1. Party queen
I can say I like this song. It's definitely not the best one out there, but it still makes me dance the way they danced on CDL, and that's a great feat. 8/10

2. NaNaNa
It's an ok song. It would've been better if there was a little bit less Timmy rap. I like the beat a lot and most of the sounds. Still, it's one of the songs in the album I liked less than the others. 6/10

3. Shake It♥
Pretty much the same as NaNaNa. I love the beat and rappish vocals, but not really into "shake it" and "oooh, lailailai" part. 5.5/10

4. taskebab
Diz sht is gooooooood! Tasuku can really make amazing music. It's really catchy and rockish. One of the best instrumental pieces on Ayu's albums, in my opinion. Fits the track position on the album as well. 9/10

5. call
Since I heard previews, call was one of my fav tracks. Now that I heard the real deal, it just confirmed my feelings for this song. I love the arrangement, vocals, lyrics. The only thing is that it feels short! Still, deserves a 9.5/10

6. Letter
This one had me at "massugu de" when I first heard the preview. Even the preview brought me to tears. Deserves a 10/10 for me :)

7. reminds me
Wonderful arrangement, wonderful lyrics, even more wonderful vocals. Lalalala part is amaaaaaaaazing!!! 10/10

8. Return Road
Ok, this sht is epic. The instrument diversity and a powerful arrangement combined with flawless vocals and lyrics is what makes this track stand out even more. If the score could be >10, it'd definitely get a higher one. Currently one of my fav Ayu tracks overall. 10+/10

9. Tell me why
Although I feel a few parts of the song are sligtly off, it's not making me love it any less. Nice arrangement, awesome lyrics. 9/10

10. cup of tea
Loving the randomness ^^, but not a good track between Tell me why and the next LOVE. 7/10

11. the next LOVE
To be honest, when I heard the preview, I didn't think the track was promising. But the more I listen to it, the more it's growing on me. Currently 8/10

12. Eyes, Smoke, Magic
I GET STARTLED WHENEVER THE STUPID PHONE RINGS AT THE START OF THIS SONG! Generally, same as the next Love, but it's differently paced and feels a lot shorter. I like the arrangement and the way the song evolves as it nears the end. Still growing on me as well. 7.5/10
***(even though I think tnL and e,s,m deserve a slightly higher score, I had to lower the scores because honestly, I can't put them in any other Ayu playlists)

13. Serenade in A minor
Relaxing, beautiful strings piece. 7/10

14. how beautiful you are
I loved the song since I heard it on the CDL. Beautiful arrangement and beautiful lyrics. 9/10

Overall:
Party Queen definitelly succeeded surprising me with the variety of genre and nice arrangements. The lyrics are A(yu)wesome as usual. I think Shake It and NaNaNa were the least impressive ones, but it's not that I didn't like those two tracks. The middle, rockish part of the album completely surpassed my expectations, which made me veeeeery happy!! Generally, my score for the album is an A-, but let's see what the overall score says... ;)

Score: 8,3

This is almost exactly how I felt at first, give it some time the album will grow on you more as you listen to it more, think back to her I am... days many of the elements in this album are much like I am...

THIS

I agree, even though this album is growing on me this album feels very "filler" to me in the same way that MY STORY had a lot of fillers. Reminds me is very epic to me and NaNaNa is really addicting, how beautiful you are is touching, and I thank her for trying to do jazz but this album still isn't giving me that "WOW AMAZING" effect. BRILLANTE and progress gave me that "wow" effect I give BRILLANTE 10/10 and progress 8/10

This! Not to "beat a dead horse" but I agree nothing will top that song for a long time 10/10

Same here

I like Reminds me a lot more it feels much more intense I like how the "la la las" are the main verse of the song it's interesting and different.

