Rock 'n' Roll Circus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Rock and Roll Circus)
Jump to: navigation, search
For the 1960s rock concert, see The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.
 This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (August 2011)
Rock 'n' Roll Circus
Studio album by Ayumi Hamasaki
Released April 14, 2010 (2010-04-14)
Recorded 2009-2010 in Toyko, Japan and London, England
Genre Pop, pop rock, synthrock, electropop
Length 62:08
Label Avex Trax
Producer Max Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
Next Level
(2009)		 Rock 'n' Roll Circus
(2010)		 Love Songs
(2010)
Singles from Rock 'n' Roll Circus
  1. "Sunrise/Sunset (Love Is All)"
    Released: August 12, 2009
  2. "You Were.../Ballad"
    Released: December 29, 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[1]

Rock 'n' Roll Circus is Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki's eleventh studio album, released by Avex Trax on April 14, 2010.[2] The album was released in three different formats, a CD only version, a CD and DVD version, and a box set edition that contains the normal CD and DVD, a 3-DVD set of Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2009 A: Next Level (also released independently on the same day), a mug, red tea packets, and a photobook. The album is certified Platinum by RIAJ for shipment of 250,000 copies.[3]

According to the Oricon, it now stands as the 21st best selling album of 2010.[4]

Contents

[edit] Promotion

The song "Sunset: Love is All" was used in advertisements for the Panasonic Lumix FX-60 digital camera in 2009.[5] Meanwhile, "Don't Look Back" was used for the Panasonic Lumix FX-66 digital camera in 2010. "Microphone" was also used in ads for Honda Zest Spark.

[edit] Music videos

Likewise in her tradition, Hamasaki also created four other music videos for other songs aside from her singles Sunrise/Sunset: Love is All and You were.../Ballad. These songs are Lady Dynamite, Don't Look Back, Sexy Little Things and Microphone.

The PV of Lady Dynamite was directed by Kazuyoshi Shimomura and was shot in a gay club at Ni-chōme, a disctrict in Shinjuku. The music video begins where Ayumi and a crowd is waiting to go in the Gay Club, In the chorus, Ayumi is dancing in the club, Then, in the second verse she is in a pink room with a lolilpop, Throughout the video, she is seen dancing, In the end she goes in the room full of lockers and she leaves looking sweaty. Also her male back-up dancers also played a gay man.

The video for Don't Look Back features Ayumi clad in white. She is facing left so the viewer only sees the left side of her face. As the video progresses, a frontal view of her is shown. The right side of her face is messed up. Her lipstick and eyeliner are smeared and her hair, disheveled (in contrast to the well-kept left side of her face). The video is also inter-cut with scenes of Ayumi singing behind a large poster of herself (which is actually the CD+DVD cover of A Best 2: Black).

The videos for Sexy Little Things and Microphone are actually produced in continuity. The two videos are set in London, England. In the Sexy Little Things video, Ayumi plugs in a device (which looks like a large blue eye). Blood oozes from the socket and Ayumi (dressed in red) begins to sing. As she sings, scenes of models wearing haute couture clothing are inter-cut. Towards the chorus, Ayumi is seen wearing a black-and-white outfit and sporting platinum blond hair. As the video goes on more bizarre things occur (dancing huntsmen, models trapped in glass boxes, and a gigantic woman breaking through a hole in the wall). Near the end of the video, Ayumi is dressed in a large, frilly, black gown and sings alongside a rock band. The video ends as Ayumi grabs hold of the front man's guitar and breaks it.

The video for Microphone continues to where Sexy Little Things left off. It starts in reverse and the guitar becomes whole again. The bulk of the video features Ayumi singing with the band and is inter-cut of random scenes of random people (i.e. two sisters, four people playing poker (one of them is Ayumi herself), a man holding a knife, a woman holding a megaphone, a dancing janitor, a navy officer, etc.). The transition effects of the video depict Ayumi switching the scenes like a touchscreen or crumpling the scene itself like a piece of paper. In the end of the video, the whole entirety is rewound by Ayumi (dressed in red, previously seen from the Sexy Little Things video). Part of the video was filmed at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

[edit] Track listing

All lyrics written by Ayumi Hamasaki. 

