Next Level (Ayumi Hamasaki album)
Encyclopedia
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.
's Lumix FX-37 in 2008. The title track, "Next Level," was used in Panasonic's Lumix FX-40 commercial in 2009 while "Rule," from the album's second single
, is the international theme song for the film Dragonball Evolution. Additionally, "Sparkle"
is used in advertisements for the Honda Zest Spark
.
At a price of 6,800 yen, the USB version is said to be a bargain, as typical USB drives typically sell for much less. The USB will be packaged in a case the same size as a normal CD case, making it easy to display in stores. Oricon will apparently include the USB drive version in its sales tracking. Hamasaki explained, "As the way we listen to music changes from day to day, I looked at things from the listener's perspective and decided to sell it this way."
to promote the release of her new book and the album "Next Level", but apparently either she or her manager failed to obtain the necessary permits for the event. The PR event happened on April 7, in front of the 109 Building in Shibuya. Approximately 8,000 people gathered to see Hamasaki, resulting in temporarily blocked roads. Before her appearance at 109, she also paid unexpected visits to a few major record stores, going from store to store by car while fans followed her on foot, which led to chaotic conditions in the streets. Buses and other modes of transport were subjected to traffic delays.
Even though the events officially took place in stores, police determined that the scope of the event required a permit for the use of the roads. Because that permit was never obtained, authorities stated they plan to send the matter to the prosecutor's office for Hamasaki and her manager to be questioned.
and Rule/Sparkle
, two other music videos were made for Curtain Call and Next Level.
Next Level and Curain Call were both directed by Stanly Izumi Kim and Luis Hernandez and fillmed in Los Angeles.
The PV
for Next Level featured Ayumi singing in her car while driving along an open road near the coast of a beach.
The PV for Curtain Call depicted Ayumi wearing a little black dress
while barefoot. She starts off singing at a set. When the first verse is over she walks away and the production staff and crew close down the set. She walks through different sets and crew (including different seasonal themes such as rainy, autumn and winter). In the climax, she stops and behind her sparks a wall of fireworks. The curtain closes and the camera moves away from Ayumi and she is seen being attended by her hair and makeup crew. The whole video in entirety was done in one take. Originally, when she filming the black dress had a long and heavy part, but she said to her crew she wanted the heavy part to be cut off.
Total Singles Sales: 321,707
Total Album and Singles Sales: 701,696
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayumi Hamasaki
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, model, lyricist, and actress. Also called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" because of her popularity and widespread influence in Japan and throughout Asia. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to...
, released by Avex Trax
Avex Trax
, listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange as 7860 and abbreviated as AGHD, is the holding company for a group of entertainment-related subsidiaries based in Japan...
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
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
. The two GB
Gigabyte
The gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage. The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units , therefore 1 gigabyte is...
flash drive includes the 14 songs of the album in MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format along with their lyric data, and six music videos in MP4 format. The flash drive edition is priced at ¥
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
6800 (approximately USD$68 at the time of release).
The album is certified Double Platinum for shipment of 500,000 copies.
Promotion
"Green," the second a-side from the first single, was used to promote PanasonicPanasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
's Lumix FX-37 in 2008. The title track, "Next Level," was used in Panasonic's Lumix FX-40 commercial in 2009 while "Rule," from the album's second single
Rule/Sparkle
"Rule/Sparkle" is Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's forty-fifth single and it was released on February 25, 2009. The song "Rule" was used as the international theme song for Dragonball Evolution. "Sparkle" is used in advertisements for the Honda Zest Spark...
, is the international theme song for the film Dragonball Evolution. Additionally, "Sparkle"
Rule/Sparkle
"Rule/Sparkle" is Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's forty-fifth single and it was released on February 25, 2009. The song "Rule" was used as the international theme song for Dragonball Evolution. "Sparkle" is used in advertisements for the Honda Zest Spark...
is used in advertisements for the Honda Zest Spark
Honda ZEST
Honda Zest is a kei car, released in 2006, by Honda. Equipped with a turbo charged engine, 3 cylinders, and 4 doors. It was the first kei car available with optional side curtain airbags. It was available in two distinct versions — Zest and Zest Sports. In fall/winter 2008, the Zest Sports was...
.
At a price of 6,800 yen, the USB version is said to be a bargain, as typical USB drives typically sell for much less. The USB will be packaged in a case the same size as a normal CD case, making it easy to display in stores. Oricon will apparently include the USB drive version in its sales tracking. Hamasaki explained, "As the way we listen to music changes from day to day, I looked at things from the listener's perspective and decided to sell it this way."
