KAT-TUN III -Queen of Pirates-

Infobox Album |
Name = KAT-TUN III -QUEEN OF PIRATES-
Type = Studio Album
Artist = KAT-TUN


Cover size =
Recorded = 2007 - 2008
Released = flagicon|Japan June 4 2008
Genre = J-Pop, J-Rock
Length = 01:00:57 [http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/3562018/s Album Details - KAT-TUN III -QUEEN OF PIRATES- (Regular Edition)] , JBOOKS. Retrieved on August 4, 2008.] [http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/3562014/s Album Details - KAT-TUN III -QUEEN OF PIRATES- (Limited Edition)] , JBOOKS. Retrieved on August 4, 2008.]
Label = J-One Records
JACA-5099~5100 (Limited Edition) JACA-5101 (Regular Edition)
Producer = Johnny H. Kitagawa (executive), Julie K.
Reviews =
Last album = "Cartoon KAT-TUN II You" (2007)
This album = "KAT-TUN III -QUEEN OF PIRATES-" (2008)
Next album = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Limited Edition Cover
Type = Studio Album


Lower caption =
Misc = Singles
Name = KAT-TUN III -QUEEN OF PIRATES-
Type = studio
single 1 = Yorokobi no Uta
single 1 date = June 6 2007
single 2 = Keep the faith
single 2 date = November 21 2007
single 3 = LIPS
single 3 date = February 6 2008"KAT-TUN III -QUEEN OF PIRATES-" is the third studio album by Japanese boy band KAT-TUN and was released in Japan on June 4 2008 by J-One Records. The album was issued in two editions; the limited edition came with four bonus tracks, a DVD with an extended version of the music video for their 2008 single "Don't U Ever Stop" and a short film chronicling the making of the video.

KAT-TUN began issuing singles from the album nearly a year before it was released; "Yorokobi no Uta", "Keep the faith" and "LIPS" all reached number one on the Oricon singles chart. The album itself became KAT-TUN's tenth consecutive chart-topper since their debut in 2006 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan in June 2008. [http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/200806.html Recording Industry Association of Japan: June 2008] ; retrieved on August 5, 2008.]

Album information

The album was recorded in Tokyo and at the NRG Recording Studios in Los Angeles. With the exception of Koki Tanaka who composed his own rap verses, it is the first album to not feature any songs written by KAT-TUN. The album's musical styles consist mostly of hard rock, pop and dance. [ [http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=JACA-5101 KAT-TUN III QUEEN OF PIRATES Regular Edition] , CDJapan; retrieved on August 5, 2008.] KAT-TUN employed a variety of songwriters with a history of producing hit singles to helm the record. The former lead vocalist of acclaimed rock band Boøwy, Kyosuke Himuro, composed the second single "Keep the Faith" with frequent KAT-TUN collaborator, Spin. [http://wiki.theppn.org/Keep_the_Faith Keep the faith: profile] , Wiki.theppn; retrieved on August 5, 2008.] Akio Shimizu, guitarist for heavy metal band Anthem and lyricist of Tokio's 2006 number one single "Mr. Traveling Man" [ [http://wiki.theppn.org/Mr.Traveling_Man Mr. Traveling Man: profile] , Wiki.theppn; retrieved on August 5, 2008] , co-wrote "Ai no Command" with N.B.Comics. The latter penned the first single "Yorokobi no Uta". [http://wiki.theppn.org/Yorokobi_no_Uta Yorokobi no Uta: profile] , Wiki.theppn; retrieved on August 5, 2008.] Erykah, who wrote KAT-TUN's kohai Hey! Say! 7's 2007 number one debut single "Hey! Say!" [ [http://wiki.theppn.org/Hey!_Say! Hey! Say!: profile] , Wiki.theppn; retrieved on August 5, 2008.] , composed the last track of the regular edition, "Nannen Tattemo". Narumi Yamamoto, the lyricist who co-wrote hit singles for Kou Shibasaki and Yuna Ito [ [http://wiki.theppn.org/Katachi_Aru_Mono Katachi Aru Mono: profile] , Wiki.theppn; retrieved on August 5, 2008] [ [http://wiki.theppn.org/Truth Truth, Reira featuring Yuna Ito: profile] , Wiki.theppn; retrieved on August 5, 2008] , also contributed a song to the album with the tenth track, "Our Story ~Prologue~"."Six Senses", a song KAT-TUN had been performing since their junior days, was also recorded for the first time and included as a bonus track.

