AAA (band)

AAA (トリプル・エー Toripuru Ē^?, Triple A), and also known as Attack All Around, is a Japanese pop band signed to the label Avex Trax which debuted in September 2005. The group originally consisted of five young men and three young women who had all acted in commercials and had been dancers for other Japanese stars, such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Ami Suzuki.

History

[edit]2005–2006: Early days and debut

AAA was originally planned to be a 6 member group. At first, members included Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Shuta Sueyoshi, Shinjiro Atae, Mitsuhiro Hidaka and Misako Uno as the only girl. Avex later decided to add two more girls; Chiaki Itō and Yukari Goto. As songs like "Blood on Fire" and "Friday Party" were previously prepared for 6 members, the two girls are only heard in the refrain

.

The Members are: Naoya Urata the leader and one of the main vocalists of the group, Takahiro Nishijima the main male vocalist, and one of the most well known of the group, Misako Uno the main female vocalist of the group throughout the whole of AAA as well as being best known overseas, Chiaki Ito who despite being little more than a dancer in the early days of AAA, has now become joint lead female vocalist with Uno, Mitsuhiro Hidaka is the main rapper of the group, Shuta Suyoshi and Shinjiro Atae are the main dancers and occasional singers. Yukari Goto left AAA in 2007 due to an illness.

In the summer of 2005, avex announced the debut of a new pop/eurobeat group consisting of boys and girls who have undergone training in the avex artist academy, the record label's training facility for singers, dancers, and other entertainment talents. Because of this, the group's debut was much anticipated and was received well by many fans. In their debut year, they received the "Best Newcomer Award" at the 47th Japan Record Awards. From September to December they released a single each month plus a photobook and their very first album, Attack, in January 2006. With all the previous advertisement and releases the group did not have time to perform their songs live. However, as each of their singles has a different genre this did not cause a problem with sales.

Misako Uno, the female lead, starred alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar in the Hollywood version of The Grudge 2 in 2006. She played a one of the 3 school girls and all of her lines were in English. After releasing mini album All/2 on September 13, 2006, AAA released their second studio album All on January 1, 2007. The album's sales were a success but still less than it's predecesser ATTACK, although this is almost certainly due to the band releasing all but 3 songs off the album as singles with music videos throughout 2006.

[edit]2007–present: Media mix and acting + Larger Success

AAA is also performing the opening for 2007's Kamen Rider Den-O and also for Delicious Gakuin. For this single, "Climax Jump," they have temporarily changed their name to "AAA Den-O form". The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for the shipment of 100,000 physical singles and 100,000 full-track ringtone music downloads (or Chaku Uta Full) each, making Climax Jump their most successful single to date.^[1][2]

AAA appeared at Otakon 2007 in Baltimore, Maryland.^[3]

AAA had their first Oricon weekly number 1 single in 2008 with "Mirage." AAA also appeared on the theaters and Nishijima manifested interest in the acting. He appeared in the film Love Exposure, which was the first film for him to play the main role. He performed cross-dressing in the film^[4] and eventually won the Sponichi Grand Prix New Face Award of the year 2009 on January 19, 2010.^[5]

After a string of top 5-10 hits throughout 2007-2008, AAA had a successful era in 2009 with their album HEARTFUL, with the album and all of the preceeding singles debuting in the top 3. In 2010, AAA's double A-side single "Aitai Riyū/Dream After Dream (Yume Kara Sameta Yume)" topped the Oricon weekly charts in May 2010, becoming their second number 1 single on the charts. Both songs were composed by Tetsuya Komuro, while those lyrics were written by others. Their next single "Makenai Kokoro" was released in August. The song is also composed by Komuro, but Uno and Ito sing the majority of the song while Hidaka provides backing rap vocals like their Heartful era. The single debuted at number 3 on the Oricon charts at over 45,000 sales.

[edit]Discography

[edit]Albums

Album #	Album information
1st	Attack Released: 2006-01-01 Length: 54.1 minutes Oricon top 200 position: #16 Weeks on Chart: 11 Sales: 56,693 Note: Their debut is still their best selling album to date.
2nd	All Released: 2007-01-01 Length: 57.9 minutes Oricon top 200 position: #24 Weeks on Chart: 7 Sales: 32,825 Note: All but three tracks were not singles on this album, and only two songs did not have corresponding music videos.
3rd	Around Released: 2007-09-19 Length: N/A Oricon top 200 position: #8 Weeks on Chart: 5 Sales: 28,242
4th	depArture Released: 2009-02-11 Length: N/A Oricon top 200 position: #4 Weeks on Chart: 3 Sales: 22,656 Note: Title of the album means a depArture from their old music style.
5th	Heartful Released: 2010-02-17 Length: 61 minutes Oricon top 200 position: #3 Weeks on Chart: N/A Sales: 50,543 Note: Almost all of the songs are sung by units within the group. For example, Brand New World is sung by Urata, Ito, Atae, and Hidaka. Rising Sun is sung by Nishjima, Uno and Sueyoshi. As I Am is a Misako Uno solo with backing vocals by Urata and Nishijima.

