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#1
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The NEXT LEVEL era concepts analysis thread!
Overall guide-lines:
-The intention of this thread is discussing the concepts of Ayu's several releases, analysing the lyrics, the music, the visual, the videos and the tour concept. -Everyone's insights about the concept of an era is welcome! -Please, let's avoid the "this era rocked"/"this era sucked" stuff. -And remember, when it's about the interpretation of a creative work, there's no right and wrong, just different impressions. Offenses towards another member discussing the subject will be reported. Other Threads: GUILTY Rock’n’Roll Circus Love Songs FIVE Party Queen LOVE again Colours A one M(A)DE IN JAPAN NEXT LEVEL (you can download it here) 1. Bridge to the sky 2. NEXT LEVEL 3. Disco-munication 4. EnergizE 5. Sparkle 6. rollin' 7. GREEN 8. Load of the SHUGYO 9. identity 10. Rule 11. LOVE 'n' HATE 12. Pieces of SEVEN 13. Days 14. Curtain call NEXT LEVEL was Ayu's 10th studio album, released in 2009 after a turbulent 10th anniversary year. Unlike Guilty, it's predecessor, the album wasn't as dark and had a lot of influences of the electropop trend from 2008-2010 and of 8-bit sound. It's biggest hits were Days, considered by many as Ayu's last classic single, and Rule, the theme-song for the atrocious Hollywood adaptation of Dragon Ball. LYRICS (from here, but you can also get another take on here) Bridge to the sky Spoiler:
NEXT LEVEL Spoiler:
EnergizE Spoiler:
Sparkle Spoiler:
rollin' Spoiler:
GREEN Spoiler:
identity Spoiler:
Rule Spoiler:
LOVE 'n' HATE Spoiler:
Days Spoiler:
Curtain call Spoiler:
BOOKLET (from here) Spoiler:
PV's Spoiler:
ARENA TOUR 2009 A ~NEXT LEVEL~ (you can download it here) Last edited by Andrenekoi; 8th August 2018 at 03:44 PM. |
#2
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Thank you for making the Thread! I'm really stocked to find out and reveal what ayu and her team thought (or close to it) when they made it.
We shouldn't forget the interludes as well! =) |
#3
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I hope this series of threads mark a new era for AHS where new fans are being attracted.
My analysis of NL lyrics: rollin' - ayu's awareness towards younger generation who live in an ever-changing world ("The world turns /At the speed of rebirth"), surrounded by superficial conception and tempted by a lot of "desires" ("Despair and desire are coming in waves" - this may refer to addictions: drugs, alchool, sex). We are truly afraid to try changing the sick mentality but we pretend to try (Rather than talking about ideals /I pretend to stop /The dangerous flow). Essence starts to reveal itself from the surface : all of us want more and more, to build more, to see more, to hear more, to have more (we start to become alienated) but at the end we realise that we are left with nothing but our own bare hands, that all those things we think we "own" are without importance. We finally find out that we lost precious time, precious moments (What the hell /Did we waste all this time for? /The moment I start wondering /It all become so much garbage ) The world itself is a trap, especially in the 21st century. We evolved really fast in so many areas but at the same time the lack in communication and understanding between people will bring our downfall. Conclusion - a worldly-type of message. I'll update later Last edited by Surreal17; 4th July 2014 at 11:36 PM. |
#4
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rollin' is definitely the best in terms of lyrics for the album.
I mentioned this 5 (WOW) years ago when the album just came out, about the "link" from LOVE 'n' HATE - Pieces of SEVEN - Days 1) in LOVE 'n' HATE she counted down "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0" symbolizing the 7 years she had with Nagase Tomoya before it went down 2) the Pieces of SEVEN interlude is well "pieces" of 7 years together, all leading to... 3) Days. could be general lyrics, or what she felt when she first saw him, then in the PV we get some hints like the clock (I haven't watched it in a long time but the 2nd part when she discovered ShuYa had a gf it was 07 00 I think)... EDIT: sorry it was 06 00 at the beginning, and 08 00 at the end. the missing hour is 07 00. again symbolic of her 7 years. at 06 00 (the 6th year) she was happy, in love and blissful. at 08 00 (the 8th year) she was depressed, crying, supported by friends (fans?).
