Singles or albums that renewed your faith in Ayu?
 

Basically the L single and then Love Songs album.

Ayu’s soccer mom hairstyle that she had for MY STORY disappointed me, but her skunk hair for STEP you/is this LOVE? redeemed her. Also Ayu’s mullet for fairyland and HEAVEN disappointed me, but her brown hair for Bold & Delicious/Pride and (miss)understood was on point.

I thought GUILTY and NEXT LEVEL were good but felt kind of like rush jobs, but I loved Rock’n’Roll Circus and Love songs. Same goes for FIVE and Party Queen, they were good but felt unfinished. LOVE again is amazing and has restored my faith.

Her so called latest 'mini albums'. Ivy, Sweet scar, Song 4 u, and snowy kiss have become some of my favorite Ayu songs.

I've never really had a phase where I lost faith in Ayu. The release that made my interest reach an all-time high were the ayu-mi-x 7 releases though.

Mirrorcle World.

Maybe brillante...idk.

I still consider count down as a ray of hope that she's able to carry those types of songs with her vocals and team of people.

I started losing interest after NEXT LEVEL I think~

The songs that stopped me from leaving the Ayu bandwagon was....count down and BRILLANTE

I only truly love 1 song off every other album, so it was Return Road with PQ
Now I'm just waiting for the next 1 song to blow me away :laugh

Mirrorcle World

When it released on April 2008, I didn't know it was ayu 10th anniversary song, and I just listened it on.... August 2008, yeah, I'm really late. I leave ayu fandom for 3 years since the release of Bold & Delicious single. I didn't even heard (miss) understood / Secret / GUILTY during my hiatus time :3 Then suddenly when I lurking around tokyotosho, I find that torrent, try to download, and listened to it.... My faith in ayu is completely restored, even now I liked Bold & Delicious, lol.

after Love songs, everything went down for me. she hasn't renewed my faith, at least for me. FIVE sucks... Party Queen sucks... and LOVE again sucks... i mean, there's a couple of songs that i love and like but it wasn't like her previous albums or works that as a whole i would love it, i wouldnt mind a couple of sucky songs... but since FIVE, my ratio of LOVE:SUCK songs been reversed.

LOVE again and its mini albums. Party queen was my least favorite album, five wasn't great, and I was neutral at best about Love songs, though it's starting to grow on me. I wasn't sure if I would ever really love an album again, so I'm glad she released LOVE again.

Yea, LOVE and again the minialbums. The LOVE again album is fine too, but I find myself as bored as before with the new albumsongs. Last time I really got crazy about a song, loved it's preview and the song was in the Love Songs era.

I'm a fan since Mirrorcle World and since 2008 she has never failed me two times in a row, so I never really lost my hope on ayu :) But I can say that MOON/blossom and LOVE reassured my faith upon her :laugh

I found Rock n Roll Circus to be pretty forgetable, and Moon single to be among her most generic rock ballads ever...

But crossroad was sent directly from God. <3

I was kinda thrown off by those mini albums release, I seriously hate the idea of selling maxi singles as mini albums. Although I normally preorder all her release, but this time round, I did not buy them, money was a little tight(to spend on some AKB singles, I want those first press photos), so I thought I could hold out maybe to get the OS press instead. I was really pissed when I found out the songs will be all release in Love Again album!
I did bought Love Again album, but some thing seems off, I'm not listening to it as much as I quite expect.

So I'm not thrown back yet, maybe HLS Blu ray will get me back, sicne I was at the concert last year, so hopefully the memories will bring me back to Ayu home.

I am a bit indifferent to Party queen and Five though I still listen to them from time to time. You & me did not really impress me when it was just released as well. My faith is restored with the 3 epic songs in Love again album: Ivy, petal, untitled for her~2. Wake me up is also impressive to me after watching her performance in CDL12-13

Between Mirrorcle World and FIVE, the most forgettable work I find to be NEXT LEVEL (save for a couple of songs). Party Queen and LOVE again are not memorable at all.

lol

I never lost "faith" in Ayu, but there was a period of time between 2007-2008 I stopped listening to her because I just didn't care for GUILTY whatsoever. I guess right before NEXT LEVEL came out I started listening again.

I have to admit most of her recent album does not have me interested at all.

I haven't lost interest in Ayu before since becoming a fan in 2006. However this year has been my all-time low, since this album is really that bad and I'm not enjoying her most recent image.

I would say "Love Songs" really helped me love Ayu again, the whole trilogy was full of excellent songs and the album itself was so wonderful along with the PV's. I wasn't a big fan of NEXT LEVEL or Rock N Roll Circus either, though I liked both, I actually listened to each once the full way through and then I was basically done. Love Songs was completely different, the resealable sleeve is so damaged from playing it so many times haha.

when Secret was released i just couldnt stand it, then GUILTY was there.. <3
then again she released Love songs and I couldnt stand it either, but do it again was there so i was ok with it... when she released FIVE i thought i wouldnt like anything about that minialbum, but there was BRILLANTE...

