Love (Destiny)

"Love: Destiny"
Single by Ayumi Hamasaki
from the album Loveppears
B-side Love: Since 1999
Released April 14, 1999
Format CD Single
Recorded 1999
Genre J-pop
Length 19:10
Label Avex Trax
Writer(s) Ayumi Hamasaki (lyrics)
Tsunku (music)
Producer(s) Tsunku
Max Matsuura (executive producer)
Ayumi Hamasaki singles chronology
"Whatever"
(1999)		 "Love (Destiny)"
(1999)		 "To Be"
(1999)
Alternative cover
Re-release cover

"Love (Destiny)" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist and lyricist Ayumi Hamasaki, taken from her second studio album Loveppears (1999). The song was written by Hamasaki herself, while production was handled by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura and Tsunku. The song was written by Hamasaki while she was still in promotion of her previous studio album A Song for ×× (1999) and in production of the then-forthcoming album Loveppears. The b-side "Love: Since 1999" became her second song to incorporate English lyrics since the previous single "Whatever" despite not written by Hamasaki.

There are two versions; "Love (Destiny)" and "Love (Refrain)". The first incorporates pop music and ballad music, that talks about a relationship with themes of love, while the latter incorporates R&B and pop music. The title track was specially commissioned to be a sub-theme for the drama series SemiDouble. The accompanying music video for the single was directed by Wataru Takeishi, who directed all her A Song for xx and Loveppears music videos since the start off her career and hows Hamasaki recording songs, writing lyrics, facing her fans, and singing against a night sky.

The song achieved favorable reception from most music critics, who praised Hamasaki's vocal abilities and lyrical content. Critics also praised the content and the single version, while critics had dismissed the album version and composition. Commercially, "Love (Destiny)" became a huge success in her native Japan, becoming her first number-one single on the Oricon chart. The song was re-released in February 2001 and was certified double platinum by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). The song has been performed on several events including Hey! Hey! Hey! and Pop Jam in Japan. The song has also been performed on several off her domestic and Asian tours.

Background

Hamasaki had released her first single "Poker Face" in April 1998.[1] The song was not a major hit and failed to gain impact from the Japanese public, failing to peak inside the top ten. Then, the following single "You" performed better than her previous but still did not achieve success. The next singles "Trust" and "Depend on You", however, became more successful, peaking inside the top ten on Oricon and was certified gold by the RIAJ.[2][3] Despite each single gradually increasing Hamasaki's popularity in Japan, the songs were not highly received from critics and her debut effort A Song for XX was cited as "unassuming".[4] Despite the lack of critical appreciation, the album was a huge success, selling over one million units in Japan and was certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).[5][6]

During the same year, Hamasaki started work on her second full-length studio album, teaming up with long-term collaborator Dai "D.A.I." Nagao, HΛL, Yasuhiko Hoshino, Kazuhito Kikuchi and Hideaki Kuwabara to compose the album.[7] During the same year, Hamasaki released the album's lead single "Whatever", which received mixed reception from critics but became a fairly commercial success in Japan, peaking at number five on Oricon and was certified gold by RIAJ.[8]

The title track was specially commissioned to be a sub-theme for the drama series SemiDouble. The B-side of "Love: Destiny" was "Love: Since 1999," a duet with Tsunku, the vocalist of the band Sharan Q and producer of Morning Musume. Hamasaki re-recorded "Love: Destiny" in celebrating her 10th anniversary in the music business in 2008 and it appeared as a B-Side on her Days/Green single.

Composition

There are two different versions of "Love"; the album version and the single version. The album version was titled "Love ~Refrain~" and utilizes dance music.[9] With the song written by Hamasaki, composed by Tsunku and production handled by Max Matsuura, "Love ~Refrain~" incorporates the same lyrics but with different composition. During the 1999, Hamasaki had released Ayu-mi-x, her first remix compilation. With Ayu-mi-x (March 1999), the first of a series of remix albums, Hamasaki began moving beyond the pop-rock of A Song for ×× and began to incorporate different styles including trance, dance, and orchestra.[4] This influence became present on the album version.[4]

