Duty (album)

Duty
Duty
Studio album by Ayumi Hamasaki
Released	September 27, 2000
Recorded	2000
Genre	J-pop; rock;
Length	51:45
Label	Avex Trax
Producer	Max Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
Singles from Duty
	"Vogue"; Released: April 26, 2000; "Far Away"; Released: May 17, 2000; "Seasons"; Released: June 7, 2000; "Surreal"; Released: September 27, 2000; "Audience"; Released: November 1, 2000;

Duty is the third studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on September 27, 2000, by Avex Trax. Duty is Hamasaki's first studio album inside the 2000s decade, and her third consecutive studio album to be fully produced by Japanese musician and businessman Max Matsuura. The album's composing and arrangement was handled by several music collaborators, such as Ken Harada, Kazuhito Kikuchi, Dai Nagao, HΛL, among many others. Hamasaki contributed to the album as the primary and background vocalist, and songwriter to every song. Three different formats were released to promote the album: a standalone CD, a limited edition Playbutton, and a digital download. The cover sleeve has Hamasaki wearing a leopard-print cat suit.

Upon the album's release, it was met with favorable reviews from music critics. Critics highlight individual songs as stand out tracks, and found the album a memorable effort within the Japanese pop genre. Duty became Hamasaki's third studio album to reach the top spot on Japan's Oricon Albums Chart. The album has sold over three million units in Japan, making it her best selling original studio album as well as the sixth highest selling Japanese album of the aughts.^[1] Five singles were released from the album. Two of the singles, "Seasons" and "Surreal", topped Japan's Oricon Singles Chart, while the former sold over 1.3 million units in Japan. Hamasaki promoted the album through her 2000 self-titled concert tour. "Duty" currently ranks as the 23rd highest selling Japanese album of all time.^[2] By the end of 2000, the album was nominated and won the Japan Record Award for the Best Album.^[3]

^ "The noughties played it nice". The Japan Times. 18 December 2009.
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20120103001458/http://www.musictvprogram.com/corner-ranking-album.html
^ "活動〜日本レコード大賞〜【公益社団法人日本作曲家協会】". JACOMPA (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2019-09-07.

[1] "The noughties played it nice". The Japan Times. 18 December 2009.

[2] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120103001458/http://www.musictvprogram.com/corner-ranking-album.html

[3] "活動〜日本レコード大賞〜【公益社団法人日本作曲家協会】". JACOMPA (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2019-09-07.

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