| (Miss)understood | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Ayumi Hamasaki |
| Cover: | (Miss)understood.jpg |
| Alt: | A up-close shot of Ayumi Hamasaki smiling and looking into the camera. On the lower left is a red heart. |
| Caption: | CD only cover |
| Recorded: | 2005 |
| Studio: | |
| Length: | 66:31 |
| Label: | Avex Trax |
| Producer: | Max Matsuura |
| Prev Title: | My Story |
| Prev Year: | 2004 |
| Next Title: | Secret |
| Next Year: | 2006 |
(Miss)understood (stylized in all lowercase) is the seventh studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on New Year's Day 2006, by Avex Trax. Hamasaki acted as the album's sole lyricist, as she had on all of her preceding albums. (Miss)understood marked new musical directions for Hamasaki: she explored new influences such as funk and used gospel choruses in some of the songs, foreign to her previous works. This was the result of her having heard compositions by Geo from the German-based pop music project Sweetbox and asking him for his works. Subsequently, Hamasaki rewrote the lyrics entirely to fit (Miss)understood. Lyrically, the album was a departure from her previous work, My Story, which had been primarily autobiographical.
Where My Story had contained "musings about her past", Hamasaki wanted the lyricism on (Miss)understood to send a strong message to all women—to be a kind of "girls' talk" to give "moral support", while at the same time reminding women that there were times when they would feel weak and low. These themes, along with the album's funk influences, are epitomized on songs such as "Bold & Delicious" and "Ladies Night".
(Miss)understood was a commercial success, opening at number one in Japan (her seventh consecutive studio album to do so) with first-week sales of over 653,000 copies. It went on to receive a Million certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) and became the eighth best-selling album of 2006 in Japan. It is, to date, her last Million-certified album. According to Avex, it is also her first album to fail to hit over a million sales in Japan according to Oricon. Hamasaki promoted the record by embarking on the Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2006 A arena tour.
In 2005, after hearing demo tracks from band Sweetbox's then-upcoming album Addicted, Hamasaki "fell in love" with the songs and consequently asked Sweetbox's composer GEO if she could use some of the songs for her album. GEO agreed and gave Hamasaki permission to use "Bold & Delicious", "Pride", "Ladies Night", "In the Corner", "Every Step", and "Beautiful Girl". Hamasaki then set to work rewriting the lyrics and rearranging parts of songs.[1] [2] On October 24, 2005, it was confirmed that Hamasaki would be releasing a new album on January 1, 2006, with its title being undecided at the time.[3] On December 13, 2005, it was reported that the recording for the new album was completed.[4] Hamasaki and Avex Trax enlisted a long-term collaborator, Japanese businessman and producer Max Matsuura, to produce the album; this marked Hamasaki's seventh consecutive album to be fully produced by Matsuura.[5]
While My Story (2004), Hamasaki's preceding album, contained mostly "autobiographical" lyrics and "musings about [her] past", (Miss)understood was a "strong message to send to all women": it was a kind of "girl's talk" to give "moral support" while at the same time reminding women that there would be times when they would "feel weak and low".[6] "Bold & Delicious" "scolded indecisive men", "Pride" expressed Hamasaki's appreciation of "women who do not give up easily", and "Ladies Night" was about female camaraderie. Other themes appeared as well: "Is This Love?" and "Heaven" were about love, and "Fairyland" was about "childhood memories".
