Most personally nostalgic ayu album and why?

[jean-baptiste]

I'm curious, what album(s) of ayu's brings back most memories or holds a special place in your heart for personal reasons?

For me, it'd have to be Love songs. I was in my senior year of high school and realized I was in love for the first time. The feelings didn't hit me till we were on break for our winter recession from school. I wanted so badly to pour my heart out but I was apart from the person, who went to my school. ayu's Love songs had just been released so I listened to it and I was floored, not only by how much I felt it was a return to form for ayu, but also by how I related to the lyrics at the time. Songs like MOON, sending mail, November and Virgin Road struck chords like no other ayu songs had done. The rest of the album resonated with me as well, of course.

Share yours!

[KarenPang]

For me , it has to be Secret as when I 1st started listening to Japanese music , it was in late 2006 and around that time , Secret was just released

Secret was the very 1st Ayu / JPop album I heard in full as a Japanese music noob and let alone bought

In addition , back then I remembered I really liked the concept Secret had although I didn't know at that time , my sister actually bought a China press of MY STORY until much later on haha

But yeah out of so many studio albums Ayu has released & counting , I still have a lot of fond memories towards Secret

[chocopockymaster]

Probably MY STORY. I remember all the hype leading up to it, the first time I saw the Morinaga CM with About You and how excited I was to hear the full thing, but most of all I remember my copy arriving from YesAsia and how excited I was that I got the cover I wanted. It was a pretty tumultuous time in my life, I had just turned 15 and we were about to move and I was leaving all my friends, so I have fond memories of bringing the album in my portable CD player and going on walks around my neighborhood (for a "last look" sort of thing, as a way to say goodbye) in the freezing cold. To this day, I still have the poster hanging in my room at home.

[freedreamer]

MY STORY as well. It was my first ever Ayu album and I remember, I used this really old CD-radio player to play it. I was so awestruck at About You when it started because it was NOTHING i've ever heard before (yea I live under a rock LOL..but chinese music didn't go to such lengths at that time). Ayu was like this bold, adventurous and experimental person and her style kept changing. The tri-ballad section was stellar. And not to mention, CREA still existed (though I didnt know who each composer was at that time). And its one of her longest albums which sigh...is all dead now.

[NintendoHTF1242]

Memorial address. I was going through a lot in middle school and that album really helped me through it.

[terra]

I have two.

1. Memorial address
It's the first album that I bought and really really enjoy playing. It was even in cassette tape format and I still have it. I remember playing it on loop day to day during Middle School, singing the songs by ear without knowing its meaning; but somehow the album brings me joy and excitement even until now.

And with me knowing full well what she sings there, I even love the album more.

2. MY STORY
It was released on my first year of High School and it was the time I fell in love with someone. The songs there are so personal and most of them are relatable on what I'm going through. Here is also the time I appreciate her rock tracks more and understands the emotions that it stands for.

[LONJJONG]

MY STORY is my first ever album. It was really exciting because I liked all the singles. I couldn't even dream of owning the album but luckily I got my sister to buy it for me. I was so stunned as I held the album on my hand and was awed when I listened to the CD (on a discman!) And listening to the album became my weekend routine endlessly matching the translation with the original lyrics (though they only make sense after I grow up). I even memorized the track order. My father bought a DVD player so that I could watch the DVD... LOL. It's an album that I truly appreciate for the overall package. But I lost the obi strip... my biggest regret.

[Cyria]

MY STORY, the first Ayu album after I'd discovered her. I got to be there for the wait, the previews and all the excitement, and the album is still the one I love the most and can listen to all the way through.

[SKYia]

MY STORY, because each song was so different and sounded like magic, even interludes, though it took me some time to fully appreciate songs like Inspire or Carols (it literally took time for me to love them, PVs helped a lot). Some of the songs I feel most nostalgic about are also on Memorial Address and (miss)understood but it's MY STORY dvd I have been replaying the most back then and CDL04-05/AT2005/CDL05-06 that I was the most crazy about.

[tbarnes10]

Secret. First Ayu album I ever listened to as well as the first Jpop album I ever baught. Probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for that album. Until that day... Hooked me and hasn't let me go since

[DonkeyKongRemix]

GUILTY is by far and away the most nostalgic for me. I love that album to pieces. It wasn't my first Ayu album technically...I had already been listening to her music for about two or three years before that came out. But I didn't know much about her, I mostly just listened to random songs of hers. But, when GUILTY came out, I bought it along with her singles collection.

GUILTY was so haunting...

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

MY STORY :-)

I became a fan during the release of Moments. Though I had heard Dearest in Inuyasha and a few songs via Limewire type downloading.

