Ok, I've now heard the full album and here is my track by track review - thankfully the full versions(for some of the songs) were better than the previews let on:
1. Bold and Delicious - This song is fun and a change of pace for Ayu, but really it's just good for jamming along in the car to and something just keeps me from completely liking it or completely hating it.
7/10
2. Step YOU - The first time I heard this song was in concert and I didn't hear the studio version until a few weeks later. (It's minorly cool that I was in the first group of people to ever hear the song^_^) Anyway, I loved it right off the bat. Yes the lyrics aren't all that deep, but the song is very fun, catchy, has some great rocking moments, and a great music video.
9/10
3. Ladies Night - The preview for this song annoyed me to no end; it sounded way to cluttered and just the same thing over and over again. (why do they have a knack for putting the worst parts of the song in the previews?) I did like the full version considerably better, but it is still very repetitive, especially towards the end. And is that Ayu speaking in English in the background throughout the song? 'cause if it is, her pronounciation was great. This song also sounds better in the car than it does at home.
8/10
4. is this LOVE? - Pretty akward transition between Ladies and this; such a jarring change of style - an interlude would have been welcome. Anyways, this is a great song. It's a hard rock ballad that is so hard that it nearly borders on metal.
9.5/10
5. (miss)Understood - Not too bad. Being that it is a CREA song though, I did expect it to be a little better. I like the rock style.(I think Ayu is most comfortable in this genre) The only problem is that this comes off as a fairly generic rock song until the guitar solo and the melody isn't nearly as strong as what she is usually capable of in these kind of rockish songs. I do love when the guitars come in mid way through though.(I'm a big fan of 70s and 80s style Arena rock) The solo kicks in at around 2:20 but the problem is, is that it barely has a chance to get started before Ayu starts singing again. It's going great and then all of a sudden BOOM it's over.
Yoshio is a talented axeman, I hope that for the lives they extend that rapid guitar solo and let him do some kind of melodic solo before Ayu begins singing again.
8/10
6. Alterna - This was the only song or actually the only song in like the last two years from Ayu that made me sit back and go "wow." I hope Ayu explores this more melodic, dark rocker side of her in the future, like she did in this song and Criminal. Only full song on the album worthy of a
10/10
Is it just me or are the "Heys" different on the album than on the single? I prefer the ones on the single.
7. in the corner - While I like the very ending and closing notes to this song, the thing as a whole just comes off as flat and generic and as others have mentioned - sounds like BoA(which unless it is BoA Do the Motion quality - it is not a good thing^_^) The track I will skip over the most.
6/10
8. Tasking - My favorite interlude track since the ones on Rainbow. Oh why couldn't this have been a full song? -
10/10
9. Criminal - Alright, that's it. I want Ayu to do an all rock/classical album with a bit of techno thrown in.
Songs like Tasking, Criminal, and Alterna are just too good to be relagated to be put in the same album as songs like Beautiful Day and in the corner or even Bold & Delicious - they make those songs seem amateurish IMO. Anyway, if you couldn't tell, I love this song.
10/10 I know I said alterna was the only 10 song on the album, but I just relistened to it and the super distorted guitar solo encouraged me to bump the rating up from 9.5.
10. Pride - At first I thought this song was alright, but the lyrics made me bump that up to great. So, great lyrics but could be better in other places - the song just doesn't completely click as much as it could.
8.5/10
11. Will - I loved this song immediately. Once again a great collaboration between Ayu and DAI.
9.5/10
12. Heaven - I was never completely blown away by this song. It's pretty but is lacking something that other ballads like Dearest, Seasons etc. had. It's grown on my somewhat but I'm far from head over heals for it.
8/10
13. Are You Wake Up - Another excellent interlude. Couldn't this have been the full song instead of Beautiful Day? lol. 10/10
14. fairyland - Not bad, but not a favorite either - wish she were performing something else at Kouhaku.
8/10
15. Beautiful Day - Just BARELY better than in the corner, but there is still something about it that just, I don't know, it's too bland I guess....
6.5/10
16. Rainy Day - I love this song. It's simple and reptitive, but not in a bad way. So much so that I barely notice the repitition while listening to it.
9/10
Average rating: 8.5/10
It's hard to say where this ranks among Ayu's albums for me - it's not the best, but not the worst either. It has some great highlights, but then also has Ayu's two worst album tracks ever released IMO. Still though, Ayu even on her worst day doesn't get anything lower than a 6 from me.
btw, I commend anyone who actually read this whole post. You get a cookie.