Secret ALBUM: Discussion

[Ayumiko]

After listening to the whole album, I like it alot...but I wouldnt say its her best album.

Pro:
1. I love all the album tracks. This must be the only album that I love all the album tracks. All the album tracks sounds refreshing to me. I hope she will head towards this direction in 2007. If she does, I think her sales will be better than 2006. I wouldnt say this is her best album but it would be her album with the best album tracks.
2. I love the 2 pvs so far...these are the pvs Ive been waiting for ayu to make for so long!! Definitely better than the single pvs.
3. Songs like momentum, JEWEL, it was, and Secret made me feel the old ayu is back...especially momentum. This album makes me feel there is a mix of old ayu and new ayu...I like it!
4. This is definitely a step up from m(u) from cover, booklets to the songs in the album. Im really glad she changed this to a full length. Even though I dont like the single tracks but if I take them away, I still have 7 tracks, 1 intro and 2 interludes to form my perfect Ayu Secret mini album.
5. I really like her voice in this album....from songs like until that day....to Secret! I really love the song Secret. I wish it had a pv. Hope she will perform it in the future

Con:
1. I really dont think the single tracks fit in the album...especially beautiful fighters...kinda ruined it for me. It would be nice if she put the cm version instead and take out the annoying sound effect thing.
2. I wish the album was longer....the only track that was over 5mins long was beautiful fighters...it would be nice if there are 1 or 2 more songs in the album to make up for the not so long tracks
3. I like how the music sounds and the way ayu sang the songs but the arrangement is nothing different. How should I say it...like there is no bridge thingy...it would be nice if some of the songs have some sort of climax

I will rate this album 8 out of 10...I didnt like the single tracks in the album. For me there wasnt a perfect ayu album that had nothing wrong with it. (ex. I am... with a different version of endless sorrow, my story with a bunch of ballads in the middle, (m)u with the ugly covers, lots of cover songs, etc.) but this album is a big improvement from the mistakes she made this year by releasing the single tracks. This album also gave me faith in ayu again as she is still capable of making good music and pvs. I hope this will also gain her more fans back that was lost earlier this year.

[explodingbird]

Originally Posted by //hikari

Its really quite annoying to constantly see people say that every single release is better than the last. That's not possible. Eventually an artist, writer, dancer, singer, whatever will put out something not so great. Stop with the biases.

Don't tell people what their opinions should be. I know you think you're superior to everyone else, but goddamn, this is big-headed even for YOU.

[Halla]

I was really surprised how good this new album is, my expectations weren't that high after the dissapointing m(u). the singles except JEWEL are the weakest songs on the album, all the new album tracks are really good

I'd personally would have rather had left 'Born to Be' & 'Beautiful Fighters' off the album only to remain as b-sides. it would have added some more collector value to the singles & improved the album since they really don't fit in with the rest of the tracks. but still , Secret is definitely a great album & an improvement over m(u)

Originally Posted by explodingbird

Don't tell people what their opinions should be. I know you think you're superior to everyone else, but goddamn, this is big-headed even for YOU.

It's a fact. Literally. Not everything can be perfect, and you're bias for believing so.

[ced69]

ayu is back! >_<
i love the album, its great, n yeah i liked m(u) too so screw u all =P
really... after a not so great arenatour 06 (imho) + the fact that shes makin a full album in that short peroid of time~ i didnt expect such a good album =3
(dont like jewel that much xD) but ya...its at my car@yesasia so...waitin til payday...

69

[immel]

If anyones, your view of the album would be the one I'm the most interested in, and curious about, Brian.

I get some hints from your post, but what do you actually think about it? Listen able?

Originally Posted by immel

If anyones, your view of the album would be the one I'm the most interested in, and curious about, Brian.

I get some hints from your post, but what do you actually think about it? Listen able?

Mind you my music tastes as of late are more ambient than Ayumi's current releases. So I tried listening without a bias.

I think this album is a lot more enjoyable than (miss)undersold. There were only a two tracks that stood out to me in (miss)undersold. Rainy Day & HEAVEN. The switches between genres was weak and poorly executed.

