''Dance Tracks Vol.1'' is the debut studio album by Japanese singer

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

, released on 16 October 1995 as her only album with

Toshiba-EMI , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Wh ...

. It features remixed material originally recorded with the idol group

Super Monkey's was a Japanese pop-singing and dancing group that spawned the careers of Namie Amuro and some members of the girl group MAX. The group was active between 1991 until 1996. History Pre-debut The group was originally part of a larger 15-membe ...

, of which Amuro was a member at the time, as well as three original songs. Nine days after ''Dance Tracks Vol.1'' debuted, Amuro released her first single with

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

, "

Body Feels Exit "Body Feels Exit" (stylized as Body Feels EXIT) is Namie Amuro's debut solo single on the Avex Trax label. Released nine days after her only album with former label, Toshiba-EMI, "Body Feels Exit" debuted in the top three on the Oricon chart and ...

", on 25 October 1995. The album reached the top position on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

charts and charted for forty-four weeks. The album is currently

out of print An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book that is ...

, and is not listed in Amuro's official discography, along with her

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' Original Tracks Vol. 1'' (1996).

Background and content

Released three months after the final Super Monkey's single, ''Dance Tracks Vol.1'' could almost be classified as more of a remix album than an original album. Six out of the seven Super Monkey's singles appear on the album, all of which have been remixed. The album was originally scheduled to include four or five new songs, but because Amuro had a sore throat, the album was limited to three new songs: "Go! Go! (Yume no Hayasade)" (a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of DJ NRG's "GO GO"), "Get My Shinin'," and "Super Luck!," and the rest were remixes of existing songs. Amuro later expressed regret for this in a 1996 interview, calling the album "a very half-baked album." The other members of the Super Monkey's appear in the artwork of the album, but are not credited with any vocals. All seven original Super Monkey's singles were credited to both Amuro and the group. Following the massive success of this album and her next release,

Sweet 19 Blues ''Sweet 19 Blues'' (stylized in all caps) is the second studio album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro. It was released through Avex Trax on July 22, 1996. It is Amuro's first release with the label since leaving Toshiba-EMI, as well as her first al ...

(1996) through

released a "best of" compilation containing all original Super Monkey's a-sides and b-sides entitled, '' Original Tracks Vol.1'' (1996).

Reception

''Dance Tracks Vol.1'' debuted at number one on the

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 A ...

, with 468,240 copies sold in its first week. It dropped to number two the next week, selling 132,540 copies. The album stayed in the top ten for ten nonconsecutive weeks, and charted in the top 300 for 44 weeks. ''Dance Tracks Vol.1'' became the 21st best-selling album of 1995, selling 877,960 copies. It also sold 987,490 copies in 1996, becoming the 22nd best-selling album of that year. In the history of Japanese Oricon albums chart, ''Dance Tracks Vol.1'' ranked at the 88th best selling album of all time, with cumulative physical sales of over 1.8 million copies. In 1996, the album was certified double million by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan 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 pro ...

(RIAJ).

Track listing

Personnel

* Namie Amuro -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, background vocals * Producers - Masato 'Max' Masato, Yukihito Sakakibara * Mixing - Naoki Yamada, Yoshinori Kaji, Koji Morimoto * Remixing - Yasuhiko Hoshino, Satoshi Hidaka * Photography - Takayuki Okada * Art Direction - Kumiko Izumiya

Background and content

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time chart

References