Break Through (album) explained

Break Through
Type:studio
Artist:B'z
Cover:B'z_BT.jpg
Released:February 21, 1990
Recorded:1990
Studio:Studio Birdman (Gray & Brown Room)
Length:48:18
Language:Japanese, English
Label:Air
Producer:Masao Nakajima
Prev Title:Off the Lock
Prev Year:1989
Next Title:Risky
Next Year:1990

Break Through is the third studio album by the Japanese rock duo B'z. The album debuted at number 3 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart, being their last studio album not to reach number 1. It sold 41,700 copies in its first week and sold a total of 724,640 copies during its chart run.[1] It was eventually certified Million by the RIAJ in January 1994.

Both Break Through and its follow-up, Risky, are considered the band's most synth-heavy albums.

"Lady-Go-Round" was the only single released from the album.

Style

Some of the songs on the album, most notably "B.U.M" and "Hey Brother", incorporate elements of hip-hop and rap alongside the pop rock sound of their previous albums, styles which the band would seldom, if ever, use again. As for the lyrics, vocalist Koshi Inaba stated that, in order to develop his own lyrical style, he incorporated language and tones that normally wouldn't fit rock music.[2]

Reception

CDJournal described the sound of the album as "a danceable one that makes full use of digital beats", while also praising the band for "inject[ing] their own pop sensibility into it, creating an emotional presence."[3]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes.[4]

B'z

Additional Musicians

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1990–2021)Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)3
Top Download Albums (Billboard Japan)[5] 55

Year-end charts

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2015-03-04 . B'z、さらなる記録更新へ!ニューアルバムリリース決定! . 2024-08-19 . ORICON NEWS . ja.
  2. 『B'z』という巨大ロック体を読む! . Shinko Music . 1998 . 50 . ja . Read the Giant Rock Body Called "B'z"!. 音楽と人.
  3. Web site: B'z / BREAK THROUGH . 2024-08-20 . CDJournal . ja.
  4. "Break Through" liner notes. Air Records. 1990
  5. Web site: Billboard Japan Top Download Albums 2021/05/26 . 2024-08-20 . Billboard JAPAN . ja.
  6. Web site: 1990年 アルバム年間TOP100 . Oricon Album Top 100 1990 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190331143622/http://www.geocities.jp/object_ori/1990a.html . 2019-03-31 . 2024-08-08 . Oricon.
  7. Web site: 1991年 アルバム年間TOP100 . Oricon Album Top 100 1991 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140721003633/http://www.geocities.jp/object_ori/1991a.html . 2014-07-21 . 2024-08-08 . Oricon.