Secret, six years later

[mellody]

Ah, this album.

Because one of the song from this album, I started to check all of her PVs, yeah it's because of 1 LOVE. DAT PV OMG.

I don't like this album that much though.

[Benikari47]

I've only been a fan since 2010 but Secret was one of the first albums i heard by her. I remember not liking it much really, the only tracks i found great was Startin' & JEWEL.
It has grown on me so so much since then! I personally consider "Secret - "Rock 'N' Roll Circus" her golden time. Cause it's definitely the earliest album of hers where i love all the tracks, and it's been like that up until RNRC. Perhaps it's cause her voice matured so much from there, it got depper and more adult. And it honestly fits her much more imo. It gives her songs that extra something. A track that took a while for me to love was Kiss O'Kill, i never saw the appeal. However it's been catching up to me lately and while it's not a track i listen to often i absolutely adore the chorus. Momentum, JEWEL, It Was, Secret, Startin' & Until That Day are the gems though, god i love this album <3 Not to mention that this has some of her best PV's overall, Jewel & Startin' are AMAZING.

Happy 6th Anniversary Secret! And thanks preceding one of the most flawless things on earth.. Guilty!

[AmyRoseM]

Originally Posted by Jennie Mae

SIX YEARS?? How the time does fly.
For me, the best thing to come out of Secret was her interview with CNN Talk Asia, in which she promoted her album IN ENGLISH. It was the first time we really got to hear her speak English in like full sentences. And at the end when she says she will go anywhere in the world if they listen to her... still gets me every time.

THIS! That interview was amazing. It was so weird to not have to read anything while I listened to her speak!

In terms of the music, Kiss O'Kill is one of those tracks that totally floored me. I got the same emotion I felt when I listened to Endless Sorrow for the first time shortly after it leaked. I just love it so much and to me it's one of those songs that is just so Ayu - I feel like no other artist would ever make a track like that.

[jang-kun]

I loved Secret because of the Asia Tour, seriously. lol

But hey, it's a very hit album. Like, it was promoted everywhere. BLUE BIRD, momentum, Born to be..., JEWEL, 1LOVE, Until that day, Secret is actually epic! I pick this any day over anything post-NEXT LEVEL.

[ll moments ll]

ahh, has it really been 6 years? damn. i remember when it was supposed to be a mini album.

i think some of ayu's most memorable and strongest songs are on this album (kiss o' kill, JEWEL, & momentum). the flow of the album is not so great and some transitions were weird, but still, i love it a lot!

after Secret tho...she started going downhill for me, imho.

[Kouyou]

Originally Posted by Benikari47

Happy 6th Anniversary Secret! And thanks preceding one of the most flawless things on earth.. Guilty!

[~kashifaita~]

Woww 6 years....time sure flies by! Secret isn't my first album I've heard from her, but it's the first album that came out the year I became her fan. So in a way, I hold this album pretty close. And well, technically this and (miss)understood were both the first albums I bought xP. Though, I remember feeling she lacked impact with Secret. At least IMO. It didn't seem like she promoted much (IMO!). And compared to like MY STORY and everything else before it, it lacked that...in your face kind of thing. (Buuttt she made up for that with GUILTY - RnRC).

On the songs, I really LOVEDDDDDD 1LOVE. Like, I was completely obsessed with that song. And the PV, oh gosh. Ayu and a stripper pole = . JEWEL and momentum were great! I didn't enjoy until this Day..., Secret or It was (until the Island mix came out) as much, but I thought Not Yet and her other interludes were awesome.

I totally remember the anticipation for this album and how everyone on this site was so hyped up about it. The 1LOVE CM and the JEWEL CM/performance...lmao I remember when someone put up a thread asking if Ayu was pregnant cause she looked like she gained weight in the performance. Oh boy what a silly controversy that was XD.

2006 was such an awesome year...for all of the J-artists (Namie, Kuu, Utada, Ai, etc.). Kinda wish I could travel back to that time.

[Kanzaki]

I listened to this album in 2007, having not followed Ayu for a few years. It was an amazing experience, listening to it in full, without having heard the singles, CMs or anything. It was, and still is, an amazing album imo, and one of her very best.

[Bigtop]

Originally Posted by ~kashifaita~

2006 was such an awesome year...for all of the J-artists (Namie, Kuu, Utada, Ai, etc.). Kinda wish I could travel back to that time.

