｢Party Queen｣ Thoughts on album?

[PoetGirl]

I like how she's rather cynical in this album. More than 'omg poor me' cause I hate that.

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by jbrat2219

To you, she doesn't look lonely. A lot of the times people who are really lonely are great at looking like they are NOT lonely. Happy, smiling, drinking. And one can point out, "she looks fine to me, I don't understand how she's lonely. " and it is that misunderstanding that could make her point. You don't SEE her loneliness but it is still there somewhere deep. She's harboring it to herself

i somehow think this is how Ayu has been living her whole life.. i know of people like this (well i'm one too sometimes )

but it's just a personal preference that we see hints of real loneliness in the booklet.. nothing to be really mean about, i just wish there was more "oomph" in this beautiful concept.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

no offense to anyone, but constantly throwing the "read the damn lyrics and u will understand sad/lonely party queen" is losing its power.

this is an album. not 14 poems for us to read and analyze like in literature class. this is a product that has a packaging and an image.

i will never disagree that from a lyrics point of view, there is indeed morose and regrets in bulk of the album songs.

but i can't ignore the fact that many other factors of the album that make it an "album" is seriously lacking in any depth to support the "lonely queen" theory that she and Timmy are so snappy about on Twitter.

NaNaNa and Shake It PVs gave me 0 hint on "lonely queen". the album covers and booklet scans also gave me 0 hints on that.

that's all i can say. of course the lyrics prove themselves to be heartfelt and raw... but whatever, it's what i expect from Ayu. i also appreciate the fact that she's trying a facade thing; what with a "party queen" who is in fact really depressed over her recent divorce and many problems of life..

but i don't blame people for failing to see "lonely queen" in this album.

This is Ayumi Hamasaki... A singer whose more important aspect of career always was the lyrics. Read any article regarding Ayu as an artist, any comment about her career made by japanese, or any thread about lyricists on jpop here on AHS, and her lyrics will always be pointed as the stronger aspect of her production.

I would agree this would be something bizarre to expect from Namie, or BoA, or Koda for example... But this time is about someone who always used music as a way to carry her lyrics, and not her lyrics as an reason to feat singing on the final track (both ways exist, both ways are good).

And also, I beg the right to disagree, but openly bringing the lonely to the table on the videos, the booklet, the lyrics and the songs would make everything rather redundant, Lana del Rey redundant The songs progression rints the lonely.... the lyrics openly talk about it... the pvs talk about it slightly, and IMO this is enough. Now, after listening to the album, reading the lyrics, watching the videos, I totally sure being obvious about it on every aspect of this piece of work would make it lose power, or turn it into self-pity.

People are saying they can't see the lonely girl thing on the album, I'm pointing this is totally clear on the lyrics... not even hinted, it's 100% openly talked about, to the point of her saying "I'm a lonely queen" in English. The information is there... accessible... people complaining they can't find it are just being lazy imo.

[daybreak123]

I'm interrupting the lonely queen discussion, but I felt like making a little review of the album;

Party queen - I can honestly say I hated this song when I heard it before the album's release. But eventually it has grown on me and now I like it a lot actually. It's a catchy and fun song, I like it.

NaNaNa - This is actually one of my favourite songs from the album. Timmy's parts don't annoy me at all, I think they fit the song pretty well. I have to admit the English is kind of tacky, but I can't help but love the catchiness of this track. Somehow I really like the 'tick tick tock' parts, lol

Shake It♥ - Another song I love! I was pretty sure I'd like this track when I heard the preview and I was right. The composition is interesting, I can imagine myself listening to this track after years and still liking it a lot.

taskebab - I have to say that I don't like this one.. I think the beginning is nice and sounds promising, but then it all just suddenly changes and the track becomes a mess. I don't like it. :/

call - My least favourite from the album tbh. I've never really liked this type of songs Ayu has done, I think pretty much all of them tend to sound too alike. Overall this track is very forgettable and boring imo, I always forget what it sounds like after listening to it.