Legal Issues
On May 21, 2009, it was revealed that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police are currently investigating a publicity event held in April. Hamasaki made unexpected appearances in Shibuya109 (department store)
is a department store in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan The store is operated by the Tokyu Malls Development , a company under the Tokyu Group.-History and description:...
to promote the release of her new book and the album "Next Level", but apparently either she or her manager failed to obtain the necessary permits for the event. The PR event happened on April 7, in front of the 109 Building in Shibuya. Approximately 8,000 people gathered to see Hamasaki, resulting in temporarily blocked roads. Before her appearance at 109, she also paid unexpected visits to a few major record stores, going from store to store by car while fans followed her on foot, which led to chaotic conditions in the streets. Buses and other modes of transport were subjected to traffic delays.
Even though the events officially took place in stores, police determined that the scope of the event required a permit for the use of the roads. Because that permit was never obtained, authorities stated they plan to send the matter to the prosecutor's office for Hamasaki and her manager to be questioned.
Music videos
Aside from the singles Days/GreenDays/Green
"Days/Green" is the forty-fourth single by Ayumi Hamasaki, released on December 17, 2008. In addition to the A-sides "Days" and "Green", the single contains re-recorded versions of Hamasaki's songs "Love: Destiny" and "To Be"...
and Rule/Sparkle
Rule/Sparkle
"Rule/Sparkle" is Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's forty-fifth single and it was released on February 25, 2009. The song "Rule" was used as the international theme song for Dragonball Evolution. "Sparkle" is used in advertisements for the Honda Zest Spark...
, two other music videos were made for Curtain Call and Next Level.
Next Level and Curain Call were both directed by Stanly Izumi Kim and Luis Hernandez and fillmed in Los Angeles.
The PV
PV
PV may refer to:In computing:* Page view, a metric in web analytics* Semaphores, from P and V operations in semaphores restricting processes in a shared environment...
for Next Level featured Ayumi singing in her car while driving along an open road near the coast of a beach.
The PV for Curtain Call depicted Ayumi wearing a little black dress
Little black dress
A little black dress is an evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often quite short. Fashion historians ascribe the origins of the little black dress to the 1920s designs of Coco Chanel, intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, accessible to the widest market possible and in a neutral...
while barefoot. She starts off singing at a set. When the first verse is over she walks away and the production staff and crew close down the set. She walks through different sets and crew (including different seasonal themes such as rainy, autumn and winter). In the climax, she stops and behind her sparks a wall of fireworks. The curtain closes and the camera moves away from Ayumi and she is seen being attended by her hair and makeup crew. The whole video in entirety was done in one take. Originally, when she filming the black dress had a long and heavy part, but she said to her crew she wanted the heavy part to be cut off.
Track list
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Catalogue Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2CD+DVD
|
AVCD-23856/B | |
| CD+DVD | AVCD-23858/B | ||
| CD | AVCD-23859 | ||
| USB
|
AVZD-23860 | ||
| Taiwan | |||
| Hong Kong | |||
| China | 2CD+DVD | ||
| CD | |||
| South Korea |
Charts
| Chart | Peak Position | Sales Total | Chart Run |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Daily Chart | 1 | 99,200 | 30 weeks |
| Oricon Weekly Chart | 1 | 240,810 | |
| Oricon Monthly Chart | 1 | 379,989 | |
| Oricon Yearly Chart | 16 |
Certifications
| Country | Provider | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | RIAJ | 2× Platinum |
Singles
| Date | Title | Peak position | Weeks | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 17, 2008 | "Days/Green Days/Green "Days/Green" is the forty-fourth single by Ayumi Hamasaki, released on December 17, 2008. In addition to the A-sides "Days" and "Green", the single contains re-recorded versions of Hamasaki's songs "Love: Destiny" and "To Be"... " |
1 | 14 weeks | 190,891 |
| February 25, 2009 | "Rule/Sparkle Rule/Sparkle "Rule/Sparkle" is Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's forty-fifth single and it was released on February 25, 2009. The song "Rule" was used as the international theme song for Dragonball Evolution. "Sparkle" is used in advertisements for the Honda Zest Spark... " |
1 | 9 weeks | 130,816 |
Physical Sales & Rank
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Oricon Daily Albums Chart | 1 |
| Oricon Weekly Albums Chart | 1 |
| Oricon Monthly Albums Chart | 1 |
| Oricon Yearly Albums Chart 2009 | 16 |
| Billboard Japan | 1 |
| HMV J-POP Chart (Japan) | 1 |
| HMV Asian Chart (Japan) | 1 |
| Billboard Japan Top Albums | 1 |
| G-Music Combo Chart (Taiwan) | 2 |
| G-Music J-POP Chart (Taiwan) | 1 |
| G-Music International Chart (Taiwan) | 1 |
| J-POP/K-POP Five Music Records (Taiwan) | 1 |
| Soundscan Albums Chart (2CD+DVD) | 1 |
Total Singles Sales: 321,707
Total Album and Singles Sales: 701,696