Sweet seasons - makihara noriyuki
Virgin Road - Tetsuya komuro
Last angel - Kikuchi ?!?!?!

yeah, they'll probably cry themselves to sleep and won't even be able to comfort themselves with a ballad because they're so tired of them :no :P

i honestly don't mind all these ballads. The more the merrier. The album might have a RAINBOW esque flair.

All I want is wonderful great songs that I can enjoy at home on my cd player and out in public on my ipod. And I personally love all sorts of music.:D Sometimes I listen to nothing but ballads to relax or calm myself after a rough day. Still, over all, unless she's planning another A BALLADS type of album, we DO NEED some more upbeat songs for the next album.:)

At this point, I could care less if all of the songs are ballads or not. While I would prefer to always have a mixture of different types of songs, ultimately, my main concern is that the music sounds good. As long as it's something I like, I don't really care what types of songs they are. While I haven't listened to all of the previews, watched all the performances or short version PVs, I've liked what I have heard and seen so I'm sure whatever Ayu has in store, she will deliver good music as usual. But at the same time, I haven't heard much of anything to set any kind of expecations so I'm going to try to stay neutral about it until I hear all of the songs on crossroad and L. While I do understand that the purpose of these threads are to discuss the previews and what we think the new songs will sound like, etc.., I do think that some people set themselves up for disaster with all of their contemplations, which is why I don't participate in these threads much. Some people seem like they are already disappointed with the singles before we even hear the whole thing. And that also applies to people who are setting their expectations really high without really knowing what the singles will sound like as a whole as well. That's why I just peak in these types of threads once in a while and not post much. I'd rather have a nonbiased view before I listen to the full songs and not go into them assuming that I will like them or not.

Since those ballads sound so great I couldn't care less for this ballads streak as well. As long as there will be a good amount of up-beat songs in the album she can release as much ballads as she wishes (as long as they are good). :)

I mainly always get SO excited about her albums and singles, cause I can honestly say that there has NEVER been a song of hers that I don't care for. I like all her songs quite a bit. There's only ever been a few remixes that I didn't like throughout her career, and none of those remixes have come from singles. The remixes I haven't liked have mostly come from the ayu-mi-x 6 albums.

YES THEYRE FINALLY OUT!!!

I think ayu releases Ballad songs for L single, because Japanese loves BALLAD after all!

i like the whole ayu holding her own mask thingy. but her hair.......?!?!?!?

her whole acting cute expression .....?!??!?!? AGAIN!?!?!?

hope the songs are nice though.

Her ballads are really nice, i hope something epic from L, because i can't give my opinion wit LQ previews

I've stopped caring about Ayu covers for quite a while now, but let me just say that the difference between the misono and Ayu covers is that the misono cover, aside from being shoddily made, obviously employs the cheap trick of using skin to sell the CD, and whatever idea of identity as a mask is lost in the process (and the bad humor). With Ayu, the fact that she's wearing a tutu and that the mask is more relaxed than her actual face hammers in the point that identity is both a mask and a performance.

For some reason, I do like Ayu's hair.

nice :)

That mask would be a great merchandising....

i like them but i dont love them mainly because of her hair, if her hair was different i'd love them ^_^ last angel sounds amazing! i cant wait to hear that song~

^I feel the same. To me it looks like ayu has a twin brother & he decided to sit in for her on the photoshoot :laugh

^ lol well i like her with short hair :heart its just this style wavy/curly short hair that i dont like :P but i laughed when i saw your comment haha

:D
Yeah, the short hair would be cute if it weren't wavy like that. And I think it would look good if it were dark dark brown, like in the "Startin' / Born to be..." covers :heart

What's with all these plain covers :/ Looks like she got lip injections. Hopefully Last Angel and Sweet Season will sound good.

Agreed. :) I think if you put your expectations too high or comtemplations, then the music is not enjoyable anymore. :/ Music is supposed to be fun and emotional, yet people seem to be spending more time expecting things too big or picking at things. I know everyone has thier own opinnion, but when an artist I like releases something, I don't want to be a 'fan' who just picks at it because 'I' personally don't like it. I try to look positively at the work that they have spent their time making for me and enjoy the message they are trying to send, even if there are some factors that you don't like. That's why I don't try to judge the song until I know the meaning behind it, as well. Part of being a fan is standing behind the artist and accepting factors about them you don't like as much as the ones you do.

I really liked Virgin Road! The instrumental was different to the usual ballads Ayu brings out and I like the emotion and technicality to it. I haven't heard the previews yet but i'm looking forward to them. :) I'm looking forward to what Ayu is going to release after her 50th, too.