The official thread for your thoughts for "Rock'n'Roll Circus" (Anything!)

[Picaflor 7/4]

the violins and guitars really draw me into last link from the beginning, i think that's what makes me want to listen to the entire song, to hear more of it. I love the intro/outro of the song. the chorus is just ok though.

[NintendoHTF1242]

^ I only like the intro. I dislike everything else.

[imsoprettyomg]

i love this entire album! i thought that rock n roll circus was on the same level of excellence as thriller ^^ every song on the album was a masterpiece, i just wish there were more amazing songs <3 all hail queen ayumi!!

[Ayusan]

Love, like everything except sunset.

Favorites are count down, I share the same feeling than jbrat, the chorus is far to be weak and just punch me in the face ! Microphone even if heard and heard I still like it. Last links because it sounds fresh, at last to me, true that it could be a Gackt song but I don't mind at all lol

Still love BALLAD !

Don't look back is very new from her and works well.

Lady dynamite give you energy for a good moment, Sexy little things own a jazzy, charleston, vintage, whatever, feeling that I really enjoy, too bad she choose a cartoon voice to sing it *sigh*

Sunrise is the typical summer song you sing along without asking you too much and it does its job I guess.

meaning of love for the moment has no impact on me at all, should give it a try once more.
You were... blah I like it since its release, won't change now.
RED LINE is sweet and ok. Nothing more to say about this one.

No really my fav. is count down for the moment and since I listened it first = yesterday.

THE introduction beginning remind me Dir en grey intro in live o-O lol WTF the one they used for lives here and I don't like and would prefer G.D.S, until it changes totally and become very "british" with the drums. Dunno how to explain !

montage made me think : Interview with a vampire, then Sweeney Todd and then Emilie Autumn *rofl*

jump! remind me Kyo shouting at us jump!jump!jump! for the live at Zenith XD WTF with Dir en grey and this album ... I'm just so weird lol

Very short review of the one I did somewhere else.

[mi|kshake]

Finally got my copy last week, here's my thoughts so far:

The Introduction - mixed reviews on this one, so had no idea what I would think, but I really like it! Though vocals would have made it seem more Ayumi-ish. It would be great if it was made into a full length song.

Microphone - not as good as other "organ songs" like Kiss O Kill or Free & Easy but it's growing on me and I'm quite enjoying it now.

Countdown - love the guitar riffs and drums! And the piano does sound vaguely Silent Hill-y at the start.

Sunset - at first I found it rather dull and that it really ruined the flow. Now it's OK.

Ballad - it's not as good as Will or Green but it's a really nice tune. The instrumental sounds like a film score. Also was impressed by her vocals at the end and I love the PV

Last Links - this felt really new for Ayumi. Loved the strings! Hope she does some more songs like this but perhaps a bit more folky sounding. I remember one poster comparing her vocals here to Rainbow makes it sound like two completely different people. Gotta say I agree the "ooohs" at the end sound pretty weak and rough.

Montage - wow this has a sudden intro. Very dramatic, but fits the album name like The Introduction.

Don't Look Back - love! It's nice to hear an Indian sounding song which isn't just some R&B tune with a sample looping around. And the fact that it does feature indian instruments and wasn't just programming

Jump - didn't do much for me at first but now I love it!

Lady Dynamite - pretty generic but now I really enjoy it

Sexy Little Things - not sure if I quite "get" this song, but I do like the instrumental part after the first chorus. Will be interesting to hear live

Sunrise - pretty standard Ayumi but it's fun! Should be good on tour!

