"Free Planet" is a song by Japanese musical act Superfly. Released as one of the songs on "

Wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...

" & '' Cover Songs: Complete Best 'Track 3''', a four-song

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

featuring a

cover album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

as a bonus disc in September 2010, it was used in a high-profile commercial campaign for

Sony Ericsson Sony Mobile Communications Inc., originally Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, was a Multinational corporation, multinational consumer electronics and telecommunications company, best known for its Mobile phones, mobile phone products. The ...

cellphones.

Background and development

In September 2009, Superfly released the act's second studio album ''

Box Emotions ''Box Emotions'' is the second studio album by Japanese pop-rock band Superfly, released on September 2, 2009. It debuted at the number-one spot on the Oricon weekly album charts, making Superfly the first female artist in six years, since Chitos ...

'', their second release in a row to reach number one on Oricon's album chart. This was followed by a single, " Dancing on the Fire", Superfly's second upbeat dance song to be used in commercials for

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

's Digital IXUS range of cameras. On June 18, Superfly released the song " Tamashii Revolution", a song used as the theme song of the

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

broadcast of the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, played during relay clips and highlight shows. It became one of Superfly's biggest commercial successes, eventually becoming certified platinum twice 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 prom ...

. In July, Superfly's song "Wildflower" started airing as the theme song for the drama ''Boss''. The single's jacket features vocalist Shiho Ochi holding a different object representing each song on the single: a

dahlia ''Dahlia'' ( , ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. Dahlias are members of the Asteraceae (synonym name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its relatives include the sun ...

flower for "

", a

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

drum for " Tamashii Revolution", a globe for "Free Planet" and on the back cover a rainbow for " Roll Over the Rainbow". The song was written as a message song by vocalist Shiho Ochi, about how if a person does not make any barriers, they can go anywhere. It was recorded in a live take, with musicians such as drummer

Tatsuya Nakamura is a Japanese musician, drummer and actor. After performing with several prominent punk rock bands, Nakamura rose to fame as drummer of Blankey Jet City from 1987 to 2000. In 1996, he founded his solo project Losalios, where he performs every ...

and former

Tokyo Jihen , also known as Tokyo Incidents, is a Japanese rock band formed by Ringo Sheena, after leaving her solo career. The band's debut single "Gunjō Biyori" was released in September 2004, and they ended activities in February 2012. The band sold 2.3 ...

member Mikio Hirama.

Promotion and release

"Free Planet" was one of the four tracks found on the "Wildflower" single, a special release commemorating Superfly's 10th single since their debut. Each song featured a different style of rock, and a different commercial tie-up. The single came packaged with ''Cover Songs: Best 'Track 3, a compilation album compiling Superfly's English language cover songs that were featured on the B-sides of her singles. The song was used in commercials for

phones in 2010, including the Bravia Phone S004, and was specifically written for the commercial. As one of the four A-sides of the "Wildflower" single and ''Cover Songs: Complete Best 'Track 3 set, it reached number one 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 ...

albums chart in 2010. The song was later featured on the album ''

Mind Travel ''Mind Travel'' is the third studio album by Japanese pop-rock band Superfly, the first studio album from the group fronted by Shiho Ochi in nearly two years. The record features guest musicians from Beat Crusaders, Losalios, and Mo'Some Tonebe ...

'' (2011). It was first performed live during Rock'N'Roll Muncher, a special live with a group called the Lemon Bats formed by Superfly in November 2010. The performance was featured on the DVD of the " Beep!!" / " Sunshine Sunshine" single in March 2011. The song was performed again during the ''

'' Release Commemorative Free Live at the

Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse The is a historical building that is used as a complex that includes a shopping mall, banquet hall, and event venues. The complex, officially known as the , was originally used as customs buildings, and has two sections: Warehouse No.1 and No.2. ...

on June 15, 2011, footage of which was shown on the " Ai o Kurae" (2011) single's DVD. The song was performed during Superfly's 2011 arena tour Shout in the Rainbow!!, and during the Live Force tour in 2012.

Music video

A music video was released for the song, directed by Shuichi Banba. It is made up of recording studio footage, altered to look like a video taken in the 1960s, with additional effects such as lasers, pencil-drawn triangle art and space imagery.

Critical reception

''CDJournal'' reviewers felt the song's simple beat created a "striking" rock'n' roll-style song. They praised Ochi's "refreshing", "attacking" and varying vocals, in particular the chorus. Many of the instruments were also praised, including the "dancing" guitars and hammond organ, however Tatsuya Nakamura's drums were singled out as "wild and tight", and what pull the song together. The reviewers further noted the contrasting of long tone melodies were a fun part of the song.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from the liner notes booklet of ''Mind Travel''. *Mikio Hirama – electric guitar *

– drums *Shiho Ochi – lead and background vocals *Takeshi Taneda – bass *Shunsuke Tsuri – additional arrangement *Kōichi Tsutaya – hammond B-3 *Yoshiyuki Yatsuhashi – electric guitar

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Free Planet 2010 songs Songs in Japanese Songs used as jingles Superfly (band) songs