[SunshineSlayer]

Ok, here is my full evaluation after listening to it 3 times:

Mirror - Really cool. One of her best openings, probably after Everlasting Dream and Not Yet: 10/10

Don't Leave Me Alone - Not a big fan of this song or the video. This could have been really good, but it just never feels like it really gets started. The "chorus" sounds like just a bridge to the chorus. The beginning (and at various parts of the song) REALLY sounds like a synthesized version of 1Love. I'm usually one of the first to say that "Ayu has 100+ songs, some are bound to sound similar", but this is too much. There are enough sounds and material out there that you don't have to sound so blatantly like you are ripping yourself off. : 6.5/10

Talkin 2 Myself - One of her best tracks this year. Great melody and arrangement - reminds me of a Gackt style hard rock song. Really powerful, but not quite 10 material : 9.5/10

Decision - Another really good rock track and I love the vocal bridge, but not quite as gripping as Talkin' 2 Myself overall : 8.5/10

Guilty - I like how this one starts with the creepy bells and all and then the guitar kicks in and the riff kinda reminds me of the 28 days later score, which is a good thing and keeps up the creepy mood. But then something happens, this song just becomes...well...boring is the only way to put it. I'm really kind of torn about this song and can't quite pin point why but there are some things I like about it including the "guilty" at the end, enough to give it a : 6/10

Fated - I've always really liked this song. There's just something moving about it and I love the lyrics. But like Talkin' 2 Myself, it just doesn't feel quite special enough to deserve a 10, so: 9.5/10

Together When - One of her best ballads in a few years I think. Awesome lyrics, good PV, really nice all around. The first 10 song on the album: 10/10

Marrionette-Prelude- : I always like creepy broken down jewelry box/clowns are coming to kill you music. So I like this a lot: 9/10

Marrionette - lol, I like the prelude better than the song. Has great potential, but then never really seems to fully take off, kinda like dlma. Similar to Criminal, but not as good. I like the guitars though. In fact the guitar solo at the end is the only thing that bumps this song up to: 8/10

The Judgement Day - I love this one. It sounds like Silent Hill at the begining. And maybe I'm the only one, but I've always like Ayu's lalalas. And I like how it slowly starts to build in tempo and then turns into dance music: 9.5/10

Glitter - Never was a big fan of this song. It's not bad, but it's kinda 'eh' for me as well. : 8/10

My All - A lot like Replace, but fortunately it at least has some nice electric guitars and a pretty strong verse(so far the strongest melody of any of the new tracks). But then the chorus just seems to fall a bit short. 7.5/10

Rebirth - I kinda like this one. Weakest of the interludes but still not bad. I like the violins : 8/10

Untitled for her - Not bad at all. But like most songs on this album, it just doesn't really stand out either, but it's still solid: 8/10

Good things: This album flows very well except for maybe glitter. It has a dark theme running throughout which I usually like. The interludes and some of the singles are great and the lyrics are great.(but that is a given on any Ayu album)

Bad things: Although this was the third time listening to the album, I couldn't recall the melodies for any of the new songs. That is what is mainly lacking on this album - strong, memorable vocal melodies. This is her ONLY album where I feel like this is a problem. The number of interludes isn't a problem for me - without them, the album would be a lot worse. The number of rock tracks isn't a problem either - they just aren't very good rock tracks. There's not much bang for your buck on this album honestly, especially if you have already bought the singles.

Album average: 8.4/10 - However, I think that is higher than it deserves. If not for the interludes being so good, it would be a lot lower. So really, the rating I want to give is 7.4/10
Compared to her other albums:

I Am...: 9.5
RAINBOW: 9.5
LOVEappears: 9.4
Memorial Address: 9.4
Duty: 9.3
Secret: 9.3
(miss) Understood: 9.1
My Story: 9.0
A Song For Xx: 8.6
Guilty: 7.4


Not good.