I've said this a few times already and I'm sorry for repeating myself, but I think "to be continued" means that the PV is not full. The song wasn't full and we're still yet to see Shuya's death

By the way, if the album is reall named Made in Japan, I hope she won't just take the logo of the tour.... Please a great typography work, please...

^forget. When last time typography was great?

Since 2010, the only really good album type we've had are Love songs, FIVE, LOVE, Colours MAYBE, and A ONE.

aren't that almost all albums from those yeras?

No.

2010 - Rock'n'Roll Circus.
2011 - ayu-mi-x.
2012 - Party Queen, A SUMMER BEST.
2013 - again, A Classical.
2015 - LOVE Classics, Winter diary, sixxxxxx (which IMO was okay, but they needed to go textless)

So we have had quite a lot of lazy or misses as far as interesting type goes.

I really liked the Winter diary one--it fit the simple image imo.

I agree with this to a certain degree. She was SO prolific in her earlier years, and so EVERYWHERE across multiple media, and that just isn't the case now. I'm also not sure it COULD be the case now, even if she went full-force with promo.

When she was in new CMs monthly, getting to hear a snippet of a new song was always so exciting. It usually started out with a 15s CM, then the hunt for 30s one would commence. Rips were so much harder to come by then and unless it was posted on the product's website, it was a HUNT. Then even the wait to see if the full song would be the same, or how they would be altered (different lyrics, different key, etc.). And honestly leading up until Rainbow, we had full single lead tracks MONTHS in advance before the single release in many cases. That still did nothing to diminish the hype for the physical release, and any bonuses on the singles themselves. Then, once the release came by we had covers, magazines, TV appearances. So much of that just isn't aligned to what the reality would be today. So while I'd love to see her really go full force again, I'm afraid it would just make me nostalgic in a bad way at something that is no longer attainable.

It was just a different time in her career and in the J-Pop industry. God though, I do wish a lot of these post-2010 albums came out during those eras..

-wipes a tear-

Love again album font type is the worst in these years. If she is going to Comic Sans or other cute font type, I will just stop listening her music. :P:P

LOVE was fine, again was "pretty", but LOVE again was like some free font.

Impact is always going to be an Ayu best album standby.

I think it'd be cool if Ayu were to actually write the title in her own handwriting

I think sixxxxxx could have benefitted from this haha

I would be mad if this kind of font style is on her cover.

http://i.imgur.com/zBZfvhT.png

Omg lol don't give her ideas

She can't be here now. lololololol

I'd love if she could go textless for the next album.

I would love a really out there, colorful concept like NEXT LEVEL, with classic ayu-sounding music like from I am..., LOVEppears, and maybe a WARNING type track in there. Maybe the cover could just say "ayu" and leave the title on the OBI or inside or on the CD, something like that.

It's great to think about the next album, but she'll do, as always, something unexpected, or dissapointing for some of us and one of her best album for others at the same time.

Year after year reading AHSforum's posts and the only thing I've learnt is that right after a new release, it's not the ayu people wants, but maybe a couple of months later, the oppinion would be really different for them.

An ugly font? A duck face? Fair hair? Dark hair? Sharing the cover with a boyfriend? C'mon, who cares? I prefer thinking about this:

Is she releasing good music? Does it get to you? Will she do good performances in the tour? If so... then that's the Ayu I've been listening from A song for XX. And you know what? I think that's the same Ayu I'll be supporting buying the new album and assisting for the first time in my life to a concert. :luv2:luv2

Who cares about the font? Really... who cares? :irked

Hopefully the cover and booklet inside will have something like this, yakuza princess style

http://www.fansshare.com/photos/ayum...1099451026.jpg

I think we all have seen the album style..It is possibly on her birthday cake for this year..

Tour goods concept never really matches the album.

Type however does... Rock'n'Roll Circus was the exact same on the album. We had a different shoot with the bob + pantyhose for the tour with the UK shoot for the covers.

She just posted on her instagram about song called Mad World and its lyrics???

"教えてよねぇあなたなら、この時代をどう生きる？
教えてよねぇ私はもう、この時代に心から吐き気がしてるだとかって、本音はどこにやればいい？
-Mad World-
‪#‎MADEINJAPANツアーまであと13日"‬

Dodgy computer generated translation:

You tell me. If this period, how do you live?
Tell me! I'm already in this period, I feel nauseous. and you know I, where do I go?
-Mad World-
‪#‎MADEINJAPANツアーまであと13日‬


THE QUEEN IS COMING BACK YOU GUYS.

