Album "Rock 'n' Roll Circus"

CD Only Cover
CD+DVD Cover
For the 1960s rock concert, see The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.Rock 'n' Roll Circus.

Rock 'n' Roll Circus is Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki's eleventh studio album, released by Avex Trax on April 14, 2010. It was released on the same day as Hamasaki's Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2009 A: Next Level.

The album was released in three different formats, a CD only version, a CD and DVD version, and a box set which contains the normal CD and DVD, a 3-DVD set of Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2009 A: Next Level, a mug, red tea packets, and a photobook. According to CD Japan website, the album is one of their best selling March releases.

Track Listing

CD
01. "The Introduction"
02. "Microphone"
03. "Count Down"
04. "Sunset: Love is All"
05. "Ballad"
06. "Last Links"
07. "Montage"
08. "Don't Look Back"
09. "Jump!"
10. "Lady Dynamite"
11. "Sexy Little Things"
12. "Sunrise: Love is All"
13. "Meaning of Love"
14. "You Were..."
15. "Red Line: for TA" ~Album Version~

Bonus Tracks
16. "MOON" ~Available for Team Ayu Members~

DVD ~CD+DVD, Special Limited Box CD+4DVD~
01. "Sunrise: Love is All" ~Video Clip~
02. "Sunset: Love is All" ~Video Clip~
03. "You Were..." ~Video Clip~
04. "Ballad" ~Video Clip~
05. "Sexy Little Things" ~Video Clip~
06. "Microphone" ~Video Clip~
07. "Don't Look Back" ~Video Clip~
08. "Lady Dynamite" ~Video Clip~
09. "Sunrise: Love is All" ~Making Clip~
10. "Sunset: Love is All" ~Making Clip~
11. "You Were..." ~Making Clip~
12. "Ballad" ~Making Clip~
13. "Sexy Little Things" ~Making Clip~
14. "Microphone" ~Making Clip~
15. "Don't Look Back" ~Making Clip~
16. "Lady Dynamite" ~Making Clip~
17. ""Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2009: Next Level" Digest" ~Bonus Track~

DVD2: Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2009: Next Level ~Special Limited Box CD+4DVD~
01. "Pieces of Seven"
02. "Rule"
03. "Unite!"
04. "Disco-munication"
05. "Energize"
06. "Sunrise: Love is All"
07. "Load of the Shugyo"
08. "Love ‘n’ Hate"
09. "Identity"
10. "In the Corner"
11. "Hope or Pain"
12. "Green"
13. "Days"
14. "Evolution"
15. "Signal"
16. "Rollin’"
17. "Sparkle"
18. "Bridge to the Sky"
19. "Next Level"

DVD3: Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2009: Next Level ~Special Limited Box CD+4DVD~
20. "Curtain Call"
21. "Sunset: Love is All"
22. "Everywhere Nowhere"
23. "Humming 7/4"
24. "Boys & Girls"
25. "My All" 

Compilation Album "A Complete : All Singles"

Cover of the Standard Edition
3CD+DVD Cover

A Complete: All Singles is a greatest hits album released by Ayumi Hamasaki on September 10, 2008 to commemorate her tenth anniversary with Avex. The first press of the album came in a special box along with a forty-eight-page photobook that includes previously-unreleased alternate single covers. The album, released in 3CD and 3CD+DVD formats, includes the first tracks from all the singles she has released since 1998. According to Oricon's yearly chart, A Complete is the eighth highest selling album of 2008 and the third highest selling 2008 album by a female artist, behind Namie Amuro's Best Fiction and Utada Hikaru's Heart Station. In Taiwan, A Complete became the year's highest selling Japanese album.

Track listing

All tracks are single remixes except songs which were recut singles, which are original album mixes.

CD1 Track list
01. Poker Face
02. You
03. Trust
04. For My Dear...
05. Depend on You
06. Whatever ~Version M~
07. Love: Destiny
08. To Be
09. Boys & Girls
10. Monochrome
11. Appears ~Album Version~
12. Kanariya ~Album Version~
13. Fly High ~Album Version~
14. Vogue
15. Far Away

CD2 Track list
01. Seasons
02. Surreal
03. Audience (Dave Ford Mix)
04. M
05. Evolution
06. Never Ever
07. Endless Sorrow
08. Unite!
09. Dearest
10. Daybreak (album version)
11. Free & Easy
12. Independent
13. Voyage
14. Ourselves
15. Forgiveness

CD3 Track list
01. No Way to Say
02. Moments
03. Inspire
04. Carols
05. Step You
06. Fairyland
07. Heaven
08. Bold & Delicious
09. Startin'
10. Blue Bird
11. Glitter
12. Talkin' 2 Myself
13. Mirrorcle World
14. Who... ~10th Anniversary version~ ~Bonus Track~

