Love Songs (Ayumi Hamasaki album)
| Love Songs | ||||
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| Studio album by Ayumi Hamasaki | ||||
| Released | December 22, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2010 | |||
| Genre | Pop, pop rock, dance | |||
| Length | 67:29 | |||
| Label | Avex Trax | |||
| Producer | Max Matsuura | |||
| Ayumi Hamasaki chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Love Songs | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| HMV |   |
Love Songs (stylized as Love songs) is the twelfth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. The album was released on December 22, 2010 through Avex Trax, eight months after her eleventh studio album Rock 'n' Roll Circus. A stylistic return to the aesthetic of her albums before Secret, Love Songs contains pop songs with lyrics primarily revolving around love, many of them ballads.
The album was promoted with three singles. These singles were a countdown to her fiftieth single. Lead single "Moon"/"Blossom" was released on July 14, 2010. Its performance was disappointing: despite it reaching number one, the single sold just over 95,000 copies and failed to be certified. "Crossroad" saw similar performance. Though it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, it sold just over 99,000 copies. The third single was Hamasaki's fiftieth single, aptly titled "L", the Roman numeral for fifty. A triple-A-side consisting of the songs "Last Angel", "Virgin Road", and "Sweet Season", L reached number one on the Oricon charts, becoming her thirty-eighth single to top the charts in Japan. However, it sold under 95,000 copies. The album's release was coincided with the release of Naoya Urata's debut single "Dream On", produced by Hamasaki, becoming her first production credit for another artist. The song snippets were made available for streaming on Hamasaki's official website.
Love Songs was moderately successful in Japan, where it debuted atop the Oricon with first-week sales of over 180,000 copies. This tallied Hamasaki's lowest first-week sales for an album at that point. Having sold over 270,000 copies, the album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. The leading radio single, "Love Song," has also been certified as a gold single by the RIAJ, for digital downloads to cellphones.
Hamasaki promoted "Love Songs" with advertisements around Japan, and by performing many of the songs on TV shows. She performed "Love Song" on Japan's 2010 Best Artist, and on Music Station Super Live along with her classic "M". She also performed "Virgin Road" on the 61st Kohaku Uta Gassen awards, performing for the red team. Hamasaki also promoted her singles "Crossroad" and "L" by performing the songs on them during her the final leg of her Rock'n'Roll Circus tour in early October. The music videos for Love Song, Last Angel, and Do It Again were all filmed in Los Angeles during November 2010.
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