A Song for ××

A Song for ×× (the "××" is silent)[3] is the debut album by Japanese pop artist Ayumi Hamasaki, released January 1, 1999, by Avex Trax. Primarily a rock-pop album, it features musical composition and arrangements by Yasuhiko Hoshino, Mitsuru Igarashi, and others.

A Song for ××
A black-and-white up-close shot of Ayumi Hamasaki's face looking into the camera.
Album cover is printed on a metallic material.
Studio album by
Ayumi Hamasaki
ReleasedJanuary 1, 1999 (1999-01-01)
Recorded1998
GenrePop
Length70:38
LabelAvex Trax
ProducerMax Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
Nothing from Nothing
(1995)		 A Song for ××
(1999)		 Loveppears
(1999)
Singles from A Song for ××
  1. "Poker Face"
    Released: April 8, 1998
  2. "You"
    Released: June 10, 1998
  3. "Trust"
    Released: August 5, 1998
  4. "For My Dear..."
    Released: October 7, 1998
  5. "Depend on You"
    Released: December 9, 1998
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
MTV Asia8/10[2]

"Poker Face" was released as the album's lead single on April 8, 1998. Entering the Oricon chart at number twenty, it became her first charting single. Four further singles were released to promote A Song for ××: "You", "Trust", "For My Dear...", and Depend on You". All of them were top twenty hits in Japan, with the latter three reaching the top ten.

The album debuted atop the Oricon Charts with first week sales of 548,210 copies; it topped the chart for five weeks, a remarkable feat for a debut album. Its high first week sales were partly due to its debut sales being the first and second week sales combined (Oricon only has 51 weeks instead of 52). The album charted for 63 weeks and was certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipments exceeding one million copies in the country. As of 2008, A Song for ×× is Japan's 139th best selling album of all time.[4]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Ayumi Hamasaki

CD
No.TitleMusicArranger(s)Length
1."Prologue" (Instrumental)Yasuhiko HoshinoHoshino1:25
2."A Song for ××"HoshinoHoshino4:44
3."Hana"HoshinoHoshino4:07
4."Friend"HoshinoAkimitsu Honma4:11
5."Friend II"Mitsuru IgarashiIgarashi3:59
6."Poker Face"HoshinoHonma4:41
7."Wishing"Hideaki KuwabaraHonma4:29
8."You"HoshinoHonma4:46
9."As If..."Kazuhito KikuchiHonma5:36
10."Powder Snow"KuwabaraHonma5:27
11."Trust"Takashi KimuraHonma, Kimura4:48
12."Depend on You"KikuchiHonma, Takashi Morio4:20
13."Signal"KuwabaraHonma4:25
14."From Your Letter"Akio TogashiTogashi4:38
15."For My Dear..."HoshinoHoshino4:33
16."Present"HoshinoHoshino4:31

Release history
Region Date Format Catalogue Number
Japan January 1, 1999 (1999-01-01) CD AVCD-11691
Taiwan January 1, 1999 (1999-01-01) CD AVJCD-10008
Hong Kong June 1999 (1999-06) CD AVTCD-95224
China 1999 (1999) CD AVTCD-95224CB
  • SCD-822

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release Chart Peak position First week sales Sales total Chart run
January 1, 1999 Oricon Daily Albums Chart 1
Oricon Weekly Albums Chart 1 548,210 1,610,000 63
Oricon Monthly Albums Chart 1
Oricon Yearly Albums Chart 15
  • Total sales: 1,610,000 (Japan)
  • Total sales: 1,910,000 (Avex)

Singles
Date Title Peak Position Weeks Sales
8 April 1998 Poker Face 20 6 weeks 105,000
10 June 1998 You 19 10 weeks 130,000
5 August 1998 Trust 9 10 weeks 225,000
7 October 1998 For My Dear... 9 7 weeks 125,000
9 December 1998 Depend on You 6 9 weeks 190,000
28 February 2001 Poker Face (12 cm re-release) 31 2 weeks 45,000
You (12 cm re-release) 25 6 weeks 50,000
Trust (12 cm re-release) 29 2 weeks 45,000
For My Dear... (12 cm re-release) 33 2 weeks 40,000
Depend on You (12 cm re-release) 27 3 weeks 45,000
  • Total Single Sales: 775,000

Total Album and Single Sales: 2,385,000

References
  1. Yeung, Neil Z. "Song for XX – Ayumi Hamasaki". AllMusic. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  2. Yng, Wang. "Ayumi Hamasaki: A Song For XX (Avex Trax)". MTV Asia. Archived from the original on August 29, 2006. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  3. choconagisa, ayumi hamasaki - a song for xx cm - powder snow, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2019-02-10
  4. "歴代アルバムランキング". Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
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