lol we should have a deluxe album of NEXT LEVEL, with the best from her pasted 2 other albums, Secret and GUILTY:


NEXT LEVEL -DELUXE EDITION-


CD1
01.Bridge to the sky ~2~ (a complete song with lyrics, more than 4 minutes long)
02.NEXT LEVEL
03.Disco-munication
04.Leave Me Alone (new version from (don't) leave me alone)
05.EnergizE
06.Sparkle
07.rollin'
08.Glitter (new mix)
09.GREEN
10.FUTURE YET (complete version of Not yet with lyrics and pv)

CD2
11.until that Day... (plus pv)
12.Mirrorcle World
13Load of the SHUGYO
14.identity
15.Rule
16.LOVE 'n' HATE
17.Pieces of SEVEN
18.Days
19.Curtain Call
20.Life (hidden track)

DVD
01.Mirrorcle World pv
02.Days pv
03.GREEN PV
04.Rule pv
05.Sparkle pv
06.NEXT LEVEL pv
07.Curtain Call pv
08.FUTURE YET pv
09.until that Day... pv

+making ofs








LOL xDD

Really nice album. I liked the variety of genre's prevalent throughout the tracklist. GREEN seems a little bit out of place but it's not much of a deal XD. Curtain Call's fantastic - nostalgic, touching and beatiful.

Iunno but GUILTY imo is much better lol. Maybe a few more listens it'll change!

I'll be posting a full review tonight.

Basically, I think it's a good album that has some problems. It's not her best album but it's far from her worst. :P

I definitly love this album, but I feel that GREEN and Days don't fit in the album
I love Days, but I think it would fit more the atmosphere of Memorial Address or MY STORY

my fav song is identity and EnergizE

overall complete different, well for a while the styles have been changing, but I think NEXT LEVEL is a positive album for me ^^

thanks for the correction. if she said ID, then it sounds perfectly fine!

HAHAH thats what I suggested...except that it doesnt come in a set..
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87618

Well I could not wait to listen to it and find what she prepared for us.

At this point, after the second time I listened to it, I really don't like electro-type.

Where are the melodies we were used to have ?

I have the feeling of playing an old video game like Bare Knuckle when I listen to the tracks which were not released as singles.

It is like an UFO in Ayu's discography -_-'

Next level, Sparkle, Rule, Green, Curtain Call and Days are the one I like, the most.

I'll just keep listen to it, I finaly may appreciate it.

To be honest it's nice that ayu is brave to experiment with this album but I think the album tracks(for the first time) is hella weaker than the single materials ..usually is the other way around but I think this album is a grower. It'll gona take some time for me to digest it lol but overall thank god no more "HONEY" type of songs..I never liked that style and the way she uses her cutesy voice..
Oh the interludes are very nice this time around and should full songs like mirror and must say the transitions from Pieces of SEVEN to the last two ballads ..very awkward techno beat then soft mellow songs...
my only complain is...TOO SHORT...*play* aww over already? 14 songs..with 4 interludes..

i love this albm, it has a whole new vibe to it, definitly worth the title NEXT LEVEL.
the only 2 songs that dissapointed me were LOVE'n'HATE and Rollin'.
They weren't nesseceraly bad but i just think she could have done more with it.
GREEN feels really out of place, but the flow into diffirent styles goes pretty wel except for Pieces of SEVEN, it just really doenst work with days.
overal i think its worthy of an 8

This album didn't do it for me, and that's the first time an Ayu album hasn't done it for me since I first started listening to Ayu with Memorial address. I agree, there's no emotional connection in this album. Usually when I listen to Ayu, I don't understand the lyrics, but I can still feel the emotions in the songs I listen to. I don't really get this with these songs. I like some tracks, like LOVE'n'HATE and NEXT LEVEL (even though it's too similar to BLUE BIRD), but the group of album electronic tracks are so forgettable, I don't even feel that they're concert worthy.

I dunno.. I have to listen to it a few more times, but I don't think I will be purchasing this album.

Well I'm actually disappointed with Ayu. This really is a level down from her normal brilliance in my opinion anyway. I have to say I love her single tracks (they are quality Ayu work) and only 2 of the album ones - Curtain Call and LOVE'n'Hate. I do hope the others grow on me in time..

