"Love (Destiny)" (stylized as "LOVE ~Destiny~") is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

, serving as the second single for her second studio album, ''

Loveppears ''Loveppears'' (stylized as ''LOVEppears'') is the second studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released in Japan, Hong Kong and China on November 10, 1999 through Avex Trax and the China Record Corporation, and distrib ...

'' (1999). It was released by Avex Trax in Japan and Taiwan on April 14, 1999, and through Avex Entertainment Inc. worldwide in September 2008. The track was written by Hamasaki herself, while production was handled by long-time collaborator

Max Matsuura , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and businessman. He is the founder of Avex Group, one of the largest music labels. He is known mainly for discovering and developing new artists into stars (most notably Ayumi Hamas ...

. Three versions of the recording have been made available—a ballad version arranged by Tsunku, an edited version with vocals by Tsunku, and a dance-influenced version included on ''Loveppears''. Upon its release, "Love (Destiny)" received near universal acclaim from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, praising her vocal performance, with some highlighting the single as one of Hamasaki's best work. Commercially, the recording experienced success in Japan, reaching number one on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

and TBS'

Count Down TV (also known as CDTV) is a Japanese late-night music television program, broadcast on TBS since 1993. The program is shown weekly, and features a Japanese music video hit chart countdown, live performances from musicians and music information. ...

chart, her first song to do so on either charts. It also became Hamasaki's first single to sell over 500,000 units, and was certified Platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

(RIAJ) for shipments of 400,000 copies. Due to the single's success, it was re-released as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

and re-entered both charts. An accompanying music video was directed by

Wataru Takeishi is a prolific Japanese music video director. Takeishi has created videos for Japanese superstars such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Every Little Thing. Most Expensive Music Videos Three videos that Takeishi directed appear on the list of most expensiv ...

, and featured Hamasaki in a large skyscraper while singing to the song in different areas. In order to promote the single, it appeared on several

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

and

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation albums, and live concert torus conducted by Hamasaki. It was also used as the theme song for Japanese television show ''SemiDouble'' (1999). To date, the recording remains one of her highest-selling singles according to

Oricon Style , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

Background

Versions and composition

Three versions of the recording have been made available for purchase. "Love (Destiny)" initially served as Hamasaki's second single for her album ''

'' but did not appear on the album for unknown reasons. Written by the singer, the production process was handled by

whilst it was composed by Japanese musician and businessman

Tsunku , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer, record producer, and songwriter. He is the lead singer of the rock band Sharam Q. As a songwriter, Tsunku is the primary producer for Morning Musume and other Hello! Project acts, such as Coconut ...

, who worked as the producer for Japanese group

Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles with an ...

and vocalist of

Sharan Q was a Japanese rock band composed of lead singer , on guitar, on drums and on keyboards. Biography They debuted with in 1992. They were not an instant hit initially, but their fourth single broke the top 50 of the Oricon charts. Even ...

at that time. The composition was then arranged by Shingo Kobayashi and Yasuaki Maejima, and mixed by Atsushi Hattori. The second version, "Love (Since 1999)", portrayed a duet with Tsunku and featured songwriting credits by him during the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

chorus. Being arranged by Takao Konishi and mixed by Koji Uchikado, the track appeared as an A-side single in Japan and Taiwan during its April 1999 release. The final counterpart of the recording was titled "Love (Refrain)", and was similarly composed by Tsunku, but arranged by Naoto Suzuki and programmed by Takahiro Iida. "Love (Refrain)" was added to the track list of ''Loveppears'', and is musically a

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song, a genre that heavily influences the album. According to the demo sheet music published at

Ultimate Guitar Archive Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. UG ...

, the recording is set in

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

of common time with a tempo of 89

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. Lyrically, each song was written in third person perspective, a trait that is shared with the rest of the tracks on ''Loveppears''. The lyrical content of the songs delves on a lonely woman who wants to find love.

Release and formats

"Love (Destiny)" was released by Avex Trax in Japan and Taiwan on April 14, 1999, and through Avex Entertainment Inc. worldwide in September 2008. The

mini CD Mini CDs, or pocket CDs, are CDs with a smaller diameter and one-third the storage capacity of a standard 120 mm disc. Formats Amongst the various formats are the *Mini CD single, a small disc. The format is mainly used for audio CD si ...

format featured a total of four tracks, with the first two being original recordings accompanied instrumentals. Subsequently, on February 28, 2001, Avex Trax distributed a

including the four tracks from the mini CD, plus two remixes of Hamasaki's single "

Kanariya "Kanariya" (Japanese: "Canary") is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki for her second studio album, ''Loveppears'' (1999). It was released by Avex Trax in Japan and Hong Kong on December 8, 1999, and through Avex USA in No ...

" (1999) and one remix of a previous album track, "From Your Letter". The artwork of the CD and digital format was shot by Toru Kumazawa, and featured an image of Hamasaki hugging an unidentified male.