Promotion

Tanaka, Junnosuke Taguchi, Yuichi Nakamaru and Tatsuya Ueda began playing a minute and a half long previews of several tracks of the album on their respective radio shows, "KAT-TUN Style" and "R-One KAT-TUN", from May 21 - May 28 2008. The songs that were leaked were: "T∀boo", "Mother/Father", "Affection ~Mou Modorenai~", "Hell, No", "「un-」" and "Distance".

Chart performance

In its first week of release, "KAT-TUN III -Queen of Pirates-" sold 240,317 copies, a slight drop from the first-week sales of the group's second album. [http://wiki.theppn.org/KAT-TUN_III_-Queen_of_Pirates- Album profile] , Wiki.theppn; retrieved on August 5, 2008.] Despite the downward pattern of sales for KAT-TUN's studio albums, the singles from the album which were all released months in advance had already racked up over a million shipments altogether by the time the album was available in stores. [http://wiki.theppn.org/Lips Lips: profile] , Wiki.theppn; retrieved on August 5, 2008, 2008.] KAT-TUN debuted at number 1 for the tenth consecutive time (albums and singles combined) and became one of only four groups in Japanese music history to reach this record; the others being JE labelmates, NEWS, KinKi Kids and the disbanded Hikaru Genji. [ [http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-3364 Charts: KAT-TUN, GReeeeN still hot] , Tokyograph, Oricon; retrieved on August 5, 2008.] The album stayed on the Oricon albums chart for five weeks and has sold over 282,402 copies to date.Oricon Chart Weekly] The album was the twenty-fifth best-selling album for the first half of the year and RIAJ certified it platinum denoting more than 250,000 shipments. [ [http://wiki.theppn.org/2008_Oricon_Top_100_Albums_-_Half_Year 2008 Oricon Top 100 Albums: Half Year] , Wiki.theppn, Oricon; retrieved on August 5, 2008.]

ingles

"Yorokobi no Uta" is the first single and was released nearly a year before the album. The track was the first official single to feature Jin Akanishi upon his homecoming after a six month sabbatical in Los Angeles. It debuted at number 1 and has sold over 373,000 copies to date. It was also used as the theme song for Koki Tanaka's comedy series, "Tokkyu Tanaka 3 Go", which aired on TBS. The song was honored at the 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards when it placed on the "The Best 10 (Domestic) Singles" list.

"Keep the Faith" is the second single and was released in November 2007. Used as a theme song for Akanishi and Junnosuke Taguchi's school comedy series "Yukan Club", the song debuted at number 1 and had reportedly sold over 459,919 copies at the end of its chart run. The song was also honored at the 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards when it placed on the "The Best 10 (Domestic) Singles" list.

"Lips" is the last single to be released from the album and is the theme song to Kazuya Kamenashi's boxing drama series, "1 Pound no Fukuin". The song made its bow at number 1 and stayed on the charts for 15 weeks. At the end of its run on the singles chart, the track had reportedly sold over 421,902 copies.

