Next Level

CD Only Cover	CD+DVD Cover
2CD+DVD Cover	USB Flash Drive Cover

PLAYBUTTON

Artist

Hamasaki Ayumi

Album

NEXT LEVEL

Released

2009.03.25 (Japan)

2009.03.27 (South Korea and Taiwan)

2009.04.03 (Hong Kong)

2010.03.25 (China)

2012.03.21 (PLAYBUTTON)

Catalog Number

AVCD-23856~7/B (Limited 2CD+DVD)

AVCD-23858/B (CD+DVD)

AVCD-23859 (CD Only)

AVCD-23860 (Limited USB Flash Drive)

AQZD-50677 (PLAYBUTTON)

Price

¥4,500 (Limited 2CD+DVD)

¥3,990 (CD+DVD)

¥3,150 (CD Only)

¥6,800 (Limited USB Flash Drive)

¥2,800 (PLAYBUTTON)

CD1 Tracklist

1. Bridge to the sky
2. NEXT LEVEL
3. Disco-munication
4. EnergizE
5. Sparkle
6. rollin'
7. GREEN
8. Load of the SHUGYO
9. identity
10. Rule
11. LOVE 'n' HATE
12. Pieces of SEVEN
13. Days
14. Curtain call

LIVE CD from "PREMIUM COUNTDOWN LIVE 2008-2009 A" Tracklist

1. GREEN
2. Will
3. End of the World
4. Heartplace
5. And Then
6. Naturally
7. POWDER SNOW
8. HOPE or PAIN
9. Over
10. SCAR
11. SIGNAL
12. Hana
13. too late
14. everywhere nowhere
15. Days
16. For My Dear...

DVD Tracklist

1. Days <video clip>
2. GREEN <video clip>
3. Rule <video clip>
4. Sparkle <video clip>
5. NEXT LEVEL <video clip>
6. Curtain call <video clip>
7. Days <making clip>
8. GREEN <making clip>
9. Rule <making clip>
10. Sparkle <making clip>
11. NEXT LEVEL <making clip>
12. Curtain call <making clip>

Information

NEXT LEVEL is the tenth full-length studio album released by Hamasaki Ayumi. It is the first Japanese album to be released as a USB Memory stick, as well as its releases in 2CD+DVD, CD+DVD, and CD-Only formats. The limited USB version comes with all 14 songs in .mp3 format, a digital booklet in .pdf form, and the six music videos in .mp4 format, all on a 2GB flash drive. The making-of's are not included. The USB version was in high enough demand that avex trax had to release a limited reissue for this format weeks before the album was even released. Sound-wise, NEXT LEVEL represents a shift for Hamasaki from the pop-rock style she used between 2005 to 2008 into a more electro-pop sound relevant for the year 2009. A limited PLAYBUTTON edition of the album was later released on March 21st, 2012.

The album is certified Double Platinum for shipment of 500,000 copies.

Credits

Click "Expand" for more details:

Hamasaki promoting the single.

• Produced by max matsuura

• Directed & Recorded by Koji Morimoto

• A&R + Director: Hidetomo 'KOME' Yoneda (avex trax)

• Mastered by Shigeo Miyamoto at form THE MASTER

• Recordist: Koji Morimoto, Satoshi Sasamoto (prime sound studio form), Yuichi Nagayama, John Paterno
• 2nd Engineer: Seiji Itabashi (prime sound studio form), Ryan Kennedy, Josh Gudwin (Record Plant Recording Studios, LA)
• Recorded & Mixed at Record Plant Recording Studios, LA, prime sound studio form, avex honolulu studios, Studio Sound DALI, Victor Studio, Warner Music Recording Studio

• Composer Management: Tadayoshi Matsuzaka, Shigeru Kajita, Yoshihiko Mototani (tearbridge production), Tomonori Takeda (Ryuken), Morihiko Aoyagi (SCOOP MUSIC), Takahide Azuchi, Hiroshi Kawano (True Song Music)
• Players & Studio Coordination in LA: Mai Takamizawa (Plenty)
• Players Coordination: Yoji Sugiyama (Witchcraft), Yasushi Noriguchi (HOT WAVE)
• Studio Setup Assist: Noriko Yajima (prime sound studio form)
• Additional Direction Support (M14): Yoshihisa Tokuda (avex entertainment inc.)

• Team Ayu: Kazuki 'Mr.KAZ' Okabe (avex management inc.)
• Artist Management Chief: Kouji 'Ouji' Hashimoto (avex management inc.)
• Artist Management: Tadashi Urakami, Masaaki Gyobu (avex management inc.)

• Artist Management Supervisor: Yasuto Hoyamatsu (avex management inc.)
• Artist Brand Management: Hideki 'Jackie' Endo (avex management inc.)

