Go Round (song)

"Go Round" (released with "Yeah-Oh" as "Go Round/Yeah-Oh") is a song by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro from her tenth studio album Uncontrolled (2012). It was released as a double a-side single with another album track "Yeah-Oh" and was served as the fourth single on March 21, 2012 by Avex Trax. "Go Round" was written by Aili, produced by T-Sk and co-composed by Tesung Kim and Australian duo Nervo. With a cover sleeve, photographed by Takaki Kumada, showing Amuro in front of a blurry window pane, "Go Round" was recorded both in English and Japanese language and is a dance-pop song.

"Go Round"
"Go Round" DVD only cover.
Single by Namie Amuro
from the album Uncontrolled
A-side"Yeah-Oh"
ReleasedMarch 21, 2012
Recorded2012
Genre
Length3:31
LabelAvex Trax
Songwriter(s)Aili, Tesung Kim, Nervo
Producer(s)
  • T-Sk
Namie Amuro singles chronology
"Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!/Love Story"
(2011)		 "Go Round"
(2012)		 "Damage"
(2012)

"Go Round" received mixed reviews from music critics, many of whom highlighted it from the Uncontrolled album and commended the composition while some felt the production and lyrics were generic and regressive. Charting in conjunction with "Yeah-Oh", the double a-side reached number four on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). Both songs charted on the Japan Hot 100 and the Taiwanese Singles Chart respectively, and were both certified gold for digital sales. For promotion, an accompanying music video was shot for the single and has been performed on two concert tours by Amuro.

Background and release

"Go Round" was written by Aili, produced by T-Sk and co-composed by Tesung Kim and Australian duo Nervo.[1] The song was recorded in early-2012 at Avex Studios in Tokyo, Japan by Ryosuke Kataoka.[1] Both "Go Round" and "Yeah-Oh" are Amuro's first collaborations with Nervo, who later went on to compose "Hot Girls", "Love Story" and "Let's Go" from the album Uncontrolled (2012).[1] Amuro recorded an English version of the track that featured on the parent album and was written by Nervo, while the Bilingual version was used as the single version.[1] Musically, "Go Round" is an "uplifting" dance-pop and 80s electropop song.[2][3]

"Go Round" was released as a double-aside with another album track "Yeah-Oh" on March 21, 2012 in CD, DVD and digital format by Avex Trax, as the fourth and final single for the singer's tenth studio album Uncontrolled.[4] The cover sleeve features two shots of Amuro in front of a blurry window pane; the first for "Go Round" with her wearing a white dress, and the second being for "Yeah-Oh" with a black skirt and white sleeve T-shirt on.[1] The digital EP uses the "Go Round" DVD cover, featuring the instrumental edits of both songs on all three formats, and the DVD version includes the music videos to both songs.[1][5]

Critical reception

"Go Round" received mixed reviews from most music critics. Tetsuo Hiraga was positive towards the track, commending the "thick violent beat" and her softer vocals. He later labelled the track "cool and sweet".[2] As a double a-side single, he concluded that her vocals and sound were "monumental".[2] David Cirone from J-Generation commended the composition, but criticized the English versions by explaining, "The album’s one disappointing move is the re-recording (re-English-ing) of the double-A-single 'Go Round/Yeah-Oh'. Both songs contained a beautiful blend of English/Japanese in their original release a few months prior, but on the 'album version' they’ve gone full-English, and it’s a step backwards. Amuro’s delivery is solid enough to keep it together, but the re-worked lyrics bring the song down to junior-high level."[6]

Toz from Selective Hearing was mixed in his review, stating "Go Round" is the song with the lesser amount of electro-pop. While it’s not my favourite Namie song, she sounds much more comfortable on this electro-pop bed than previously heard. But, it does sound a bit too lackluster, which could lose a few people."[7] However, Michael McCarthy was critical towards the lyrics and composition, labelling them "bland" and found the composition "random dance pop" and not "impressive".[8]

Commercial performance

Charting in conjunction with "Yeah-Oh", "Go Round/Yeah-Oh" entered and peaked at number four on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart, her lowest charting single since 2005 single "White Light/Violet Sauce" at seven.[9] The a-side single stayed in the charts for nine weeks, becoming her shortest spanning single in the charts since her 2007 single "Funky Town" with seven weeks.[9] The single sold over 65,000 units in Japan, becoming her lowest selling single since "Funky Town" but were both surpassed by her 2012 single "Big Boys Cry/Beautiful" with 32,000 units sold in Japan.[10][upper-alpha 1] "Go Round/Yeah-Oh" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 100,000 units in Japan.[11] Both "Go Round" and "Yeah-Oh" charted individually on the Japan Hot 100 chart at two and thirty-four respectively; both tracks were certified gold by the RIAJ for digital sales of 100,000 units.[12][13]

