This is a classical album, at least put ayu in front of an orchestra band or something, maybe more appropriate and might interest more people to buy this album... it's like hey ayu can do this with an orchestra band... it's like more surreal and I will believe it too =)

^Who says that they didn't use an orchestra for this album? O.o;;

^The cover my dear...

Mod edit: ^ and I am replying to truehappiness and when did I say there was no orchestra... read properly

^ You know, you can edit your posts, just a heads up! :)

Hmm will the vocals be featured at all?

Should be since they compared it to MY STORY Classical. For the non-vocal track they just called it an 'instrumental' on that one.

Just gonna DL the songs when it comes out. The tracklist is meh but who knows maybe the arrangement will be awesome just like what MY STORY did.

thank you for reminding.. was so over the place on the mobile phone. =)

with the same Love cover as for the A Classical, I would have thought that this is an extension of the Love mini album in a classical form. whereby all the songs in Love, will be re-arranged into orchestra and very instrumental tracks. isn't it?

the cover looks unflattering.I think her mouth looks horrible there

The standard that Ayu set back then was that her music was better than nearly everyone else's, including non-Japanese artists. Unfortunately, that is not the case right now.

Geez, people here will never be satisfied :(. There are overwhelming complaints for every single release, it's ridiculous. I'm just grateful to have these consecutive releases and the material has been pretty good so far.

Anyway, I really like the cover since it's an actual drawing...it's really good. And the songs flow really well together lyrically. I do wish there were more tracks, but oh well. I'm really excited for Love Song :).

Rant rant rant
Do it again

Rant rant rant
Do it gain

:P

For some, her music is still better than everyone else's so why is it 'not the case right now'?

I think right now if you are a fan of Ayu you will continue to listen to her releases but her music isn't 'better' to the point where it will intrigue new listeners.

thats because she not some mass girl group trying to single their little bitty hearts out.
=)

It's good to have people who are unsatisfied. Criticism always helps something or someone improve.

Well, it's because those tracks and covers were released back then, at a certain point in time, within a unique context, that they are loved. They don't exist in a vacuum. The J-pop of today has changed, progressed, and moved on precisely because Ayu released those songs back then.

Personally, I always compare any artist I'm listening to with the music being released during its time, so if Ayu cannot rise to the level of, say, Adele, Bjork, PJ Harvey, or Saori Yuki, then I wouldn't call her music in any way great.

I have always defended Ayu, throughout so many years, because I try as much as possible to locate some value in her releases. That's how much I respect her as an artist. But to have this kind of laziness shore up (A Summer, A Classical, the same concepts and ideas in much of her new releases, the lack of maturity and taste that an artist who has been around this long should possess), it borders on disrespect towards someone to whom her music has meant so much.

Frankly, I couldn't care less about how Ayu feels. I don't care about whether or not she feels comfortable, whether or not she's in love, whether or not she's fine with the way things are, whether or not her boyfriend is a publicity stunt. I only care about the results of her creative processes. Show me a damn good time!

This will sound terrible, and I really hope it isn't true, but I think Ayu has stopped growing as a person. If the evolution of her lyrics is anything to go by, it seems like she has become emotionally stunted. I think that's why her music is suffering.

rant
verb /rænt/ [I]

to speak or shout in a loud, uncontrolled or angry way, often saying confused or silly things

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dict...british/rant_1

I have neither been loud nor uncontrolled nor angry throughout this thread. Thanks.

^ we get it, you have said the same thing over and over and over and over again.

hence the do it again and RANTING.

move on.

You have brought nothing new. People are going to disagree with you because ayumi is in a perfect place musically, just because YOU dont agree means nothing.
And by saying you dont care about how she feels just shows you clearly know nothing about ayumi or her music. The music is an extension of herself it always has been and will always be.
get over yourself please and move on.

He is not alone in that matter, it's not fair to insinuate that HE'S the only one who feels that way.
"Perfect place musically..." ?? What a joke, lol.

