Looking back at 2012

[isthisLOL?]

The year is almost over, we know we won't be getting another release this year and except for Kouhaku, which airs just a couple hours before 2013, no TV performances are expected + CDL1213 might only be aired next year, too. So let's look back!

This is what we had this year:

CDL1112 ~HOTEL LOVE SONGS~(TV broadcast + DVD)
how beautiful you are (digital single)
Power of Music (DVD + Bluray)
Party Queen (album + 4 new videos)
A SUMMER BEST (compilation + You & Me + one new video + some unseen old performances)
You & Me + Greatful Days at FNS (performance)
a-nation '12 (multiple TV broadcasts, two different edits)
Kishidan Concert (not aired yet)
Arena Tour 2012 ~HOTEL LOVE SONGS~ (DVD/Bluray not yet announced, concert not aired on TV)
Song 4 u (XILLIA2 Ver.) (digital single)
LOVE (EP + 2 videos)
Song 4 u at Hey!Hey!Hey! (performance)
SEASONS at FNS (performance)
again (EP + 3 videos)

Writing it down like this it's more than it feels. So...in retrospective...what do you guys think about Ayumi's 2012 work? Maybe even write a line or two about the individual releases if you feel like it.


I was more than just satisfied this year, the videos weren't ideal(exception: sweet scar), LOVE disappointed me a bit and I would have hoped for more TV performances, but the music was plain perfect for me and Party Queen and again place as two of my favorite Ayumi releases. I might write more later if this thread gets responses xD

[Kouyou]

I know a lot of people didn't like 2012 in terms of Ayu's releases, but I did. Party Queen is one of my all-time favorite Ayu albums and I was more hyped for it than any other album of hers. Sure, the visuals (i.e. album covers and music videos) weren't very good, but the music was phenomenal and that's what really matters. I liked her pink hair phase and most of the photo shoots that came with it, too.

I really like the three original tracks from LOVE and I think I will like again even more than LOVE when I receive it.

[Mirrorcle Monster]

I will give my opinions about everything we had, let's see

CDL 2011-2012: i loved how she sounded here, and she also looked really good (considering I hate short hair). There wasnt any BIG performances, though

how beautiful you are (digital single): it took me some time to like it, especially because of the chorus and its crappy english. The cover was gorgeous (even though too magazine-esque) and the PV turned out to be amazing

Power of Music: i wasnt really sure about this arena tour. I watched a part of the concert when the Ustream leaked, and i didnt like it. But after watchin it in HD i was so amazed. Its really touching and amazing. The hair looked horrible though

Party Queen: i was excited and loved it when it was released, but now im like meh... I havent listened to it since July, i just dont feel the need to do so. Return Road and NaNaNa are still lovely, but the I barely play the rest of the songs. The covers worked for me, but the PVs are so horrible (even Return Road was disappointing and confusing)

A SUMMER BEST: quite unnecessary, but it is nice to play it in the car. You & Me was my jam for the whole summer, and the PV is the best PV released on 2012. So quite satisfying

FNS performance: it was very funny and she looked great

a-nation 2012: very satisfying. Loved how she looked, the setlist and how she sounded. Really good.

LOVE: very nice. The covers were amazing, and so were the songs. The PVs werent a big deal but they kinda worked

again: really dont know how I feel about it. The great songs have been overshadowed by scandals, negativity and stupid coments. I feel like this era was a big mess with too many bad things happening. I need some time to think about again merely as music

Song 4 U at Hey! Hey! Hey!: she looked amazing and sounded fine

SEASONS at FNS: she looked quite good and sounded decent. I will never understand the drama around ayu's voice, ive listened way worse things

[emi♡]

meh. At least we got some nice songs. And at least it was interesting.

I don't really care about the rest of the fluff.

We got some nice shoots too.

[Klauser_Bateson]

I don't really watch Ayu's performances on TV shows or her concerts, so I can't really talk about those. I do own the Power of Music DVD but I have no desire to watch it, lol.