I think maybe the genre of this album is electro?..

NEXT LEVEL is..

her best album since Secret :D

Bridge to the sky
In the lq preview sounds really different, more upbeat, but is a nice intro to the album

NEXT LEVEL
Is adorable. I fall in love with this song *_* so softer Ayu seems said 'I walk on a new road, follow me!'

Disco-munication
Ayu, why isn't it a full song? Would be another amazing track.

EnergizE
Really happy song, it's so and so but I need to listen it once more for love it.

Sparkle
Amazing song, as I already said.

rollin'
Nice electronic song! The chorus is catchy, her voice fit well with the arrangement.. i love it :heart!

GREEN
Great track, one of her best song.

Load of the SHUGYO
.. another interlude would be perfect as full song >_<

identity
Well, is a nice song but.. sounds too much like (don't)leave me alone and 1 LOVE put together.

Rule
Ruuuruuu :D lol not her best rock song, but I like it. Really powerful and perfect for an action crappymovie/comic/cartoon as DB.

LOVE 'n' HATE
This is the most unexpected song in whole album! And my favourite track (with rollin') :heart

Pieces of SEVEN
This is the only interlude should remain an interlude :D even if is really great seems put randomly and don't introduce as well at the next song.

Days
This song is one of her worst ballads ever. Nice lyrics, and beautiful PV but.. the arrangement is so bland. The only track that I dislike :/

Curtain call
Ayu's voice is strange but the song is simple and beautiful. This is one of her best ballads ever :D lol


Other said that isn't an Ayu-album, but it doesn't for me. She wants to have fun, she want to try other genres.. it doesn't mean she's superficial or 'omggenericelectropop' lol. I'm really proud of her and of this album too :yes it's uhm.. since RAINBOW that I don't listen an experiment like this, from her. Too bad this is really short ;_; more tracks would be perfect! GOOD JOB AYU \*_*/

This album is incredibly different compared to ALL of her other albums. I'm really happy that Ayu is trying something different and really starting to experiment more with her music and lyrics alike. So far, LOVE'n'HATE is my favorite song. I love the orchestra sounding parts but the whole song is pretty groovy. This album sounds like you can get up and dance to every song. I'm very happy with the album so far. It's not boring but it's not COMPLETELY out of Ayu's element either.

I love the fact that it's alot of different genre's into one. You hear some techno, rock, pop AND hip hop. I'm incredibly impressed with this album.

(I couldn't help but joke about how some of the songs sounded really Korean boy band popish though! XD)

okay, I have to say that I'm in love with her new album... it feels so fresh and new, just what I needed.

Ayu, you make me happy, and I love you for that.
mooah!

as usual, every tie new Ayu stuff comes out there are so many haters & lovers, LOVE n HATE, LOL :laugh

I OMFG FREAKING LOVE THIS ALBUM NOTHING CAN CHANGE MY MIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :luv2

IT IS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN WAITING & WANTING FOR A LONG TIME

FOR ME IT SOUNDS NOT BORING BUT COOL & WORKING UP!

AWESOME WORK, I'M SO HAPPY I'VE NEVER BEEN IN THESE 5 YEARS <3

I LOVE LOVE LOVE

I even forget that 2 new bad PVs, lack of ballads & many interludes, plus I love the booklet & the style & atmosphere

I LOVE ELECTRONIC MUSIC SO MUCH, Ayu mixed ROCK, ELECTRO & POP

GENIUS

my new most-fav album!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have none bad words at all, first time in a long time :D

my most fav tracks are Bridge to the Sky, Disco-munication, rollin' & LOVE n HATE

:luv2

I give it 9 out of 10, for the lack of good new PVs & ballads

LOVEEEEEEEEEEEE

I have to say, after listening to this album a few times, I actually don't have much inclination to listen to some of the songs all the way through already. Just as I mentioned earlier in my review, these songs really don't stay with you for very long.

The album is very different, but its still ayu. GREEN was misplaced and that interlude leading up to the ballads was not fitting.
I hope the MVs on the DVD are in widescreen. getting tired of the 4:3 DVDs

i cant believe it, everytime i try to post ahs is not available. :grumpy

i love the album, its very fun and cool and has some awsome tracks like love n hate, identity, curtain call, energize, and my fav NEXT LEVEL :love
i dont have track i actually hate, just one i still dont feel, its rollin', its kinda still weird for me. its not her best album EVER, but its alright, fun and enjoyable

Okay, here's my thoughts on NEXT LEVEL.

