Babymetal (album)

This article is about the debut album of the band of the same name. For the band itself, see Babymetal.
Babymetal

The Babymetal logo, set over a red circle on a darker red background, surrounded by an explosion of silver particles

Standard edition cover
Studio album by Babymetal
Released February 26, 2014 (2014-02-26)
Recorded 2011–2014
Genre
Length 54:55
Label
Producer
Babymetal chronology
Babymetal
(2014)		 Live at Budokan: Red Night
(2015)

Live at Budokan: Black Night
(2015)
Singles from Babymetal
  1. "Doki Doki ☆ Morning"
    Released: October 24, 2011
  2. "Babymetal × Kiba of Akiba"
    Released: March 7, 2012
  3. "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!"
    Released: July 4, 2012
  4. "Ijime, Dame, Zettai"
    Released: January 9, 2013
  5. "Megitsune"
    Released: June 19, 2013
Live music video from the album
Babymetal "Gimme Chocolate!!"
Alternative cover
Three red coffins, closed, with kitsune (fox) masks affixed close to the top front of each. They sit below a statue with the same face as the masks, in an area that looks like a church, with stone walls and stained glass windows. The area surrounding the red coffins is in grayscale.
Limited edition cover

Babymetal (stylized as BABYMETAL) is the debut studio album by Japanese metal idol group Babymetal.[2][3]

The album was first released on February 26, 2014 under Toy's Factory in Japan, in several editions, regular and limited.[4] The limited edition comes with a bonus DVD containing video clips and live footage from Summer Sonic Festival 2013.[5] It reached the 4th place on Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 37,463 copies during the first week.

Several singles were released for the album, including the commercially successful songs "Ijime, Dame, Zettai", "Megitsune", and "Gimme Chocolate!!".

The album had a physical release internationally mid-2015.[6][7]

Background

On February 5, 2014, Babymetal was announced on the official website with a release date in Japan for February 26, 2014, the artwork for both editions revealed, and a promotional video featuring five songs from the album.[8]

Release and promotion

The album was released in a regular edition, a standard limited edition, and a special limited edition for members of the group's special "Apocalypse Web" site. The limited edition, originally released in Japan, has an identical track listing on the CD to that of the regular edition; however, it also includes a DVD containing the group's music videos with commentary by the three members, a live music video of "Gimme Chocolate!!", and footage of the group's performance at Summer Sonic 2013. An encore pressing of the limited edition version of the album was released on July 26, 2014 with a special cover to commemorate the band's 2014 world tour.[9]

The Apocalypse limited edition of the album is solely a CD release; its track listing is revised to have alternate versions of "Akatsuki" and "Song 4"; the former was performed live at Legend "1997" Su-metal Seitansai. It was only made available to people who had previously signed up for the group's "Apocalypse Web" site.

In mid-2015, the album was re-released worldwide under different record labels with two bonus tracks: the new song "Road of Resistance" and a live performance of "Gimme Chocolate!!". The limited edition of the album also had its first international release in Europe, containing a DVD with the group's music videos, but without the commentary of the Japanese edition. A live music clip of the song "Road of Resistance" from the live concert at the Saitama Super Arena was released May 2015.

Singles and other songs

Prior to the release of the album, Babymetal had released five singles, ranging from 2010 to 2013. The first single, "Doki Doki ☆ Morning", initially appeared on the Sakura Gakuin debut album Sakura Gakuin 2010 Nendo: Message, before being released independently on October 24, 2011. "Babymetal × Kiba of Akiba", a joint single with the band Kiba of Akiba, was released on March 7, 2012, featuring the Babymetal song "Iine!". "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!" was released on July 4, 2012 and included a neck corset on the limited editions. "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" was the first major label single released on January 7, 2013, but did not appear in the annually released Sakura Gakuin albums. "Megitsune" was released as the second major label single on June 19, 2013, and is the first song released after the split from Sakura Gakuin. The five songs, as well as five B-sides, are featured on the album.

Two songs from the album, "Akatsuki" and "Rondo of Nightmare", are performed solely by Su-metal. Two other songs from the album, "Onedari Daisakusen" and "Song 4", are performed mainly by Yuimetal and Moametal, under the stage name Black Babymetal; the latter of which was written by the two.