• Visual Producer: Kiyoshi 'Mizumo' Utsumi (avex group)
• Media Promotion: Takeshi Mori & All Promotion Division Media Room, Hideki Hori & All Publicity Room Staff (avex entertainment inc.)
• Media Promotion Supervisor: Yoshihiro Seki (avex entertainment inc.)
• Sales Promotion: Tomohiro Miyauchi, Jun Yogi, Takashi Saigo, Miyuki Ono & All AMI Staff (avex marketing inc.)
• Tie-up Coordination: Kenta Kobayashi, Seitaro Takagi, Yasushi Sakai, Hidenori Nishijima, Shuichi Kato & All Promotion Division Tie-up Room Staff (avex entertainment inc.)
• Casting Coordination: Tatsuo Kodama, Tomoyasu Kimura, Shingo Kitagawa, Kazunari Ishii & All Promotion Division Casting Room Staff (avex management inc.)
• Merchandising Director: Naomi Mayuzumi (avex marketing inc.)
• Team Ayu Operation: Noriko Shiraishi (avex marketing inc.)
• A&R Desk: Yuka Nakanishi (avex trax)
• Management Desk: Mari Morita (avex management inc.)

• A&R Chief: Kentaro Furusawa (avex trax)
• A&R Supervisor: Hiroshi Ishimori (avex trax)
• A&R Exeecutive Supervisor: Jun Harada (avex trax)

• General Producers: Shinji Hayashi, Takashi Araki, Ryuhei Chiba (avex group)

• Photographer: Kazuyoshi Shimomura (AVGVST)
• Assistant Photographer: Masayuki Kamo
• Design: Tomokazu Suzuki (MOMOYA)

• Hair: Kazuyoshi Takahashi (ZACC)
• Assistant Hair: Hiroyuki 'Koi-Pink' Kuramoto (ZACC)
• Stylist: Kei 'Okei' Ito (Two Culture Inc)
• Assistant Stylist: Yuko 'Dj' Honda (Two Culture Inc)
• Costume Director: Akira Noda (Workaholik)
• Nail Artist: Kanako 'Bancho' Miura (Three Peace)
• Assistant Nail Artist: Shingo 'Minazo' Sano
• Make Up: Jin 'Gori' Kiyota (Rond.)
• Trainer: So 'kurisuteru' Nagashima (tune:up)

• Set Support: NOMURA Co., Ltd.

• Creative Coordination: Naoki Ueda (avex marketing inc.)
• CG Treatment: Makoto Harikae, Hiroko Tanaka, Toru Sakuma (amana)
• Quality Control: Masashi Shinabe, Toshiyuki Suzuki (avex marketing inc.)
• DVD Authoring: Akihito Horikoshi (avex marketing inc.)
• DVD Menu Design: Yohei Sato (avex marketing inc.)

• A Special Thanks: Junichi 'nonchan' Kamitoku, Mika 'mama♥' Noguchi, Tetsuya 'Hige' Hirakawa, Takako 'Turico' Tsuriya, Mizuho Sano, Satomi Masubuchi, Shouko Miki (ZACC), Keizo Kuroda, Kazuhisa Kurumizawa (Three Peace), Jun Yoshida (ISM), Ward Sexton, Katsutaka 'Numacchi' Numakura (Office Lift), ANEKI, Bacchi, ...and You!!!

Oricon Chart Positions

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Week Rank	Sales
-	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	240,810
2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	50,271
2	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	28,575
5	9	7	6	6	6	6	7	13,131
5	10	17	16	16	13	12	14	9,368
8	25	19	14	19	16	17	18	6,863
16	19	23	19	24	23	14	20	4,918
13	32	36	35	30	31	18	28	3,439
26	-	-	39	-	41	34	50	2,286
29	-	-	-	-	-	47	59	2,056
40	-	-	-	-	-	-	67	1,568
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	79	1,463
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	84	1,265
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	146	1,045
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	107	1,218
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	149	1,032
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	153	901
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	199	840
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	167	825
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	188	791
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	105	1,201
49	-	-	-	-	-	-	135	941
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	170	831
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	166	722
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	251	514
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	287	462
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	276	536
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	out for thirteen weeks
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	173	1,675
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	271	442

Total Reported Sales: 379,989
Total Sales in 2009: 377,872 (#16 album of the year)
Total Sales in 2010: 2,117

Billboard Japan Top Album Chart Positions

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11
Position	1	2	5	5	13	16	17	25	38	45	76

World Chart Positions

	Week 1	Week 2
Position	1	15

G-Music Japanese Chart Positions

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13
Position	13	1	4	3	4	6	5	8	10	12	-	18	16
Percentage	0.88%	33.9%	8.04%	4.04%	3.77%	3.7%	3.57%	2.28%	1.18%	0.71%	-	0.69%	0.64%

External Links

• Oricon Profile: 2CD+DVD | CD+DVD | CD Only | USB Memory