For all of the constant criticisms of Ayu's work it's easy to forget that her last really weak album was Love songs. Everything from Party Queen onwards (including A One, if the single + previews are anything to go by) has been rock solid.

Yeah, but the songs don't all have to sound the same to form a cohesive album (imo). They just have to all work together as a collective. Party Queen, (miss)understood, Secret etc. all feel cohesive within themselves despite having a pretty wide array of styles. This just feels like a hodgepodge of random tracks she selected and decided to throw together lol.

But then, for me, the LEAST cohesive albums are usually the ones where everything sounds really similar and then the cohesion is thrown off by a couple random tracks that don't fit in. Like, LOVE again having Wake me up and a couple other weirdos, or Love songs with all the non-TK songs that were produced TOTALLY differently and sounded super awkward on the album lol.

I think in part this album's problem isn't just a lack of cohesion, it's that it feels like an assortment of songs that don't even FORM an album. It's like Colours really. As much as I love everything on Colours (save for Pray ugh), it doesn't really work as an album. Except at least Colours was for the most part consistent in style. This is just... all over the place xD

I really hope you're kidding lol

It just seems weird to me that you'd think LOVE again is stronger than Love songs

You are right!!!!!! It sounds so much like 楓!!

I am in complete agreement with you!

This album as a whole will probably sound like Rock n Roll circus - all over the place. But I'm perfectly okay with that. I'm just glad she can still pull off these rock songs. And well for The GIFT, I'm not yet fond of it. These sound like typical weak ballads to me (unless the lyrics are super great or something, then I'd reconsider). My favorite is definitely WARNING.

I'm just wondering if the lyrics will be good or naw. Like if they're going to be different or the same/similar to Love Again onward. But well again I'm glad there's rock songs my god thank you so much. NOW & 4EVER was such a disappointment for a rock song.

i haven't even check out the preview....but I think I will hold until the album release! wish me luck!!!

Lyrics seem to be good so far. Not Zutto-y from what I can see.

I wonder if The GIFT will have an incredible bridge or something. I can see it building up to that. C-Pop tends to have good bridges anyway...

The Show Must Go On is like You & Me + snowy kiss to me. And as epic as the song is, it really does seem like the theme song for her tour. Does the pre-chorus refer to a-nation and the tour leading up to it?

What?!:shakehead

I also think the same, the problem I have is with the how the melody goes, Granted, her choice of where the melody goes is at times weird, questionable, typical JPop but imo NOW&4EVA's is just falls flat.

The preview so far sounds great imo, yes it's not as cohesive like MY STORY or Love songs, but it's nice. It'll be like Rock'n'Roll Circus, like someone said. And I don't mind that, it's better than LOVE again for me.

I am a bit indifferent towards the previews. Whether you liked Colours or not, it sounded new. At least for an album in the Ayu discography. But every A ONE preview is a big deja vu. They are bearable, but not blowing away. So.

WARNING: Agree to artcika this is basically Lady Dynamite pt 2. Haven't listen to that song for ages, so I hope the full track of WARNING can bring me back into the mood. Pretty sure the ugly "bdsm" - I do not even want to call - "costumes" (seriously who dressed these people) are for this PV. But, even though I am not excited to see the video, I pray Ayu can turn me on with the song only.
The GIFT: has the most confusing melody ever. It sounds allright, but oh... did I just listen to a chorus? At least this one reminded me of nothing. So, okay, I guess it need to grow on us over time.
NO FUTURE: Also a confusing melody, but less than The GIFT. It's nice though. Reminds me a bit of Naturally or so. No wait it reminded me of something else but I forgot...
Out Of Control: Middle-part Party Queen style, welcome back Call, Letter and Tell me why. When I read the titles here before I gave them a listen, I really thought this one would be rockin' or electro pop. Turns out my expectations were wrong, but whatever.
Show Must Go On: Yep this one is snowy kiss allright. I dislike this preview,, allthough the calm verse was a relievement.
Story: Nice ballad, nice arrangement, nice melody I hear so far. Just nice. Yup nice.

So yeah, I think these songs plus the Zutto single are nice together, but it sounds a bit overdone.
Still care for the full release though. My interest is not gone completely.

^ Those comments make it sound like N&4E failed because it was 'meant' to be a rock song and didn't live up to that. Not sure what sort of song it's 'meant' to be but it's definitely one that I enjoyed thoroughly. My only gripe with it was the fact that it sounded slightly out of place as an album closer.

And yes, Love again is CLEARLY a better all round album than Love songs for me, even if certain individual tracks off LS were slightly better than some off LA. At least a third of the tracks on LS are on my list of least favourite Ayu songs ever.

NOW & 4EVA is more of an 'anthem pop rock' track IMO. I love the bridge.

YES, THIS! Thank god I wasn't the only one who found it very I've-esque. The arrangement is like straight out of C.G mix's playbook... but with budget, lol. The melody is way more Ayu, but still reminds me of I've a little. I can even name the I've song this preview makes me think of: EMPTY by MELL. I can almost hear MELL going "I'm empty~" at some spots in the pre-chorus.

NO FUTURE is my favourite out of the previews. Aside from that, I mostly like the previews though I have to say The GIFT sounds super dry and corny, and jfc the yay-yay-yay's at the end of The Show Must Go On's chorus sound shrill.

why is everyone so obsessed with cohesivness, doesn't it feel like you're listening to ONE HUGE track? Because that's how Love songs and LOVE again sonded like to me (don't even get me started on Colours lol). Probably the reason why i enjoyed them for like a week and then got borred really quickly, cuz they just don't excite you in any way. I dunno i mean i look at albums as a sort of a perspective of feelings and emotions of an artist over a certain period of time, unless they do it for a specific project. To me it also seems a little too polished when everything sounds very smooth, like i start questioning the artists creativity then. Unless, of course they were in the same mood for a few months, then it's a whole other story lol
To me a good album is something where more than 8 tracks could stand on their own as a story after story and not something that that one song u take out on it's own, looses the character and any sense of what's going on there because they need the rest to continue the telling. i take it more like a book of a collection of different stories that are bound just by a period of time rather than a common theme. i'm not into stuff that takes 15 chapters to tell ONE story. lol And these so far to me sound like they coukd stand each as their own without the rest.