Prior to the international release of the album, a sixth single, "Road of Resistance", was released digitally on February 1, 2015. "Gimme Chocolate!!", although not initially released as a single, brought the band and the album to international success; the song peaked at number 5 on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart and its live music video performance at the concert Legend "1997" Su-metal Seitansai has garnered more than 45 million views as of April 9, 2016.[10][11] The song later served as a digital single on the United Kingdom iTunes Store on May 31, 2015.[12][13]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
CD JournalPositive[14]
The Japan TimesPositive[15]
Music Magazine[16]
Music Magazine JapanPositive[17]
Rolling Stone Japan[18]
Rossiyskaya GazetaPositive[19]
What's In?Positive[20]

Critical reception

Babymetal received critical acclaim from critics both in Japan and worldwide. Tim Sendra from Allmusic gave the album four and a half stars out of five stating: "It's clearly not an album for metalheads who like to follow the clear definitions of what makes metal metal, or one for J-pop fans who are scared of huge guitar riffs. But those who don't really care about rules and just want to jump around like idiots to the brightest, silliest music imaginable will find exactly what they never dreamed about asking for in Babymetal's brilliant debut."[1] Nanba Kazumi from Rolling Stone Japan praised the album, saying its "humor, cuteness to the quality, does not allow any other following. It would be a masterpiece made in one piece to be representative of the 2014 definitely."[18] The album garnered critical praise from Australia; Tristan Peterson from Metal Obsession stated, "This band was created for the demographic of “Music that your Japanese Boyfriend/Girlfriend, who doesn’t really like Metal, would enjoy.” He continued saying, "This is a unique album from a unique band that has not compromised on their intent, and that is to create a charming, and pretty damn heavy, dichotomy of sound for you to enjoy. It has made metal cute without losing any of its edge and that is not something you can say about, well, any band."[21]

In July 2016, Metal Hammer readers voted Babymetal as the best album of the 21st century.[22]

Commercial performance

The album quickly rose to number 1 on both the US and UK iTunes Metal charts. The album also received attention from western journalists like Brian Mansfield of USA Today.[23] It reached number 1 on the Japanese Oricon Daily Chart and peaked at number 4 on the U.S. Billboard Heatseekers chart as well as 187 on the Billboard 200.[24][25][26] In December 2014, Babymetal was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for more than 100,000 physical copies shipped to stores.[27]