[edit]Remix albums

Album #	Album information
1st	Remix Attack Released: 2006-01-01 Length: 1.2 hours Oricon top 200 position: #92 Weeks on Chart: 2 Sales: 3,651
2nd	AAA Remix: Non-Stop All Singles Released: 2009-03-04 Length: N/A Oricon top 200 position: N/A Weeks on Chart: N/A Sales: N/A

[edit]Cover album

Album #	Album information
1st	CCC: Challenge Cover Collection Released: 2007-02-07 Length: N/A Oricon top 200 position: #13 Weeks on Chart: 3 Sales: 16,578

[edit]Mini-albums

Mini-Album #	Mini-Album information
1st	Attack (half-album) Released: 2006-01-01 Length: N/A Oricon top 200 position: #16 Note: Charting details are the same as the full album, as both were released on the same day and counted as different versions of the same release.
2nd	All/2 （ニブンノオール） Released: 2006-09-13 Length: N/A Oricon top 200 position: #12 Weeks on Chart: 6 Sales: 26,217
3rd	AlohAAA Released: 2007-03-21 Length: N/A Oricon top 200 position: #39 Weeks on Chart: 2 Sales: 5,886
4th	Choice Is Yours Released: 2008-06-18 Length: N/A Oricon top 200 position: #10 Weeks on Chart: 2 Sales: 16,471

[edit]Compilation albums

Album #	Album Information
1st	Attack All Around Released: 2008-03-05 Studio Album: N/A Oricon top 200 weekly position: #5 Weeks on Chart: 7 Sales: 41,929 Note: Contains all of the title songs of previous singles

