Dream "A" Live

Dream "A" Live
Studio album by Arashi
Released	April 23, 2008 (see release history)
Genre	Pop, R&B, rock
Length	76:00 (Limited edition)[1] 59:01 (Regular edition)[2]
Label	J Storm
Arashi chronology
Time (2007) Dream "A" Live (2008) All the Best! 1999–2009 (2009)
Singles from Dream "A" Live
"Happiness" Released: September 5, 2007 "Step and Go" Released: February 20, 2008

Dream "A" Live is the eighth studio album of the Japanese boy band, Arashi. The album was released on April 23, 2008 in Japan under their record label J Storm in two editions: a limited 2CD version and a regular CD version. Dream "A" Live is the 30th best-selling album of 2008 in Japan.^[3] As of July 2010, the album is the group's third highest-selling album after their tenth anniversary album All the Best! 1999–2009 and debut album Arashi No.1 Ichigou: Arashi wa Arashi o Yobu!.^[4]

Album information

The album contains the singles "Happiness", which was used as the theme song for the drama Yamada Tarō Monogatari, and "Step and Go". Although production of the album began during the release of "Happiness", word of the new album did not surface until March 2008 when the album available for pre-order on online stores, with the two editions even reaching as high as the top two spots on CDJapan's Pre-Order Ranking.

Title

During Sho Sakurai's radio show Sho Beat on March 2, 2008, it was revealed that the Dream "A" Live title was created by Sakurai and Jun Matsumoto. The original title was "Alive", but was then purposely divided into "A Live" to indicate the group's name and the live performance. Matsumoto also added "Dream" to the title to signify how "dreams can turn into reality" because the coincided Arashi Marks 2008 Dream-A-Live tour was considered a major achievement, as only two other Johnny's groups had previously performed a five-dome tour.^[5]

Track list

CD 1
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Theme of Dream "A" Live"		Ha-j	1:43
2.	"Move Your Body"	Hydrant, Sho Sakurai	Mike Rose	3:17
3.	"Happiness"	Wonderland	Mio Okada	4:17
4.	"Niji no Kanata e"	Tomokazu Miura, Sakurai	Kei Yoshikawa	4:57
5.	"Do My Best"	Youth Case	Youth Case	4:19
6.	"Sirius"	Unite	Tateki Kobayashi	4:37
7.	"Flashback"	Takashi Ogawa, Sakurai	Akemi Imai	4:38
8.	"Dive into the Future"	Unite	Mattias Hakansson, Carl Utbult, Anton Malmberg	4:10
9.	"Koe"	Ogawa	Shinya Tada	4:52
10.	"My Answer"	Yasushi Sasamoto, Sakurai	Sasamoto	3:59
11.	"Life Goes On"	Tada	Masayuki Iwata	4:40
12.	"Step and Go"	Wonderland, Sakurai	Youth Case	4:49
13.	"Your Song"	Katsuhiko Sugiyama	Sugiyama	5:02
14.	"Once Again" (Regular edition only)	Wonderland, Sakurai	Alfred Tuohey, Thanh Bui	4:20

CD 2
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Hello Goodbye" (Masaki Aiba solo)	100+	100+	3:55
2.	"Gimmick Game" (Kazunari Ninomiya solo)	Ninomiya	Ninomiya	3:36
3.	"Take Me Faraway" (Satoshi Ohno solo)	R.P.P	R.P.P	4:30
4.	"Naked" (Jun Matsumoto solo)	Jun	Taku Yoshioka	5:17
5.	"Hip Pop Boogie" (Sho Sakurai solo)	Sakurai	Count Force (Track making)	4:09

Chart performance

The album debuted at the number one on the Oricon singles daily chart upon its release with the sales index number of 57,795 (about 101,000 copies). By the end of its first week, the album sold a total of 220,722 copies.^[6] The album ranked as the 30th best-selling album of 2008 in Japan, selling 303,727 by the end of the year.^[3]

On January 1, 2009, the album was placed at number 38 on Billboard Japan's 2008 Top Albums Year-End list.^[7]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[8]

Adam Greenberg on Allmusic gave Dream "A" Live three out of five stars, calling it a "decent album throughout, well-crafted and well-performed".^[8]