Music-wise, Ayu's 2012 has been very hit or miss for me, especially when compared to other artists I listen to.

I found Party Queen to be such a disappointment. It's one of my least favorite albums, down there with ASfXX, LOVEppears, and Duty. I only listen to Call and Reminds Me nowadays (used to listen to NaNaNa, but I think I'm over it and I might just end up deleting it). PQ is one of the few albums in my J-Pop collection that I regret buying.

You & Me didn't really click with me. I only like maybe the first minute or so. I don't care about the rest of the song.

As for LOVE, while I adore Song 4 u, I don't care for Missing, and Melody is a snoozefest.

again is the only decent thing she put out this year. It makes up for LOVE and A SUMMER BEST, and almost makes up for Party Queen. Love Wake Me Up, Snowy Kiss and Ivy. Sweet Scar is the weak link and I don't care for that song too much.

All in all, not too happy. I'm hoping 2013 will be better.

[Delicious n Bold]

2012 was the year i really became an ayu fan
what a year to do so XD

anyway, i loved PQ when it came out, i now get nostalgic when i listen to it (don't ask)

then the 2nd half came... YESS
All we got was hit after hit.
wake me up is the best song of the year, with snowy kiss in a close second.
even you & me was good. glitter golden crap

[jewelbox]

I only liked again wholeheartedly.

[Andrenekoi]

Music:

Among my all time Ayu's favorite:
Eyes, Smoke, Magic, Wake me up, Sweet Scar, Snowy Kiss

Good music:
Party queen, NaNaNa, Shake It <3, Reminds me, Return Road, Tell me why, the next LOVE, Missing, Ivy

Catchy and nice to listen but not that good music (guilty pleasures):
How beautiful you are, You & Me, Melody

Indiferent music:
Song 4 U, Call, Letter


4 favorites on a year is a lot... 2011 had none, 2010 had 3 (even with 2 full albums), 2009 had 2, 2008 had only 1. I don't find any song released this year to be just plain bad... the forgetable tracks are forgetable, but listenable... Some tracks that could be considered bad are catchy like hell @_@.

Videos:

Among my all time Ayu's favorite:
Sweet Scar

Good videos:
You & Me, Wake me up, Snowy Kiss

Indiferent videos:
NaNaNa, Shake it <3, Return Road, Missing, Song 4 U

Love the message, and this makes me like it a little more than I should:
How beautiful you are


Ayu's videos tend to be very hit or miss to me, so, no surprise here... Since 2008 I only loved 5 of her videos, so...

TV lives

Everything was ok... I don't care much about her TV lives, or jpop TV lives.


Concerts

The Power of Music: Her best concert ever paired with Rock n Roll Circus. This concert is a high level lesson on performance. Period.

CDL Hotel Love Songs: Her voice was amazing, but it seemed to be somewhat unfinished costume and choreography-wise... I believe the AT version won't feel like that. Still, it was very entertaining and I loved the setlist.

A-Nation: It was also very entertaining, but not really the best IMO (my favorites are 2008, 2009 and 2010)

Still... I'm comparing her to herself, all of her concert performances released this year were pretty much top level performances by any standart in pop music. IMO, this is were she always shines the most.

[pimenta]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Videos:

Among my all time Ayu's favorite:
Sweet Scar

Good videos:
You & Me, Wake me up, Snowy Kiss

Indiferent videos:
NaNaNa, Shake it <3, Return Road, Missing, Song 4 U

Love the message, and this makes me like it a little more than I should:
How beautiful you are


Ayu's videos tend to be very hit or miss to me, so, no surprise here... Since 2008 I only loved 5 of her videos, so...

TV lives

Everything was ok... I don't care much about her TV lives, or jpop TV lives.


Concerts

The Power of Music: Her best concert ever paired with Rock n Roll Circus. This concert is a high level lesson on performance. Period.

