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''Memorial Address'' is the debut mini-album by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki.
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 ...
released the album on December 17, 2003, in both physical and
digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
formats; it was her first album to be released in CD+DVD format in addition to the regular CD-only format, due to her increased interest in music video direction. The mini-album contains eight songs and features a number of collaborators, including Tetsuya Yukumi, Bounceback, CMJK, and Dai Nagao, among others, with Hamasaki serving as co-composer and songwriter. ''Memorial Addresss musical influences include
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...
, electronic, R&B, rock, and
alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
.
Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
praised ''Memorial Address'', citing the progression in Hamasaki's sound and the overall release as a high point in her career. The mini-album was commercially successful, reaching number one on Japan's
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 more than half a million copies sold in its opening week. It was certified 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) for exceeding one million unit shipments and remains the country's best-selling mini-album by a Japanese female singer. ''Memorial Address'' produced three singles: " &", "Forgiveness", and " No Way to Say", all of which were successful in Japan. To promote the mini-album, she embarked on a Japanese Arena Tour in 2003–04.


Background and composition

''Memorial Address'' is Hamasaki's first mini-album, released ten months after her
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
-themed
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
'' A Ballads''. Max Matsuura, a long-time collaborator, produced the album, which was mixed by Koji Morimoto, Satoshi Kumasaka, and Yasuo Matsumoto, and mastered by Shigeo Miyamoto.''Memorial Address'' formats listed below: * * The mini-album features seven songs, including a bonus title track, and was produced by a number of collaborators, including Tetsuya Yukumi, Bounceback, CMJK, and Dai Nagao, among others, with Hamasaki serving as co-composer and songwriter on most tracks. Yukumi of Lover Sound Track composed "Memorial Address," which was originally a
melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...
taken from the band's track "Kumo." ''Memorial Addresss musical influences include
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...
, electronic, R&B, rock, and
alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
. According to Neil Z. Yeung of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, the mini-album "ushered in a heavier rock grit to her sound" that was later inspired on her subsequent albums. Throughout the album, he noted influences of pop songs with electronic dance influences ("Angel Song", " Greatful Days"), rock and alternative metal ("Because of You"), and tracks compared to American R&B group
Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...
(" Ourselves"). Furthermore, Japanese magazine ''CDJournal'' described the second half as featuring more emotional tracks, with " No Way to Say" being "mellow" and the title track having a rock sound with "heartfelt" lyrics.


Release and promotion

On December 17, 2003,
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 ...
released ''Memorial Address''. The CD version contained eight tracks in total, whereas the DVD version contained the album and
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
s for all songs except "Memorial Address," as well as a limited digest film of her ''A Museum: 30th Collection Live'', which was packaged in a large jewel case. Avex Trax then released ''Memorial Address'' in Asia, including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Taiwan, as well as
digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
and
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.''Memorial Address'' international formats listed below: * * * * To promote the mini-album, she embarked on a Japanese Arena Tour in 2003–04, culminating in a live release on September 29, 2004. Furthermore, three singles were issued. Avex Trax released " &" as the lead single on July 9, 2003, and is a triple
A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
that includes the songs "Ourselves," "Greatful Days," and "Hanabi: Episode II". All formats of the single both include additional
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 s ...
tracks as well as the A-Nation 2003 theme. It was a commercial success in Japan, reaching number one on the
Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...
and earning double platinum certification 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) for selling over 500,000 units. On August 20, 2003, "Forgiveness" was released, and all formats included the instrumental track as well as remixes of "Ourselves" and "Hanabi: Episode II". It was a commercial success in Japan, reaching number one on the Oricon Singles Chart for 12 weeks and being certified platinum by the RIAJ for sales of over 250,000 units. It was used as the drama Kōgen e Irasshai's theme song. On November 6, 2003, " No Way to Say" was released as the mini-album's final single, with physical and digital formats containing various mixes of the single, as well as acoustic versions of her songs "
Seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
", " Dearest", and " Voyage". It was a commercial success in Japan, peaking at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart and earning two certifications: platinum for physical shipments and gold for more than 100,000 digital downloads. Furthermore, the album's title track reached number 82 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart and was certified gold for digital downloads.


Reception

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
gave ''Memorial Address'' positive reviews. Neil Z. Yeung of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
gave the mini-album four stars, describing it as an "absolute highlight in Ayumi Hamasaki's catalogue." He selected "Because of You" and "Ourselves" as standout tracks from the mini-album, concluding, "Though not a totally hidden gem, ''Memorial Address'' should be sought out when enjoying the first half of her first decade as Japan's queen of pop." The Japanese magazine ''CDJournal'' praised Hamasaki's vocals and songwriting on some tracks, particularly "No Way to Say" and "Memorial Address," calling them "superb" and wondering if the latter track could represent the singer's future sound. ''Memorial Address'' achieved commercial success in Japan. The album 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 ...
, selling 524,028 copies in its first week, becoming her eighth studio album to reach that position. It dropped to number two the next week, selling 306,521 copies, being knocked off the top spot my Mai Kuraki's '' Wish You the Best''. The album stayed in the top ten for five weeks and in the top 300 chart for 48 weeks. It reached fifth place on the Oricon Year-end Chart in 2004, selling over 1.059 million copies and becoming the best-selling mini-album of the year. 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) certified the album million for sales exceeding one million units. According to
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 ...
, ''Memorial Address'' sold 1,062,288 copies in Japan and remains the best-selling mini-album by a female Japanese singer in the country.


Track listing


Charts


Weekly charts


Monthly charts


Year-end charts


Decade-end charts


All-time chart


Certification and sales


Release history


References


Notes


Citations

{{Authority control Ayumi Hamasaki EPs 2003 EPs Avex Group EPs Japanese-language EPs 2000s Japanese-language albums