Album "Next Level"

CD Only Cover
CD+DVD Cover
2CD+DVD Cover
USB Flash Drive Cover

Next Level is the tenth studio album (eleventh overall) by Japanese pop singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki, released by Avex Trax on March 25, 2009 in Japan. It was released as a CD only version, a CD+DVD version, and a limited edition 2CD+DVD version with the second CD containing live songs taken from her New Year's Countdown concert. Additionally, it is the first album by Hamasaki and one of the first albums in the world to be released as a USB flash drive. The two GB flash drive includes the 14 songs of the album in MP3 format along with their lyric data, and six music videos in MP4 format. The flash drive edition is priced at ¥6800 (approximately USD$68 at the time of release). The album is certified Double Platinum for shipment of 500,000 copies.

Track listing

01. "Bridge to the Sky"
02. "Next Level"
03. "Disco-munication"
04. "Energize"
05. "Sparkle"
06. "Rollin'"
07. "Green"
08. "Load of the Shugyo"
09. "Identity"
10. "Rule"
11. "Love 'n' Hate"
12. "Pieces of Seven"
13. "Days"
14. "Curtain Call"

Album "Guilty"

CD Only Cover
CD+DVD Cover

Guilty is the ninth studio album (tenth overall) by Japanese pop singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki, released by Avex Trax on January 1, 2008 in Japan. Hamasaki herself wrote all lyrics of the album, which went to sell over 400,000 copies its first two weeks of release. Two weeks after its release Avex announced over 750,000 copies of Guilty have been shipped to stores. According to Oricon's 2008 album chart, Guilty is the 17th highest selling album by far and the sixth highest selling album by a female artist. Guilty is the third highest selling Japanese album in Taiwan of 2008.

Track list

01. "Mirror"
02. "(Don't) Leave Me Alone"
03. "Talkin' 2 Myself"
04. "Decision"
05. "Guilty"
06. "Fated"
07. "Together When..."
08. "Marionette (Prelude)"
09. "Marionette"
10. "The Judgement Day"
11. "Glitter"
12. "My All"
13. "Rebirth"
14. "Untitled: For Her"

Compilation Album "A Best 2"

A Best 2: Black (CD-Only)
A Best 2: Black (CD+DVD)
A Best 2: White (CD-Only)

A Best 2: White (CD+DVD)

A Best 2 is a series of Greatest Hits compilation albums recorded by Ayumi Hamasaki which were released simultaneously on 28 February 2007. The series consists of:

A Best 2: Black
A Best 2: White

A special website was opened in order to promote A Best 2 and can be found here. The tracks on A Best 2 were remastered in Los Angeles by Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, however they were not resung like the previous A Best.

Track Listings 

01. Dearest 
02. Carols 
03. No Way to Say 
04. Hanabi 
05. Walking Proud 
06. Free & Easy 
07. Endless Sorrow 
08. Because of You 
09. About You 
10. Game 
11. Is This Love? 
12. Hanabi: Episode II 
13. Never Ever 
14. Heaven 
15. Part of Me

Album "Secret"

Secret is the eighth studio album by Japanese pop singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki, released by Avex Trax on November 29, 2006 in Japan. Hamasaki herself wrote all of the album's lyrics. The album has debuted high on charts across Asia and has gone triple platinum in Japan alone.

Secret received an "Album of the Year Award" at the Japan Gold Disc Awards and its title track received the award for "Japanese Song of the Year" at the RTHK international awards in Hong Kong. It was also the 22nd best selling album of 2006 according to the Oricon.

Track Listing

01. "Not Yet"
02. "Until that Day..."
03. "Startin"
04. "1 Love"
05. "It Was"
06. "Labyrinth"
07. "Jewel"
08. "Momentum"
09. "Taskinst"
10. "Born to Be..."
11. "Beautiful Fighters"
12. "Blue Bird"
13. "Kiss o' Kill"
14. "Secret"

Compilation Album "A Ballads"

Album Information

"Rainbow" is the title track to her previous album Rainbow, but was not included on the album. As a promotion for both albums, the purchasers of the initial pressings of Rainbow were given a password to a website, where they could download part of instrumental version of the song, and submit their own lyrics. Over 100,000 people accessed the website. The tracklistings of initial pressings of the album Rainbow had track 00 that said "Rainbow", but the song was not included on the album, and was scheduled to be released as a single after participation ended.

Both "Appears" and "M" were dramatically remixed by HAL to fit in with the ballad image of the album.

"You", "A Song for XX" were rearranged and resung for this album and added rocky and acoustic feel to the songs. These songs display the change in Hamasaki's voice since her debut.

"To Be" and "Seasons" were only minimally changed for the album with heavier percussions.

