5 years on from A ONE - what do you think?
 

This feels like Ayu's last/most recent complete album to me even though I am aware that Made In Japan and Trouble happened.

Warning, No Future, Anything For You Zutto, The Show Must Go On and Tell All are all bops and continue to shine.

For me The GIFT was boring and heartless, my opinion hasn't changed but I totally forgot the song existed until it came on shuffle today prompting me to give A ONE another listen.

A ONE got me back into Ayu after the post Party Queen-Color eras. The mastering on the album is nothing compared to her past masterpieces, but yes, this album is her last "complete" and cohesive record. It has a specific and definite energy and vibe to it.

Jesus it's been 5 years?! I have a pedestrian Japanese taste, so A ONE is right up my alley, and it still is. :laugh

I looooove the ballads, but the upbeat songs (minus WARNING and MOWY) are some of her worst! MIJ is miles better for me.

At the time I enjoyed any new release, and the Zutto.../Last minute/walk single was really good. However, despite WARNING I always forget about A ONE's existence. The album tracks aren't really my cup of tea, non stick out.
Also I get why people like NO FUTURE or TSMGO, however I really dislike her voice here. To me these songs didn't age well either. Whenever songs from A ONE come along I am like: Yeah nice try but nope. I enjoy SIXXXXXX and Made in Japan much much more!

5 years later, The GIFT is still a mistake

this is what I feel too. the mastering is atrocious, but I genuinely like all the songs except Anything for You, which I hate with a passion because to me it still inexorably feels like a self rip-off of the infinitely superior Walk...

NO FUTURE and The Show Must Go On are absolute bangers. I love this album.

It's still great album for me and I still don't like The Gift. However video was nice. Don't remember when was last time I listen to NO FUTURE.

I didn't quite like A ONE at first listen but with it grew on me little by little. I really love the lyrics and overall feeling of this album however as already mentioned the mastering is what doesn't make it a top tier record for me :/ In some songs it feels like something is lacking, like in NO FUTURE, and in others you can't really tell what's going on, like WARNING and some pieces of Last minute. But live performances of those songs are always great, so it's really the mastering that gets me. I think the best one is MOWY but then it probably wasn't created with the rest of the album.

Still love it. NO FUTURE, Last Minute, out of control, and MOWY were my favourites when it came out and they're still my favourite tracks now. I can't believe it's been 5 years!

Apart from a few songs, I still don't like it.

The vocals on The GIFT are so bad. They sound like a first take taken on one of Ayu's worst ever vocal days.

Still my second least favorite album, only beat by Colours.

I LOVED this album when it came out, but nowadays I rarely listen to the songs from it! But the main reason I don't is because i'm more used to listen to live versions on shuffle and the songs from A ONE weren't really sung live often except for WARNING.

For me A ONE has the same vibes as Love Songs, it makes me feel nostalgic and at home. The fact that this album is 5 years old already is so scary lol
I like all the songs on it, even The GIFT, I don't know why people despise it so much. It's not an extraordinary song, but it sounds okay to me?

I still love it. And I love The GIFT lol. I'm not music savvy enough to notice or care about mastering so I can't really comment on how good or bad it is :shrug

I really love the album (and actually enjoy The GIFT a lot). It's probably my 5th favourite ayu album. The mastering isn't really the greatest (which is why it's not higher) but other than that, I love everything about it. It's a great record to me + it was ayu's most recent album when I became her fan. I simply love the songs & the memories connected to them.

I still like A ONE quite a lot. I like THE GIFT also. It's not her best song but I think it's a pleasant listen and I enjoy the retro sounds sprinkled in.:)
I have to agree with the mastering as well. I think I would love the album much more if the sound quality was better. The way the songs were mastered just takes the life out of the music. It sounds flat and LOUD.:no
So freaky that so much time has passed already.:nervous

I think it is a solid album, but too safe for my tastes.

I've always thought A ONE was OK-to-good but not great, and that hasn't really changed. Its highs soar really high: NO FUTURE is awesome, The Show Must Go On is my favourite of her many songs dedicated to fans, Walk is a beautiful mature masterpiece, Story is wonderfully sweet. I also really like Out of control and Anything for you.

The poor mastering is really unfortunate, especially as it kills Last Minute's potential to be anything but a poor imitation of Memorial Address. This album also has a bit of a filler problem: The GIFT is atrociously boring no matter how hard Ayu tries to elevate it, Zutto is completely forgettable, and even WARNING is just bland to me (probably another mastering issue). These are the reasons I've never really loved the album.

I would also agree that this is her most recent "complete album". Though I like MIJ much more, it doesn't have the cohesion that A ONE has, this album feels more deliberate.

Isn't the only other upbeat song NO FUTURE and TSMGO?

I still love the album with WARNING, NO FUTURE, Walk, Last minute, The show must go on and Out of control becoming ayu classics for me. The GIFT is the only song I don't care about much.

I really liked this album back then after the desapointing Colours (Though I applaud her desire to offer something different with it).It was in a way saffer for her but at the same time is it really saffer to release a 90's inspired album in 2015 ?
Now I've still the same opinion this album is rather good but I don't feel like listening to it as a whole. Songs are lacking uniqueness standing beside her gigantic catalogue and some sound like attempt to redo allready pre excisting songs but qualitatively lesser (Last minute = Memorial Adress, Story = Walking Proud, The SMGO = Snowy Kiss). It feels like a negative opinion but it's not the case at all I just prefer to pick one particular song depanding my mood while I have no difficulty listen to Made in Japan in full ...so yeah A One is not bad but not great either =)

I refuse to believe 5 years are gone already. Feeling old. The album is good musically, and kinda a “come back” to the original Ayu sound. But it lacked something, as all albums did since Love again. Vocally wise, it was a huge step down from Colours for me. While her voice sounded incredible in 2014 (and maybe in 2015 too) the recordings for A ONE are a bit painful to listen to. And sadly it went downhill with MIJ.
Warning still rocks.

I have a special connection with A ONE because it was released during my first trip to Japan. And it was insane to go there after being a fan for all those years, and always following her career thru the internet, and see the billboards, the album on the stores and all of this. I really like the album for the memories other than the songs tho. But The Show Must Go On was my bop during that year!

like it for what it is, as with every other ayu. i think I don't dislike any of them - most of them just have a different approach. I got everything from Ayu prior (miss) understood at once. 1998-2004 never had a chance to be seen like anything after.
I think I got turned of by everything that went on with her despite her concentrating on the music. It just felt like she needed to do an album, yet I really love most of these songs.

THE GIFT is only beaten by beloved in boredom for me.

Still love A One! Not quite sure where it places but it is one of my favourites. TSMGO being a highlight. And we got Winter Diary A7 Classical!

I love this album, I really do! The only tracks I don't love are Anything for you and Story lol but the rest for me is amazing :luv2

A warm and beautiful album. Loved The GIFT's raw vocals since day one, that makes that song unique on her discography imo.
That being said... M(A)DE IN JAPAN is just on another level.