To me it's just Liar ~episode II~ only slightly better than Liar. I'm not big on Return Road and I just watched the PV and it's not doing it for me it's so confusing and badly done, I don't get it!

co-sign!! :D

MY STORY, hands down. My list of nostalgic songs where I feel the songs were made specifically to fit my tastes in music include:
Moments
my name's WOMEN
About you
GAME
walking proud
STEP you
is this LOVE?
Because of you
No way to say
Days

Zeke, I could find it to quote you but
"I honestly can feel more emotion in reminds me more than Tell Me Why"
I have tp agree with this 100 percent.. I love this song, but it just feels like... I don't know, she was going through something that day and was just like, lets just get it over with.

I think the highlights of the album are call to reminds me...
This is what makes this album so meaningful to me... cant wait to read through the lyrics!

I'm glad you agree with me on reminds me but I really can't stand call or Letter. I just tried getting into them a few minutes ago once again while I was cleaning and doing dishes and all I could do was shake my head and go "I can't, I just can't" - they are way too "campy" for me. Those cheesy "whoa WHOA"s that Timmy throws all over Letter really kills it for me. Then with call, like I said, the chorus is just too "campy" and it sounds like a very weak version of Last Links. I feel like most all the songs on this album sound like leftovers from R'n'R Circus...

Did anyone notice that taskebab has a cover mixed inside? Now i can't check it out properly, but I'm sure the electric guitar solo comes from an early 2000 Daft Punk song.

About the album...I like the diversity of genres but except it, no comment.

I NOTICED THAT TOO!! It fit really well, listening to full album right now, playing track 5 "call", so far so good

Party Queen 10/10
NaNaNa 10/10
Shake It 8/10
Call 7'5/10
Letter 7/10
Reminds Me 8/10
Return Road 9/10
Tell Me Why 6'5/10
The Next LOVE 7'5/10
Eyes, Smoke, Magic 7/10

Interludes:
Taskebab 8/10
A Cup Of Tea 7/10
Serenade In A Minor 10/10

Overall i give the album 8/10.

After the first three songs I seriously wanted to give up on this album, but then came "call", "Letter" and all the other wonderful songs that follow!

I can’t find the Ayu I love and respect in the first three songs! They sound so trivial and common to me. The lyrics are just blah and don’t even get me started on the music (if you can really call this "boom boom" during "Party queen" music!).

But I’ll just forget that "Party queen", "NaNaNa" and "Shake It" exist and we are good again! :D I’m not saying that I hate Ayu’s energetic songs, no! I love "EnergizE", for example, but these three songs are just not Ayu for me. Normally even Ayu's "fun songs" have a certain kind of energy and personality and I can't find these things in the three new songs!

The rest of the album is wonderful! :smitten "Eyes, Smoke, Magic" is also not that great, but hey, that’s okay. Even "how beautiful you are" is slowly growing on me!


I give this album a C, mainly because I really HATE the first three songs and I never hated an Ayu-song before. I hope she was only "tripping" when it comes to these three songs.
The rest of the album is as wonderful as any other Ayu-album with beautiful music and meaningful lyrics!

But now I’m even more disappointed that Ayu hasn't chosen a different concept and title for this album. These two things also spoil this new release a bit for me and that’s why "Party Queen" only gets a C!

yeah, I noticed it when first listened this track. I was like WTF! IS THIS DAFT PUNK OR WHAT :roflmao

the song's title was Aerodynamic

I'm curious if they even give credit to Daft Punk. If not, this may be called... a plagiarism? :thud

I belong to those who are pleasantly shocked about this album! After my dislike for FIVE, Ayu has proven her musical strength to me. I was afraid of the feeling of her overusing Timmy as many of you were, but now I see - without him we would not get such amazing tracks as the next LOVE and Eyes, Smoke, Magic, which really made me speechless because I can't say I am a fan of such music style, but I was surprised how Ayu's voice suited well here, imo! that is why these songs sound absolutely amazing to me, as I would never believe Ayu has such a great potential to do well such kind of songs!!!