First, I'll get the negatives out of the way.

#1. It's not the fact there's too many interludes, it's 2 other reasons. Pieces of SEVEN really serves no purpose on the album. It's supposed to serve as a transition between LOVE 'n' HATE and Days. It doesn't. If it were composed the other way around: trance to the mystic slow paced music, it may have been saved a little.

#2. GREEN and Days, I feel, really don't fit into this album. Especially GREEN. It almost feels as if they weren't even intended to be in the album in the first place.

#3. It may just be the interludes, placement of them or that alot of the songs are so enjoyable but the album feels shorter than it actually is. It's feels as if only 20 minutes has passed by the time the last few seconds of Curtain call are playing.

Now, what's good about the album? Well, the songs. I love every song on the album (as is the case with just about every ayu album). I feel writing a whole part on it would be boring so, a track by track take on it would be more interesting.

1. Bridge to the sky
I love this intro. In a way it reminds me of RAINBOW's intro. It's so foot-tap worthy.

2. NEXT LEVEL
Definitely one of the strongest album songs on the table here. It's got a nice melody, the verses and chorus just flow into each other perfectly and it sticks in your head for aaaages.

3. Disco-munication
God. I had hoped this would be song when I first learned of the tracklist. It's definitely my favourite interlude on this album, though.

4. Energize
I believe when I get my copy of the album and listen to it in high quality I'll like it better, I think some of this song suffers from the quality. It's a fun pop/dance song and I love the use of engrish..

5. Sparkle
Although it wasn't a song that got me excited about the album as much GREEN and Rule did. I do like this song and still listen to it over and over again :P

6. rollin'
This one took abit of time to grow on me. I still think it's one of the weakest songs on the album. The chorus does nothing for me but the verses have me hooked. I just think this song could have been, well, for lack of better word, better. Maybe I'll like it more when I get a better quality version.

7. GREEN
I gave my opinion on this song some time ago. I think it's a beautiful oriental song but it's really out of place on this album.

8. Load of the SHUGYO
Although this is an interlude with attitude I find it very basic. It's still fun to listen to

9. identity
My favourite song on the album. It packs such a punch with it, I find it hard to get out of my head. This one just... blew me away.

10. Rule
One of my favourite singles from the album. I could still listen to it over and over now lol

11. LOVE 'n' HATE
I just can't think of any words for this song. I really do love it. The composition is just astounding. I can't wait to see the lyrics for this one!

12. Pieces of SEVEN
^^See above for my opinion on this one.

13. Days
One of the weakest singles from the album but I do give it much love. It's a fantastic and sweet ballad

14. Curtain call
This ballad builds up to such an epic climax it's a PERFECT ending for the album. The lyrics may not impress me that much, but the song itself is just beautiful, imo.

In the end, I think this album is great for what it is; a fun and catchy pop album. It's got a few problems with it but all the songs are great and the range of styles are fantastic. It's not her best album but it's definitely not her worst work either. Great work Ayu!

8/10

I gotta listen a few more times. Though I can say I loooooove Bridge to the Sky and the way it transitions into Next Level. Its a great driving song. So far, I don't much mind the placement of some of the songs coz there's parts in the one before that match it up and tie it in.

I don't typically review albums, but I had to do this time. Couldn't help it!

Bridge to the Sky:
Loved how it started. A fantastic way to begin the album.

NEXT LEVEL:
Love it. Very calming, makes you forget all your problems. Chorus reminds me a bit of Beautiful Fighters, however.

Disco-munication:
I liked how it started out, but then it..fell short a bit.

EnergizE:
I did not know what to think about it at first...I thought I wouldn't like it when I heard her go "Put your hands up together.." but then I began to enjoy it. A lot.

Sparkle:
OH MY FRICK, SPARKLE. No words can express my love for this song. Right now, this is the song I'm telling everyone to listen to.

rollin':
The beginning started out a little too slow for me, and then Ayu's voice kicks in and I had a change in thought. I now love rollin'.