CD (CD, CD+DVD, special limited box CD+4DVD)
No. Title Music Arranger(s) Length
1. "The Introduction"   CMJK CMJK 1:39
2. "Microphone"   Yuta Nakano Yuta Nakano 4:23
3. "Count Down"   Tetsuya Yukumi CMJK 4:34
4. "Sunset (Love Is All)"   Hana Nishimura Yuta Nakano 5:46
5. "Ballad"   D.A.I Yuta Nakano 5:20
6. "Last Links"   Tetsuya Yukumi CMJK 3:56
7. "Montage"   Yuta Nakano Yuta Nakano 1:40
8. "Don't Look Back"   Yuta Nakano CMJK 4:07
9. "Jump!"   CMJK CMJK 1:36
10. "Lady Dynamite"   Kazuhiro Hara CMJK 4:17
11. "Sexy Little Things"   Yuta Nakano Yuta Nakano 3:58
12. "Sunrise (Love Is All)"   Hana Nishimura CMJK 4:46
13. "Meaning of Love"   Tetsuya Yukumi HIKARI 5:20
14. "You Were..."   Kazuhiro Hara HΛL 4:48
15. "Red Line (for TA)" (Album Version) Tetsuya Yukumi Yuta Nakano 5:46
Bonus Tracks
No. Title Length
16. "Moon" (Available for Team Ayu members) 5:47
DVD (CD+DVD, special limited box CD+4DVD)
No. Title Director(s) Length
1. "Sunrise: Love is All" (video clip) Wataru Takeishi 4:51
2. "Sunset: Love is All" (video clip) Wataru Takeishi 5:44
3. "You Were..." (video clip) Masashi Muto 5:11
4. "Ballad" (video clip) Takahide Ishii 5:48
5. "Sexy Little Things" (video clip) Masashi Muto 4:23
6. "Microphone" (video clip) Masashi Muto 4:27
7. "Don't Look Back" (video clip) Hideaki Sunaga 4:10
8. "Lady Dynamite" (video clip) Kazuyoshi Shimomura 4:17
9. "Sunrise: Love is All" (making clip) Keisuke Onodera, Jin Koyanagi 4:43
10. "Sunset: Love is All" (making clip) Keisuke Onodera, Jin Koyanagi 3:07
11. "You Were..." (making clip) Keisuke Onodera, Jin Koyanagi 3:03
12. "Ballad" (making clip) Keisuke Onodera, Jin Koyanagi 3:13
13. "Sexy Little Things" (making clip) Keisuke Onodera, Jin Koyanagi 2:56
14. "Microphone" (making clip) Keisuke Onodera, Jin Koyanagi 2:57
15. "Don't Look Back" (making clip) Keisuke Onodera, Jin Koyanagi 3:03
16. "Lady Dynamite" (making clip) Keisuke Onodera, Jin Koyanagi 3:08
17. ""Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2009: Next Level" Digest" (bonus track)   5:36
DVD2: Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2009: Next Level (special limited box CD+4DVD)
No. Title Length
1. "Pieces of Seven"    
2. "Rule"    
3. "Unite!"    
4. "Disco-munication"    
5. "Energize"    
6. "Sunrise: Love is All"    
7. "Load of the Shugyo"    
8. "Love ‘n’ Hate"    
9. "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)
No. Title Length
20. "Curtain Call"    
21. "Sunset: Love is All"    
22. "Everywhere Nowhere"    
23. "Humming 7/4"    
24. "Boys & Girls"    
25. "My All"    
No. Title Length

[edit] Release history

Region Date Format Catalogue number
Japan April 14, 2010 (2010-04-14) CD+DVD
  • Initial pressing limited edition: PHOTOBOOK (36P)
 AVCD-38102/B
CD AVCD-38103
Taiwan April 16, 2010 (2010-04-16)
Hong Kong April 19, 2010 (2010-04-19) CD+DVD
  • Initial pressing limited edition: PHOTOBOOK (36P)
 AAJCD-20068D
CD
South Korea April 26, 2010 (2010-04-26)

[edit] Charts & Certifications

[edit] Charts

Chart Peak position Sales total Chart run
Oricon Daily Chart 1 85,142 21 weeks
Oricon Weekly Chart 1 205,058
Oricon Monthly Chart 2 272,394
Oricon Yearly Chart 21[6] 318,454[4]
Oricon Total Sales 320,300[7]

[edit] Certifications

Country Provider Certification
Japan RIAJ Platinum

[edit] Singles

Date Title Peak position Weeks Sales
August 12, 2009 "Sunrise / Sunset: Love is All" 1 11 weeks 110,169
December 29, 2009 "You Were... / Ballad" 1 13 weeks 118,249

Total Singles Sales: 228,418
Total Album and Singles Sales: 548,718

[edit] References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ "DISCOGRAPHY - ayumi hamasaki(浜崎あゆみ) official website". http://avexnet.or.jp/ayu/jp/discography/index.html. Retrieved 2010-03-05. 
  3. ^ "一般社団法人 日本レコード協会｜各種統計". RIAJ. April 2010. http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/201004.html. Retrieved 2010-06-05. 
  4. ^ a b http://www.tokyohive.com/2010/12/oricon-yearly-album-ranking-for-2010-is-out/
  5. ^ (Japanese) "みんなのカラオケ". http://m-karaoke.yahoo.co.jp/4/9531/. Retrieved 2009-08-11. 
  6. ^ "アルバム 年間ランキング-ORICON STYLE ランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. December 20, 2010. Archived from the original on December 20, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5v6zwRQHp. Retrieved December 20, 2010. 
  7. ^ http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/83298/

