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| · Ayu's Official Site · Ayu's twitter · Ayu's YouTube · masa's translations · Misa-chan's translations · |
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#161
25th December 2007, 05:24 AM
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Judgement Day and reBIRTH are totally interludes. 
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#162
25th December 2007, 05:25 AM
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IMO, they do nothing but help the album become stronger. And if you think otherwise, at least say something more than just "omgwtf 2 many interloodz" :|
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#163
25th December 2007, 05:42 AM
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Okay... I shall review GUILTY a 2nd time cos my first review was so biased... Anyway, I shall assume the guilts reflected in this album as three kinds. Towards Tomoya, life and friends. So here it is.
Part 1: I hate you, Tomoya! + Inspiration for fans Mirror GUILTY starts with this strange intro, leaving us to think if this IS the intro after Catcher In The Light. Naturally, all of us weren't disappointed at the amazing composition of the album. From techno/trance to pure rock and then to a soothing ballad-y sound... Mirror reflects the whole album from head to toe. (don't) Leave me alone This pop song leaves us hanging for more as Ayu belts this song out. Bringing out the trance part from Mirror, dlma will leave you wanting for more as the unique sounding chorus gets repeated in your ears. talkin' 2 myself This angsty rock song reflected with the very strong line 'Creation comes after destruction'. t2m is sure to impress with the lovely chorus and its fantastic last lines. This song will inspire all of us as she sings about life. decision The song to Tomoya as she seeks his understanding on how she chose not to slit her wrists, or beg him to stay. You can hear the pain in Ayu's voice as she explains to Tomoya why she must remain as herself. GUILTY Although the song I hate the most on this album, GUILTY still has its own story to tell. A song that tells of how she's trying to get over her break-up with Tomoya... yet seemingly unable to... It's subtle and quiet as if Ayu is exhausted by everything that is going around her... Conclusion for Part 1: The darkest part of the album has ended. With wrath and pain over, it's tears and hope next... Part 2: Don't leave me, Tomoya... + Let's rip off the masks with our own hands! fated First of the two emo ballads in GUILTY, fated starts off with the amazing stanza, and Ayu's question to you: Do you believe in Fate? She's guilty that she wasn't being true to Tomoya, wishing that she meant it when she said "I love you" to him. It's deep but... the song doesn't reflect the sorrow in the lyrics as of yet. I would say fated has more room for improvement. Together When... Morose, despondence, sorrow, depression. These are the words I would describe Together When... the star of the album. The song starts with a quiet piano melody as Ayu sings out breaking up with Tomoya to "avoid getting hurt". As the song reaches its first climax in the chorus, the morose in her voice will send your goosebumps rising. Marionette -Prelude- + Marionette The second start of the album, Marionette starts with a prelude that although regarded by many fans as being 'creepy', I beg to differ. The flute in the prelude apparently makes this prelude sound very cheeky, although the sound effects at certain parts of the prelude was very scary indeed. The prelude ends and Marionette immediately comes in. The atmosphere of the song is given off with the subtle melody at the beginning. The song appears as dark, but it's far from dark. As she tells her fans and Tomoya to stop depending on the beauty of memories and move on with life. The highlight of the song as given by the lyrics 'We were not born to live, just putting on a front and hiding a face like the dead.' Yes! Ayu wants us to show our emotions and not hide everything, unlike a marionette that must be controlled by fate. She wants us to take control of our own lives, as she reassures herself as well, that Tomoya and her must move on, although the break up may be sorrowful... The song sounds dark but yet the lyrics speak of so much hope and power that I get inspired upon reading the lyrics and singing along to Marionette. Ayu is telling us "perhaps... I should move on..." Conclusion of Part 2: Ayu is morose about her break up with Tomoya... but she knows she must continue on with her life, and at the same time telling us fans and Tomoya to move on together with her. We can do it! Part 3: I love you, Tomoya! + I'm finally happy again... or maybe not. The Judgment Day "Miss Ayumi Hamasaki, it is your judgment now. Whether you shall live in the shadows of Tomoya and be emo forever or move on with your life... It shall be decided here" That's what TJD is all about. The whole interlude reflects Ayu's dilemma. As the creepy interlude makes me jump... her lalalas turned into something more hopeful and happy. Ayu has been judged! She shall not be emo! glitter The song that was hated by thousands of fans, except for me and a few others... Oh well. This could be the song that can't be decided if it's happy or sad... As Ayu appears to be delusional in this song with overtly blissful lyrics... Was she guilty because she didn't do what the lyrics told her to? We will never know... MY ALL The album reaches its happiest point in MY ALL as Ayu recalls her good ol' days with Tomoya. This song, if performed live, could bring tears overflowing to Ayu as she regrets her decision to break up with Tomoya... Conclusion of Part 3: Ayu decides to