& (Ayumi Hamasaki EP)

& is an extended play by Japanese recording artist and songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on 9 July 2003, by record label Avex Trax. Hamasaki's fourth extended play, & consists of four recordings; "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", "Hanabi: Episode II", and "Theme of A-Nation 03", with three additional instrumentals of the first three tracks. It was released in two different formats; a stand-alone CD, and a digital EP. The artwork for the EP depicts Hamasaki posing in front of a cloudy backdrop, with the title of the work superimposed over her hair. & contains predominantly J-pop and dance music.

"&"
Single by Ayumi Hamasaki
from the album Memorial Address
ReleasedJuly 9, 2003
GenreJ-pop, soft rock
Length34:00
LabelAvex Trax
Songwriter(s)Ayumi Hamasaki
Producer(s)Max Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki singles chronology
"Voyage"
(2002)		 "&"
(2003)		 "Forgiveness"
(2003)
Official Music Video
"Ourselves" on YouTube
Official Music Video
"Greatful Days" on YouTube
Official Music Video
"Hanabi: Episode II" on YouTube

Hamasaki contributed by writing the lyrics to all the tracks, while Japanese production and manager Max Matsuura served as the EP's main producer. & received favourable reviews from music critics who commended the EP's production and commercial appeal. & reached number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 500,000 units. "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", "Hanabi: Episode II", and "Theme of A-Nation 03" served as promotional singles, while all but the latter track receiving music videos respectively. & was awarded the Japan Record Award at the 46th Japan Record Awards for Best Pop/Rock Album.

Background and release

Ayumi Hamasaki announced that she would release a new extended play, marketed as a single, entitled &. It consists of four recordings – "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", "Hanabi: Episode II", and "Theme of A-Nation 03" – with additional instrumental versions of the first three tracks.[1] & was released on 9 July 2003 as the first single from Hamasaki's 2003 extended play, Memorial Address. ("Ourselves", "Greatful Days", and "Hanabi: Episode II" were included in Memorial Address.)[2] & follows the releases of Hamasaki's previous extended plays; Nothing from Nothing (1995),[3] A (1999),[4] and H (2002).[5] Hamasaki did not release another extended-play single until Five in 2011.[6] & was released in two formats: a stand-alone CD and a digital EP.[1] The artwork for the EP depicts Hamasaki posing in front of a cloudy backdrop, with the title of the work superimposed over her hair.[1]

& opens with the first track, "Ourselves", which is an R&B tune with influences of "exoticism pop".[7] The lyrics describe Hamasaki's "painful" sense of sorrow and love.[7] "Greatful Days" is a "refreshing" pop song that showcases Hamasaki's "festive" nature, her "pastel" vocals, and a "relaxing" positive message of happiness.[7][8][9] "Hanabi: Episode II" is an answer song to Hamasaki's 2002 song, "Hanabi".[5] It describes Hamasaki's "miserable" state and "struggle[s]" that is transformed into strength.[9][7] "Theme of A-Nation 03" was used for the Avex A-Nation concert tour in 2003, and emphasizes traditional Japanese instrumentals, progressing more oriental J-pop sounds.[7] The next three tracks are instrumental versions of "Ourselves", "Greatful Days", and "Hanabi: Episode II".[1]

Promotion

"Ourselves", "Greatful Days", and "Hanabi: Episode II" all served as the EP's promotional singles, released on 9 July 2003; the singles did not chart in any Japanese music charts. The singles were promoted through different endorsements deals in Japan; "Ourselves" was used as the televised theme song for Japanese cosmetics brand, Visee, and "Greatful Days" was used as the theme song for Hamasaki's 2004 TV series, Ayuready?.[7] However, by the time the promotion of &, Memorial Address, and her 2003–2004 arena tour was complete, Hamasaki had grown dissatisfied with her position in Avex; she felt that the company was treating her as a product instead of a person.[10] Although Hamasaki initially supported the exploitation of her popularity for commercial purposes, saying that it was "necessary that [she is] viewed as a product", she eventually opposed Avex's decision to market her as a "product rather than a person".[11][12] All three songs featured an accompanying music video, which were included on several DVD compilations by Hamasaki.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
CD Journal(positive)[7]
Hot Express(positive)[9]
Listen Japan(positive)[8]

