began. Much of the recording of ''Concentration 20'' was done in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, primarily in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

, The album received positive reviews upon release and as well winning the Asia Association Music Prize Awards " A Walk in the Park" was released as the album's lead single on November 27, 1996. It was very successful, becoming Amuro's fourth number one single and fourth million-seller. The second single, "

Can You Celebrate? "Can You Celebrate?" is Namie Amuro's seventh solo single under the Avex Trax label. Released on February 19, 1997, "Can You Celebrate" is the best-selling single by a solo female artist in Japanese music history, with sales of 2,296,200 copies. ...

", was released on February 19, 1997. Used as the theme song for the TV drama ''Virgin Road'', it was an unprecedented commercial success: It sold over 2.7 million physical copies and remains the best-selling physical single by a female soloist in Japanese history, becoming Amuro's fifth number one single and fifth million-seller. It charted for forty-nine weeks and was certified double Million by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include ...

, her first and only single to receive such a certification. A re-release for Christmas 1997 sold over 400,000 copies itself. The rock-infused third single, "

How to Be a Girl "How to Be a Girl" is a single written and produced by Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic ...

", reached number one and sold over 770,000 copies, becoming Amuro's sixth number one single. The album was a big commercial success. The album entered the Oricon albums chart at number one with first-week sales of 824,980 copies. It charted for 28 weeks, and was the seventh best-selling album of the year, selling nearly two million copies. Combined with the sales of its singles, ''Concentration 20'' has sold around 4.5 million copies.

Background

Two months earlier, Amuro had been touring Japan on the ''Namie Amuro tour 1997 A Walk in the Park''. Her previous album, ''Sweet 19 Blues'' became the biggest selling album of all time when it was released. The same month that the album was released, Amuro toured Japan's four domes in support of it. A few months after the tour, she would announce her pregnancy and pending maternity leave.

Style and artwork

The album embodies an array of styles including pop, rock and even some reggae. Unlike her previous album which was heavy on the pseudo-R&B side, this album was practically void of it. ''Concentration 20'' took on a more electronic style similar to that of her producer's group,

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

. Some argue that the album isn't really a reflection of Amuro, but just goes to demonstrate the talent of

. Opening the album is the

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubaute ...

influenced, "Concentration 20 (make you alright)." The song was unlike anything she had previously released and really embodies the diversity within this project. "Me Love Peace!!" was Amuro's first attempt at reggae style music. She would not attempt a similar style again until '' Queen of Hip-Pop'' (2005) was released featuring some songs in

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Ro ...

and

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...

fashion. Two of the singles from the album, "A Walk in the Park" and "Can You Celebrate?" appear on the album subtly remixed. Perhaps the one song that does demonstrate how much of this album was Komuro is "I Know..." The song is an instrumental track performed solely by him. The cover artwork depicts Namie in a stylish dress that was designed in Tokyo and her eyes we're closed that poses her wraps on a curtain cut lines.

Singles

The singles from this album were very successful, two were million sellers and they reached the top spot of the charts.

"A Walk in the Park"

Released four months after the massive success of her first studio album ''Sweet 19 Blues'', it became her fourth number one and million selling single. The single spent 7 weeks into the top 5 and 8 weeks in Top 10 totally. She performed the song at the

Japan Cable Awards are an annual set of music awards, sponsored by the . The awards are presented annually since 1968 and are based on requests from the audience received by cable broadcasters. The awards is finished in 2017, Kiyoshi Hikawa, who is a Japanese en ...

in December 1996 and at the Japan Gold Disc Awards in February 1997. "A Walk in the Park" was the 13th best selling single of the year 1997.

"Can You Celebrate?"

Amuro began the year 1997 with her defining single and biggest success to date. The song, a gospel influenced ballad, was released as the second single from the album. It opened at the top spot with over 800,000 copies sold in its first week, the highest first week sales for a single at that time and the 8th highest opening sales of all times for a single in Japan. It spent two consecutive weeks at #1,7 weeks in the top 5 and 8 weeks in Top 10 totally. It was charted for 40 weeks. "Can You Celebrate?" was the biggest selling single of 1997 and is the 14th best selling single in Japanese music history with sales of over 2.5 million copies. A remix single of the song was also released to commemorate Namie's wedding with Sam and was also successful with about 500,000 units sold. In December 1997, the song helped her to win the ''Best Single Award'' at the 39th ''Japan Record Awards''.

"How to Be a Girl"

The third and last single from the album was released in May 1997. "How to Be a Girl" is Namie's first attempt at rock music. The single still managed to be a commercial success, spending two consecutive weeks at #1 and selling over 770,000 copies, included over 300,000 copies purchased in its opening week. How to Be a Girl was also the 23rd best selling single of 1997.

Tie-ups and theme songs

"A Walk in the Park" and "Can You Celebrate?" were both theme songs for Maxell UD commercials and "Whisper" was used as the background music for the Maxell MD74 commercial. "Can You Celebrate?" was also the theme song of the Japanese dorama Virgin Road. "How to Be a Girl" was used as background music in four commercials for Sea Breeze products. The first CM was promoting a sun lotion, the second a

shampoo Shampoo () is a hair care product, typically in the form of a viscous liquid, that is used for cleaning hair. Less commonly, shampoo is available in solid bar format. Shampoo is used by applying it to wet hair, massaging the product into th ...

, the third a

deodorant A deodorant is a substance applied to the body to prevent or mask body odor due to bacterial breakdown of perspiration or vaginal secretions, for example in the armpits, groin, or feet. A subclass of deodorants, called antiperspirants, preven ...

and the last a

moisturizer A moisturizer, or emollient, is a cosmetic preparation used for protecting, moisturizing, and lubricating the skin. These functions are normally performed by sebum produced by healthy skin. The word "emollient" is derived from the Latin verb ''m ...

. "No Communication" was used as background music in a commercial for the DyDo Mistio drinks.Screencpas of Namie's DyDo CMs

Commercial performance

''Concentration 20'' debut at #1 with 824,980 copies sold (Namie's 3rd best first week sales for an album). It was again at the top spot in its 2nd week with 362,440 copies sold. The album stayed in the top 10 for 7 weeks and in the top 20 for 9 weeks. It sold over 1.9 million copies during its chart run and more than 2 million copies in total.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

– vocals, background vocals * Lynn Mabry – background vocals * Valerie Mayo – background vocals *

Akio Togashi , better known by his stage name is a Japanese musician, rapper, singer and record producer with Avex Trax. He graduated from Hokkaido Sapporo Tsukisamu High School and the Hokkaido University of Education. His debut single as m.c.A·T, "Bo ...

– background vocals, keyboard * Will Wheaton Jr. – background vocals * Cozy Kubo – keyboard *

– backing vocals,

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 ...

, keyboard,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...

* Kazuhiro Matsuo – bass, guitar * Kenji Sano – bass * Ataru Sumiyoshi – bass * Michael Thompson – guitar

Production

* Producers – Tetsuya Komuro * Mixing – Eddie Delena * Vocal direction – Tetsuya Komuro, Kenji Sano * Photography – Itaru Hirama * Art direction – Tycoon Graphics

Charts

Album - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

References

{{Authority control Namie Amuro albums 1997 albums Avex Group albums Albums produced by Tetsuya Komuro