Aside from topping the sales rankings, Oricon also reported that the album was a hit with male buyers. Even men in the 40-year-old age bracket had planned to buy the album, compared to the interest with the group's previous album. The music statistics group attributed the group's increasing fan base to their primetime variety program Himitsu no Arashi-chan (ひみつの嵐ちゃん! Arashi's Secrets) and the various dramas and commercials that the members have appeared in. It was considered quite a development, since many promotions and releases of Johnny's artists are geared towards female teens and young adults.^[9]

Charts and certifications

Charts Chart (2008) Peak position Japan Oricon album Weekly Chart[6] 1 Japan Oricon album Yearly Chart[3] 30

Sales and certifications Country Provider Sales Certification Japan RIAJ 303,727[3] Platinum[10]

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
Japan	April 23, 2008	J Storm	CD	JACA-5091[11]
			2CD	JACA-5089[12]
Taiwan	May 9, 2008	Avex Taiwan	CD	JAJCD26004[13]
			2CD	JAJCD26004/A[14]
Hong Kong	May 14, 2008	Avex Asia	CD[15]
			2CD[16]
Korea	August 19, 2008	SM Entertainment	CD	SMJTCD271[17]
			2CD	SMJTCD270[18]

Personnel

Musicians

Arashi Masaki Aiba – vocals Jun Matsumoto – vocals Kazunari Ninomiya – vocals Satoshi Ohno – vocals Sho Sakurai – vocals Jun Abe – piano, keyboard Akira – choir, chorus Tanakam Ayuko – choir, chorus Melvin Lee Davis – electric bass Naoki Hayashibe – acoustic guitar Masato Ishinari – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric sitar Gen Strings Ittetsu – strings Ikuo Kakehashi – percussion

Daisuke Kawai – organ Takahiro Miyazaki – alto saxophone Susumu Nishikawa – acoustic guitar, electric guitar Hideaki Sakai – percussion Satoshi Sano – trombone, chromatic harmonica Shiro Sasaki – trumpet Yasushi Sasamoto – keyboard Hiroomi Shitara – acoustic guitar, electric guitar Masanori Suzuki – trumpet Tetsuya Takahashi – keyboard, choir, chorus Takeshi Taneda – electric bass Tomohiko Tsuya – choir, chorus Jun Usuba – tenor saxophone Ryoji Yamashiki – electric bass

Production

Jun Abe – programming Takeshi Hanzawa – photography Gen Strings Ittetsu – string arrangements Julie K. – producer Hiroshi Kawasaki – mastering Mike Rose Yasushi Sasamoto – programming Tsutomu Satomi – coordination Tetsuya Takahashi – programming

Akitomo Takakuwa – engineer, mixing Takao – stylist Shigeru Tanida – engineer, mixing Noboru Tomizawa – make-up, hair stylist Asuka Tozawa – coordination Alfred Tuohey Carl Utbult Youth Case – lyricist, composer

References

1. "Album Details - Dream "A" Live (Limited edition)" (in Japanese). J Books. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
2. "Album Details - Dream "A" Live (Regular edition)" (in Japanese). J Books. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
3. 年間ランキング特集『2008年 オリコン年間ランキング大発表！』 (in Japanese). Oricon. December 11, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
4. "Arashi Oricon Album Ranking" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
5. "Arashi Announces "5 Dome Tour"". Tokyograph. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
6. 2008年05月第1週の邦楽アルバムランキング情報 (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
7. "Billboard Japan Top Albums Year End 2008" (in Japanese). Billboard. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
8. Greenberg, Adam. "Dream "A" Live review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
9. 嵐 8枚目のアルバムは、男性からの関心度も上昇 (in Japanese). Oricon. April 20, 2008. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
10. "ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2008年4月". RIAJ. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
11. "Dream"A"live (Regular Edition)". CD Japan. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
12. "Dream"A"live (Limited Edition)". CD Japan. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
13. "Dream "A"live (普通版)" (in Chinese). Avex Taiwan. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
14. "Dream "A"live (初回版)" (in Chinese). Avex Taiwan. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
15. "Dream"A"live (Normal Edition) (Hong Kong Version)" (in Chinese). YesAsia. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
16. "Dream"A"live (First Press Limited Edition) (Hong Kong Version)" (in Chinese). YesAsia. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
17. "Arashi (아라시) - Dream "A"live (통상판)" (in Korean). Aladdin. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
18. "Arashi (아라시) - Dream "A"live (초회한정판)" (in Korean). Aladdin. Retrieved 2010-02-09.

External links

• Dream "A" Live product information
• Dream "A" Live personnel