教えてよねぇあなたなら、この時代をどう生きる？
教えてよねぇ私はもう、この時代に心から吐き気がしてるだとかって、本音はどこにやればいい？
-Mad World-
#MADEINJAPANツアーまであと13日



I'm assuming this is a new song called Mad World (?!)



Ahaha three posts saying the same thing xD

Digging in the lyric very much!!!
Ayu's mad and fierce mood is back mwahahaha

My attempt:

"Tell me
If it were you, how would you live in this era？

Tell me
For I'm already sincerely nauseated with this era,
Where should my real intentions be?"



I don't consider myself good at translating lyrics, but I think it gets the point across haha.

The last part of the lyrics confuses me so really don't quote me on these lol

Sounds rock!!!
this is exciting :D The theme of the album seems really strong. Like its about life, the present and future. Love that she made it very straightforward :D

(sequel to Mirrorcle World? haha)

Are all the song titles gonna start with letter M?

As far as I know this is the first and only alleged song title that's been revealed to us so far. We don't have enough information to even make this assumption right now, lol.

this song gives me Mirrorcle World / rollin' vibes based on the lyrics snippet.

Haha couldn't help it especially after sixxxxxx and since the album title could be Made in Japan right

Mad World sounds like an EPIC title!

I can see the track being kinda like Duty-ish or End of the World-esque.

Personally, I think she's been giving us little hints at lyrics on TA blog for a bit, but this one seems like the most solid so far since it has the same scheme as the sixxxxxx reveals.

Didn't she do sixxxxxx reveals one day after another? If it's 13 days to the tour... 14 track names including today?

EDIT: Aaah, it was a week+ apart.

07/21 Shape of love
07/13 Sorrows
07/02 Summer diary
06/22 Sayonara

I smell rockish, something like talkin' to myself

plus evolution :>>

I love the title!!

That whould be awesome!
Did I say allready i wabt End of the World as a concert opener?

For some reason I'm hyped af for the MADE IN JAPAN era only because I don't know which direction she's going to go. Is she going to play it safe or is this going to be "experimental" Ayu again. I just want an announcement already! Do it Namie style and just give all the information at once lol

^ High five! MTE

Mad World sounds like an amazing song title, i hope we get a song title every day and then album announcement with the tour start!!

Her comment on Numero about the album kinda reminded me about the Twitter incident that happened. I feel like Mad World may be a reflection of that. May be a bit of a reach, but I'd LOVE to see a continuation of kanariya if it's related to the Twitter incident.

to be honest atm I have this in my head when I read the song title^^

I hope the album covers more interesting subjects than her last few albums. Internet bullying and Japanese society would be great to write about. I want Party Queen 2 in terms of lyrical content.

I do think the title is kinda tacky, though... MADE IN JAPAN. Hopefully it's saved by a nice font and cover. We haven't had an iconic cover since...RnR Circus? FIVE was good but copied True Blue. After that it's mostly just beauty shots and pink.

TOTALLY gonna be another WARNING and it's gonna be AMAZING.

Mte

I would not mind such suicidal darkness as that Mad World clip.
Prefer something sorrowful and sad than some in your face rock at the moment. But, somehow, I speculate it will sound like Microphone.

It's really a good idea of her to speak about social problems instead of love ( this subject is endless but I don't see what new she could write about love) ! Love lyrics certainly won't be put aside but write about something more global and less "self centred" is a good thing after all these years !
It's a bit too soon considering we have so little information but it seems to me that she will really come up with an interesting concept this time ! =)

Yes, agreed! Unless the love song is a masterpiece like Days!

Yes, I thought of Gary Jules' cover of Mad World too.

The lyrics also made me think of Evolution!

You're all thinking of Mad World because it's the same title lol

I initially thought of Ryan Chan because he uses Mad Tokyo as a theme a lot lolol

Mad World sounds good as a title. However I didn't think "rock song" when I read the lyrics but more dark ballad. The atmosphere of the lyrics reminds me Party Queen album. At the same time, her little travel to London when she was working on the album might influence my impressions.
We'll see because with Ayu everything is possible. As when a lot of people thought that snowy kiss was ballad because of the title.

I'm with you there. Especially cuz rhythmically the lyrics sorta scan like it's in 3/4 or 6/8, so I'd love a dark, moody ballad that sounds confused, anxious, etc. Ayu's faster rock songs - the ones she calls "rock" even when they're not lol - are much more about confidence (or at least put-on confidence) than this. The "looking for help" nature of these lyrics definitely gives me more of a Duty/SCAR/Shape of love/Don't look back vibe.

Or something like Liar :yes

Mad World is a great title!
I have no clue about how it may sound though... after snowy kiss being a rock song idk what to expect anymore lol

So, we can reasonably expect the album to be released during the tour?

