A Song for ×× explained

A Song for ××
Type:studio
Artist:Ayumi Hamasaki
Cover:ASFXXbw.PNG
Alt:A black-and-white up-close shot of Ayumi Hamasaki's face looking into the camera.
Caption:Album cover is printed on a metallic material.
Recorded:1998
Genre:Pop
Length:70:38
Label:Avex Trax
Producer:Max Matsuura
Prev Title:Nothing from Nothing
Prev Year:1995
Next Title:Loveppears
Next Year:1999

A Song for ×× (the "××" is silent) is the debut album by Japanese pop artist Ayumi Hamasaki, released January 1, 1999, by Avex Trax. Primarily a rock-pop album, it features musical composition and arrangements by Yasuhiko Hoshino, Mitsuru Igarashi, and others.

"Poker Face" was released as the album's lead single on April 8, 1998. Entering the Oricon chart at number twenty, it became her first charting single. Four further singles were released to promote A Song for ××: "You", "Trust", "For My Dear...", and Depend on You". All of them were top twenty hits in Japan, with the latter three reaching the top ten.

The album debuted atop the Oricon Charts with first week sales of 548,210 copies; it topped the chart for five weeks, a remarkable feat for a debut album. Its high first week sales were partly due to its debut sales being the first and second week sales combined (Oricon only has 51 weeks instead of 52). The album charted for 63 weeks and was certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipments exceeding one million copies in the country. As of 2008, A Song for ×× is Japan's 139th best selling album of all time.[1]

Release history

RegionDateFormatCatalogue Number
JapanCDAVCD-11691
TaiwanCDAVJCD-10008
Hong KongCDAVTCD-95224
ChinaCDAVTCD-95224CB
  • SCD-822

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

ReleaseChartPeak positionFirst week salesSales totalChart run
January 1, 1999Oricon Daily Albums Chart1
Oricon Weekly Albums Chart1548,2101,610,00063
Oricon Monthly Albums Chart1
Oricon Yearly Albums Chart15

Singles

DateTitlePeak PositionWeeksSales
8 April 1998Poker Face206 weeks105,000
10 June 1998You1910 weeks130,000
5 August 1998Trust910 weeks225,000
7 October 1998For My Dear...97 weeks125,000
9 December 1998Depend on You69 weeks190,000
28 February 2001Poker Face (12 cm re-release)312 weeks45,000
You (12 cm re-release)256 weeks50,000
Trust (12 cm re-release)292 weeks45,000
For My Dear... (12 cm re-release)332 weeks40,000
Depend on You (12 cm re-release)273 weeks45,000

Total Album and Single Sales: 2,385,000

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 歴代アルバムランキング . 2008-02-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120103001458/http://www.musictvprogram.com/corner-ranking-album.html . 2012-01-03 . dead .