CDL Hotel Love Songs: Her voice was amazing, but it seemed to be somewhat unfinished costume and choreography-wise... I believe the AT version won't feel like that. Still, it was very entertaining and I loved the setlist.

A-Nation: It was also very entertaining, but not really the best IMO (my favorites are 2008, 2009 and 2010)

Still... I'm comparing her to herself, all of her concert performances released this year were pretty much top level performances by any standart in pop music. IMO, this is were she always shines the most.

wow, this part is almost the same for me!!
Just the songs I would put it differently:

Among my all time Ayu's favorite:
Eyes, Smoke, Magic, Snowy Kiss, Return Road, Ivy, Letter

Good music:
Reminds me, Tell me why, Missing, Melody, call, Song 4 u, Sweet Scar

Really catchy:
Party queen, NaNaNa, Shake It♥, You & Me, Wake me up

Indiferent music:
How Beautiful You Are, the next LOVE


Musically, this year was awesome and the concerts were great!
It's sad that there was too much controversy as well

[adantatu2]

This was a good year, her music was really good, sadly the pv's aren't my favourties, they look expensive but boring

[Chibi-Chan]

Ok, here are my thoughts:

CDL1112 ~HOTEL LOVE SONGS~ (TV broadcast + DVD)
The best thing for me about the new years eve was to watch CDL actually LIVE. The streaming via ustream was an amazing idea!
I really like the cover of the DVD, but after watching the concert again on DVD I was a bit disappointed. I was so excited on new years eve that I didn't really cared what was going on, so I absolutely enjoyed it! But when I watched it on DVD I noticed that the tracklist was somehow strange. I can't explain well what is bothering me here, it just doesn't work for me. Also Ayu was sitting way too much! I don't feel the need to watch it again, 'cos the whole concert feels depressing for me.

how beautiful you are (digital single)
Love the composition! The video is also really good! I listened to this song a lot, but I can't stand the way how Ayu sings the "you don't know..." part. For me she tries way too hard here and doesn't really sound like herself. But besides that the song is really beautiful, especially near the end when just 1:50 min are left!
Oh, and the cover was also gorgeous. <3

Power of Music (DVD + Bluray)
Really good concert! I loved that she made something complete different from what she is doing usually. No complains here.

Party Queen (album + 4 new videos)
"Party Queen" is a very good album and I enjoyed it a lot. But somehow I don't feel the need to listen to it since months. It has the same depressing feeling for me like CDL. Usually I love it when music has a depressing feeling, but Party Queen and CDL feel different "depressing" than let's say "Duty" or "GUILTY".
Maybe it's just that I'm totally over that "failed relationship" theme. Besides the whole concept failed for me. I really tried to get into it, but to be honest the whole "lonely queen" theme was a fail. It had so much potential, but they wasted it. I mean, why not show her on the covers as fake as possible and like a plastic doll? Or maybe make her look robotic (or somehow like in the alterna PV). THAT would be the image most of the public has of her. A woman who had a ton of surgery, who can't sing and is just a singing machine. Can't really remember I ever read a gossip article were she was referred to as "Party Queen". And somehow it seemed to me as if she was pitying herself.
I'm a BIG "Acid Black Cherry" fan, and I was really happy for him that he got the number 1 for his album "2012" instead of "Party Queen". Because "2012" is a really good concept album! "Acid Black Cherry"'s 3 albums are my favourite concept albums of all time, 'cos all three stick to the concept from beginning till end. Besides he also writes and arranges all of his music. But to come back to "Party Queen": musically I have nothing against this album, but the concept failed. An album doesn't need a real concept for me to be good, but if you want to make a concept album everything has to work, not only the music. Because otherwise, if covers, booklet and videos don't fit, the whole concept is destroyed. And lyrically "Party Queen" is more an attempt to deal with a failed relationship than to portray Ayu as a lonely queen. Without knowing the theme you would have a hard time to realize it is a concept album.
The PVs weren't good at all. It's nice that Ayu seemed to have a lot of fun while shooting "NaNaNa" and "Shake It", but for the viewer they are boring. I think I watched them twice. "Return Road" had potential, but that's about it. And the thing with the photo from "Virgin Road" was tasteless. The only good PV was "how beautiful you are".