But truly it was 2004 when I became a -fan- of Ayu.

Though I had purchased Memorial address and LOVEppears prior to the release of MY STORY, because I was able to experience it through the singles, it's the most nostalgic for me.

I played and played and played that CD in my portable CD player lol and listened to it through Winter break. If I remember correctly it came out on Dec 15? Which is the day after my brother's birthday. So I remember that too lol


The next album would ne NEXT LEVEL probably. It was the album I was able to purchase in person in Japan, and it was around all her 10th anniversary stuff so that whole 2008/2008 is huge for me too.




Chocopockymaster I had no idea we were the same age. And I was living in New Hampshire at the time. We could've been bff's lolol

[Minttulatte]

(miss)understood for me. I became a fan in summer 2006 and that album was the newest one at the time. This album was also the one that made me her fan. I'm very fond of this album. <3

[Delirium-Zer0]

Oh, "I am...," without question. It was the first Ayu album that I pre-ordered, and I was SO EXCITED when it arrived from YesAsia (along with the poster)... I opted for the poster from YesAsia rather than the gray pin from CDJapan.

It came out my senior year of high school, and I have SO many good memories from that time (and bad ones too XD)... I was obsessed with Cowboy Bebop and got the DVD & soundtrack box set for Christmas, I would listen to Ayu & go to Ayu sites during lunch at school, I was making a lot of graphics and really learning design principles more and more, and I was obsessed with playing Chrono Cross, lol.

I got a bunch of Ayu stuff from YesAsia that Christmas cuz I got a gift certificate for YA - I got SEASONS, the VCDs of Concert Tour 2000, a bunch of other stuff lol. Mostly overseas pressings of everything at the time, but I did get the Japan version of SEASONS and I was very proud of that, haha.

But the lead-up to "I am..." was just so crazy! The leaked version of the title track had a very different mix (the instrumentation was louder), we were starting to get the "Daybreak" Panasonic CMs, A Visual Mix was making everyone wish they had a Japanese PS2, Inuyasha's new movie had a new Ayu song in the trailer ("no more words"), and just in general there were ALL these songs from CMs like "Naturally" and "still alone" that we were all chomping at the bit to finally hear. XD Good times, good times.

[LONJJONG]

I also remembered the times when we were still using dial-up connection and catching a snippet of the new song's preview was a real struggle. Let alone listening to the full song, I've to wait for MTV to air it or buy the album. Or there were people who uploaded the .wma version which is much easier to download. During GUILTY's release, I totally didn't have any internet connection in my PC and I had no idea of it. And I was surprised by my brother for buying me the album.

[voltron]

This one is really hard! I think I could answer a few different albums in different ways.

But I might also have to go with My Story, despite having been a fan for years when it came out (and not often listening to its tracks anymore). It came out right before my first trip to Japan, and first time seeing her love at CDL 04-05. Her popularity had started to decrease, but there was still promo for that album all over, and Carols was playing everywhere.

[Bigtop]

Secret. First J-pop album I've heard (because of the tattoos! :O)...in my life. I had a lot of interest in the shinkansen (that's what's good with Japan - high-speed trains - just yesterday was the Hokkaido Shinkansen opening!), and "Secret" was the album that got me started into where I am.

Nine years of J-pop. Man, time goes so fast...

[Xianghua]

Memorial Address, because it was what had really gotten me into Ayu. (More specifically- the No way to say single) Previously, I had listened to songs from A Song for XX album, didn't like it at the time, ignored listening to Ayu until NWTS single when I decided to give her another try. So that was the turning point for me.

I was in my last year of middle school when that happened, so Ayu is the driving force behind all my memories of being in high school - listening to her to cheer me up, ect.

It was hard to decide between this and Rainbow, because that was the first album that I physically owned.

[Corvina]

For me it's Rainbow. It was the first JPop album I owned and listened to (my first japanese release was a Gackt album before, but that's JRock). Back then I didn't know much about downloading stuff on the internet and it was also harder, so I decided to just buy Rainbow after hearing a little preview on a german anime site and forum.
I've listened a lot to it, especially on my way to school and back with my walkman. It was such a haunting experience - never heard a voice like hers before and although I found it a bit screechy I also found it fascinating.
It's the only Ayu album I still own as I just couldn't sell it with the rest of my physical collection.

The other would be Love Songs. Came out on my birthday and Idk, but the built up to this album stayed in my memory. Maybe listening to it over Christmas had somethig to do with it as well. And the warm nostalgic feeling the album overall has. It's also one of my favourites.

[DevilsClap]

For me it's MY STORY
With that album I think I could connect a lot to several lyrics of the songs, and I feel that they have really helped me cope a bit with things.