2010: Ayu recap

[Max_ZZZ]

Soooo now that we've all prob watched countdown, i say we all share what has stood out from ayu this year, good or bad!!

Sooo First was Rock 'n' Roll Circus
crappy name and album art, but the photobook was gorgeous

but as an album, i was soooo impressed. almost on par with guilty
if sunset had been replaced by a real song (LOL), and Last links had a better chorus it could've been the best. but i'm not complaining, i came out with maybe 6-7 songs i LOVED

then came MOON... again i was so impressed. top 10 songs for me for sure
blossom wasnt as amazing but still enjoyable nonetheless.

then everything well tk...
love songs became littered with good verses and ugly choruses, but w/e

rnrc was good enough!

also, the countdown was sick. nice use of lights, but her voice was meh
nice way to end off her year though

in retrospect i'm really impressed with ayu this year =] yeyeye

[isthisLOL?]

RnRC: Great PVs(-Suncrap), very good album, love the photoshoot
M/b: Very impressed with blossom especially, good PV
crossroad: one of my fav ayuballads/midtempos, ok PVs, SDW not that good
L: Kill Sweet Season, awesome videos though and I love Last Angel and Virgin Road
Love Songs: Ayu's best album, covers only ok, PVs very good, not as good as RnRC though
CDL1011: best ayu concert to date
RnRC Tour: Looks reallyy amazing from what we got so far

[*Ayu_Freak*]

RnRC: This Album is okay, I don't like Lady Dynamite and Sexy Little Things, but I love Microphone *__* The rest of the album is okay
MOON/blossom: Love it, but the PV of blossom is a little bit boring -.-
crossroad: It's soo wonderful the PV but I don't understand the meaning of this PV
L: Love Love Love !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love songs: I love this album sooo much and the PV's, too
CDL: Any songs she sung were not good how she sang it (is this love) but I love this CDL, many old songs *_*
RnRC Tour: The stage was great, but the setlist, I don't like them ://

[aura~]

Best Ayu year for me~

RnRC: I love this album~ Loved all new tracks, had 4 amazing PV's and the photobook was gorgeous. And I may be on of the few persons who liekd the title.

MOON/blossom: MOON is a great song, even if I'm not as impressed now as I was the first time I listened to it. And blossom, from the sweet midtempos songs we got this year, is the best for me =)

Crossroad: crossroad is an amazing song, TK did a great job with it and the lyrics are one of the best this year, I was really impressed because "RnRC" lyrics wise wasn't as good as other albums I think.

L: Virgin Road and Last Angel are probably 2 of her best songs this year. Again 2 masterpieces from TK! Virgin Road is still on my faves now and I can't stop loving it. Sweet season wasn't a big hit for me, but I've to say attending RnRC 7days special made me love this song a bit more~

Love songs: TK is amazing, there's no denying. But I've to admit that maybe there's TOO much TK sound in this album. TK compositions are strange and lack in something that makes me fall in deep true love with songs. The climax. But even though, as it happened with RnRC albm tracks are really strong too! But not as RnRC, LS single tracks are the strongest we got in years! So the result is a really strong and cohesive album! The booklets, photobook, covers are amazing too, I love every shot on it!!

Mags: Before and after NEXT LEVEl there was like a black period with ayu's mags appearances... maybe it was Kazuyoshi... XD But this year we got amazing pics~

Voice: Everyone could notice her improvement! Ayu's voice has changed again for the better. I'm so happy she decided take care of it because the results are obvious! =)

RnRC tour: It's the first Ayu concert I've ever attended, so I'll always have good memories from it. But really it was amazing. I love the tracklist. Ayu was SUPER strong, except for a few songs, she sang great (even being the 7 days special where she did 7 shows in 10 days!) The stage was gorgeous but the great improvement from NL tour was the outfits and the screens that play a important part in this tour! Can't wait for DVD!!

CDL: I haven't seen it yet. But I saw the stage and 2 performances. The stage is awesome and refreshing, and the tracklist is love! Can't wait to watch it!


