A (Ayumi Hamasaki EP)

A
An image of Ayumi Hamasaki sitting down in a black backdrop, merging with her black dress. She features dark-red hair in a crop hairstyle, with a long piece of digitally-altered string on her hand with the song and artist title on the left.
EP by
Ayumi Hamasaki
ReleasedAugust 11, 1999
RecordedJanuary–July 1999
StudioPrime Sound Studio, Studio Sound Dali, Onkio Haus (Tokyo, Japan); Soundtrack (New York City, New York)
Genre
Length75:48
Label
ProducerMax Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
A Song for ××
(1999) 		A
(1999) 		Loveppears
(1999)
Singles from A
  1. "Monochrome"
    Released: August 11, 1999
  2. "Too Late"
    Released: August 11, 1999
  3. "Trauma"
    Released: August 11, 1999
  4. "End Roll"
    Released: August 11, 1999

A (stylized as ) is an extended play (EP)[A] by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released by Avex Trax in Japan and Hong Kong on August 11, 1999, in 10 different editions, and through Avex Entertainment Inc. worldwide in September 2008. It additionally served as a single from her second studio album Loveppears (1999), and is her first single marketed as an EP. The 12-track EP contains four new original songs: "Monochrome", "Too Late", "Trauma", and "End Roll", and eight remixes. All songs were written by Hamasaki, while production was handled by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura.

Musically, like Loveppears, A is a pop rock album with dance music influences. Lyrically, the new songs are written from a third-person perspective, and deal with themes such as nostalgia, anxiety, and trauma. Upon release, A received favorable reviews from music critics for its individual tracks—some of which were highlighted as examples of Hamasaki's best work—and as a collection, with additional praise for the production quality of the EP versions of the original songs over that of their parent album counterparts. Some criticism was directed towards the number of remixes present on the EP.

Commercially, the single peaked at number one in Japan, on the Oricon Singles Chart and TBS' Count Down TV chart. It became Hamasaki's second consecutive single to sell over one million copies domestically—it is also the singer's highest-selling single—and was certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of one million units. Hamasaki did not film any music videos for the new songs, but appeared in several commercials broadcast in Japan that featured the new music. Each original song has subsequently been included on various greatest hits albums released by Hamasaki, including A Best (2001) and A Complete: All Singles (2008). "A" currently ranks as the 57th highest selling Japanese single of all time.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference RIAJ-jul2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Tina. "EP vs LP: What's the Difference?". Enki Village. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  3. ^ Heather McDonald (June 1, 2016). "Music Marketing: What Is an EP?". The Balance. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  4. ^ Austin, Chris; Blyth, Lucy (April 2013). "Rules for Chart Eligibility - Singles" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ Austin, Chris; Blyth, Lucy (April 2013). "Rules for Chart Eligibility - Albums" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ "歴代シングルランキング". Archived from the original on 2011-11-27.


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