^yep! i was just going to post that :D she responded to my question yayy

^^ but we don't know which songs she's considering as ballads and which not. :innocent

...I believe it's really not a ballad though :laugh

I just took it for granted that Last angel would be a ballad and now... HAHAHAH

THANKS GOD.

^Yup I agree. But i guess, some people get it and some don't.

For my ranking now,
Virgin Road > MOON > blossom > crossroad > SEVEN DAYS WAR
But i love the first 4 songs. If u give me a choice to pick which to listen to first, then yea, here's my order.

edit: AHHH ROCK!!! She's definitely saving the rock and upbeat for the album im sure. Now Ayu can let her creative juices run wild. XD

/in before "she can only release ballads and rock songs recently!" drama

heh? what do u mean?
but identity asking her about Last angel~ so she responded it's not a ballad..
isn't that clear enough?

I would like to believe it's not a ballad too...
Ayu kinda of confirmed that it has the rock tune on it haha..

High hopes for Last Angel...

By kind of, I think we're not going completely rock, but very dark Ayu lyrics and mood. WITH AWESOME VOCALS!

so much for following this thread jeeesus

what's going on? (yeah I read the first post)

Last Angel is not a ballad, YAY
we should get the pvs for L this week too, oh i can't wait!
i'm wondering if the action pv is for Last Angel then....
ohhh can't wait

I really love the remix for blossom. It sounds like a ladies night remix to me. Throughout the whole song I kept singing "dj lose them, can't replace them, and even so, you don't ever need to...etc" in my head to the beat of the song. I think clockwork yellow should remix ladies night. it would be epic.

I hope she has the same concept of rock as us...

^
^yea i've never liked remix before..
but blossom remix totally makes it like a totally different song..
imagine blossom the rock version..very nice!

I love seven days war

her voice sounds so nasal I really love it

dang!!! I misread the title for the thread and it said : New singles crossroad 9/22 and 「L」 9/29 [X]

I got all excited about a NEW 51st single 'X'... DANG :P

Hehe~ I'm so excited for Last Angel! But I thought it wasn't having a pv. Someone mentioned it was
I thought the "action" LA pv was for Virgin Road *is confused* must go catch up on things again.

That would be good...lol....but it's better what AYU twitted :luv2 (a new album's coming!!!!!!:tipsy)

lol but isn't written anywhere that Last angel will have a PV

^ oh yes, Last angel won't have a PV..
goshh I really didn't realize bout that..
ah~ too bad.. i wish it would have.. but maybe it'll be included in the album! *hope so!*

Oh it better! That title is so cute! I can't wait to read the lyrics/tranlation! :tired

I love Virgin Road!! Listening now. Something about it, I really love it... hm not sure what, but she sounds great.
Not a huge crossroad fan for some reason...but I love SEVEN DAYS WAR and now suddenly I really like crossroad! haha
I do think crossroad/seven days war are a great style blend for a single :) they have matching style~

^YEA! thats what i appreciate about the single. Same goes for MOON and blossom..the matching styles. I think L wont be having that much of a matching style though ahhaha...But i think we're gonna have warm, touching songs...Ok maybe Last angel is gonna be the exception (in a gd way)

crossroad > SEVEN DAYS WAR by about 38947 miles

Best news I've heard all week.

Eh, her working on a new album wasn't exactly "news" to me kinda already figured that since she's been practically living in the studio for weeks. lol But nice to have confirmation.

About Virgin Road... hmm, sounds nice but didn't really wow me like crossroad did. Have to get more used to it more to get a final verdict but for now it's just good but nothing amazing. Her vocals are lovely though. Not gonna listen to the crossroad single yet.

