Love Classics (album)

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Love Classics
Compilation album by
ReleasedJanuary 28, 2015 (2015-01-28)
GenreJ-pop, pop-classical crossover
Length51:26
LabelAvex Trax
ProducerMax Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
Colours
(2014)
Love Classics
(2015)
A One
(2015)

Love Classics is a compilation album by Japanese entertainer Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on January 28, 2015, by Avex Trax.

Background[edit]

This was Hamasaki's first for 2015, and dubbed as a "mash-up album" between Hamasaki's love songs and classical music,[1] it was composed of previously-released ballad love songs, which were rearranged using classical pieces from renowned European compositors, such as Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Frédéric Chopin, and Claude Debussy, among others. The album was commercially prepared to be a Valentine's Day present.[2] The album cover, created by visual artist Aki Miyajima, is based on one of the covers of Hamasaki's single "Zutto.../Last Minute/Walk" released in December 2014.[3]

Track listing[edit]

All lyrics are written by Ayumi Hamasaki

CD
No.TitlemusicLength
1."Voyage" (Johann Pachelbel's Pachelbel's Canon)Ayumi Hamasaki + D.A.I.4:50
2."Seasons" (Antonín Dvořák's Going Home, from Symphony No. 9 From the New World, 2nd Movement)D.A.I.4:21
3."Days" (Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Winter, 2nd Movement)Kunio Tago5:59
4."To Be" (Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Prelude)D.A.I.5:11
5."You" (Christian Petzold's Minuet)Yasuhiko Hoshino5:44
6."Virgin Road" (Frédéric Chopin's Raindrop Prelude)Tetsuya Komuro6:03
7."Dearest" (Antonín Dvořák's Humoresque No. 7)Naoto Suzuki5:04
8."Honey" (George Frideric Handel's Messiah Oratorio - "Hallelujah" chorus)Tetsuya Yukumi4:43
9."Winding Road" (Claude Debussy's Préludes Book 1, La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin)Ayumi Hamasaki4:35
10."Who..." (Edward Elgar's Salut d'Amour)Kazuhito Kikuchi4:52
Total length:51:26[4]

Chart performance[edit]

The album debuted at number 16 on the Oricon charts, with 6,192 copies sold, considerably lower in comparison to Hamasaki's previous classical album, A Classical, released in January 2013, which peaked at number 1 with first-week sales of 25,049 copies. Love Classics subsequently charted for 4 weeks, selling 8,272 copies in total.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ayumi Hamasaki - Love Classics". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Ayumi Hamasaki - Love Classics". Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Amazon Japan. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  3. ^ "浜崎あゆみ、クラシック・アルバム『LOVE CLASSICS』ジャケット&試聴音源解禁". Barks (in Japanese). 10 January 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  4. ^ [1] [dead link]
  5. ^ "Ayumi Hamasaki - Love Classics". Oricon Style (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 6 June 2015.