"Evolution" is the 20th single by Japanese recording artist and lyricist

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and producer. Nicknamed the "Empress of Pop" on account of her influence throughout Asia, she is widely recognized for her versatile music production, songwriting, and live performances. Hamasaki is the List of ...

, released on January 31, 2001, by

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

as the second single from her fourth studio album '' I Am...'' (2002). "Evolution" is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

song with a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

-esque intro. The song was fully written and composed by Hamasaki herself, under her penned alias Crea. Lyrically, the song talks about happy and sad moments in life. Upon the song's release, "Evolution" received favorable reviews from most music critics who commended the song's musical production and lyrical content, while Hamasaki's vocal delivery received criticism. Commercially, the song was a commercial success. The song peaked at number one on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), 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 down ...

, making it her eighth number one single. After selling over 950,000 units in Japan, the song was certified million 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 pro ...

(RIAJ) for shipments of one million units. The song has sold over one million units worldwide. An accompanying music video was shot by

Wataru Takeishi is a Japanese music video director. He has created videos for Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and producer. Nicknamed the "Empress of Pop" on account of her influence throughout Asia, she is widely recognized for her versatil ...

for the single version, which featured Hamasaki inside a televised studio, singing and dancing in front of a live band. In addition, after the release of this work, "Evolution" became Hamasaki's must-sing song in concerts.

Background and development

In late 2000, Hamasaki listened to ten or so

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * Plural for Demo (computer programming ...

for her new song " M", but none of them really stood out to her. To speed up the development process, she decided to compose her own song for the first time under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Crea.The Music Creator 2001年4-5月号 Vol.5 She wrote the song using her

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's composing software Studio Vision. The single received favorable reception from most

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and achieved huge success in Japan; the song peaked at number one and sold over one million units in Japan according to the

(RIAJ). To follow up on the success of "M", "Evolution" was selected as the follow-up single just one month later, which she also took charge in composing herself. Hamasaki said that she chose an aggressive sound for the song due to people labelling her as a "robot" or "doll" before.

Composition and release

"Evolution" was written by Hamasaki herself, like the rest off the '' I Am...'' album, and produced by long-time collaborator

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

. "Evolution" was one out of twelve songs on the parent album to have been composed by her, which was first asserted on "M" after her staff failed to compose a musical composition that she had felt conformable with or suited her songs. The song's arrangement was handled by

HΛL Hal (stylized HΛL, replacing the Latin "A" with the Greek "Λ" or Lambda) is a Japanese pop band formed in 1996. They have worked with several Japanese pop and rock stars and also have won two Japan Record Awards for their musical arrangements ...

, who contributed to arranging the songs "M" and "

Unite! ''I Am...'' is the fourth studio album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on January 1, 2002 by Avex Trax and was distributed throughout Asia in both physical and digital formats. Hamasaki enlisted long-time collaborato ...

" on the parent album. Musically, the song is a

and

song with a

-esque intro, which was heavily compared towards another album track "Unite!". The song's "ballad-inspired intro" was noted as "deceiving" and features Hamasaki "singing way too fast in her choruses." For the

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, the sleeve was shot by Shinichi Hara, art design was handled by Shigeru Kasai and was officially directed by Yasuyuki Tomita. The cover artwork features Hamasaki holding a microphone and features the text of the single name inprinted with the

American flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

inside it. The

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

of "Evolution" was released on January 31, 2001, by

and was eventually released digitally worldwide. In addition towards the physical release, the single was served on a vinyl release by Rhythm Republic records in Japan, a bonus

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release and also released a limited edition

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tape.

Reception

Critical reception

"Evolution" received favorable reviews from most music critics. Jeff from Random.Access.Reviews had compared both "Evolution" and "Unite!" for sharing similar music structures. He commented " UNITE!"brings more

J-rock , sometimes abbreviated to , is rock music from Japan. Influenced by American and British rock of the 1960s, the first rock bands in Japan performed what is called group sounds, with lyrics almost exclusively in English. Folk rock band Happy End ...

to the forefront, as does Evolution" eventually sounding just like each other .. Jeff commented that while the choruses were too fast and powerful, he did conclude "evolution" is a bit more catchy and poppy though, so I'll recommend that one." Greenberg, who had written the extended biography of Hamasaki on the same website, had listed "Evolution" as one of her career standouts. Hamasaki had hosted an online voting poll for fans to choose their favorite tracks to be featured on her Ayumi Hamasaki 15th Anniversary Tour ~Best Live Tour~. As a result, all three songs from ''H'' were featured on the list.

