Party Queen

Party Queen
Party Queen
Studio album by Ayumi Hamasaki
Released	March 21, 2012
Recorded	2011–12; London, England
Genre	J-pop; pop rock; dance-pop; electronica;
Length	53:04
Label	Avex Trax
Producer	Max Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
Singles from Party Queen
	"How Beautiful You Are"; Released: February 8, 2012 (digital release);

Party Queen is the thirteenth full-length studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. The album was released digitally on March 14, 2012 and physically on March 21, 2012 through Avex Trax. Primarily a pop album, Party Queen is made up mostly of dance songs and ballads. As with all of Hamasaki's albums, she wrote all of the lyrics. Composition was handled by a team of composers, as with many of her albums. Party Queen featured music videos and songs recorded in London and was her second album to do so.

Party Queen became Hamasaki's first album to feature no physical singles; however, "How Beautiful You Are" was released digitally as the album's lead single. As it lacked a physical release, "How Beautiful You Are" was ineligible to chart on the Oricon singles chart, but it did chart at number fifty-two on Billboard's Japan Hot 100, and number three on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart. The song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for digital sales exceeding 100,000.

Party Queen received mixed reviews from music critics. Commercially, the album became her second to miss the Oricon's top position, debuting at number two in Japan with first-week sales of 97,691 copies, the lowest of her career at that time. It sold around 150,000 copies in Japan by the end of its chart run and received Gold certification.

Release[]

Party Queen was released in 5 different formats: CD only version; CD+DVD version; CD+2DVD version with the second DVD being Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2011-2012: Hotel Love Songs; a special limited box set containing CD+4DVD with Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2011-2012: Hotel Love Songs, Ayumi Hamasaki Power of Music 2011 A: Limited Edition, 2 half-pint glasses and 2 cork coasters; another similar special box set containing CD+2DVD+Blu-ray, Blu-ray being Ayumi Hamasaki Power of Music 2011 A: Limited Edition.

Only 2 songs had commercial endorsements prior to the album release: "Party Queen" was used as commercial song for Peach John and "How Beautiful You Are" was the theme song for drama show "Saigokara Nibanme no Koi".^[1] And the promotional music video for the single notably featured an appearance by late gay pornographic actor Koh Masaki and his boyfriend.^[2]

To promote Party Queen after its release, Hamasaki attracted around 3,000 fans for her "Public Recording Session Event" at FM Osaka, which was held at Abeno Market Park Ceus Mall on March 27. After that, Hamasaki did Yahoo GyaO's live talk with Joshinavi.^[3]

Track listing[]

All lyrics are written by Ayumi Hamasaki.

Disc1: CD (CD, CD+DVD, CD+2DVD)
No.	Title	Music	Arranger(s)	Length
1.	"Party Queen"	Timothy Wellard	Tasuku	3:56
2.	"NaNaNa"	Corin	CMJK	3:41
3.	"Shake It"	Bounceback	CMJK	3:49
4.	"Taskebab" (instrumental)	Tasuku	Tasuku	1:50
5.	"Call"	Katsumi Ohnishi	Tasuku	4:04
6.	"Letter"	Katsumi Ohnishi	Tasuku, Harvey Brough (Strings arrangement)	4:41
7.	"Reminds Me"	Yuta Nakano	Tasuku, Harvey Brough (Strings arrangement)	5:21
8.	"Return Road"	D.A.I	Yuta Nakano (Arrangement & strings arrangement)	4:54
9.	"Tell Me Why"	Hanif Sabzevari, Lene Dissing, Marcus Winther-John, Dimitri Stassos	CMJK	3:41
10.	"A Cup of Tea"	CMJK	CMJK	1:42
11.	"The Next Love"	Timothy Wellard	Yuta Nakano (Arrangement & strings arrangement)	4:04
12.	"Eyes, Smoke, Magic"	Timothy Wellard	Yuta Nakano (Arrangement & strings arrangement)	4:09
13.	"Serenade in A Minor"	Yuta Nakano	Yuta Nakano (Arrangement & strings arrangement)	2:18
14.	"How Beautiful You Are"	Timothy Wellard	Yuta Nakano (Arrangement & strings arrangement)	5:01

DVD-1 (CD+DVD, CD+2DVD, CD+4DVD Box set, CD+2DVD+2Blu-ray Box set)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Shake It" (Video clip)
2.	"NaNaNa" (Video clip)
3.	"Return Road" (Video clip)
4.	"How Beautiful You Are" (Video clip)
5.	"Shake It" (Making Clip)
6.	"NaNaNa" (making clip)
7.	"Return Road" (making clip)
8.	"How Beautiful You Are" (making clip)

DVD-2: COUNTDOWN LIVE 2011-2012 ～HOTEL Love songs (CD+2DVD, CD+4DVD Box set, CD+2DVD+2Blu-ray Box set)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Do It Again"
2.	"Happening Here"
3.	"Insomnia"
4.	"Moon"
5.	"Fated"
6.	"Feedback"
7.	"Never Ever"
8.	"Sending Mail"
9.	"Machine"
10.	"Sparkle"
11.	"Humming 7/4"
12.	"Evolution"
13.	"Rainbow"
14.	"November"
15.	"Music"
16.	"Ladies Night"
17.	"Party Queen"
18.	"Happening Here"
19.	"Love Song"
20.	"How Beautiful You Are"
21.	"Trauma~Boys & Girls"
22.	"My All"

Release history[]