One more thing... AYU ON FIRE FTWW!!!! XD

yep yep! about the matching style..both are so oldies!
even thought SEVEN DAYS WAR is more oldies than crossroad..
gahh this single is totally LOVE~~~~

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I'm sure I'll love it no matter what now! xD;

Btw, I know everyone has a difference of opinion and everything but I don't know what else Ayu can do for some people anymore. :shrug

Different composer (than her usuals), touching lyrics, the arrangement isn't over done, it's simple and let's her words carry the song. What is this "EPIC" everyone is looking for? Dearest? M? What was so special about those songs that this song doesn't have?

TODAY HAS BEEN SUCH AN AMAZING DAY FOR ME MUSIC-WISE (If I didn't struggle for 12 hours to write a paper it would have been better but...).

Honestly, with crossroad Ayu just completely made up for MOON, blossom, and all of NEXT LEVEL for me (I didn't like these songs... just my opinion, do not attack ^^). I love crossroad, I love SEVEN DAYS WAR, and I love Virgin Road.

I think a lot of my love for these songs has to do with her SIGNIFICANTLY improved voice though. I've been dreaming that she'd regain her earlier voice for a long time and I didn't think it was possible. Is all of this because she stopped drinking xD?

And I totally predicted that she would set herself on fire in the PV. I'm so glad that something exciting happens in it :).

And Last angel isn't a ballad :D!

Oh Ayu... you will always be my music goddess.

I'm also thinking the same.... WHY OH WHY~~~~ :shrug

i guess that for some ppl who love oldies, now you have it!
for ppl who love the upbeat/rock song/sparkle type of song, we still gonna have to wait! XDD

They are looked at through rose tinted glasses. People almost always look at things that happened before as being better. Also probably partly because they are really ingrained in peoples minds since they've been around so long. They are the standard and nothing will ever beat them for some people.
I personally think many of her classics are overrated (even if I love them), especially SEASONS which everyone seems to love. I'd take Virgin Road or crossroad over that any day, 100 times over.

Hahaha yeah! It's like Dearest/M took their Ayu virginity and they have trouble letting it go LOL. Even though I'm not too fond of them, I'll admit they're great songs. But what bothers me is... well IMO... Ayu has WAY better ballads. JEWEL and HEAVEN at the very least are better. :laugh I guess if it were clearer to me what advantage those ballads over all the post-ballads I'd understand better. But to me, neither songs have better compositions / vocals / arrangements. The best thing about them... as with any Ayu song, are the lyrics. :shrug

oh i want to play the > game!
MOON > blossom > crossroad > SEVEN DAYS WAR > Virgin Road

maaan MOON was so epic, definitely on of her best songs LOL up there with moments I'm shocked a lot don't feel the same

everything else was good it's just dumped in with the rest of her stuff

aw i just realized the order means the singles are getting worse for me haha well here's hoping for the last two songs on L!

but virgin road... it's not bad, it's nice, but it just doesn't seem to stick. i've been trying LOL

^ haha then try harder~~~ wait til you watch the PV, maybe?

THIS!!

My thoughts exactly.

To me any AYU song is just as beautiful and good as any other AYU song (did that make sense?). It's as if you asked AYU which is her fav. song...she could not decide because the lyrics she wrote for those songs are all equal in value to her...

Maybe one of the reasons is that they are CREA compositions. People automatically seem to like them better. Oh, and everyone will say they are more emotional, but the only reason M sounds so emotional is because it's too high for Ayu to sing and she is screeching, which = emotion to some Ayu fans.

I really do like Dearest and M but I think that she has had just as good/even better ballads.
Actually, Virgin Road reminds me a little bit of Dearest, in that they are both very sweat and pure sounding.

M is too good, i don't care if is composed by CREA, when i first listened to it i didn't know anything about Ayu (just her name)

wow, Virgin Road is really beautiful. I didn't like it at first, but once the chorus hit...:heart

was this pic not posted? from inside crossroad
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4527/cuteashell.png
she looks cute

^ wow thanks for sharing..
Ayu looks so cute on the glasses haha!

