i love the 3 ones besides TA version (they are meaningless and completely diffrent, I would LOOOOOVE to see whole body shot besides closeups all the time) but well, as much I really love the theme of 3 of them, i dislike the fact that they are almost identical. sixxxxxx/COLOURS/A ONE at least had a head angle change ;/

buuuut... I really miss full body shot ;____________; (except LOVE again one lol)

There were rumours about her cheating with several men, having abortions, getting STDs, trashing hotel rooms, being spotted drunk and whatnot during all of her career. If the public found those rumours to be beliaveble at some level, what they most likely did considering the rumours spread, her overall image of being a wild girl it's actually a thing.

Maybe "party queen" wouldn't be the way a western would describe it, but she doesn't produce those stuff for us, she produce those for japanese people who usually doesn't know much English and whose perception on English words has more to do with the way their own culture perceive those words and not that much with what those words mean on their original language.

It's the same thing as a western using "otaku" and what it actually means in Japanese.

But these are rumors you get to hear about any celebrity I reckon. but there aren't any pictures of ayu out and about coming wasted from a party or being a complete mess that would maybe support these kind of rumors or that kind of image.

I do agree with the language difference though.

^Not really... Rumours, yeah, are very frequent. But the subject of the rumour is directly linked to the way the public perceives the celebrity. Ayu is said to sleep around, Hikki is romanticly liked to women sometimes, but I don't remember the oposite happening, for example.

you knwo what's funny though? that she's not even near as all over the place as some western "party girls" amongst celebrities are. Sure the perception is different but still.
Japan really has a thing for complitely obnoxious rumours. It's not just with Ayu. When they go onto someone, they do it in full force. No wonder GACKT's her friend lol those two just understand each other xD

I talked to a lot of Japanese people about Ayu since at one point or another you're always being asked when you started learning Japanese and why and if you like Japanese pop culture. So I have to "confess" that I'm actually an Ayu fan. They dislike her for a million reasons, but Ayu being anything that comes close to a "party queen" is none of them. No one ever mentioned rumours about her getting drunk, taking drugs, that she had an abortion or whatever. The only thing that come up again and again is her looking fake, having surgery, being a stuck up diva etc. So basically it always comes down to Ayu being unrelateable compared to before and that they lost touch with her around (miss)understood era. And everyone always says things like "back then she was great, but now...".
Furthermore, even though I can't stand this "natural" Ayu thing anymore, I think she does it for one reason: she had a VERY long period of years in which she looked fake as hell in mostly every photo of hers, starting around (miss)understood era. Japanese people only know her as the girl next door or as the fake diva, they aren't able to recognise her face anymore. For example I had the picture with the blue tone she posted as teaser with lyric snippets as background pic at my mobile phone and showed it around. No one believed me it was her. Nowadays she tries very hard to leave her diva image behind her and to be more relateable again, even though I'm not sure if her current tactic works.

she looks 13 on it

I love the concept, I love the look. Favorite album cover in a long time. I wonder what people think when they see Made in Japan and a picture of Ayu tied up with ropes... I think it's a pretty bold statement (and I thought her lyrics in Survivor was bold, but this is literally in your face LOL)

yep, Party Queen was her lowest point in her career because she was wailing there crying that she's a lonely queen and yada yada insert more self pity... not a cute look for her.

@Chibi: that's very interesting now that you mentioned it. I think ever since GUILTY or so she has been moving around her image a lot; with NEXT LEVEL and Rock'n'Roll Circus I always get the vibe that she doesn't have any direction for herself so she's playing around with whatever ideas that come up in her mind.

Love songs onward was when, like you said, she tried to shed all the glamor off and go back to being that girl-next-door.. which explains pastel colors and basic beauty shots.

Then Party Queen came about at a time where I felt she could have personally been in depression or very low morale. I'm glad she had Timmy and her A CREW with her at that time to pull her through... though obviously she wasn't thinking clearly because she decided to fall in love with Maro and we got more messes

and then to 2014/2015 when we had the "my heart is with Japan" and we see that with A ONE and sixxxxxx... now M(A)DE IN JAPAN

Obviously imo she is a lot more settled now and I am happy she kinda knows where she's heading... ever since her 10th anniversary she has been decidedly very haphazard in her music career

Do you remember alan? Couple of her early singles had covers with eyes opened (for CD+DVD) and closed (for CD only):

http://www.generasia.com/w/images/th...SankaCDDVD.jpghttp://www.generasia.com/w/images/th...px-sankacd.jpghttp://www.generasia.com/w/images/th...px-Hitotsu.jpghttp://www.generasia.com/w/images/th...otsucdonly.jpg
http://www.generasia.com/w/images/th...ashiiCDDVD.jpghttp://www.generasia.com/w/images/th...sukashiicd.jpghttp://www.generasia.com/w/images/th...taCD%2BDVD.jpghttp://www.generasia.com/w/images/th...ora_uta_cd.jpg

I don't mind that mentioned covers are that similar but I'm really disappointed with TA covers - face only (again).

How do people feel about Namie? In terms of relatability? Is she judged by the same factors?

^^ those covers are boring af

i wonder how can people complain when there are covers like this :D god those are lame

it's funny that she looks way more plastic than ayu and japanese say ayu is looking fake and been in surgeries :no i don't get japanese people sometimes

alan covers are gorgeous =)

^^ you can say a lot of things about Namie, but looking/being plastic or fake is not one those things. Even on BEST FICTION she might have looked more 'natural' than on most of Ayumi's magazine photographs. I am not even a Namie fan so I don't know why I am actually defending her. I just thought: "Oh really, you are not kidding?" when I read your comment.