+: Ayu in twitter has been something special in this 2010. I feel Ayu so much close now, even if she doesn't tweet as much in english as in Japanese. Also I could met her in London, which was a sth I never thought as posible, and also saw her concerts. It made this year even more special. Also I've to thank Misa-chan, for her dedication translating TA messages and mag interviews, that helps international fans to understand her even more, and also (this is personal) for helping me purchasing Ayu's concert tickets *-*


So... Amazing 2010... XD I hope 2011 is as good as this, or even better!

[love in music]

Rock 'n' Roll Circus - I was really surprised at the album PV's (love Sexy little things + Microphone so much) and the anticipation for the album was outrageous! but in the end I wound up loving it. there are a couple of tracks I wasn't impressed with (meaning of Love + Lady Dynamite) but I absolutely love the rest to death to consider it one of my favorite albums from her. I loved the inside booklet + photo book too. she looks so gorgeous in practically every picture.

CDL 09-10 release - I love this CDL, the setlist is great. they fixed up her voice in the DVD too which was good lol but I'm one of the few who think besides a crappy sound system and few off notes she wasn't really that bad.

MOON/blossom - I remember getting the preview for MOON and being so excited for it. the end result surpassed my expectations and proved to me that she really still can have a beautiful, flawless voice without too much vibrato. tbh I think blossom didn't fulfill its duties in being an upbeat summer track to get excited to and stuff, it's more sad to me, a bit like fairyland, but it's good.

crossroad - crossroad was just perfect to me. everything about this song is beautiful. so many good memories with this. not as impressed with SDW but it has grown on me a lot.

L - just when I thought she couldn't keep upping herself she releases this mostly flawless single. the PV's and songs are all amazing. Virgin Road is like.. definitely an ayu classic now. it's so beautiful. but with the amazing Last Angel and Virgin Road I definitely can notice that Sweet Season just isn't on the same level, even though I really do like the song.

Love Songs - as of now, I consider this my favorite ayu album unless she decides to top it this year or something, which I think would be really hard. everything about this album fits together perfectly and I'm just so in love with it. there is not a track I dislike and the use of orchestra in the tracks just makes me come back to replay them over and over. I am way more pleased with this than RnRC.

TV Lives - HUGE improvement. The Microphone lives were great but the crossroad + Virgin Road + MOON + Dream ON lives were so impressive.

a-nation - I loved it! her voice was great in all of the songs, I just wish they would have included all the songs she performed. I really would have liked to see the A Song for XX and blossom performances.

Photo shoots in 2010 - I noticed a large improvement with a lot of her photo shoots. she seems to have used less and less shimoko which I think is good for variety.. but I think even his shoots with her were definitely not as bad as ones from 2009. It's not like all her shoots were perfect, there were still some pics where I was like "wtf" lol but there were definitely more good ones.. ones where she shows her gorgeous natural smile. my favorites would have to be the VIVI topless one and the Love Songs photo book + booklet.

Interaction with fans - I got 5 replies from ayu on twitter, and had a gift delivered to her by my friend in LA. she mentioned my name on twitter and the gift I gave her and how happy she was with it. it was absolutely amazing. I never would have dreamed I'd be able to have this much interaction with her, even though I still haven't met her. the fact that she is so sweet and met with so many of her international fans and reading their lovely stories of her this year just gave me so much more respect for her.

overall 2010 was just amazing. I don't know if 2011 could top it since I don't think she'll release 2 amazing albums again, but I hope she can keep on making impressive music.

[Kingdom]

Everything Ayu did this year was a step up from the past two years imo, she even looks a lot better and seems to be really happy. I'm thrilled about her marriage, Love songs was a great album. The only thing I've noticed that's negative is that her live vocals are not as strong as I'd like.

Some of her fans however have become more greedy and more disrespectful of her this year, but that will never changes unfortunately. I hate seeing the comments basically cursing her marriage to fail.