OMG WANT SCAN NOOOAAAWWW THAT GLASSES PIC IS TOO KAWAII!!!!!! :heart

Same. lol As a newer fan without the handicap of nostalgia, I can honestly say that I like most of her older work better. I just find a greater number of more interesting compositions/arrangements in her 2001-2004 work that I don't find as often in her more recent LP's. Just do. :shrug

The photos for crossroad just get weirder and weirder LOL.

OMFG I need that pic!

One more time i prefer the inside pictures than the cover (i love more the inside pictures of MOON than the real covers too).

:/ It's because the music is epic. Jolting, and exciting. Starts soft, and builds up into something incredible that leaves you stunned.

"more emotional" is really a...bad statement for people to say...cause it could mean a whole slew of things.

Her ballads these days are more soft, more reflective sounding. More "pretty", less raw, but still very heartfelt, emotional, and still very Ayu.

Two different styles. It's obvious that people who fell in love with the style of these new ballads are going to like them better, and vice versa for those who fell in love with her old sound.

Maybe her older stuff is overrated. I mean, I can't even think of a bad song she has before MY STORY, not counting a song for xx. That's the mind set I'm used to. People with similar styles I'm used to being around.

The dearest hate just leaves me X_X here. Because, it's more about how you felt when the songs came out, and you saw her singing it, and it was amazing...did you know that such emotion could exist in a person...

People who werent around for that, wouldn't understand it.

Another thing, is that, a lot of people have really personal ties to her older music. It's gonna be hard for her to top stuff that literally changed peoples lives.

It's just, a matter of understanding perspective...from each individual person. It's not easy...but I think we're all doing fine.



Anyway...crossroad is <3. I'm really happy with the pitch of her vocals in the studio version. It's just exactly what I wanted for the song.

Seven days war...will take time to get used to. It's like MY ALL part 2 or sometihng...one of those songs.

Clockwork yellow remix is :heart :heart :heart

^thx for the inside pic identity~ Loving her in the glasses <3

I am really loving this single so far. I cannot wait for the orchestra arrangements (and hopefully not badly done ala Last Links on M/b.)

i think it was just her voice that was the problem in the Last Links one because the music was still beautiful. i don't have a problem with her voice in MOON or blossom (i think her voice sounds so sweet) so i think they're going to sound awesome in their orchestra versions.

i kinda feel that ayu's vocal for crossroad, Virgin Road is wayyyyyyyyy softer than the one in MOON... i mean, did she try to make her vocal sound deeper in MOON to get the emotional feeling? because I think that way~ it's not liked her vocal sounds bad or rough..but it's just how she's gonna sing according to the songs' meaning...how is she going to interpret the songs' meaning through her vocal abilities..

Yeah, you are probably right.
Maybe thats wats wrong with me. Cuz I really loved for example R'n'RC and MOON from the new stuff. Simply wonerful. Great really. But I have no connection to blossom/crossroad/SEVEN DAYS WAR/virgin road at all. They all are very pretty and sweet and such. But then nothing more actually. Not for me. I feel that they are pretty but bland, pretty tunes, but not special. And that makes me really disapointed cuz in every single that Ayu have released EVER I have always fallen in love with a melody, voice or such. And now I have 2 singles that I feel nothing in. If i wasnt a fan, I wouldnt buy them. And that makes me feel even more crazy since everyone here tend to love everything but me.

Well, I've been around for awhile myself and I can certainly understand where you are coming from.
Ayu isn't a big ball of confusion and angst anymore, she's found her place, so her music will natural reflect the bit of inner peace she has been able to attain. And of course people will have a special place in their hearts for the songs that really impacted on their lives.
It just really, really bugs me when people go on about how much better her older stuff is and give no respect to her newer music, especially when they say she isn't trying anymore and that she should quit. Because, honestly, she still makes awesome pop songs and they deserve recognotion.

And you don't think she had any bad songs before MY STORY?? O__O.
Wow lol.

Though I myself don't think she has ever made a truly terrible song:P

I haven't cared for the crossroad covers at all, but I do have to say, that picture in the glasses is actually pretty cute!

