Ayu: Anything Goes [XXIV]
 

Wonder how long till she's done with the album!

I'm kind of expecting more info in July, but not a ton right now. I like how it seems like we're being teased with info, that tells me she isn't going to just drop it on us like she did with M(A)DE IN JAPAN.

I don't think titles or a release date will be officially announced until after a-nation, but hopefully we'll continue to get hints and stuff.

I think ayu may say something at the tour final. Maybe at least release date and title

I still wonder why she waited 2 years ? No inspiration ?

^ busy with touring

Yes but in 2010 she was as busy as now and she released 2 albums lol

And 2 years is nothing compared to other artists! but it actually feels like a looong time since we're talking about Ayu, weird :laugh

^i know, it feels so unfair to say it’s been a long time, but we’re so used to a high volume of new releases a year that we are getting demanding! We’re just spoiled brats hehehe

I’m still enjoying MIJ very much so I can wait, but knowing she is recording makes me sooooo impatient!

I think the two years has created a greater anticipation for this next release.

I think the next album will be a very important release. One of the most significant albums of Ayu, like A Song For xx or Guilty. After all that has happened the last two years and it being a 20 year anniversary album, I expect very reflective meaningful lyrics.

^That would be great!

Agreed, however I have one 'fear':

I found WORDS very beautifully written, but there was something to it that isn't really 'catching' me. I don't know if anyone agrees with me about that.
Bluntly said; I hope not her beautiful lyrics will be overpowerd by kinda dull arrangements.
We know 3 arrangers she hired for this album. I hope they will play with magic and experiment a bit with different sounds... I am not asking much... I just don't wanna listen to like 10 Anything for You's

Edit, BTW you are all now witnessing that I dare to bet that she would include WORDS on the new album. Perhaps as bonustrack. I will eat a shoe if she doesn't. She said she had a lot to say for the new album, and I find WORDS 'a lot been said' haha

^I completely agree with your statement on WORDS, it might be due to the lack of proper release or even decent quality file, but it’s by far the song that I’ve listened to the least!

It HAS to be on the next album, right? Why would she make a song and never ever release it? My bet is on WORDS as such in the tracklist, and a rearranged WATQ as a bonus track :D

I love WORDS and I listen to it a lot

I think we just haven't had a ton of reasons to listen to those two tracks. Digital singles without some kind of recorded performance or video don't seem to stick well.

I hope these great lyrics will come with kick ass, beautiful, dreamy, unique arrangements and melodies, which's been laking lately.

Happy July 1st guys! :love

It's as if you are asking for RAINBOW 2.0. I do not mind actually since that album is my second favorite after I am...
She really did something different on RAINBOW with ethereal arrangements and sounds. Too bad though that's her last album like that.

lol this might be my first time being a fan and haven't thought about this even once today :( i have remembered this every year since 2009

Happy July 1st :heart

A little bit late but... Happy Just 1st, guys!
Kinda offtopic: July 1st for me is quite bittersweet; I love this song, but it's also the date I knew my grandfather passed away (7 years ago! time really flies...).

Everytime I get emaol from TA I am like "oh finally an album announcment?!" and everytime it´s some nonesense like "oh we have a summer playlist", "oh a.nation will be broadcasted", "you sure you don´t want to join a-nation ticket lottery" "oh look we have very special July 1st TA design".... AAAAHHHRG!

^ saaaame lolol

Yeah, those TA emails make me kinda sad since it's nothing really of note whenever we get them lately. It's like "LATEST INFORMATION!" - - it's something about a-nation again. Just give the album 'announcement' already, lol.

Well, Tell All lasted two years to finally got inserted into a release (and it was just in a TA-exclusive edition).

well im really excited to expirience a new album! i only got into her recently and shes already releasing new stuff! i admire her love and hard work a lot :love

Ayu's (intentionally?) leaked demo is so catchy! I hope she releases the final version soon - it sounds like it could potentially be a bittersweet summer track. Her specialty.

Im really curious about the new album too. Recently, I have been listening to words and we are the queens (gosh, why do I want to call it ‚yes, we are the queens‘ ) a lot and trudelt believe that this would have been one of the best double A side singles of all time.

I know everyone has their own opinions but I cannot wrap my head around this statement. Lmao. I could never seriously hold my head high and say this. Can you elaborate? Lol. I’d like to know you’re reasoning.

Rule/Sparkle, sweetie, I'm so sorry...

I think WORDS would have been a good B-side track to We are the QUEENS (had it been a physical single), kind of like Life in the Mirrorcle World single. I hope both of those songs are re-released on the new album though, maybe with new arrangements or something.