I believe this album has a great flow. This is what makes it especially good for me. To my ear, everything sounds smooth and complete. I am surprised to love 2 of 3 interludes, which happens rarely in my case. Less ballads then usual and more power and dynamics - I wonder why some people don't really appreciate this, I believe this is what many fans wanted! I am surprised how well Tell me why sounds, it's really ayu-ish and gave me the feeling of Duty in some moments, despite the fact that it's a 'cover' (I'm just not sure how to call it, as some claim it's not a cover as Ayu has her own lyrics, but anyway...) And of course, I adore reminds me and especially Return Road, which sounds so gorgeous that I just can't find proper words!

AND:

THIS!!!!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one who appreciates this moment! It just makes me feel on top of the world for a second! Absolutely fantastic :)

All in all, this will be definitely one of my favourite albums, as Ayu has pleasantly surprised me - I didn't set high expectations for it after FIVE and after seeing the covers which made me think that the album would not be my cup of tea. I only didn't like call/Letter much and I wanted a bit more melodious track from BOUNCEBACK, my favourite Ayu's composers. But, in general, well done, Ayu!!! :luv2:innocent I would definitely put not less than 8,5/10 for this album! It just made me really glad during these spring days :P

The first three songs are... no no no.

I like upbeat songs, and was hoping for another Sparkle. But those three songs are far from Sparkle standard. Too bad two out of the four PVs are from those.

For me the album begins with call, and ends with Tell me why. LOL

There is NO cover or plagiarism in taskebab. Both tasuku and Daft Punk build most of their music around samples they paid for and are freely allowed to use from something called "sample libraries", which is especially popular with electronic music producers, they just both chose the same sample.

I'm a lonely queen
Love is just a dream
[NaNaNa]

this reflects Ayu so cruely...

Yeah... I don't understand why people hear something that sounds similar and are like: OMG plagiarism!!

The beginning of Eyes, Smoke, Magic is so good...with the ringing and clown laugh. I wish that atmosphere stayed throughout the whole song. Could have been spooky. Also, had it gotten a PV, it could have added a lot to the appeal of such a "rare" track, haha. It's still growing on me, but I'd much rather listen to this than some other tracks of Ayu's which I've grown to dislike overtime. :x

But the next LOVE is really good, imo. Easy to listen to.

Letter and call are still my two favorites. I think the lyrics are great, and they sound fresh to me.

Return Road has really great verses, but I think the chorus is weaker than I first anticipated. Music is great too.

All the interludes on this album are boring for me. a cup of tea is arguably the better of the three though. serenade would be my least favorite, I'm just bored of strings and stuff, haha.

I'm not going to assign points or anything to the songs, but I generally like this album a lot. The lyrics are strong, and the music is different. The PVs aren't doing anything for me though. Return Road was actually a let down. Aside from the fact that she looks great, it just kind of failed to get any response out of me. Granted I've only seen it once as of now. Could change. But I'd still rank it above NaNaNa, which was just... laughable in some aspects (which have already been discussed). Looking forward to Shake It though, even though NaNaNa and Shake It are apparently connected.

^^ because if they're identical it can be considered as a plagiarism :laugh

wow I didn't know about "sample libraries"! Thanks for an explanation :D

No your not. I have said in my review that I didn't know what exactly what was happening? Some instruments were breaking and it sounded off to me.

But that is not a reason for disliking this beautiful song. I agree with most of the AHS members that RR is the best track of this album.

I sure do like NaNaNa, call and Tell Me Why as well.

I won't call Party Queen Ayu's best album since [...]. Because believe it's not. But I think she did a great job on it. She has done a hell lot so.. there will always be songs which sounds like [insert previous Ayu hits here] but I think this album sounds really fresh. And no, the musical songs didn't do that for me.

My review can be summarized in 2 sentences: Songs many of you hate I love, and songs many of you love I also love...

Party queen - 10
NaNaNa - 10
Shake It -10
taskebab - 7
call - 8
Letter - 10
reminds me - 10
Return Road - 10
tell me why - 8
a cup of tea - 6
the next Love - 10
Eyes, Smoke, Magic - 10
Serenade in A minor - 10
how beautiful you are - 9

Overall - 10 (not an average)