(miss)understood of course!!!!!!
Ultra Blue is good, but Ayu's BETTER!!!

this poll is so close...i guess this makes UTADA and AYU both queens

it was close but i voted for (m)u. ULTRA BLUE was good, i liked songs like Keep Tryin' and basically the 1st 5 tracks of the album. (m)u had great (for the most part) single tracks, but weak album tracks. but since i enjoyed more of (m)u single tracks, i voted for (m)u.

Since ULTRA BLUE release like yesterday. I prefer Hikki's album more then (miss) understood. I prefer Hikki's music right now. It's more unique.

This Is Love owns, which makes Ultra Blue the better of the two.

i like hikki and ayu equally but i voted (m)u. ultra blue was such a disappointment for me. i could have bought the colors single four years ago and wouldn't have missed out anything. i don't want to sound rude but hikki copied herself to death and I see a similar danger for ayu. while ayu seems quite fond of angel's song, e.g., july 1st, hikki appearently adores hikari (and hence they "reinvent" those various times). both won't go anywhere when they keep doing the same things over and over again.
oh well, feel free to accuse me of not seeing the "genius" behind it all. ;)

oh, and the design of (m)u apeals more to me.

no I dont think it will be better then missunderstood

I don't think either is better. They're both good pieces of work. I like both for different reasons.

^Having listened to both (UB just arrived last night), I'll have to agree with you. They're both wonderful pieces of work, but for very different reasons. The feel that UB gives off is one that's very surreal, and nothing similar to the strong emotions that's given off in (m)u or other Ayu albums. It was definitely much more calming to listen to this than (m)u.

I'm going to have to give it a few more listens to come up with more detailed descriptions though.

^ Also agreed. My copy arrived yesterday. The albums are very different styles...

I am so in love with Ultra Blue. But I love m(u) to itty-bitty pieces as well. I can't say one is better than the other. I would recommend them both to someone in a heartbeat!

after all these years... it's still ayu versus hikki? really, grow up, people!

I love them both, and ultra blue is just as good as (miss)understood... but seriously... this ayu vs. hikki, ayu vs. kuu, ayu vs. the twenty-third member of morning musume blah blah is just really childish. can't we love all of them?

^Not everybody. Some people will only ever like one without liking the other. Don't ask me why though. :shrug

I just listened to the Ultra Blue album and i loved it! Better than I expected. I feared that the English album would have a negative effect on her but she still managed to make a well-crafted album like Deep River. The two are opposites for me in that Deep River had amazing single tracks and ok album tracks while this one had ok single tracks and above-average album tracks (except for kairo, which I think is just average)

Anyway, my favorite track off the album owuld be Wings which is in my top5 most played songs in my ipod :) Followed by Passion and Colors (tied for 2nd), then Dare ka no Nagai Ga Kanau Koro, Blue, This is Love and Making Love. I also like one night magic. it has a music style which i find to be new for Utada Hikaru, and I like it a lot for her.

However, in the end, I still voted for (miss)understood as the better album, mainly as it has a bit more variety. Rainy day, Ladies night, Will, alterna and even Bold & Delicious (as much as I disliked it at first) are refreshing tunes which add a lot of variety to the album. the two interludes in (miss)understood are also 2 of the best interludes i've heard. Plus I like ayu's voice a bit more than Utada Hikaru's.
Ayu also makes the best ballads, IMO. Comparing the ballads in the Ultra Blue album with the ballads in (miss)understood which I think have the same feel to them,
weird, inventive slow song: Pride>kairo
quiet slow song: rainy day>dare ka no negai ga... (not by much though, since both songs are great)
grand orchestraic slow song: Heaven>Be My Last

So there. Both albums are great, but for me, my music taste is slightly more inclined towards ayu's songs.

MU is good mainstream while UB is good experimental. I like UB better cuz it's something I can listen to most of the time (at work, driving, on the beach) but MU probably gets a bit too dramatic for those occassions..