You for sure is very full of yourself to believe a post of mine that isn't quoting you in any way is about you. :) Maybe it just fit way too much...

i didnt mean her music, because thats subjective... I meant her. She is in a perfect place musically... i can see where it gets confusing.

I should of said for her music. but your comment in itself is a joke really... you hate everything. lol

Only everything that is ****. Lol.

Pop Quiz! Is this an:

A) Flop Cover
B) Flop Tracklist
C) Trolling

or D) ALL OF THE ABOVE?

I hope 4rd realese isn't a fishmouth calendar or another remix album with "LOVE/again" tracklist. Or DVD >.>

I'm hoping for 3rd mini or single :(

Okay, so according to Misa's translation regarding A Classical, "all recordings were done live." Define "live." Does this mean Ayu with orchestra or just orchestra? Because if it's the first one, then A Classical may be worth buying.

it feels like ayu is trolling with these releases...

I think it just means the orchestra performed live. As in, they recorded the orchestral performances and not just via music software.

It also might be that they just recorded the classical orchestra while they played =P

People do tend to have very high expectations and no one really promised a brand photo shoot and 30 tracks. It's not really their fault people over hear think way too much about the releases before knowing anything.

I am really looking forward to hearing the new arrangements. Especially Love song, BLUE BIRD, Voyage and M.

I agree. And we knew that the tracklist is mainly fan-decided, so everybody that expected rare tracks or unpromoted album tracks was simply delusional.
I do find this release disappointing from what we can tell right now, but the songs themselves could always turn out great and the awful tracklist really isn't their fault in this case.

REALLY? This guy worked for Murakami and avex requested him a LOVE fanart?

I don't even..

What did you expected? Penis-like mushrooms and a wave made of mysterious white liquid? :P

Actually, we knew for a while it would be only 10 tracks... TA should start releasing info though drawings or something...

I was hoping for that.
But a giant Ayu's head with bunny ears, sorrounded by colorful flowers with Maro's face on them it's waaaay better :laugh.

That cover would kill AHS :P

We'd be saving the entire universe, yeah. Oh God :shakehead

**** do Ayu fans ever overreact. I always knew it but these past few weeks have really reiterated the fact. Am I the only one not bothered in the least by this? I'm just looking forward to hearing some new classical arrangements, and then probably rarely listening to them ever again haha

lol the tracklist

i was never really bothered tbh.
i never really cared about covers...
and i don't care about remix albums so i can't really hate this release like most people. I'm like meh.

but why would i be mad after the songs ayu gave us in LOVE and again?

my story classical wasn't a bad cover, I liked it.
a new A logo with cool graphics would have been amazing.
kumi's lips look terrible on your avatar too ;)

Ok, I'm over the initial disappointment and am starting to get excited. The cover is actually really cool, now that I know it's a fan-made drawing...and at least they chose artwork of a good cover. It could have been fish lips extreme. Also I'm pretty pumped for M and BLUE BIRD!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...usaolp00000003

well, we're gonna get invaded by aliens before this releases..
it happened in JAPAN too.
coincidence? the dethroning of the empress of jpop = reason of 2012.
this whole mess invited aliens and now we're all gonna die.

^ please... 2012 is here, we all gonna go down in flames!!
=)
ayumi was just the pre show.

It's a service started by Murakami (Kaikai Kiki), not a Murakami himself.

the meltdown was just the beginning

I can't believe it
we all gon die and I've NEVER been to japan! ugh.

Edit: if the aliens really did land in japan, one of the comments posted says:

If the aliens do crawl ashore in Japan, you can bet that although they might be given work permits they'll be denied actual citizenship.


http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...pjsao1_500.gif

It must be D lol

This thread just made me remember - it is 12/12/2012 now in Japan. :thud

Oi... I guess I'm the only one who likes the cover.

