The world zeitgeist; but that’s a tautology... zeit... geist.

I was referencing something a lot bigger than the jpop trend du jour, which was pretty spelled out.

Dramatically.

Well, when you create a "perfect image" of someone who is just another human you can get really disspointed, not only in cases like this but also on your daily life. About the discussion, ストロボ・EdGE and others have said that they didn't like it and that's their opinion, if they cried, kicked and/or screamed that's just their problem, I mean I don't get why others took it that badly, it's not like they are throwing negativity or said those annoying comments such as "she (or her career) is over, she is trash, she should retire, etc". Saying I don't like x thing is not something to be offended, most of you hate Party Queen while I love it but I don't attack anyone over it :laugh don't attack each others guys! :yes

I liked TROUBLE, it's not great but good imo, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't kind of dissapointed with the ammount of tracks and WATQ and WORDS being included but well that's just how things are, nothing to do about it, I'll just keep waiting for the concerts releases and hopefuly a new announcement soon.

Maybe it's a bonus/secret track that will be released on 08/13 on AWA ;) Who know.

Well the name of this album is really accurate :laugh

I just found it odd crying over a disliked music release :P Doesn't sound very healthy, but I'm not anybody's mother either.

For me, it was the whole "my life is so awesome and I'm a totally successful and happy person, yet I'm throwing a tantrum online because a Japanese pop singer in Japan is not singing songs about being a POC in America" that I found bizarre.

Not sure what you're getting at here. I was just pointing out how strange it is to say "my life is awesome" after you've been online to also state you've been crying because some music isn't good.

Aside from aeternal, which I can't seem to get into, I like TROUBLE. I would place sixxxxxx and Memorial address above it, and I would place TROUBLE above FIVE. I really didn't care for FIVE all that much.

Much ado about nothing.

You all should calm down a little bit!
It's just a release of some music and there'll be something coming afterwards...
If you're disappointed, well move on and wait for a new release or quit.
If you're happy with this release, it's fine, enjoy it!
Everybody has another taste in music, lyrics and imagery, right?
And everybody has a reason for liking something or not...
We don't have a need to fight about our tastes... that's unnecessary, right?
If you have your opinion, you're free to communicate it...
But please pay some attention to your words!
It's not fair to blame ayu or someone here on AHS for your taste!

Thank you

As stated before, tasuku arranged W probably and Yuta arranged The way I am according to demo codes. (Yukumi + Nakano)

It's a question I'm asking myself more and more while seeing the artistic decisions made for a while now. I even really wonder if she really has any deep artistic vision in term of melody/composition/arrangements or if she relies on her team a lot. Or that she just may have low standards herself.
I know it can sound a bit harsh but I genuinely wonder about it and TROUBLE is the perfect demonstration.

We are the QUEENS
It’s a bit like Mirrorcle World ugly and evil twin sister. You know the one that you keep locked and chained in the attic, away from the outside world, the darkest secret of the whole family, afraid that one night she will break free taking her revenge while you sleep. The fake orchestra and cheap sounds bother me a lot. I could never understand the way the «orchestra» part of the bridge is introduced… It just starts out of nowhere, cutting into the beat and the mood. I may be the only one having this feeling though because nobody complained haha! I can understand why people like this song though.

aeternal
When I first listened to the first demo version I thought it would only be another uninspired / lazy type of happy song with the same structure, progression, arrangements she has been doing for more than 10 years now. But I was wrong. Not only it has the same structure, progression, arrangements she has been doing for more than 10 years now, it also has vocals that are not my cup of tea at all. Well I totally understand some people might like those vocals over high-pitched ones. Unfortunately I don’t… She sounds hoarse and breathless to me. I like the sad part of the bridge with guitars and the little glass-like sounds just after. I really don’t like (I’m censoring myself here) the same beatbox she uses in every summer song (no, in fact it is even in songs like momentum), the HAL chimes and the fake violins all over the song…

WORDS
Her voice is contrasting so much with the previous track. This is the perfect example of a pretty safe song, nothing groundbreaking, nothing really creative, but everything works for me here (hello Love songs !). I dont know... It feels genuine to me. And her voice… It's still giving me eargasms after almost one year. This is the voice I felt in love with and I love to death… It may be forced and unnatural… but I can’t help. I’m still not tired of this song at all. <3

W
I'm SO glad she sticks with rock inspired songs as they don't seem to be really popular with her Japanese fanbase. Those are most of the time the songs that make me still be a fan despite disappointments (my god FLOWER... what a amazingly fresh song... And after almost 20 years of intense production). Always had a soft spot for military marching drums. I understand when people say the chorus feels incomplete but it doesn’t really bother me… It’s adding to the rawness / roughness of the song IMO. It may be the closest «rock» song she has done with alterna. It is not as great though, but good enough to me. At least it feels unique in her discography.

The way I am
The beginning tells everything… Like with aeternal I can almost picture the whole song already. It is quite annoying. Same arrangements as always with this type of song. The fake violins are just irritating. Like really. I like the melody though but it is not enough. This song could have been much more… I just want to skip it. Her voice is better here than in aeternal IMO.

So…
What a really peculiar release. It indeed feels forced and planned last minute to content fans. I would have prefer to wait longer and have a real album with a complete conception.

I will just feel the need to listen to WORDS over again and W.
Two years after her last album I just hold on to one new track and a previous digital release… It is quite underwhelming indeed. Looking forward to her next release...

Oh guys!! What if AWA announcement is... Poetry Reading for the other 4 songs? :love
Kidding.

I feel the need to say before I go back into ahs hibernation that I didn’t like weep, guys. Two minims tops but apparently “cried” is synonymous with suicidal.

And Logman, you completely miss the point. Obviously Ayu isn’t going to sing about Trump and Black genocide, but why bother explicating anymore. It’s that the humanity I expected is absent in a time like this. And also, yeah, my life IS pretty fucking awesome, haha. I just wish my ex musical soulmate was part of it. Ayu.

We all have our different shit bro

According to this tweet: "The songs from TROUBLE are topping the japanese daily charts on KKBOX WOW at Singapore *o*"
https://twitter.com/roque_sf/status/1026952057335541760

http://oi67.tinypic.com/2dahp2g.jpg
http://oi68.tinypic.com/s6pqgj.jpg

æternal seems to be pretty strong (iirc it is her highest song on AWA from this album, isn't it?)! Anyway, that's really nice! Also glad to see WORDS (and obviously the rest) up there too.

After 2 days, AWA statistics are as follows:
1. aeternal 19,839
2. The way I am 16,691
3. W 13,084
4. WORDS 11,515
5. We are the queens 7,600

aeternal also has currently most plays on spotify 4,151. This track definitely stands out for most people currently.

I've been laughing about this for the past 2 days

I really really hope Trouble will have strong sales. The number of streams don’t look too bad :-)

I hope people will buy the album considered it being so cheap

Strong sales probably not but 'okay sales' seem likely. I wonder if they're planning other promo aside from the Tower Records stuff and MUSIC FAIR.

Probably not... but I really do hope it sells fairly well.
I'd be surprised if they'd do more promo tbh.

I say she'll end up selling between 35k~40k. Slightly over 40k if she's lucky.