"Wild" is a song 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 ...

. It was released by

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 ...

on March 16, 2009, and serves as the

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 ...

for her ninth

studio 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 ...

, '' Past'' (2009). Furthermore, all physical and digital formats included the

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 ...

titled " Dr.," which appears on the parent album. Amuro intended to depart from her previous releases with "Wild" and "Dr.", her first forays into new material. Michico, T. Kura, and Nao'ymt created and produced "Wild," which was recorded at Tokyo's Azabu-O-Studio with Ryosuke Kataoka's assistance. Musically, "Wild" represents a departure from her previous work, shifting from R&B to uptempo club and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

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applauded the song's production quality, instrumentation, sound, and Amuro's vocal abilities, with some citing it as a standout among Amuro's musical discography. Commercially, the single was a success in Japan, peaking at 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 being certified gold twice 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 100,000 digital and physical sales combined. Cavier directed the

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 ...

for the single, which depicts Amuro and backup dancers in a futuristic setting. The visual was included with the parent album's

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

release. It also appeared on the set lists of two Amuro concerts and subsequent live albums. "Wild" was used as a commercial theme for Coke Zero's Japanese distribution, as well as other Avex Trax and Music.JP campaigns.

Background

Following her commercial resurgence with her

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'' (2007) and greatest hits collection ''

Best Fiction ''Best Fiction'' is the third greatest hits album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro. It was released on July 30, 2008, by Avex Trax and features seventeen singles released between 2002-2008, which included five new songs, three of which were release ...

'' (2008), Amuro went on a

nationwide tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

in Japan. She later expanded it, performing in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Subsequent live releases were widely distributed in Japan and were commercially successful. While on tour, Amuro started working on new music with long-time collaborators Michico, T. Kura, and Nao'ymt, as well as international producers such as Dsign Music. Amuro announced new music in early 2009, stating that future singles would be linked to commercial endorsements. In February, she announced a collaboration with Vidal Sassoon, a hairstyling and haircare company, as well as her involvement in Coke Zero distribution in Japan. Amuro released two singles, "Wild" and " Dr.", as double

singles, and shared a preview of their

Development and composition

Amuro intended to depart from her previous releases with "Wild" and "Dr.", which served as the first forays into new material. When Amuro and her team were approached to take part in the Coke Zero campaign, they asked Michico and T. Kura to write a song for them. Although the sound was created with a

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

-oriented rhythm, Michico and T. Kura revealed that the lyrics had a deeper meaning that reflected Japan's declining childbirth rate. As a result, they desired to write lyrics that conveyed an important social message while also attempting to "have fun" and "get wild." Michico, T. Kura, and Nao'ymt worked together to write and produce the final product. Ryosuke Kataoka helped record the song at Azabu-O-Studio in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, where D.O.I. mixed it and Tom Coyne mastered it. Musically, "Wild" differs from her previous work, shifting from R&B to an upbeat "aggressive" and "cool" club and electro-pop sounds. Bradley Stern of MuuMuse described it as a "squealing, pulsating electro-infused uptempo number". Japanese magazine ''CDJournal'' described the song's "aggressive" sound as "grandiose orchestration" featuring heartbeat rhythms.

Release and promotional activity

Before the single was widely distributed, snippets of the song and music video were made available. In Japan, an early promotional disc featuring "Dr." was released, as well as another containing "Wild" and instrumental versions."Wild"/"Dr." promo formats listed below: * * On March 16, 2009, Avex Trax released "Wild" and "Dr." as the lead single from her ninth studio album, '' Past'' (2009)."Wild"/"Dr." formats listed below: * * The standard format contains both songs and their

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 ...

versions, while the

version includes music videos for both singles. The DVD version was later made available in China and Hong Kong the same month.International formats listed below: * * The singles were available in both

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and streaming formats. Cavier directed the music video for the single, which features Amuro and backup dancers in a futuristic environment. According to Amuro, the majority of the

choreography Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

and filming for the video was completed during her Best Fiction Tour, with rehearsal and shooting time being "tight". Stern compared the music video to the visuals for "

Feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handle ...

" by American singer

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

, who inspired Amuro's career. The visual was featured on the set lists of two of Amuro concerts and live albums: the Best Fiction Tour and the Past Future Tour, as well as the parent album's DVD release. "Wild" served as a commercial theme for Avex Trax promotions and the Music.JP website. Prior to their initial release, "Wild" and "Dr." were confirmed as commercial themes for Coke Zero and Vidal Sassoon, respectively, with Amuro featured in both campaigns. For "Wild", Amuro appeared in the commercial in front of a computer-generated speaker, dancing to the song and drinking a bottle of Coke Zero.

Reception

gave "Wild" positive reviews. Victoria Goldenberg of ''Purple Sky'' chose "Wild" and "Dr." as Amuro's best tracks from the parent album and her career, stating, "The shifting song structure and Bolero samples in "Dr." push the boundaries of the brief pop song, while the succinct, irresistibly punchy rhythms of "Wild" embrace them." Bradley Stern of MuuMuse wrote, "Namie’s newest is a sweat-worthy stomper with a gloss of dizzying future sounds and manic vocals. In a word: Delicious."

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchising, franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when ...

called the song a "exciting dance number" and praised its eclectic mix of sounds and genres. ''CDJournal'' praised the song's arrangement and Amuro's vocal delivery, calling it "powerful". Tetsuo Hiraga of ''Hot Express'' praised the song's mix of genres, which was also reflected in the song's parent album. Commercially, the single was a success in Japan. "Wild" and "Dr." debuted at number one on both daily and weekly

, selling 75,456 units in its first week. As a result, she broke her own record of having all of her singles debut in the top ten (on the Daily Singles Chart) over the previous 15 years. It charted for 17 weeks and was the 45th best-selling single of the year, selling 119,352 copies. "Wild" became her second number one on the Japan Hot 100, according to ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

''. Since its release, "Wild" has received two gold certifications from the

(RIAJ) for exceeding 100,000 physical and ringtone sales. The single also peaked at number three on Taiwan's East Asian Singles Chart.

Formats and track listing

CD / streaming formats #"Wild" – 3:19 #" Dr." – 5:39 #"Wild" (Instrumental) – 3:19 #"Dr." (Instrumental) – 5:39 Digital formats #"Wild" – 3:19 #" Dr." – 5:39 DVD #"Wild" (music video) #"Dr." (music video)

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of ''Past Locations * Recorded at Azabu-O-Studio in

. Personnel * Namie Amuro – vocals * T. Kura – arranger, composer, instrumentation, producer, songwriter * Michio – arranger, composer, instrumentation, producer, songwriter * Nao'ymt – arranger, composer, instrumentation, producer, songwriter * D.O.I. – mixing * Hidekazu Sato – creative director * Katsuhiro Shimizu – art director * Shoji Uchida – photographer * Akemi Nakano – make-up artist * Shinichi Mita – stylist

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

External links

"Wild"/"Dr."
on Namie Amuro's official website

.
"Wild"
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

. {{Authority control Namie Amuro songs 2009 singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles Billboard Japan Hot 100 number-one singles 2009 songs Avex Trax singles