(Miss)understood is more musically diverse than My Story; Hamasaki incorporated a variety of musical styles including rock, dance-pop and funk. The album opens with "Bold & Delicious", a funk-infused dance track that utilizes a gospel choir in the harmony.[7] The song makes use of funk guitars. "Pride" is a ballad song that "sounded like it could be from a musical"; the arrangement of both songs were influenced by Hamasaki's trip to New York City to record the album's songs and film their respective music videos. An organ Hamasaki heard while visiting a church inspired her to include the gospel choir in "Bold & Delicious", while the musical The Phantom of the Opera influenced her arrangement of "Pride". "Criminal", "Step You", "Alterna", and the titular "(Miss)understood" are all rock songs with prominent electric guitars, while "Heaven" is an "ethereal" piano-driven ballad.[8] As with "Bold & Delicious" and "Pride", other songs composed by GEO were rearranged; violins were added to the bridge of "Rainy Day", and a choir was added to the chorus of "Beautiful Day".[7]
"Step You/Is This Love?" was released as the lead single from (Miss)understood on April 20, 2005.[9] It was a commercial success, reaching number one in Japan,[10] receiving a Platinum certification,[11] and selling 345,340 copies in its chart run.[12] "Step You" was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for ringtone sales, and gold for download sales.[13] Second single "Fairyland" was released August 3, 2005,[14] and debuted at number one in Japan.[15] It went on to sell 316,663 copies,[12] receiving a platinum certification.[16] The song also sold well digitally, receiving a triple platinum certification for ringtone sales and a gold certification for cellphone downloads.[13] The third single, "Heaven", released on September 14, 2005,[17] experienced similar success: it reached number one,[18] and was certified Platinum,[19] selling around 325,000 copies.[12] It also was certified million for selling a million ringtones, and gold for selling 100,000 downloads.[13] "Bold & Delicious/Pride" was released on November 30, 2005, as the album's final single.[20] Despite reaching number one,[21] it became her poorest-selling single at the time since 1998's "Depend on You", selling only 132,993 copies.[12]
(Miss)understood was released by Avex Trax on January 1, 2006, and was her first original album in a year and a month since her previous album, My Story.[22] (Miss)understood became Hamasaki's second two-album set alongside Secret (2006) to be released in a single year.[23] The initial pressings of the album included two photobooks—one for the CD version (entitled "Off My Day"), and another for the CD+DVD version (entitled "On My Way").[4] The DVD version included all music videos that were made for her 2005 releases (excluding "My Name's Women")—"Step You", "Is This Love?", "Fairyland", "Alterna", "Heaven", "Bold & Delicious" and "Pride", as well as an alternative video for "Bold & Delicious" (called the "Side Story").[22] Two new music videos were also included—"Ladies Night" and "Rainy Day" made their debut on the disc.[22] Behind-the-scenes clips for "Step You", "Is This Love?", "Fairyland", "Alterna", "Heaven" and "Pride" are featured as well.[22] The song "Rainy Day" was used as the ending theme for the game .[24]
The music video for "Step You" was directed by Tetsuo Inoue,[22] and the video featured Hamasaki wearing different styles of outfits (signifying different parts of her image and personality). A man walks up to a music box-like contraption and as he activates the levers (shown as I, II, III, and IV) different miniature versions of Hamasaki appear. As he activates the last lever, the contraption begins to short-circuit, and the four Hamasakis turn into one.
The music video for "Is This Love?" was directed by Masashi Muto,[22] the music video features Hamasaki singing emotionally in a hotel suite. As she passes by, objects begin to explode (i.e. a bowl of fruit, a fish tank, walls, etc.). The video ends as Hamasaki looks at the hotel, in one piece with no sort chaos that happened earlier.
The music video of "Fairyland" was shot in Hawaii and is one of the most expensive music videos in the world, as well as being Japan's most expensive music video in terms of production costs. The music video cost 240 million Yen (2 million in U.S. dollars).[25] The video was directed by Wataru Takeishi,[22] and it depicts Hamasaki with her companions (dance team) on a lush tropical island, with some scenes showing a timber house with a deck. Eventually, a fallen oil lamp causes the entire structure to burn. Images from earlier sequences showing the group having fun are interspersed through the burning of the house. The video ends with the camera moving away from Hamasaki singing solemnly as she watches the house burn.
The music video of "Alterna" was directed by Koki Tange,[22] and it depicts Hamasaki as an up-coming star who is chased by clowns. The video also depicts her as a singing machine; this aspect of the music video (as well as the lyrics of "alterna") may be Hamasaki's response to either tabloid articles or to her record label's oppressive treatment of her at the time.
The music video for "Heaven" features Hamasaki singing alone in a subway station. As she does, ghosts frequently pass by her. Near the end of the video, the spirits leave Hamasaki and board on a train (implying their departure to heaven). The video is done entirely in one shot and in black-and-white.