Track listing

No. TitleLyricsMusicArrangement Length
1. "Babymetal Death" ("We Are Babymetal")Kitsune of Metal God (KITSUNE of METAL GOD)[A]Kitsune of Metal GodYuyoyuppe 5:46
2. "Megitsune" (メギツネ, "Vixen")
  • Mk-metal (MK-METAL)
  • Norimetal (NORiMETAL)
NorimetalYuyoyuppe 4:07
3. "Gimme Chocolate!!" (ギミチョコ！！ Gimi Choko!!)
  • Mk-metal
  • Kxbxmetal (KxBxMETAL)
Takeshi Ueda (TAKESHI UEDA)Ueda 3:50
4. "Iine!" (いいね！, "So Good!")Nakata Caos (中田カオス)Mish-Mosh (Mish-Mosh)Daiki Kasho (daiki kasho) 4:08
5. "Akatsuki" (紅月-アカツキ-, "Crimson Moon")
  • Nakametal (NAKAMETAL)
  • Tsubometal (TSUBOMETAL)
TsubometalKyōtō (教頭) 5:25
6. "Doki Doki ☆ Morning" (ド・キ・ド・キ☆モーニング, "Heart-Pounding Morning")Nakametal (ナカメタル)
  • Norizō (のりぞー)
  • Motonari Murakawa (村カワ基成)
  • SOH (Oh! S-D)
  • Murakawa
 3:44
7. "Onedari Daisakusen" (おねだり大作戦, "Begging Operation")
  • Nakata Caos
  • Ryu-metal (RYU-METAL)
  • Fuji-metal (FUJI-METAL)
Team-K (TEAM-K)
  • Tatsuo (tatsuo)
  • Kxbxmetal
 3:15
8. "Song 4" (4の歌 Yon no Uta)Black Babymetal (BLACK BABYMETAL)Black Babymetal
  • Tatsuo
  • Kxbxmetal
 4:01
9. "Uki Uki ★ Midnight" (ウ・キ・ウ・キ★ミッドナイト, "Exhilarating Midnight")
  • Ryu-metal
  • Fuji-metal
  • Nakata Caos
Team-KYuyoyuppe 3:17
10. "Catch Me If You Can" (Catch me if you can)Edometal (EDOMETAL)Narasaki (NARASAKI)Narametal (NARAMETAL) 3:53
11. "Rondo of Nightmare" (悪夢の輪舞曲 Akumu no Rondo[B])YuyoyuppeYuyoyuppeYuyoyuppe 3:33
12. "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!" (ヘドバンギャー！！ Hedobangyā!!)
  • Edometal (江戸メタル)
  • Nakametal (ナカメタル)
NarasakiNarametal 3:59
13. "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" (イジメ、ダメ、ゼッタイ, "No More Bullying")
  • Nakametal (NAKAMETAL)
  • Tsubometal
  • Kxbxmetal
  • Tsubometal
  • Takemetal (TAKEMETAL)
Kyōtō 6:04
Total length:
 54:55
Notes
A. ^ "Kitsune of Metal God" refers to a god figure frequently mentioned in band materials and interviews (often as "Kitsune-sama", or "the Fox God" and "the Big Fox" in English media).[29] Songwriting credits are instead given to Kei Kobayashi for the international release.
B. ^ Although 輪舞曲 is normally read as rinbukyoku, the booklet contains a note that the word is to be read as rondo.
C. ^ This is a live performance.

Credits and personnel

Recording and management

Personnel

  • Suzuka Nakamoto (Su-metal) – vocals
  • Yui Mizuno (Yuimetal) – vocals, lyrics, music
  • Moa Kikuchi (Moametal) – vocals, lyrics, music
  • Kei Kobayashi (Kobametal / Kxbxmetal / Kitsune of Metal God) – executive producer, lyrics, music, arrangement
  • Millennium Japan – producer
  • Miki Watanabe (Mk-metal) – lyrics
  • Norikazu Nakayama (Norimetal / Nakata Caos / Nakametal) – lyrics, music
  • Tatsuya Tsubono (Tsubometal) – lyrics, music
  • Ryugi Yokoi (Ryu-metal) – lyrics
  • Shinichi Fujita (Fuji-metal) – lyrics
  • Shion Hirota (Edometal) – lyrics
  • Takehiro Mamiya (Yuyoyuppe) – lyrics, arrangement, audio mixing
  • Takeshi Ueda – music, arrangement
  • Nobuaki Miyasaka (Mish-Mosh) – music
  • Sari Miyasaka (Mish-Mosh) – music
  • Norizo – music
  • Motonari Murakawa – music, arrangement
  • Shuhei Takahashi (Team-K) – music
  • Kazuki Higashihara (Team-K) – music
  • Nobuki Narasaki – music
  • Takeru Youda (Takemetal) – music
  • Keiji Kusama (Kyt-metal) – music
  • Daiki Kasho – arrangement, audio engineer
  • Kyoto – arrangement
  • SOH (O! S-D) – arrangement, guitar
  • Tatsuo – arrangement, programming, guitar, bass[30]
  • Narametal – arrangement
  • Herman Li – guitar
  • Sam Totman – guitar
  • Leda – bass
  • Seiji Toda – recording and audio mixing
  • Masatake Osato – recording
  • Naoki Ibaraki – recording
  • Hironobu Takikawa – audio mixing
  • Yasuhisa Kataoka – audio engineer
  • Motohiro Tsuji – mastering
  • Tucky – mastering
  • Yuji Nakamura – assistant engineer