GREEN:
One of my fav Ayu songs. 'Nuff said.

Load of the SHUGYO:
Reminds me of Mortal Kombat. In a good way.

identity:
So I'm thinking this was the other rock song..I liked it! Sounded awesome. Were Peco and Princess singing background in this song, though???

Rule:
<3 I kinda forgot about Rule when I heard Sparkle, but it's still a great song. I still don't think it goes with Dragonball.

LOVE 'n' HATE:
My fav song from the album (well..besides GREEN and Sparkle) . Played this at a party I went to yesterday...yeah, everyone was dancing and lovin' it. I dunno how to describe it, though..it's a little rock, R&B, some dance ..yeah. It's love.

Pieces of SEVEN:
I also liked it. However, I felt like this interlude was a little...out of place??

Days:
Cute song, but I never really cared for it.

Curtain call:
I nearly cried listening to it. The first ballad I love from her since Together When...

So..yeah, I was not disappointed at all!

My rating: 8/10...or maybe 9/10?? I dunno, I need to listen to it a little bit more.

However, as much as I love GREEN, it did feel a little out of place in the album.

If I sums up everyone's opinion and mine, I agree that both Days and GREEN seems out of place from this experimental and brave album. And Pieces of SEVEN doesn't do it's magci as it should do.

It would be better if she worked more on the album tracklist department, if she would arranged it more like her older works, unnecessary interludes could be lessen.

Hmmmmm, I don't really know yet. I like it, but I can't really say how much. It usually takes me a while to formulate a solid opinion on an album. I tend to dislike things, then like them, or the reverse. I'm terrible at comparing how much I like different albums and rating them because I feel like it's hard for me to rate one thing I like over another thing I like.

What I can say for sure right now is that the 2 tracks that jumped out at me right away were "Identity" and "LOVE 'n' HATE". The rest, I had to digest for a bit.

BIRDGE TO THE SKY
Meh. As an intro, it doesn't have much oomph, especially when you compare it to Mirror, which was just mind-blowing and set the mood for the album.

NEXT LEVEL
I'm not feeling this one yet. I like instrumentation, but the chorus and Ayu's vocals aren't grabbing me.

DISCO-MUNICATION
Cool and funky. A good intro into the electro stuff that is coming up.

ENERGIZE
I like the "put your hands up together" part, but the rest is just kind of redundant, and I don't like the beat of the chorus. Maybe it will grow on me.

SPARKLE
I wasn't sure about this one at first, but I like it now. The chorus is my favorite part.

ROLLIN'
I hate the vocoder parts! But I do like this song overall, even though it took a couple of listens.

GREEN
Great song, but doesn't belong on an album like this.

LOAD OF THE SHUGYO
Pretty nifty.

IDENTITY
Caught my attention right away. I love the "whoa" background parts when she sings "ID, ID". BUT I do not like how she sings the "yeah yeah yeah"s. Take those out and the song would be near-perfect.

RULE
I approve.

LOVE 'N' HATE
Very different sound! I love it. Each individual part is interesting: the counting, the "hahaha", the chorus. Yup.

PIECES OF SEVEN
Is this supposed to be a reference to how Ayu counts to seven in Love 'n' Hate? Anyway, it's probably the weakest interlude in my opinion.

DAYS
I always thought this song was better than Green. Wonderful ballad.

CURTAIN CALL
I wasn't wowed right away, but it's a sweet and simple song. I do wish Ayu would tone down the vibrato, though.

Overall, I'm not sure I like this electro-pop direction Ayu has taken. The music tends to be loud to the point that it overpowers her voice, and some of the effects are a little grating. The placement of the songs is a little weird, and I hope Ayu will stop padding her albums with interludes in the future--2 should be the maximum!

I'd probably give this album a 7/10 for now. It's not as strong as GUILTY and certainly not as strong as SECRET.

I'm really satisfied with the results came from this album!

