understood

(Miss)understood

(Miss)understood is Ayumi Hamasaki's seventh full-length studio album produced by Max Matsuura. Its official release date was January 1,, 2006, but started appearing in stores on December 28, 2005, the last Wednesday of the year. It was recognized by the RIAJ as one of The Best 10 Albums of the Year for 2006 and by the IFPI as #4 on the list of top 10 selling albums in Japan of 2006.

Background and production

In 2005, after hearing demo tracks from band Sweetbox's then-upcoming album Addicted, Hamasaki "fell in love" with the songs and consequently asked Sweetbox's composer GEO if she could use some the songs for her album. GEO agreed and gave Hamasaki permission to use "Bold & Delicious", "Pride", "Ladies Night", "In the Corner", "Every Step", and "Beautiful Girl". Hamasaki then set to work reworking the songs to fit her personal vision, rewriting the lyrics and rearranging parts of songs.

Themes and musical style

Whereas My Story, Hamasaki's preceding album had contained mostly "autobiographical" lyrics and "musings about [her] past", (miss)understood was a "strong message to send to all women": it was a kind of "girl's talk" to give "moral support" while at the same time reminding women that there would be times when they would "feel weak and low". "Bold & Delicious" "scolded indecisive men", "Pride" expressed Hamasaki's appreciation of "women who do not give up easily", and "Ladies Night" was about female camaraderie. Other themes appeared as well: "Is This Love?" and "Heaven" were about love, and "Fairyland" was about "childhood memories".

The album was more musically diverse than its predecessor; Hamasaki incorporated a variety of musical styles including R&B, rock, dance-pop, funk. "Bold & Delicious" was a funk-infused dance track that used a gospel choir in the harmony, and "Pride" was a ballad song that "sounded like it could be from a musical"; the arrangement of both songs were influenced by Hamasaki's trip to New York City to record the songs and film their respective music videos. An organ Hamasaki heard while visiting a church inspired her to include the gospel choir in "Bold", while the musical The Phantom of the Opera influenced her arrangement of "Pride". "Criminal", "Step you", "alterna", and the titular "(Miss)understood" were all rock songs with prominent electric guitars, while "Heaven" was an "ethereal" piano-driven ballad. As with "Bold & Delicious" and "Pride", other songs composed by GEO were rearranged; violins were added to the bridge of "Rainy Day", and a choir was added to the chorus of "Beautiful Day".

Extras

The initial pressings of the album included two photobooks — one for the CD version (entitled off my day), and another for the CD+DVD version (entitled on my way). The DVD version included all PVs that were made for her 2005 releases (excluding My Name's Women) — Step You, Is This Love?, Fairyland, Alterna, Heaven, Bold & Delicious and Pride, as well as an alternative PV for Bold & Delicious (called the “Side story"). Two new PVs were also included — Ladies Night and Rainy Day made their debut on the disc. Behind-the-scenes clips for Step You, Is This Love?, Fairyland, Alterna, Heaven and Pride feature also.

Sales

In 2007, Avex reported that (miss)understood sold 1,030,000 copies in Japan

(Miss)understood was certified million by RIAJ in sales and was recognized for having more than a million copies shipped to store. On the Oricon Charts, (miss)understood failed to break a million selling only a little under 900k. The total sales number of the album's singles comes to a total of 1,122,107. The album sales and the single sales combined come to a grand sales revenue of 1,999,540 CDs sold.

CD track listing

Bold & Delicious – 4:40
Step You – 4:24
Ladies Night – 4:29
Is this Love? – 4:51
(Miss)understood – 4:02
Alterna – 5:28
In the Corner – 3:22
Tasking – 1:25
Criminal – 5:13
Pride – 4:10
Will – 4:07
Heaven – 4:18
Are You Wake Up? – 2:05
Fairyland – 5:17
Beautiful Day – 4:34
Rainy Day – 4:01

DVD track listing

Step You
Is this Love?
Fairyland
Alterna
Heaven
Bold & Delicious
Pride
Rainy Day
Ladies Night
Bold & Delicious - Side Story
Step You
Is this Love?
Fairyland
Alterna
Heaven
Pride

Charts

With (Miss)understood, Hamasaki reached the number one position on The United World Chart with a full album for the first time, outselling the number two by 366,000 copies.

Release	Chart	Peak Position	First Week Sales	Sales Total	Chart Run
1 January 2006	Oricon Daily Albums Chart	#1
1 January 2006	Oricon Weekly Albums Chart	#1	653,830	877,433	31 weeks
1 January 2006	Oricon Monthly Albums Chart	#1
1 January 2006	Oricon Yearly Albums Chart	#8

Total Sales: 877,433 (Japan)
Total Sales: 1,030,000 (Avex)
Total Sales: 1,800,000 (Asia)

Singles

Date	Title	Peak position	Weeks	Sales
April 20 2005	"Step You/Is This Love?"	#1	19 weeks	345,340
August 8 2005	"Fairyland coupling with Alterna"	#1	13 weeks	316,663
September 14 2005	"Heaven"	#1	14 weeks	326,694
November 30 2005	"Bold & Delicious/Pride"	#1	7 weeks	132,993