You know, I'm going to sound pretty stupid when I say this, but I kind of did the same thing too! After a while it doesn't seem that bad. I mean, everyone's talking about how it's unlike her other albums, but doesn't Ayu change a little from album to album anyway? In that sense, this is almost characteristic of her. :laugh
When you think about it, having a more fantasy-based cover might not match up with an album called My Story anyway, all things considered. Plus I agree that this seems to match up with My Names Women pretty well. If the album turns out to have an independence theme running through it this may actually make sense.
...Still a little heavy on the blush though...

I have been waiting for this album cover for sooooooooo long.

Now I finally see it, and I feel let down. The reason is because I have come to expect unique, artistic covers from Ayu. You see covers like this on all kinds of pop music albums, they are not uncommon at all. But Ayu has almost always been a little different....doing something kind of new...

I don't hate it. Her hair looks great. But it feels so dull.

Yep the only problem I seem to have with the cover is the lack of something who makes you go "WOW". Other than that I don't see where sex fits into that cover at all, as it has been constantly mentioned. If that's supposed to be something to sexually attract men I have to say it's a turn off so I don't really see where the "sex" references fit into that cover at all.
The make up is really excessive. I don't hate it though but it could have been a bit more tasteful.
We still haven't seem the booklet, the back cover and the CD though.

Yeah, it seems moreso like Ayu has written all of this stuff down in a diary, hence the key on the cover. It's like she's giving us the key to her diary with her music ^.^..... ^.^***** right?

I never thought of that! Yeah, that's a really cool thought about the key, I was wondering what the deal with that was. :D

that's a really good thoughts
ayu..telling us her diaries by singing it..interesting

wow... o_O
kinda weird, but because i've been waiting a long time for this album i'm still gonna like it
and i DO like it, even it's kinda weird

i wonder how the other 3 cover look like

Se the cover actually has some meaning to it :P Thanks for the interpretation Larisa and DarkAyumi!:yes

Boring.
edit: sorry I didn't read about the key thing. That's nice and all, but it's still kinda boring. o_o;

If only she had paler lipstick! Then it'd be a nice-looking cover even if it has no message. I do like how the MY STORY title looks on the cover.

Perhaps she'll have a sexier look to go with my name's WOMEN? That traditional 'I'm all grown up now' phase? I also like the key thing that's being talked about.

I was about to post something along the same lines as to the meaning of the cover. :)

I don't like the pose, but I can now see that there is an artistic intent in the cover. It's titled My Story and has a key on the front. As was pointed out, that implies that we are unlocking her diary, her story. So it makes sense to have a simple cover with just a close up shot of Ayu. I just think that the pose could be more flattering. Like the cover of Inspire for instance, that was a great close-up shot of Ayu.

I can't see why you don't like the cover. Maybe it doesn't fit very well with her other covers, it's very realistic and maybe a bit boring but that's part of it! Come on..Ayu's hot and her lipstick is reaally hot! It's great!!! :yes

you mean she's a WOMEN :laugh

I am so dissapointed. I've been comeing online religiously in hopes that the cover pic would be posted. And then it's this... I don't know what I was expecting... something evern REMOTELY like Duty, I Am..., or Rainbow would have been nice. Something as classy and beautiful as A Ballads would have been nice. But this looks as ugly as the Carols cover >_<;

Hey guys, remember the stupid (stupid?) mohawk picture from RAINBOW released which people thought was the cover at first, but wasn't.

Anyone want to cross their fingers for a better surprise cover? :rolleyes

LOL that's awful.. BUT:
did the mohawk picture have the title RAINBOW on it? =/ because this pic has the title of the album on it (not that it couldn't be photoshopped that way or whatever)

I'm hoping for a better suprise cover :B but you know, just merely hoping.

oooh, I love her hair thou!

Hrm...I don't really mind it. It's not a bad cover really, and I do like the "meaning" some people have talked about. I was hoping for something darker, but I do like this cover.

She could have gone with a little less blush though...

It's not the blush that bothers me, it's the colour of the lipstick and that silly line she insists on drawing under her eye nowadays. x_x"

Waahhh, I'm kinda disappointed with the songs from what I heard from the 30 sec previews and now I'm disappointed with the cover too. That lipstick. That hair-do. :( But I like that key symbol.

It's not the best cover, didn't seem any way artistic until I read the whole thread. Looks like there is a reason for it. The way everyone talks of the diary, and the way the cover looks reminds me of the scene from Grease where the girls have a sleepover, and some of them are dressed like that...

Why's eveyone think this cover is selling sex? She's NAKED on two covers and nearly naked on I am... as well! And that leopard outfit for Duty...if My Story is sex then how is Duty not sex as well? I mean...LOOK at the Duty cover, she look so provocative, with a POLE or CAGE like a STRIPPER.

I mean, I'm playing the devil's advocate here I guess...but I just don't think this cover is selling sex or anything. She actually has her clothes ON this time! It's definitely different, but if you look at all her album covers...they're all extremely different from eachother.

Sometimes I think people just instantly say anything new is "bad."

As for myself, I really don't like the covers for A song for xx, Loveppears, or Duty...but maybe I am the only one?

[Wallpaper] My story cover
 

you're so right! :yes

Thanks for the pic - looks better big :yes

Her nails are cool. Her lips must taste yum! :laugh

hey, that's cool!! thank you

very disappointed at the moment .. ugly ugly ugly cover

thank god they are shaved too!

YOU REA ALL TOO MUCH COMPLAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!
AYU HAS TRY SO HARD TO MAKE THIS ALBUM.....AND WHEN IT'S OUT....SEE WHAT YOU COMMENT??????? YOU ARE ALL TOO MUCH I HAVE TO SAY........
THIS COVER LOOKS GOOD-YOU KNOW WHAT WE CAN BE PROUD OF HER?THIS COVER IS THE MOST SIMPLE ONE AFTER A Song for XX,AYU DOESN'T USE ANY CG HELP TODO IT!~ AND WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY IS THAT SHE USE HER REAL HAIR....SHE USE WIG IN ALL OF HER COVER...A Song for XX IS DIFFERENT COZ' IT'S HOODED...HEY....EVERYBODY NEEDS A "CHANGE",an "evolution".RECENTLY AYU'S STYLE IN FASHION ARE ALL LIKE THIS...SO WE KNOW THAT MATURITY IS THE KEY FOR HER........
WHY DO ALL OF YOU TURN OUT TO BE LIKE THIS....C'MON!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS A NICE ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AYU YOU ARE THE BEST..............................

yeah, um, no.
Thanks for the pic though.

Amen to that, I agree. It's almost always like this. Half year before the release everyone is excited and loves ayu.
Suddenly when the day comes ppl are turning there back, ppl expect to much. I mean come on? Can you do a better cover? I dont think so, you "maybe" are looking better than Ayu? Nah!

If you dislike it, dont make a big thing of it or you wont buy it because of the cover. That is the most worthless reason not to buy it. You buy her cd's because of her songs and her music not because of her outside? If you guys dislike it so much why dont you try to make a good cover that at least everyone here in AHS will like it...pls try it! If you like to complain do it on the newspaper and send some insiders or something.

LOL and ppl are claiming that ayu sell sex with her covers? LOL that wouldnt suprise me, because she can have sex whenever she wants because of her look. But have some of you have sex? *cough cough*

I buy her cd's because the main reason is the music and her looking is a +

oh, a bit disappointing...But i guess the songs are nice.

woohoo. that's the talk of a real swede... :P

Thank you!
Tiny cover previews never satisfy, this is great.

I know!!! Sometimes I fell I'm too old and maybe I guess I learned another definition of what the word "sex" means. I mean, good god, ayu just puts a bright pink lipstick and for people it is already a XXX, ****tish cover. Just because her shoulders are visible: "Oh god she's a ***** stripping to the cameras, ayu has really changed so much1111111111". It just reminds of the things mentioned to the INSPIRE PV "the most hardcore piece of porn movie people must have ever seem", basically just because it shows ayu almost in a space suit in the desert and the beach while the guys are shirtless. For those who thinks such things are really immoral please never go to a tropical hot country or you might have a panic attack when walking in the streets during the morning, specially if you go to a beach :eek. :laugh

And the "ayu has changed, anything new is automatically bad, I am.. is the only best ayu album, she's turning into JPOP (I wonder what cathegory has ayu always been put into btw?)" is getting old :laugh

wow, 7 pages of heated discussion... I'm glad someone firgured out the key/diary/my story symbolism... but have you figured out the pose... It's vunerable (in a sexy way) Vunerability about having someone look into your diary/life... plus Ayu has been noted at cute and innocent for so long... ALOT of artists hate that image as they get older... Ayu could be doing ALOT more crazy things to try and get people to see she's not a little girl anymore...

I think the cover is inciteful and artistic... Ayu isn't looking her best in my opinion... that could have been done better, but maybe everything ayu sees means something to her... and you don't always want your fans to know everything you silently put into you creations... somethings are for only you to know...

I am VERY looking foward to this release! After hearing 30 second previews of About You I can't wait. Ayu has been working all year so I know it will be good... whether it sounds pleasing to everyone else I don't know... But I KNOW I'm going to like it :)

LOL svensk med invandrarbakgrund (kines) =P

it may not be the best album cover in the world or in japan but it aint the worst either
^_^


wow it seems the same 1s who didnt like the preview of the album hating it the most :laugh :laugh :laugh and seem to keep pressing the Reply button :laugh come on peeps ya said it on your first reply ..no need to keep pressing the reply button and not letting others give their opinion :laugh

Lets play who can Press the Reply button first LMAO

*avis* vill också vara från annat land...

OT I know, sorry.

Mohawk was better than this buddy. I agree with all of you who said it isn't artistic, because it's not. Ayu covers should be artistic like they've always been.

Actually, I think you hit the nail on the head.

lol ~ i relli like the cover now im getting used it
and come to think of it if i carry that album around school to show my friends, they'll think im a lesbian :rolleyes

and people will think i bought a porn vcd :)

whats wrong with being a lesbian? Some people take offense to that :strike

:)

Anyways, these are artistic... You just gotta look into it... sure she looks a little more risqee' than usual but it's not just some trash she threw out there... c'mon... if she was going to do that she would have saved time and money and used something she's already shot

What's wrong with the colour of the lipstick?????? All of you know that Ayu is the leader in fashion and maybe pink is the 'in' colour for this season (just look at her recent photo shoots). PLUS, it's more appealing to girls, who are ayu's main target listeners. I can think of at least 10 things ayu could've done to look ****ty, for example having guys on her bed (who would've thought of that :rolleyes) or pose nude like in RAINBOW.

About the key, I don't think it was a key to her diary...if you look at the regular pressing cover, the key actually points to her chest, presumably pointing to her heart. So I took it meant that this is a personal album and it's a key to ayu's heart. It sounds a bit cheesy but that's what I think it means. =p

oh c'mon... even though I say the covers are plain to ugly... they're noway noway near anything I will say ****ty... you ppl *sigh

I am not used to seeing Ayumi in pink...like her makeup before...

Sorry that people have different opinions than you.


Lipstick - Her lips are glowing, it's scary.

ayu in these far too bright lipstick is just really scary indeed. if she used a lighter colour it would have looked much better

uh personally i have never say it selled sex, heck no no way, these do not sell sex... and I did not say I won't buy the album because of bad covers, Hell I bought Hikki's Exodus. And boy! That looked even worse.

What I and some other did is voice our opinions on the cover art and the cover art alone. I, as an design junkie, am very sensitive and crtical to details such a cover art. And in my own (and I can only speak for myself) that I grade these very low, on execution, creativity/design, aesthetics, and such.

I will say that the upper right corner one (the one you can see her entire body) is only OK one. The rest I will die by my opinion. SUCKed.

This is in NO way an attack on ayu or any of her songs in the album, cause guess what???? She's not the one who did design work for the cover !! Oh no! yeah it meants even we're being ment to the covers, it doesn't mean we're being mean to Ayu.

So what if it was?! We can be critical of our fav artists and still love them right?!

ANd do you really think anyone on this forum has the power, skill, money, contact, etc to alter the covers and at this stage? Get real.

Ponder that, my friend.

Makes me kinda sad with a few of her covers...when some people I know saw... said she looked ****ty. T__T; And i go "She is NOT ****ty..well...her album covers kinda looks that way..but still..er...she isn't.." I was going to show them her new album cover but obviously, these covers do NOT probe my point that she is not ****ty. xP;

The cover..sadly to say...Isn't as nice as I hoped it to be. ^_^ It's a beautiful piccie of ayu! Besides the lipstick...But I was hoping for my "style". If not "style" then simplicity like"Memorial Address". But I guess can't be helped. And the piccie doesn't really suit the name "My Story"...*shrugs*

Nice point, I definitely agree with you. I think there's a lot of symbolism in the cover that we didn't really notice when we first saw it. She does look a little vunerable, but she also looks really dolled up. I mean, initially I was upset because of all the make up and stuff. It could always be on purpose, though. She sort of looks like she's working hard to look sexy and impress on the cover, which may reflect her own attempts in her career. It's not the real Ayu - she looks kind of tired of it I think on the cover. I don't know, to me it just looks like the cover is her way of commenting on the pressures she constantly has on her to be/look a certain way. Besides, that's just the cover. On the inside of the CD booklet (once we've opened her diary ^-^) there could always be a picture of her with no make-up on, or something else that kind of shows the symbolism too. I mean, it's Her Story, and we can't judge a book by it's cover! :D

Ha Ha, or maybe I'm just rambling on and sounding stupid, you never know! I think there's some room for intrepretation on this cover. Besides, I never really understood people who talk about how something has no meaning and it's just a picture or someone trying to look a certain way. It's all subjective and means different things for different people. Sorry for going on, but I think this stuff is kinda cool. :innocent

I am disappointed with the cover. After the cover of CAROLS, I was expecting something really good... maybe next time