Bridge to the sky - Giving a great energy as an album opener and a good transition into NEXT LEVEL. - 8.5
NEVEL LEVEL - Really nice song, I love that it sounds half up-beat and half mid-tempo (beatwise), it's a soothing song and though the PV wasn't anything special the song is a good and fun. - 8.5
Disco-munication - I like this interlude a lot though I think that I favor the others from the album but it's hard to choose... I like how it starts and going into electro. - 7.5
EnergizE - It's really not awful as people thought it would be, it kind of sounds like something morning musume would sing but still it's not too much and I think it's a really fun song and I love ayu's english in it. XD
ayu also doesn't sound terribly cute which is good. - 8
Sparkle - I loved this song from the first time I've heard it (and it was fast came my ringtone). - 10
rollin' - To me the Marionette -prelude- sound at the beginning was like "oh you thought you are going to get GUILTY's material here?" and when the electro part started "well, you were wrong". This song is really a pumper and parts of it reminds me of perfume's electro pop and it's really nice. - 9
GREEN - I like its chinese beats and of course the whole song though it's my least favorite single song on the album, I do like it still, the chorus is really catchy I couldn't stop flipping it in my head when the CM was out.
GREEN though sounds kind of out of place. I guess it's the use of synths. - 8
Load of the SHUGYO - I LOVE this interlude to death! One of ayu's best interludes yet! This one turns the electro pop into electro-rock part.
identity - I like it a lot!! Like rollin' it's sound like "GUILTY material" but it has the electro NEXT LEVEL things inserted to it, and ayu didn't want to fully put her rock out. - 10
Rule - Great great rock track, I can dance do it with no stops =D 9
LOVE 'n' HATE - My favorite of the album tracks!!! I love love love (not hate) this song, when I heard that I was like "ayu, you did this!?" and was really impressed. I guess this song is kind of LOVE or HATE it kind of song lol. As some people loved it and some people didn't. I can't stop listening to it with all honesty (and identity and rollin' at the moment). - 10
Pieces of SEVEN - One of the best interludes that HAL made to that day. I love how it starts HALish and then goes a bit electronic though the 2 ballads section are coming after this so this part kind of sounded out of place though like GREEN I think it might be from the reason that Days isn't a quite ballad (unlike Curtain call but Curtain call comes after Days). - 8.5
Days - My favorite ballad of ayu (took Moments place), No need to say more. I also think this kind of ballad does fit NEXT LEVEL because of the synth beats. - 10
Curtain call - Huge album ender, ayu's piano ballads rocks and this song so needed a choir and it got it, really emotion love song and I love it. - 9.5

Overall Rank - 8.5/10

This album is great, what I wanted ayu to do for some time.
She really gave the experiment and tried the electro thing in, even putting a bit of the "last level" with electro rock tracks and up-beat synth rock like Rule.
This is indeed the NEXT LEVEL, and unlike some users I wouldn't put songs from the past inside of it since it's complete as it is and I support ayu full time in it (glad I bought the 2CD+DVD version).
It's not my favorite album of her, I do like it more than all of her albums since Memorial address (and I like them all).
GUILTY is still coming right after NEXT LEVEL in my rank of course.
I do wish GREEN would have a more standing out place since it's kind of doesn't fit there and even though it's a good song the synths doesn't make its belonging obvious enough for the album since the other songs in it have much more electro and/or synths.

Bottom line, thank you ayu for bringing on a solid experimental and diverse album I really like it :D

(I'm also convinced the cd quality tracks will sound better since Sparkle and co. from this leak are kind of bassy messy so the 320kbps one should be oragsmic).

This is definitely a brave move from Ayu to move away from her comfort zone after the predictability of SECRET & GUILTY. And the result is of cos a good one. Not her best album but definitely her most fun, creative and daring album yet. It's a breath of fresh air & i'm liking it.. ^^ some of the songs while listening to them, i was like "i didn know she can pull that off, and she did, giving Namie amuro and Koda kumi a run for their money". =P overall i will rate it a 8.5/10. hopefully e sales will surpass GUILTY.

Top 5 Favorite tracks in order
Identity
I love the arrangement & the lyrcis. It's cool that she did kept some of her signature rock element in the song.
i adore the way she sang ID ID iD. it's an awesome song. i hope she sing it live during her upcoming tour

rollin
the chorus is so catchy. love the sync of the verses. very cool and a great follow up after Sparkle

Sparkle
the most "WOW" song of the entire album for me. everytime i listen to it, i'm like "did she realli did this" =) love every second of the song. e verse realli did surprise me alot


Energize
the intro is so cute. didn't expect her to start with the english verse. but it's nice. definitely one of the most pop and mainstream song she did in e long time. i'm so happy she did this song..