be happy but gives an ambiguous note to us in glitter and MY ALL. Is she really happy? Or as many say, "happiness is temporal"? Ayu will give us an answer soon, I believe. Part 4: Away with the emo-ness on love! Friends ftw!!! reBiRTH Weird choice of caps aside, this interlude sucks with GUILTY for me although I must admit is a necessity. With reBiRTH, Ayu seems to be telling us "I shall be reborn, perhaps as a person who is not troubled by love anymore..." The subtle and quiet interlude appears to be like a phoenix rising from the flames and getting reborn. It is elegant and beautiful. untitled ~for her~ The song dedicated to Ayu's friend who died while she was recording Together When..., untitled is a very mellow and sad ballad as Ayu remembers her times with her friend and she seems to be telling her to wait for her at that place where all the souls gather... At certain points of the song, you can hear Ayu's voice getting a little shaky and soft... I believe that is when Ayu is crying. Perhaps by ending GUILTY with untitled... she knows that friends are sometimes more important than emoing about a break up. We wish all the best for Ayu... The Living Cherished The Dead: Eternal Embrace of The Radiant Souls... Conclusion for Part 4: Ayu is reborn as a person who's not trapped in love... and she regrets not spending enough time with her friend who has already passed away. Note: My analysis for GUILTY this time round doesn't really focus on her vocals or how the songs sound like... but more on what she's trying to tell us with each song on this album. I hope you guys understand that GUILTY could be worse than Secret or MY STORY or whatever album... but it still is a story Ayu wishes to tell us. A story that goes from wrath to regret and morose to hope to bliss and finally... to something else that wasn't her at the beginning. Last edited by waterballoon; 25th December 2007 at 05:51 AM.
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#164
25th December 2007, 06:35 AM
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BOLD = LOVE
Italic = Ok 1. Mirror 3. talkin' 2 myself 4. decision 5. GUILTY 7. Together When... 8. Marionette -prelude- 9. Marionette 10. The Judgement Day 13. reBiRTH BEST TRACK: Talkin' 2 myself
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 Msmiyabi formerly known as Akurei MsMiyabi + Koda Kumi! Proud Koda Kumi Fan Since 2000 & Namie Amuro Fan Since 1995<3
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#165
25th December 2007, 06:59 AM
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This album grows on me every day...I was skimming the tracks on her older albums and doing checklists in my head how many songs I disliked, and how many times I can bother to listen to 'THAT 1000TH BALLAD' and safe to say, I actually won't skip ANY of these songs. I couldn't appreciate (miss) as much because most tracks were GEO's, MS had too many slow ballad rock type songs, I would skip at least 2 songs on Secret, etc., so GUILTY as an album I can listen to fully is up there with I am...
Sure people don't like it on first listen, but if they try to delve further and see the story she is clearly telling with the careful placement of all the tracks, this album is a gem.
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#166
25th December 2007, 07:00 AM
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I wonder how many people here actually care about the lyrics and not just the way the song sounds. Not trying to hate on anyone here, and I know that different people enjoy music on different levels....but I think a lot of people need to take into account what is being said in the songs before declaring them bad or not.
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#167
25th December 2007, 07:07 AM
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namiie I agree with you! First thing with ayu's music is obviously if the song sounds good or not, because come on...it's music, and she's selling music not poetry. But second is what her lyrics say! That's what got me into her in the first place...her voice was different and I was curious what she was saying, (it was for 'M'), and when I read those lyrics and heard her singing, I was sold. It goes much deeper than 'what the song sounds like' when it comes to ayu, that's why she has so many fans after all these years, because there's something sincere in all her words. Maybe I'm just being too defensive for this album, but sometimes I think people are just too quick to judge when she puts out new material.
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#168
25th December 2007, 07:18 AM
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Okay I'm going to be incredibly lazy and just give scores to the songs and not explain why XD
1. Mirror 9/10 2. (don't) Leave me alone 8.5/10 3. talkin' 2 myself 10/10 4. decision 8.5/10 5. GUILTY 9/10 6. fated 6.5/10 7. Together When... 7/10 8. Marionette -prelude- 10/10 (It's a nice set up for the song) 9. Marionette 10/10 10. The Judgement Day 9.5/10 11. glitter 3/10 12. MY ALL 6/10 13. reBiRTH 7/10 14. untitled ～for her～ 7.5/10
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#169
25th December 2007, 07:35 AM
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Or some Ayu fans are just impossible to please no matter what. Honestly--you can not like something, you can even be really critical of an artist, but some of the fans here seem to be the most vicious, picky people I've ever seen on a forum. It's almost like why do you bother listening or liking her if you're only going to spew such venom and inane criticisms? o_o
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Last edited by Bad Wolf; 25th December 2007 at 07:48 AM.