I tried once and the answer was "she's beautiful, she don't need anything more".
I don't like all those "face only" covers - they don't express nothing. Where the hell is creativity? If I wouldn't knew the singer and somebody would show me this type of covers asking "what kind of singer it may be" or "what's the album concept" I would answer: some mainstream singer with some boring ballads.

yep, of I was browsing a CD store and lookIng for new artists to listen to, I wouldn't pick a cd with only their face on it; especially if most of their discography is only close ups of their face. it's name recognition only these days.

^ If she has something to say - something more than singing "love songs" - than she should express it not only in lyrics but also on album cover. They say to "not judge a book by it's cover" but the true is that cover is something what makes us interest in content (it's the same with music albums).

I don't know that many albums (if any at all) that really have a meaning, especially if I try to judge by the standards everyone seems to mention. Even the "flawless goddess" Utada Hikaru mostly has face shots as her album covers. Koda Kumi? Also beauty shots. With costumes and decorations, but it doesn't make them any less beaty shots. So I don't see what the big deal is.

kumi at least has costumes and decorations as you say, so these beauty shots are way more appealing that way.

never liked hikkis album covers.

I haven't talked that much about Namie, but when she came up people were like "she's popular!" and that's basically it, they weren't really interested in her, but I don't think they judge her at all. I mostly talk to Japanese people who are 20 to 30 years old, so maybe they're too old to be a typical Namie fan. Furthermore from the way they talked about her I had the feeling that Namie is just a popstar to them who had a few hits in the 90's and has a second peak right now. They may like a few songs but Namie isn't anything more than some kind of idol to them. Whereas Ayu was an artist to them, with the emphasis on was. And I think that's the point. There isn't much to judge about an idol who's whole image is supposed to be superficial and everyone knows that and therefore people do not expect Namie to do anything else than releasing catchy pop tunes, a kitschy ballad now and then and to look pretty. Ayu on the other hand was known for her deep lyrics and more mature style compared to other women her age in the music business back then. Her image change from the mature pop queen with deep lyrics to the more superficial pop diva and an exposed private life is what made her lose touche with the public imo.

I really hope M(A)DE IN JAPAN will perform well in Japan. At least to outsell A One and Colours by a few thousand copies.

But this covers are well executed like BLUE BIRD covers. Made In Japan covers are good but the CD Only cover could be better, with her eyes looking to the front, up or down.

I love alan ones.
looking at the industy as a whole, i don't know how many times i've said it but Japan is really not the country for concept album artworks. J-rock has some edgier stuff, but it's still just that.

I don't think there's anything wrong with beauty shots as long as they're well executed! I love GUILTY's covers for example despite them looking like a fashion ad. They look expensive and grandiose and the CD-only is just a cool photo by itself.

The problem with beauty shots is when you take away any elements that make them engaging (interesting set, makeup, clothes, pose, composition, whatever) and then you end up with something that looks like it could've been taken with a point-and-shoot in your bedroom and you repeat that same style of cover over and over for 3 years... :\

Personally, the thing that really kills these covers is she's just wearing a pretty face and a boring ass tank top and she's plastered against a bland backdrop. The whole setup looks like a Halloween costume she threw together at the very last second and then she stood against her bedroom wall for selfies. She has a really pretty face, but we've all seen it a million times before so a super generic mega closeup in clean makeup and looking expressionless like in the TA covers just... doesn't cut it at all. They just could've done so much more with the basic idea of being bound in rope and then being unbound but they didn't... They never really do anything more than the bare minimum for covers anymore imo. I think it's just something you have to learn to expect and accept with Ayu.

^ very well said :)

well the cover visualize the songs for the first time. youre absolutely right!

I think it's partially cause this is her at her most comfortable. She doesn't really want to do anything but make music, so pushing boundaries with album covers/PVs isn't really on her agenda anymore and it has been obvious since probably 2008 or 2009.

She COULD if she wanted to, but clearly, it looks as though she doesn't want to, so... yeah. The potential is always there, we just have to wait till she feels like it if ever again.

I fully agree with you. I knew many Ayu fans but almost all of them lost interest in her works during "Love Songs" / "Party Queen" era. They used to know her as mature artist with something interesting to say and than she started taking off her clothes and singing shallow songs about clubbing (like most of western stars do). Fans just lost respect to her.

@Tom Punks - You're right. There's nothing wrong with beauty shots as long as they stay various (but that need proper setup). TA covers look like bathroom selfies.

Making music is not just recording tracks and she should know it after being on music market for about 20 years. Nobody asking her to "pushing boundaries" and do something original but a bit of aestethics in photo shoots wouldn't hurt. Looking cute and miserable not expressing that she's pissed off because world is mad and we have to survive.

I think for her "making music" is recording and performing on stage. She is not really as involved in the visual side as before, IMO. And I think that has been clear for a while now.

I'm not blaming her. She don't have to be responsible for everything but she's hiring a team of people to taking care for her image. She may want something simple but that's their job to show it different ways.

Not portraying what you want her to doesn't mean she didn't portray what she felt like was the most apropriated.

But I should be used by now with people around here mistaking personal taste with technical aspect.

Personal taste would be if I'd like her to express something specific the way I'd like to see it. TA covers not express nothing for me and technically they look very amateurishly (not counting the fact that pose from CD+Blu-ray looks like "A BEST" / "A BEST 2" shoot).

As you yourself said. :P

I love the new covers :)