If you think of Party Queen as a concept record, sure. It follows this progression after the end of a relationship. From the party phase where she feels so happy to be free and single (Party Queen, NaNaNa, Shake It<3) then into confusion and anger (call, Letter, reminds me), then to sadness (reminds me, Return Road, Tell me why), then avoiding the things she normally does to give herself time to heal and learn to move on (the next LOVE, Eyes, Smoke, Magic) and then ends on a reflective song that sounds like Ayu but still somehow different (how beautiful you are). But that's about it. It's starkly incohesive if the concept wasn't there to hold the record together.

Still, when you think about it, it's a brilliant concept to follow Ls with.

I will argue that Ls is a more cohesive record than PQ. The songs share some variety, but it's Ayu's sound. Every song on there is about love in some way. Whether it's songs like Love Song, Sending Mail, Last angel, blossom, Sweet Season, November, and Virgin Road which talk about loving someone specific... or it's MOON, which was written after Ayu's pet passed away... or it's Thank U, about her fans. I think Ls was better compiled, though I wish the interludes didn't sound so cheap.

I hate to argue that sales are a good indicator of good albums, but if you look at Ls to RnRC's sales, it sold about 17% less than RnRC overall. PQ to Ls, PQ sold about 47% less. LOVE again sold 40% less than PQ. and Colours sold about 40% less than LOVE again. So, while I think a huge huge part of this is lack of promotion and a number of other factors, I think PQ and everything since PQ hasn't been well received by fans. And I think you can look at the drop from single to single, album to album, and get a good idea of whether a bad release is causing more lost market. She's going to lose a percentage of sales from one album to the next regardless, but a huge drop of almost 50% just a matter of months after spending two weeks at #1 with a mini-album that sold almost 70% more copies doesn't always mean that no promotion made it bomb.

I think a good example to look at is someone like Kyarypamyupamyu. Nanda Collection debuted at #1 with 100k in sales (~275,000 total), but her follow-up Pikapika Fantajin sold about 1/4th as many copies (~70,000 total). And she promoted it too.

But you can look at single sales for Ayu, for example. Look at Ftl/Mgr, which sold about 37,000 total. Then a full year later Z/Lm/W sells almost 36,000. I think she keeps more of the market if the release is well received by existing fans.

As an aside, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, because it bears repeating: We will honestly have a good idea of how A ONE is received by looking at Koda's sales. Koda has just barely outsold Ayu since GUILTY and Kingdom were released (Dejavu was the only exception), and I think WALK OF MY LIFE is going to be a stronger, better record than Bon Voyage.

As an aside, I like bringing up sales because I like the numbers and statistics part of the discussion. It's just fun to see how these numbers stack up over time and to try to predict them. I think A ONE will be a Top 10 record, but I'm concerned it will actually debut in the bottom half of the Top 10. Also, I think Ayu and Koda will top out at around 35-40,000 each this year. But that's better than my estimates for Ai Otsuka. I think LOVE TRiCKY may barely sell 2,000 copies.

^ The whole LS album sounded cheap. All of TK's compositions (apart from the title track) sounded like cheap globe rejects.

And uh, hate to break it to you bud, but every single frigging one of Ayu's songs is about Love so that's not really saying anything.

Aural cohesiveness is kind of irrelevant when it comes to Ayu. Regardless of what record she puts out, there will be an upbeat track, a ballad, a rockish track, a more cutesy one. It's a formula that's worked for her since My Story (seriously).

No doubt some records have more of a 'concept' than others (Party Queen, Colours, I'd say RAINBOW as well) but for the most part, I find it more productive to evaluate her albums in terms of "did I enjoy listening to the whole thing or not"

^It's a formula that worked for her since A Song for xx actually.
There always were songs who could be considered as cute, rock, ballad and up beat at least in most albums.

I think that even evolution could be considered cute (because of the voice/the way ayu acts in the PV) or just look at the lives,, SIGNAL, Fly high and AUDIENCE too (and I suppose WE WISH?). Not as bluntly as ANGEL'S SONG, and HONEY but still..

Ok, I couldn't resist with the previews. For me, warning and Show must go on are the best, but no future is weird but primising?

I think I've got bittersweet feelings about this album, and I usually like everything ayu releases, but this one... ufff... I don't know what to think. It can be A ONE dissaster or A ONE EPICNESS. Time will say.

I tend to not count A song for xx because I think they were trying many many different things, as one is prone to do, for a debut album -- but you are right, it does fit the description as well.

Don't think the same really holds true for Loveppears - RAINBOW though. Fly High and Audience weren't really cutesy until she started making them 'cute' when her concerts become That Particular Formula (rock/bondage, cute/sexy, pretty/ballads, u know what I'm referring to)

I'm not saying these things as criticisms of course, I still very much enjoy all her concerts and albums even though I know exactly what to expect.

ANYWAY, let's talk about the new songs. WARNING was very very good. As good as Until that day and 1Love from Secret (which, to me, are some of her best 'rock' songs).

It's always fun when people have opposite tastes: these two are one of my favourites!
I can't get how for example Shake it can be considered better.