Yeah, everyone knew that the only reason that they got married was because she got pregnant. Although, I'm kinda happy that it happened. She's getting older and her career was taking up so much of her time that if it happened when she was finally not busy she would be much older. Plus, I LOVE Kenji/Back-On, so I couldn't be happier.

But, I think that even Ayu's marriage would look a little bit worse to the public. Even if Kuu's was shotgun due to pregnancy, Ayu's was still really sudden, plus she married a non-Japanese guy. And that can annoy some people. Then, they got divorced, and I'm sure many people were like "I knew it, marrying that white guy :rolleyes"

I agree about wanting Ayu to sell well as a fan. But, the chart position, so long as its in like, the top 10, I'm not too worried about. No doubt avex just cares about how many copies it sells, because that's where the money is. Ayu caring about sales is a bit trickier. She needs to be able to have artictic freedom, but at the same time she needs to please fans and gain sales to help fuel what she wants to do.

^ Ia. :yes

I think comparisons are good, I always do it between them since in terms of album sales their numbers have been very close together since the past what... 4 albums? Whenever one of them releases an album earlier than the other, it gives an indication of how the other is going to perform.

The only thing I hate is when the discussion turns nasty and no one can deny this happens all the time, on every release. The ayu-stans are like 'IT BETTER OUTSELL KUMI'S', kuu-stans retaliate and then it just turns ugly. As long as crap like that doesn't happen (but it always does), I like the comparisons and think it's informative.

ANYWAY, I'm really happy with Ayu's first week. She's already passed 100k, hopefully her sales don't drop too fast and are steady. I'm just wondering how much the different versions helped boost the sales? I think from now on, she should continue with the different packagings and versions (as should Kumi), if TV promo is gonna be so sparse

Hm. A BEST 3, eh?

Let's see what we have...

01 Startin'
02 Born To Be...
03 BLUE BIRD
04 Beautiful Fighters
05 JEWEL
06 momentum
07 1 LOVE
08 glitter
09 fated
10 talkin' 2 myself
11 decision
12 Together When...
13 Marionette
14 (don't) Leave me alone
15 Mirrorcle World
16 Days
17 GREEN
18 Rule
19 Sparkle
20 Curtain call
21 NEXT LEVEL
22 Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~
23 Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~
24 You were...
25 BALLAD
26 Sexy little things
27 Microphone
28 Don't look back
29 Lady Dynamite
30 MOON
31 blossom
32 crossroad
33 Virgin Road
34 Sweet Season
35 Last angel
36 Love song
37 do it again
Holy fvck!
38 progress
39 ANother song feat URATA NAOYA
40 Why... feat. JUNO
41 beloved
42 BRILLANTE

(and there are also the sentimental ""concert favorites"" MY ALL, RED LINE ~for TA~ and SEVEN DAYS WAR)

So, holy fvck. Yup. We have more than enough for an A BEST 3. Perhaps she'll make -RED- -YELLOW- -BLUE- now; for happy songs, sad songs, and songs she can't quite put her hands on.

Did previous A BESTs use promoted album tracks?

Actually, Ayu's studio album sales as decreesing since I am..., as it failed to outsell Duty. Still, this is pretty common, an artist have a peak, sells tons, and after that, the sales falls. As artists usually don't release albums every year on the west, the time between one high and another seens to be shorter, but this is not the case... It usually takes the time of a whole generation of teenagers for an artist to be redicovered by the public, as teenagers are the main responsable for huge sales and hits and the actual generation tend to "hate" and avoid the past one... Considering the final breath of Ayu's peak was in 2004 with the ending of Memorial Address era (7 years), it still is less years than Namie took to climb it to the top, for example (8 years), with the difference that Namie failed harder and was far worst seen by the public at the time. Ayu's sales are falling slowly and from times to times she still is able to have minnor hits.


