''Perfume: Complete Best'' (stylized as ''Perfume ~Complete Best~'') is the first greatest hits album by Japanese girl group

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

. It was released on August 2, 2006 by

Tokuma Japan Communications is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company’s product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, m ...

. The greatest hits album includes work released from their previous record label Bee-hive Records, and previous work with Tokuma Japan Communications. The album also included

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

and one newly recorded track. It was released in three different formats; a CD and DVD bundle, a digital release, and a double 12-inch vinyl LP. The LP was released through Perfume's February 2016

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

''Perfume Complete LP Box'', and a singular limited release. Upon its release, ''Perfume: Complete Best'' was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Many critics admitted their disapproval of the album's material at first, but retrospectively commended the album's composition and production. Commercially, ''Perfume: Complete Best'' was a moderate success. The album reached number 33 on Japan's

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

, whilst a limited edition reached number 66. After Perfume's 2008 debut studio album ''

Game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

'' reached the top of the Oricon Albums Chart, ''Perfume: Complete Best'' reached number 25 on the same chart.

Background

In 2003, following their graduation from the Actors School in Hiroshima, Perfume moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

to further establish themselves as a musical project. There, they became a part of Bee-Hive and signed with the management office

Amuse, Inc. is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services. The artists include idols, musicians, and so on. Amuse produces TV and radio programs, commercial films, and movies. Other interests are in publication, music software ...

In Tokyo, they met Japanese producer and Capsule member

Yasutaka Nakata is a Japanese DJ and music producer. He formed the band Capsule in 1997 with vocalist Toshiko Koshijima and himself as composer and record producer when both were 17. The band debuted in 2001 with the song "Sakura". He is known for being the ...

; Bee-Hive later hired Nakata to produce the groups beginning material. Between the years of 2003 and 2004, Nakata produced three singles; "

Sweet Donuts is the third single released by the Japanese techno-pop group Perfume, and the first single in which they were produced by Yasutaka Nakata is a Japanese DJ and music producer. He formed the band Capsule in 1997 with vocalist Toshiko Koshij ...

", " Monochrome Effect", and " Vitamin Drop" under Bee-Hive Records. Commercially, none of the singles were particularly successful prior to their release, barely scraping the top 100 on Japan's

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 ...

. Because of the lack of success from the first three singles, Bee-Hive Records decided to release Perfume and give them to

for bigger prospects. Working with Nakata through Tokuma Japan Communications and

Contemode Contemode, stylized in all lowercase, was a Japanese record label founded by Yasutaka Nakata in 2003. The label was based in Shibuya, Tokyo and specialized in a variety of music styles including electropop, Shibuya-kei, lounge, dance, and hardc ...

(his label with Yahama Music Communications), the collaboration spawned a series of singles including "

Linear Motor Girl "Linear Motor Girl" is the first major label single (sixth overall) of Japanese electropop girl group Perfume. It was released on September 21, 2005 in Japan, and was the group's first release under Tokuma is a publisher in Japan, headquarter ...

", " Computer City", and " Electro World". The result was slightly more successful, giving Perfume their first three top 100 singles and one top 50 with "Computer City". In July 2006, Perfume confirmed they would release a compilation album consisting of one new recording, plus their previous work.

Composition

''Perfume: Complete Best'' is an electronic dance album that borrows numerous musical elements including

technopop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 130 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki ...

and

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

. According to staff reviews from ''CD Journal'' and Greg from Selective Hearing, every track includes electronic music elements; Greg commented "Everything but the last track is an uptempo, happy pop kind of song. You figure hearing 11 tracks of that kind of music would be annoying but it’s not. There’s enough variety in each track to make the journey worthwhile." ''Perfume: Complete Best'' includes singles released from their previous record label Bee-hive Records ("Sweet Donuts", "Monochrome Effect", "Vitamin Drop"), and previous work with Tokuma Japan Communications ("Linear Motor Girl", "Computer City", "Electro World"). The album features four

tracks from their previous singles; "Inryoku", "Foundation", "Computer Driving", "Perfume", and "Wonder2", and one new song; "Perfect Star Perfect Style".

Release and packaging

''Perfume: Complete Best'' was released in three different formats on August 2, 2006 by

. The CD and DVD format features the twelve tracks in a jewel case and a bonus DVD that includes music videos to "Linear Motor Girl", "Computer City", "Electro World", and "Vitamin Drop". First press editions including an obi and a cardboard sleeve case. A limited edition CD and DVD format features the twelve tracks, and a bonus DVD includes music videos to "Linear Motor Girl", "Computer City", "Electro World", and "Vitamin Drop". It was published in a jewel case with some editions with a cardboard sleeve; First press editions included an obi. The final format was a digital release that was released in Japan only on that same release date. One cover sleeve for ''Perfume: Complete Best'' has Perfume inside a white room, posing towards the camera. This booklet was featured on all three formats. In February 2012, the group had signed a record contract with

Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in the country regarding music distribution. The company is resp ...

after leaving Tokuma Japan Communications to record their third album '' JPN''. They signed a global record contract with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

to release ''JPN'' globally, but received rights by Tokuma Communications to release their discography globally, and ''Perfume: Complete Best'' was subsequently released worldwide in March 2012 digitally. In November 2015, Perfume and Universal (with publishing rights from Tokuma and Crown Tokuma) announced the re-release of all their studio albums, including ''Perfume: Complete Best'', in the form of

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

s in a collective 0box set. The LP edition of ''Perfume: Complete Best'' was released in two editions; part of the box set entitled ''Perfume Complete LP Box'', and a limited edition singular release on February 17, 2016.