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YAYAYAYA GAGAGAGA DADADADA WOWOWOWO Last edited by waterballoon; 5th July 2014 at 02:03 PM. |
#5
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@Surreal17
rollin' is my favorite song from the album, and I really loved your take on it! So, the technology savy youth talk (or sing) like robots? Troll Ayu <3 @waterballoon Never had noticed that! So, about NEXT LEVEL... I always found it odd that such an up-beat album had TVs as the main visual theme (I mean, even the color pallet for the album is based on the color bars test, mainly because if I learned something from Ayu, is that everytime she uses TVs as a visual theme, shit gets dark, or weird, or both. Not only she is posing with what may be the most recurrent symbol she links with bad stuff, those TVs are wrecked, they all have messed up colors and granuled images... Those messed-up-TV effects are repeated during the whole booklet, whose colors are getting darker until it's end with only static TVs. NEXT LEVEL was released right after GUILTY, a very dark album released during a very complicated time (end of relationship, death of friend, deafness, complicated career moment, harder challenges), and when we take a look at the NEXT LEVEL tracklist, even the songs are rather dark, aren't they? I mean... Sparkle, rollin', identity and Love'n'Hate are pretty dark songs sound-wise IMO, even if Rule is not as dark, it's far more agressive than what her releases tended to be at the time (the same applies to Sparkle) and GREEN and Days and Curtain call are all very bittersweet. So, even if it's her electropop colourful album, we end up with 2 happy songs... What is less than what we have in Secret, (miss)understood, MY STORY, RAINBOW, Love songs and Rock'n'Roll Circus, haha! I also find it interesting that Curtain call lyrics are basically she thanking her fandom for giving her strenght. Noidea commented once she was posing with wrecked TVs like she was one of them, another wrecked entertaiment media... I though his take on it was pretty interesting. Last edited by Andrenekoi; 5th July 2014 at 02:45 AM. |
#6
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@waterballoon - nice finding!
@Andrenekoi - never noticed the gradation of the tv's colours! I always loved the rollin' - GREEN (the transition point) - Load of the SHUGYO part because it covers the two main parts of the album (electropop/8bit from track 1-6 and rock section from 8-12). In the first section (electronica section), ayu tries to say that we should take action to obtain what we want (in NEXT LEVEL - "When we feel the breeze Let's squeeze each other's hands/ We don't need/ A lot of words", in EnergizE - "It doesn't matter if there's no guarantee that it'll be okay /Just nod and agree /Cause that's our courage", in Sparkle - "If you just look, nothing'll ever happen /You'll never get it /Are you just gonne stand there /Biting your nails forever?". The light musical choice (electropop, 8bit) fits perfectly the note of optimism of starting something new. GREEN marks the transition point, the doubt, the insecurity of starting a new way - "Why is it so difficult /For people to follow their hearts? ". The traditional vibe of the song - a quiet, meditative place in which we start thinking if it's good to take a new path or not. The second section of the album (the rock section) is the place in which we are determined to take action and this is exactly what we are going to do. It's natural that every courage comes with fear but it's time for a change - in Identity - "I persistently and earnestly face things head on / That's my ID ID (oh) ID ID (oh oh oh)/ I don't handily agree to everything / That's my ID ID (oh) ID ID (oh oh oh) / It's not important how I want people to think of me / What I want is to protect how I want to be ", in Rule - "We don't need rules / That someone else made up / 'Cause we are the rules / And we won't stand down ", in LOVE 'n' HATE - "And I don't want (you) to hate me / So I decided to leave". The final section (the ballads) is made by tracks 13 & 14. The conclusion of the whole idea with a bit of nostalgy in Days for the old good days - "I miss you, I miss you / So I call you for no reason / Just to hear your voice" and with ayu thanking the fans in Curtain Call for supporting her in this long, long journey - "To you, my beloved / I send a love song from my heart". Last edited by Surreal17; 5th July 2014 at 08:52 AM. |
#7
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This thread
My take on the covers - It's important to mention that except for the color scheme, the covers has ayu with all versions of TVs from oldest box to modern LCD TV. I think that it might symbolize the advancement through the years of ayu and every aspect of her work. I wonder if there is a slight difference between what each cover conveys, if it's generally the same message. |
#8
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I think how she's also out of the TVs as an actual being states her "surpassing" traditional media into the "next level" media (digital etc).. her acknowledging that physical sales are a thing of the past, digital downloads/recochoku are the "in" thing and a digital/online life is what we have
Proved by Days being a wild success in downloads, and her getting very active on Twitter from about 2009 onward.