"Who..." (Across the Universe) was resung for the album and as suggested by Hamasaki herself, it was made to have a 'warmer' feel than the original track.

The final track, "Sotsugyou shashin" was originally by Yumi Matsutoya, and is the only cover that Ayumi Hamasaki has done to this date on an album. The numbers in A Song for XX's title is the date in which it was recorded (YYMMDD)

Track listing

01. "Rainbow"
02. "Appears" ~Hal's Progress~
03. "Key" ~Eternal Tie Ver.~
04. "You" ~Northern Breeze~
05. "To Be" ~2003 ReBirth Mix~
06. "Hanabi"
07. "M" ~Hal's Progress~
08. "Dearest"
09. "Dolls"
10. "Seasons" ~2003 ReBirth Mix~
11. "Voyage"
12. "A Song for XX" ~030213 Session #2 Take~
13. "Who..." ~Across the Universe~
14. "Sotsugyou Shashin" ~Yumi Matsutoya cover~

Compilation Album "A Best"

Album information

This album also features two tracks that were never released as singles ("A Song for XX" and "Who..."). Due to the large number of Ayumi Hamasaki singles, the songs on the album are fan favorites. Songs from her debut album such as "A Song for XX", "Trust", and "Depend on You" were re-recorded, showing the changes in Hamasaki's vocal qualities. The initial pressings had six different variations that each came with its own "gift".

A Best was released simultaneously with Utada Hikaru's Distance, which topped the charts on the initial week of release with 3,002,720 copies in its first week; A Best debuted at number two with 2,874,870 copies. Additionally, it topped the charts the second week of its release and is the sixth highest-selling album of all time in Japan. To date A BEST is Ayumi Hamasaki's highest selling album in Japan. It sold 4,301,353 copies total.

Though this was her best selling album, Hamasaki opposed it publicly, stating: "It was too early for release." According to Oricon, A Best is the second highest selling Japanese album of the decade.

Track listing

01. "A Song for XX" ~new vocal and mix~
02. "Trust" ~new vocal and mix~
03. "Depend on You" ~new vocal & mix~
04. "Love: Destiny"
05. "To Be"
06. "Boys & Girls"
07. "Trauma"
08. "End roll"
09. "Appears"
10. "Fly High"
11. "Vogue"
12. "Far Away"
13. "Seasons"
14. "Surreal"
15. "M"
16. "Who..."

Musical Style

Hamasaki's lyrics, all her own, have resonated among her fans, who praise them as being honest and heartfelt and "expressing determination"; in two surveys conducted by Oricon, respondents voted Hamasaki's lyrics as their favorite aspect of her artistry. Steve McClure of The Japan Times noted that Hamasaki has "developed a reputation as a thoughtful, introspective lyricist"; Barry Walters of The Village Voice comments that Hamasaki's lyrics "pack unlikely insights." Because she has "trouble voicing her thoughts", Hamasaki uses her lyrics as an outlet; she draws inspiration from her own (and occasionally her friends') experiences and emotions and tries to put them "honestly into words". She has stated that honesty is essential to her lyrics, saying, "If I write when I'm low, it will be a dark song, but I don't care. I want to be honest with myself at all times." Because of this, she did not use English lyrics until her album Rainbow, as she had felt that she could best express herself in Japanese. As with her musical style, the themes of her lyrics have varied. Her debut album A Song for ×× dealt mostly with themes of "loneliness and confusion", as did her second album Loveppears. Duty likewise expressed feelings of disappointment and confusion. Hamasaki began to take on a more global outlook with her following albums I Am... and Rainbow, branching out to wider themes such as faith and peace. As Hamasaki matured, her lyrics began to express more confidence; themes in her later albums included love and the struggles of women. In addition to personal experiences and feelings, Hamasaki bases lyrics on sources such as historical events. The life of Joan of Arc was the inspiration for "Free & Easy", while a story told to her by her friend about a saint named Mary served as the basis for "M"; the September 11 attacks inspired "A Song Is Born". "Evolution" (2001)

Many of Hamasaki's songs are dance tunes, such as "Evolution" (2001), a self-composed single that also has rock elements.
"M" (2000)

"M", the first song composed by Hamasaki under the pseudonym "Crea", shifts to a relative key, like most of her self-composed songs.
"Bold & Delicious" (2005)