Reception

Upon its release, "Love (Destiny)" received widespread acclaim from

. A reviewer at

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

was positive towards the songwriting, and praised Hamasaki's "painful" and "love y performance. In 2015, Japanese website Goo.ne.jp hosted a 24-hour only poll for audiences in Japan to vote for their favorite single released by Hamasaki; as a result, "Love (Destiny)" ranked at number six, with a rating of 43.9 average percent. Commercially, "Love (Destiny)" experienced success in Japan. It debuted inside the top ten on the

, selling 70,540 in its first week of availability. The recording then went to number one, becoming Hamasaki's first number one single on that chart. It lasted 26 weeks, marking the singer's longest-charting release. Charting together as "Love (Destiny)"/"Love (Since 1999)", both tracks debuted at number one on the

chart hosted by

Tokyo Broadcasting System formerly is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network and radio network . It has a 28-affiliate television network called JNN (Japan News Network), as well as a 34-affili ...

(TBS), having become her first number one there as well, and similarly spent 26 weeks within the top 100. By the end of 1999, "Love (Destiny)" sold over 650,790 units in Japan, thus being ranked at number 30 on Oricon's Annual 1999 chart behind two fellow releases of the singer, " Boys & Girls" (1999) and her extended play '' A'' (1999). Likewise, it charted at number 28 on TBS' Annual Chart. In July 1999, the single was certified Platinum by the

(RIAJ) for shipments of 400,000 units. As of July 2016, "Love (Destiny)" marks the singer's 12th highest-selling song based on

's database. Following the CD single release, "Love (Destiny)" charted at number 20 on the Oricon Singles Chart, the highest result from her re-released maxi CDs. It lasted four weeks within the top 100, and sold 39,080 units. Additionally, the song reached number 100 on TBS Count Down TV chart on May 14, 2001, her lowest entry to date.

Music video and promotion

An accompanying music video for the single was directed by

. It opens with Hamasaki watching her previous music videos on several television screens. Sitting in a small room, she exits it and finds a large number of fans and paparazzi bombarding her; scenes interspersed through the main plot feature her looking towards a mirror. Following the first chorus, Hamasaki is shown riding through Tokyo city, including her appearance at a recording studio singing the song, and on top of a skyscraper at night. The frames subsequently re-appear throughout the visual, with it ending with a blurry shot of Hamasaki looking away from the mirror, and the TV screens from the first shot displaying the logo of Avex Trax. The music video was included on several DVD compilations released by Hamasaki: ''A Clips'' (2000), ''A Complete Box Set'' (2004), the digital release of ''A Clips Complete'' (2014), and the DVD and Blu-Ray re-release edition of her 2001 compilation album ''

A Best ''A Best'' (stylized as ''BEST'') is the first greatest hits album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on March 28, 2001, by Avex Trax and Avex Music Creative Inc. Hamasaki had originally planned to release the greates ...

'' (2016). It was additionally used as the theme for Japanese television show ''Semi Double'' (1999). "Love (Destiny)" has been heavily promoted on compilation albums conducted by Hamasaki. It has been included on one of the singer's remix compilation album, '' Ayu-mi-x 7 Version Acoustic Orchestra'' (2012). A remix produced by Todd Okawa appeared on the maxi CD for her single " Boys & Girls", and it was re-recorded for her 10th anniversary in 2008 on her single release "

Days/Green "Days"/"Green" is the forty-fourth single (forty-fifth overall) by the Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki, released on December 17, 2008. In addition to the A-sides "Days" and "Green", the single contains re-recorded versions of Hamasaki's songs " Lov ...

". The single has also been featured on two of Hamasaki's

albums, ''A Best'' (2001), and '' A Complete: All Singles'' (2007). "Love (Destiny)" has further been included on one of the singer's major concert tours,

part one Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer * Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer *Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor *Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) a ...

and part two of her 2000 concert tour.

Track listings

*Mini CD # "Love (Destiny)" – 4:55 # "Love (Since 1999)" – 4:39 # "Love (Destiny)" (instrumental) – 4:55 # "Love (Since 1999)" (instrumental) – 4:39 *CD single # "Love (Destiny)" – 4:55 # "Love (Since 1999)" – 4:39 # "Kanariya" (Big Room mix) – 7:34 # "Kanariya" (H∧L's mix) – 4:22 # "From Your Letter" (Pandart Sasanooha mix) – 5:41 # "Love (Destiny)" (instrumental) – 4:55 # "Love (Since 1999)" (instrumental) – 4:39 *Digital download EP #1 # "Love (Destiny)" – 4:55 # "Love (Since 1999)" – 4:39 # "Love (Destiny)" (instrumental) – 4:55 # "Love (Since 1999)" (instrumental) – 4:39 *Digital download EP #2 # "Love (Destiny)" – 4:55 # "Love (Since 1999)" – 4:39 # "Kanariya" (Big Room Mix) – 7:34 # "Kanariya" (H∧L's Mix) – 4:22 # "From Your Letter" (Pandart Sasanooha Mix) – 5:41 # "Love (Destiny)" (instrumental) – 4:55 # "Love (Since 1999)" (instrumental) – 4:39 *US and Canada digital download # "Love (Destiny)" – 4:55 # "Love (Since 1999)" – 4:39

Charts

Weekly charts

Yearly charts

Certification and sales

Release history

Notes

References

External links

"Love (Destiny)"
at Ayumi Hamasaki's official website. {{authority control Ayumi Hamasaki songs 1999 singles 2001 singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles Songs written by Ayumi Hamasaki Songs written by Tsunku Japanese television drama theme songs 1999 songs