1998 greatest hits album by Namie Amuro
181920
is debut
greatest hits
album by Japanese singer
Namie Amuro
.
Avex Trax
released it in Japan on January 28, 1998, and it was later available in a
variety of formats
throughout Asia. The album contains Amuro's
single releases
from her debut
studio album
Dance Tracks Vol. 1
(1995) to her third album
Concentration 20
(1997), as well as three tracks from her time with
Toshiba-EMI
. The album also included a new song called "
Dreaming I Was Dreaming
," which served as the only
single
from the album.
Music critics
gave the album
181920
favorable reviews, praising its overall sound but finding the material insufficient. The
Japan Gold Disc Awards
also recognised the album as Pop Album of the Year that same year. Commercially, the album was a huge success in Japan, reaching number one on the
Oricon Albums Chart
and being certified double million by the
Recording Industry Association of Japan
(RIAJ) for sales of more than two million copies. After the album's campaign concluded, Amuro took a brief hiatus for maternity reasons.
Content and material
[
edit
]
181920
is Amuro's debut greatest hits album as a solo artist.
[a]
The album contains Amuro's single releases from her debut studio album,
Dance Tracks Vol. 1
(1995), to her third album,
Concentration 20
(1997).
[b]
The album also features three songs from her time with Toshiba-EMI: "Try Me (Watashi o Shinjite)", "Taiyou no Season", and "Stop the Music".
[5]
These three songs were recorded with the Japanese girl group Super Monkeys and released on the compilation
Original Tracks Vol. 1
(1996).
[1]
However, each song was completely reworked and recorded specifically for Amuro on
Dance Tracks Vol. 1
.
[2]
181920
features 12 tracks, including "high-energy
electro-pop
songs" and two
ballads
, "
Can You Celebrate?
" and "
Dreaming I Was Dreaming
," the latter being a new track for the album.
[6]
Stylistically, the album focuses on various
dance
-oriented sounds, including
eurobeat
("
Try Me (Watashi o Shinjite)
", "
Chase the Chance
"), standard
dance-pop
("
Body Feels Exit
", "
You're My Sunshine
", "
How to Be a Girl
", "Stop the Music"), and ballad-inspired tracks ("
Sweet 19 Blues
", "Can You Celebrate?", "Dreaming I Was Dreaming").
[7]
Release and promotion
[
edit
]
Avex Trax
first released
181920
in Japan on January 28, 1998, and later distributed in Hong Kong and Taiwan the same year.
[5]
On July 1, a
VHS
and
laserdisc
format titled
181920 Films
(1998) was released, containing most of the
music videos
from the album.
[8]
The standard album was re-issued in Taiwan on September 29.
[5]
In 2004, the album was re-released in all three territories, with a
DVD
album format and additional DVD disc that contained the
music videos
from
181920 Films
.
[9]
In 2012, the original format was re-issued to commemorate Amuro's 20th career anniversary in the entertainment business.
[10]
"Dreaming I Was Dreaming" is the album's only single. It was released a year earlier, on November 27, 1997, as a
mini CD
, and served as the commercial theme for Ginza Jewellery in Japan.
[11]
[12]
It features a sample of
T. Rex
's "Liquid Generation" song.
[5]
Commercially, it was a success in Japan, reaching number one on the
Oricon Singles Chart
and received double platinum certification from the
Recording Industry Association of Japan
(RIAJ) for shipments of over 800,000 units.
[13]
[14]
Reception
[
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]
Professional ratings
Review scores
|
---|
Source
| Rating
|
---|
AllMusic
| [6]
|
Music critics
complimented
181920
. Ted Mills of
AllMusic
gave the album three and a half stars.
[6]
Mills questioned the timing of its release, believing it was "premature to have a singles collection out so soon" and unusual given that it coincided with the rise of other Japanese singers, particularly
Ayumi Hamasaki
.
[6]
Nonetheless, Mills stated that the material was "superior," but that it was a "short summation of the sound that changed
J-Pop
, circa 1996."
[6]
In addition, the album won Pop Album of the Year at the
Japan Gold Disc Awards
in 1998.
[15]
Commercially, the album was a massive success in Japan. It debuted at number one on the
Oricon Albums Chart
, selling 857,100 units in its first week of release.
[16]
It remained at number one for a second week, selling an additional 326,270 copies.
[17]
The album spent 35 weeks on the charts and was the 11th best-seller of the year.
[18]
[19]
Since its release, 1,693,465 copies have been sold in the region.
[20]
It was certified double million by the RIAJ for exceeding sales of two million units.
[21]
According to
Oricon Style
,
181920
is Amuro's fifth best-selling album overall.
[22]
It is also the 74th best-selling album in Japan for the
1990s
decade.
[23]
Track listing
[
edit
]
181920 & Films
Title
| Director(s)
|
---|
1.
| "Opening"
|
|
|
---|
2.
| "Body Feels Exit" (Music video)
| Masashi Muto
|
|
---|
3.
| "Chase the Chance" (Music video)
| Norihiro Akita
|
|
---|
4.
| "Don't Wanna Cry" (Music video)
| Norihiro Akita
|
|
---|
5.
| "You're My Sunshine" (Music video)
| Shuichi Tan
|
|
---|
6.
| "A Walk In The Park" (Music video)
| Masashi Muto
|
|
---|
7.
| "Can You Celebrate?" (Music video)
| Wataru Takeishi
|
|
---|
8.
| "How to Be a Girl" (Music video)
| Masashi Muto
|
|
---|
9.
| "Dreaming I Was Dreaming" (Music video)
| Masashi Muto
|
|
---|
Credits and personnel
[
edit
]
Credits adapted from the
liner notes
of
181920
.