Credits adapted from Babymetal album liner notes, Sakura Gakuin 2010 Nendo: Message album liner notes, "Babymetal × Kiba of Akiba" single cover notes, "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!" single liner notes, "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" standard and limited "I" single liner notes, "Megitsune" standard and limited "Tsu" single liner notes, Metal Resistance liner notes,[31] and Google Play.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2014–15) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[32] 69
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[32] 181
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[32] 90
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 95
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[33][34] 4
Japanese Albums (Billboard)[35] 2
UK Albums Sales (OCC)[36] 86
UK Independent Albums Breakers (OCC)[37] 7
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[38] 7
US Billboard 200[26] 187
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[25] 4
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[39] 50
US Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[40] 12
US World Albums (Billboard)[41] 1
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[42] 32

Year-end charts

Chart (2014–15) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[43] 52
Japanese Albums (Billboard)[44] 57
2014 World Albums (Billboard)[45] 7
2015 World Albums (Billboard)[46] 5

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Japan (RIAJ)[47] Gold 100,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result
2015 CD Shop Awards Grand Prix[48] Won

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Tim Sendra. "BABYMETAL – BABYMETAL". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  2. ↑ "BABYMETAL、1stアルバムの世界最速販売"25の祭" タワレコ新宿で開催決定" (in Japanese). February 21, 2014.
  3. ↑ "BABYMETAL初アルバムをタワー新宿店で世界最速販売!　スペシャル衣装＆パネル展も". Tower Records (in Japanese).
  4. ↑ "BABYMETAL To Release Debut Album This Month". Blabbermouth.net. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Details on BABYMETAL's first album revealed". Tokyo Hive. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "BABYMETAL's 1st Album will be released via their US and EU labels!!". BABYMETAL OFFICIAL WEB SITE. April 9, 2015.
  7. ↑ "BABYMETAL's 1st Album will be released via their US and EU labels!!". BABYMETAL official FACEBOOK. April 9, 2015.
  8. ↑ "BABYMETAL". 5 February 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "BABYMETALのアルバム初回盤が限定仕様でアンコールプレス" [Limited Edition of Babymetal Album Second Press]. Tower Records Online (in Japanese). Tower Records Japan. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "World Digital Songs". Billboard.biz. Retrieved 2015-01-16. Billboard.biz charts are only accessible by subscription; searching "Babymetal" on "Charts", their performance can be found.
  11. ↑ "BABYMETAL – ギミチョコ！！- Gimme chocolate!! – Live Music Video – YouTube". 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  12. ↑ "Gimme Chocolate!! - Single by BABYMETAL". iTunes GB (Apple). Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  13. ↑ "Gimme Chocolate!! - Single by BABYMETAL". iTunes IE (Apple). Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  14. ↑ Ken'ichi Yasuda (2014-02-20). "NEW DISCS 今月の推薦盤 BABYMETAL BABYMETAL". CD Journal (March 2014): 67.
  15. ↑ Patrick St. Michel. "Babymetal "Babymetal"". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
  16. ↑ Kazunori Harada. "アルバム・レヴュー 歌謡曲/JPOP 原田和典 BABYMETAL『Babymetal』". Music Magazine (March 2014): 145.
  17. ↑ Akimasa Munekata (2014-02-20). "アルバム・ピックアップ BABYMETAL Babymetal". Music Magazine (March 2014): 124.
  18. 1 2 Kazumi Namba (2014-02-10). "BABYMETAL". Rolling Stone Japan Edition. Atomics Media (March 2014): 103.
  19. ↑ Alexander Alexeyev (2016-01-28). "Японки выступят в жанре хэви-метал // BabyMetal (CD). Edel Germany GmbH/ "Союз Мьюзик". 2015 г.". Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian) (federal issue No. 6886 (18)). Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  20. ↑ Tetsuya Yamamura. "タモリもニヤッ、ロック・ファンタジー・ワールドの入り口". What's In? Web. M-ON! Entertainment Inc. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  21. ↑ http://www.metalobsession.net/2014/04/09/babymetal-babymetal/
