[Official Message] Winter single "Zutto... / Last minute / Walk" 2014.12.24 in stores III

[End1ess_sorr0w]

zeke hopefully will grace us with his presence with some sound opinion and judgement. pls jesus.

no it absolutely doesn't sound like a MA pt. 2, she has yet to make any music of that caliber in a very long time. just sayin.

[love in music]

God I can't wait to see her perform Last minute live. It's so perfect.

[280301]

Zutto... - A typical Ayu winter ballad, but it's nice. Could have been outstanding if the chorus wasn't marred with 'Zutto... Zutto..' and if the instrumental was more aggressive.

Last Minute - Gosh...what a mess. It's just a bit too erratic and in places and just seems like a mash up of MA and (miss)Understood. Saying that, it's not an awful song, but I do find myself going 'what the hell?' in some places.

Walk - As others have said, nice lyrics, but honestly I think Ivy (as a song in a similar vein) did it better. It is quite forgettable otherwise.

I think it's a good single with some very obvious imperfections - I'm really excited to see what Ayu's next album will be like.

[ayu_ready?]

so far the previews are nice, I don't know if I can find any song significant

[BlackSilence]

i am waiting for the day when she releases something and EVERYONE will love it. Though i don't think that'll ever happen, cuz we're all so different lol

Also i never understood the obsession with some songs from her earlier years, like M or SEASONS, or walking proud, also while i likes No way to say or others i can't really see anything special in them either, to me they are pretty generic stuff. ANd most of them just sound alike to me.

I'd take stuff like this over Colours ANYTIME. It was like a bad dream for me, that album i couldn't wait for the stuff to be over and for her to release something new and fast! this single totally will help to forget the bad taste Colours left lol

[chikocchi]

I think I overhyped myself about this single and had my expectations too high becuse I feel really let down by this. I heard three ballads from Ayu released at once?? It must be perfect!

Well, in a nutshell, it's not.

Zutto... - this song is definitely growing on me with each play. but it's nothing that stands out against her other ballads.
Last minute - i like the rockyness of the song but some of the chords sound really bad to me? and the production on this is an absolute mess. this has so much potential but it really falls flat. but it should be good live.
Walk - really unmemorable. i can picture zutto... and last minute in my head but walk??? no.

[relmy]

I can't remember the last time I really liked one song on a single (we haven't had any, but you know what I mean), and I really like all 3 on this one. ;__; None of them are perfect or really amazing but it sounds like Ayu again.

I don't want to say it's a return to form yet, but it's the right direction. Zutto is pretty standard and unexciting, but it does have that Ayu spark that you got each winter.

[Trinu]

As someone who's been very critical with most of what she's released in the last couple of years, I'm kinda pleased with this.

Zutto is her typical winter ballad and Last Minute sounds like she's copying herself (Memorial Address/Last Links, etc.), but Walk... DAMN!

The progression she does in the prechorus (around 1:00) simply kills me.
And even if the chorus is a bit over-dramatic, it works here.

Good job, miss!

[zellyx]

So pleased with her voice here. Does anyone else notice a difference? It's crisp, clear and brighter than usual. Her tone has changed again. Although, I was listening to Guilty earlier, so that's a huge difference!

Will speak on the tracks once I hear them in full.

[stepYOU1234]

At the moment I am enjoying them. This is the stuff I enjoy and want from Ayu. CoLOURS was not really my cup of tea, but this is! I did try not to have high expectations so maybe that helped too!

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by LEOyumi

Walk is very Love Again-esque, though it's not a bad thing for me. Some parts remind me of SAKURA, others of untitled, and her voice sounds a lot like it sounded in petal.

And yeah, Zutto... definetely the weakest...
But it's a wise choice for a PV, I think, since it's the easiest song to promote to the general public. And it's the kind of ballad the japanese people love. I just hope the PV is pretty.

I think the association to LA is because Walk sounds a little like Ivy. I agree that Zutto should have been the PV if she did only one, so she was smart. It is the ballad that Japan would want a PV for more than the others.

Originally Posted by End1ess_sorr0w

I think i'm the only one who thinks this single could've been better. I think they are pretty good songs but i definitely won't be listening to them again and again like i've done with M or No way to say. Those are EPIC winter ballads. She'll never sell music like she used to if she keeps catering to a small group of people IMO.

If i have to say something good about the single though...Zutto actually reminds me of her older music like ayu-mi-x III acoustic orchestra album. I don't think it's generic at all, it just doesn't SCREAM at you like walk aka MOON pt. 2 haha. (if you couldn't tell it's my least favorite song on this single.) Last minute is WAY better than anyone was anticipating which is why i like it. It's a medley of HEAVEN & Sakura. All in all i'm grateful she's still making music. Just wish she'd bring back Bounceback to help her make music. le sigh haha

Well, I think her older music was very similar. The only difference is that the audience for Ayu's style as dwindled. Take Taylor Swift. If she just released the same style of country record as her debut five times in a row, no one would buy her records. Ayu could really use a whole new genre, but it's not really her style and she doesn't want to take away from her personal life like Namie to be a big star again. But I believe Ayu could definitely top the charts again if she switched genres.

