^ Omg yes... alan's Megumi no Ame too... I love these.

Well A BEST 2 BLACK is an interesting compilation, so I'll leave it as a "mystery", hahaha.

BLACK was meant to be a ballade compilation, but not in the way that A BALLADES was. Like, BLACK put together a wide range of what were technically all ballades, though a few of them were "rock" ballades and such. A BALLADS was almost like a remix album of what many would consider "true" ballades, since only a few of the tracks were in their original forms.

Yeah, that's why I like A BEST 2 -BLACK- so much more because it was a wider and more interesting range of ballads.


ANYWAY! Even though NEXT LEVEL only had two ballads, I personally thought they were really great. I still sing along to Days randomly throughout the day :D

^ I LOVE Days and Curtain Call both! Man, NEXT LEVEL really is a great album... It's one of those that has to grow on you, but when it does... So much love. ^_^

It's her most upbeat and cheerful album, woo!~

It definitely is! :D That's why I love it so much! I love how her albums totally reflect her mood and emotions, whether happy or sad :D

That's so true! Well, not exactly since I barely listened to NL at all for it to grow on me, but still. When it came out I really disliked it and it's musical style and the lyrics (other than identity) didn't strike me either.

Then, few weeks ago after all kinds of crap had happened to me and I thought I needed some gloomy music. I opened my music player's Ayu setlist and turned shuffle on and soon I heard the intro of NEXT LEVEL (the song) and thought of skipping it but kept listening. By the end of the song I felt really carefree, easygoing, happy and even kind of hopeful. :laugh

The song soon after it was Days, another Ayu song I barely ever listened to. It also now had the same effect, and the fact the lyrics are kind of bittersweet made me feel even happier because I could relate to them so much at the moment, and it gave me the "life is a treasure, whatever sometimes happens" feeling. I then felt like listening to the whole album and now, voila, it's like the big everyday moodbooster for me. I've listened to it like thousands of times for the last few weeks. NL is probably my favourite Ayu (edit: not just Ayu song, but out of all songs) song atm even though I never have listened to other music of such style.

I'm really glad now that Ayu released this album even though I hated it at first. :love

I kind of think that's exactly what she was going for with this album :) I'm glad it lifted your spirits :D

:laugh i loved NL since the beginning and still love it. the only song i didn't care too much for was Days but that grew on me a lot. i'm like in love with it now lol. that's cool the album grew on people that used to dislike it!

Yeah! Must have grown a lot because it's still selling well :D

:yes

same I also didn't care that much for Days as it's not my fave winter ballad of hers

I'm fine with it now I suppose & I guess for someone who likes to listen to fun & happy upbeat music , NEXT LEVEL's for you

Weird, I was just listening to NEXT LEVEL and though I'm in the state of freaking out right now, the song just made me started to smile

But I still don't care for Days or Curtain call yet XD

I like Curtain call, but Days is just awful. XD

Im one of those few who loved NEXT LEVEL since day one and adding to the list im also one of those who can't stand listening to Days much.

I didn't love Days at first, either, but a few listens got me hooked. :) I'm still not a big fan of NEXT LEVEL though. It's actually one of my least favourite songs of hers. >.>'

I always loved NEXT LEVEL, the direction is pretty cool and ayu doesn't have to release depressed songs/albums all the time (even if I love them as well).
It's a really good Pump up album with 2 pretty ballads at the end.
Actually Days became my favorite ballad ever (because of the great balance of positivity and negativity feelings it conveys probably), it just too over Moments.
I'm glad that the PVs of Days still chart and do well on Recochoku. ^^

I guess I love GREEN more than Days when the single 1st leaked out

somemore she has better winter ballads in her discography too but at least the lyrics pertaining to Days are touching

Yep, I love how it portrays simple but sophisticated feelings in a philosophic way. ^^

23rd Week
Position: Still Unknown
Sales: 831
Total Sales: 375,638

NEXT LEVEL officially charted more than RAINBOW. =D

WOAH!!!
That's was so AMAZING!

Thanks for the update!