''A Classical'' (stylized as ''Classical'') is an orchestral

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and producer. Nicknamed the "Empress of Pop" on account of her influence throughout Asia, she is widely recognized for her versatile music production, songwriting, and live performances. Hamasaki is the List of ...

, released January 8, 2013 by

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

. The album consists of classical arrangements of her past works, rearranged by

Kousuke Yamashita is a Japanese composer and arranger from Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. Yamashita is best known for his work on ''Digimon Xros Wars'', ''Xenosaga: The Animation'', and the tokusatsu television series ''Mahou Sentai Magiranger'', ''Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger'' ...

. It was released on January 8, 2013. The album was the third of five releases by Hamasaki in commemoration of the fifteenth anniversary of her music career. Its cover is a hand-drawn illustration of Hamasaki's ''

Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

'' EP cover made by a fan from

Pixiv Pixiv is a Japanese Virtual community, online community for artists. It was first launched as a beta test on 10 September 2007, by Takahiro Kamitani and Takanori Katagiri. Pixiv Inc. is headquartered in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Shibuya, Toky ...

and

Kaikai Kiki is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial media (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between High art, high and low arts. His wo ...

. No singles or new tracks were released to promote ''A Classical''. ''A Classical'' entered the Oricon album chart at number one with first-week sales of over 25,000 copies, becoming the first classical album to do so; however, it went on to sell only 30,000 copies in Japan.

15th Anniversary

''A Classical'' is the third of five releases by Hamasaki in celebration of her 15th anniversary in music industry. It contains 10 rearranged tracks, out of which 7 were chosen by Team Ayu members in November 2012.

Track listing

Oricon sales chart

References

{{Ayumi Hamasaki 2013 compilation albums Ayumi Hamasaki remix albums Avex Group albums 2013 remix albums