Babymetal (album)

Background

On February 5, 2014, Babymetal was announced on the official website with a release date in Japan for February 26, 2014, the artwork for both editions revealed, and a promotional video featuring five songs from the album.

Release and promotion

The album was released in a regular edition, a standard limited edition, and a special limited edition for members of the group's special "Apocalypse Web" site. The limited edition, originally released in Japan, has an identical track listing on the CD to that of the regular edition; however, it also includes a DVD containing the group's music videos with commentary by the three members, a live music video of "Gimme Chocolate!!", and footage of the group's performance at Summer Sonic 2013. An encore pressing of the limited edition version of the album was released on July 26, 2014 with a special cover to commemorate the band's 2014 world tour.

The Apocalypse limited edition of the album is solely a CD release; its track listing is revised to have alternate versions of "Akatsuki" and "Song 4"; the former was performed live at Legend "1997" Su-metal Seitansai. It was only made available to people who had previously signed up for the group's "Apocalypse Web" site.

In mid-2015, the album was re-released worldwide under different record labels with two bonus tracks: the new song "Road of Resistance" and a live performance of "Gimme Chocolate!!". The limited edition of the album also had its first international release in Europe, containing a DVD with the group's music videos, but without the commentary of the Japanese edition. A live music clip of the song "Road of Resistance" from the live concert at the Saitama Super Arena was released May 2015.

Singles and other songs

Prior to the release of the album, Babymetal had released five singles, ranging from 2010 to 2013. The first single, "Doki Doki ☆ Morning", initially appeared on the Sakura Gakuin debut album Sakura Gakuin 2010 Nendo: Message, before being released independently on October 24, 2011. "Babymetal × Kiba of Akiba", a joint single with the band Kiba of Akiba, was released on March 7, 2012, featuring the Babymetal song "Iine!". "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!" was released on July 4, 2012 and included a neck corset on the limited editions. "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" was the first major label single released on January 7, 2013, but did not appear in the annually released Sakura Gakuin albums. "Megitsune" was released as the second major label single on June 19, 2013, and is the first song released after the split from Sakura Gakuin. The five songs, as well as five B-sides, are featured on the album.

Two songs from the album, "Akatsuki" and "Rondo of Nightmare", are performed solely by Su-metal. Two other songs from the album, "Onedari Daisakusen" and "Song 4", are performed mainly by Yuimetal and Moametal, under the stage name Black Babymetal; the latter of which was written by the two.

Prior to the international release of the album, a sixth single, "Road of Resistance", was released digitally on February 1, 2015. "Gimme Chocolate!!", although not initially released as a single, brought the band and the album to international success; the song peaked at number 5 on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart and its live music video performance at the concert Legend "1997" Su-metal Seitansai has garnered more than 45 million views as of April 9, 2016. The song later served as a digital single on the United Kingdom iTunes Store on May 31, 2015.

Critical reception

Babymetal received critical acclaim from critics both in Japan and worldwide. Tim Sendra from Allmusic gave the album four and a half stars out of five stating: "It's clearly not an album for metalheads who like to follow the clear definitions of what makes metal metal, or one for J-pop fans who are scared of huge guitar riffs. But those who don't really care about rules and just want to jump around like idiots to the brightest, silliest music imaginable will find exactly what they never dreamed about asking for in Babymetal's brilliant debut." Nanba Kazumi from Rolling Stone Japan praised the album, saying its "humor, cuteness to the quality, does not allow any other following. It would be a masterpiece made in one piece to be representative of the 2014 definitely." The album garnered critical praise from Australia; Tristan Peterson from Metal Obsession stated, "This band was created for the demographic of “Music that your Japanese Boyfriend/Girlfriend, who doesn’t really like Metal, would enjoy.” He continued saying, "This is a unique album from a unique band that has not compromised on their intent, and that is to create a charming, and pretty damn heavy, dichotomy of sound for you to enjoy. It has made metal cute without losing any of its edge and that is not something you can say about, well, any band."

In July 2016, Metal Hammer readers voted Babymetal as the best album of the 21st century.

Commercial performance

The album quickly rose to number 1 on both the US and UK iTunes Metal charts. The album also received attention from western journalists like Brian Mansfield of USA Today. It reached number 1 on the Japanese Oricon Daily Chart and peaked at number 4 on the U.S. Billboard Heatseekers chart as well as 187 on the Billboard 200. In December 2014, Babymetal was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for more than 100,000 physical copies shipped to stores.

Track listing

Notes

A. ^{^} "Kitsune of Metal God" refers to a god figure frequently mentioned in band materials and interviews (often as "Kitsune-sama", or "the Fox God" and "the Big Fox" in English media). Songwriting credits are instead given to Kei Kobayashi for the international release. B. ^{^} Although 輪舞曲 is normally read as rinbukyoku, the booklet contains a note that the word is to be read as rondo. C. ^{^} This is a live performance.

"Babymetal Death" is stylized as "BABYMETAL DEATH".

"Song 4" lists its credits for lyrics and music as Black Babymetal, the stage name for the duo of Yuimetal and Moametal without Su-metal.

Herman Li and Sam Totman appear on "Road of Resistance", and are featured artists on the United Kingdom release.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Babymetal album liner notes, Sakura Gakuin 2010 Nendo: Message album liner notes, "Babymetal × Kiba of Akiba" single cover notes, "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!" single liner notes, "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" standard and limited "I" single liner notes, "Megitsune" standard and limited "Tsu" single liner notes, Metal Resistance liner notes, and Google Play.

Recording and management

Recorded at S.O.L.I.D. Sound Lab, Heartbeat Recording Studio, MukuStudio, Sound Arts Studio, Wacken Open Studio, and ABS Recording

Mixed at S.O.L.I.D. Sound Lab, Heartbeat Recording Studio, Art Pop Entertainment, Hama Shobo Studio (濱書房スタジオ), and King Sekiguchidai Studio

Mastered at Form the Master and Parasight Mastering

Personnel