New album 'Party Queen' out 03/21 information thread [V]

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

Ohhhh so... maybe... the reason the separate photobook is being released is because the cover in fact only represents the outside of the album. and really, there's a cover from the London shoot underneath and within the lyric booklet, so there aren't any of the Party Queen shots in the album...

Meh. Over thinking.

[Calico]

I actually love the covers. But I'll avoid my reasons.

RE: to the previous topic and feminism vs. objectification - there are perfectly good arguments for either side in this case (Although I believe Ayu is quite knowledgeable in this area and knows what she's doing) but regardless, when words like "****ty" and "trashy" and "w****" and any other word commonly used to bring women and their sexuality down is used, you (general) pretty much lose most if not all your credibility. Sadly it's something I'm really used to in this forum after all my years of being here.

My fave cover is the CD only one, but of course that's the one I WON'T get I was thinking of just getting CD+DVD to save money but now I may just splurge for the CDL one since I like that cover more.

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by Calico

RE: to the previous topic and feminism vs. objectification - there are perfectly good arguments for either side in this case (Although I believe Ayu is quite knowledgeable in this area and knows what she's doing) but regardless, when words like "****ty" and "trashy" and "w****" and any other word commonly used to bring women and their sexuality down is used, you (general) pretty much lose most if not all your credibility. Sadly it's something I'm really used to in this forum after all my years of being here.

Exactly my thoughts.

[Aderianu]

now I notice obi at the picture =(
but maybe cover on booklet will be different?

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Aderianu

now I notice obi at the picture =(
but maybe cover on booklet will be different?

That darn OBI! I still wonder if those are actual samples in the box or if they're just mockups made as placeholders.

I hope we get some nice interviews about the album so she can elaborate further than she did on Twitter.

according to a few Japanese friends of mine, folks over in Japan are not thrilled with the covers and are bashing her relentlessly.

That's not at all the reaction I've seen on blogs and BBSes. The reaction from what I've looked at is rather positive and much less panicky than what I've seen here. They call the covers 'cool' or 'cute'. They're 'good' to some people, but they're concerned because she's so skinny on the cover. People seem to be saying that the cover is more natural than they were expecting. Japanese fans were sort of expecting more makeup and a super 80s-ish cover.

Can anyone gauge the reaction over at mixi? At ameblo/a mobile BBS, it's pretty much "The covers are good!".

http://www.rankbank.net/amaran/histo...sin=B0073ZX0UM

After the covers released, the CD+2DVD version went up 20 places or so at Amazon.jp.

[elvis810]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Can anyone gauge the reaction over at mixi? At ameblo/a mobile BBS, it's pretty much "The covers are good!".

Because they are!

[TeamAyu2004]

i dont think there is anything wrong with them...
They are not her best covers, but you really can only have one best... lol
I like them!
(I think the DVD covers and much much better... i love where it looks like she is reading a book!)

[SunshineSlayer]

If ayu ends up having some kind of secret covers that explain this albums theme then I might like it. But as it is, if you have to explain your concept on twitter, then obviously your concept was not executed well. I don't appreciate Timmy's post either. It's not the fans fault they can't see it when there is basically nothing in the photos themselves to support it.

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

If ayu ends up having some kind of secret covers that explain this albums theme then I might like it. But as it is, if you have to explain your concept on twitter, then obviously your concept was not executed well. I don't appreciate Timmy's post either. It's not the fans fault they can't see it when there is basically nothing in the photos themselves to support it.

+32546846546351654

I like the covers, but the execution is crap.

[Maemi]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

If ayu ends up having some kind of secret covers that explain this albums theme then I might like it. But as it is, if you have to explain your concept on twitter, then obviously your concept was not executed well. I don't appreciate Timmy's post either. It's not the fans fault they can't see it when there is basically nothing in the photos themselves to support it.

[jewelbox]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

If ayu ends up having some kind of secret covers that explain this albums theme then I might like it. But as it is, if you have to explain your concept on twitter, then obviously your concept was not executed well. I don't appreciate Timmy's post either. It's not the fans fault they can't see it when there is basically nothing in the photos themselves to support it.

THIS. I don't like Timmy "shouting" to fans, at the end of the day she can always kick him out of her life and career but she would be nothing without her fans lol. And I think criticism from fans should be taken seriously and under consideration, but this is Ayu so.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

If ayu ends up having some kind of secret covers that explain this albums theme then I might like it. But as it is, if you have to explain your concept on twitter, then obviously your concept was not executed well. I don't appreciate Timmy's post either. It's not the fans fault they can't see it when there is basically nothing in the photos themselves to support it.

isthisLOL can confirm we pretty much got the sad feeling of the overall release BEFORE she talked about it.
It's not rocket science, the tracklist pretty much goes from partyish (Party queen) to conforting someone with a bad self-esteem (how beautiful you are).