Meaning of Love - how does this go again? Possibly weaker then Sunset

You Were - not very memorable for me but has potential to grow

Red Line - love this song! Catchy melody and a great concert ender!

mi|kshake~

[AyuGAME]

Finally my copy arrived...here is my thoughts about it

THE introduction - very haunting, very old fashioned RPG background song...hmm...not her best and lack of climax, but still good (7/10)

Microphone - very powerful ROCK song... one of her best rock song...perfect, love the bridge and the ending part (10/10)

count down - the intro is so scary, hmm...start to have beat on it... love her voice so much, so powerful, love the first part of chorus, the interlude part is so cool, love the ending part (9/10)

Sunset~LOVE is ALL~ - hmm...kinda weird from rock to this song, the transition is kinda weird, but maybe ayu want from hard flowing to soft, so our ears can relaxing... nice song, i listened to this song before sleep (9/10)

BALLAD - flowing very nicely from sunset to this song... love the oriental ayu song... her voice on the chorus is so powerful, love..love..love the arrangement (10/10)

Last Links - love the guitar intro part, very emotional, love the string on the chorus, the verse is so nice, love the interlude, really good song for anime. I think it will be nicer is she overtuned it on the last chorus, so the emotion will be higher. Love the guitar on the ending part (9/10)

montage - another haunting interlude, like watching an old horror movie, remind me of tom n jerry, LOL... hmm...kinda weak, i don't know just weird... (6/10)

Don't look back - love the middle east style song, somehow remind me of my country music "dangdut", there is some dangdut feels on it, but more modern and more middle east, love the chorus, love the bridge and interlude. (10/10)

Jump! - love the beat, this is the last interlude right? i think this one is the best interlude, i like it, very energic (8/10)

Lady Dynamite - the song need to grow on me, but i love the techno arrangement, the verse part is more interesting for me than the chorus...too repetitive... (8/10)

[B]Sexy little things[B] - really interesting song, the swing touch is very unique and cute, but there is some dark touch on the song, her voice is so match with the song, very genius, the chorus is so addicting (10/10)

Sunrise~LOVE is ALL~ - nice transition from SLT to this song, very fun song and cheering up. But sometime a little bit too noisy and annoying. (9/10)

meaning of love - the intro part is so relaxing, the verse is relaxing as well, love the raw way of singing that she put for this song. Love the interlude, love this song..love..love..love (10/10)

You were... - love this song very much, really emotional (10/10)

RED LINE~for TA~(album version) - i never like this song that much, but the ending part is different, and yeah..its give a little more point for this song, i hope ayu will change this song for her concert ending, i prefer My All, who or meaning of love i think its suitable for concert ending (7/10)

Total : 8.8/10

overall : i think this album is better than guilty and next level, i can picture myself hear all song from this album. I skip some songs on guilty and next level, so i think this album is better than those two.

[Mirrorcle Monster]

It has finaly arrived with a photobook!!!!!!!!!

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by Heavenly Zerase

It has finaly arrived with a photobook!!!!!!!!!

YAY! How do you like the album?

[Mirrorcle Monster]

Originally Posted by jbrat2219

YAY! How do you like the album?

Let´s start:
The Introduction:-
Microphone:9,5
Countdown:9
Sunset:9
BALLAD:9,2
Last Links:9
Montage:-
Don´t Look Back:9,35
Jump!:-
Lady Dynamite:8,5
Sexy little Things:9,2
Sunsrise:8,75
meaning of Love:9,1
You Were...:9,75
RED LINE:7

OVERALL:9,3/10

[Rebirthia]

I wrote a review in Spanish, but I made it as if it were a tour in London, visiting the spots related to the making of the album (or that inspired to me) with a group that end up clubbing and more or less drunk (and I have to take care of them xD).
http://rebirthia.wordpress.com/2010/...-tourist-info/
If you understand Spanish, take a look at it please ^^

You can read a translated version of google here:
http://translate.google.com/translat...2F&sl=es&tl=en
(I've looked through it, it doesn't look too bad)

oh, well, to sum it up.... one of her best albums since (m)u, certainly... 8/10...
I do enjoy listenning this album. SLT things has been a very nice surprise, overall, this albums has surprised very positively... the only song i don't really like it's You were...