Totally random: I was listening to Song 4 U, and remembered there was a time when I couldn't listen to it at all, it was right after finishing Tales of Xillia 2, the ending... the whole game hitted me so hard, that whenever Song 4 U started I already had teary eyes in the first verse lol and even now, it really depends on my mood, sometimes it makes feel like full of energy and there are times when it makes me feel so nostalgic and almost like crying, I love how the same song can cause such a different effect on me.

I'm here like:

https://media1.tenor.com/images/fb3f...itemid=6081931

I feel you. I have the same thing with "Eyes on me" from Final Fantasy VIII. The song normally wouldn't move me that much although it's really beautiful. But because in the game it was used very emotionally that's how I mostly feel about it. Sometimes I can just listen and enjoy its beauty but often it makes me teary ^^
I am sooo jealous of you finishing the game and hearing Ayu there. I was sure her songs were not used in non-japanese releases but now I see I was wrong... I hope they port them out to Steam too as they've been doing with more and more Tales games so I can get my hands on them. I've heard so much good stuff about the series and only started the Tales of Symphony, sadly I stopped.

^FF VIII is a master piece tbh love that game! and yes, I'm a huge "Tales of" fan, they usually didn't use the official japanese opening in overseas releases, they'd replace it with an instrumental or some random guitar solo lol but at least the symphonia HD collection for PS3 had the original songs, then Graces F had the english version sang by BoA as well, but when Xillia came out it even had this message in the back "Main song: Progress by Ayumi Hamasaki" in both english and spanish versions, that was something new and same thing happened later with Xillia 2 and Song 4 U, they are the only games in the saga to have the artist name featured on the cover, even the latest game, Berseria, which has an amazing opening by FLOW! doesn't have it written, makes you think :laugh and I hope you can play them, not only because of Ayu, Xillia and Xillia 2 are wonderful games! If you can try to play Tales of the Abyss or Berseria :yes Vesperia is one of the best and is finally coming to PS4 and steam I think as well, you shouldn't miss that one neither :D

Lmao I’m fucking dying. Lolol.

FF VIII was such an amazing journey to me, my first big game, god it was so long ago ^^ I will play "Tales of" games cause they are somewhere in my plans but must feel "inspired" to do so. Currently when I have time I play other stuff.
Coming back to Ayu, I really like both Progress and Song 4 U, even without thinking that they are part of games, they somehow stand out on their own.

^I love FFVIII too. It was the first game I ever completed. So much nostalgic.

OMG, I didn't realise there was an English version!

I've never played Tales of Xillia but I did go into GAME to look at the box so I could see Ayumi's name on it lol. Maybe I should give them a try, I do love Progress and Song 4 U.

Has I’m not claiming it would have been the best, but I really love the combination of these songs. Reminds me like mirrocle world and life. You have this upbeat song which has this theme going on with the knights and dragons and on the other hand, words, is this beautiful ballad which doesn’t get boring (like not being 6 min. Long, having the same tone the entire time)

I really enjoy these two songs. Maybe because nobody gives value to them, that was my thought :D

Of course I’m talking for myself! Rule/sparkle is amazing too! Didn’t want to offend ayu discography :D:D:D:D

^100%

FFVIII was my very first JRPG. I was around 12 back then. It influenced my life greatly. I still think it’s better than VII.

As far as Tales of series goes, they had their fare share of good titles like Tales of the Abyss and everything up to Graces f. After that, they started to pump them up a bit faster (or so it seems) and the series has lost its spark fot me. Xillia 2 was probably the worst title in the series for me. Zesteria had so much potential, but the story and the characters are made of cliches and stereotypes so i am not sure whether it’s worth the time as there are a lot of great games out there.

It always surprises me that Ayu doesn't have many songs in video games. When I first listened to her music and realized how hugely popular she was for an entire decade, I was expecting to see her songs in many games but that's not the case at all.

Even though I haven't played much of Final Fantasy, I'll always be thankful to FFX-2 since it was my first contact with Japanese pop music. And that moment literally changed my life forever.

Now I'm nostalgic. :tipsy

Well, neither does Hikki or Namie...

Ken Hirai is having a concert in New York. Why can't Ayu do the same in America? She could treat the American fans to one or two shows. I think LA or Las Vegas would be perfect for her.

What's the chance of this happening? Ayu coming to America for one special concert?

I think it's possible considering how much she likes to travel to the US every so often but lately she's been in Hawaii more than LA or NY so maybe that would be the option as a smaller kind of show since Japanese fans would probably also go for a 'tour package' of Hawaii as well. While the chance isn't zero IMO, it just doesn't seem like she wants to do stuff overseas anymore. She barely acknowledges Asia anymore it seems after doing a-nation Singapore and that bit of "promo" with JJ Lin.

A long while ago, someone here potentially had Ayu as a candidate for their anime event in Australia but the price quoted to get Ayu over there was kind of extremely high, lol.