That kind of bugs me too. I've seen it, I understand. Those people seem a little out of touch with, either the industry or themselves.

I don't count A song for xx album lol, but yeah, I seriously loved all her songs...I mean she has some :/ ones here and there...but for the most part, they all own ;)

I would actually say up until (m)u :laugh

That's my main issues as well. People act like she's not creative any more and music is not as good. But maybe it's your connection to the music that is not as good. You haven't progressed along with Ayu. You and her are not on the same wave length and that's not really anyone's fault, it just means it's time for you to let that part of her career go. Don't go through every new song with the mindset, "oh this doesn't bring out the same emotion in me as Dearest (or whatever) so it's not as good." Because NOTHING she will ever do again will bring out that same emotion. Your connection to her older music will never be the same because she has moved on. And if you're still there waiting for the second coming of the magnificent CREA era, nothing she does from then on will be good enough. :shrug

And when some say they don't understand why the song is so loved and why some consider it (one of) the best it's because we feel that connection that some so desperately have been seeking for a long time. This song delivered for us.

I'm VERY happy with crossroad and L. When I get the money, I will spend it on buying the singles. This is the first time I'm excited about something she's done since Sparkle.

hot, nerdy Ayu! How awesome. Cannot wait to see this in HQ~ :D Thanks for sharing it~

What about after that? Does she still touch with some of her music? If you don't mind me asking :)

And you make an excellent point jbrat, I completely agree with you. I couldn't have worded it better.
One of the reasongs I love her new ballads in the sense of peace I find in them. I don't want, or need, all of her songs to completely overwhelm me emotionally. It's nice to have 5 minutes of peace and warmth away from day to day life.

I love the nerdy-but-stylish Ayu on the single :)

that was brilliantly said. :D

Does she? That's very much an opinion and not a set truth. I'll give you that still makes some awesome pop songs but at a constant, overall "awesome" quality? :no
Me feeling this way is not me wanting a song / release sounding like this or that, in a general sense, I'd love to have a song that I just love, I adore again. Consistency is what I'm looking for really.

I will say I haven't listened to crossroad, SDW, and VR yet but I'm waiting for the official release before I do. So for now, this how I feel of Ayu's music.

I think you hit the nail on the head for why people let themselves be blinded by nostalgia. One of the reasons I love Ayu so much is because whatever she sings, she DELIVERS. Every time.

Oh yeah. I love LOADS of songs after that...some of my favorite actually come after those albums.

But I still could find whole songs that I actually don't like on an album, or faults within songs...stuff that's forgettable, etc...

whether before that...no ;) Which is a really big deal, to like literally everything, and I know that's not plausible, and probably shouldn't have ever been...so I don't really look to love everything...but I would like her songs to be, good...entertaining at least.

And they have been...but they don't beat stuff she's done...but that's okay. I'm really at a place where I don't really mind...but I don't think that we should just discount all her older music either, just because the new stuff has a style people like better...

Ayu is ayu. Her music shows all parts of her. We're at a forum lol We can debate about what we think is better or worse, or whatever~

Sometimes people freak...but meh lol


About her delivering...I think that's gonna be different with each person. Sometimes she'll deliver, sometimes she won't.

She never fails to be herself though. And that's good.

I looooove SEVEN DAYS WAR! It is such a good song, the chorus is so cute.

I wish it had it's own pv.

Why don't they (the people who owns crossroad) show us everything?

I totally understand and agree with what you are saying. I don't think any of her music should be discounted as it is a representation of who she is at the time. I love her old style and I love her new style, I think both have a lot to offer. And considering the sheer amount of music she release I think it's fairly normal to start being more picky about songs, or seeing faults. Especially since her style changed. But I'm glad you still get things out of the music she gives us fans.
And about having good pop songs: yes, I think she does deliver. In terms of pop music Ayu has a generally high standard. Even if you don't like them, imo, they are still good pop songs.