Critical reception

''Perfume: Complete Best'' received favourable reviews from most music critics. A reviewer from Channel-Ai awarded the album three-and-a-half stars out of five. The reviewer stated "For people who just can’t stand techno, Perfume won’t be to their liking no matter how catchy the songs are. However, for those who find electronica tolerable or enjoyable, Perfume will be a group to their liking." The reviewer concluded, "Even though it is a best of collection, the album has a sense of continuity. Despite having misses in this album, particularly amongst the not so stellar b-sides included, ''Perfume: Complete Best'' remains an unique and enjoyable j-pop experience." A reviewer from ''CD Journal'' was positive, who commended the album's different mixture of genres and the groups "techno-idol" image. Greg from Selective Hearing was fairly positive, though he stated "I only have one issue with this group. That has to do with the processed vocals in some of the songs. When the effect is on I can’t really tell who’s singing. I find it a little distracting, but not enough to make me hit the stop button." In conclusion, he stated "This is a great album & a perfect introduction to their music. I’m glad I gave them another shot." A reviewer from

Amazon Japan Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

was positive, who highlighted "Linear Motor Girl", "Computer City", and "Electro World" as the album's best tracks.

Commercial performances

The standard format of ''Perfume: Complete Best'' debuted at number 53 on the Japanese Daily

. This resulted in the album debuting at number 66 the Japanese Weekly Oricon Albums Chart. The album lasted four weeks in the top 300 chart, and sold an estimated 6,672 by 2006. After Perfume's 2008 debut studio album ''

'' reached the top of the Oricon Albums Chart, ''Perfume: Complete Best'' reached number 25 on the same chart. The album spent over 100 weeks in the top 300 chart, and sold over 170,000 units by 2008. Recognized as a single release 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), ''Perfume: Complete Best'' sold over 177,000 units in Japan and was certified platinum by RIAJ for physical shipments of 250,000 units in that region.

Concert tours

Whilst promoting ''Game'' and amidst its 2008 release, Perfume went on two promotional tours to promote both ''Game'' and ''Perfume: Complete Best''; the Seventh Heaven tour at the Liquidroom in Japan, and the Perfume Socks Fix Makes Tour in Shibyua, Tokyo. For the Seventh Heaven tour, the album tracks: "Computer Driving", "Computer City", "Perfect Star Perfect Style", "Sweet Donuts", "Perfume", "Wonder2", and other tracks "Oishii Recipe", "Imitation World", "Counter Attraction", "Kareshi Boshuuchuu", "Jenny wa Gokigen Naname", and "Attraction" were included on the set list. The tour received positive reviews from music critics; Tetuso Hiraga from ''Hot Express'' commended the tour, praising certain tracks and the overall stage production. For the Socks Fix Makes, the album tracks: "Electro World", "Sweet Donuts", "Foundation", "Perfect Star Perfect Style", "Computer City", "Perfume", "Wonder2", and the b-side tracks "Oishii Recipe", and "Imitation World" were included on the set list. The tour received positive reviews from music critics; Hiraga felt the Shibuya concert was an improvement from the Seventh Heaven tour, and commended the sufficiency in material.

Track listing

All formats

* Standard CD and DVD – Consists of twelve songs on one disc, and four music videos. * First pressing standard CD and DVD – Consists of twelve songs on one disc, and four music videos. First pressing issues include a bonus obi strip and a cardboard sleeve case. * Limited CD and DVD – Consists of twelve songs on one disc, and four different music videos. * First pressing limited CD and DVD – Consists of twelve songs on one disc, and four different music videos. First pressing issues include a bonus obi strip and a cardboard sleeve case. * LP – Consists of six tracks on one vinyl disc, and another six tracks on the second. * Digital download – Consists of twelve songs on one disc.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Perfume: Complete Best''. *

Ayano Ōmoto , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer and dancer. She is known as one of the members of the Japanese electropop group Perfume. Biography Ōmoto was born and raised in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and attended Actor's School Hiroshima wit ...

(Nocchi) – lead vocals, background vocals *

Ayaka Nishiwaki , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer and dancer. She is known as one of the members of the Japanese electropop group Perfume. Biography Nishiwaki was born and raised in Hiroshima, Japan, where she attended Actor's School Hiroshima with friends a ...

(A-Chan) – lead vocals, background vocals *

Yuka Kashino (born 23 December 1988), nicknamed , is a Japanese singer and dancer. She is known as one of the members of the electropop group Perfume. Biography Kashino was born and raised in Hiroshima, Japan, where she attended Actor's School Hiroshima w ...

(Kashiyuka) – lead vocals, background vocals *

– song writing, producing, composing, arranging, engineer, mixing, recorded by *Emi Kinoko – song writing *Bee-Hive Records – Perfume's previous record label *

– Perfume's distribution and record label *

– Perfume's 2012–present label; distribution co-rights *

– Nakata's distribution label, co-rights *Yamaha Music Communications – Nakata's distribution label, co-rights

Charts

Certifications

Notes

References

External links

''Perfume: Complete Best''
– Perfume's official website. {{Authority control Perfume (Japanese band) albums 2006 debut albums 2006 greatest hits albums 2006 video albums Music video compilation albums Albums produced by Yasutaka Nakata