Days
One of her better ballads after GUILTY album. and definitely her best vocals for this album. it's simple, touching and pretty. i am hoping she will sing this as part of her main song for the new tour, with a huge Ayu style dress =)

remaining Favorite tracks in order
curtain call
Love 'n' Hate
next level
rule
green

i only listened to the album once. i need to hear it at least a second time to give a full review. but what i knew instantly was that the order of the tracks is messed up. everybody here seems to have a better order in mind than it is on the album.

i don't understand why there are rock songs included all of a sudden. sometimes i was reminded of kumi... it is an album with all kinds of genres smashed together, sadly, there isn't any ongoing theme throughout the album (ooh days feels SO out of place...)

anyways, i'm happy for new ayu stuff. need to listen again to get a feeling for the tracks. but it seems like "i am..." will remain her strongest and best album for me.

i'm curious how well this album will chart...

i actually feel very energizeD after hearing the song "energizeD"!

Does anyone else feel the same way too?

That reminds me of a conversation I had with my friend on the track placement =P I said that Kuu probably beat up Ayu and did the tracklisting for her, seeing as how Genre's clash too much

I haven't listened to it yet, but I see that for the most part, it's a hit or miss album.

For me, I think it'll be a hit. At least a better hit than GUILTY. That album tanked for me, I barely listened to it, and I don't really watch the DVD. I have a feeling with this one, I might give it more chance than I did with GUILTY. Marionette and Together When... were the only two that really stuck with me.

I'm waiting for the 320 kbps so I don't get any biased thoughts based on the quality.

This.
Really, if you go from listening to some NEXT LEVEL tracks, and then play one of her old songs (for me, it was "End of the World"), you'll be blown away. :-/
I really can't stand the sound of Love N' Hate and rollin'.

I agree that GREEN is better placed right after NEXT LEVEL. Usually there is one or two new songs followed by a Single track, and GREEN would've been perfect here.

Although Pieces of SEVEN is pretty wicked, it fails as a transition to Days.

Aside from the presence of Days and Curtain call, I think this album is more cohesive sounding than some of her past albums (GUILTY, Secret). This is an album I need to listen through from start to finish to fully appreciate as a whole. But over time I know most of the tracks will grow on me since almost all of her songs do.

Well it FEELS that way because of the variety of genres BUT

at least she didnt put
*thinks of Black Cherry*
R&B -> Rock -> Power ballad -> Light ballad -> Electropop -> Pop -> Hard R&B -> Piano ballad -> R&B

THAT's Kuu for you in terms of tracklisting...

GREEN shouldnt go after NEXT LEVEL because GREEN doesnt sound as light as NEXT LEVEL!? that's the point isnt it. I noe it doesnt flow with rollin' at all but its the MOOD of the tracks. (which is what GUILTY was all about)

Wow, I think I would have gotten killed if I had said that. Kudos to you though for posting bravely. :)

:rolleyes way to think the worst of ayu. if you think that she's seriously not more than designer clothes & money now and that's all that's on her mind then wow.

i feel like i'm the only who really enjoys the album , it's strange x_x
it's so fresh and upbeat! i'm so glad she took the NEXT LEVEL (even if guilty is my favourite album.. i was getting sick of the rock sound)

she tried to innovate and she did. And i'm glad.
now, i'll dance with sparkle & putting my hands up with energizE

What I love about this album is that this album is something new in genre. I like it! and I have to agree with everyone that GREEN/Days seems out of place.

I really like it... Though I agree with the people who said GREEN felt out of place... Cooooool song, but a little out of place here. Days fits better i my opinion.

I REALLY love:

Rollin'
Disco-munication
LOVE 'n' HATE
Rule
Sparkle
Bridge to the sky
Curtain Call

^_^!!!!

hopefully the 320kbps is out tmr...