Gosh, I just rediscovered the cover of the "2CD version" of A SUMMER BEST on a blog and it truly is the only Ayu album cover I would describe with "horrific" xD

I was so shocked that I immediately had to check my digital discography in order to make sure the cover wasn't edited by some internet trolls :eek :laugh

Just popping in here to say the Remo-con remix of Wake me up is still INSANE. I probably rank it above the original tbh and I loved the original.

One of her worst covers ever lol The saddest thing is, she looks really stunning on the other pictures

I believe we can thank Leslie for those?

I agree. I love that remix a lot.

Yes, during that era he retouched her really weirdly like she was made of wax.

That cover is honestly the stuff of nightmares

Burn it tbh

It sounds sad but those covers are the reason I am not buying the physical release. I rather make my own Ayu summer playlist.

And the booklet is not great either. Even though I agree she looks good in some of the pics, it is such an awkward shoot.
There are plenty of magazine summershoots which looks so much more beautiful... wish she made a photoshoot for everything that time and used those instead of... this bloody nightmare.

It was probably Leslie's biggest flop with Ayu which is weird since he'd had so many good shoots with her till then. I wonder what got into him (and her) at the time with the contacts and funky editing on all the shoots they did together.

And again the TA Mail is about complete nonesense.... after my heart made a jump reading the word Single it was down to the ground very fast.....

It's because they promoted the playlist which got the arr#3 added in with arr#2 removed. They also slipped in a detail about how 'the playlist changed'. They're trying to play dumb with the playlist edits. Also some tracks were swapped out as they said but oh boy, it looks strange to do this with a playlist IMO.

Lmao same regarding single. Lolol.

I was like why are they randomly shoehorning & into this?

Yooo the English translation says “Grateful days”

Her staff is SO INCOMPETENT.

^same here... I was so excited and then realised they were only talking about &.

I see that so much whenever that song comes up, lol. It must get autocorrected and they don't ever notice.

Will Ayu say something about summer memories and tear-filled eyes at the new song?

If it's a summer ballad-type song, can probably bet on that in the lyrics.

I was watching the Don't look back music video again...so well done. I love the contrast of happy and sad/tormented ayu.

It seems CD shops may have gotten a provisional date for the album of 8/15 but it's super subject to change like how the Just the beginning DVD got canceled but was slated for March.

8/15 is a little bit too early, I'd say more closer to the end of August or beginning of September.

Watch this space...

I dreamed that a new album was announced and it was titled "Jewd."

I have no idea what that even means.

I had a really crazy dream last night.
Ayu was on that TV show promoting her new song...
She was also singing In The Corner, Trust and Boys & Girls (what a weird combination!)
During In The Corner and Trust the stage was styled like a pirate ship...
And there was a sword she had to avoid while dancing a strange choreography...
She didn't do so well but she didn't get hurt or something...
But for the last chorus of Trust she was hiding herself in a corner (In The Corner? lol ��)
Her voice sounded very scared and trembling...
After that she changed her outfit into a Bikini with a transparent skirt and performed Boys & Girls the usual way...

I don't get the meaning of this dream... lol ��

My CD/DVD hunt is pretty disappointing so far!

I went to a Book off near Namba station in Osaka, searched for a long time for Ayu and then I found her name but the shelf was empty! I went to the DVD section and they only had PoM 2011 for like 3400Y, I bought it.

Near Namba Station there is also a Tower Records so I went there, they only had 4 Ayu CDs : one Made In Japan, one A BEST -15th anniversary-, one A SUMMER BEST 2CD+DVD and I cant remember the last one, I bought A SUMMER BEST since its the only compilation missing from my collection, but I didnt really save money except for the shipping fees lol

I then went to Dotonburi and Shisaibashi and was surprised to find another Book Off there, this time the CD section had two Ayu CDs : Love Again and the limited version of A COMPLETE. I have those two already so whatever. The DVD section only had a copy of COMPLETE LIVE BOX but it had the last DVD missing, I have COMPLETE LIVE BOX already so... But i remember it was very cheap there!

I am really surprised at the lack of Ayu stuff, when I went to NYC last year the Book off had so much of Ayu that I was overwelmed and didnt know what to pick lmao.

Ok, so far we had about 5 people (me included) who dreamt about Ayu and the new album :laugh

The expecation jumped out.

Yeah they have very less Ayu stuff, they had muuuuch more few years back. That´s why I only was to 2 or 3 book offs this time and only bought an ayaka CD

I went to 22 book off in total during my 19 days in japan - I found Ayu mostly in the 280 yen section with everything in very good condition. I found all! of her albums and remix albums, but no singles. I rarely looked for DVDs but where I did, they had a lot.

