Christmas Gift | ||||
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![]() French edition slipcase cover | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 22, 2008[1] November 12, 2008 (Japan) | (France)
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Recorded | 2008 | |||
Genre | J-pop, folk, Christmas carol | |||
Length |
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Label | Victor Entertainment, Wasabi Records | |||
Producer | Kokia | |||
Kokia chronology | ||||
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Christmas Gift is Kokia's eighth studio album, released in October/November 2008. [2] It is her first full-length Christmas album, though she had released a special Christmas EP for fans, A Piece of Christmas, in November 2006. It is the final of four albums released in 2008 to celebrate her 10th anniversary as a singer.
One song from the album, "Kokoro no Rōsoku," features on Kokia's 2009 greatest hits collection Coquillage: The Best Collection II. [3]
Kokia began recording the album in May 2008, though refused to mention what the sessions were for. [4] In September, the album was still gradually being recorded, with Kokia working with producer Kiyohide Ura for several tracks. [5] The album was confirmed in Kokia's blog on September the 1st, though recording was still continuing at this point. [6]
Kokia also travelled to New York City for a week to record for her "Remember the Kiss Music Gift" project in early September. [7] These sessions were for Kokia's special Music Gift EP, which featured Christmas recordings. [8] One of the songs from these sessions, "Remember the Kiss (Dedicated to "New" NY)," was released as a bonus track on the Japanese edition. [2] It was recorded on the organ with a church choir at the Institutional Church of God Church in Brooklyn. [9] [10]
Of the songs included in the album, 12 are covers and three are original Kokia songs (if counting medley songs and bonus tracks).
Of the covers, five are religious Christmas carols: " Amazing Grace," " It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," " The Little Drummer Boy," " The First Noël" and " We Three Kings of Orient Are". Four of the songs are secular Christmas songs: " I'll Be Home for Christmas," " Jingle Bells," " Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and " Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." Three of these four secular songs are a part of the Christmas medley.
Two songs are covers of songs not directly related to Christmas by popular Western musicians. The first is Leonard Cohen's " Hallelujah," and the second is Queen's Japanese song, " Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)."
" Ave Maria" is a cover of the Johann Sebastian Bach classical piece of music with lyrics from Hail Mary prayer in Latin. Earlier the same year Kokia recorded Vavilov's " Ave Maria" on her " The Voice" album.
Much like Kokia's first album released on Wasabi Records, Aigakikoeru: Listen for the Love, it was released in France prior to the Japanese release. The French edition was released on October 22, three weeks before the Japanese release. [1] [2]
Christmas Gift was also simultaneously released in France as a part of a 3CD set called Kokia Collection. The album also featured 2006's Aigakikoeru: Listen for the Love 2008's and The Voice, and featured a cover similar to the Christmas Gift photoshoot cover. [11]
The album reached #56 on the Japanese Oricon albums charts, selling 3,000 copies. [12] CDJournal called the album a "Christmas song selection you can enjoy with your family." [13]
The French and Japanese versions were released with different track orders. The Japanese version also had a bonus track, " Remember the Kiss (Dedicated to "New" NY)."
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Arranger(s) | Length |
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1. | " Amazing Grace" | John Newton | Kokia | 4:46 |
2. | " Ave Maria" | Bach | Ryosuke Nakanishi | 3:00 |
3. | " I'll Be Home for Christmas" | Buck Ram, Kim Gannon, Walter Kent | Nakanishi | 4:15 |
4. | "Christmas Medley: Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, The Little Drummer Boy, The First Noël, Jingle Bells" | J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie, Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne, Katherine K. Davis, Traditional, James Lord Pierpont | Sunny | 13:19 |
5. | " Hallelujah" | Leonard Cohen | Kiyohide Ura | 4:41 |
6. | "Sei Naru Yoru ni (Holy Night) (聖なる夜に~holy night, In the Holy Night)" | Kokia | Ura | 4:34 |
7. | "Kokoro no Rōsoku (心のロウソク, Candle in the Heart)" | Kokia | Kokia | 5:33 |
8. | " We Three Kings of Orient Are" | John Henry Hopkins Jr. | Yasuhisa Yamamoto | 4:36 |
9. | " It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" | Edmund Sears | Yamamoto | 5:09 |
10. | " Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" | Brian May | Sunny | 4:33 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Arranger(s) | Length |
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1. | "Amazing Grace" | Newton | Kokia | 4:46 |
2. | "Hallelujah" | Cohen | Ura | 4:41 |
3. | "I'll Be Home for Christmas" | Ram, Gannon, Kent | Nakanishi | 4:15 |
4. | "We Three Kings of Orient Are" | Hopkins | Yamamoto | 4:36 |
5. | "Christmas Medley: Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, The Little Drummer Boy, The First Noël, Jingle Bells" | Coots, Gillespie, Cahn, Styne, Davis, Traditional, Pierpont | Various | 13:19 |
6. | "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" | May | Sunny | 4:33 |
7. | "Ave Maria" | Bach | Nakanishi | 3:00 |
8. | "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" | Sears | Yamamoto | 5:09 |
9. | "Sei Naru Yoru ni (Holy Night) (聖なる夜に~holy night, In the Holy Night)" | Kokia | Ura | 4:34 |
10. | "Kokoro no Rōsoku (心のロウソク, Candle in the Heart)" | Kokia | Kokia | 5:33 |
11. | " Remember the Kiss (Dedicated to "New" NY)" | Kokia | Toney Rhodes | 6:22 |
Release | Chart | Peak position | First week sales | Sales total |
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February 20, 2008 | Oricon Weekly Albums Chart [12] | 56 | 2,297 | 3,020 |