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#170
25th December 2007, 07:40 AM
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^Couldn't have said it better myself! But a good thing is...so far I think for this album there hasn't been half as much overreacted hate on this forum, like her previous ones, if memory serves correct. At least people are more civil this time around!
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#171
25th December 2007, 07:48 AM
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I think this is one of Ayu's best albums~ I love how everyone was so anxious for it to come out, and now everyone is so disappointed because it's all 'dark and sad'...wasn't that already pretty much known before it came out? Meh, of course everyone has their own opinions. But, I personally love all the tracks on this album.
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 ♥sweet&simple♥
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#172
25th December 2007, 07:48 AM
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Whoa!!! guys, im really touched...all of those reviews... from Demure_Dusk, amorphose and InoriNoUta...simply amazing
and the fact that Ayu wants to tell us something really makes me...touched (sry i cant find another word) because its just like she is revealing her feelings to us fans and hope we all understand and stand by her... and its amazing that most of us here and discovered something very worthy of this album...its a nice thing
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#173
25th December 2007, 07:54 AM
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#174
25th December 2007, 12:34 PM
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Wow...reading everyone's reviews really amazed me. Some even changed my opinions on different songs but anyways...should I update the first post with some references to pages with good reviews by different people?
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#175
25th December 2007, 12:43 PM
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#176
25th December 2007, 01:21 PM
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I think its not better than secret o-o but..its still good
I personally LOVE (dont) leave me alone
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#177
25th December 2007, 01:41 PM
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Overall, I think GUILTY is a great album, much better than Secret but yeah, not her greatest work.
What I like I just love how ayu create this album into a dark and sad album.The arrangement, vocal, and emotion is very good,the interlude.Also,GUILTY flows very well and the interludes really help the flow of this album. I think GUILTY has the best flow than her other album. My favourite new track,surprisingly, is (don't) Leave me alone. When first time I heard that song, I was like eeh... but when I listen to it several times, (d)Lma grows on me very fast.As for overall, my favourite track is Together when... What I don't like My major complaints are maybe the same as some other members here. First is too much rock. I just tired of her rock music, it's just too long ayu stick to her rock music (almost 3 years since MY STORY era). I hope she backs to her LOVEppears - techno music era. I think if she do that in her next single, it'll be such a fresh music considering that she doesn't make it for a long time. My other complaints is lack of great PV. So far, only Together When... that can WOW me, the rest are just bleh...I jut hope Marionette will have a great PV.
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#178
25th December 2007, 02:30 PM
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I LOVE THIS ALBUM!
I must admit I was disappointed with her previous album (i.e. Secret). It wasn't...dark enough for me...too poppy. My thoughts on Guilty are very different though. It has a mystical, mysterious, magical air to it. It's fantasy like. Kind of out-of-this-world. I really love the theme for this album. My favs are absolutely Mirror and Marionette. And the interludes are EXCELLENT this time around as well! I love it when Ayu does the dark(ish) approach. She comes across as much more artistic and unique. I also really like the title tracks of this album (she's returning to her roots, guys! They're very orignal). They're different -and that's how I first came to love Ayu; so I really hope she keeps this up. Two thumbs up for me! Oh yeah, My All is also a really nice song -and reminds me alot of the 'young' Ayu. This album is, overall, very Ayu in my opinion. Yes, she is categorized as a 'Jpop' singer, but really, she has something that sets her apart from all the others. She's not afraid to experiment with something a bit 'out there', and that's really what this album is. Definately not ordinary. I CAN'T WAIT FOR HER TO HAVE A CONCERT/TOUR SO SHE CAN PERFORM THE SONGS ON THIS ALBUM LIVEEEEE!!! AND THE THEME PROVIDES ALOT FOR A SPECTACULAR STAGE AND COSTUMES! EDIT: I noticed quite a few people here are complaining about "too much" rock, but for me, I LOOOOVE Ayu rock! I've always have and her rock-inspired songs are always my favourites! I'm not interested in typical J-pop songs ala Boa style. But hell, I love all the songs on this album, even the poppy Glitter (but we have to have at least one of those right? lol). RE-EDIT: I forgot to mention that this album also seems much more personal than 'Secret' (ironic that that's the album name). I think the songs throughout Guilty have a very passionate, emotional feel to them. Ayu's energy shines through definately. I've been waiting for Ayu to create an album like this for a long time and am reallllllyyyy pleasantly surprised! (surprised because recently she's been going more 'mainstream'). Oh yeah, my only complaint is that I wish Mirror was LONGERRRR...I LOOOOOVEEEEEE ITTTTT..... Last edited by jeneshi; 25th December 2007 at 02:45 PM.
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#179
25th December 2007, 03:31 PM
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I wish she release more poppy songs next year, but still continue experiments with rock but not too much
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