Promotion and other usage

Shigeaki Kubo directed the accompanying music video, which featured Amuro in a black and white tuxedo and in a white dress, inside of a diary locket and a cubic maze.[14] The music video was included on the DVD version of both the A-side format and Uncontrolled.[5][15] Amuro uploaded a teaser video of "Go Round" on her YouTube channel on March 15, 2012, alongside two additional television commercials promoting both "Go Round" and "Yeah-Oh".[16][17][18]

"Go Round" was used as the TV commercial theme song for Japanese cosmetic company Kosee for their launch of Esprique lipstick.[19] "Go Round" has been included in two of Amuro's live Japanese tours concert: 5 Major Domes Tour 2012 - 20th Anniversary Best and Namie Amuro Feel Tour 2013.[20][21]

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Go Round/Yeah-Oh".

  • "CD Single and digital download"
  1. "Go Round" — 3:31
  2. "Yeah-Oh" — 3:26
  3. "Go Round" (Instrumental) — 3:31
  4. "Yeah-Oh" (Instrumental) — 3:26
  • "CD and DVD bundle"
  1. "Go Round" — 3:31
  2. "Yeah-Oh" — 3:26
  3. "Go Round" (Instrumental) — 3:31
  4. "Yeah-Oh" (Instrumental) — 3:26
  5. "Go Round" (music video)
  6. "Yeah-Oh" (music video)

Personnel
  • Namie Amuro – vocals
  • T-Sk – composition, production
  • Tesung Kim – composition
  • Olivia Nervo – composition
  • Miriam Nervo – composition
  • Aili – songwriting
  • Hide Kawada – music direction
  • Susumu Isa – vocal direction
  • Recorded by Ryosuke Kataoka at Avex Studio, Tokyo, Japan

Credits adapted from the promotional CD single.[1]

Charts, peaks and positions

Notes
  1. Sales provided by Oricon database and are rounded to the nearest thousand copies.
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References
  1. "Go Round/Yeah-Oh" (CD Single: liner notes). Namie Amuro. Avex Trax. March 21, 2012.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. Tetsuo Hiraga (2012). "安室奈美恵 人間性が声や音に反映された記念碑的Sg" [Namie Amuro: a momumental single reflecting humanity in voice and sound] (in Japanese). Hot Express. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  3. Random J. "Namie Amuro – Uncontrolled (album review)". Random J Pop. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  4. "Namie Amuro: Go Round". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  5. "Go Round/Yeah-Oh" (CD and DVD). Namie Amuro. Avex Trax. March 21, 2012.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. "Namie Amuro – Uncontrolled (review)". J-Generation. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  7. Toz. "Namie Amuro – Go Round / Yeah-Oh". Selective Hearing. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  8. McCarthy, Michael. "Namie Amuro – Uncontrolled (album review)". Otakudx.com. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  9. 安室奈美恵のリリース一覧 [List of Namie Amuro's Releases]. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  10. "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  11. ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2012年4月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (April 2012)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. May 10, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  12. レコード協会調べ　1月度有料音楽配信認定 [Record Association Investigation: January Digital Music Download Certifications] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  13. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). December 19, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  14. "Go Round: ミュージックビデオサーチ" (in Japanese). Space Shower TV. Space Shower Network Ltd. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  15. Uncontrolled (CD and DVD). Namie Amuro. Avex Trax. June 10, 2012.CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. "Go Round / Namie Amuro (安室奈美恵)" on YouTube
  17. "「Go Round / YEAH-OH」30秒　TV-CM / Namie Amuro （安室奈美恵）" on YouTube
  18. "「Go Round / YEAH-OH」60秒　TV-CM / Namie Amuro (安室奈美恵)" on YouTube
  19. "Namie Amuro(安室奈美惠)-KOSE ESPRIQUE NEW CM（Song:Go Round）" on YouTube
  20. 5 Major Domes Tour 2012 - 20th Anniversary Best (DVD). Namie Amuro. Avex Trax. 2013.CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. Feel Tour 2013 (DVD). Namie Amuro. Avex Trax. 2014.CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. "G-Music Eastern Asian Weekly Chart – G-Music". G-Music. April 4, 2012. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012.
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