Track listing

#"T∀boo" (masanco, M.Y) - 3:20
#"Keep the Faith" (Kyosuke Himuro, SPIN, JOKER, ha-j) - 3:45
#"nihongo|Affection ~Mou Modorenai~|Affection ～もう戻れない～" (soba, Erik Lidbom) - 3:34
#"Hell, No" (Yuki Shirai, Arata Mika, JOKER, Steven Lee, Joey Carbone) - 3:58
#"Distance" (Gin.K, Erik Lidbom) - 3:08
#"Mother/Father" (Ami, JOKER, Yoshinao Mikami, a.k.a.) - 4:14
#"Lips" (Axel-G, JOKER, Yukihide "YT" Takiyama) - 4:16
#"nihongo|Yorokobi no Uta|喜びの歌" (N.B.Comics, JOKER, zero-rock, Gin.K) - 3:59
#"「un-」" (Hidenori Tanaka, Kousuke Noma) - 4:45
#"nihongo|Our Story ~Prologue~|Our Story ～プロローグ～" (Narumi Yamamoto, Erik Lidbom) - 3:47
#"nihongo|Nannen Tattemo|何年たっても" (Erykah, JOKER, Mike Rose, Iwata Masayuki) - 4:56
#"Shot!"¹ (Ami, Yoshinao Mikami, Dreadstore Cowboy) - 3:57
#"12 o'clock'"¹ (a.k.a., JOKER, Mike Rose) - 4:19
#"nihongo|Ai no Command|愛のコマンド"¹ (Akio Shimizu, N.B. Comics, JOKER) - 4:17
#"Six Senses"¹ (JOKER, Kouhei Yokono, peter funk) - 4:39¹Limited edition bonus tracks. DVD track listing
#"Don't U Ever Stop -Limited Edition-" (extended music video)
#"Don't U Ever Stop" (making of)

Credits

Recording staff
*Producer: Julie K.
*Executive producer: Johnny H. Kitagawa
*Recording engineers: Yuji Oshima, Takashi Inoue, Teturo Takeuchi, Shigeru Tanida and Dan "mfdc" Certa
*Assistant engineers: Yoko Sato, Fumi Shinohara, Shinya Matsuo, Hiroshi Abe and Dave Colvin
*Mixing: Yuji Oshima, Teturo Takuechi and Hiroshi Yokote
*Mastering: Stephen Marcussen
*Management: Yukihide "YT" Takiyama (for Los Angeles recording staff)
*Recording studios (Tokyo): Warner Music Recording Studio, Victor Studio, Sony Studio, 603 Studio, On Air Azabu Studio, Sound City
*Recording studios (Los Angeles): NRG Recording StudiosArt staff
*Art director: Nagi Noda
*Designer: Atsushi Ishiguro
*Photographer: Shoji Uchida
*Stylists: Noriko Takahashi and Keiko Saito
*Hair & make-up: Koichi Toyofuku, Yoshinori Takeuchi, Chiemi Oshima and Asami Nemoto
*Special effects: Shinichi Wakasa and Trigon Graphics ServiceMusic personnel
*Performers: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, Tatsuya Ueda and Yuichi Nakamaru
*Bass: ha-j, Billy Sheehan, Takeshi Taneda, hitoki, Yuichi Takama and Nathan East
*Drums: Masafumi Minato, Carmine Appice, Hideo Yamaki, Simon Phillips, Koji Hasegawa, Turkey, John JR Robinson and Dave Weckl
*Guitars: Yukihide "YT" Takiyama, George Lynch, Naoki Hayashibe, Rui Momota, Michael Thompson and Akio Shimizu
*Keyboards: M.Y, ha-j, Erik Lidbom, Steven Lee, Yoshinao Mikami, Gin.K, Kousuke Noma, Masayuki Iwata, Dreadstore Cowboy, Mike Rose, Akio Shimizu and peter funk
*Programming: ha-j, Erik Lidbom, Steven Lee, a.k.a., Keita Kawaguchi, Masayuki Iwata, Dreadstore Cowboy, Mike Rose, Akio Shimizu and peter funk
*Saxophone: AYAKO
*Song co-ordination: Joey Carbone
*Turn tables: KOBA DA BEAT

References