A SUMMER BEST (compilation + You & Me + one new video + some unseen old performances)
I like this compilation, but the covers are horrible! Her tan... and everything looks fake... horrible! Although the booklet had some nice pics.
The DVD is the highlight of this compilation for me! Loved to watch all this performances!!! <3
The "You & Me" video was ok. Loved the beginning, 'cos it was cute. But the end was way to much fighting. If my boyfriend would get that violent against me he could pack his bags.

You & Me + Greatful Days at FNS (performance)
YAY!!!! A PERFORMANCE!!!

a-nation '12 (multiple TV broadcasts, two different edits)
To be honest I haven't watched it yet. I totally forgot about it... Shame on me!

Kishidan Concert (not aired yet)
I sooooo want to watch it! Although I was disappointed by the setlist. I wasn't expecting she would sing album songs like "GUILTY", but she has a lot of more rockish single songs she could have performed. Why not make this more a rock concert, without dancers and all this stuff? Would have been something fresh. Don't get me wrong, I love her dancers on stage and I love it when they appear in her videos (yeah, I'm in the minority here xD). But I would love to see a rock concert from her, I'm sure she could make a great show!

Arena Tour 2012 ~HOTEL LOVE SONGS~ (DVD/Bluray not yet announced, concert not aired on TV)
Since I haven't seen it, I can't say anything.

Song 4 u (XILLIA2 Ver.) (digital single)
Loved it! But they could have made a REAL cover for it... -.-

LOVE (EP + 2 videos)
LOVE it! Songs and remixes are great, I'm absolutely satisfied. PV wise it's ok. "Missing" is a good PV, so is "Song 4 u", but "Song 4 u" could have been better! It had potential but they wasted it till the end, I think. But it's ok.
Covers were great!

Song 4 u at Hey!Hey!Hey! (performance)
Great performance! I have watched it like 20 times?

SEASONS at FNS (performance)
I watched it live while it was airing. So exciting. ^-^ I was a bit disappointed that she sung "SEASONS" and nothing more. Here vocals were good.

again (EP + 3 videos)
I already loved "LOVE", but "again" is waaaaay better! The four original songs are all I want from Ayu, I couldn't have asked for more. And I like the remixes also.
The covers are cute! ^-^
The PV for "Sweet Scar" is awesome! But the PVs for "Wake me up" and "snowy kiss" are really bad. If not her worst... I try to forget about them...

[SURREAL__RAINBOW]

Better than 2011 imo

[NintendoHTF1242]

zzz

[ayuuk]

zzzzzz

[LONJJONG]

Party Queen album, Song 4 u, and Sweet scar are the best works in 2012.
This year is a pretty decent though none of her works topped the Oricon chart

[happiholic★]

It certainly was interesting. From the drama of her relationships, to PQ covers debates, there was always something new to talk about. Musically, its been hit and miss for me. I'm happy from LOVE onwards completely, though

[Rurutia]

2012...worst year ever. imo

[pommy48]

You know how people block out traumatic experiences from their memories?

Well that's how 2012 was for me

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by pommy48

You know how people block out traumatic experiences from their memories?

Well that's how 2012 was for me

[AYUCREA]

I don't really care about ayu's personal life this year.

Focus on releases, I really love songs form 2012 release, esp form LOVE and again.
The seven new songs from these minis are awesome!!!!!!!!!!

However I don't like ways of releases in 2012....
A SUMMER BEST. This best album is unnecessary............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the both covers is ugly...sorry.................
This is the only best album I haven't bought yet.

LOVE and again are called "mini" album rather than single.....3 or 4 songs make a "mini album"??? well...
if LOVE and again could combine plus You & Me, this mini will be perfect!!!!