Materialize

## Singles from *MATERIALIZE*

1. Saigo no Tatte Iru/FIGHT！！
Released: December 4, 2003
2. STRONGER/DOOM DOOM
Released: April 13, 2004

**Materialize** (stylized as **MATERIALIZE**) is the fifth studio album released by Japanese singer Okimota Kuwata, under the alias Nakashima Yuu. It was released in all Asian territories on May 4, 2004 through DSCOVRY Music, three years after its predecessor album SPIRIT. A South Korean edition of the album under the name “구체화하다” (Materialize, in Korean) was released on December, 2004.

Just like Yuu’s previous album, *Materialize* is composed of songs heavily inspired by the western teen pop culture, though explore themes like love and breakup with more maturity. For that reason, *Materialize* had a better reception than *Spirit* by the Japanese critics, who praised the improvements, but still made heavy remarks about the tracks’ lack of originality, noting that the songs were “desperate efforts to mimic western music for numbers”.

*Materialize* made its debut at number one in the Oricon Albums Chart, with over 1 million copies sold. The album went on to sell 2.5 million copies in Japan. In South Korea, the album debuted at number 2, and eventually reached the top position after the release of its South Korean edition. By 2007, Materialize had sold 4 million copies across all Asian territories.

To promote the album, two double-sided singles were released in 2004. Both “Saigo no Tatte Iru/FIGHT！！” and “STRONGER/DOOM DOOM” managed to reach the highest position in the Oricon Singles Chart, and went on to become the best-selling singles of the year in Japan, with over 2 million copies each. The songs were heavily promoted by Nakashima Yuu and DSCOVRY Music in TV shows and radio stations throughout 2004.

Following the release of the massive album *Spirit*, which dominated the charts in 2001 and 2002, Yuu returned to the studios to begin recording songs for his next album. At the time, the singer mentioned the pressure of the media and his record label after the commercial success of his previous album, stating: “*Numbers like that are hard to put out again. I just hope the fans are happy with the new songs, because I’ve put my heart into this new record*.”

The untitled album was initially set for release in 2003, but ended up being continuously delayed after the single “*Destiny*” saw a poor performance on the Japanese charts, until it was finally scrapped by the record label. Nakashima Yuu apologized for the delays in his official website, writing that they “*had a lot of great ideas that were poorly executed*”, and promised he would “*make up for taking so long*”. He started working on a new project by late 2003, and finished recording it within 5 months.

Upon the release of *Materialize*, the public was eager for a new album by Nakashima Yuu after three whole years away from the industry. The media created a rivalry between him and the singer Haruto, who also was a teen pop star and had just released his fourth album *Stations*, which sold over 3 million copies in Japan. About the comparisons, Yuu stated “*I think it’s very easy to make comparisons because we are both very young and have this appeal to the younger public, but I have nothing against him and wish him nothing but the best*”. This made-up rivalry between the singers would go on for the rest of the decade, and would highly affect their careers and relationship.

## Release & Packaging

*Materialize* was released in all Asian territories on May 4, 2004 through DSCOVRY Music, and had a special release for South Korea on December 12, 2004. The original edition of the album included eight tracks, and the South Korean release included Korean versions for the singles “*STRONGER*” and “*DOOM DOOM*”, and three bonus songs, including a cover of Hikaru Utada's *First Love*. Both versions included an additional DVD disc containing the music videos for the singles, extra music videos for the songs “*LOVE STORY*” and "*Materialize*", commercial recordings and exclusive videos of *Materialize* recording sessions.

The official cover art for the Asian and South Korean versions of the album feature a photo of Nakashima Yuu smiling wearing a jeans jacket, and the album is packaged with various pictures of the singer taken from 2003 to 2004.

## Singles

Two singles were released to promote the album. The first single of the album was “Saigo no Tatte Iru/FIGHT！！”, which was released on physical format in December 3, 2003. It sold 2.1 million copies in Japan and spent three weeks at the top of the Oricon Singles Chart. The following single "STRONGER/DOOM DOOM" was released five months later, in April 13, 2004. It spent two weeks at the top of the Oricon Singles Chart, and ended its run with over 2.2 million copies sold in Japan, becoming the best-selling single of the country in 2004.

## Commercial Performance

*Materialize* entered the Oricon Albums Chart at number one, selling over 1 million copies in Japan on its first week. The album stayed at the top of the Japanese chart for 4 weeks. *Materialize* went on to sell 1.4 million copies in 2004, ending the year in the second spot at the 2004 Oricon Year-End Album Chart. The album sold over 4 million copies in the Asian territory, including 2.6 million copies in Japan and 1.5 million copies in South Korea

## Track listing

**South Korean Edition**

**DVD (Asian and South Korean Edition)**

## Charts

### Weekly Charts

**Weekly chart performance for *Materialize***

### Monthly Charts

**Monthly chart performance for *Materialize***

### Yearly Charts

**Yearly chart performance for *Materialize***

 **South Korean Albums (RIAK)** | 1

## Sales and Certifications

 **Taiwan (RIT)** | Platinum
 **Worldwide** | 4,000,000