Iza, Now! is the fourth studio album of Japanese boy bandArashi. It was released on 21 July 2004 through J Storm. Two singles were released from the album: "Hadashi no Mirai/Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono" and "Pikanchi Double". The album debuted at number one in Japan, selling 115,000 copies in its first week.
Background and release
The album comes one year after the group's third studio album How's It Going?. According to Arashi member Masaki Aiba, the album's title Iza, Now! means "to tempt". Member Sho Sakurai co-wrote lyrics for the songs "Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono", "The Bubble", "Pikanchi Double", "Eyes with Delight", and "Right Back to You". "Right Back to You" was used as the background song for a Parco commercial. American musician Omar Hakim participated in recording the songs "Jam", "Eyes With Delight", and "Rainbow". Iza, Now! was released on 21 July 2004 in Japan, in two editions: a regular edition and a limited edition. Though the two editions contains the same tracks, only the limited edition contained a booklet and a DVD containing five music videos chosen by fans. It was released under the Avex Asia label in Taiwan and Hong Kong on 24 August 2004 and 8 September 2004, respectively. The album was released digitally on February 7, 2020.
Arashi released the double A-side single "Hadashi no Mirai/Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono" on 3 September 2003. It peaked at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and achieved a platinum certification. "Hadashi no Mirai" was used as the campaign song for Coca-Cola while "Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono" was used as the theme song for the television seriesStand Up!!, starring Arashi member Kazunari Ninomiya, Tomohisa Yamashita, Anne Suzuki, Hiroki Narimiya, and Shun Oguri. "Pikanchi Double" was released on 18 February 2004, and was used as the theme song for Arashi's starring film Pikanchi: Life is Hard dakara Happy, the sequel to Pikanchi: Life is Hard dakedo Happy. It peaked at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart.
Commercial performance
Iza, Now! debuted at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart, marking the group's second number-one album in Japan. It sold 115,000 copies in its first week and spent eight weeks on the chart. The album went on to sell around 151,000 copies overall. In July 2004, the album was certified Gold for shipments of 100,000 copies by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