Originally Posted by artcika

i am waiting for the day when she releases something and EVERYONE will love it. Though i don't think that'll ever happen, cuz we're all so different lol

Also i never understood the obsession with some songs from her earlier years, like M or SEASONS, or walking proud, also while i likes No way to say or others i can't really see anything special in them either, to me they are pretty generic stuff. ANd most of them just sound alike to me.

I'd take stuff like this over Colours ANYTIME. It was like a bad dream for me, that album i couldn't wait for the stuff to be over and for her to release something new and fast! this single totally will help to forget the bad taste Colours left lol

Yeah. It won't happen. Colours has its place though. XOXO, as bad as it was for some people, was such a fun experience for me as an Ayu fan. It as a throwback to NaNaNa and Shake it <3 but done better, which as bad as Party Queen was, it also had its points.

This single is a major return to form for Ayu. She will never be the Ayumi we knew 10 years ago, but I think hearing this single just makes me feel okay with what she does moving forward, even if its another album like Colours. For me, I just needed to know that Ayumi Hamasaki still exists. And this is enough confirmation for me to feel like it's all okay.

In some ways, this single makes me tear up a little because I remember her work on Ls and FIVE, and this is very similar to LOVE and again, and I had just met my ex right after FIVE was released. So, I remember sitting in our living room and listening to Missing and Ivy and Sweet scar a year later when we decided to move into an apartment together.

Anyway, enough nostalgia. I am more than overjoyed with this single, and I hope that Ayu has a lot of chart success with this one. If you haven't read the lyrics, that's where the bulk of the work went on this single. It seems like she revisits her relationship with her dad on Last minute and might be talking about looking back at how much her life has changed since 2010 in Walk. And I think she lined everything up very well, especially for Walk in the lyrics.

I think the only thing we are missing is more electronic-sounding production akin to stuff like M and No way to say, more orchestral intros on everything, more ethereal effects in the music. But this is very much Ayu.

I am also impressed with her vocal quality. I can hear that she has been with a voice teacher over the last couple years. I noticed a huge change in her voice for her live performances, but I can definitely hear it on this single.

And come on, for the Zutto... haters, it's a nice winter love ballad. Considering we can't name a single female j-pop artist that has released a winter love ballad in recent years, this is a nice song to hear. It doesn't stick out from her history of songs, but it definitely fits in well. And I like the production.

My only gripe with this single is the mix on Last minute. Her vocal sounds a little detached from the production, and I would have preferred to hear it mixed in better... akin to how it was on GUILTY. But either way, it doesn't sound anywhere near as detached as the average Mai Kuraki song.

[Irish_Ayu_Fan]

The Japanese iTunes users seem to be enjoying Zutto... a lot more than the other tracks haha.
Zutto is at No. 12
Last Minute is at No. 71
Walk is at No. 145

[thinkingoutloud89]

I still don't get why people want artists to "return" to earlier points. It would be like a person who does not progress in his life. Artists are bound to change things up. I studied art and It was a pain for me to stick to the same thing longer then a year. People have to stop that nostalgic thinking....stop listening to her and treasure the 15 albums you have so far, or embrace thefact that she is moving on and tries new stuff..."tries"...she is not perfect in everything, but she tries to progress and that results in songs that have flaws and others that don't - thats how it works.

[AyuGAME]

i love Zutto... the most as well...

by the way...it's just Ayu who charted on recochoku from Utada tribute album.

Movin' on without you doin great

[miki_beland]

YouTube views for the songs are SO low!! I think this single might be a complete flop u.u

[js_surrealism]

Once you look past the horrible lyrics, the songs themselves are actually not bad.

My favourite is Walk - I love the build up in the chorus. For me, this comes closest to the "setsunai" winter ballad that I like.

Last Minute is a close second. It's okay, the sort of song that would sound at home on Love again.

Zutto is my least favourite. Not only is it absolutely nothing original from her, but the chorus blatantly borrows all the most distinct tropes from other much better songs (Will, etc). Creatively, this is low, even for her.

But I really liked Walk, and I expect it'll be on repeat a lot when I walk around in the winter. And I'm not gonna skip Last minute if it comes up on shuffle. Zutto I can do without.

[thinkingoutloud89]

^funny how everyone likes a different song so the single actually is pretty great eh?
The lyrics are actually good, I don't know why you call them horrible? Its basically the standard ayu/japanese lyric content.

[truehappiness]

I love everything.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

I'm not hating, but does anyone else think that TK and the other guys tried too hard to replicate their past hits for ayu, and came up short? That's the feeling I'm getting...but the songs are definitely starting to grow on me.

[Tom Punks]

Originally Posted by End1ess_sorr0w

zeke hopefully will grace us with his presence with some sound opinion and judgement. pls jesus.

no it absolutely doesn't sound like a MA pt. 2, she has yet to make any music of that caliber in a very long time. just sayin.

You must have missed the last thread? It wasn't well liked at all there. zeke already pitched in his dislike of it. No need to worry lol.

Link: http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=445

Originally Posted by Pieces_of_SEVEN

I'm not hating, but does anyone else think that TK and the other guys tried too hard to replicate their past hits for ayu, and came up short? That's the feeling I'm getting...but the songs are definitely starting to grow on me.

Me too. It just sounds by the numbers and calculated. The compositions for Zutto... and Walk also feel REALLY forced and uninspired.

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I think Last minute may be my favorite now, if only because it has a melodic progression that makes remote sense to me lol. That mixing tho.