I believe she was more consistant in her release as well as album track selection this time around.

The song I feel that doesn't belong is Beautiful Fighter. I can't help but cringe when that track played. It didn't fit for me.

I thought LABYRINTH was a good interlude. It did remind me of the RAINBOW interlude from the album of the same name.

I do have to add this note. I believe she can do better. This album is by far not her best, but its stepping in the right direction if she wants to become a consistant artist again.

[immel]

Originally Posted by //hikari

Mind you my music tastes as of late are more ambient than Ayumi's current releases. So I tried listening without a bias.

I trust you on that, and that's why it's so very valuable. Your views are never failing to be interesting.

I think this album is a lot more enjoyable than (miss)undersold. There were only a two tracks that stood out to me in (miss)undersold. Rainy Day & HEAVEN. The switches between genres was weak and poorly executed.

To me (miss)understood does seem random. I was, and still am to an extent, a lover of that album although before the release of Secret there was a long time since I listened to anything Ayu, my musical taste prior to discovering her is quite different.

I believe she was more consistant in her release as well as album track selection this time around.

I got the very same feeling.

The song I feel that doesn't belong is Beautiful Fighter. I can't help but cringe when that track played. It didn't fit for me.

Beautiful Fighters should never have been invented in the first place.

I do have to add this note. I believe she can do better. This album is by far not her best, but its stepping in the right direction if she wants to become a consistant artist again.

I can't say I'd be unhappy if she'd do better.

[Raleigh]

Interesting to see an almost positive review from you. I must say you are right though. This album probably will put her back in track.

[alt.total-loser]

My mom greatly approves of Secret. ^___^ Which is very good since she's rather skeptical on music in general.

And I'm really starting to think this might take top spot over RAINBOW for me.

[oro77]

Originally Posted by meerkitty

My mom greatly approves of Secret. ^___^ Which is very good since she's rather skeptical on music in general.

And I'm really starting to think this might take top spot over RAINBOW for me.

lol strange.

The Secret album or track ? I think the album is too rock to be appreciated by my relatives.

I am also a bit afraid about Japan, Ayu is so famous for her ballads, I wonder if Secret will do well with so these tracks. I hope so ! It deserves to be sold to 1 million !

[alt.total-loser]

Like, the whole album. xD I like to share things with people I know~

I dunno about 1 million. o__o; I think it has a better chance than (miss)understood did, but I might just be biased.

[immel]

Considering family members accepting Secret, my little brother is a fan of Ayumi on and off (you just have to be a fan of whatever your big brother likes, right?). He, in contrast to me, actually put an Ayu poster up, one that I gave him. Heh.

I burned down a copy of Secret for him, he's been playing it for a long time. I believe he might like it, too.

[yaten]

Interesting thoughts...

Well I will start out by saying this is certainly not, by any stretch of the imagination, her best album. However, it does interestingly enough have some of her very best work.

The only songs of note to me are Not yet, until that Day..., and kiss o' kill.
Seeing as Not yet is more of an introduction than a song, when graded in that respect - it is certainly the best of its breed. The use of the dancey-techno beat is the best it can be, and should only be used the way it is on this track -- to bewilder and trap the listener. Completely destroys all other intros, Catcher in the light's got nothing on this one.

until that Day... is is so hard to classify, isn't? That 80s beat, that riff (that i think someone attributed to AC/DC) and the unrelenting chorus. The fact that the song is so cohesive and all over the place at once probably has a lot to do with CMJK having finished this as its own interlude before ayu came along and made it... well, what it is now. Excellent excellent track.

and kiss o' kill... as the penultimate song on the album, it certainly is the best. The dichotomy in the lyrics comes through in the varying composition and arrangement, not to mention the title itself. All-in-all, this song is very self contained. It has its own story to tell, and it is very unforgiving matter-of-fact ayu at her best. The wailing at the end is what really pushed this one from tied with until that Day... to over the top

JEWEL and momentum, actually, are very good songs too. JEWEL is silently beautiful, and leaves you wanting more. momentum is very much like M meets No way to say, dontcha think? However, I fear these songs are too unremarkable for them to be remembered very far down the line. I will retract this statement if the songs stick with me, of course ^^

Now for the not so positive...

