''Conqueror'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the Japanese all-female rock band

Band-Maid Band-Maid (stylized as BAND-MAID® until 2016) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2013, consisting of singer Saiki Atsumi, guitarist/singer Miku Kobato, lead guitarist Kanami Tōno, bassist Misa, and drummer Akane Hirose. The band combines a rock ...

. 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 Albu ...

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-Maid, Lovebites, and Nemophila. History The label was establi ...

includes English lyric translations and Romaji lyric transliterations. " Glory" was used as the second ending theme for the second season of the anime series ''

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS is a Japanese anime series animated by Gallop. It is the sixth main anime series in the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' franchise. The series aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from May 10, 2017 to September 25, 2019. It was simulcast outside of Asia by Crunchyroll ...

''. "

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 funda ...

" 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 AIs and human 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 in stadiums. "At the Drop of a Hat" was written the day the

Reiwa is the current Japanese era name, era of Japan's official calendar. It began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Emperor Akihito's elder son, Naruhito, Enthronement of the Japanese emperor, ascended the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan. The ...

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 (8 May 1965 – 15 August 2018) was the pen name of a Japanese manga artist from Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture. She was best known as the creator of the long-running manga ''Chibi Maruko-chan''. Biography Miki Miura, was born 8 May 1965. She rev ...

. "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. 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. "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." "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 ''

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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 Japanese-language albums