Love: Since 1999

A third song and b-side, "Love: Since 1999" was released on the 8 cm single during its 1999 release.[10] The song was not written by Hamasaki and was written and composed by Tsunku. The song contained English-language lyrics written by Tsunku and became her second song that feature English lyrics. Based on the lyrical content, "Whatever" is technically Hamasaki's first song to incorporate English language words, using the word "Wow/Wow/Wow" after the chorus ends.[upper-alpha 1] Hamasaki had never used English language until her b-side song from "Love (Destiny)" and "Audience", however, the b-side "Love: 1999" was not written by Hamasaki and "Audience" contained "Yes", which does not particularly count for speaking English. However, by only using "Wow" in "Whatever", it does not count in using English-language conversation like she did in her 2002 album Rainbow.[11]

After the original release, "Love: Since 1999" was also released on the re-release off the single in February 2001.

Reception

Commercially, the song was a success on Oricon. After the particular disappoint off "Whatever" peaking at number five, "Love ~Destiny~" debuted at number one on the Daily Singles Chart. In the first week of sales, the song debuted at number one on the Oricon Weekly Chart with estimated 70,540 units sold.[12] This became Hamasaki's first ever number one single in her native Japan and eventually sold 650,000 units overall, being certified double platinum by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments off 500,000 copies in Japan and stayed in the chart for twenty-six weeks.[13]

After the success off the single, "Love ~Destiny~" was re-released by Avex Trax as a compact CD and debuted at number twenty on the Oricon Chart. The single had stayed in the chart for four weeks in total.

Music video

The music video for "LOVE ~Destiny~" was directed by Takeishi Wataru (her normal director) . It shows Hamasaki recording songs, writing lyrics, facing her fans, and singing against a night sky.

Tracklisting

  1. "Love: Destiny"
  2. "Love: Since 1999"
  3. "Love: Destiny" (Instrumental)
  4. "Love: Since 1999" (Instrumental)
  1. "Love: Destiny"
  2. "Love: Since 1999"
  3. "Kanariya" (Big Room Mix)
  4. "Kanariya" (H∧L's Mix)
  5. "From Your Letter" (Pandart Sasanooha Mix)
  6. "Love: Destiny" (Instrumental)
  7. "Love: Since 1999" (Instrumental)

Live performances

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release Chart Peak Position First Week Sales Sales Total Chart Run
April 19, 1999 Oricon Daily Singles Chart 1
Oricon Weekly Singles Chart 1 70,540 650,800 26
Oricon Monthly Singles Chart 7
Oricon Yearly Singles Chart 30

Chart positions

Chart (1999) Peak
position		 Time in
chart
Japan Oricon1 1 26 weeks
Chart (2001) Peak
position		 Time in
chart
Japan Oricon2 20 4 weeks

1Original version
2Re-release version

Notes

  1. ↑ The exclamation "Wow" is commonly used in the English-language and French-language. Technically, "Wow" is spoken and written in an English format and has been listed in the 1913 Webster Dictionary, so it proves that "Whatever" is her first song to use an English-language word.

References

  1. ↑ Ayumi Hamasaki - iTunes.
  2. ↑ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1998年9月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. September 1998 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese) (Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan) 468: 9. November 10, 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 24, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  3. ↑ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999年1月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. January 1999 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese) (Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan) 472: 9. March 10, 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Walters, Barry (March 5, 2002). "Turning (Japanese) Point". The Village Voice. Retrieved April 19, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Siege Mentality". South China Morning Post (Hong Kong, China: SCMP Group). May 13, 2002. p. 1.
  6. ↑ "You Can't Top This". Straits Times (Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings). Reuters. November 25, 1999.
  7. ↑ Ayu* - Connected (CD) at Discogs
  8. ↑ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999年2月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. February 1999 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese) (Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan) 473: 9. April 10, 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ Liner notes off Loveppears by Ayumi Hamasaki. November 1999.
  10. ↑ Back and tracklist notes of Love ~Destiny~ by Ayumi Hamasaki. June 1999.
  11. ↑ Takeuchi Cullen, Lisa (March 25, 2002). "Empress of Pop". Time. p. 4. Archived from the original on March 22, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  12. ↑ http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/46178/1/
  13. ↑ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999年5月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. May 1999 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese) (Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan) 476: 9. July 10, 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.

External links

Preceded by
"Mind Games" by Zard		 Oricon Weekly number one single
April 26, 1999 		Succeeded by
"Heaven's Drive" by L'Arc-en-Ciel
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