8 Uppers
Encyclopedia
is the fourth studio album released by the Japanese boy band
Kanjani Eight
. 8 Uppers was released a year and seven months from the release of their third album, Puzzle
. There was three versions of this release: a regular edition, a CD+DVD limited edition, and a CD+2 DVD special collector's edition. First press of the regular edition came with a photobook containing pictures from the making of the unit promotional video
s, the normal edition came with member solos, and both of the limited and special edition came with DVDs, the limited containing the full length featured movie of the same title and a director's gift. The special edition contained the movie and its making as well as a poster, stickers, movie program, and lyric book.
". The member solos featured on the regular edition of the album were also written for the "Prologue of Patchi", a series of music videos that serve as character introductions, which were featured on the "Wonderful World!!" and "Life (Me no Mae no Mukō e)" singles. In many ways, the album can also be looked as a soundtrack to the movie.
Majority of all the songs for the album were written by Takeshi, known for writing many works for fellow Johnny's & Associates
acts, along with guest writers from Rock'A'Trench, Crazy Ken Band
, Ulfuls
, and others. Kanjani Eight themselves took charge over the Members' Solo album with some of them writing their own music. Tadayoshi Ohkura
and Shota Yasuda
collaborated to write the final track on the Members' Solo album entitled, "tte!!". When asked about writing "tte!!", Ohkura commented with:
Yasuda, in the same interview, also added that " [...] Ska and Melodic Hardcore is Eight's weapon, I thought while writing it. ".. When talking about working with Ken Yokoyama of Crazy Ken Band, many of the group's members showed slight apprehension to the aggressive, soulful, tone of the song. Yokoyama remarked with, " This has to be the hardest song. [...] I didn't believe I could sing it, but that Subaru would be great at it. When I first heard Ken's demo, I thought it was impossible [...] " .
", a rockabilly-inspired tune that quickly followed up after the release of their junior album, Puzzle
. The single did well, charting at #1 on the Oricon and Billboard Japan Hot 100 on its debut. A few months after, in May 2010, the second single for the album was released, titled "Wonderful World!!". Wonderful World is a playful, feel good, a-typical Japanese pop tune with the members rap
ping over it. The song did well, again, charting at #1 on the week of its debut. Wonderful World!!s accompanied DVDs on the limited edition set the stage for what was going to be the new album, releasing a DVD clip of four side stories entitled, Prologue of Patchi, which consisted of the members solos.
Wonderful World!! was quickly followed by the album's third single, "Life (Me no Mae no Mukō e)" in August 2010. The song is pop-rock tune that was the featured theme song for the Japanese television drama, GM: Odore Doctor, which the group's drummer, Tadayoshi Ohkura starred in. The conclusion to "Prologue of Patchi" was included on the limited edition release of this single and included a trailer for the movie, 8 Uppers, at the end with information for fans to visit the album's website.
wrote the song for them. A music video was released for the song and they performed it on the October 1st, 2010 episode of Music Station
. Subsequently, on October 11, 2010, the featured movie was in theaters for one day at Toho Cinemas nationwide leading up to the release of the album.
Boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...
Kanjani Eight
Kanjani Eight
is a seven-member Japanese boy band from Japan's Kansai region. They are managed by the multimedia talent agency, Johnny & Associates, and signed to Imperial Records. The group was formed in 2002 and made their CD debut in 2004 as "Johnny's modern enka group", though after the year 2006, their...
. 8 Uppers was released a year and seven months from the release of their third album, Puzzle
Puzzle (Kanjani Eight album)
is the third full-length album released by the Japanese boyband Kanjani Eight. Puzzle was released almost two years after the release of their second album, KJ2 Zukkoke Dai Dassō. There were two versions of this release, a regular edition and a CD+DVD limited edition...
. There was three versions of this release: a regular edition, a CD+DVD limited edition, and a CD+2 DVD special collector's edition. First press of the regular edition came with a photobook containing pictures from the making of the unit promotional video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, the normal edition came with member solos, and both of the limited and special edition came with DVDs, the limited containing the full length featured movie of the same title and a director's gift. The special edition contained the movie and its making as well as a poster, stickers, movie program, and lyric book.
Composition
The music style of 8 Uppers is, again, different from their previous albums. This time the album adopts a more generic, yet, mature feel as the songs were written to accompany the feature film of the same title. The album opens up with the movie's theme song, "Oriental Surfer", and continues its coinciding theme to the events of the movie with two more instrumental breaks, "Back Off" and "Realize". The album ends with the single, "Kyū Jō Show!!Kyū Jō Show!!
is the tenth single released by the Japanese boyband Kanjani8. The single was released in 2009, the first single from the group since the release of "Musekinin Hero" more than a year prior. The single, like its predecessor, was released in three different editions...
