Maybe its cause I went into this album with such low expectations but....I'm actually really enjoying this.
I also didn't spoil myself much at all coming into this album. I only looked at the covers and tracklist. I still don't like the covers, but the content is surpassing my expectations so far.
I was not expecting this album to be so ROCK influenced; a pleasant surprise.
I don't want to give actual ratings until the songs actually have some time to sink in. But here are some comments.
1. Party Queen - hmmm, this track is OK but not great. I agree with what a lot of people have been saying - it sounds flat when it should be sounding like its jumping off your speakers. I don't necessarily think its the rip quality either cause when I went to CDL I also thought it sounded a bit lacking. Still a fun track though.
2. Nanana - 50 bajillion times better than Party Queen! I even like the rap parts. Very surprised to hear a very industrialish kinda back beat and the crunching guitars; really like this song yay!
3. Shake It - It has some really good parts and some parts that just feel like they are almost there but not quite. Not as good as Nanana but better than Party Queen imo.
4. taskebab - LOVE this interlude. But as with her last couple of albums it doesn't really feel like it actually serves its purpose as an interlude - a slowish song shouldn't come after this.
5. Call - I could do without the backing vocals for sure. Nice song but doesn't stand out much as of yet.
6. Letter - it is similar to Call but I like this better. It really has some nice melodic moments. Once again not a stand out, but not bad either.
7. Reminds Me - OK, now I"m starting to understand some of the vocal comments. Her voice does sound kinda buried in this song even though her vocals have clearly been layered on top of each other several times over. I like the opening of the track and like the track over all but I'm not blown away - I think this will be a grower though.
8. Return Road - Welcome back DAI. Love the organs and violins. An interesting track and one that like Reminds Me feels like it'll grow on me as I listen to it more. I can't decide if I love the instrumental break down towards the end and Timmy's ahhhhhs or if I hate them. haha Right now I like this song but I will probably love it eventually.
9. Tell Me Why - This song is just so-so to me. But it is interesting because it is very different for Ayu.
10. a cup of tea - As usual a good/interesting sounding interlude with questionable placement.
11. The Next Love - I'm glad Ayu is experimenting with this kind of style.
It's great. I don't know if this style necessarily suits her voice that well but I really like the experimentation and the music/arrangement itself is great. I see what she is going for vocally but it doesn't quite come off.
12. Eyes, Smoke, Magic - haha weird. But I have a soft spot for weird things so.....I actually kinda love this, lol. I really like that she is trying something COMPLETELY different with these two tracks.
13. Serenade in A Minor - Pretty but nothing special.
14. How Beautiful You Are - It's pretty but has never stood out that much to me.
I'm not sure how well this album will hold up to repeat listenings, but on first listen I think I actually.....love it? I know I love how experimental it is at least.
About Ayu's vocals - honestly I haven't noticed anything that bad. Call so far is the worst vocal wise, but in general she sounds about par for the course for Ayu.
Gotta go listen to NaNaNa 20 more times now.