Merveilles (album)

Merveilles is the third album by Japanese rock band Malice Mizer, released on March 18, 1998. In 2004, it was named one of the top albums from 1989–1998 in an issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.[2]

Merveilles
Studio album by Malice Mizer
Released	March 18, 1998
Recorded	1997–1998[1]
Studio	Hitokuchizaka Studio Recording Studio Soundvalley Freedom Studio Bunkamura Studio Onkio Haus (mastered)
Genre	Art rock synthpop
Length	47:39
Label	Nippon Columbia, Midi:Nette
Producer	Malice Mizer
Malice Mizer chronology
Voyage ~Sans Retour~ (1996) Merveilles (1998) Shinwa (2000)
Singles from Merveilles
"Bel Air" Released: August 6, 1997 "Au Revoir" Released: December 3, 1997 "Gekka no Yasoukyoku" Released: February 21, 1998 "Illuminati" Released: May 20, 1998 "Le Ciel" Released: September 9, 1998

Summary

Merveilles is the band's only album on a major record label, being released by Nippon Columbia (Midi:Nette went under the "Maitrize" name for the only time in its history). Its title is French for "Wonders". This album marked the pinnacle of the band's success, being their best-selling album, charting high on the Oricon charts, and also earned them several national TV appearances. Japanese pop culture website Real Sound credited Malice Mizer as the first visual kei band to incorporate European aesthetics into heavy metal with the twin guitars in "Bel Air ~Kuuhaku no Toki no Naka De~".[3]

In 1998, the band played live at the Nippon Budokan which involved a large building as a stage prop and elaborate theatrics; each member performing a skit with another on their own (including a skit in which Gackt fell to the stage to sing the song "Le Ciel", and returned to "Heaven" by song's [and concert's] end). It was a success and was released on home video as Merveilles l'espace. In July 1998, the Yokohama Arena's stage would be the last for Gackt as in January 1999, at the height of Malice Mizer's success, he left the band in order to pursue a solo career.

A few months after his departure, drummer Kami died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage on June 21. But the band continued to exist, as Kami was replaced by a non-official, supporting member, and new vocalist Klaha was recruited. By then the band had abandoned the lighter pop music sound of the Gackt era for a dramatic mixture of Baroque music, gothic, metal and electronic music, and adopted an elaborate funeral Goth look.

Release

The album was released on March 18, 1998, by Columbia. In the fifth counting week of March it reached number two on the Oricon charts, with sales of 169,290 copies,[4] while in the first week of April it charted at number twelve with sales of 41,900 copies.[5] It charted for sixteen weeks.[6] By the end of the year it had sold 307,450 copies, was the 73rd best-selling album of the year.

Also, the album singles are the most successful in the band's history. In 1997, "Bel Air" and "Au Revoir" were released, both of which reached number forty-two and ten,[6] while the latter was the band's first top ten entry on the charts, and charted for eleven weeks.[6] In 1998, prior the album's release, "Gekka no Yasoukyoku" was released, which reached number eleven, and charted for twelve weeks.[6] It was later followed by "Illuminati", which reached number seven,[6] and "Le Ciel", their best charting single, which reached number four.[6][7] It was the band's only single written and composed by Gackt.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Gackt.

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"~De Merveilles" (...of wonders)	Mana	1:07
2.	"Syunikiss ~Nidome no Aitou~" (Syunikiss 〜二度目の哀悼〜; Second Mourning)	Yu~ki	4:14
3.	"Bel Air ~Kuuhaku no Toki no Naka De~" (ヴェル・エール ～空白の瞬間 (とき)の中で～; Within Moments of Nothingness)	Mana	5:34
4.	"Illuminati"	Közi	5:12
5.	"Brise"	Közi	5:03
6.	"AEGEAN ~Sugisarishi Kaze to Tomo ni~" (エーゲ〜過ぎ去りし風と共に〜; Aegean ~Gone with the Wind~)	Mana	4:58
7.	"Au Revoir" (Goodbye)	Mana	4:54
8.	"Je te Veux" (I Want You)	Közi	4:37
9.	"S-Conscious"	Mana	3:20
10.	"Le Ciel" (Heaven)	Gackt	5:00
11.	"Gekka no Yasoukyoku" (月下の夜想曲; Nocturne in the Moonlight)	Közi	3:45
12.	"Bois de merveilles" (Forest of Wonders)	Malice Mizer	1:55

Personnel

Personnel[1] Vocals, piano: Gackt Guitar, synthesizer: Közi, Mana Bass: Yu~ki Drums: Kami Cello: Masashi Abe Violin: Chieko Kinbara, Toshihiro Nakanishi Programmers (all instruments and computer programming): Gackt, Kami, Közi, Mana, Yu~ki Programmer (synthesizer programming), sound designer: Nobuhiko Nakayama Technician (sound adviser), keyboards: Yohei Shimada Arrangement by Malice Mizer, Yohei Shimada (tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 10–12)

Production[1] Producer: Malice Mizer Executive producer: Nobuhiko Miyazawa, Yukie Ito Engineers (additional): Hideyuki Hanaki, Hirohito Fujishima Recorded and mixed by Atsuo Akabae Mastered by Masao Nakazato Design[1] Art direction, cover collage, design: Teruhisa Abe Design: Hiroyuki Komagai, Takaaki Inoue Photography: Masatoshi Makino

References

1. "Malice Mizer - Merveilles (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
2. "Top 44 Albums from 1989 - 1998". jame-world.com. 2004-05-09. Retrieved 2013-03-08.
3. "ヴィジュアル系におけるメタルサウンドの移り変わり　X JAPANからLUNA SEA、DIR EN GREY、DEZERTまでを総括" (in Japanese). Real Sound. 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
4. "Oricon Weekly Album Chart for the fifth week of March 1998". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
5. "Oricon Weekly Album Chart for the first week of April 1998". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
6. "Malice Mizer album discography" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
7. "Malice Mizer Singles" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 2013-04-13.