She may still have some songs to complete during the tour, so I am expecting a release by the end at the earliest.

I think so. I feel like this album will have lots of tracks.

15+tracks would be awesome. When was that exactly... since MY STORY

17 was her highest I think with Love songs (with two SEVEN DAYS WARs, 16 if you count one each) and MY STORY. Interludes played a big part though in "long" albums.

Not anymore. Nowadays you can successfully promote new recordings ONLINE by releasing digital singles, promoting on social media etc. Times of getting 2-3 singles before album release are over and I'm happy with that.

She just uploaded "You are the only one" lyrics♡♡♡
Can we assume that there will be 13 songs to be included in the album? as she started to tease us 13 days before tour start

これ以上君を好きにはなれないくらい、愛してるよ。
もし君が哀しい時は、世界一のピエロになるから。
-You are the only one-

It seems like a love song. Something like "not just liking you anymore, I love you... if you're ever sad, I can become the finest clown in the world" I think.



New track reveal.

now im scared for the album photoshoot

probably a 13 track album and maybe 2-3 interludes hopefully. seeing a 15 track album makes me happy and nostalgic. Hopefully she does a Beyonce and just DROP THE ALBUM on the 14th ONLINE with official sales on the 18th/25th

I love that picture as far as its a beautiful photo taken of her but holy shit the last thing I wanted was this to be A TWO. Where is the artistry? I'm just so bored with this whole ~simple aesthetic.

Yeah, I'm kinda bored of it too, but ehhh. Maybe next year?

^ except we've been saying that since 2012, so

I think last year is where the counter restarts since it was an intentional restart. Or maybe funneling all the budget towards the tour is pretty much leaving nothing for PVs/cover shots.

I just want a glam shoot soon!

She could even just wear that "GREEN/Ivy" dress...somewhere in the forest. Or maybe even right on stage (because its symbolic that way) and take a really cool photo. #MADEINJAPAN album cover. (yea some people might kill me for this lol)..but the idea is that, the only thing that can really merge Ayu & Japan is music and the stage.

Since I am sensing a bit of a Rock'n'Roll Circus connection here, the logo for the tour might be the same as the album.

In that case...

http://i.imgur.com/PkZGPRV.png

Feels so likely.

With sticker or foil lettering ideally.

You are the only one

I love you so much that I can't love you more than this
And if there's a time when you're sad, I'll become the biggest clown in the world.

Something along these lines haha

Ah there it is, lol. Thanks Koko!

She'll probably do something like Beyoncé and realease the album right when the tour starts. No promo no nothing just BAM! Here's my new album
Bitches. And maybe sing 3-4 new tracks in the tour just because.

- Mad World
- You are the only one

Two songs with strong lyrics and strong titles.

I think the biggest difference between these new shots and the previous A ONE shots is that she's EMOTING something lol whether it's real or not, she looks vulnerable.

these pictures are boring af :no if she's going to release album with thesekinda pics yet again i'm gonna die. ayu why you so boring nowadays?

better start to plan funeral already

I'm not excited lol

I am happy with the album title MADE IN JAPAN! Can't help thinking of ayu wearing kimono + jeans like in ayu-mi-x 4 cover.

Mad World sounds rockish! Not sure if it's just me but i find few of her songs starting with M are my fav: Mirrorcle World, Microphone. I hope Mad World will have a vibe of these 2.

And I will be very surprised if she does something like Beyonce. Surprise me please, ayu & avex lol

Lmao

Romaji:

Oshiete yo nee anata nara, kono jidai wo dou ikimasu ka?
Oshiete yo nee watashi wa mou, kono jidai ni kokoro kara hakike ga shiteru da to katte, honne wa doko ni yareba ii? [Mad World]

Koreijou-kun wo suki ni wa narenai kurai, aishitemasu yo. Shi kimi ga kanashii toki wa, sekai ichi no piero ni naru kara. [You are the only one]

Since the actual songs are not out yet these are only guesses. But if anyone was curious. Here it is. I'm actually kind of excited for this album. This seems like it might be good from the song titles. But then again I felt that way about A ONE and it was almost all ballads. So I'm hoping for only like 2-3 ballads maybe? And no interludes lol. I'm spoiled now. Although if it is a 14 or 15 track album. She probably will have one of two.

i am so hoping this has nothing to do with the pictorial theme of the album.... like... we've had enough of this already.

Koreijou kimi wo suki ni wa narenai kurai, aishiteru yo. Moshi kimi ga kanashii toki wa, sekai ichi no piero ni naru kara. [You are the only one]

Just made three corrections :)



While I also help we get a new photoshoot for the album, considering they're being sent with the lyrics, I'm losing hope in that department haha.