[5]
Musicians
- Namie Amuro ? main vocals, background vocals
- Tetsuya Komuro - vocals, background vocals
Production
- Tetsuya Komuro - arranger, composer, producer, songwriter
- Hinoky Team - composer
- Dave Rodgers - arranger
- Claudio Accatino - composer
- Federico Rimonti - composer
- Laurent Gelmetti - composer
- Roberto Gabrielli - composer
- Kazumi Suzuki - songwriter
- Jonny Taira - producer
- Masato "Max" Matsuura - producer
- Marc Panther - songwriter
- Cozy Kubo - arranger, composer
- Yasuhiko Hoshino - arranger
- Natsumi Watanabe - songwriter
- Takahiro Maeda - songwriter
Imagery
- Tycoon Graphics - art director(s), designers
- Itaru Hirama - phographer
- Kyoko Tsunoda - styling
- Katsuma Yokoyama - Hair and makeup
Management
- Masato "Max" Matsuura - executive producer
- Shinji Hayashi - general producer
- Katsuro Oshita - general producer
- Yuichi Orimoto - production manager
- Kimi Sato - production coordinator
- Tetsuya Uekata - production coordinator
- Kazumi Yanagi - A&R cheif
- Kengo Goto - A&R
- Takashi Kasuga - public relations
- Yukio Takemura - public relations
- Tatsuya Ikeda - public relations
- Jonny Taira - supervisor
- Tom Yoda - specially coordinator
- Akira Kobayashi - Rising Production management representative
- Masayuki Okura - Rising Production management representative
- Shigeo Maruyama - Tetsuya Komuro management representative
- Shigeo Ohtake - Tetsuya Komuro management representative
Charts
[
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]
Weekly charts
[
edit
]
|
Year-end charts
[
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]
All-time chart
[
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]
|
Certification
[
edit
]
Release history
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Super Monkey's
(1996).
Original Tracks Vol. 1
(
liner notes
). Japan:
Toshiba-EMI
. TOCT-9630.
- ^
a
b
Amuro, Namie
(1995).
Dance Tracks Vol. 1
(
liner notes
). Japan:
Toshiba-EMI
. TOCT-9100.
- ^
Amuro, Namie
(1996).
Sweet 19 Blues
(
liner notes
). Japan:
Avex Trax
. AVCD-11463.
- ^
Amuro, Namie
(1997).
Concentration 20
(
liner notes
). Japan:
Avex Trax
. AVCD-11581.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Standard formats of
181920
listed below:
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"181920 - Namie Amuro"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
March 30,
2024
.
- ^
"Namie Amuro / 181920"
.
CDJournal
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
March 30,
2024
.
- '
^
181920 Films
formats listed below:
- ^
a
b
c
d
Re-issue formats of
181920 & Films
listed below:
- ^
a
b
Amuro, Namie
(2012).
181920
(
liner notes
). Japan:
Avex Trax
. AVCD-38603.
- ^
Amuro, Namie
(1997).
Dreaming I Was Dreaming
(
liner notes
). Japan:
Avex Trax
. AVDD-20221.
- ^
"Dreaming I Was Dreaming"
(in Japanese). Namie Amuro's website. Archived from
the original
on November 10, 2015
. Retrieved
March 30,
2024
.
- ^
"Dreaming I Was Dreaming - Namie Amuro"
(in Japanese).
Oricon
. Retrieved
March 30,
2024
.
- ^
"GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1997年12月度"
[Gold Albums, and other certified works. December 1997 Edition]
(PDF)
.
The Record
(Bulletin) (in Japanese).
459
.
Ch??, Tokyo
:
Recording Industry Association of Japan
: 9. February 10, 1998. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on November 3, 2013
. Retrieved
January 29,
2014
.
- ^
"The 13th Japan Gold Discs"
(in Japanese).
Japan Gold Disc Award
. Retrieved
March 20,
2024
.
- ^
"1998.2.9付 アルバムTOP20"
(in Japanese).
Oricon
(via Geocities). February 9, 1998. Archived from
the original
on October 25, 2012
. Retrieved
March 30,
2024
.
- ^
"1998.2.16付 アルバムTOP20"
(in Japanese).
Oricon
(via Geocities). February 16, 1998. Archived from
the original
on October 25, 2012
. Retrieved
March 30,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"181920 - Namie Amuro"
(in Japanese).
Oricon
. Retrieved
March 30,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"1998年 アルバム年間TOP100"
(in Japanese).
Oricon
(via Geocities). 1998. Archived from
the original
on January 18, 2014
. Retrieved
March 30,
2024
.
- ^
"オリコンランキング情報サ?ビス「you大樹」"
(in Japanese).
Oricon
. Retrieved
January 29,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"Japanese album certifications ? 安室 奈美? ? 181920"
(in Japanese).
Recording Industry Association of Japan
.
Select
1998年3月
on the drop-down menu
- ^
安室奈美?のアルバム?上TOP20作品
[Namie Amuro's Top 20 Albums Sales].
Oricon News
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
January 2,
2024
.
- ^
"1990年代アルバム?上ランキング"
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
2024-04-14
.
- ^
https://web.archive.org/web/20120103001458/http://www.musictvprogram.com/corner-ranking-album.html
- ^
"181920 - Album by Namie Amuro"
.
Spotify
. Retrieved
March 30,
2024
.
External links
[
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]
|
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|
Studio albums
| |
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Compilation albums
| |
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Live albums
| |
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Concerts
| |
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Video
| |
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Video game
|
- Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1: Namie Amuro
|
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Related articles
| |
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|