". The member solos featured on the regular edition of the album were also written for the "Prologue of Patchi", a series of music videos that serve as character introductions, which were featured on the "Wonderful World!!" and "Life (Me no Mae no Mukō e)" singles. In many ways, the album can also be looked as a soundtrack to the movie.
Majority of all the songs for the album were written by Takeshi, known for writing many works for fellow Johnny's & Associates
Johnny & Associates
is a talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962. Johnny & Associates trains and promotes groups of male idols, collectively known as , in Japan.-1962–1989:...
acts, along with guest writers from Rock'A'Trench, Crazy Ken Band
Crazy Ken Band
, also referred to as CKB, is a Japanese musical group formed in 1997 by its lead vocalist, writer and composer Ken Yokoyama. The band first came together in 1991 under the name "CK's", with a four-member lineup: Ken Yokoyama, Keiichi Hiroishi, Masao Onose and Shinya Horaguchi. This incarnation of...
, Ulfuls
Ulfuls
is a Japanese rock band from Osaka. The band name Ulfuls is derived from a misreading of the word "soulful," found on the cover of one of the band members' favorite records...
, and others. Kanjani Eight themselves took charge over the Members' Solo album with some of them writing their own music. Tadayoshi Ohkura
Tadayoshi Okura
is a Japanese idol, singer and actor. He is from Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan. He's a member of popular boys band under Johnny & Associates called Kanjani8 .-Biography:He respects Go Morita from V6, he is the reason that Okura joined Johnny & Associates....
and Shota Yasuda
Shota Yasuda
is a member of the popular Japanese male idol unit Kanjani8 of Johnny & Associates. He is the group's guitarist, and one of its main rappers. He was previously guitarist of Kansai Johnny's Jr unit V.WEST before it was absorbed to form Kanjani8.-History:...
collaborated to write the final track on the Members' Solo album entitled, "tte!!". When asked about writing "tte!!", Ohkura commented with:
Yasuda, in the same interview, also added that " [...] Ska and Melodic Hardcore is Eight's weapon, I thought while writing it. ".. When talking about working with Ken Yokoyama of Crazy Ken Band, many of the group's members showed slight apprehension to the aggressive, soulful, tone of the song. Yokoyama remarked with, " This has to be the hardest song. [...] I didn't believe I could sing it, but that Subaru would be great at it. When I first heard Ken's demo, I thought it was impossible [...] " .
Singles
The first single released from the album was "Kyū Jō Show!!Kyū Jō Show!!
is the tenth single released by the Japanese boyband Kanjani8. The single was released in 2009, the first single from the group since the release of "Musekinin Hero" more than a year prior. The single, like its predecessor, was released in three different editions...
", a rockabilly-inspired tune that quickly followed up after the release of their junior album, Puzzle
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
. The single did well, charting at #1 on the Oricon and Billboard Japan Hot 100 on its debut. A few months after, in May 2010, the second single for the album was released, titled "Wonderful World!!". Wonderful World is a playful, feel good, a-typical Japanese pop tune with the members rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
ping over it. The song did well, again, charting at #1 on the week of its debut. Wonderful World!!s accompanied DVDs on the limited edition set the stage for what was going to be the new album, releasing a DVD clip of four side stories entitled, Prologue of Patchi, which consisted of the members solos.
Wonderful World!! was quickly followed by the album's third single, "Life (Me no Mae no Mukō e)" in August 2010. The song is pop-rock tune that was the featured theme song for the Japanese television drama, GM: Odore Doctor, which the group's drummer, Tadayoshi Ohkura starred in. The conclusion to "Prologue of Patchi" was included on the limited edition release of this single and included a trailer for the movie, 8 Uppers, at the end with information for fans to visit the album's website.
Promotion
Promotion for 8 Uppers began with the release of "Wonderful World!!" and continued with "Life (Me no Mae no Mukō e)" with the included DVDs on the limited editions. The announcement of the interactive website, club eight on the "Life (Me no Mae no Mukō e)" single was also added promotion for the movie. The group used "Animal Magic" as the lead single for the album in September and October 2010, emphasizing the fact that Ken Yokoyama of Crazy Ken BandCrazy Ken Band
, also referred to as CKB, is a Japanese musical group formed in 1997 by its lead vocalist, writer and composer Ken Yokoyama. The band first came together in 1991 under the name "CK's", with a four-member lineup: Ken Yokoyama, Keiichi Hiroishi, Masao Onose and Shinya Horaguchi. This incarnation of...
wrote the song for them. A music video was released for the song and they performed it on the October 1st, 2010 episode of Music Station
Music Station
is a Japanese music television program. It began broadcasting on October 24, 1986 and continues to be broadcast weekly in High-definition from 8PM-9PM on tv asahi...
. Subsequently, on October 11, 2010, the featured movie was in theaters for one day at Toho Cinemas nationwide leading up to the release of the album.
CD 1
CD 2
Charting
| Chart | Week # | Peak position |
Sales/ shipments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon General Album Top 10 | 1 | 1 | 231,001 |