''Unbalance+Balance'' is the fifteenth studio album by Japanese singer

Akina Nakamori is a Japanese Singing, singer and Actor, actress. She is one of the most popular and best-selling artists in Japan. Akina achieved national recognition after winning the 1981 season of the talent show ''Star Tanjō!''. Her debut single "Slow M ...

and first studio album to be released during the 1990s. It was released on 22 September 1993 under the

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

label The album includes the double A-side singles "Not Crazy to Me" (coupled with "

Everlasting Love "Everlasting Love" is a song written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, originally a 1967 hit for Robert Knight and since remade numerous times, most successfully by Love Affair, as well as Town Criers, Carl Carlton, Sandra Cretu, and Gloria Estef ...

" and " Aibu" (couple with " Kataomoi"). In 2002 was released re-printed version of the album ''Unbalance+Balance+6'', which includes the original version of "Not Crazy to Me", the single "Everlasting Love", "Yoru no Dokoka de", and B-sides "Rose Bud" and "Blue Lace", which was previously unreleased from the album sessions.

Background

''Unbalance+Balance'' is Nakamori's first studio album to be released after four years and on a new recording label. The first production of the album started in summer 1992, after Nakamori finished filming television drama ''Sugao no Mama de''. According to recording producer, Nakamori's distanced from her casual style and along with new music production staff aimed more into contemporary style. Some of the past musical writers were involved with the album, including Takashi Matsumoto, Makoto Sekiguchi from

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Koji Tamaki Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to: *Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144 *Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558 * Koji orange, a Japanese citrus ...

from

Anzen Chitai is a Japanese rock band, formed in 1973 by five musicians in Asahikawa, Hokkaidō, Japan. It debuted in 1982 in Tokyo, Japan. They became one of Japan's most successful rock bands in the 1980s. Members * - Vocals, Guitars & Percussion (1973� ...

and Brasilian singer-songwriter Osny Melo. Among new team includes well-known names as

Ryuuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

Nokko Nokko (born November 4, 1963) is a Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actress. She was the lead singer of the popular band "Rebecca," which had a string of hits in Japan in the 1980s. Nokko was born in Urawa, Saitama, as . Under her stag ...

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Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

and

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the ...

. Composer

Akira Senju is a Japanese composer, arranger and conductor. Biography Senju studied composition at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and received his master's degree with honors. Between 1994 and 2003, he produced series of cover albums ...

later become the main producer of the series of cover albums "Utahime". With this album, Nakamori began to be in the charge of producing her albums. It is her second self-produced album for the first time in seven years. It was Nakamori's idea to write two songs with same melody yet different lyrics: ''Eien no Tobira'' was written by Natsuno Serino and ''Kagerou'' by Nakamori herself. It's Nakamori's first original song for first time in 9 years. ''Aibu'' was later recorded as a B-side on the cover single "Kataomoi" in 1994.

Promotion

Single

The album consists of one previously released single. "Not Crazy to Me" is a B-side take from Nakamori's twenty-seventh single "Everlasting Love". It was written by

and produced by

. It was released on 21 May 1993. It was Nakamori's the first single to be released in two years under new recording label. It includes a new melodical arrangement to the original. The original version was included on the reissue version of album, ''Unbalance+Balance+6'' and the compilation album ''Utahime Densetsu: 90's Best''. The single debuted at number 10 on the weekly Oricon Singles Chart and was Nakamori's final single to be released in compact disc format.

Stage performances

While the singles "Gekka" and "Aibu" were performed on later live tours and music television programs, the album tracks "Kurobara" was performed during the one-night live ''Parco Threatre Live'' in 1994; "Norma Jean" on the ''Spoon'' tour in 1998; and "Eien no Tobira" and "Hikaru no Nai Mangekyō" were performed for the first time on the acoustic ''21 Seiki he no Tabidachi'' tour. Kagerou was performed very often as well: Parco Theatre Live, True Akina Live in 1995 and acoustic live tour ''21 Seiki he no Tabidachi''.

Chart performance

The album reached at number 4 on the Oricon Album Weekly Chart charted for nine consecutive weeks with sales of 186,600 copies. Re-issue version of the album debut at number 58 on the Billboard Japan´s Weekly album Charts. . Until 2002 cover album ''Zero Album Utahime 2'', none of Nakamori albums did not debut in the top 10 of the weekly Oricon Albums Chart.

Track listing

Release history

Notes: *Re-releases since 2002 always includes additional 6 tracks, which were not included during its the first release time

References

{{Authority control 1993 albums Japanese-language albums Akina Nakamori albums Albums produced by Akina Nakamori