[hsienko]

Rock 'n' Roll Circus: As an album as a whole I hate it but, I love the individual songs if that many any sense at all. The songs are good (except for Sunset) its just the album flow is bad. The photobook was pretty and the PVs were spectacular. Some of her best PVs ever.

CDL 09-10 release: I didn't really pay much attention to this cuz I had saw the TV version in Jan. Her vocals were better on the release but still bad and I like her costumes and hair style, that's about it.

MOON/blossom: I instantly hated both songs and the PV. It took me a couple months to come around but I eventually found something to relate it to and now I really like it and the PV. Still don't care much for blossom tho.

crossroad: I thought this was really gonna suck but it surprised me. It's kinda different from her other songs for some reason. I love how it ends on a confusing note like It was. The PV was really cool. SDW sucks.

L: The album artwork was awful but the songs and PV weren't.

a-nation: I don't really pay attention to a nation at all.

Love songs: I liked it. I don't really have much else to say cuz it was just released. But Thank U is my favorite album track.

[ayumimylove]

RnR Circus album: Horrible title, but a REALLY good album, with track that I listened all along past year (microphone, SLT, don´t look back, last links), pvs were so good and photobook was amazing, she looked beautiful.

NEXT LEVEL DVD: Never liked the outfits, but the setlist was REALLY good, and the lights and the HD screens stole all the show.

CDL 09-10: A really improved version with better vocals, I liked very much this concert, outfits and her hair style were stunning, the setlist satisfied me quite a lot, with an emotional performance of momentum (I LOVE IT).

Moon/blossom: Moon was a typical ayu ballad, BUT that´s why was sooo good! and blossom was a sad summer song that I liked A LOT. In summary a good single with a BAD pv

Crossroad: A meh single to me, bad pv again and a song that a don´t liked in first instance but has grown on me recently.

L: A future classics songs like virgin road and last angel has on it, a REALLY good single, bUT again the pvs didn´t were good, virgin road was fun but hadn´t the ballad feel.

Love songs: EXCELLENT, what can I say, I loved it. Pvs were the bad point, but the album is sooo good that it doesn´t matter.

a´nation: her vocals were good and I appreciated a "new" performance to microphone in a zombie/vampire style xD. Crossroad live was so emotional, really effective to me, because thanks to this I started to like more this song.

CDL 10-11: Bad close to a really good year, VERY bad hair style and the outfits weren´t impressive, her vocals uhm were bad. The positive points were the good lights and the new stage (that didn´t work in a 100%) and the setlist.

Well what more can I say?... 2010 was a really good year, not one of her bests but a close one. Futhermore we had TWO albums!!

[kalikagai]

Rock'n'Roll Circus: a supergreat album, my personal TOP-1. Everything about it is nearly perfect - ideas, concepts, images, tracklist (except Sunset) and vocals. It's the only album up to date for me that moved GUILTY to the 2d place.

Countdown Live 2009-2010 ~Future Classics~ DVD: no doubt this concert was "meeh" vocally, but visually it IS the best CDL in her career. Love it and give it the TOP-1 along with my very beloved CDL ever - Countdown Live 2007-2008.

Arena Tour 2009 ~NEXT LEVEL~ DVD: this one wasn't epic vocally too, but the flow of the show, the whole idea and concept are beautiful and breathtaking. SUPERTOP-3(4) in my personal chart after Arena Tour 2006, Arena Tour 2005 and along with Asia Tour 2008.

MOON/blossom: I love MOON to death and feel nothing but indifference towards blossom. Due only to MOON this single is excellent.

crossroad: another two great songs for me - I really enjoy crossroad and SDW both. Though the PV is not magnificent, it's still good and meaningful (btw, meaningfulness is the most important characteristic of every PV imho).

A-Nation 2010: gorgeous! Being strong vocally, with splendid outfits and full of energy this show was just superb. This created great hopes for the Arena Tour 2010...