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Kamikyoku Tachi by AKB48		 Oricon weekly number-one album
April 26, 2010		 Succeeded by
Vocalist 4 by Hideaki Tokunaga

{{Navbox Musical artist | background = solo_singer | name = Ayumi Hamasaki | title = Ayumi Hamasaki

| group1 = Studio albums | list1 = A Song for ×× · Loveppears · Duty · I Am... · Rainbow · My Story · (Miss)understood · Secret · Guilty · Next Level · Rock 'n' Roll Circus · Love Songs{{·w} Party queen

| group2 = EPs | list2 = Nothing from Nothing · Memorial Address · Five

| group3 = Compilations | list3 = A Best · A Ballads · A Best 2 (White · Black) · A Complete: All Singles

| group4 = Remixes | list4 = Ayu-mi-x · Ayu-ro Mix · Ayu-mi-x II Jpn · Ayu-mi-x II US+EU · Ayu-mi-x II Orch. · Ayu-mi-x II Mix · Ayu-mi-x III Mix · Ayu-mi-x III Orch. · Ayu-ro Mix 2 · Ayu Trance · Ayu-mi-x 4 Mix · Ayu-mi-x 4 Orch. · Ayu Trance 2 · Ayu-mi-x 5 Mix · Ayu Trance 3 · Ayu-ro Mix 3 · My Story Classical · Ayu-mi-x 6: Gold · Ayu-mi-x 6: Silver · Ayu-mi-x 7 Version House · Ayu-mi-x 7 Version Acoustic Orchestra · Ayu-mi-x 7 Presents Ayu Trance 4 · Ayu-mi-x 7 Presents Ayu-ro Mix 4 · Ayu-mi-x 7 Limited Complete Box Set

| group5 = Concert Tours | list5 = 2000 Tour (Vol.1 · Vol.2)  · 2001 Dome Tour · 2002 Arena Tour · 2002 Statium Tour · Limited TA Live Tour · 2003-4 Arena Tour · My Story Tour · (Miss)understood Tour · Tour of Secret · 10th Aniversary Tour · Next Level Tour · Rock’n'Roll Circus Tour Final

| group6 = Countdown Lives | list6 = 2000-2001 A · 2001-2002 A · 2002-2003 A · 2004-2005 A · 2005-2006 A · 2006-2007 A · 2007-2008 Anniversary · Premium 2008-2009 A · 2009-2010 A: Future Classics · 2010-2011 A: Do It Again

| group7 = DVDs | list7 = A Film for ×× · A Clips · A Clips Vol.2 · Ayumi Hamasaki Complete Live Box A · Complete Clip Box · Distance Love · Tsuki ni Shizumu

| group8 = Filmography | list8 = Twins Teacher · Battle Spirits Ryūko no Ken · Sumomo mo Momo · Miseinen · Like Grains of Sand · Gakko II

| group9 = See also | list9 = Discography · Concerts · Awards and records · Ayu no Deji Deji Nikki

}}

Ayumi Hamasaki singles discography
Nothing From Nothing
A Song for ××
"Poker Face" (1998) · "You" (1998) · "Trust" (1998) · "For My Dear..." (1998) · "Depend on You" (1998)
Loveppears
"Whatever" (1999) · "Love (Destiny)" (1999) · "To Be" (1999) · "Boys & Girls" (1999) · "A" (1999) · "Appears" (1999) · "Kanariya" (1999) · "Fly High" (2000)
Duty
"Vogue" (2000) · "Far Away" (2000) · "Seasons" (2000) · "Surreal" (2000) · "Audience" (2000)
I Am...
"M" (2000) · "Evolution" (2001) · "Never Ever" (2001) · "Endless Sorrow" (2001) · "Unite!" (2001) · "Dearest" (2001) · "A Song is Born" (w/ Keiko Yamada) (2001) · "Daybreak" (2002) · "Connected" (2003)
Rainbow
"Free & Easy" (2002) · "H" (2002) · "Voyage" (2002)
Memorial Address
"&" (2003) · "Forgiveness" (2003) · "No Way to Say" (2003)
My Story
"Moments" (2004) · "Inspire" (2004) · "Carols" (2004)
(Miss)understood
"Step You/Is this Love?" (2005) · "Fairyland" (2005) · "Heaven" (2005) · "Bold & Delicious/Pride" (2005)
Secret
"Startin'/Born to Be..." (2006) · "Blue Bird" (2006)
Guilty
"Glitter/Fated" (2007) · "Talkin' 2 Myself" (2007) · "Together When..." (2007)
A Complete: All Singles
Next Level
"Days/Green" (2008) · "Rule/Sparkle" (2009)
Rock 'n' Roll Circus
Love Songs
"Moon/Blossom" (2010) · "Crossroad" (2010) · "L" (2010)
Other songs
"Dream On" (2010)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rock_%27n%27_Roll_Circus&oldid=470025304"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages