Babymetal

Babymetal (stylized as BABYMETAL) is a Japanese metal idol band. Their line-up consists of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal", Yui Mizuno as "Yuimetal", and Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal". The concept of the group is a fusion of the metal and idol genres. The three teenage girls and their band are managed by the Amuse talent agency. They released their debut album of the same name in February 2014.

History

Beginnings

The group was initially formed in 2010 as a subunit of the female idol group Sakura Gakuin, aiming to realize a "fusion of metal and idol [music]". Kobametal (Babymetal's producer) says that he had been envisioning the creation of such a group since 2009. None of the three members knew what metal music was before the inception of the band.

Babymetal's first live appearance was on November 28, 2010, at Sakura Gakuin's first solo concert. Their first song, "Doki Doki Morning", was originally released in April 2011 on the Sakura Gakuin album Sakura Gakuin 2010nendo: Message. The band shot a music video for the song and in October 2011 released it as a DVD single intended for limited (live-venues-only) distribution. Having been uploaded to YouTube that same month, by the end of 2012 the video totaled over 1 million views. Also, in July 2011 at a Sakura Gakuin concert Babymetal premiered a second song, "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" ("No More Bullying"), but it would only be released as a single much later, in 2013.

Babymetal (album)

Babymetal (stylized as BABYMETAL) is the debut studio album by Japanese metal idol group Babymetal.

The album was first released on February 26, 2014 under Toy's Factory in Japan, in several editions, regular and limited. The limited edition comes with a bonus DVD containing video clips and live footage from Summer Sonic Festival 2013. It reached the 4th place on Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 37,463 copies during the first week.

Several singles were released for the album, including the commercially successful songs "Ijime, Dame, Zettai", "Megitsune", and "Gimme Chocolate!!".

The album had a physical release internationally mid-2015.

Background

On February 5, 2014, Babymetal was announced on the official website with a release date in Japan for February 26, 2014, the artwork for both editions revealed, and a promotional video featuring five songs from the album.

Release and promotion

The album was released in a regular edition, a standard limited edition, and a special limited edition for members of the group's special "Apocalypse Web" site. The limited edition, originally released in Japan, has an identical track listing on the CD, and includes a DVD containing the group's music videos with commentary by the three members, a live music video of "Gimme Chocolate!!", and footage of the group's performance at Summer Sonic 2013. An encore pressing of the limited edition version of the album was released on July 26, 2014 with a special cover to commemorate the band's 2014 world tour.