A Song for ××

A Song for ××
Studio album by Ayumi Hamasaki
Released	January 1, 1999 (1999-01-01)
Recorded	1998
Genre	Pop
Length	70:38
Label	Avex Trax
Producer	Max Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
Nothing from Nothing (1995)Nothing from Nothing1995 A Song for ×× (1999) Loveppears (1999)Loveppears1999
Singles from A Song for ××
"Poker Face" Released: April 8, 1998 "You" Released: June 10, 1998 "Trust" Released: August 5, 1998 "For My Dear..." Released: October 7, 1998 "Depend on You" Released: December 9, 1998

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A Song for ×× (the "××" is silent) is the major-label debut album and second album overall by Japanese pop artist Ayumi Hamasaki, released January 1, 1999 by Avex Trax. Primarily a rock-pop album, it features musical composition and arrangements by Yasuhiko Hoshino, Mitsuru Igarashi, and others. Hamasaki acted as the album's sole lyricist, a notable feat for a pop artist her age at the time.

"Poker Face" was released as the album's lead single on April 8, 1998. Entering the Oricon chart at number twenty, it became her first charting single. Four further singles were released to promote A Song for ××: "You", "Trust", "For My Dear...", and Depend on You". All of them were top twenty hits in Japan, with the latter three reaching the top ten.

The album debuted atop the Oricon Charts with first week sales of 548,210 copies; it topped the chart for five weeks, a remarkable feat for a debut album. Its high first week sales were partly due to its debut sales being the first and second week sales combined (Oricon only has 51 weeks instead of 52). The album charted for 63 weeks and was certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipments exceeding one million copies in the country. As of 2008, A Song for ×× is Japan's 139th best selling album of all time.

Track list

All lyrics written by Ayumi Hamasaki. 

CD
No.	Title	Music	Arranger(s)	Length
1.	"Prologue" (Instrumental)	Yasuhiko Hoshino	Hoshino	1:25
2.	"A Song for ××"	Hoshino	Hoshino	4:44
3.	"Hana"	Hoshino	Hoshino	4:07
4.	"Friend"	Hoshino	Akimitsu Honma	4:11
5.	"Friend II"	Mitsuru Igarashi	Igarashi	3:59
6.	"Poker Face"	Hoshino	Honma	4:41
7.	"Wishing"	Hideaki Kuwabara	Honma	4:29
8.	"You"	Hoshino	Honma	4:46
9.	"As If..."	Kazuhito Kikuchi	Honma	5:36
10.	"Powder Snow"	Kuwabara	Honma	5:27
11.	"Trust"	Takashi Kimura	Honma, Kimura	4:48
12.	"Depend on You"	Kikuchi	Honma, Takashi Morio	4:20
13.	"Signal"	Kuwabara	Honma	4:25
14.	"From Your Letter"	Akio Togashi	Togashi	4:38
15.	"For My Dear..."	Hoshino	Hoshino	4:33
16.	"Present"	Hoshino	Hoshino	4:31

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Catalogue Number
Japan	January 1, 1999 (1999-01-01)	CD	AVCD-11691
Taiwan
Hong Kong
China	December 25, 2005 (2005-12-25)	CD	AVTCD-95224CB SCD-822

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release	Chart	Peak position	First Week Sales	Sales total	Chart run
January 1, 1999	Oricon Daily Albums Chart	1
	Oricon Weekly Albums Chart	1	548,210	1,451,910	63
	Oricon Monthly Albums Chart	1
	Oricon Yearly Albums Chart	15

• Total Sales: 1,451,910 (Japan)

Singles

Date	Title	Peak Position	Weeks	Sales
8 April 1998	Poker Face	20	6 weeks	43,150
10 June 1998	You	19	10 weeks	78,260
5 August 1998	Trust	9	10 weeks	181,820
7 October 1998	For My Dear...	9	7 weeks	74,440
9 December 1998	Depend on You	6	9 weeks	131,460
28 February 2001	Poker Face (12 cm re-release)	31	2 weeks	24,000
	You (12 cm re-release)	25	6 weeks	36,000
	Trust (12 cm re-release)	29	2 weeks	24,000
	For My Dear... (12 cm re-release)	33	2 weeks	23,000
	Depend on You (12 cm re-release)	27	3 weeks	28,000

• Total Single Sales: 644130

Total Album and Single Sales: 2,0960,040

References

Preceded by Moment by Speed	Oricon Weekly number-one album (first run) December 21, 1998 – January 10, 1999 (3 weeks)	Succeeded by People of the World by J-Friends
Preceded by People of the World by J-Friends	Oricon Weekly number-one album (second run) January 18, 1999 – January 31, 1999 (2 weeks)	Succeeded by Discovery by Mr. Children