Region	Date	Format	Catalogue Number
Japan^[4]	March 21, 2012 (2012-03-21)	CD	AVCD-38513
		CD+DVD	AVCD-38512/B
		CD+2DVD	AVCD-38511/B～C
		PLAYBUTTON (First press item only)	AQZD-50681
		Box set (CD+4DVD+Goods)	AVZD-38500/B～E
		Box set (CD+2DVD+2Blu-ray+Goods)	AVZD-38501/B～D
Taiwan	March 23, 2012 (2012-03-23)	CD^[5]	AVJCD10500
		CD+DVD^[6]	AVJCD10500/B
		CD+2DVD^[7]	AVJCD10500/A
Hong Kong	March 29, 2012 (2012-03-29)	CD^[8]	AAJCD20101
		CD+DVD^[9]	AAJCD20100D
		CD+2DVD^[10]	AAJCD20099DE

Charts and certifications[]

Charts[]

Chart	Peak Position	Debut Sales	Total Sales	Chart Run
Oricon Daily Chart	2	27,338	170,000	22 weeks
Oricon Weekly Chart	2	97,691
Oricon Monthly Chart	4	124,305
Oricon Yearly Chart	38	148,290

Certifications[]

Country	Provider	Certification
Japan	RIAJ	Gold^[11]

References[]

^ "Ayumi Hamasaki Sings Theme Song for Upcoming Drama". Retrieved 2011-12-22.
^ http://www.queerty.com/remembering-masaki-koh-what-made-the-late-gay-porn-star-so-special-20130612
^ "浜崎あゆみ4年半ぶりの全国キャンペーン笑顔で完走". Retrieved 2012-03-29.
^ Discography, avex marketing inc., retrieved 2012-03-17
^ 派對女王(CD ONLY), avex taiwan inc., retrieved 2012-03-17
^ 派對女王(CD+DVD), avex taiwan inc., retrieved 2012-03-17
^ 派對女王(CD+2DVD), avex taiwan inc., retrieved 2012-03-17
^ Party Queen (CD Only), avex hong kong limited, archived from the original on 2014-01-13, retrieved 2012-03-17
^ Party Queen (CD+DVD), avex hong kong limited, archived from the original on 2014-01-13, retrieved 2012-03-17
^ Party Queen (CD+2DVD), avex hong kong limited, archived from the original on 2014-01-13, retrieved 2012-03-17
^ http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/201203.html

[1] "Ayumi Hamasaki Sings Theme Song for Upcoming Drama". Retrieved 2011-12-22.

[2] ttp://www.queerty.com/remembering-masaki-koh-what-made-the-late-gay-porn-star-so-special-20130612

[3] "浜崎あゆみ4年半ぶりの全国キャンペーン笑顔で完走". Retrieved 2012-03-29.

[4] Discography, avex marketing inc., retrieved 2012-03-17

[5] 派對女王(CD ONLY), avex taiwan inc., retrieved 2012-03-17

[6] 派對女王(CD+DVD), avex taiwan inc., retrieved 2012-03-17

[7] 派對女王(CD+2DVD), avex taiwan inc., retrieved 2012-03-17

[8] Party Queen (CD Only), avex hong kong limited, archived from the original on 2014-01-13, retrieved 2012-03-17

[9] Party Queen (CD+DVD), avex hong kong limited, archived from the original on 2014-01-13, retrieved 2012-03-17

[10] Party Queen (CD+2DVD), avex hong kong limited, archived from the original on 2014-01-13, retrieved 2012-03-17

[11] ttp://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/201203.html

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show v t Ayumi Hamasaki
Discography Videography Concerts Awards and records
Studio albums	A Song for ×× Loveppears Duty I Am... Rainbow My Story (Miss)understood Secret Guilty Next Level Rock 'n' Roll Circus Love Songs Party Queen Love Again Colours A One Made in Japan
Compilations	A Best A Ballads A Best 2 My Story Classical A Complete: All Singles A Summer Best A Classical Love Classics Winter Diary: A7 Classical
Remix album series	Ayu-mi-x 1 6 7 Super Eurobeat Presents Ayu-ro Mix Cyber Trance Presents Ayu Trance RMX Works
Concert tours	2000 Concert Tour Vol.1 Vol.2 2001 Dome Tour 2002 Arena Tour 2002 Stadium Tour 2003-4 Arena Tour 2005 My Story Tour 2006 (Miss)understood Tour Tour of Secret 2008 10th Anniversary Tour 2009 Next Level Tour 2010 Rock’n'Roll Circus Tour Final 2011 Power of Music 2012 Hotel Love Songs
Video albums	A Film for XX Ayumi Hamasaki Complete Clip Box A A 50 Singles: Live Selection
Other work	Ayuready? Ayu no Deji Deji Nikki

show v t Ayumi Hamasaki singles
Discography
1990s	"Poker Face" "You" "Trust" "For My Dear..." "Depend on You" "Whatever" "Love (Destiny)" "To Be" "Boys & Girls" "Appears" "Kanariya"
2000s	"Fly High" "Vogue" "Far Away" "Seasons" "Surreal" "Audience" "M" "Evolution" "Never Ever" "Endless Sorrow" "Unite!" "Dearest" "A Song Is Born" "Daybreak" "Connected" "Free & Easy" "Voyage" "Forgiveness" "No Way to Say" "Moments" "Inspire" "Carols" "Step You" "Is This Love?" "Fairyland" "Heaven" "Bold & Delicious" "Pride" "Startin'" "Born to Be..." "Blue Bird" "Glitter" "Fated" "Talkin' 2 Myself" "Together When..." "Mirrorcle World" "Days" "Green" "Rule" "Sparkle" "Sunrise (Love Is All)" "Sunset (Love Is All)" "You Were..." "Ballad"
2010s	"Moon" "Blossom" "Crossroad" "How Beautiful You Are" "Feel the Love" "Merry-Go-Round" "Terminal" "Zutto..." "Last Minute" "Walk"
Other	"Next Level" "Dream On" "Progress" "You & Me" "Movin' On Without You"
Category