Yeah, me too... (But that would mean starting over my high school career, and maybe for Sayuri Sugawara she may either be existent or non-existent...)

[Miduhyo]

Holy crap.... has it been six years already? I. Feel. Old..... And then that makes me realize that I've been a fan of hers since My Story and suddenly that makes me feel older.... haha, but at least it was time spent listening to awesome music.

Anyway, I love this album. I remember thinking that Until That Day was the *******. I would play it everyday, dance to it everyday, try (helplessly try) to sing with it! Startin', even now, is on my dance playlist on my iPod. And Secret, the track, is -- and I'm not afraid to say always -- will be in the top 5 of my favorite Ayu songs. There's something about it that just mesmerizes me from beginning to end. I still turn to Blue Bird whenever I need a happy song and I go to Jewel when I need something soothing.

All in all. I LOVED this album when it came out and even today it's in my top favorites. It's great.

[yukito]

Love this album, was already into ayumi for about 3 or 4 years, but it was only around this time that I came to know this forum and so it was the first album I ever bought, along with A Song fo XX, so Secret holds a special placce in my heart and can still listen to it back to back. Some people pointed that this was the beggining of her downfall, but I don't think so, it really only started with Rock'n'Roll Circus for me.
Just like also someone pointed out it was also around this time that I became all crazy trying to collect all I could find by her, CM, mixes, movies and PV's. Good times...

[Catfisk]

I've never been that fond of secret, I actually think it's even my least favorite album :/ For me, this is where it started going downhill .___.
(But I came back with Love songs *-*)

[koumori]

It's an alright album. It was the first one I ever owned, although I had been an Ayu fan for a year before it released, and only actually got the album in 2007. However, it's still a proud gem of my select collection (as battered as it may be now, unfortunately)

It was actually the first album I listened to in full. Before that it was just random playlists or songs thrown at me by other Japanese Pop fans that I knew back then; none of us were aware of places like AHS where full albums were shared, so we used things like limewire and 4shared to get any songs we could. We were so silly.

Now I listen to it again, it's a strong album but it's still not one of my favourites. The interludes are some of her best though, and I feel it's one of the last 'classic Ayu' albums she released, in terms of the popularity it had upon its Japan release. BLUE BIRD was her last sizeable hit, from what I know. I am aware other songs have done well digitally since, but BLUE BIRD was a summer hit and can be recognised by people I know that aren't even Ayu fans.

I really can't believe it's been six years though. Crazy

[freedreamer]

has become one of the nicest albums for me with A LOT of epic and future classics

[alternarist]

what???????? 6 years?????? i remembered this was meant to be a mini-album, but ayu decided to make it a full album last minute.

Secret is an emotional song for me. I like it how ayu's voice brought out the sorrow of the song. Not to mention AT2007 was my first ever ayu concert i watched LIVE!

the album is pretty good imo. the fillers like 1 LOVE, until that Day..., momentum and kiss o' kill are all darn good!

[Larisa-chan]

I remember thinking, "finally, an album that's better than all of the ones starting from RAINBOW onwards."

[jewelbox]

I've always liked it. It's solid album, maybe not her best but definitely not her worst. I really like most of the songs in it

[relmy]

I really like Secret, I got into Ayu with MY STORY, but Secret (specifically BLUE BIRD) was when I started following Ayu news.

The album has a good variety of tracks, it feels like it has every type of Ayu song. I actually like every song on this album, and a few of the tracks are some of my favourite Ayu tracks - like JEWEL.

I think the album has a good set of PVs too, some of them are really fun.

[Azmaria]

when I look back to Secret, it was the very first time I went to a concert, meaning "Ayumi Hamasaki Asia Tour 2007 A: Tour of Secret", I will never forget that time, I was so excited that I cried at the beginning of the concert. I also love the album but the concert is what it is most present with me ^^

[Kazeyomi]

I remember when I heard JEWEL for the first time from Music Station live. I was like: omg is this heaven? for the whole song .
Now I rarely listen to JEWEL, because I don't want to overplay a track and the be sick of it.

But when I listened to Secret, the first time I thought it was a huge mess. A good album, but still a mess. Until GUILTY's release I didn't realized Secret was actually a pretty solid album. So it took me some time to appreciate it.
Also, Secret have the best intro ever after Catcher in The Light