[edit]Singles

Single #	Single Information
1st	"Blood on Fire" Released: 2005-09-14 Studio Album: Attack Oricon top 200 weekly position: #9 Weeks on Chart: 19 Sales: 58,052 Lead Vocals: Takahiro Nishijima, Misako Uno, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka End of Year Charts: #191
2nd	"Friday Party" Released: 2005-10-05 Studio Album: Attack Oricon top 200 weekly position: #17 Weeks on Chart: 10 Sales: 17,331 Lead Vocals: Misako Uno, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata End of Year Charts: #505
3rd	"きれいな空 (Kirei na Sora) (Beautiful Sky)" Released: 2005-11-16 Studio Album: Attack Oricon top 200 weekly position: #17 Weeks on Chart: 9 Sales: 12,728 Lead Vocals: Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Misako Uno, Mitsuhiro Hidaka End of Year Charts: #878
4th	"Dragon Fire" Released: 2005-12-05 Studio Album: Attack Oricon top 200 weekly position: #20 Weeks on Chart: 8 Sales: 20,689 Lead Vocals: Takahiro Nishijima, Misako Uno, Naoya Urata End of Year Charts: #401
5th	"ハレルヤ (Hallelujah)" Released: 2006-02-15 Studio Album: All Oricon top 200 weekly position: #8 Weeks on Chart: 8 Sales: 27,814 Lead Vocals: Misako Uno, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata End of Year Charts: #314
6th	"Shalala キボウの歌 (Kibou no Uta) (Song of Hope)" Released: 2006-03-23 Studio Album: All Oricon top 200 weekly position: #20 Weeks on Chart: 5 Sales: 13,484 Lead Vocals: Takahiro Nishijima, Misako Uno, Naoya Urata End of Year Charts: #589
7th	"ハリケーン・リリ，ボストン・マリ (Hurricane Riri, Boston Mari)" Released: 2006-05-31 Studio Album: All Oricon top 200 weekly position: #10 Weeks on Chart: 6 Sales: 19,832 Lead Vocals: Misako Uno, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Shuta Sueyoshi, Mitsuhiro Hidaka End of Year Charts: #432
8th	"ソウルエッジボーイ／キモノジェットガール (Soul Edge Boy/Kimono Jet Girl)" Released: 2006-07-12 Studio Album: All Oricon top 200 weekly position: #12 Weeks on Chart: 7 Sales: 22,706 End of Year Charts: #369 Lead Vocals: (Soul Edge Boy) Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka (Kimono Jet Girl) Yukari Goto, Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito Note: Soul Edge Boy is sung by the male members while Kimono Jet Girl is sung by the female members.
9th	"Let It Beat!" Released: 2006-08-30 Studio Album: All Oricon top 200 weekly position: #7 Weeks on Chart: 5 Sales: 21,302 Lead Vocals: Misako Uno, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka End of Year Charts: #391
10th	"Q" Released: 2006-09-06 Studio Album: All Oricon top 200 weekly position: #10 Weeks on Chart: 4 Sales: 14,809 Lead Vocals: Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Misako Uno End of Year Charts: #539
11th	"チューインガム (Chewing Gum)" Released: 2006-11-15 Studio Album: All Oricon top 200 weekly position: #7 Weeks on Chart: 5 Sales: 14,571 Lead Vocals: Naoya Urata, Takahiro Nishijima End of Year Charts: #551 Note: Sung by members Takahiro Nishijima and Naoya Urata
12th	"Black & White" Released: 2006-12-06 Studio Album: All Oricon top 200 weekly position: #15 Weeks on Chart: 7 Sales: 24,883 Lead Vocals: (Samurai Heart) Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Misako Uno, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Shuta Sueyoshi, Shinjiro Atae (Winter Lander) Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Misako Uno End of Year Charts: #470
13th	"Get チュー! / She の 事実 (Get Chuu! / She no Jijitsu)" Released: 2007-04-18 Studio Album: Around Oricon top 200 weekly position: #5 Weeks on Chart: 9 Sales: 41,294 Lead Vocals:(Get Chu) Misako Uno, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata (She no Jijitsu) Misako Uno, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Chiaki Ito, Yukari Goto
14th	"唇からロマンチカ / That's Right (Kuchibiru Kara Romantica / That's Right)" Released: 2007-05-16 Studio Album: Around Oricon top 200 weekly position: #6 Weeks on Chart: 7 Sales: 32,271 Lead Vocals: (Kuchibiru Kara Romantica) Misako Uno, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata (That's Right) Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Misako Uno Note: Yukari Goto's last appearance in AAA, after this the female members are Misako Uno and Chiaki Ito
15th	"夏もの (Natsu Mono) (Summer stuff)" Released: 2007-07-18 Studio Album: Around Oricon top 200 weekly position: #5 Weeks on Chart: 4 Sales: 32,722 Lead Vocals: (Sunshine) Naoya Urata, Takahiro Nishijima, Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito, Mitsuhiro Hidaka (Hanabi) Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito (No End Summer) Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urta, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Shuta Sueyoshi, Shinjiro Atae The song Hanabi is girl's only and No End Summer is boy's only
16th	"Red Soul" Released: 2007-09-19 Studio Album: Around Oricon top 200 weekly position: #15 Weeks on Chart: 2 Sales: 9,267 Lead Vocals: Misako Uno, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka Note: This single was released the same day as the album, making it a re-cut single.
17th	"Mirage" Released: 2008-01-09 Studio Album: Attack All Around Oricon top 200 weekly position: #1 Weeks on Chart: 5 Sales: 32,695 Lead Vocals: Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Misako Uno Note: The first AAA single that topped the weekly Oricon Charts.
18th	"Beyond: カラダノカナタ (Beyond: Karada no Kanata) (Beyond: The Other Side of the Body) " Released: 2008-05-28 Studio Album: DepArture Oricon top 200 weekly position: #6 Weeks on Chart: 4 Sales: 20,536 Lead Vocals: Takahiro Nishijima, Misako Uno, Naoya Urata, Shuta Sueyoshi, Chiaki Ito, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Shinjiro Atae
19th	"MUSIC!!! / ZERØ" Released: 2008-08-27 Studio Album: DepArture Oricon top 200 weekly position: #9 Weeks on Chart: 8 Sales: 31,978 Lead Vocals: (MUSIC!!) Takahiro Nishijima, Misako Uno, Naoya Urata, Chiaki Ito, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Shuta Sueyoshi, Shinjiro Atae (ZERO) Naoya Urata, Takahiro Nishijima, Misako Uno, Mitsuhiro Hidaka Note: Theme song of anime "World Destruction: Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokunin"
20th	旅ダチノウタ (Tabidachi no Uta) (Song of Departure) " Released: 2009-01-12 Studio Album: DepArture Oricon top 200 weekly position: #4 Weeks on Chart: 3 Sales: 24,777 Lead Vocals: Takahiro Nishijima, Misako Uno, Naoya Urata, Chiaki Ito, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Shuta Sueyoshi, Shinjiro Atae
21st	"Break Down/Break Your Name/Summer Revolution" Released: 2009-07-29 Studio Album: HEARTFUL Oricon top 200 weekly position: #3 Weeks on Chart: 5 Sales: 49,133 Lead Vocals: (Break Down) Misako Uno, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata (Break Your Name) Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka (Summer Revolution) Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito Note: Break Your Name is a boy's only track and Summer Revolution is girl's only
22nd	"Hide-Away" Released: 2009-10-21 Studio Album: HEARTFUL Oricon top 200 weekly position: #2 Weeks on Chart: 7 Sales: 52,575 Lead Vocals: (Hide-away) Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito, Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata (Hide&Seek) Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka (Find You) Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito Note: The CD single includes "Hide-Away," "Hide & Seek," "Find You" and "With You." The four songs are all the same song with different lyrics. "Hide-Away," "Hide & Seek" and "Find You" were arranged by different musicians and were sung by different members of the band. "Hide-Away" is a soft electro-pop song sung by all members, "Hide & Seek" is a boys only electronic-rock song, "Find You" is a girl's only pop-rock song and "With You" is identical to "Hide-Away" but with changed lyrics. "With You" was the 1st ending song of animeInuYasha: The Final Act.
23rd	"Heart and Soul" Released: 2010-01-27 Studio Album: HEARTFUL Oricon top 200 weekly position: #3 Weeks on Chart: 4 Sales: 35,736 Lead Vocals: Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka
24th	"Aitai Riyū/Dream After Dream (Yume Kara Sameta Yume)" Released: 2010-05-05 Oricon top 200 weekly position: #1 Weeks on Chart: 9 Sales: 59,833 Lead Vocals: (Aitai Riyuu) Takahiro Nishijima, Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka (Dream After Dream) Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito, Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka Notes: Their 2nd number 1 single and their 2nd single to be beat their debut in sales.
25th	"Makenai Kokoro" Released: 2010-08-18 Oricon top 200 weekly position: #3 Weeks on Chart: 8 Sales: 57,707 Lead Vocals: Misako Uno, Chiaki Ito, Mitsuhiro Hidaka Notes: Makenai Kokoro was used as the theme song to a drama, Gakeppuchi no Eri.
26th	"Endless Fighters/PARADISE" Release Date: 2010-11-17 Oricon top 200 weekly position: #5 Weeks on Chart: 6 Sales: 55,870 Lead Vocals: (Paradise) Takahiro Nishijima, Chiaki Ito, Misako Uno, Naoya Urata, Mitsuhiro Hidaka Notes: "PARADISE" is being used for a commercial of Ito-Yokado, which features Nishijima. "Endless Fighters" is the theme song to Pokémon Smash!.
26th	"Daiji na Koto" Release Date: 2011-02-16 Notes: One of the songs are going to be used for Benesse's commercial.