Letter - When I listened to PQ for the first time, I had similar feelings with Letter as I had with call. I thought this song is forgettable and boring, but after a few listens it grew on me. Letter isn't a song I could listen to on repeat, but it's a nice one. I like especially the beginning and the chorus.

reminds me - This song has grown on me a lot since my first listen. The chorus is awesome, Ayu sounds pretty good in it imo. Besides, I'm loving the guitars.

Return Road - Love at first listen, one of my favourite tracks from the album. I've always been a sucker for Ayu's dramatic tracks, lol. The song is amazing overall, but I'm loving especially the party from 3:00 onwards. Gorgeous.

Tell me why - Another of my favourites from the album, if not my most favourite. I can say I started liking this song even more after reading the translation for the lyrics, they almost brought tears to my eyes. I loved this track from the beginning, though. The melody is beautiful and gets stuck in my head easily. Besides, I think Ayu sounds pretty good in this track.

a cup of tea - This is one interesting interlude. I'm liking the mixing of different elements in here, it works well and doesn't sound messy like I think taskebab does.

the next LOVE - The lyrics for this track are absolutely gorgeous, probably my favourites from the whole album. I think the beginning of tnL sounds really good and promising, but the rest is kind of boring imo. The chorus saves the song, I really like it. I've just never been a big fan of jazz.

Eyes, Smoke, Magic - ESM is a really good song imo. As I said, I'm not the biggest lover of jazz, since it tends to bore me most of the time (not all jazzy tracks I've heard, but most of them) However, I think ESM is a fun and entertaining song. The arrangement works well and the song stays interesting until the end. I love it.

Serenade in A minor - I think this is an easily forgettable track, even for an intro.. Not bad, but nothing special imo. I tend to always skip this track when I'm listening to PQ, there's just nothing that captures my interest.

how beautiful you are - Honestly, I don't really like this track. The melody itself is beautiful, I like it, but Ayu's vocals ruin it for me tbh. :/ Listening to the chorus hurts my ears to be quite honest.

Overall Party Queen is a great album even if I dislike some tracks. It has hits and misses but I love how she tried out different styles.

And just in case this is tl;dr I'm summing up the songs I liked or didn't like:

love: NaNaNa, Shake It♥, Return Road, Tell me why, a cup of tea, ESM
like: Letter, reminds me, the next LOVE, Party queen
dislike: call, hbya, taskebab, Serenade in A minor

[js_surrealism]

I thought it was pretty obvious how the first 3 'party' tracks are dripping with irony, simultaneously celebrating the giddy abandon of a party life, yet also targeting the ultimate hollowness of fame, parties and celebrity.

[isthisLOL?]

The intro tracks have sinister laughs, rhymes too stupid even for J-Pop-English AND the "I'm a lonely queen" line, that's more than enough really haha And I believe the "empty" arrangement of Party Queen is no accident either, since it was far more full at CDL, they eliminated sounds on purpose to give it an empty feeling.

[emi♡]

meh I didnt really read the lyrics through carefully besides scanning them, and I think the theme fits

Besides, it goes beyond the idea of a party queen who is depressed over a divorce and whatever. It's the whole...lifestyle. It's just different.

I think words like "sad", "lonely", and "depressed" are quite superficial in this regard...those are things that might be below the surface of the whole partying aspect, but they're still just really simple terms that barely reflect the deeper conflicts and contradictions that make up the whole Queen aspect.


Anyway, for me Party Queen's theme fits right alongside all the other themes that Ayu's been expressing throughout her career, so it's like...so natural to me, it's difficult for me to see it as shallow or lacking in depth because it's just as much a part of herself as everything else, and all her other themes.

[Queen Bee]

^I have to agree and in my opinion it's almost like the lyrics tell the story of how this person became the Party Queen.

[Bigtop]

Too full!!! Need new thread!!!
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113214