Free (Mao Abe album)
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Free (ふりぃ, , pronounced Furī) is Mao Abe's debut album, released on January 21, 2009.[1] It debuted at #17 on the Japanese Oricon album charts, and charted in the top 300 for 10 weeks.[2] The album was released in two versions: a CD+DVD version only on sale for a limit period of time and a regular version.
The album was Abe's first physical release, as opposed to the Japanese music industry standard of releasing singles beforehand. All of the songs featured on this album were written by Abe during her high-school days (2006-2007).[3]
When the album was in its final stages, all of the finalised data was lost. The songs had to be rebuilt by Abe and her production team from the original studio recordings.[4]
Promotion
The album was preceded by four digital download singles on iTunes between August and November 2008: all were acoustic demos of Abe songs. Two of these songs, Hitomishiri no Uta (人見知りの唄, Shy Song) and My Baby, were used as album tracks, while the other two (Anata no Koibito ni Naritai no desu (貴方の恋人になりたいのです, I Wanna Be Your Lover), I Wanna See You) were used as singles after the release of the album.
The lead radio single, Free (ふりぃ), did extremely well on airplay charts. It reached #1 on the combined physical sales/airplay-based Billboard chart Japan Hot 100[5], as well as #5 on the radio station J-Wave's Tokio Hot 100 airplay charts.[6] The song also received a music video (directed by Masaki Ohkita[7]), which is featured on the DVD of the album. The song also had three tie-ups: it was used as the music countdown show CDTV January 2009 opening theme song (though interestingly did not chart in the CDTV top 100), the music show Mashup! Musico's January ending theme song and the Glico Pocky commercial for special air on music video channel Space Shower.
Three other songs had tie-ups: Want You Darling was used as the theme song of the drama Tetsudō Musume (鉄道むすめ, Railroad Girl) (airing since October 2008), My Baby was used as the Ski Jam Katsuyama ski field commercial song, and Kirei na Uta (キレイな唄, Pretty Song) was used as the Beauteen hair colour commercial song. This tie-up came after the album's release, hence the song features as the B-side to Abe's Tsutaetai Koto/I Wanna See You single, released four months later.
Track listing
CD Tracklist
All songs written by Mao Abe.
| No. | Title | Arranger(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Free (ふりぃ)" | Yūichi Komori | 3:52 |
| 2. | "Hitomishiri no Uta (Kyōkan Shite Moraetara Ureshii tte Hanashi desu) (人見知りの唄～共感してもらえたら嬉しいって話です～, Shy Song (It's a Story About How Happy You'd Be If You Got Sympathy))" | Skin-Headz | 4:43 |
| 3. | "My Baby" | Yūichi Komori | 4:03 |
| 4. | "Kirei na Uta (キレイな唄, Pretty Song)" | Yūichi Komori | 5:21 |
| 5. | "Deadline (デッドライン)" | Mao Abe | 3:02 |
| 6. | "Don't Leave Me" | Shinji Onitsuka | 5:07 |
| 7. | "Kotoba (コトバ, Words)" | Yūichi Komori | 4:36 |
| 8. | "Want You Darling" | Masakazu Andō | 4:16 |
| 9. | "17-sai no Uta (17歳の唄, 17 Years Old Song)" | Masakazu Andō | 5:38 |
| 10. | "Nasakenai Otoko no Uta (情けない男の唄, Pathetic Boy Song)" | Mao Abe | 8:41 |
DVD Tracklist
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Free (ふりぃ) (music video)" | 3:52 |
Japan Sales Rankings[8]
| Release | Chart | Peak Position | First Week Sales | Sales Total | Chart Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 21, 2009 | Oricon Daily Albums Chart | 9 | |||
| Oricon Weekly Albums Chart | 17 | 7,702 | 21,256 | 12 weeks | |
| Oricon Yearly Albums Chart |
Various charts
| Chart | Peak position |
First Week Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Soundscan Album Top 20[9] | 20 | 5,782 |
References
- ^ ""唄｜阿部真央オフィシャルサイト"". Retrieved 2009-12-1.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ ""ふりぃ/阿部真央"". Retrieved 2009-12-1.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "インタビュー 阿部真央". @Pia. Retrieved 2009-12-1.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "インタビュー 阿部真央". VIDE-NET.COM. Retrieved 2009-12-1.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Mao Abe - Free". Music Charts. Retrieved 2009-12-1.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ 81.3 FM J-WAVE : TOKIO HOT 100 2009.1.25付のTOKIO HOT100のチャートです。
- ^ ""阿部真央 ふりぃ (ONLY SSTV EDITION)"". Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Retrieved 2009-12-1.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) (subscription only) - ^ 週間CDソフトTOP 20 アルバム総合 ランキングTOP20 2009年1月19日～2009年1月25日 調査分