Love songs, absolutely. Looking back at her discography, the only album that really flopped with me is Party Queen—I disliked NEXT LEVEL and Rock'n'Roll Circus at the time, but since taking a break from Ayu and exploring other styles, I've come to realise just how good they are considering most of those two albums weren't her style. Who knows, maybe I'll feel the same way about Party Queen in a few years' time, but for now, that's a definite no.

Love songs was one of the most cohesive albums she released since MY STORY back in 2005, so that really helped me reaffirm my love for her music. Love Again is actually a strong album as well—I disliked almost every song except for "Missing" as singles, but oddly enough as an album, they all work together. It's peculiar, really...

I don't even know if this applies to me cuz I'm such a late fan (jan 2012)
But I guess that again 'restored my faith' with its songs.
Yeah let's go with that

I lost my faith when Mirrorcle World was released. For some reason I just couldn't stand that song though it's a full version of a epic intro. Somehow it just didn't feel right. Same feelings were experienced through NEXT LEVEL era as a whole. I only really loved GREEN and Sparkle on singles at the time.

I was honestly thinking that if her next album doesn't impress me, I'll stop listening to her newer music completely but Rock'n'Roll Circus era renewed my faith in Ayu. Sunrise/Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~ was a good single and You were.../BALLAD just broke my heart because songs were so epic. Album itself was perfect (and still is!). Since this era, I've been able to love her songs though they're not like they used to be~

i never really lost faith in what she does. i might go off and on with her music, but i never really disliked anything so much i would say "OMG, she totally failed this time" there are songs i am not particulary interested in and would almost never listen but i always find something i like, and if not i just don't bother about it and forget it is there. Maybe it's just not for my taste. Just like i see a lot of love for Love songs, and i personally never cared for that album AT ALL. it would have had a different effect if i liked her vocals there, to me if vocals are no good for my ears then the music will do nothing to me :innocent but i don't consider that a fail, just not what i am looking for plus she can't please everyone all the time. Tho as a fan i am very "open for options" and understanding if i know the background of the change that took place at that time. And honestly i never thought Ayu is an unique star in pop culture there is really nothing unique about her music but it works for me!

I was a fan from 2004 it hit peak during Memorial address / MY STORY era / (miss)understood. GUILTY to NEXT LEVEL kinda let me down but not that down, I enjoy most of album track but it feels like something is missing. Rock'n'Roll Circus brought my faith back, then Love songs which I thought I was disappointed but in the end I love it! Love songs is just solid as an album :yes

FIVE is like as if it never existed XD so forgettable, Party Queen too and now LOVE again is my all time low for her. LOVE again's promo tracks were great but the rest of the album are meh for me, so forgettable so generic I never thought I would feel like this to her album until recently.

Kinda hope she'll release something solid again, because it's surprising when she releases singles with random themes and ended up with a solid album

Six years later and I still don't care for most of Party Queen, for the record. Haha!

Love songs is still one of my favorite albums from Ayu's second half of her career.

It's so funny to read this because NEXT LEVEL and Rock n Roll Circus (and GUILTY a bit, too) were also definite disappointments for me back then (but I was wrong) and Party Queen really sealed the deal for me - she was off the deep end.

My continued interest sort of faded then and I stuck with the oldies; for years all I listened to was basically A Song for ××, LOVEppears, Duty, I am..., RAINBOW, Memorial Address and Secret. (Even MY STORY and (miss)understood I didn't care for.)

I recently was (fortunately!) proven to be very wrong in some of my snap judgements. You were... single-handedly renewed my interest, and I went back and discovered that (miss)understood, NEXT LEVEL and Rock n Roll Circus were actually FANTASTIC. (MY STORY and GUILTY are fine but not on the same level for me.) Party Queen however I have not warmed to yet.

Much of what I've been catching up with has been constantly renewing my faith: LOVE again is so good. sixxxxx is excellent. And M(A)DE IN JAPAN is brilliant.

Outside of Party Queen the only other thing I've really not warmed to is Colours. Both are listenable but I just don't have that connection. However, I now recognize those as flukes (to me, of course, I know there's plenty of fans) in an otherwise pretty much flawless discography. :yes

THis is an old thread, but this is still true! Party Queen is her worst album to me by far, and Love songs is one of my favorites. Made in Japan is not my favorite either, but the rest are pretty much good albums or better in my book.

Somewhat tangentially related to this topic, so I'll add it here (but perhaps I should find a MY STORY thread): I remember being so disappointed with MY STORY, but recently have been giving it a few spins and was surprised that it was much better than I remembered. It occurred to me though that perhaps its true weakness is the fact that it starts dragging towards the end - even if the songs are individually are all still fine, it does outstay its welcome imo. I think this is something that was handled better on most subsequent albums - better sequencing, more compact, a less padded feel. Shame, because I think MY STORY actually has good enough material!