I will have to disagree here... Even if she could sell out 30 dates at the biggest Japan domes at her peak (doubt that :P), a 28 dates arena tour in Japan after almost 15 years of fame is not small deal on Japan (or anywhere else considering she is touring only one country). As far as I notice, most japanese performers don't have tours this long or with this amount of disponible seats not even on their peak... If her sales go downhill and she still is able to tour like that, like Seiko or Yuming, I'm pretty sure she will be ok. The rules of fame change when u r already an old act... Hits take longer to happen, albums don't sell as much as before, but once u have a name as a live performer, even if u r not the biggest thing anymore, u will hardly being forgotten (Yuming last concert had 70+ hall dates, for example)... And considering Ayu's lasts efforts, and how they were received, I would say she is pretty much already seen as a top performer.

People are worried that her sales will fall to a point where her budget will suffer, I'm just pointing out that she never made this much money from live touring at her peak... While all of her tours since 2009 had a good number of dates.

Madonna for example, is hardly getting hits on the US, the last being Music, from 2000... and she is hardly getting hits worldwide since Hung Up from 2005... But she still is outselling Beyonce, Britney and Gaga everytime she tours...


A Best is a collection of popular tracks, being or not being singles... A Best 2 covers from evolution to Bold & Delicious, so, A Best 3 will cover from (miss)understood album tracks on... What means Ladies Night for example has more than good chances of making it into the compilation....^^

^ actually I would consider Madonna's last hit in America to be 4 minutes... (with timberland and timberlake)
which was just a few years ago.
But to comment, Madonna doesn't sell like she use too, but her last concert, Hard Candy is the biggest concert ever (in terms of sales, I think just for solo artist though...)

A BEST wasn't just singles though...
it was what she thought was best and I think fan Favorites..

A BEST didn't (of course because there was hardly any "promoted album tracks" back then) but she included A Song for XX and Who..., A BEST 2 did; it did a *****load of them.

4 Minutes didn't have a big chart or radio life, and can be hardly considered a classic on her discography... It came, made some noise and kinda vanished, like a lot of Ayu recent #1 singles...

And yeap, Sticky & Sweet Tour is the highest grossing tour ever by a solo act, and the 4th overall (still, it had 85 dates, while all the ones above it had 110+ dates).

Ah! Of course! (miss)understood album tracks! That means we have two more songs. I think A BEST 3 isn't something that's uncalled for right about now :yes

now your just changing the definition of what a hit is...
A hit does not equal a classic and does not mean its in the charts for a very long time.
Personally I think anything that makes it into the top 10 is a hit.
There are songs that become classics from those hits, but presumably a successful song is something that can reach number 1 (I like to think the top 10 however).

Well, let me make it clear them... some songs reach the top 10, even number 1, and still, nobody cares about them. This works for almost all of Ayu's past 2006 number 1 singles, as they were released on the right day, against the right competition and relyed a lot on hardcore fanbase, 4 Minutes is just that... I wouldn't call that a hit, as IMO hit songs are well known and gets a lot of airplay, while 4 Minutes (and those ayu singles) doen't even sold that well.

Hit is a well-known successful song, I wouldn't put 4 Minutes on this category

4 Minutes was played constantly when it came out where I live. It drove me craaaaazy.

^ yeah.. i remember it being played like crazy as well.
I just think that person has a different definition of what a hit is..

I mean just in america alone, the song sold over 2 million copies.
was up for 2 grammys
and was reviewed positively...
what more could you want from a song?

4 Minutes sold more than 3 million copies in the US. More than double of for example Mariah's #1 Touch My Body. Just saying.

^ actually if you look on RIAA's website it was only 2x platinum...

Random people, that are not interested on pop music or on Madonna's career taking notice of it, without the needing of a strong fanbase (or 2, on this case) to have good sales...

Sorry, but most people I know from the usa don't even know this song was released, actually, those who aren't into Madonna, Justin or pop music from anywhere . Not even her fanbase seens it as a hit... at least, not something on the level of Music or Hung Up everywhere else but the USA

^ thats laughable. I have to say that. (random people who don't like pop, so lets all get together and download this Madonna song)

I still don't see your logic. It doesn't matter who downloads the songs... 2 million is still 2 million singles sold (downloads or physical). And this is america alone.
Where ever it was released it was at least a top 10 hit. This songs was all over the place for a good portion of its release.
and the grammys are people who decide the best music of the year and it got two nominations. (not to say that the grammys are the end all or anyting, but it could be considered a good stepping point)

You can't say this song wasn't a hit when everything points toward it being a hit.