The thing is... this is an music album, not a photobook, and far worst, according to Ayu, a concept album. If the cover on itself give us everything the lyrics will also do, the overall work will pretty much be redundant and we don't need the music at all.

The concept, the "story" she is trying to tell must come into the music, not on the covers... Even because the overall tone of the release gets a lot more powerful if the covers takes u to one direction and after listening to the music, it makes u look at the cover on the opposite way.

People can like or dislike the covers for whatever the reason they do, still, I do believe we should wait and take a look on the whole thing before judging if it's worked or didn't work at all.


I also hopes there isn't another cover... If some people can figure out what is the album talking about just looking at the cover and the tracklist, the concept is well executed enough... no needing to so obvious.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

isthisLOL can confirm we pretty much got the sad feeling of the overall release BEFORE she talked about it.
It's not rocket science, the tracklist pretty much goes from partyish (Party queen) to conforting someone with a bad self-esteem (how beautiful you are).

But this is about the covers, not the tracklist or what the eventual content of the album might be. All people are going to see at the store is the cover and most people are not going to care enough to analyze anything else. The cover does not seem to convey any deeper message; even fans did not see anything other than what it appears to be until after discussion + tweets from Ayu and you can expect a whole lot less thought from the average consumer. If Ayu's intent was to make the covers have a deeper message (which apparently it was) and to have that message conveyed to the people seeing it, then no, it simply does not convey that effectively.

edit: Yeah, what MissEllin said.

[SummonerXI]

I don't get why people are so up in arms about the covers. 1. No need to shame Ayu for expressing her sexuality. 2. The photos are part of a theme. There is a sexual aspect to partying, which is what the album is about for the most part.

There are many sides to Ayu and this is just one of them. I think it's silly (and slightly misogynistic) of people to say she's lost her dignity because she's being sexual in this covers.

[Coelacanth]

I mean, the barcode and bizarre "new album" sticker in the bottom corner still clearly allude to the covers as being a cover of a magazine. It could have been done a whole lot better, though.

[SunshineSlayer]

That I got right away at first look. It's the supposed SAD party queen aspect that didn't come across.

[truehappiness]

And I think criticism from fans should be taken seriously and under consideration, but this is Ayu so.

I actually don't think fans' opinions should factor into artists' work. It just varies way too much from person to person and it doesn't seem right in my opinion for any artist to not follow their gut just because some fans don't feel the same way. At the end of the day as a fan, you're going to like what you like and dislike what you dislike. Ayu probably listens to and internalizes most criticism handed to her, but I doubt that she ever changes her mind because of it.

I do wonder what caused Timmy to explode like that though... what did he read and where did he go to see the comments?

[Didz-19]

I really like the covers....although at first, i was against it...after awhile, I love it!!! It's kinda funny too...but as usual, Ayu always have something else in mind~~

So now the covers were released, is there anything we gonna talk about?

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Didz-19

I really like the covers....although at first, i was against it...after awhile, I love it!!! It's kinda funny too...but as usual, Ayu always have something else in mind~~

So now the covers were released, is there anything we gonna talk about?

We can look forward to the TeamAyu preview in a little over a week! I hope some of the TeamAyu members here can go.

There's also some filming she's been doing lately that's rather mysterious. Did she film new PVs or what? I'm pretty sure she said something about doing castings for a new PV that was filmed a few days later and Masashi Muto also mentioned doing a new PV with Ayu a week after that.

It's interesting that Ayu brought up Duty when asked about the covers but I wonder if there's actually supposed to be a connection. Is she trapped in some way in these covers?

-after the "YELLING AT FANS"-
I may have been drinking last night. Possibly. Xxx

Sorry if I offended anyone last nite. Never let anyone near a keyboard when drunk lol

--timwellard

Oh Timmy. Never change.

[2Hurt]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

It's interesting that Ayu brought up Duty when asked about the covers but I wonder if there's actually supposed to be a connection. Is she trapped in some way in these covers?

I guess in Duty she's in a cage, trying to break out and dressed as a leopard... so in a way she's trapped like an animal maybe? As for Party Queen maybe she feels trapped in the life she's living... or by the media..
I'm not good at these things though, I'd like to read what other people think~

About Timmy... I never liked him, but he must do what he pleases. Doing such thing on twitter though is not a smart move imo.