MAX

From Wiki.theppn

Jump to: navigation, search
MAX
MAX

Musical Active EXperience is a 4-member group from Avex Trax under the sub-label SONIC GROOVE and in management of VISION FACTORY. They evolved from Super Monkeys with lead singer Amuro Namie, a band of teenage girls from Okinawa formed in 1992. They took the name MAX after Amuro Namie pursued a solo career.

Contents

Members

Information

Hailing from prestigious Okinawa Actors School and was signed under Toshiba-EMI as Super Monkeys (with Amuro Namie), they were brought by Avex to Tokyo to try their luck in the main limelight. While still being in Super Monkeys, they had released two single that had little success. Since the breakup of the Super Monkey's, they became Namie's backup dancers for a while until March of 1996. When their movie Ladie's Max and their third single TORA TORA TORA, debuted on the charts at #19, was released, they finally took off as a band and as MAX. In December of that same year, they had released their debut album, MAXIMUM, that went straight to the top and had reached pass the 1,000,000 units sold mark.

Following MAXIMUM's success, they starred in the sequel of their first movie, Ladie's MAX: Give me a Shake. The movie's theme song, Give me a shake, was their first original song (the previous songs were covers of Eurobeat songs). The song went straight to #1, giving them their first #1 hit. In the fall of 1997, they had their first tour J-POP GIG TOUR, which had a sold-out crowd. They then released their second album, MAXIMUM II, at Christmas Day of that same year, which was as successful as it's prequel. In 1999, they had released their greatest hits collection, MAXIMUM COLLECTION, and had released their first ballad, Issho ni..., that became their second best selling single.

In 2000, the band decided to take over their own music by composing and producing by release releasing their first R&B single, Never gonna stop it. The single debuted in #8 on the charts but it wasn't as successful, only selling under 100,000 copies. This was the start of their declining sales. Then in 2002, it become worst when Mina, the band's lead vocalist, announced her departature due to her marriage and pregnancy. This happened after they released their second ballad, Spring rain. The single debuted at #28, breaking their 19 Consecutive Top 20 singles. Because of these two factors, their fifth original album was cancelled. And instead, they released their second greatest hits album and took a hiatus afterwards.

Months after the hiatus, the news of a new MAX member circulated. A fanclub meeting took place where the three original members performed their smash hit, Give me a shake, and confirmed the news by introducing the newest MAX member, Aki. Also, the group announced a new single and album to be released. However, the single was canceled but the album was released. Their official comeback single, eternal white, debuted in #20 but fall short and was quickly out of the charts. The same charting positions continued even in 2003, where two released singles failed to place in the top 30. In 2004, their cover of Atomic Kitten's Be With You had still failed to enter the top 30 even through the promotions. After performing in United States at Texas' AnimeFEST, they took time for their own solo careers. In 2005, they celebrated their 10th anniversary with a hotel tour named MAX LOVE TRIP 2005 and announced a new single, NIRAI KANAI. NIRAI KANAI was described as a "Okinawan Euro" song that had a blend of Okinawan Folk music and Eurodance. Even though the single sold mediocre, the song was a hit in their home perfecture, Okinawa. Later that year, MAX had lead roles in the TV drama, Starlights. In November, they release Wonder Woman, which includes a remake of Issho ni.... Their latest release was their single, Splash Gold -Natsu no Kiseki- / Prism of Eyes.

In August 2008, Maeda Aki made her intentions known that she’ll be leaving MAX, as of this month. She did hint to the members and staff of MAX last year of leaving, rather graduating, from the group to pursue a solo career as a singer-songwriter.

Discography

Albums

Other Albums

Singles

DVD / Videos

Compilation / Other

Filmography

Television

Film

External links

Retrieved from "http://wiki.theppn.org/MAX"
Personal tools