Concentration 20
| Concentration 20 | ||||
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| Studio album by Namie Amuro | ||||
| Released | 24 July 1997 | |||
| Recorded | Complex Studio, Larrabee West, Record Plant Studios, Sony Music Studio, tk sequence 1105st | |||
| Genre | Dance rock | |||
| Length | 56:17 | |||
| Label | Avex Trax | |||
| Producer | Tetsuya Komuro | |||
| Namie Amuro chronology | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
Concentration 20 is the third studio album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro, released July 24, 1997 by Avex Trax. The album's genre is a fusion of styles including pop, dance and rock. Unlike Amuro's previous effort, Sweet 19 Blues, which primarily had lyrics written by Tetsuya Komuro, Concentration 20's lyrics were mostly written by Marc Panther. Komuro did, however, compose and arrange all of the album's songs and wrote the lyrics to three of them.
After Amuro's 1996 album Sweet 19 Blues sold in excess of three million copies in Japan and for a brief period was even the best-selling Japanese album of all time, recording for a follow-up album began. Much of the recording of Concentration 20 was done in the United States, primarily in Los Angeles, California.
"A Walk in the Park" was released as the album's lead single on November 27, 1996. It was very successful, becoming Amuro's fourth number one single and fourth million-seller. The second single, "Can You Celebrate?", was released on February 19, 1997. Used as the theme song for the TV drama Virgin Road, it was an unprecedented commercial success: It sold over 2.7 million physical copies and remains the best-selling physical single by a female soloist in Japanese history. It charted for forty-nine weeks and was certified double Million by the RIAJ, her first and only single to receive such a certification. A re-release for Christmas 1997 sold over 400,000 copies itself. The rock-infused third single, "How to Be a Girl", reached number one and sold over 770,000 copies.
Concentration 20 received mixed reviews from critics. The songs and production were praised, though some critics dismissed Amuro's limited vocal range and Komuro's backing vocals. Nonetheless, it was a big commercial success. The album entered the Oricon albums chart at number one with first-week sales of 824,980 copies. It charted for 28 weeks, and was the seventh best-selling album of the year, selling nearly two million copies. Combined with the sales of its singles, Concentration 20 has sold around 4.5 million copies.
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