[Bad Wolf]

I find that if there is a new Ayu piece -- be it a song, a single, or an album -- that doesn't immediately hit all the right spots for me, I give it a few weeks, ignore it, then come back to it with fresh ears. Typically this is enough time for me to find things I like about the work, and I can enjoy it as it stands on its own, and not waste time comparing it to her previous eras.

I'm not saying anyone is wasting time by doing this, not at all, I just think people need to start dividing Ayu releases into segments and taking what they do like and what they still need time to work on even mildly enjoying and not being so quick to dismiss what they don't like right away. For starters, I couldn't stand the NEXT LEVEL album. I've only listened to it about two or three times since it came out. R'nRC on the other hand is something I've listened to dozens of times, on par with MY STORY and (m)u. I find R'n'RC as varied and interesting to the eras as those albums, even if the tracklists don't have the same "flow." They're triplet albums, in my eyes. Nowadays I've gone back and tried to give NEXT LEVEL a new chance based on how much I really liked her recent album and voila, I'm finding it isn't so bad. Is it a good album? Eh, it's all right. It'll take me a little while to really figure out for sure how I feel about it, but I'm not going to pine and moan 'til that day comes.

Of course we all want "glory days" and "good music" back, but I wonder how many of us will eventually realize that taste is something that changes and grows over time, and something you are praising and loving today will be completely different come a few months to a year? Have patience and don't lose heart :3 You might find yourself really liking something you once thought was weak.

Like me actually WANTING to listen to ASFXX O__o