Mars (Gackt album)

Mars is the first full-length studio album released by Japanese solo artist Gackt on April 26, 2000.

Mars
Studio album by
Gackt
ReleasedApril 26, 2000
Recorded2000
StudioBurnish Stone Recording Studio
One Voice Komazawa
Peninsula
Sound Sky Studio
Tower Side Studio
GenrePop rock, progressive rock, alternative rock
Length50:02
LabelNippon Crown
ProducerGackt
Gackt chronology
Mizérable
(1999)		 Mars
(2000)		 Rebirth
(2001)
Singles from Mars
  1. "Vanilla"
    Released: August 11, 1999
  2. "Mirror"
    Released: February 9, 2000
  3. "Oasis"
    Released: February 16, 2000
Alternative cover
Live tour DVD cover

Release

The album was released on April 26, 2000, by Nippon Crown. In the second counting week of May, it reached number three on the Oricon charts, with sales of 153,500 copies. In the upcoming week, it was at the number sixteen, with sales of 23,540 copies. It charted for only five weeks.[1] Since its release, the album has sold more than 200,000 copies. It was certified gold by RIAJ in 2000.[2]

Preceding the release of the album was the release of three singles, "Vanilla", "Mirror", and "Oasis". The first single, "Vanilla", is one of Gackt's most popular and commercially successful songs. It reached number four on the fourth counting week of August 1999, with sales of 104,650 copies. In the upcoming three weeks, it was at number thirteen two times, and fifteen, with sales of 40,990, and 31,810, and 22,440 copies. It charted for ten weeks.[3] With 248,360 copies sold, it was the 89th best-selling single of the year, and it was certified Gold by RIAJ.[4] The single was later re-released in 2002. It charted for six weeks, reaching number twelve, with sales of 19,220 copies.[3]

The second single, "Mirror", reached number nine on the third counting week of February 2000, with sales of 76,690 copies. It charted for 6 weeks,[3] and sold over 116,770 copies. The third single, "Oasis", reached number seven on the fourth counting week of February 2000, with sales of 84,690 copies. It charted for 6 weeks,[3] and sold over 126,280 copies.

Promotion

Mars ~Sora Kara no Hōmon-sha~ Kaisō (MARS 〜空からの訪問者〜 回想, lit. "Mars: A Visitor from the Sky (Flashbacks)") was the first live tour of Gackt. It was released on VHS on October 4, 2000, and on DVD on November 11, 2000. Lawson sold a special backstage report titled Mars ~Sora Kara no Hōmon-sha~ Kiseki on November 27, 2000. The VHS contained making-of videos for all of the special screens used in the show. The video recording of the final concert was filmed on June 1, 2000, at the Yokohama Arena.

Mars ~Sora Kara no Hōmon-sha~ Kaisō
No.TitleLength
1."Ares" 
2."Asrun Dream" 
3."Emu ~for my dear~" (絵夢 ～for my dear～; "Dreamscapes ~for my dear~") 
4."Sekirei ~seki-ray~" (鶺鴒 ～seki-ray～) 
5."Freesia ~op.1~" 
6."Freesia ~op.2~" 
7."Oasis" 
8."Mirror" 
9."U+K" 
10."Vanilla" 
11."Dears" 
12."Kono Daremo Inai Heya de" (この誰もいない部屋で; "In This Empty Room") 

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gackt.

No.TitleLength
1."Ares"1:35
2."Asrun Dream"4:28
3."Emu ~for my dear~" (絵夢〜for my dear〜; "Dreamscapes ~for my dear~")6:05
4."U+K"4:21
5."Vanilla (Mars Ver.)"4:10
6."Freesia ~op.1~"2:39
7."Freesia ~op.2~"1:57
8."Illness Illusion"3:12
9."Mirror (Mars Ver.)"5:25
10."Dears"4:18
11."Oasis (Mars Ver.)"4:38
12."Kono Daremo Inai Heya de" (この誰もいない部屋で; "In This Empty Room")7:13

Notes
  • While not sung in any actual language, the album's booklet still provides lyrics for the song "Ares".
  • "Asrun Dream" was inspired by the Japanese manga series Banana Fish by Akimi Yoshida. The song was written from the perspective of the main character Ash (born as Aslan, pronounced Asuran or Asrun in Japanese) as he watches his friend Eiji sleep.[5]
  • "Emu ~for my dear~" and "U+K" were written in memory of Gackt's friend and Malice Mizer ex-member Kami.
  • "Dears" was used as the background music in a "Gundam the Ride" commercial.
  • An acoustic re-recording of "Dears" later appeared on the 2005 album Love Letter.

Album credits
gollark: `cat /usr/share/dict/words | grep lies`
gollark: *But* with 3D-printing and stuff, that's reducing slightly, and that could conceivably be extended more to produce most stuff we're used to from a bunch of sand or something via nanofabrication.
gollark: But anyway, currently basically all our technology is tied together in the giant worldwide infrastructure whatsit, and becoming more so.
gollark: ASCII diagramming is hard.
gollark: I think the amount of stuff you need to produce what we'd consider "basic needs" will make a sort of uppy-downy curve over time.``` __/ \_```

References
  1. "Gackt Album Sales Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on June 5, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  2. 月次認定作品　認定年月：2000年 4月 (in Japanese). RIAJ. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  3. "Gackt Single Sales Ranking" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  4. 月次認定作品　認定年月：2000年 4月 (in Japanese). RIAJ. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  5. "Asrun Dream". Senshigakuen. Archived from the original on September 22, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
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