I feel like Ayu made an album that was refreshing and new, but that also incorporated lots of positive elements from her previous work with NEXT LEVEL.
1. Bridge to the sky - this is a simple, primarily instrumental piece with short lyrics that hint at NEXT LEVEL (the song). It brings me back to everlasting dream, but the end of it nicely ties in some electronic elements that become the running thread throughout most of the album.
2. NEXT LEVEL - This is what Ayu has been perfecting every year with fairyland, BLUE BIRD and glitter. Finally, she got it right - beautiful lyrics with background music that instantly takes me to a sunny day at the beach. This time the chorus is interesting, and not full of cheap pop hooks that jump out from the verses; the whole song is solid as a whole. Since I love the melody and lyrics so much, I can even overlook that she still has the strange vibrato she's been doing since GUILTY.
3. Disco-munication - While I thought this should have been the title for a full song, I was pleasantly surpised with this. I love how it builds up from the initial beat to a nice electro-rock sound by the end. And bonus points for the Mario mushroom sound effect.
4. EnergizE - The drum beats at the beginning are cool, especially with headphones. It's a driving 80's inspired pop song, and has elements that remind me of songs from the soundtrack to Flashdance. The lyrics are nice and encouraging, and I like the way she sings this one. She uses a higher pitched voice, but not the cutesy voice of songs like HONEY. Her vibratto is also more under control here. The English is rather distracting to the song as a whole, however, as the line "keep your heads up together" is Engrishy without being real Engrish. Even so, it's fun and catchy overall.
5. Sparkle - I was in love with this as soon as it came out, and even if the lyrics are much more direct and sensual that her normal work, it's like a breath of fresh air. I also don't believe that this song was written solely for the sake of being sexy. It seems as though Ayu is trying to say "Be brave and take a step forward, merge your actions with your thoughts!" This is one of the highlights of the album for me.
6. rollin' - This is my new favorite song of the moment. When it started I thought "hmm, marionette part 2?" but I was nicely surprised with electro-rock. I like the use of vocoder in relation to the lyrics - it's like a robot slowly waking up from the excesses and comforts of life and seeing our current reality - that we can't continue to live the way we've become accustomed to. And yet, the world keeps turning. The way it ends is a little bit odd, but the song deals with confusion as a theme, so I can overlook that part.
7. GREEN - It's a nice concept, it has Chinese influenced music and the lyrics are nice. I have problems with her vocal performance in this song though, it sounds like she has a cold and her crazy vibratto is back. That being said, in the months since this song came out, I've come to like the song as a whole more and more.
8. Load of the SHUGYO - this interlude is a necessary transition from GREEN to the rock songs on the album. In terms of album flow, I really appreciate that it didn't open up with the rock songs, because I finally feel ready for them when Load of the SHUGYO starts. This interlude reminds me of Mortal Kombat, as others have mentioned. Plus, the sound of the beat of the beginning has a very nice asian influence to it before transitioning to rock, the perfect bridge between GREEN and identity.
9. identity - Some have mentioned (d)lma as the predecessor of this song and I agree, but I think identity is better. The lyrics speak to more universal themes, and the music has a danceable undercurrent leading to the breakdance friendly bridge. The first time I heard that bridge I kinda went
but actually I like that element of surprise in front of the guitar solo.
10. Rule - I thought this song sounded like very generic rock when I heard it the first time, but like GREEN it grew on me. The lyrics again speak to more universal themes and are the strongest part of the song I believe. I like the contrast of vocoder ayu and natural ayu during the verses. I feel like the album reaches the peak of it's build up with this driving rock song.
11. LOVE 'n' HATE - I like the false opening for this song, followed by the strings. And even though this is a song dealing with love, a theme I normally find overdone and boring, I find these lyrics to be more complex than typical. Rather than a 'why don't you love me' this song is about the difficulty of making the right moves when you are trapped in unrequited love. And musically, just when you're starting to think, "this is nice but I need more" the guitar comes in. Nicely done.
12. Pieces of SEVEN - Although this starts off like other etherial HAL interludes, the streak of electro-pop and rock running through it makes me love it. From the beginning, you can feel something building up to a breaking point. It's like a light rain that builds up into a ferocious thunder and lightning storm. It's just too bad Days is the wrong song to follow it up with. Of course, I'd much rather have this interlude than Days...
13. Days - This song comes out of nowhere after Pieces of SEVEN and is probably the weakest of Ayu's winter ballads. The overly christmas-y synth combined with pretty sappy lyrics make this the worst song on the album for me. I think this song was simply created to win the Japanese public back after the dark themes of GUILTY and Mirrorcle World. That being said, I would have loved if the YMCK remix had been included on the album in place of the Original mix. The only song on the album that makes me want to skip it.
14. Curtain call - It is a bit of a throwback to the 90's, but I like that it's very simple. A piano and Ayu's voice. The lyrics are also appropriately simple, and honestly I prefer this straight forward love song after the flowery language used in Days. It winds down the album nicely and has an appropriate feel for an ending. The only problem for me is Ayu's vibratto, which is out of control at the end of some of the lines.
Overall, this album has jumped to No. 1 in my Ayu album ranking because I feel like it incorporates the lyrical awareness of I am... with a blend of music from her early and later work and a refreshing electro-pop flare. I love songs like NEXT LEVEL, Sparkle and rollin' so much. I feel like Ayu really thought about the flow of the album this time and it's nice to have a change from the Rock-Pop - Ballads - Bubblegum-Pop formula of every album from MY STORY to GUILTY. Days is the only blemish on the album for me.
A separate issue from the album for me is her use of vibratto. In the past year and a half or so, I feel like Ayu instantly uses vibratto and doesn't try to hold out her notes very often. I hope that she can find a balance again, like she had back in 2004-2005.