  22. ↑ Metal Hammer readers vote Babymetal as the best album of the 21st century
  23. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/03/06/babymetal-video-give-me-choco/6115605/
  24. ↑ "ＢＡＢＹＭＥＴＡＬのCDアルバムランキング │オリコン芸能人事典" [BABYMETAL Album Rankings]. Oricon Style (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  25. 1 2 "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. 2014-03-13. Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  26. 1 2 "The Billboard 200". Billboard. 2014-03-13. Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  27. ↑ ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2014年12月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (December 2014)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. January 15, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  28. ↑ "iTunes – Music – BABYMETAL by BABYMETAL". iTunes. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  29. ↑ Babymetal (2013). LIVE～LEGEND I、D、Z APOCALYPSE～ [Live: Legend I, D, Z Apocalypse] (Blu-ray) (in Japanese). Legend "I" 2012/10/6 at Shibuya O-EAST. Japan: Toy's Factory, Amuse. Event occurs at 58 seconds. JAN 4988061781129. キツネ様は、SU-METAL，YUIMETAL　MOAMETALの三人を「新しいメタルの誕生」を意味する"BABYMETAL"と名付け [Translation: "The Fox God named 3 girls, Su-Metal, Yuimetal, and Moametal, 'Babymetal' meaning 'the birth of a new metal'..."].
  30. ↑ "tatsuo 参加作品　その他アーティスト" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  31. ↑ Babymetal (limited edition) (CD liner notes). Babymetal. BMD Fox. 2014. p. 15.
    Sakura Gakuin 2010 Nendo: Message (CD liner notes). Sakura Gakuin. Toy's Factory. 2010. p. 26.
    Babymetal × Kiba of Akiba (CD cover notes). Babymetal and Kiba of Akiba. Toy's Factory. 2012. p. 2.
    Head Bangya!! (CD liner notes). Babymetal. Toy's Factory. 2012.
    Ijime, Dame, Zettai (CD liner notes). Babymetal. Toy's Factory. 2013. p. 2.
    Ijime, Dame, Zettai (Limited "I" edition) (CD liner notes). Babymetal. Toy's Factory. 2013. p. 2.
    Megitsune (CD liner notes). Babymetal. BMD Fox. 2013. p. 2.
    Megitsune (Limited "Tsu" edition) (CD liner notes). Babymetal. BMD Fox. 2013. p. 2.
    Metal Resistance (Out of Japan edition) (CD liner notes). Babymetal. Sony Music Entertainment. 2016.
    Metal Resistance (The One limited edition) (CD/Blu-ray liner notes). Babymetal. BMD Fox Records. 2016.
  32. 1 2 3 4 "Babymetal – Babymetal". Ultratop (in Belgian). Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
  33. ↑ 「ＢＡＢＹＭＥＴＡＬ」 ＢＡＢＹＭＥＴＡＬ. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  34. ↑ "2014年02月24日〜2014年03月02日のCDアルバム週間ランキング（2014年03月10日付）". Oricon. Archived from the original on 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  35. ↑ "Billboard Japan Top Albums│Charts│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard JAPAN. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
    "週間アルバムチャートでうたプリ1位に、武道館実現のBABYMETALも善戦". Billboard Japan. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  36. ↑ "Official Albums Sales Chart Top 100". UK Albums Sales Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  37. ↑ "2014-07-19 Top 40 Independent Albums Breakers Archive". Official Charts Company. 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
  38. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  39. ↑ "Babymetal – Chart history". Billboard. 2015-07-04. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  40. ↑ "Hard Rock Albums". Billboard. 2014-03-13. Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  41. ↑ "World Albums". Billboard. 2014-09-11. Archived from the original on 2014-09-11. Retrieved 2014-09-11.
  42. ↑ "Babymetal – Chart history". Billboard. 2015-07-04. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  43. ↑ "CDアルバムランキング – 2014年度". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  44. ↑ "Billboard Japan Top Albums Sales Year End". Billboard Japan. Retrieved 2014-12-26.
  45. ↑ "2014 Year End: World Albums Charts│Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-01-28.
  46. ↑ "2015 Year End: World Albums Charts│Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  47. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – Babymetal – Babymetal" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2014年月 on the drop-down menu
  48. ↑ Oricon (2015-03-09). "「BABYMETALがCDショップ大賞". Oricon.

External links

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