Ayu has always emphasize that clowns hide their real face. I think the lyrics are really beautiful coming from her. It's like "No matter If I can't smile or be happy, I will do for you"

Good point! Although it would be nice to see a brand new photo shoot for an album in the future (and one that isn't revealed via a magazine shoot. I'd prefer the covers just to appear online with no idea of what they look like.) I wonder if we will get any interludes? It seems like a while since we last had them.

Hm, I thought we did sorta with a Bell and A ONE, lol. But I guess that was an intro... last one with interludes was LOVE again, so perhaps this time we may get a few?

I like how she used "clown" which is a very apparent motif in her tours
it somehow just makes the lyrics (despite how corny they sound) slightly...more bittersweet, darker, more poignant

I kinda have a feeling You are the only one is gonna be something like Anything for you lol

I'm getting all hyped for this album ���������� can't wait to listen to it

I am not feeling these song titles. "Mad World"? "You are the only one"? They sound like tracks that would appear on Seiko's new albums. They don't sound fascinating like GREEN or even Zutto..., NEXT LEVEL, Sparkle, Rule, 1 LOVE, Virgin Road, Return Road, etc. My first impression is "this seems generic"...?

I would be wondered if Ayu changed her mind to name the title in Japanese

There is really not much to 'feel' from 2 lines of text for each song. They might as well be taken out of the context and end up sounding completely different. Ayu was never that good with song titles. Most of them are beyond simplistic. The rest of the titles you mentioned are generic indeed.

Same here, and I'm not sure I want that X)

I hope the photos ayu is posting aren't the actual pics from the album booklet. For me part of the excitement of getting a new album is seeing the booklet for the first time.

The photo that came with the Mad World lyrics would make such a great cover.

I'm so excited for the new album! Made in Japan is a good title too.

"Zutto..." is the most generic out of what you mentioned - probably 90% of J-Pop singers had song with this title.

I want to say that perhaps she wanted to use something like "Crazy World" or something, but Mad World is just easier for people to grasp. As time goes on, titles become more familiar but initially they are always a bit of a shock.

Who would have thought STEP you would become as iconic as it is? STEP you and is this LOVE? was the beginning of her "odd" titles IMO.

Mad World sounds like an interesting title if it actually is one for a new song.

I pray to God we get some interesting production on this album. I miss the days when each song was a unique sound-scape and story. Even though her albums have become more cohesive in terms of sound, that is really not why I became an Ayu fan. I love how RnR Circus is all over the place. It's really a journey to listen from start to finish. A ONE all sounds like other songs. It's not interesting enough.

Edit: Even comparing Love songs to A ONE, each song from Love songs has a distinctive sound.
Love song with the opening piano. crossroad with the strings. MOON with the "huuuuu" sound.
And that album was also very cohesive...so eh. I hope she can achieve such a thing again. I wouldn't be able to tell the songs on A ONE, six and LOVE again apart easily.

I think she's just trying to rediscover herself, and to do that, she went back to a more basic sound. We should probably get more diverse music in coming albums, she just had to get it off her chest.

I'm a sucker for succinct, pointed titles for songs. So, my complaint is only that these two song titles don't have that initial wonder to them that I'm used to with Ayu.

Ironically her "basics" (ASFX, LOVEppears, Duty) are actually very unique. But you know what I mean, right? Every song used to be like it's own little "musical realm". Her most recent and bland albums (imo) LOVE again, A ONE and sixxxxxx all sound kinda....like they were made without creative ideas and with the same sample library in Ayu's living room.

I'm bad at explaining things lol

I get your point though. It seems plausible that after Party queen-LOVE again-Colours personal life drama she wanted to create some simple music.

I am sure we will get some.

However, after almost 20 years in the business, I think titles are going to get a little wacky for anyone who has done an album a year for those nearly 20 years. Someone with Ayu's catalog would probably be struggling but she is still keepin' on.

And I see what you mean, but a lot of the issue with LOVE again was that it was old demos that were meant for older albums. A ONE and sixxxxxx are intentionally the way they are and I think this album will be the true test of whether or not she still "has it" and hopefully she brings us that surprise or two that she used to, like a kiss o' kill or criminal.

Personally, I felt like Colours was an entire album of extreme changes for her aside from like two tracks, so maybe that is why she's holding back a bit after doing an ENTIRE ALBUM of unusual stuff (for her).

To go for urban AND trance AND "Beyonce pop" AND 00s/10s "dance" AND other things all in one album, it was just.. a lot.