I am... and (miss)understood are so over-rated imo, yes they have some gems but every album does

I think for I am... it just has a lot of her legendary tracks.

And for (m)u, it's just a higher concentration of gems than others.

Sometimes I wonder if people have truly researched the concept of "masterpiece." This is not meant to be insulting but is more of something I've noticed. It's not JUST your best work, it's the work that defines what your style is. I've been learning more and more about this from my art professors. Historically, a masterpiece was a work done by an apprentice, often times copying their master's work, to show that they had the skill level of a master. It wasn't just about it being their best work in all of their career but rather a piece that showed that they qualified to be a member of elite artist guilds.

In that context, I believe I am... is a masterpiece of hers because it set the stage for her grandeur. The efforts she took for this album I would think set the standard for her: she gained control over her music and her image, a huge factor for the rest of her career. I also feel like when I look back at her image beforehand and her image afterwards, she truly did break out of just the cute, girl-next-door idea, paving the way for who she is today.

Well, my point of view was just looking at the songs, I was not interpreting her situation at the moment when I was talking about (m)u and I am..., but tbh even if I look from this perspective, I see RAINBOW more as her masterpiece than I am...

Masterpiece =/= magnum opus IMO.

I think I see RAINBOW as her creative ethereality coming out but I am... was probably her "awakening".

To me though, M(A)DE IN JAPAN is a neo-awakening after a bit of a hibernation. We may be in for neo-RAINBOW next. I'm excited. She kinda sped through ASFXX and LOVEppears/Duty phase, lol.

reading everyone's thoughts on albums, i have to say i feel a little dumb, because i never really could tell what is what, some of them i never did listen in full at all lol it's like i nitpick the tracks that i enjoy and trash the rest xD MIJ and Party Queen is probably he only 2 packs of songs that i could call an album. To me they just sound like every song belongs there and nowhere else. I'm probably not making any sense, this whole thing makes me feel like a student amongst the professors of the university of Hamasaki Science lol

Well, this ideia of releasing albums that can be listen as a whole package is more common among artists that use their craft as a way of making more wholesome statements, as a 3~5mins song usually is not long enough for that. Ayu has been doing that with some of her albums at least since RAINBOW, with inconsistent success.

I think Ayu has only really had one or two albums in her career that really followed through a single consistent vibe. Otherwise she pulls from here and there allll the time. Partially it's the fault of making singles and also because she likes to give a taste of different things for all albums she does almost.

omg yes! I used to read that page for hours when I was bored :laugh

I believe RAINBOW, MY STORY, (miss)understood, Love Songs, Party Queen, LOVE again, A One and now MIJ all have a pretty clear aesthetic and thematic idea going through all of them.

RNRC have a closed concept IMO (I see it as a representation of her life, as itself was the rock n roll circus), but she tries to archieve that by making a uncohesive album on purpose.

But overall the seasonal singles killed the possibility of having a cohesive album most of the times.

I've been watching the Power of Music blu ray and I keep on being distracted by the ridiculous amount of make up Ayu has on. There's the glitter of course but especially the amount of lip gloss. She looks like Kiley Jenner. Or is it Kendal Jenner? I can never tell those 2 apart. It's a real shame because this concert is probably one of my faves. The new arrangement for most of the songs are very beautiful.

POWER of MUSIC was initially a lot more toned down.

Of the ones you listed, Party Queen is her only concept album to date and probably most 'personal' while Love songs is probably the only one that sticks to a VERY clear theme from start to finish. The rest usually have one or two glaring issues that don't fit. RAINBOW does come close of the rest though.

thank you so much for this!! :love

Rainbow is about the quest for happiness, she herself said so and the lyrics actually fit that. I can't not see Love songs, Party Queen and LOVE again about a triology about love, the first one being the idealized one (and there you get the "dreamy" sound of it), the second about deception with idealzied love through her divorce and third one about her forming her own view on what love is. Both Love songs and LOVE again are also pretty coherent sound wise. Both My Story and A ONE also follows the same aesthetic way the way through it, to the point of being really tiring on the case of the first IMO.

Having or not having a concept isn't what make a concept album because most of them do have some kind of concept (like Koda Kumi having concepts after sex-shop customes). A concept album is an album that tells a story from the begining to the end, that extensively explores one only subject or a sound aesthetic. On that sense, Party Queen is her only concept album (and maybe MIJ), but she tends to have strong concepts for her albums even so.

Yeah... I recall listening to MY STORY a few years ago and I would always fall asleep halfway through in the mornings on the bus... it's not that I wanted to, but it's just what happened, lol.

Relistening to A ONE...


THIS ALBUM IS AMAZINGINGGG

ughhhh I love relistening to albums.

A ONE + sixxxxxx + Winter diary + MADE IN JAPAN could potentially be the best double album in the history of everything. Like a gradient of Ayu-ness if organized correctly.

^^^ I actually made an A ONE + Sixxxxxx + MIJ hybrid. I wish she had released all three together, it would have been fricken amazing.

-Side A-
tasky
FLOWER
WARNING
Survivor
The Show Must Go On
NO FUTURE
Step by Step
Summer diary
Shape of love
Sayonara feat. SpeXial
Summer Love
Sky High
TODAY

-Side B-
a Bell
Walk
Mad World
Out of Control
Last Minute
Breakdown
Sorrows
Zutto...
You are the only one
The GIFT
Winter diary
Story
Mr. Darling
Anything for you

^ I might listen to this later!

Out of control is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

HONEY (LOVE CLASSICS ver) is so fun to listen to, i feel like this release went pretty unnoticed, maybe because they ~remixed~ songs that have already been remixed like 100 times