& received favourable reviews from music critics. A reviewer from CD Journal commended the EP's production, and highlighted all the singles as stand out tracks; the reviewer highlighted its "music quality" as a positive note.[7] Kondo Yang from Listen Japan was positive in his review, stating that & was a sign of growing "maturity" in Hamasaki's music. He also felt that her "charisma" and "personality" was a reason why & became successful.[8] Eri Kato from Hot Express was positive in her review, commending Hamasaki's songwriting and composing skills, particularly with "Hanabi: Episode II", and the music arrangements. She later praised them as "unique masterpieces" and [9] Alexey Eremenko, who wrote the biography for Hamasaki on AllMusic, highlighted "Ourselves" and "Greatful Days" as one of the stand-out tracks of the extended play and Hamasaki's long career.[13]

On the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart, & reached number one on its debut week, her third consecutive EP to have reached number one, and her sixteenth number one single overall.[14] The EP lasted sixteen weeks in the top 100, selling 680,000 units,[15][upper-alpha 1] and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 600,000 units.[16] & is Hamasaki's final single to sell over 600,000 units, and her only post-single to achieve a close achievement of the limit is "No Way to Say" with 400,000 physical and digital sales.[15][17][18]

Track listing
CD content[1]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Ourselves"Ayumi HamasakiMax Matsuura4:34
2."Greatful Days"Ayumi HamasakiMax Matsuura4:39
3."Hanabi: Episode II"Ayumi HamasakiMax Matsuura4:56
4."Theme of A-Nation '03"Ayumi HamasakiMax Matsuura6:16
5."Ourselves" (Instrumental)Ayumi HamasakiMax Matsuura4:34
6."Greatful Days" (Instrumental)Ayumi HamasakiMax Matsuura4:39
7."Hanabi: Episode II" (Instrumental)Ayumi HamasakiMax Matsuura4:56
Total length:34:34

Charts
Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)
Release Chart Peak position First Week Sales Sales total Chart run
9 July 2003 Oricon Daily Singles Chart 1
Oricon Weekly Singles Chart 1 287,002 680,000 16
Oricon Yearly Singles Chart 8
  • Total Sales : 680,000
  • RIAJ certification: Platinum

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[19] 2× Platinum 680,000[15]

Notes
  1. Sales provided by Oricon database and are rounded to the nearest thousand copies.

References
  1. Hamasaki, Ayumi (July 2003). & (Liner notes). Ayumi Hamasaki. Japan: Avex Trax. AVCD-30497.
  2. Hamasaki, Ayumi (December 2003). Memorial Address (Liner notes). Ayumi Hamasaki. Japan: Avex Trax.
  3. Hamasaki, Ayumi (December 1995). Nothing From Nothing (Liner notes). Ayumi Hamasaki. Japan: Avex Trax.
  4. Hamasaki, Ayumi (August 1999). A (Liner notes). Ayumi Hamasaki. Japan: Avex Trax.
  5. Hamasaki, Ayumi (July 2002). H (Liner notes). Ayumi Hamasaki. Japan: Avex Trax.
  6. Hamasaki, Ayumi (August 2011). Five (Liner notes). Ayumi Hamasaki. Japan: Avex Trax.
  7. CD Journal Staff (11 July 2003). "Hamasaki Ayumi / & out of print" (in Japanese). CdJournal. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  8. Yang, Kondo (11 July 2003). "& by Ayumi Hamasaki" (in Japanese). Listen Music; published by Yahoo! Music Japan. Archived from the original on 11 August 2004. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  9. Kato, Eri (11 July 2003). "& by Ayumi Hamasaki" (in Japanese). Hot Express; published by Yahoo! Music Japan. Archived from the original on 11 August 2004. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  10. "The First-Time Stench of Being a Human". Oricon Style (in Japanese) (49–1275): 17–19. December 27, 2004.
  11. Ayumi Hamasaki (interviewee) (2004). Hamasaki Ayumi: The Heartbreak and Decision in Light and Shadow (Television). Japan: NTV.
  12. Takeuchi Cullen, Lisa (March 25, 2002). "I have very clear ideas of what I want". Time. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
  13. Eremenko, Alexey. "Ayumi Hamasaki – Songs". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  14. 浜崎あゆみのリリース一覧 [List of Ayumi Hamasaki's Releases]. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  15. "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  16. ゴールドディスク認定作品一覧 2003年1月～7月 [Works Receiving Gold Disc Certifications List (January to July 2003)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. August 10, 2003. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  17. ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2003年11月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (November 2003)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. December 10, 2003. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  18. レコード協会調べ 1月度有料音楽配信認定 [Record Association Investigation: January Digital Music Download Certifications] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. February 28, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  19. "Japanese single certifications – Ayumi Hamasaki – &h" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 13 December 2015. Select 2003年7月 on the drop-down menu
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