[edit]Compilation singles

Single #	Single Information	Artist Information
1st	"Climax Jump" Released: 2007-03-21 Studio Album: N/A Oricon top 200 weekly position:#5 Weeks on Chart: 20 Sales: 109,622 Note: AAA's highest selling single, and first Top 5 Hit.	AAA DEN-O Form
2nd	"いざゆけ若鷹軍団2007 (Izayuke Wakataka Gundan 2007)" Released: 2007-03-21 Studio Album: N/A Oricon top 200 weekly position: #33 Weeks in Chart: 4 Sales: 6,570	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks with AAA

[edit]DVDs

• [2006.03.23] 1st Attack at Shibuya-Ax [Rank: #9 / Sales: 6,067]
• [2006.09.13] 2nd Attack at Zepp Tokyo [Rank: #4 / Sales: 10,496]
• [2006.12.31] 1st Anniversary Live - 3rd Attack 060913 at Budokan [Rank: #9 / Sales: 13,231]
• [2007.03.21] Channel @ x AAA
• [2007.07.18] 4th Attack at Shibuya: Ax on 4th of April
• [2008.01.09] AAA 2nd Anniversary Live: 5th Attack 070922 Nippon Budokan [Rank: #1]
• [2008.03.12] Super Battle Gakuin Bangaihen: Delicious 5 Shijousaikyou no Teki
• [2008.03.15] PPP: Premium Performance Party (AAA Party Exclusive)
• [2008.08.27] AAA Tour 2008: Attack All Around
• [2009.01.14] AAA 3rd Anniversary Live 080922-080923 Nippon Budokan [Rank:#1]
• [2009.01.23] AAA meets Mirai Seiki Shakespeare (AAA Party Exclusive)
• [2009.02.27] Mirai Seiki Shakespeare (Drama) Vol. 1
• [2009.02.27] Mirai Seiki Shakespeare (Drama) Vol. 2
• [2009.03.27] Mirai Seiki Shakespeare (Drama) Vol. 3
• [2009.03.27] Mirai Seiki Shakespeare (Drama) Vol. 4
• [2009.04.24] Mirai Seiki Shakespeare (Drama) Vol. 5
• [2009.04.27] Mirai Seiki Shakespeare (Drama) Vol. 6
• [2009.08.12] AAA Tour 2009 - A depArture pArty[Rank:#1]
• [2010.03.03] AAA 4th Anniversary Live 090922 at Yokohama Arena [Rank:#1]
• [2010.09.29] AAA Tour 2010: Heart to ♥

[edit]Books

• [2005.09.01] AAA artistbook / The First Attack

[edit]References