& (Ayumi Hamasaki EP)

March 2024 & Andsingle.PNG single Ayumi Hamasaki Memorial Address July 9, 2003 * J-pop soft rock 34:00 Avex Trax Ayumi Hamasaki Max Matsuura Voyage 2002 Forgiveness 2003 Official Music Video BSSzN17JxBo "Ourselves" single Official Music Video LciycbJfC6s "Greatful Days" single Official Music Video zBm7XbAjzzs "Hanabi: Episode II" single & is an extended play by Japanese recording artist and songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on July 9, 2003, by record label Avex Trax. Hamasaki's fourth extended play, & consists of four recordings; "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", "Hanabi: Episode II", and "Theme of A-Nation 03", with three additional instrumentals of the first three tracks. It was released in two different formats; a stand-alone CD, and a digital EP. The artwork for the EP depicts Hamasaki posing in front of a cloudy backdrop, with the title of the work superimposed over her hair. & contains predominantly J-pop and dance music. Hamasaki contributed by writing the lyrics to all the tracks, while Japanese production and manager Max Matsuura served as the EP's main producer. & received favourable reviews from music critics who commended the EP's production and commercial appeal. & reached number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 500,000 units. "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", "Hanabi: Episode II", and "Theme of A-Nation 03" served as promotional singles, while all but the latter track receiving music videos respectively. & was awarded the Japan Record Award at the 46th Japan Record Awards for Best Pop/Rock Album. Background and release Ayumi Hamasaki announced that she would release a new extended play, marketed as a single, entitled &. It consists of four recordings – "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", "Hanabi: Episode II", and "Theme of A-Nation 03" – with additional instrumental versions of the first three tracks.& Ayumi Hamasaki July 2003 Ayumi Hamasaki Liner notes Avex Trax AVCD-30497 Japan & was released on July 9, 2003, as the first single from Hamasaki's 2003 extended play, Memorial Address. ("Ourselves", "Greatful Days", and "Hanabi: Episode II" were included in Memorial Address.)Memorial Address Ayumi Hamasaki December 2003 Ayumi Hamasaki Liner notes Avex Trax Japan & follows the releases of Hamasaki's previous extended plays; Nothing from Nothing (1995),Nothing From Nothing Ayumi Hamasaki December 1995 Ayumi Hamasaki Liner notes Avex Trax Japan A (1999),A Ayumi Hamasaki August 1999 Ayumi Hamasaki Liner notes Avex Trax Japan and H (2002).H Ayumi Hamasaki July 2002 Ayumi Hamasaki Liner notes Avex Trax Japan Hamasaki did not release another extended-play single until Five in 2011.Five Ayumi Hamasaki August 2011 Ayumi Hamasaki Liner notes Avex Trax Japan & was released in two formats: a stand-alone CD and a digital EP. The artwork for the EP depicts Hamasaki posing in front of a cloudy backdrop, with the title of the work superimposed over her hair. Composition & opens with "Ourselves", which is an R&B tune with influences of "exoticism pop".CD Journal Staff http://artist.cdjournal.com/d/-/3203051212 Hamasaki Ayumi / & out of print CdJournal July 11, 2003 December 13, 2015 ja The lyrics describe Hamasaki's "painful" sense of sorrow and love. "Greatful Days" is a "refreshing" pop song that showcases Hamasaki's "festive" nature, her "pastel" vocals, and a "relaxing" positive message of happiness.Kondo Yang http://music.yahoo.co.jp/jpop/cd_reviews/listen/20030704/lisrvw001.html & by Ayumi Hamasaki Listen Music; published by Yahoo! Music Japan July 11, 2003 December 13, 2015 ja https://web.archive.org/web/20040811155345/http://music.yahoo.co.jp/jpop/cd_reviews/listen/20030704/lisrvw001.html August 11, 2004 dead Eri Kato http://music.yahoo.co.jp/jpop/cd_reviews/plantech/20030704/ptcrvw002.html & by Ayumi Hamasaki Hot Express; published by Yahoo! Music Japan July 11, 2003 December 13, 2015 ja https://web.archive.org/web/20040811160107/http://music.yahoo.co.jp/jpop/cd_reviews/plantech/20030704/ptcrvw002.html August 11, 2004 dead "Hanabi: Episode II" is an answer song to Hamasaki's 2002 song, "Hanabi". It describes Hamasaki's "miserable" state and "struggle[s]" that is transformed into strength. "Theme of A-Nation 03" was used for the Avex A-Nation concert tour in 2003, and emphasizes traditional Japanese instrumentals, progressing more oriental J-pop sounds. The next three tracks are instrumental versions of "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", and "Hanabi: Episode II". Promotion "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", and "Hanabi: Episode II" all served as the EP's promotional singles, released on July 9, 2003; the singles did not chart in any Japanese music charts. The singles were promoted through different endorsements deals in Japan; "Ourselves" was used as the televised theme song for Japanese cosmetics brand, Visee, and "Greatful Days" was used as the theme song for Hamasaki's 2004 TV series, Ayuready?. However, by the time the promotion of &, Memorial Address, and her 2003–2004 arena tour was complete, Hamasaki had grown dissatisfied with her position in Avex; she felt that the company was treating her as a product instead of a person.The First-Time Stench of Being a Human Oricon Style December 27, 2004 49–1275 17–19 ja Although Hamasaki initially supported the exploitation of her popularity for commercial purposes, saying that it was "necessary that [she is] viewed as a product", she eventually opposed Avex's decision to market her as a "product rather than a person". Ayumi Hamasaki (interviewee) Hamasaki Ayumi: The Heartbreak and Decision in Light and Shadow Television NTV Japan 2004Lisa Takeuchi