Overall, I'd say that (M)U is a lot more accessible and easier to like, while UB is a lot more intense but ultimately more rewarding.

finally i choose M(U)
my vote base on variety of music
there is some good song at UB but the variety of arrangement is really few...it like hearing the same song again and again
M(U) was better

Ultra Blue > (miss)understood

Definately ULTRA BLUE I love her voice and song so beautiful.

I can't even believe this thread I created is still alive! WOW! The results are unbelievably close with (m)u in the lead by ONE VOTE!

This isn't really a question of who is the better arist, but which piece of work you enjoy better. I love Ayu to death and will stick by her forever. If I could listen to one arist the rest of my life, it would be Ayu... However, I when I created this thread I voted that ULTRA BLUE would be better and after finally listening to it, I think that it is better! That is not saying "HIKKI IS BETTER THAN AYU," because in my opinion, it is the other way around - but in this case, Hikki gets it hands down for an amazing album that had no dissapointing feelings left inside me and didn't leave me expecting more, where as Ayu's (m)u left me thinking "Is this really the final product?"... It didn't feel as complete as MY STORY...

That is true!

I'm also shocked and happy that ULTRA BLUE is just a few votes short of beating (m)u on an AYU forum! :laugh

Quality over quantity? Not that Ayu's songs are poor in quality or Utada's albums lack content, not really..

Is there such a thing as someone being better than another?

I'm not going to say any entertainer is better than another, because they all have their own styles. As far as these two albums are concerned though, my vote goes to Hikki. Ultra Blue is just an amazing album, from begginning to end. While I liked (miss)understood, it wasn't my favorite Ayumi album and I had a hard time getting into some of the songs. With Ultra Blue, I love every song and it has a certain feel to it that I didn't experience while listening to (miss)understdood. So my vote goes with Hikki.

I vote for Utada Hikaru ... I just don't really like (m)u

Hamasaki Ayumi is always better than all of us put together.. :innocent

That is not the question here :irked

See my previous post please

http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=122

Like I said, it is about the album and which one you enjoy more or the one you think feels more overall "complete"

I actually think both releases are compareable. They went through the same cycle for their albums - first releasing a row of singles (COLORS and Dare ka no negai ga kanau koro were released back in...2004? right?), then putting them together with few new songs and giving the whole thing out for sale. Only halfs of the albums are new that way and half of these halfs are as good as the other single songs... That makes up my impression on both ULTRA BLUE and (miss)understood.

Sometimes I think they could do it like Western performers do - two or three singles before an album so then you have like 10 new songs...

^^I don't think their comparable because the styles are just too different.

However, if we compare how each album did the best with its artist, then I say ULTRA BLUE. I can't get enough of this album right now, and I think that there's just enough people that dislike (m)u that I'd say that it didn't do as well as ULTRA BLUE.

okay, let's be a little bit realistic...
ULTRA BLUE

(miss) understood is way better than ULTRA BLUE

Reading back, someone said that he thought it was going to sale "1.5 million copies" compared to Ayu's "struggling million". Let's see what I wrote...

I was right. And Hikki haven't surpassed Ayu's "(m)u" yet. (I think...)

You're right again. :P ULTRA BLUE has still 10k to go until it's equal with (miss)understood. It sold a little over 1k last week.

EDIT: SILLY ME. It sold just over 2k last week.

I love that ULTRA BLUE came out just over 6 months after (miss)understood and is going to pass it soon. It didn't even have a lot of excess promotion or photobook/CD+DVD gimmicks to go with it.

ULTRA BLUE is fine and dandy, but it gets tiring to me after a short while. So therefore, I say (miss)understood is better; I've been listening to its tracks every day and am still not tired of it.