But this is off track of Party Queen.
I totally got my package today!
I'm still a little peeved that my half pint glasses are so small.. I mean who drinks a half pint of anything?!?

I'd say out of my friends, everyone knows Hung Up and 4 Minutes, but 4 Minutes is more well liked, because of Justin I assume? I knew Hung Up (heard it everywhere), but I didn't actually know it was Madonna lol I think it's generally more popular though, my circle of friends just has a thing for Justin Timberlake lol

Either way, none of us have ever bought anything Madonna. We just acquire the best albums and jam to Like a Virgin when we're drunk.

...and I typed 4minutes into YouTube and Kpop 4minute has more views. Wow.

^ lol.. i love Hung Up more as well...
But Justin does have some appeal... :lech

:yes

I agree. To me, the song was successful when it came out, very much so. The fact that it isn't as popular today doesn't make it any less of a hit when it came out, it just means its not a classic Madonna song, like some of her other songs.

What the heck? Ayu at number 2?! It's the end of the world!!! haha.

I hope Ayu can step it up next time and brings something that blows our minds (in a good way)!

maybe Ayumi will get a number 1 for the second week?
MDNA doesn't have a really good lead and might drop out of the top 3 tomorrow... Ayumi is still number 2 so that might bump her up to number 1... as long as ABC keeps dropping.

everyone's sales will all drop in the 2nd week & not to pour cold water on anything if not anyone but much as I really want Party Queen to get #1 on the 2nd week , it's not going to happen at all ._.

Why ? because of Kis-My-Ft2's long awaited debut album Kis-My-Ft that's released officially today , which I must admit it's a good album & it's hard to believe it took 10 years for them to release their debut , dammit

Let alone , Kisumai's music is released by avex trax (same label denoted just like ayumi , Namie , girl next door) which's like adding salt to injury despite them being a Johnny's :x

i thought about it too!! lets keep wishing!!

I didnt realize kissmyfeet was releasing today... i thought the only new thing was MDNA... that must of just been out a day early?

uh I don't know about that regarding Madonna's MDNA sorry but all the Kisumai fans already knew there was going to be a 3rd single release & their long awaited debut album way back last Dec since this year Kisumai will embark on their 1st Asian tour

I was just saying because Madonna's MDNA is number one right now.
Ayumi is still number 2... lol
But I did see where it said that their new album is releasing the 28, which was yesterday for me.

wheres kisumai's album?!

Madonna's album was released on Tuesday, but KMF isn't released until today, so their sales will be updated tonight. :)

makes sense..

ohhh...i forget about KMF..LOL
they will easily get number one position...

LOL it looks like..seems impossible but it happened..

Oricon has already updated at their end with the weekly sales

Oricon Weekly - Albums (19/3/2012~25/3/2012)

*1 117,744 117,744 Acid Black Cherry - 『2012』
*2 *97,691 *97,691 Hamasaki Ayumi - Party Queen
*3 *29,534 *29,534 TEAM H - LoungeH The first impression
*4 *29,418 *29,418 AAA - Another Side of #AAABEST
*5 *25,858 343,993 Ikimonogakari - NEWTRAL
*6 *18,886 *18,886 Shimizu Shota - Naturally
*7 *17,024 *17,024 BENI - COVERS
*8 *15,576 *15,576 SCL Project (natsuP) feat. VanaN'Ice (Kamui Gakupo.KAITO.Kagamine Ren) - LAST COLOR
*9 *12,662 *12,662 May'n - HEAT
10 *10,007 *50,604 miwa - guitarium

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/w/2012-04-02/

^ Wow that ikimonogakari album is selling very well.

I happy for
Ayumi
AAA
and May'n! (which i forgot all about this release! I'm so happy she got a top 10!)

ikimono always sold very well with their albums *--* im so happy!!

so Party Queen is officially #2?

Yes.

2nd Day
Position: #9

Still in top 10.

man...

Well #3 sold 23,000 so it's not really bad.

2nd day #9?? what a great flop..woww~~~

#9 isn't bad considering it's new release day.