My only complaint is 'progress' is not getting the orchestral treatment it deserves. Stupid fan poll. Why you no vote progress?!

i think they don't know the reason for the poll, maybe they thought it could be for her CDL

I know, I'm just being bitter :dead2

The album for this thread: UNCONTROLLED

http://ww3.sinaimg.cn/large/67ac7c65tw1dzqshnteg8j.jpg
don't like the eyes

THE COVER ART AND TRACK LIST ARE SUCKKK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gorgeous!
:000

I would like to see a video about the making of this cover. The process itself.

It could be a nice promotional stuff.
It's a shame that Avex never thinks about something like that...

I actually love it now. Pretty cool idea! And the art is incredible. They *could* have chosen a picture from the booklet of LOVE though..something that wasn't already a cover but still tied the concept together.

I meannnnnn 18 pages in, and I don't have anything profound to say, so whatever, I'll just state my opinion that's already shared with many, 'cause why not?

What the hell is with the cover? This isn't a LOVE classical album. What a misplaced cover. It should have been saved to be used with something else. What else? I have no idea right now, but not this album. It's a gorgeous drawing, but, come on...

I have no interest in purchasing this album, but just looking at the tracklist = zzz..

What's wrong with the eyes? They look exactly like the album cover.

It's not even the fan art they claim. It's a comissioned artist mixed with photoshop, coz there's no way he sketched photo quality eyes.

Why? I have friends in my community college who can sketch photo quality eyes lol

Drawing is not that hard. Regardless of whoever decides to reply to try and say it is, I repeat, drawing is not that hard.


Anyways. Cover is ****. Surprise surprise. I would have taken a glorified logo and nice, pretty packaging over it. But, whatev, Ayu, whatev.

^^You'd be surprised, actually, on how photo-like some sketches are. This picture was drawn ENTIRELY from ballpoint. It's not even photoshopped. http://vianaarts.deviantart.com/art/...-Pen-310870595 But I agree with emi about the cover... It is kind of bland. I like it, but I'm not entirely in love with it.

If only I could draw....
I can do stick figures :)

I wouldn't say it is easy... even if almost anyone can draw like that by putting some effort on learning it... Still, ultra-realistic drawings/paintings, the most training they need, are not uncommon...

Still, I liked the cover.

You're right. Drawing is not hard. Drawing well though is not something everyone can do..so for certain people, it is hard.

its pretty and all, but they really should have used a different source picture, something not already used as a cover, or something related to "a classical." :rolleyes

actually i only JUST REALIZED that this is a drawing of Love not Love Songs cover. :dead

A Classical 1200x1200

Thanks for the large image, it's beautiful!

Very pretty. IMO, the argument that this cover has nothing to do with A Classical isn't really all that valid since A Classical is a part of these five releases... which are kind of represented by that image from Numero Tokyo that was also featured as LOVE's cover. (though at this point they've had it on too many things so they should stop for now. Counting this, LOVE's cover, Numero Tokyo's shoot, the TeamAyu magazine, and the bonus goods for again, it's probably better to just not have it on anything any more as pretty as it is)

well, i've been so upset because i thought this was the Love Songs cover...haha. i feel so dumb.

Lol at people making it sound like she has been putting out bad music this year. All the stuff she has released this year are head and shoulders above awful singles like "Together when" and "You were" and 80% of the album tracks on Love songs.

I'm not looking forward much to A Classical since I've never been a huge fan of her orchestra remixes but Party Queen is definitely her best album since Secret.

It's okay, it was kind of small and it was also done by the same photographer initially? Hahaha~

thanks for the bigger cover..
but i still don't like the hand drawing, looks kind of amateur. hmm~
i'll look forward to the tracks.

oh i wish you didn't :mischief

they just didn't work hard on the cover because it's just A CLASSICAL and that's all

The cover is simply beautiful and makes me wanna buy LOVE and A CLASSICAL just to put them side by side they'd look so nice :luv2

She's just recycling the same pic, I don't like the cover at all. BLAH

^I like it... But I don't love it. :shrug They could of used a different picture for it. :\

^Exactly :/

At least it's a LOVE picture, I imagine the chaos this place would turn into if the draw was from again, with Maro on it :laugh

^Yeah really! lol

And it's not a Party Queen cover either, people should be glad LOL :thud

I think it's just a beautiful drawing. Very very pretty and well done.