L: well... Last angel is my only and absolutely super-great-stunning favorite from this single. Sweat Season is a monotone boredom for me, Virgin Road... I just don't like. Instrumental version is much better

Love songs: I didn't like it much at first cause I was waiting for smth different... But now I must accept that this album is very strong. Being smth fresh, it differs from her last three album works much, and this fact is a greeeaaat advantage. TOP-4(5) in my personal chart (after R'n'RC, GUILTY, m(u) and along with NEXT LEVEL) only due to my own musical preferences.

Countdown Live 2010-2011 TV-rip: I've said my word about it already somewhere - high potential, low realization.

Arena Tour 2010 ~Rock'n'Roll Circus~ expectation: I gonna ****ing die before it's released in DVD I can't wait for it, I beg for it, I'm longing for it It MUST be Ayu's BEST of the BEST shows ever...

TOTAL: IMHO 2010 was a glorious year for Ayumi, very productive and creative, marked with a high quality level. I want 2011 to be the same or at least near to it

[amorphose]

2010 was a pretty mundane year as far as my Ayu fandom goes...

After being really disappointed by the Rock'n'Roll Circus singles in 2009, I was pleasantly surprised by the album. I really liked the new tracks and even grew to like some of the singles once they had a spot in the album's tracklist.

The previews for MOON and blossom made me really, really excited for that single. But when the single came out they were both only average songs to me...

I hated the preview for crossroad and when the single came out, the full song was much better. SEVEN DAYS WAR, I did not like.

I was excited to see that she'd be doing another triple a-side single, but when "L" came out the only song that I could listen to was Last angel. Virgin road and Sweet Season were sooo boring to me.

Then, I had no hopes for Love songs at all since I found the singles to be so boring... but a similar thing happened as with Rock'n'Roll Circus, I found the album tracks to be a lot better than the singles were. The album tracks of Love songs were still nowhere near the awesomeness as the album tracks of Rock'n'Roll Circus and the song November I find worse than any song off either album. x.x I did really like Love song & sending mail though and Like a doll and do it again are good too.

Overall though, underwhelming year. I haven't even watched any lives because the releases they were promoting didn't interest me enough. Hope 2011 is a better year!

[emi♡]

Rock 'n' Roll Circus - Im really surprised by all the love for this album in the thread right now, because all I see everywhere else is how bad it is O_o I really love this album, even though the second half of it I don't really care for, I thought, as far as Ayu albums go, it's pretty on par.

I also really like that it included some different sounds on it like the acoustic Last Links and countdown, the crazy SLT electro, and then the sound for Don't Look Back, which was amazing.

The booklet was gorgeous as well. It's a solid album. And it has great PVs.

MOON/blossom - this single is a huge MEH for me. I've listened to the songs countless times, and the orchestra versions, and other remixes and I still don't remember how either of them go. Pretty boring single for me, but it's right up the alley for Love Songs.

a-nation - she was kinda cute. It was fine.

crossroad - The song crossroad really grew on me. I hate Seven Days War. The covers look good, but they don't fit either song, or Love Songs. But it's a pretty strong single musically.

L - Was okay. Honestly, it just doesn't impress me at all.

Love Songs - Is a solid album. It has a definite theme, and all the songs play a part. It flows all together, and everything matches, which people call it's cohesiveness.

I prefer her albums that have diversity in the tracks though. This is 2011. We all have ipods and crap. The idea of albums as concepts is something special now, and all albums don't have to have them.

I prefer good music, to good concepts and cohesiveness.

Love Songs is good for Ayu, at both. But it's not really listenable for me on a day to day basis.


In all, she had a good year. Probably better than other years. I'm still not really impressed by the things she's coming out with, but they're still solid.

[Aditmi Krisnasaki ~II~]

RnRC n Love songs = all with perfect booklets and photobooks (thank god it's not the rubbish kazuyoshi shimomura! )
Love songs' songs: Tetsuya Komuro is a god!
ayu's vocal: pretty meh, need more vocal practice, and get rid of those silly vibratos...
concerts: pretty GOOD...