Hamasaki took new directions on (Miss)understood, as epitomized by the single "Bold & Delicious", a funk-influenced song that used a gospel-style chorus.
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In addition to writing her own lyrics, Hamasaki has also involved herself in other aspects of production such as artistic direction. Though Max Matsuura is officially credited as the producer of her records, he said of Hamasaki, "Ayu is a very meticulous worker behind the scenes. A lot of the work she does by herself is more in the producer's arena. I think really we should say 'Produced by [A]yumi [H]amasaki'." Until her single "M", however, Hamasaki left the task of composing to her staff; as she has explained, "I'm not a professional; I lack even basic knowledge about writing music." However, she started to compose her own melodies after her staff had failed to compose a tune for "M" that appealed to her. Wanting to produce works faithful to her visions, Hamasaki took control of most aspects of her artistry. I Am... is representative of this stage in Hamasaki's career; she directed the production of its songs, videos, and artwork. She began to compose less after I Am...: whereas nearly all of I Am... was her work, only nine of Rainbow's fifteen tracks were composed by her. She was even less involved in the composition of subsequent albums, composing two tracks on Memorial Address, three on My Story, and one on (Miss)understood; since Secret, none of the songs on her studio albums have listed her as a composer. With later albums, Hamasaki also began to delegate to her staff tasks she had once handled herself. Hamasaki cites Madonna, soul musicians Babyface and En Vogue, and rock bands Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple as her influences and states that she admires Michelle Branch, Kid Rock, Joan Osborne, Seiko Matsuda, Rie Miyazawa, and Keiko Yamada; these diverse influences have led to the variety of her own music. Hamasaki began commissioning remixes of her songs early in her career, and this practice also influenced the diversity of her music. Found on many of her records, these remixes span different genres of electronic dance music including Eurobeat, house, and trance, as well as acoustic genres such as classical and traditional Chinese music. She has employed Western as well as Japanese musicians; among those she has worked with are Above & Beyond, the Lamoureux Orchestra of France, and traditional Chinese music ensemble Princess China Music Orchestra. Hamasaki has released more than a hundred original songs; through them, she has covered a wide range of musical styles, such as dance, metal, R&B, progressive rock, pop, and classical. She uses different instruments and techniques including piano, orchestra, gospel choirs, guitars, traditional Japanese strings, music boxes, and effects such as yells, claps, and scratching.
 
Hamasaki is often involved in the artistic direction of her music videos. They are often artistic productions through which Hamasaki tries to convey the meaning or feeling of their respective songs. The themes of the videos are varied; she has made "sad and fragile" or "emotional" videos ("Momentum", "Endless Sorrow"), "refreshing" summer videos ("Blue Bird", "Fairyland"), surreal or "scary" videos ("1 Love", "Marionette"), and humorous videos ("Evolution", "Angel's Song", "Beautiful Fighters"). Additionally, many of the videos contain short storylines, some of which use symbolism to convey their respective messages. The video of "Voyage" depicts Hamasaki as a woman in a mental hospital whose previous incarnation was a woman in feudal Japan who was sacrificed to the moon; the video of "Endless Sorrow" features a young boy living in a society where speaking is forbidden by law. In the video for "Free & Easy", Hamasaki portrayed a "twenty-first-century Joan of Arc" to convey her message "freedom cannot be easily obtained; there is a price to pay for it" and to express her opposition to her marrying at the time; the video for "Ourselves" featured masked people destroying "effigies of [Hamasaki's] past" such as photographs and album covers to symbolize destruction and rebirth. Additionally, the videos of "Fairyland", "My Name's Women", and "Jewel" are among the top twenty or so most expensive music videos, making Hamasaki the only non-American artist to hold such a distinction. Hamasaki is also involved in the production and artistic direction of her live performances; they, like her videos, are often lavish productions and use a variety of props, extravagant costumes, and choreographed dances. She has used large video screens, fireworks, simulated rain drops, trick stage floors, and suspended devices.

Ayumi...

Ayumi Hamasaki (あゆみ 浜崎) (October 2, 1978) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. Also called Ayu by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" due to her popularity and widespread influence in Japan. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to pursue a career in entertainment. In 1998, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, she released a string of modestly selling singles that concluded with her 1999 debut album A Song for XX. The album debuted atop the Oricon charts and stayed there for four weeks, establishing her popularity in Japan.

Because of her constantly changing image and tight control over her artistry, Hamasaki's popularity extends across Asia; music and fashion trends she has started have spread to countries such as China, Singapore, and Taiwan. She has appeared in or lent her songs to many advertisements and television commercials. Though she originally supported the exploitation of her popularity for commercial purposes, she later reconsidered and eventually opposed her status as an Avex "product".

Since her 1998 debut with the single "Poker Face", Hamasaki has sold over 50 million records in Japan, ranking her among the best-selling singers in the country. As a female singer, Hamasaki holds several domestic records for her singles, such as the most number-one hits, the highest sales, and the most million-sellers. From 1999 to 2009, Hamasaki had at least one single each year top the charts. Hamasaki is the first female singer to have eight studio albums since her debut to top the Oricon and the first artist to have a number-one album for 11 consecutive years since her debut.