Now that I've seen a HQ version of the cover, I actually like it. Maybe I just need to wait a few days before I pass judgement on a cover.

I'm not exactly getting why people would say I like/dislike the cover. It's exactly the same as Love cover isn't it? If you liked it then, you should like it now. Frankly I'm quite stunned. Up til now I've almost always associated Ayumi's work with quality but to me this is a blatant rip off. The cover not the songs. I feel this will slide her image down even further.

I think Ayu should've used an off-shoot photo from LOVE atleast if she was going to use it for the cover or just a fancy A logo.

Well... it's better than the actual MY STORY CLASSICAL cover I guess? I wonder if this one will get a slipcase, as a ~surprise gift to the fans~.

That album was just MY STORY though, so reusing the cover made sense... but it was still the ugliest cover ever.

Just realized that the font is the same as Duty's..

gosh this cover is so terrible!
and the tracklist...just ten songs, and 4 of them are classics that we have on classical albums / AOV albums many times already!

I actually think this: They needed a picture for the drawing, and they couldn't choose something that was too old because people would probably ignore the release (eg. if it was an A BEST 2 cover), and they couldn't also use a different unseen shot from LOVE or again, people wouldn't have recognized it :shrug

So I think they chose LOVE's cover because it's current and somewhat known.

If AHS was ayu's target audience, her career would have been finished years ago. Some of you don't like ANYTHING. I mean, I'm not thrilled about the tracklist, but it is not the end of the world and it is certainly not the end of her career. And the cover, who cares?! So it's a drawing of LOVE... big deal. It's beautifully and skillfully done so why the complaints? Because she decided not to sit and look pretty to take a picture? Because they didn't decide to slap a logo on it? Because it is not what YOU want, it's "lazy" and "uninspired"?

Sure, they could have told fans what the poll was about so they could make a more informed decision about the tracklist but do you REALLY think it would have that been much different? The only difference probably would have been that evolution and Boys & Girls would have made the cut. And the drawing, whether by a fan or not is something different, unique and subtle to ayu's extensive catalogue of cover art work.

Instead of complaining about what is 'wrong,' why not try and see what is right about the release. When it comes down to it, it is about the music right? So why not look forward to how classical interpretations can bring out beauty in these classic songs. Songs that many of you love anyway. Quit being so negative. I swear some of you must have the most depressing lives lol.

Ill probably end up buying it anyway
Ayu needs all the help she can get with this release lol
That and I kinda sorta want is just cuz I was listening to orchestra music yesterday.
Maybe I'll get the ff12 soundtrack instead... Lol

With people saying things like this:

...I think if AHS was Ayu's target audience she'd still be fine. lol

the sketching is pretty but then... it just lack of something....

I like the picture as well, but just as a cover... i dont want it.
Ive already got some cool covers from.... I believe YuriChan, that is gonna replace this ASAP!

thats one person... when most people are saying "im gonna download it".... she will not be fine.

LOL touche.

I think this is the worst ayu release for me since...hell, MY STORY CLASSICAL. and I was definitely more excited for that one.

^ WHAT?! at least wait to hear the music... but I guess if you dont like that kind of music there is no point.

If CK's vivid sells more than this...

lol... it should! *hopes* anyway

^ hope that CK sells more?

lol that's how i read your comment
thats like... well. at least CK's quality would sell more, i guess.

no no no... i meant it the other way!
although vivid should of sold more...

I don't think it will flop...all the boring, generic fans who want the same songs over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over will buy it.