''The Swinging Star'' is the fifth studio album by Japanese band

Dreams Come True Dreams Come True or Dream Come True may refer to: Organizations * Dreams Come True (British charity) * Dreams Come True (American non-profit) Film and television * ''Dreams Come True'' (film), a 1936 British musical film * " "Dreams Come True" ...

. It was released on November 14, 1992, by

Epic Records Japan Epic Records Japan is a Japanese record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Its founder was Shigeo Maruyama. Between 1978 and 1988 the label operated as a wholly owned subsidiary: Epic/Sony Inc. () was established in August 1978

. It was their first release in about a year since their previous album, ''Million Kisses'' (1991). All of the album's lyrics were solely penned by frontwoman Miwa Yoshida, while its songs were arranged by her bandmate

Masato Nakamura is a Japanese musician, bass guitarist, and record producer. He is a member of the J-pop band Dreams Come True, which was formed in 1988 and went on to sell over 50million CDs. He also composed the soundtracks for the video games ''Sonic the ...

. ''The Swinging Star'' is a

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

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

blue-eyed soul Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly black Motown and St ...

, and R&B record, with elements of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife, particularly in African-American, Italian-American, Gay and Latino communities. Its sound features four-on-the-floor ...

. ''The Swinging Star'' received positive reviews from most

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 ...

, whom praised the production and Yoshida's vocal performance. Commercially, the album was a huge success in Japan, ascending to 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 ...

. It was the fastest-selling album based on first week sales at the time, and sold over 3.2 million units in Japan, making it the 17th best-selling album in that region. The success of the album garnered Dreams Come True the

Japan Record Award is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Established in 1959, the Japan Record Awards are one of the oldest and most prestigious music awards in the count ...

for "Best Album." To promote the album the band released two

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. The album's

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 ...

, "

Kessen wa Kinyōbi is a real-time tactics video game produced by Koei. It was a launch game for the PlayStation 2 in Japan and North America, where it was published by Electronic Arts. It was initially the only real-time wargame (video games), wargame game availabl ...

," was released on September 19, 1992; it became a massive success, becoming their first million-selling single and becoming their second chart-topper 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 ...

. "Haretara Ii ne" was released as the second and final single on October 21, 1992; it also became a success, reaching number one and selling over 685,000 copies. To further promote this album, the band embarked on a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

called Dreams Come True Concert Tour The Swinging Star from January 28 to April 18, 1993.

Background

The album's

, "

," was released on September 19, 1992. It served as the theme to the CX music show ''Ureshi Tanoshi Daisuki - Friday Night Live'', on which the band were regular cast members. The single's coupling song, "Taiyō ga Miteru" was used in the advertising campaign for

Fujifilm , trading as , or simply Fuji, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the areas of photography, optics, Office supplies, office and Biomedical engine ...

's Fujicolor Super HG 400 film. The single reached number one on the weekly

and charted for 23 weeks, selling approxametely 1,070,420 copies. Because it sold 856,870 copies in 1992, it finished as the 18th best-performing single of the year. It was their first single to sell over a million copies. "Haretara Ii ne" was released as the second and final single on October 21, 1992. It was the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for 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 ...

dorama , also called or J-drama, are television programs that are a staple of Television in Japan, Japanese television and are broadcast daily. Format All major Television networks, TV networks in Japan produce a variety of Drama (genre), drama serie ...

series ''Hilari''. The single reached number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, becoming the 48th best-selling single of 1992. The track "Sweet Sweet Sweet" originated as the ending theme of the video game ''

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 1992 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute (STI) for the Sega Genesis. Players control Sonic as he attempts to stop Doctor Robotnik from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power his space station, the Death Egg. Like the fir ...

'', for which

composed the music, and would later be remixed by American rapper and producer

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

for ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

'' in 2006. ''The Swinging Star'' was recorded in Japan and the United Kingdom during 1992, and was

mastered Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...

by Tim Young at

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History In 1969, songwriter Jerry Ragavoy opened a recording studio in New York City and named it ''The Hit Factory.'' On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Commercial performance

''The Swinging Star'' was a massive commercial success throughout Asia. In Japan, the album debuted at the top of the

with 1,209,920 copies sold in its first week. This made it the fastest-selling album in the history of the Japanese music industry at the time. It spent two consecutive weeks atop the chart, with 513,770 copies sold in its second week. ''The Swinging Star'' became the first album to sell three million copies in Japan, breaking the Japanese record for total CD album sales at the time. Since it was released on November 14 and the closing date of the Oricon Annual Chart at that time was the last week of November, sales in its first week of release and sales after that were spread out, and thus it was in the top five on the Oricon Annual Album Chart for two consecutive years. It was named the fifth most popular album of the year 1992, and the fourth most popular album of the year 1993. It was also the first time ever for an album to exceed the million-seller mark in more than one year, and the first case of a domestic album to do so. According to

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

statistics, by January 20, 1993, shipments had topped 3.02 million copies. ''The Swinging Star'' stayed on the chart for 55 weeks, and was also once the biggest-selling Japanese-language album of all time. As of January 2015, it has sold over 3.2 million copies in Japan and has been certified triple 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). To promote this album, the band embarked on a concert tour called Dreams Come True Concert Tour The Swinging Star from January 28 to April 18, 1993, attracting 250,000 spectators.

Track list

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time chart

Certification and sales

References

Notes

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinging Star 1992 albums Dreams Come True (band) albums 1990s Japanese-language albums