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YAYAYAYA GAGAGAGA DADADADA WOWOWOWO |
#9
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Regarding covers - ayu's wearing all those extravagant colors to give a futuristic edge to the visuals of the albums. Like she also said in an interview, she wants to try new things because the unknown is what makes life so entertaining.
The futuristic theme is also continued in Arena Tour 2009, the accompanying tour of the album with 3D effects, lasers, funky costumes etc. So, she tried to speed things up a little by entering the trends of the time (electropop, digital era like waterballon also mentioned etc.) mash-uped with her own unique style and the result became NEXT LEVEL - an album intended more towards the youthful generation and her first truly electronic-vibe album. I loved how she managed to show 'teasers' from all the album sections through the singles (Days/GREEN - ballad & transition song ; Rule/Sparkle - rock & electronica). Also, how she tried to keep the main style of the album (the techno/electro one) even through the singles. e.g. - techno - Rule (Remo-con _tech dance_ remix) / Rule (80kidz's _No More Rule_ mix) 8bit - Days (8-bits of tears YMCK remix) Last edited by Surreal17; 5th July 2014 at 03:07 PM. |
#10
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Quote:
gonna disagree a little here I think LOVEppears was her first electro-pop album. I am... had a bit of the electro sound in it, and RAINBOW brought it to a more ethereal trip-hop feel (reminiscent of Madonna's Ray of Light)
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YAYAYAYA GAGAGAGA DADADADA WOWOWOWO |
#11
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After writing about NEXT LEVEL covers being darker than it seens at first, I decided to check on the ultimate source to know if an Ayu piece of work was meant to be positive or negative!
About the overall concept and sound: It's very interesting that when Ayu decides to jump on the electropop train, she does that by taking a very japanese take on it, the 8-bit. The album's title + the art + the arrangment of some tracks + the concert gives it all a strong video-game feeling. About the tracks themselves: A lot of people complained about rollin' being followed by GREEN, saying this ruined the flow, but I loved how the song about the need of change on our fast times and (as Surreal17 said) how overwhelming technology can be being followed by the most organic song on the album besides its closing track. Does anybody else feels like the opening to AT09 is Ayu coming out of the TV to perform live for the audience? Last edited by Andrenekoi; 5th July 2014 at 04:14 PM. |
#12
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This thread is so interesting, I had never noticed the Nagase hints waterballoon mentioned!
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Last edited by pimenta; 7th July 2014 at 03:42 PM. |
#13
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Quote:
I like reading analysis! I am myself pretty bad with interpreting lyrics and PVs tho, these analysis helps me a lot and I absolutely feel the amazingness of Ayu more than ever!