Cullen http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/ayumi_hamasaki/int_ayumi2.html I have very clear ideas of what I want Time January 2, 2008 2 March 25, 2002 https://web.archive.org/web/20071212005108/http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/ayumi_hamasaki/int_ayumi2.html December 12, 2007 dead All three songs featured an accompanying music video, which were included on several DVD compilations by Hamasaki. The music video for "Ourselves" begins with Hamasaki leaving her friends and going into her car. When she is in the car she sees a red colored photo of herself (what is revealed to be the album cover of A Best), then she looks shocked and tries to open the door but it's locked. Then the song begins and she finds herself in a room and masked people come to the car and break it with weapons. After, Hamasaki is seen chained to the wall with scientists laughing and testing her. Throughout the video, the masked people wreck Hamasaki's life and rebirth. In the end of the video, Hamasaki is back in the place where she was from before and looks back and sees 2 masked people. There were also inter cut scenes of Hamasaki in a dark gothic witchy persona looking at the camera and moving around. The music video for "Greatful Days" features Hamasaki sitting on a sofa reading a magazine. When she is reading, a crocodile is seen coming but it disappears and a man on a motorbike comes crashing through the wall. There were also other scenes of Hamasaki at a party. The music video for "Hanabi Episode II" depicts Hamasaki on a grey beach set and in the end sparks start falling behind her. Reception CD Journal (positive) Hot Express (positive) Listen Japan (positive) & received favourable reviews from music critics. A reviewer from CD Journal commended the EP's production, and highlighted all the singles as stand out tracks; the reviewer highlighted its "music quality" as a positive note. Kondo Yang from Listen Japan was positive in his review, stating that & was a sign of growing "maturity" in Hamasaki's music. He also felt that her "charisma" and "personality" was a reason why & became successful. Eri Kato from Hot Express was positive in her review, commending Hamasaki's songwriting and composing skills, particularly with "Hanabi: Episode II", and the music arrangements. She later praised them as "unique masterpieces" and Alexey Eremenko, who wrote the biography for Hamasaki on AllMusic, highlighted "Ourselves" and "Greatful Days" as one of the stand-out tracks of the extended play and Hamasaki's long career.Alexey Eremenko http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ayumi-hamasaki-mn0000758915/songs Ayumi Hamasaki – Songs AllMusic November 30, 2015 On the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart, & reached number one on its debut week, her third consecutive EP to have reached number one, and her sixteenth number one single overall.ja:浜崎あゆみのリリース一覧 List of Ayumi Hamasaki's Releases http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/246497/products/release/ ja Oricon August 17, 2014 The EP lasted sixteen weeks in the top 100, selling 680,000 units,オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」 Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree' http://ranking.oricon.co.jp ja Oricon subscription May 21, 2014upper-alpha Sales provided by Oricon database and are rounded to the nearest thousand copies. and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 600,000 units.ja:ゴールドディスク認定作品一覧 2003年1月～7月 Works Receiving Gold Disc Certifications List (January to July 2003) http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/200307.html Recording Industry Association of Japan ja August 10, 2003 January 22, 2014 August 11, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150811051512/http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/200307.html dead & is Hamasaki's final single to sell over 600,000 units, and her only post-single to achieve a close achievement of the limit is "No Way to Say" with 400,000 physical and digital sales.ja:ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2003年11月 Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (November 2003) https://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/200311.html Recording Industry Association of Japan ja December 10, 2003 January 23, 2014ja:レコード協会調べ 1月度有料音楽配信認定 Record Association Investigation: January Digital Music Download Certifications http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/chart/w140228.html Recording Industry Association of Japan ja February 28, 2014 March 4, 2014 March 5, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140305015635/http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/chart/w140228.html dead Track listing CD content Producer(s) 34:34 Ourselves Ayumi Hamasaki Max Matsuura 4:34 Greatful Days Ayumi Hamasaki Max Matsuura 4:39 Hanabi: Episode II Ayumi Hamasaki Max Matsuura 4:56 Theme of A-Nation '03 Ayumi Hamasaki Max Matsuura 6:16 Ourselves Ayumi Hamasaki Max Matsuura Instrumental 4:34 Greatful Days Ayumi Hamasaki Max Matsuura Instrumental 4:39 Hanabi: Episode II Ayumi Hamasaki Max Matsuura Instrumental 4:56 Charts Weekly charts Chart (2003)PeakpositionJapan Singles (Oricon) 1 Year-end charts Chart (2003)PositionJapan Singles (Oricon) 8 Certifications Japan Ayumi Hamasaki &h 2003 2003 7 Platinum 2 single December 13, 2015 680,000 Notes References 2 External links Information at Avex Network. Information at Oricon. Category:2003 singles Category:Ayumi Hamasaki songs Category:Oricon Weekly number-one singles Category:Songs written by Ayumi Hamasaki Category:Songs written by Dai Nagao Category:Song recordings produced by Max Matsuura Category:2003 songs Category:Avex Trax singles