It was? I'm sure ayu said this song was left over from (miss)understood, but it sure sounds like it was the weaker sibling of the whole Liar/HOPE or PAIN/HAPPY ENDING trio of MY STORY... and i really think it should have been left on the cutting room floor.
The interludes are perhaps her least stellar ever. LABRYNTH would be amazing if we hadn't already heard it on MY STORY, and taskinst is the worst interlude he's cranked out for ayu. ever.

1 LOVE probably had the most promise for me before i heard the whole album, but... uhm, no. I dare say this song is very deritive of koda kumi's ningyo hime (Which, to be comepletely fair, was a song completely deritive of Because of You). Granted, ayu owns this style of music, but her vocal technique at the end of the chorus is far too reminiscent of the kuu track for my liking. Aside from that, it is a decent song... just not all it could be.

Startin' / Born to Be... is a part of (miss)understood, and I don't care to hear otherwise. The songs were both recorded during the (miss)understood sessions, sung, mixed and completed in New York along with the rest of the album. That, and their prominence in her 2006 tour really makes them so detached from this album it's absurd to include them.

BLUE BIRD and Beautiful Fighters are OKAY songs, BLUE BIRD did completely capture that feeling of summer (If you happen to have a yacht and 10 or so physically perfect friends to spend it with) but it feels so out of place on this otherwise dark album. Same for Beautiful Fighters, which is again out of place... anyone else think of aqua when they hear this one?

The title track is so unremarkable that i literally have nothing to say about it.

-------

;-; i had too much to say

[immel]

Originally Posted by yaten

Interesting thoughts...

You must be talking about your own, because yes, they were .

Well I will start out by saying this is certainly not, by any stretch of the imagination, her best album. However, it does interestingly enough have some of her very best work.

This is an interesting line, to which I completely agree. I believe most people can interpret that line in their own way, but it fits my view of this album, too.

until that Day... is is so hard to classify, isn't? That 80s beat, that riff (that i think someone attributed to AC/DC) and the unrelenting chorus. The fact that the song is so cohesive and all over the place at once probably has a lot to do with CMJK having finished this as its own interlude before ayu came along and made it... well, what it is now. Excellent excellent track.

It's funny that a large amount of people around this board complained quite some about that the tracks of this album would sound rushed, because it was finished so late. Can't say I ever agreed on that viewpoint, but anyway, this is most certainly one of the tracks she finished last, the same goes for kiss o' kill. And great they are.

and kiss o' kill... as the penultimate song on the album, it certainly is the best. The dichotomy in the lyrics comes through in the varying composition and arrangement, not to mention the title itself. All-in-all, this song is very self contained. It has its own story to tell, and it is very unforgiving matter-of-fact ayu at her best. The wailing at the end is what really pushed this one from tied with until that Day... to over the top

Good way of putting it.

1 LOVE probably had the most promise for me before i heard the whole album, but... uhm, no. I dare say this song is very deritive of koda kumi's ??? (Which, to be comepletely fair, was a song completely deritive of Because of You). Granted, ayu owns this style of music, but her vocal technique at the end of the chorus is far too reminiscent of the kuu track for my liking. Aside from that, it is a decent song... just not all it could be.

I doubt it'd make any difference to my liking of the song, but sometimes I feel slightly happy that I've never listened to Koda, or any other jpop artist.

Same for Beautiful Fighters, which is again out of place... anyone else think of aqua when they hear this one?

Now that you say it, I'm just smiling. Yeah, it is slightly reminiscent of the sugary beat-pop that Aqua pushed out tons of back then.

;-; i had too much to say

At least I'm happy .

