Rainbow

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Rainbow
Studio album by Ayumi Hamasaki
Released	December 18, 2002 (2002-12-18) (see Release history)
Genre	J-Pop
Length	71:42
Label	Avex Trax
Producer	Max Matsuura
Professional reviews
HMV link
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
I am... (2002) Rainbow (2002) A Ballads (2003) Singles from Rainbow "Free & Easy" Released: April 24, 2002 "H" Released: July 24, 2002 "Voyage" Released: September 26, 2002

Rainbow is the fifth studio album by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on December 18, 2002, less than a year after I am.... To date Rainbow has sold over 1,858,000 copies and is the 89th best selling album in Japan.^[1]

History

This album featured more music producing from DAI (of Do As Infinity) and Crea (Hamasaki's pen name). Since Loveppears, this album is the first studio album from her that did not break the two million mark. The single "Free & Easy" lost out the top daily spot to Kuraki Mai's "Feel Fine!", but eventually took the top position for the week. The single "H" is the only single that broke the million mark in Japan in 2002. The hidden track "+" begins where the song "independent" abruptly ends.

"H" was released in four different editions. The three colored editions, green, red, and blue, were limited editions, and the white was the normal edition. A digipak edition was released featuring all four covers of the single to commemorate the sale of the millionth copy. Rainbow is the 89th best selling album in Japan of all times.^[2]

Initial pressings of the album had an extra track, "Rainbow", listed for track 00 and contained a password to a website. As a promotion for the album, the track was not included on the CD, but part of the instrumental version was released to the password-only website that was open for a limited time where fans could submit their own lyrics.

Singles

	"Voyage" (2002) "Voyage" was composed by Hamasaki and Dai Nagao. It is a classical-influenced song that uses piano, strings, and a gospel chorus.
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"Free and Easy", the first single from Rainbow, marked a dramatic change in the format of Hamasaki's singles. Singles after "Free and Easy" (with the exception of "No Way to Say") cut the number of remixes on the CD down to two or three, unlike previous singles with up to six or seven remixes.

"H", the second single from Rainbow, was a multiple-A-side single, and was Hamasaki's last million-selling single.

"Voyage", the final single from the album, was Hamasaki's longest charting single (with a total run of twenty-eight weeks). "Voyage", written by Hamasaki and Do as Infinity composer DAI, was one of Hamasaki's two singles in which a short film was used in place of a regular PV (the other one being 2007's "Glitter / Fated".)

Lyrical content

Rainbow marked the beginning of Hamasaki's writing English lyrics, and is the first album to feature English lyrics.^[3] A previous song, Love: Since 1999 featured English lyrics, but was not written by Hamasaki and was never featured on an album.

Track listing

1. Everlasting dream – 1:33
2. We Wish – 5:10
3. Real Me – 5:25
4. Free & Easy – 4:59
5. Heartplace – 6:06
6. Over – 5:05
7. Hanabi (HANABI, lit. Fireworks^?) – 4:53
8. Taskinillusion – 1:20
9. Everywhere nowhere – 4:35
10. July 1st – 4:20
11. Dolls – 5:55
12. Neverending dream – 1:35
13. Voyage – 5:06
14. Close to you – 5:47
15. Independent + – 9:35

Release history

Charts

Oricon Chart (Japan)

• Total Sales : 1,857,870 (Japan)
• Total Sales : 2,000,000 (Avex)
• Total Sales : 3,000,000 (Asia)

Singles

• Total Single Sales: 2,181,983
• Total Album and Single Sales: 4,039,853

References