[AyusakiFan]

I'm a new Ayumi Hamasaki fan so I haven't heard much of her other works outside of Rock n Roll Circus yet (just got the CD+DVD+Photobook today!) but I really enjoyed the whole album. I bought it because I was under the impression that it was going to be more J-Rock than J-Pop but I am still very pleased with the album. I enjoyed every song but Microphone is my favorite. I would like to give it another listen so I can speak more on each single but I did want to share my thoughts first for my first time listen.

[Amrai-chan]

I just got my copy yesterday. I love it so far.

[ハート〜ブレーカ♥]

I'm sorry, but I'll be honest. I actually hate this album. Even more so than NEXT LEVEL. At least I liked the covers for that album. I just.. hate rock. I think Ayu's face in the covers was trying to look too young and unnatural too. But I didn't like the songs.

[Picaflor 7/4]

Originally Posted by ハート〜ブレーカ♥

I just.. hate rock.

well doesn't that suck? imo it seems like with every album, ayu moves farther and farther away from pop and more into just rock and ballads. imo that's all rnrc was. rock and ballads. it annoys me actually. but i think she has more ballads than anything else and she needs to slim that number down a lot. tired of hearing them.

[love in music]

Originally Posted by Picaflor 7/4

well doesn't that suck? imo it seems like with every album, ayu moves farther and farther away from pop and more into just rock and ballads. imo that's all rnrc was. rock and ballads. it annoys me actually. but i think she has more ballads than anything else and she needs to slim that number down a lot. tired of hearing them.

I wouldn't call Don't look back, RED LINE, Lady Dynamite, Sexy little things, and Sunrise rock or ballads.

[Picaflor 7/4]

Originally Posted by identity

I wouldn't call Don't look back, RED LINE, Lady Dynamite, Sexy little things, and Sunrise rock or ballads.

you don't. but i consider don't look back and red line ballads. a ballad doesn't have to be a slow, orchestrated, deeply emotional song. and ok yes, there are 1 or 2 non rock/ballad type songs, but over all there aren't enough rock songs to consider this album rock and roll, and there aren't enough goofy, crazy songs like slt to consider it a circus.

[love in music]

^ How about the many songs that weren't rock? Didn't feel those either?

[asmAyumi1992]

this is my review.

RnRC is not my most favorite album which I used to think I would. This is my third most favorite album after NL and GUILTY.

RnRC is kinda boring to me. But the messages are there. And I can feel how Ayu feel (at least is what I feel). The songs are not so amusing.

So far, I love Microphone, SLT, Lady Dynamite. The ballad songs like Sunset, BALLAD and YW... are my favorite too.

meaning of LOVE and RED LINE ~for TA~ are the most boring one. But I do feel what she wants to tell us. idk why, although they're the most boring one, but I always repeat the songs again and again.

The interlude, I never pay attention to that. But I think, Jump! is the best

That's all. Thank you

[nanakopy87]

i think i still need time to 'digest' her new album
i find that i don't like it as much as i thought.when i first listen to this album,i think it was great.but after listening to 14times(according to itune play counts XD),i find the songs are boring,except Don't Look Back,Lady Dynamite,you were... and Red Line.others are just so-so to me.sad to say that i didn't listen to this album since last month

[Ranma Matsuri]

I pretty much love everything about RnRC. The tour (which looks so awesome), the merchandise, the photoshoots... everything but the album sadly. LOL. I gave a more detailed review in the NL vs. RnRC thread but I'm too lazy to copy and paste so I'll just sum it all up and say:

--Too many ballads (I have no idea why she called this album Rock n Roll Circus when this is the least rock album she's done in years. I think she just liked the name lol O.O).

--Very few interesting tracks (Microphone, DLB, LD, and SLT being the only ones I still listen to).

--Weak and forgettable interludes

--Sunrise/Sunset... sometimes albums help me appreciate and even sometimes change my opinion of a single completely. I like Sunset a bit more but I still can't stand Sunrise so needless to say, this was not the case this time. XD

-- The album as a whole was just soooo boring. XD I can't stress this enough. Even more so than GUILTY which was my least favorite album until this one, lol.