Ultra blue hands down. But I loved (miss)understood too.

i kinda think Ayu's album sounds a bit more plain than ultra blue

Ultra Blue of course. I like some of the tracks on (miss)understood but it sound like the same tracks from Ayu's previous albums. At least Hikki changes her style of music up a bit.:yes

Well, I voted for Ultra Blue before hearing the whole album, since the tracks I did hear were way beyond most of the (m)u tracks (imo of course). Now that I have heard both albums fully, there is still no contest. Ultra Blue all the way.

i voted for UTADA. although i am an AYU fan.. because i skipped several songs in (miss) understood but not that much in ULTRA BLUE.

(miss)understood - Ayumi Hamasaki i like all the songs in m(u)

but in ULTRA BLUE i favor so many songs but I dont like a certain song from it

to be specific i dont like Nichiyou no Asa

I cant really vote on this poll and i cant say that Ultra Blue is better than Miss Understood . I love both of them , really.

The thing is that Utada's pop is VERY different from Ayu's pop . so it hard to ask something like that ...

I listened to Ultra Blue once but never again.
(M)U everyday

Ultra Blue vs M(u)?
Hmmm.... These albums are as different as Utada and Ayumi. I like both.
I don't think that it's right to compare these albums and singers...
Too different in my opinion...

(miss)understood^^

i think missundestood is better than ultra blue...
not because i;m a fan of ayu..
ultra blue i like dareka no negai kanau koro,and be my last...

missunderstood almost all song i like it except alterna

(miss) understood,
One of my favourite albums..


Once a fan, forever a fan of Ayu

I think ULTRA BLUE is much better. (miss)understood is good, though.

I like both...I can't choose >.<

(miss)understood oh yeah...But i bought ULTRA BLUE first coz of Passion...Still loves it

(miss)understood - Ayumi Hamasaki

(miss)understood is my ALTERNAte HEAVEN :mini

ULTRA BLUE was ok, but (miss)understood wins by a landslide

always Ayumi!

I seriously think that ULTRA BLUE is better than (miss)understood. Of course I adore (m)u but ULTRA BLUE just does it better. That really has many different songs on it than (m)u. And Utada also wrote every song herself and I really respect that so I gave my vote for Hikki's album. :)

(miss)understood - Ayumi Hamasaki! I never really liked ULTRA BLUE. Also from Utada I like only two albums: DEEP RIVER & EXODUS. And do not like her other albums.

ULTRA BLUE sucks... :p

(miss)understood :heart

(m)u was waaaaay better!

way to bring back an old poll

ultrablue

passion > bold and delicious

I think someone missed the point of this poll...

(miss)understood.

(miss)understood

(miss) Understood

(miss)understood - Ayumi Hamasaki

(miss)understood

This.

I love Be My Last though. :P

This is the awakening of the zumbi thread from hell! :O

^you're just jealous because Ultra Blue is winning.

Is it? XD

(miss)understood is winning, Emiko! u.ú
Obviously, the supreme goddess of music is beating that nobody! :P
*jk xD I myself prefer Hikki over Ayu, but prefer (miss)understood over Ultra Blue*

I'm just gonna quote myself.

LOL why is this poll still alive? Its so outdated. ULTRA BLUE has been and always will be better.

Better in quality of music
Better in PVs
Better in sales
And quite obviously, better cover

(miss)understood is not even one of Ayu's good albums.

lol I think you're seeing things :innocent

I'm talking about the poll, not about the sales :P

(miss)understood, it's a perfect album! And ULTRA BLUE bored me.

(miss)understood for sure!
that album is simply amazing. I love almost every single track, and there are some of my all time favourite songs from her (heaven, step you, is this love, pride, alterna, ladies night, fairyland...) even the interludes are so good (are you wake up? & tasking) I think it's pretty solid and by far my favourite ayu album to date (very close to R&Rcircus)

After listening to both, I have to say (miss)understood.

All of this. :yes

I definitely prefer (miss) understood

(m)u

Years later, ULTRA BLUE is still a great album but I realize how critical I was of (miss)understood. I think it's better. Such a classic.

(miss)understood... never really cared for hikki's newer stuff