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#14
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I love this album! There are a lot of themes I pick up on when I listen to it, they'll probably seem pretty obvious but I shall list them anyways! XD
colour this clearly is ayu's most vibrant and colourful looking album! the entire photo-shoot from this album is very bright and colourful, the box that the CDs come in are even coloured! how awesome is that! electricity whereas I would identify GUILTY as having a very 'gritty' theme, NEXT LEVEL, for me at least, has a very electric theme! Listening to songs like EnergizE, Sparkle and rollin' (and interludes like Disco-munication) there are a lot of sparks and digital bursts and other electronic/digital sounds (especially in Sparkle, it really should be called SPARK I feel haha!) if you check out the album art inside the booklet you will also see ayu with wires attached to her arms/hands, her hair is very frizzy in every picture (shocker! ) and the title of the album itself is wrote in a very digital-looking text...also she poses next to a lot of digital screens! also the album (particularly the songs mentioned) features quite a bit of auto-tune, giving it that further robotic feel. GREEN I always associate the colour green with this album, I have the CD-only version so my box is green and the booklet itself with the 'a' logo on it is green...and then of course there is the amazing song GREEN, other people who have the red/blue/yellow box may not agree with me on this. (random I know but i'd count this as a 'theme' lol) seven/7 the number seven seems to crop up a lot too, she counts to 7 in the song LOVE 'n' HATE and there is an interlude 'Pieces of SEVEN' it seems she wants us to recognise this number, some think it's symbolising the number of years she was in a relationship but I don't know about this. overall the album is brill! it's one of my favourites, from the light j-pop DAI songs, to the electronic feel, to the extraordinary and cultural GREEN and Load of the SHUGYO, to the awesome j-rock sounds I adore, to the lovely ending ballads! a wonderful album and great themes! <3 |
#15
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Quote:
I sometimes find myself thinking that NEXT LEVEL is LOVEppears (excepting the overwhelming nostalgy) Upgraded Ver. in terms of sounding. @Andrenekoi: Agree about the video games theme. I fact, it's being used in quite a few songs such as Dis-comunication, EnergizE, rollin', Pieces of Seven and also in fragments such as the intros of Sparkle, Load of the SHUGYO, Identity & LOVE 'n' HATE. I just noticed something while listening to the album today. Sparkle, rollin', Identity & LOVE 'n' HATE all have a short intro that somehow isn't related to the rest of the song. And coincidence or not, these songs have the most clear and powerful messages from the entire album. @J0nB0yH88: love the electricity idea Last edited by Surreal17; 5th July 2014 at 05:06 PM. |
#16
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I actually never noticed that a lot of songs from the album has 8 bit games music going on or games music in general. Actually, even Days has it at the beginning (the synth before the strong part starts).
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#17
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Beside all the messages and images that ayu is trying to convey with this album, she's also portraying a fierce woman with a sexy & provocative image.
For reference, we have the Sparkle PV + Lyrics ("Let your body feel it/ Be bolder To the point of shamelessness /You'll never know unless you touch") , GREEN PV (that sensual dancing with the woman and all those provocative hey-I'm-watching-you scenes), identity from Arena Tour 2009 (ayu is flirting with SHU-YA), also LOVE'n'HATE from Arena Tour 2009 (ayu surrounded by men, even if she mostly has a rejection attitude) and even Rule PV (ayu's moves, clothes and her overall look). Load of the SHUGYO Special Screen from AT 2009 can also be interpreted as being sexual with all those men being held hostages by some women, with ayu trying to help them escape. Let's not forget about the booklet ( e.g. Dis-comunication page reminds me of Sparkle PV with the tight costume & violet shiny cap ayu's wearing, and also her position) which again shows ayu in a sexy mood. So, looking from this angle, NEXT LEVEL may signify ayu's change towards a more sexualised image (although she started using elements since 1999). Last edited by Surreal17; 6th July 2014 at 08:47 AM. |
#18
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Which kinda makes me wonder if her use of sexiness itself has its own meaning - the 1 LOVE video was before this era, but it could be a prelude to this. I'm wondering if her use of sexiness is a comment on image manipulation, male gaze/audience gaze, being vulnerable in the public eye etc. as much as it is a comment on just plain sexiness?
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Twitter: @deliriumzer0 Ayumi Hamasaki Song-A-Day 2015 (new ayu wiki site thing, work in progress, don't click yet) |
#19
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Quote:
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#20
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I think you're on to something there! I think she's always been sorta insecure about how much of herself she shows to the public (not just physically, but personally & emotionally as well), which would corroborate both ideas - that the sexiness is basically a show of self-acceptance, so she's okay with being vulnerable in front of the cameras.
Looking back at this thread, I never really realized how consistent her use of TVs has been. It's similar to her use of clowns over the years, I think, as sort of representative of her career... where clowns are more a symbol for the industry & its executives, the TVs are more a symbol of the Hamasaki Ayumi product & image.
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Twitter: @deliriumzer0 Ayumi Hamasaki Song-A-Day 2015 (new ayu wiki site thing, work in progress, don't click yet) |
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