Dream "A"live is the eighth studio album by Japanese boy band, Arashi. The album was released on April 23, 2008, in Japan under their record label J Storm in two editions: a limited 2CD version and a regular CD version. Dream "A"live is the 30th best-selling album of 2008 in Japan. As of July 2010, the album is the group's third highest-selling album after their tenth anniversary album All the Best! 1999–2009 and debut album Arashi No.1 Ichigou: Arashi wa Arashi o Yobu!. It was released digitally on February 7, 2020.
Album information The album contains the singles "Happiness", which was used as the theme song for the drama Yamada Tarō Monogatari, and "Step and Go". Although production of the album began during the release of "Happiness", word of the new album did not surface until March 2008 when the album available for pre-order on online stores, with the two editions even reaching as high as the top two spots on CDJapan's Pre-Order Ranking.
Title During Sho Sakurai's radio show Sho Beat on March 2, 2008, it was revealed that the Dream "A" Live title was created by Sakurai and Jun Matsumoto. The original title was "Alive", but was then purposely divided into "A live" to indicate the group's name and the live performance. Matsumoto also added "Dream" to the title to signify how "dreams can turn into reality" because the coincided Arashi Marks 2008 Dream-A-Live tour was considered a major achievement, as only two other Johnny's groups had previously performed a five-dome tour.
Critical reception
Adam Greenberg on AllMusic gave Dream "A"live three out of five stars, calling it a "decent album throughout, well-crafted and well-performed".
Aside from topping the sales rankings, Oricon also reported that the album was a hit with male buyers. Even men in the 40-year-old age bracket had planned to buy the album, compared to the interest with the group's previous album. The music statistics group attributed the group's increasing fan base to their primetime variety program and the various dramas and commercials that the members have appeared in. It was considered quite a development, since many promotions and releases of Johnny's artists are geared towards female teens and young adults.
Commercial performance The album debuted at the number one on the Oricon singles daily chart upon its release with the sales index number of 57,795 (about 101,000 copies). By the end of its first week, the album sold a total of 220,722 copies. The album ranked as the 30th best-selling album of 2008 in Japan, selling 303,727 by the end of the year.
On January 1, 2009, the album was placed at number 38 on Billboard Japan's 2008 Top Albums Year-End list.
Track listing
Personnel Musicians
Arashi Masaki Aiba – vocals Jun Matsumoto – vocals Kazunari Ninomiya – vocals Satoshi Ohno – vocals Sho Sakurai – vocals Masayuki Iwata - arrangement, keyboard, electric guitar, chorus Jun Abe – piano, keyboard Akira – choir, chorus Tanakam Ayuko – choir, chorus Melvin Lee Davis – electric bass Naoki Hayashibe – acoustic guitar Masato Ishinari – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric sitar Gen Strings Ittetsu – strings Ikuo Kakehashi – percussion Daisuke Kawai – organ Takahiro Miyazaki – alto saxophone Susumu Nishikawa – acoustic guitar, electric guitar Hideaki Sakai – percussion Satoshi Sano – trombone, chromatic harmonica Shiro Sasaki – trumpet Yasushi Sasamoto – keyboard Hiroomi Shitara – acoustic guitar, electric guitar Masanori Suzuki – trumpet Tetsuya Takahashi – keyboard, choir, chorus Takeshi Taneda – electric bass Tomohiko Tsuya – choir, chorus Jun Usuba – tenor saxophone Ryoji Yamashiki – electric bass
Production
Jun Abe – programming Takeshi Hanzawa – photography Gen Strings Ittetsu – string arrangements Julie K. – producer Hiroshi Kawasaki – mastering Mike Rose Yasushi Sasamoto – programming Tsutomu Satomi – coordination Tetsuya Takahashi – programming Akitomo Takakuwa – engineer, mixing Takao – stylist Shigeru Tanida – engineer, mixing Noboru Tomizawa – make-up, hair stylist Asuka Tozawa – coordination Alfred Tuohey Carl Utbult Youth Case – lyricist, composer
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts Chart (2008) Peakposition Japanese Albums (Oricon) 1
Year-end charts Chart (2008) Peakposition Japanese Albums (Oricon) 30
Sales and certifications Country Provider Sales Certification Japan RIAJ 303,727 Platinum
Release history + Release history and formats for Dream "A" Live Country Date Label Format Catalog Japan April 23, 2008 J Storm CD JACA-5091 2CD JACA-5089-5090 Taiwan May 9, 2008 Avex Taiwan CD JAJCD26004 2CD JAJCD26004/A Hong Kong May 14, 2008 Avex Asia CD 2CD Korea August 19, 2008 SM Entertainment CD SMJTCD271 2CD SMJTCD270
References
External links Dream "A"live product information [ Dream "A"live personnel]