[SheFliesHigher]

Originally Posted by yaten

1 LOVE probably had the most promise for me before i heard the whole album, but... uhm, no. I dare say this song is very deritive of koda kumi's ningyo hime (Which, to be comepletely fair, was a song completely deritive of Because of You). Granted, ayu owns this style of music, but her vocal technique at the end of the chorus is far too reminiscent of the kuu track for my liking. Aside from that, it is a decent song... just not all it could be.

Ayu's voice sounds so much like Kuu's at the beginning of the song, it's kinda scary. Remember how people used to say Ayu sounded like Namie Amuro in "Real Me"?

Her voice and the style of the song "Momentum" remind me of ZONE, if anyone knows them.

[Coelacanth]

Well, I still haven't had enough time to absorb the album, but I think it's excellent. Rather than a huge stuctured review, I'm just going to list some strong and weak points about the album.

+ Vocals; refreshing and well-delivered (Notably Secret, 1 LOVE, and until that Day...)
+ Arrangements; interesting. (kiss o' kill, Not yet, It was)
+ Album flow.
+ Interludes are very good.
+ I think the effort put into this album was of a much higher magnitude than some previous.
+ Catchy songs and melodies.
+ Great use of sound effects in the songs

- HAL arranging momentum.
- The lyrical content as a whole. I know 'the recycled lyrics' complaint gets thrown around sometimes, and I understand she may be quoting past lyrics, but I just feel the lyrics don't fit the sound of this album. As she's venturing into new sounds, I think she should also loosen up and try to venture into lyrical content that is more unfamiliar to her. I think she should add more unusual words and ideas into her songs, as well as throw in some proper names and places, and maybe make the songs have more of a storyline. She's just too damn indirect sometimes, and she goes from one idea to another and I'm not understanding why. I love the lyrics in 'Secret' though.
- Mediocre instrumental bridges / guitar solos (drowned out?)
- No vocal bridges in the entire album... (This is actually what I thought was great about (m)u. rainy day, Beautiful Day, Pride, B&D - excellent transitions to the final chorus)
- I felt some of the songs ended a bit abruptly.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

- HAL arranging momentum.
- The lyrical content as a whole. I know 'the recycled lyrics' complaint gets thrown around sometimes, and I understand she may be quoting past lyrics, but I just feel the lyrics don't fit the sound of this album. As she's venturing into new sounds, I think she should also loosen up and try to venture into lyrical content that is more unfamiliar to her. I think she should add more unusual words and ideas into her songs, as well as throw in some proper names and places, and maybe make the songs have more of a storyline. She's just too damn indirect sometimes, and she goes from one idea to another and I'm not understanding why. I love the lyrics in 'Secret' though.
- Mediocre instrumental bridges / guitar solos (drowned out?)
- No vocal bridges in the entire album... (This is actually what I thought was great about (m)u. rainy day, Beautiful Day, Pride, B&D - excellent transitions to the final chorus)
- I felt some of the songs ended a bit abruptly.

Well, we should keep in mind that she wrote many of the album tracks in a day... [two or three a day, even!]~ a little after the mini-album announcement, she suddenly had an 'urge' to write.. and songs just came out. At least, that's what the interview tells me, and she probably just wrote from what she was feeling at the time using words familiar to her.


Was there something bad about HAL arranging momentum?

[Coelacanth]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Well, we should keep in mind that she wrote many of the album tracks in a day... [two or three a day, even!]~ a little after the mini-album announcement, she suddenly had an 'urge' to write.. and songs just came out. At least, that's what the interview tells me, and she probably just wrote from what she was feeling at the time using words familiar to her.


Was there something bad about HAL arranging momentum?

That's true, and she and her whole staff did a very good job in that amount of time. However, I think if given more time, she could have made the songs even more excellent than they are now.

The song is alright for me. I would have just preferred the song maybe in tasuku's or CMJK's hands.

[truehappiness]

I wonder if there would've been a more acoustic sound with tasuku at the helm..

I mean, most of his work is some of Ayu's best arranged.. [he composed fairyland and CMJK or someone arranged, so that doesn't count.. OMG ACOUSTIC FAIRYLAND -drool-]~