^^ They (AyuChina) have this deal with avex to not give everything away before a release's official date. Cause if they do, they won't be able to get early releases of singles and albums anymore.

Oh yeah, I agree about that.

There is sooo much utter crap out there, especially pop wise in Japan :laugh It could be so much worse...

but as far as feeling...that's gonna be personal, and individual.

And avex lets them create illegal downloads???

avex knows that there will be illegal downloads anyway as soon as the single is released.
They are giving the ppl from ayuchina the release earlier to promote it, to give the fans little by little.

LOL....if you think leaks just happen on their own....:rolleyes.....

crossroad's such a good single :heart

So when do you think they will show us the full thing?

On the release date, like last time I think.

THAT IS JUST K.A.W.A.I.I!!!

Well said. Change is the only constant. Sometimes I think fans gotta think again. You may say that AYu's style has changed but truly, it may very well be YOUR style that changed. esp in this era where people become so much more exposed to electronic music as well as other genres.

Lol same here. Even if i have songs that i find the tune rather awkward, there's still that beauty in it. Maybe im just that kind of person.

Hope it hasn't been posted yet...
I found other pics from crossroad Jacket A on baidu!

ayu looks so perfect ♥ I can't wait to get my own version of crossroad and L <33

She looks so cutewith those glasses

wahh Ayu China is luckyyy!!!
i wonder can we AHS to get the same privilege too? XD

Of course the inner photo is better than all of the covers, again xDDD

(shouldn't this kind of thing be posted in a separate thread?)

woooow, pic in the crossroad single is too cute for words!!!!

That pic with glasses should go as a cover, seriously _._

The inside pic 's so good ! i hate when i have to say like this :why don't they use it as cover !? ~~!

I think that if they had use it as cover we would have prefered the inside pic xD

lol.i agree.remember when moon/blossom released,people love the insert more than the booklet.haha

That pic is so cute! *o*

Nerdy Ayu is :heart
I need that pic for graphics! *__*

Wow, she looks gorgeous in the booklet. Sometimes, she looks so Korean with that glasses imo.

on the release date.

some of the members from ayuchina are in Japan and if i'm not wrong, i think one of them have a direct connection with avex, like working there. there's always an ayuchina staff posting some info on the news thread and his/her information ARE ALWAYS RIGHT, like Rock'n'Roll Circus concert name. That was the AC staff who posted and and said don't asked him or her any further details.

I wish Ayu would work with Yuki Kajiura instead of TK. That'd be an epic collab, she composes such amazing music <3

ohh~ no wonder they're always so fast!
that's cool!!

booklet it's always better, they always do that, give us the best piece of cake in the end (XD)

Other pics from the 3 crossroad versions (source: haru@ayuchina's weibo). First pic is from crossroad's PV.
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/8...d810c69.th.jpghttp://img696.imageshack.us/img696/3...664c269.th.jpghttp://img707.imageshack.us/img707/5...ba40669.th.jpghttp://img137.imageshack.us/img137/4...c7c5869.th.jpghttp://img826.imageshack.us/img826/6...e29aa69.th.jpg

^ OMG...
thanks so much for sharing!!!

thank you! they're all so cute and of course better than the original covers as usual :laugh i'm glad she's giving us other pics in her single booklets nowadays, she didn't do that in 2008 and most of 2009 and it was kinda disappointing. and ugh i NEED to see the crossroad PV already!

i love the booklet pics! my favorite is the glasses one :heart

Luna62 uploaded and posted the whole single (with orchestra versions) in the Download section if you haven't noticed yet~:)

Thanks, Luna62
I like this crossroad screenshot

Thx, Luna62!

The booklet pics are soooo cute! <3

the orchestra versions are amazing like i expected, my favorite is blossom (Orchestra version) though, i might like it more than the original! i just love how you can hear her vocals better in the orchestra versions, her voice is seriously beautiful ;_;

Orchestra versions are beautiful... But I'm not feeling them completely at the moment. I think original versions will stay better for me at last.