What was hard to get was Namie for cheap - only 3 CDs for me.

That's gutting especially that shops like Tower Records didn't carry many Ayu CDs.

Man when I came to Tokyo 10 years ago, Tower in Shibuya still had so much of her stuff. And each new release got these huge displays on the first floor.

Times certainly have changed...

It might be worth the effort to try and visit BookOffs that aren’t in the main areas?
Try to find some more local ones, so the foot traffic would be much less.

Not sure if it’ll definitely be beneficial, but it could be worth it.

I always found that HMV had a bigger selection than the other CD stores.
But it could have something to do with location because I lived around the Nagoya area and it's not as busy as Osaka. (HMV in sakae)

Anyway today I was listening to the summer playlist on spotify and I completely forgot that fairyland exists! It was nice to hear it again after so long.

When I was in Tokyo last month, I went to several Book-Offs, and the main shelves mostly just had A COMPLETE, but the 500yen and 280yen shelves had more things, though they were mostly A BEST 2 CD+2DVD ver. That said, I don't remember seeing any singles. Also saw some DVDs: CDL 05-06, PCDL 08-09, CDL 09-10, CDL 12-13, AT07, 50th single live collection, COMPLETE CLIP BOX, and funnily enough, A exercise, off the top of my head. They had COMPLETE LIVE BOX as well (sans CDL 02-03, but I got that separately online) which I bought for only 1,150yen!

It'll be nice to see those big displays and random trucks again when the album releases, lol.

I saw a decent number of ayu CDs at Tower Records Shibuya when I went to Japan last year

what is this?

AX_WAT_516 SMZ-ATS_arr#2: https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/ax...gle/1398703145
AX_WAT_516 SMZ-ATS_arr#3: https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/ax...gle/1400625629
AX_WAT_516 SMZ-ATS_arr#3 (Rough mix - minus one): https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/ax...gle/1407158987

^ these are all the same demo arrangement in different versions.
Only avex and ayu know why this is uploaded to iTunes, spotify & co... ��

For the last few weeks they've been randomly updating a summer playlist since July 1st and slipping in this 'work in progress' version of a new song that neither Ayu or avex is really saying anything about.

I went to almost 20 book off and found Ayu itens in every store. Actually i think I found every album (i only needed A Song). I bought some DVDs and BluRays very cheap too. The stores were TOTALLY messy, so you just need to look in every shelf XD

^yeah same here as I stated above. Everyone of them had almost every ayu album and in total they had them all. I got myself FIVE, memorial Adress and two others (+DVD) for 280yen each.

But i don't thoink the stores are messy. They are actually pretty clear and you can find ayu fast. there are mostly three section: 1) super condition, higher price 2) 500 yen 3) 280 yen. In these section you have to find the J-Pop section. They are sorted after the hiragana alphabet starting with a (e, i, o, u). You'll find Ayu under the "HA" separator (either directly under Ha or under her own section here).

^ What the hell? There are 280 and 500yen sections?!

I've been to 3 book-off now in Osaka so far, and all I've done is that I've looked at the J-POP sub-section in the CD section, and then at the ""HA" there were several Ayu CDs for very different prices (for example I found CD+DVD version of crossroad and L for 300Y yen each, but also CD+DVD version of Colours for 750Y, all at the same shelf), so now i'm really confused?? :yconfused
Should I look for those other sections you guys are talking about? Are they hidden somewhere? lol

I still have two book-off to go and check, and I could still go back to the Namba one because it's like a 15 minutes walk from my Airbnb

not exactly randomly, they've been updating it every monday hehe

I don't remember about Osaka, but most (if not all) book offs i've been to did have those sections divided by price. But maybe smaller stores don't have them? idk

Well, randomly as in they are giving some random reason for it like "Oh, & came out on 7/9, try this updated playlist out!" or "glitter came out 7/18, so here's an update!" while they also snuck in the other song.

I'm seeing some people worried about the new album being a mini. I wonder if that is even possible at this point.

The person who is talking about it is saying it's from Tower Records flying get/furage details.

I really like how they are promoting this release: the demos, the lyrics snippets on different music shops... At least it's original, it's been ages since we last had an exciting pre-release

mhhh just saw this on For"A"ver Club FB site...

8/15新專

JTB一章DVD
JTB三章DVD
秋天HAL TOUR

Apparently new album is called TROUBLE

And it’s a two disc album, released on 8/15

With a hall tour in fall that’s a direct promo for the album, ayumi hamasaki LIVE TOUR -TROUBLE- 2018-2019 A

^ Wow. Interesting title!

We need a thread!

Wow official sote has a new design o.o
Could it be Ayu´s team is actually putting effort into her Anniversary year?

It's exciting to see everyone logging back into AHS because of the news.:luv2