''Conqueror'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the Japanese all-female rock band

Band-Maid Band-Maid is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in 2013, comprising singer Saiki Atsumi, guitarist/singer Miku Kobato, lead guitarist Kanami Tōno, bassist Misa, and drummer Akane Hirose. The band combines hard rock music with costumes mode ...

. It was released digitally on December 4, 2019, with physical formats released one week later. It debuted at number nine on the

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 A ...

and debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly Rock Album ranking. The album was preceded by the singles "Glory" and "Bubble", both released in January 2019. The international version from

JPU Records JPU Records is a British record label formed in 2012, which specializes in handling international releases by Japanese artists. Notable acts on JPU's roster include The Gazette (band), The Gazette, Band-Maid, Lovebites (band), Lovebites, and Nemo ...

includes English lyric translations and

Romaji The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as . Japanese is normally written in a combination of logogram, logographic characters borrowe ...

lyric transliterations. " Glory" was used as the second ending theme for the second season of the anime series '' Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS''. "

Bubble Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...

" was used as the theme song for the Japanese drama series ''Perfect Crime''. The song "Blooming" was used in the

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action thriller film ''

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''.

Background and recording

Production for the album started around August 2018. The album includes a lot of mid-tempo songs, because they felt that their fans were exhausted from their live shows and that they needed to rest. The working title was ''Future Conqueror''.

Composition and lyrics

The drums for "Page" are a mix of live and electronic sounds. Lead guitarist Kanami Tōno wrote it with the image of a song that would be played at weddings. The lyrics are about cosmetics. "Glory" was inspired by the anime ''Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS'' and describes a world where AI and humans coexist. Rhythm guitarist/vocalist Miku Kobato stated that the English lyrics in the song were made intentionally easy to sing, as they found that many kids watched the show. "Endless Story" was the first song written for the album. It was written with the image of being played at

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

. "At the Drop of a Hat" was written the day the

Reiwa is the current and 232nd era of the official calendar of Japan. It began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Emperor Akihito's eldest son, Naruhito, ascended the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan. The day before, Emperor Akihito abdicated ...

era was announced. The original title was "Reiwa". The drums are a mix of live and electronic sounds Tōno wrote the music for "Azure" after she learned of the passing of manga artist

Momoko Sakura , known professionally as (May 8, 1965 – August 15, 2018) was a Japanese people, Japanese mangaka, manga artist. She was best known as the creator of the long-running manga ''Chibi Maruko-chan''. Biography Sakura was born on May 8, 1965. She ...

. "Dilemma" was the last song written for the album, as they felt they needed one more intense song. The B-side "Screaming" was originally going to be included on the album, but they opted to record a new song instead. It was written and recorded two weeks prior to the release of the album. "Bubble" was inspired by the manga ''Perfect Crime''. Kobato wrote the lyrics to be "good enough so that those who read the original would appreciate it". They were originally going to use one of their unreleased songs for the show, but Tōno "realized that the demo I just happened to be working on at the time was a better fit for the drama." During the recording of the album, Band-Maid was contacted by producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

, who had learned about the band from songwriter Tom Kenney. Visconti invited band members Saiki Atsumi and Kobato to travel to a studio in New York City, where he produced the vocal tracks for the song "The Dragon Cries". Tōno sent Visconti a demo of the song's musical backing, expecting him to want to rework it, but he declared that it needed no alterations. "Flying High" was mixed to sound similar to "The Dragon Cries". All of the members wrote a part of the chorus of "Blooming". Bassist Misa wrote the intro. "Rinne" was originally going to be included on their previous album, ''World Domination'', but they decided it was not quite right. They stated it initially sounded closer to "Blooming", that it was not as dark and that the BPM was 190.

Critical reception

''Outright Geekery'' gave the album five out five stars, stating that it is Band-Maid's best album to date, and concluding that "This is an album with versatility, passion, and killer hit after killer hit." ''JRock News'' also praised the album, noting growth in the band's lyrics, variety in the songwriting, and a duality between the harder and softer aspects of the band's sound.

Accolades

Commercial performance

''Conqueror'' debuted at number nine on the

, selling 11,195 copies in its first week. The album debuted at number 19 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Heatseekers chart, selling 560 copies in its first week.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Miku Kobato, except track 11 by Tom Kenney; all music written and arranged by Band-Maid; all music produced by Band-Maid, except track 11 by

DVD/Blu-ray (Limited Edition)

Personnel

*Saiki Atsumi – lead vocals *Miku Kobato – rhythm guitar, vocals *Kanami Tōno – lead guitar *Misa – bass *Akane Hirose – drums

Charts

References

External links

Conqueror Listing
at

{{Authority control Band-Maid albums 2019 albums Nippon Crown albums 2010s Japanese-language albums