Ray (L'Arc-en-Ciel album)

Ray is the seventh album by L'Arc-en-Ciel, released on July 1, 1999, simultaneously with Ark. It reached number two on the Oricon chart, behind only Ark, and sold over two million copies, being certified by the RIAJ.^[1]

Ray
Studio album by L'Arc-en-Ciel
Released	July 1, 1999
Genre	Pop rock alternative rock
Length	49:24
Label	Ki/oon
Producer	L'Arc-en-Ciel, Hajime Okano
L'Arc-en-Ciel chronology
Ark (1999) Ray (1999) Ectomorphed Works (2000)
Singles from Ray
"Honey" Released: July 8, 1998 "Kasou" Released: July 8, 1998 "Shinshoku (Lose Control)" Released: July 8, 1998 "Snow Drop" Released: October 7, 1998

Track listing

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Shi no Hai" (死の灰)	tetsu	4:08
2.	"It's the End"	ken	3:25
3.	"Honey"	hyde	3:48
4.	"Sell my Soul"	hyde	4:39
5.	"Snow Drop (Ray Mix)"	tetsu	4:33
6.	"L'heure"	yukihiro	4:04
7.	"Kasou" (花葬)	ken	5:13
8.	"Shinshoku ~Lose Control~" (浸食 ～lose control～)	ken	4:45
9.	"Trick"	yukihiro	3:47
10.	"Ibara no Namida" (いばらの涙)	hyde	5:22
11.	"The Silver Shining"	ken	5:40

Covers

"Shinshoku ~lose control~" was covered by Fantôme Iris, a fictional visual kei band from multimedia franchise Argonavis from BanG Dream! on their first solo live Fantôme Iris 1st LIVE -C'est la vie!-.^[2] "Honey" and "Snow Drop" were covered by Eric Martin and Boyz II Men, respectively, on L'Arc-en-Ciel Tribute; a different mix of Martin's cover was later included on his cover album Mr. Rock Vocalist.^[3][4]

Personnel

• hyde – vocals
• ken – guitar, chromaharp on track 1, keyboards on tracks 2, 7, 8 and 11, tambourine on tracks 3, 5 and 11
• tetsu – bass guitar, backing vocals
• yukihiro – drums, tambourine and shaker on track 2, guitar and keyboards on track 9
• Hajime Okano – keyboards on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11
• Hitoshi Saitou – keyboards on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11
• Shinri Sasaki – piano on track 4
• Sylvie – fills on track 6

Charts

Weekly charts Original release Chart (1999) Peak position Japanese Albums (Oricon)[5] 2 15th Anniversary Edition Chart (2006) Peak position Japanese Albums (Oricon)[6] 12

Year-end charts Chart (1999) Position Japanese Albums (Oricon) 7

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[7]	2× Million	2,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "RIAJ CERTIFIED MILLION SELLER ALBUMS". ocn.ne.jp. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
2. "それは幻想の一夜ーー「Fantôme Iris 1st LIVE -C'est la vie!-」ライブレポート。眷属たちの目に映る，銀の百合咲き乱れし王国". 4gamer.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-05-07.
3. "エリック・マーティン、B'zからBOΦWY、LUNA SEAまで今度は男性J-ROCKの名曲を鮮烈カバー". BARKS (in Japanese). 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
4. "ラルクトリビュート世界配信開始、PVもYouTube公開". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). 2012-06-13. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
5. "ray | L'Arc～en～Ciel". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
6. "『ray』15th Anniversary Expanded Edition | L'Arc～en～Ciel". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
7. "Japanese album certifications – L'Arc～en～Ciel – ray" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1999年7月 on the drop-down menu