oh i forgot that one too. Another standard of hers. upbeat pop songs dealing with friends for the summer, and slow emotional ballads dealing with love for the winter.

Personally I'm also waiting for "RED LINE ~For TA, Screw everyone else that doesn't show enough support by spending $70 annually to join my website~" part 2 to come out. lol

I'm not even entertaining the thought of winning a lucky draw prize :laugh .... because it'll make me feel that much more disappointed when I don't win one. .__.

+1 for no Summer/Winter single next year. I want a Spring and Fall one. <333

dass dass dass do it again~ I'm so curious about how the full song will sound. yeah I hope her next single is rock/upbeat.

It'll probably never happen, but I want just a single a-side single with a few remixes of the single and a few remixes from this album, haha. crazy talking about the next release before this one is even out. xD

I do want a summer single next year, but with a real upbeat cheery summer song! I do like it, but blossom really wasn't that upbeat/fun like her previous summer songs.

I would be veeery satisfacted with single in those types:
Startin'/Born to be - Very pop glam upbeat + Medium track in that Btb style
STEP you/is this LOVE? - Cute/glam upbeat + dark rock sad song (not even a ballad)
Inspire/GAME - Oriental vibe with dance vibe + dark rock
Rule/Sparkle - Dark rock + Epic electronish upbeat pop
Mirrorcle World - Epic pop with guitar/electronish influences
talkin' to myself - 2 strong dark rock

I don't what that EXACT typed singles, but those combinations DID pretty well. I love all these singles and they are perfect.

im craving for rock/electrofast/glampop songs. Some Ill get with Ls, some not, so i'm hoping for that singles next year <3

I want her to mess with you upper hemisphere types and release a winter-themed single in summer and a summer one in the new year xDD

That will be perfect for me here in Ausland!!

IMO, she's probably the most versatile J-Pop artist out there. I mean it doesn't usually result in cohesive albums but she's got something for everyone in each album!

That... would be awesome. xD

The only time Ayu has gotten lazy with versatility is some of those summer singles sounded so similar... fairyland/blue bird/glitter anyone?

Besides that, she's always experimented with her sound. Almost every album sounds different. For me, that's incredible for a pop artist to be able to do after so many years.

What I hope is that this album sounds like AN ALBUM. Many of her album concepts come after the singles, so they sound out of place. This album sounds like it might be her first that sounds like one piece, rather than two or three crammed together.

^Totally agree with that. I hate how her albums aren't really even all the way through. Yes, she is very experimental, but half of her albums don't even really have a cohesive concept. Like memorial address (although this is from a bit ago, it still works).

the album is imo one of the greatest examples of crammed themes and genres, mismatched feelings, and different album concepts going on.

tracks 1-2 are like this


tracks 3-8 are like this


Tracks 3-8 really form their own very cohesive album. I feel like greatful days and angel's song were just slapped in there cause she didn't want one big sad and depressing album. they really don't fit or belong with the rest of the songs. It's like throwing connected and sexy little things in with A ballads.

i've let myself listen to sending mail and November... if those are the choruses they sounds so ugly LOL sorry for hating but in sending mail her voice sounds lower than it was in talkin' 2 myself not in a good way i guess

hrmmm well if this blows up in my face i'll just blame TK LOL
and w/e MOON is on the album <3 there is at least some redemption

It does seem like this will be her most cohesive album in a long time.

Sorry by "usual" I meant by the SOUND of the music she was going for. the lack of a strong rock song in the album doesnt seem "usual" to me. And i was saying based on the comments i gathered.
pardon the vagueness of my post and all that confusion.
(and i dont particularly like being noted as "this person" since i have a username..and u came across to me as being very angry..sry and I hope you're not)

On another note: cant wait to hear the album once again! So it's cohesive because the styles match up..in a rather melancholic way right?
I guess for her albums, the concept only develops after the singles. like for RnRC, if it was developed alone, I think songs like You were... and BALLAD and Sunrise/Sunset would probably have given way for better and more conceptual songs.

I don't think that's being lazy, it's just making a new summer tune for people to love, haha. I mean those songs were some of her biggest hits of the year, especially BLUE BIRD! And even if those were pretty formulaic or w/e due to all being arranged by HAL, there was always a song to back it up like alterna, Beautiful Fighters, or fated. BF was probably closest to a summer song of the c/w tracks though, but I think it was new territory for Ayu since it was a feminine "girl power" themed cheer song (literally).

Oh, and about the cohesiveness of this album, I wonder if it helped that most of the tracks that were singles were relatively midtempo so she could fill in the blanks when it came to ballads or super upbeat tracks? Usually she has one really sore thumb in the album that sticks out a lot. (imo, Sunrise and GREEN are big ones, haha)

You know, I must be deaf, but somehow I am failing to see/hear any similarities between the 3. So mind explaining it to me?

I dont see the similarities between those songs either.

Now if you came to me with Blue Bird and NEXT LEVEL, then I'd agree.


tbh, I don't really mind that her albums aren't "cohesive". You know what really cohesive albums are usually filled with? Filler tracks that sound the same.

I'll take a bunch of cool, different, sounding singles crammed together with 2 interludes any day over that.

Maybe if Ayu was one of those artists who only had say, one or two singles before an album...2 new songs on each single...and still had 12-15 tracks on the album...then it would feel more cohesive...but she doesnt release that way.

I think the japanese system of releasing singles before albums changes things, I mean since I dicover ayu back in the end of 2005, I have listen to her singles after that, and I can say that it feels different for me listen to RAINBOW, I am..., MY STORY, Duty... than Secret, GUILTY, NEXT LEVER, RnR Circus... not that ones are better than others, it's just the fact that in the recent albums i have listen to the singles a lot of times before the album was released so it's not the same when i listen the older ones, cause i listen to the full for the first time...

I dont know if you all get me...

i always listen her sing: task task task do it again~ seek seek seek do it again~ XDDDD

Am just as lost at how they're similar too.