The music videos of "Bold & Delicious" and "Pride" were both filmed in New York and were both directed by Luis Hernandez.[22]
In the video for "Bold & Delicious", Hamasaki is featured with long wavy black hair, and wears a faux fur jacket with a light pink dress. She is seen standing on the back of a moving truck driving through areas of New York City, evoking the iconic 1993 Björk music video for her single "Big Time Sensuality". Some shots feature "behind the scenes" material, showing footage of the truck driving around the city and film crew members.
The video for "Pride" features several long takes of Hamasaki in a black dress being prepared by assistants and make-up artists, and then walking through an on-location set prepared under a New York City bridge and in the rain.
The music video for "Ladies Night" features Hamasaki wearing a pink and blue mini dress, and long blue leg muffs as she walks down a hotel hallway, trying to go into some of the rooms, and occasionally singing into a payphone. Scenes of different things happening in the rooms can be seen. In one room, a maid is mounted on a man and is whipping him. In another room, a woman dressed in a white 18th century dress and white powdered wig is seen walking around her room, which is all white and has a large collection of butterflies. In the third room, a strange woman in a bulky black dress with a long braided black wig and face painted all in black (later revealed to be Hamasaki herself) is seen dominating and whipping mannequins. The hotel room scenes have been compared by many to the 1995 indie film Four Rooms. In between the hotel room scenes there are other scenes of Hamasaki dressed in a dictator's outfit and addressing an army of bald and pale women in an outdoor arena that resembles the Colosseum. The women all appear to have the same face and march along to Hamasaki's singing during the song's middle eight.
The music video of "Rainy Day" features Hamasaki with short-black hair singing in a house looking in and out of the window. The scene then cuts to her sitting at a bus stop, wearing a white-powered wig. A dog appears out of an alleyway. The dog and Hamasaki stare at each other. During the mid-eight, rain has started to fall and the dog is no longer in the scene. Images of people passing the bus stop with umbrellas are shown. An Hansom cab then arrives and picks up Hamasaki. She sees the lone dog again and looks back with a regretful face. The house scenes featuring shows Hamasaki collapsing onto the floor and crying.
Hamasaki embarked on the Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2006 A tour to promote (Miss)understood. The tour featured 30 shows and covered 12 different cities, lasting from March 11 to June 11, 2006, and attracted about 260,000 people in 30 performances.[26] Hamasaki performed most of her songs from (Miss)understood, along with some of her most popular songs such as "Evolution", "Unite!" and "Boys & Girls".[27] Avex Trax released the tour on DVD on November 1, 2006, and on Blu-Ray on August 1, 2011.[27] Commercially, the DVD release was a success in Japan, peaking at number two on the Oricon DVD Chart, and lasted 18 weeks in total.[28] The live release was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for exceeding 100,000 unit shipments.[29]
(Miss)understood received positive reviews from music critics. Neil Z.Yeung of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars. In his review he stated while the highs threaten to eclipse the rest of the songs on (Miss)understood, the LP is one of her best and most underrated. CDJournal called it a "very catchy album".[7] Eikaku Kenta of VIBE stated: "She is always trying new things and surprising the world, so here is the best New Year's present for New Year's Day 2006!"[30]
(Miss)understood sold 653,830 copies in its first week of release, and debuted at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart.[31] This marks Hamasaki's seventh consecutive chart-topping studio album starting with her first album A Song for ×× in January 1999.[32] On its second week the album dropped to number two on the chart with sales of 82,371 copies.[33] (Miss)understood fell to number three on its third week on the charts with sales of 38,861 copies.[34] The album charted at number eight on its fourth charting week with sales of 25,885 copies,[35] before dropping out of the top ten entirely the following week.[36] It charted in the top 300 for 31 weeks.[37] Since the album sold 877,433 copies in 2006, it became the eighth best-selling album of the year in Japan and was also the year's second best-selling original studio album by a female artist behind Hikaru Utada's Ultra Blue.[38] The album was certified million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for selling over one million copies in the country, becoming Hamasaki's final album to do so. Aside from its success at home, (Miss)understood also found success overseas. In Taiwan the album topped the G-Music Chart.[39]
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 1 |
| Taiwanese Albums (G-Music) | 1 |
| Region | Date | Format | Catalogue number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | January 1, 2006 | CD+DVD
| AVCD-17837/B |
CD
| AVCD-17838 | ||
| Hong Kong | January 2006 | CD+DVD | AVTCD-95881 |
| CD | AVTCD-95876 |