Oh well lol

Ayu is not even close to Acid Black Cherry. 20.000...wow. AAA on the other side are so close to Number 3. I'm happy for them. And it's just a b-side compilation album. :thud Thanks for sharing these numbers.

Wow, never thought I'd see the day where Ayu's album debuts at #2 on Oricon. And #2 for weekly isn't the first time... makes me kinda scared though. The only other album that got #2 weekly before was Guilty, right? I sorta lost interest in her for quite a while after that album. Hopefully that doesn't happen again... I just started following her again after FIVE.

...and we're still alive!

So did she sell more than JAPONESQUE first week?

:roflmao

Don't quote me on it, but I think JAPONESQUE sold around 90k while PQ sold around 97k(with an additional day)

^^That works for me. lol

JAPONESQUE sold 93,835 in the 1st week

@ Mai82Go - yeah I know what you mean but 2012 is yasu's very 1st #1 in his entire music career , be it when he was in Janne Da Arc or right now in ABC . Took him 13 years to finally get a #1 but he has paid his dues & I'm proud of him on that

Let alone the sales that AAA attained despite being a B-side compilation album , *giving them a well pat in the back

It's the 2nd day of the 2nd week. What did you think that it will remain #2 with 3k sold when there are so many new releases out?

Yeah 20k is such a huge number :rolleyes

I'm trying to focus on the positive and not the negative...but unlike ayu and Avex, I still sort of care about the sales, and that #1.

at least almoust 100 :)

Yeah, I wonder how much it will sell in the end...? 130k? 150k seems unlikely... :/

I wonder if she will be in the top 5 for the second week.

Oh wow number 9? ayu might be okay but I think a part of me died a little.

Why :rolleyes ? I wasn't trying to be mean here. It just is a bigger number than 116 copies between 3 and 4.

It's new release day, it's normal for albums to drop anywhere from 5-15 when they were in the top3 the week before, depending on how many new (succesful) releases there are.

130k will be very easy. She'll sell 20k this week (estimating) bringing her 2-week total to 117k. She should hit about 140k at least.

^^I mean...I guess that's good...sigh

I can't believe how little this album has sold so far...
maybe it will have a long shelf life?

^^I wouldn't get my hopes up./

lol this thread is so chill/depressing.....she's selling something at least. I thought I would care when she got a number 2 again, but i dont think I do.

^ StrawbariSnowAyumi, you look so familair!
You dont happen to have a youtube channel do you? I might be following you!

As for the album itself... Im not losing hope... I just, well... it's kinda sad... lol
I have been a fan since 2004 (which was her heyday. and GULITY had jsut disappointed me, so I haven't really started paying attention to her sales till Love Songs...
so for me... this is her first number 2... lo... stupid i know, but still!

I dunno XD I just didn't think that the difference was actually that big. The difference gets more significant down the chart and compared to the first 2 spots, the #3 and #4 are way behind.

I think 20k is a pretty big number right now...
But lets look at the numbers maybe a month and half from now...
You never know, 2012 might drop out completely in the coming weeks and Party Queen could continue to sell 1000's of copies for the next few months..
Anything is possible. So the gap may close.

For #1 lovers:
:thud

But that's not the case for me - anymore. It seems with all kinds of favorite artists in my mind that are releasing this month (Arashi, miwa, Kis-My-Ft2, AKB48's DiVA, Sayuri Sugawara), as well as looking at the lyrics, for me I don't care about the sales...just do well. But literally, I'm actually quite surprised at Acid Black Cherry - the "darkhorse" making the upset in the Oricon album charts when the favorite to get #1 (based on NINKI) was Ayu by almost twice the margin...

I...suppose... :thud

^^Doesn't mean I have to like it! LOL

20k is significant to me.

There might be a huge drop to the next spot, but it's always like that after all the top players.

I'm not saying the album is a flop or anything, cause it's not...I said on JPS....if Ayu sold the same amount, and she got like 12th, it'd be a flop. But she didn't.


Anyways, she'll hit 150k eventually.

^ isn't 150k gold... or is it 100k?

I think getting gold is still good...
its not as good as she use to get, but still she is a heavy hitter when she releases something...

Not all players still command the sales that she has.

