MY STORY had only recently come out when I was getting into Ayu - it stands to me as one of her masterpieces just because of how it made me feel and how I appreciated her lyrics at that time in my life. It really is her STORY. Humming 7/4 kind of kills the ending but it's still a fantastic album.

I miss the release of m(u) when I stayed up for over 24 hours spazzing with people here waiting for an early leak or something on the release day.....back when we didn't get leaked copies or even TV news or previews hahahaha

^ For some reasons I believe winding road wouldn't have been enough to close the album properly.
So yeah, for me Humming 7/4 is in the right place! :P
Aw~ my MY STORY. So flawless and beautiful.
It's always a pleasure to listen to it from the beginning to the end~ ♥

^ Aah true that - I wonder just what would be the most perfect album close would be?

I love Curtain Call - that PV made me tear up and not many PVs ever made me do that!

Endless Sorrow and RAINBOW did it to me. Sweet Season does as well a bit :)

Memorial Address was about to be released when I became a fan... so it was perfect...
My story was so far away from what she had previously done I was so disappointed. lol

I still find it one of her weaker albums, but its not the weakest by far anymore.

^^
Oh my.. now that you mention it, I've always thought Sweet Season was such a peaceful PV, but I only saw the first minutes on the official youtube channel.
I've recently watched it, completely.. I was shocked! :thud

I really like Humming 7/4 because it ends the album on a high and energetic note. I actually prefer that, and am sad that alot of her albums end in ballads. Honestly, listening to MY STORY album in full is a drag, but that song made it bearable.

Anyone else like independent+ as the album closer?
I. EFFIN'. DO.

^ I do like it XD
Energetic songs like Humming and independent+ make me think we're not done yet! :laugh

There's a possibility Ayu will be going to London again soon, Timmy tweeted that he's going to London in the Autumn. As we know Ayu and Timmy are joined at the hip and always go overseas together, so..

My favourite 'end song' is actually Secret.

I cannot describe my love for that song. It's just so...beautiful in an understated way.

I do like rainy day, girlish and + too.

^
i really love Secret live at AT07! watch it and never get bored of it, every princess-like movement that ayu did during the performance made it more epic and dramatci! so moving <3

dying to see she perfroms it again but i dont think so...

Humming 7/4 is still my least favorite song by her, and one of the most annoying songs i've ever heard. I appreciate that she wanted to end the album in a (much too late) energetic way, but all it does is giving me a headache.

I agree about the album being extremely boring, yet having quite a lot of gems. Moments, Carols, Walking Proud, Winding Road, GAME, About You etc. are all amazing tracks on their own, but together they sound so bland. I think it's the album she has with the most filler, i keep forgetting half of the songs. It's in my opinion a very "by the book" J-Pop album, 4-5 great songs and then a lot of samey, typical ballads. It's missing that magic all her other albums somehow convey, even albums like Party Queen and Love Again which i hardly like has it hidden somewhere. However i think my biggest problem with it is, that pretty much all of the songs are weaker versions of songs she's already released or released a couple of years later. They just don't stand out at all in my opinion.

But I love singles so much, nooooooo lol!

I think my issue with MY STORY is that I never understood it. With all the others albums of Ayu I kind of feel like I know what she wanted to share and say, and that was because of the album construction too. But MY STORY is a riddle, today as well, just like before. It feels so good, but I don't get what she conveyed in it, because it most definitely isn't just a bunch of songs united together (lol, FIVE anyone?). There's a logic, but it's a mystery to me.
On the contrary, I can listen to Love Songs all at once 'cause, even if it's all the same sounds over and over, there's a pattern I can follow. The beautiful thing about Ayu albums it's they almost never are a collection of songs or singles, they're a story, gorgeously told, about Ayu and her mind at a certain time.

My favorite album closer is Memorial address (take 2 version) <3 But I like Present (did you guys know she had a track titled that!?) and rainy day as well.

^MA must be my fave too.

I also love Secret, i think that song is so underated.

Ahh~ I love Present as an album closer. Same with rainy day. I also enjoy + and flower garden.

I usually agree with the position of album closers and I already like most of the songs. For most of her albums at least.

MY STORY drags on way too long in the same drab and dull fashion. I would have cut it down into a mini album released six months after Memorial Address or something.

Maybe we wouldn't know about them but it would be kinda bad if a lot of MY STORY album only tracks weren't released. It has 4 single songs so it means we would get 2-3 more tracks and that's all. I could somehow live without windind road but that's all lol

So, I just watched HOTEL LOVE SONGS.

HOLY ****.
The bit in Party Queen where the music goes all eerie and melancholy, and Ayu goes, "I am the lonely queen," is legit scary!

^ I actually liked that part XD

Yeah, it's got some great songs, but as an album, it just seems to go on...

(I also feel this way about I Am)