Loveppears
Loveppears is the second studio album by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on November 10, 1999, by Avex Trax, ten months after her debut album, A Song for xx. It was additionally distributed in a variety of formats and on different dates throughout Asia. Loveppears was written entirely by Hamasaki, produced by Max Matsuura, and includes collaborations with composers such as Hal, Dai Nagao, D.A.I, Yasuhiko Hoshino, and Kazuhito Kikuchi, among others. Musically, it is a departure from her previous record and incorporates more electronic and dance sounds with elements of trance, house, J-pop, and rock. Lyrically, it explores themes of love, frustration with life, loneliness, and individualism.
Music critics gave Loveppears positive reviews, with some praising its dance-oriented nature, its production style, and highlighting certain tracks on the record. Some publications regarded it as one of Hamasaki's best records to date. Commercially, it peaked at number one in Japan and was certified double million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for exceeding two million copies sold. Since its release, it has sold over 2.5 million units in the region, making it one of the best-selling records in Japanese history. The album produced eight singles, all of which were commercially successful; "Love " became the singer's first number-one single in the region, while "A" remains her best-selling release to date.
To promote the album, Hamasaki appeared in several commercials and campaigns, becoming a brand staple in the Japanese market. Several remix albums featuring many Loveppears songs were released, including Super Eurobeat Presents Ayu-ro Mix, which is one of the best-selling remix albums to date. Hamasaki later embarked on two nationwide concert tours in Japan, which were later released on DVD and VHS. To commemorate the album's release, a 20th Anniversary repackage was released in 2019, which included previously released remixes, music videos, and material.
Background and composition
On January 1, 1999, Hamasaki released her debut studio album, A Song for xx. Music critics gave the album mixed-to-positive reviews, and it was a commercial success in Japan, selling more than 1.4 million units. However, one month later, Hamasaki debuted new music with the release of her single "Whatever" on February 10. In the midst, Hamasaki's label Avex Trax decided to promote her work with a remix album titled Ayu-mi-x, which featured elements of house, trance, reggae, and orchestral music, as opposed to her J-pop sound from her debut. Inspired by these genres, she continued to work on new music, releasing singles throughout 1999 and collaborating with new composers such as Hal, Dai Nagao, D.A.I, Yasuhiko Hoshino, and Kazuhito Kikuchi, among many others. Hamasaki wrote the entire album, which was produced by Max Matsuura, who previously worked on A Song for xx. Hamasaki recorded the album at Prime Sound Studio, Studio Sound Dali, and Onkio Haus in Tokyo, as well as Soundtrack Studios in New York.Musically, Loveppears is a departure from her previous album, and incorporates more electronic and dance sounds with elements of trance, techno, house, J-pop, and rock. Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic noted the "high energy" of tracks like "Fly High", "Boys & Girls", and "Whatever", which "took Hamasaki straight to the dancefloor", while describing "And Then" as "hardened dub" and observing rock elements in "Appears." CD Journal reviews pointed out dance, mid-tempo compositions, and techno-trance genres . Several songs on the album are also revised versions of its single releases; "Immature", "Too Late", "Appears", and "Monochrome" are edited for the album, "P.S. II" samples lyrics from her song "Powder Snow" of A Song for xx, "Love " is a revised version of the single "Love ", and "Whatever" is an extended dub of the single version. Additionally, the original mix of "Kanariya" appears as a hidden track. The album's lyrics explore themes of love, frustration, loneliness, and individualism, which have been echoed in Hamasaki's subsequent work until I Am.... The song "Trauma" has been interpreted as a potential link between Hamasaki's personal trauma and her father abandoning her family as a child. "To Be" symbolizes strength and growth from past experiences, while "End Roll" emphasizes moving on from the past. "Appears" explores romantic feelings towards someone, while "Whatever" examines the ambivalence of these feelings.
Release and packaging
Avex Trax released Loveppears on November 10, 1999, ten months after A Song for xx. It contains 17 tracks in total; a bonus disc includes two megamixes of Hamasaki's work, remixes of the tracks "A Song for xx", "Powder Snow", and "Friend II" that originally appeared on her previous album, as well as enhanced content such as commercial files, small audio samples of all her recordings, internet links, images of magazine appearances, files of Hamasaki's voice, and images of Hamasaki photographed in New York City. Furthermore, the album was released in a variety of formats throughout Asia on different dates. It was repackaged as a memory stick in Japan in 2012, with the bonus material removed. To mark the album's 20th anniversary, Avex Trax repackaged and remastered it with the single "Appears" in two formats: the original album and a bonus disc containing bonus material and additional remixes from the original formats of "Appears". The second edition came in a large digipak with a laminated sleeve and included the same material split into three discs, as well as two discs containing additional remixes of "Appears" and music videos for each single from the Loveppears campaign. Avex Trax also distributed it digitally and through streaming platforms. An album advertisement was added to Hamasaki's YouTube channel, along with lyric videos for "To Be" and "Appears", which included a compilation of concert footage, unreleased scenes from each song's music video, and additional visuals.Toru Kumazawa photographed the album cover and promotional campaign in Los Angeles and New York City, featuring Hamasaki wearing a long brown wig that covers her breasts in front of a city view. A second version of the album cover, with Hamasaki wearing darker make-up and wig, served as the cover sleeve for "Appears". Known as "White Ayu" and "Black Ayu", Hamasaki stated about the two covers; "The jacket idea was Ayu's idea during a meeting with the staff. You might be wondering what I'm talking about, but it was something like, 'No clothes on the upper half of the body! Let's hide our breasts with our hair,' and it was decided in a flash." The technique of hiding her breasts with her hair was inspired by the photo book Nocturne by Izumi Sakai, who was known at the time for modelling as a race queen in 1990. The full-body makeup transformation was influenced by a 1997 Kanebo Cosmetics commercial for "Bronze Love " by Tomomi Kahara. Hamasaki's decision to name the album Loveappears was influenced by the album's content. She stated, "While working on A Song for xx, during the sad times that I couldn't shake, I'd always be saying 'I'm very sad, I can't shake this.' Quietly crying, quietly wounded, quietly mourning. But with Loveppears, I express it with furious sounds, shouting out, screaming."
The two artworks garnered considerable attention from publications. According to Laura Miller of Beauty Up: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics, Hamasaki's inclusion shows a "playful attitude towards racial categorisation" compared to Westernised singers. She also highlights its use in Japanese fashion and beauty. Lisa Takeuchi Allen of Time described the cover as an example of Hamasaki's "attention-grabbing image change", noting that each cover made her appear Caucasian and Black. In retrospect, Singaporean photographer Leslie Kee, who had photographed some of Hamasaki's album covers, said, "I’ve never seen anything like it. She controls every detail of her image. She knows what she wants, likes, needs, hates, and is very, very particular."