100k is Gold which she passed yesterday. :)

Honestly, for an album that had no promotion and no (good) tie-ups (Peach John was only aired for one week...it was a limited commercial) it did good for a full album.

Because some people still don't give a **** about sales. It's not a matter of not understanding, it's a matter of not giving a damn.

Yeah, I agree here... :yes

Promotion usually boost up sales; too bad those interviews happen AFTER the first week, and I think her chance for #1 weekly is already gone for good...

I was just saying.. Little surprised, thats all..
But glad enough the album has sold over 100K..

hopefully although I wouldn't deny that I was really expecting Party Queen to debut at #1 , I never would have thought in a million years that yasu would take everyone by surprise xD

Let's see how Party Queen will float in the next few weeks . This album deserves so much better imo

Ayu, hurry up with your next album already

Hopefully she'll be forced to put out another generic summer single...just to gain back some ground with casual fans who love that ****. I hate them but I would welcome BLUE BIRD ~episode II~ just to see her promote something.

BLUE BIRD ~episode III~ since we got Next Level lol

I like her generic summer singles anyway.

idk I like being surprised so, I really don't care what she does now. If she goes back to releasing the old way, or some new way.

I'm craving a summer single soooooooooooooooooooooo badly.

I want my awesome every year schedule back asap preasekkthx.

I hate BLUE BIRD. I just think it is the most generic out of EVERY SUMMER SINGLE she has released!! It's so... BLAH!

blossom > fairyland > Sunrise > glitter >>>>> BLUE BIRD

Actually I can't even decide the order of the first 4 because I love them all in their own right for different reasons. But BLUE BIRD... how boring.

blossom? ew. we are sooo different :laugh

Oh god. Blossom is probably one of my least favorite Ayu tracks ever. BLUE BIRD on the other hand <3

I would have the exact same order as zeke, but opposite LOL But perhaps putting Sunrise after fairyland and INSPIRE right after or even before BLUE BIRD :innocent

And omg, Greatful days would go right at the end after blossom :no

i was listen to BLUE BIRD all days all time when it was release in 2006!!
I liked its fresh atmosphere XD

fairyland, Blue Bird > glitter, Sunrise, blossom. The only Summer songs of the ones named that I like are fairyland and Blue Bird. BB has a special place in my heart because I was living in Japan when it was released and I was given a poster of the single cover, which I love, because the lady at the CD shop liked me so much, lol.

BLUE BIRD :heart

I hold this song in so much high esteem as this was essentially the 1st song & PV I've heard/seen of ayumi some 6 years ago

I mean before that yes I've heard of the songs she contributed to Inuyasha but I was a casual fan then until now x)

fairylan is actually my least fave outta her summer songs selection :x

now us on the other hand...we're on the same page lol


although I like glitter...cause it's fun to sing.

The only summer track I have issues with is Greatful days. Everything else was perfect for me and I can hardly say which one I like the best, but yeah BLUE BIRD, July 1st and fairyland are prolly my fave ones, though Sunrise was awesome in it's own way.

never thought id agree with this someday... but yeah, i miss the old times =\\ glitter <3

July 1st trumps all.

Yes it does.

I can't listen to blossom without thinking of that crazy cm it was used for. Every time the chorus kicks in I just imagine that woman jumping in the air with a big piece of fruit covering her up. :P

I don't know, though. I don't mind her summer singles but I won't cry about it if she never releases them again.

I don't dislike glitter as much as I do blossom and Sunrise. Let my fix my post:

fairyland, Blue Bird > glitter > blossom, Sunrise.

And of course July 1st is epicness, but it wasn't released as a single, so I'm not taking it into consideration. :P

What?! Crazy talk...! blossom is her best summer track. BLUE BIRD follows right behind it.

blossom > BLUE BIRD > NEXT LEVEL > fairyland > glitter > July 1st > Greatful Days > Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~

I want a new summer single too!!Let's create a new thread on the chat room!

I love fairyland the most. Only because when it was released I became her fan. I dunno, just something about that song that I love so much. It's not even nostalgia, I just think it's great. For me it's a classic and reminds me of my transition from middle school to high school haha.

I mean... how can anyone not like it?! xD