Commercial response

Commercially, the song was a success. "Evolution" debuted at number one on the

, which became Hamasaki's eighth number one in Japan since her 1999 single " Love (Destiny)", which became her first number one. It also debuted at number one on

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's (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 during the chart week of February 10, 2001. Initial sales for "Evolution" exceeded 500,000 copies, just like the previous work, with 503,020 copies sold. During the same charting week, Hamasaki's single "M" was at number eight. During the single's second charting week, it fell to number three with 180,630 copies sold, being stalled by

KinKi Kids is a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Starto Entertainment (formerly of Johnny & Associates). Domoto was formed in 1993 as Kinki Kids and officially debuted on July 21, 1997. With more than 30 m ...

' single "Boku no Senaka ni wa Hane ga Aru" and

Mai Kuraki (born October 28, 1982) is a Japanese pop and R&B singer. After releasing her US debut single " Baby I Like" in 1999, Kuraki signed with Giza Studio and released her Japanese debut single " Love, Day After Tomorrow" in 1999. In 2000, she rele ...

's single " Tsumetai Umi/Start in My Life" at number one and two respectively, and had stalled at number three for two consecutive weeks. The song "Evolution" stayed inside the top forty for eleven weeks, and fell to number forty-five in its twelfth week. The song had left the top fifty and the single's last charting position was at number 100 on its seventeenth week. Two other of Hamasaki's singles featured on that last week, which were "Unite!" and " Endless Sorrow". "Evolution" sold over 950,000 units in Japan and was certified Million by the

(RIAJ) for shipments of one million units within the country. The song was also certified gold by the RIAJ for more than 100,000 legal downloads in July 2014, which equivalently tallies the sales to over one million sales in Japan, as of July 2014. "Evolution" became Hamasaki's best-selling single in 2001 onwards until it was surpassed by her 2002 EP " H", which also charted at number one and was the only Japanese single in 2002 to sell over one million units. As of today, "Evolution" is Hamasaki's sixth best selling single in her musical career just behind "H" at five, " Boys & Girls" at four, " M" at three, "

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" at two and " A" at one. In the

Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers The , often referred to as JASRAC, is a Japanese copyright collection society. It was founded in 1939 as a nonprofit organization, and is the largest musical copyright administration society in Japan. Overview JASRAC's main business activity ...

' (JASRAC) ranking of domestic works for royalties, the single "Evolution" ranked ninth in 2001. In 2014, "Evolution" had charted on the Japan Billboard Adult Alternative chart at number 70, thirteen years later after the single's release.

Promotion

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Evolution" was directed by

. The video starts with Hamasaki being driven to the video shoot for "Evolution". Upon arrival, she is helped out of the

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

by her

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

. Throughout the video, both filming and music production equipment can be seen. At various points, Hamasaki can be seen dancing while singing into a wireless microphone; there are also points in the video where she is seen performing as a

hologram Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...

in front of a band, and places in the video where she is seen being directed by the on-set director and given touch-ups throughout filming. There are also parts in the video showing various staff members, such as film crew. For the shoot, Hamasaki cut her long hair into a short

pixie cut A pixie cut is a short hairstyle, generally short on the back and sides of the head and slightly longer on the top, with very short bangs. It is a variant of a crop. The name is derived from the mythological pixie. History The pixie cut was firs ...

and wore a fox tail on her outfit, which became a hot topic. "Evolution" was used in a

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for a line of

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Visee mascara, which featured Hamasaki herself. In 2012, it was used as the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the Japanese film '' Helter Skelter'' that starred

Erika Sawajiri is a Japanese actress, singer, and model. After debuting as a junior model in 2001, Sawajiri transitioned to acting in 2002 and has starred in '' Break Through!'', '' Shinobi: Heart Under Blade'', and '' 1 Litre of Tears'', for all of which she ...

Track listing

Single

#Evolution "Original Mix" - 4:42 #Evolution "Dub's Floor Remix Transport 004" - 7:38 #Evolution "DJ Remo-Con Remix" - 8:44 #End of the World "Laugh & Peace Mix" - 6:54 #Evolution "Boom Bass Ayumix" - 4:06 #Evolution "Oriental Hot Spa" - 7:18 #Surreal "Nicely Nice Electron '00 remix" - 5:02 #Evolution "Huge Terrestrial Birth Mix" - 5:22 #Evolution "Law Is Q mix" - 7:33 #Evolution "Original Mix: Instrumental" - 4:41

Video single

# "Evolution" PV # "TV-CM SPOT" # "~Making of - Off shot flash~"

Live performances

*February 2, 2001 - Music Station *February 3, 2001 - Count Down TV *February 5, 2001 - Hey! Hey! Hey! *October 6, 2001 - Pop Jam *November 17, 2001 - All Japan Request Awards *December 2, 2001 - Digital Dream Live *December 23, 2008 - Happy Xmas Show!! (with Days)

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Notes

References

External links

''Evolution''
information at Avex Network.
''Evolution''
information at

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

. {{authority control Ayumi Hamasaki songs 2001 songs 2001 singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles Songs written by Ayumi Hamasaki Avex Trax singles