Viva Ai
| Viva Ai | ||||
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CD only edition album cover
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| Studio album by Ai | ||||
| Released | March 4, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2008–2009 | |||
| Genre | Contemporary R&B, rhythm and blues, pop, electronic rock, Reggae fusion, classical, dance music | |||
| Length | 68:09; Music Safety Research, Yoyogi, Tokyo; Prime Sound Studio Form, Meguro, Tokyo; Studio Blan, Setagaya, Tokyo; Purple Brain Studio, Tokyo; Jeberg & Cut Studio, Copenhagen, Denmark; Storm Studios, Oslo, Norway; Avex Studio, Tokyo; Victor Studio, Shibuya, Tokyo | |||
| Language | Japanese, English | |||
| Label | Universal Sigma | |||
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| Ai chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Viva Ai | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
| CDJournal | (favorable) |
| Listen Japan | (favorable) |
Viva Ai (stylized as ViVa A.I.) is the seventh studio album by Japanese R&B musician Ai, released on March 4, 2009. It featured three singles, the 2008 theme song for the film Departures, "Okuribito," a collaboration single with Exile vocalist Atsushi called "So Special" and the preceding single, "You Are My Star."
Six months after Ai released her sixth album, Don't Stop Ai, she released a re-cut single from that album, a ballad called "Taisetsu na Mono." Both of the B-sides from the single, "Feel for You" and "Touch the Sky" appear on Viva Ai. At the same time, she released a single with Anna Tsuchiya called "Crazy World," which was the first time Ai was a billed artist on a single since Suite Chic's "Uh Uh......" and Michico's "Gold Digga" in 2003.
In July 2008, Ai was featured on an R&B mid-tempo song called "So Special," by Exile member Atsushi, released on Exile's compilation album Exile Entertainment Best. The song was later re-arranged into an Ai version, and was released as one of the A-sides of her September 2009 single. The other A-side, "Okuribito," is the eponymous theme song for the Academy Award winning Yōjirō Takita film Departures.
After a gap of five months, Ai released "You Are My Star," an upbeat R&B track a month before the album.
The album has a wide number of genres on it, including R&B, pop, rock, neoclassical and 1970s style R&B. Ai saw the album as a challenge, as she wanted to do as many new things as she could. Ai worked with Japanese producer Uta for the first time, who produced much of the album: "Kimi to Ita Basho," "Like a Bird," "So Special," "You Are My Star," and co-produced "People in the World" with DJ Watarai. Ai had not worked with DJ Watarai since 2006's "I Wanna Know." He also produced the song "Rose."
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Wikipedia