Something in EnergizE sounds VERY OFF-TUNE when I hear it from my fone

overall... this is a Dis-co album... only two sad songs? what has gone into ayu?

top 2 fav songs and interludes

Bridge to the sky
this song could be 'everlasting dream ~episode II~'

NEXT LEVEL
MY FAV!! blue-bird-ish.. lively and fresh song

Pieces of SEVEN
AHHHHH!! i like the mystical sounds in this interlude. they should put this piece of music (minus the upbeat tempo) in the bejeweled game!!

identity
sounds like '1 LOVE' <3

I like this album. The songs keep playing in my head, especially NEXT LEVEL and identity.:)

That's not quite what I meant. She is and will always be more than designer clothes & money, I know she is. But, I just don't feel like she gave her absolutely everything with this album.
Hmm, how should I say it. It's like she's trying to be something else than what she used to be, and I don't mean that she should not write happy songs (though I must say that I don't really find the album that happy, but more like encouraging and "fierce") and try new and fresh styles (even though there's so much elektropop and that around I don't find it really new).

I was a bit worried when she posted some TA messages saying "I should start writing some lyrics". I thought that the lyrics used to just come to her by her feelings, I'm pretty sure she said something like that around I am... or Rainbow. Lyrics that are made while just sitting somewhere and writing something that comes to mind can't be very emotional, right? Why would she feel emotional when singing them?
Maybe I just think of emotional differently than most people here, who seem to listen mostly to popular music, because I myself listen to mostly heavy metal and hard rock with the expection of Ayu.

It's just my opinion after all, and I DO like "identity" to death. Sparkle, GREEN, RULE are still great. Even LOVE 'n' HATE is slowly growing on me. And even though I thought the melodies of rollin' and Energize are really forgettable, today morning when I was making breakfast I found myself humming rollin'. So I still like the album, and I'd still give it 7/10 like I did before. I just except so much from Ayu because I know how great music she can make. After GUILTY and Mirrorcle World my expections for this album were really high so it totally could've been worse. :P

edit: so I just read the lyrics of rollin' and I have to say it just notably raised its points in my eyes :) Very good lyrics even though I'm not sure what to think about their pairing with an upbeat and playful arrangement.

Am I the only one who dislikes love n hate?

after listening to them all, i really think she has lost her writing spark.
but indeed, this is the NEXT LEVEL. the album surely is electronica/experimental, which i was hoping for, and i was a bit satisfied. but i felt a deep disappointment. i was not too pleased... maybe b/c it's she's so different with this one. it's her best DISCO album... i loved the wicked craziness of it... so at the same time, i'm very very impressed and satisfied as well. at times i think she rushed this and composers just through things together. the songs seemed scattered and not well-composed... but i guess that was her view of going to the next step.

so overall, i'm very impressed yet taken-aback with the NEXT LEVEL album. it's still sinking in i guess, however, i enjoyed each song... but she just doesn't have that thoughtfulness anymore.

EDIT: here's my full review w/o ratings b/c... i hate picking a number.

I'm really loving this album already! I love the covers, so vibrant and modern. And the title is definetly one of her bests, "NEXT LEVEL" describes this album well!

It's hard to decide any favorites yet, so I'll just quickly review the songs I've been listening the most so far:

NEXT LEVEL is fun, it's somehow so airy and light, easy to listen. Summer!

EnergizE is so fun and catchy, I like the electronic feeling. Very summery too!

Sparkle is cool, I starting to like it more and more... It's really great to listen when going to party! The electronic instruments really fit. It's just... cool, I don't know how else to describe this song.

rollin' has amazing beat, especially at the beginning when the volume starts to pick up after ambient intro. It's like pulse and it's getting louder, just like the lyrics describe: "The world is rolling around at the speed of rebirth". I'm loving the lyrics, it one of her bests.

Rule is a solid rock song from Ayu, I like it.

LOVE 'n' HATE is really new and suprising. Very dramatic, and the countdown sounds so cool... I loved the song from the first time I listened to it.

As for the new songs, I haven't yet listened identity and Curtain Call enough, I'll get into them soon I think~

//edit: I've been listening to identity now, it's great, especially the chorus... "ID, ID.."

The album is uber GOOD! After listening to at like uhmm... 50 times?

i found myself liking LOVE 'n' HATE... and i thought... this would be a good song to start a concert. XD

Wow so many mixed reviews! I'm hearing a lot of things about her losing her writing spark. Isn't it possible that she just tried another writing approach?

I noticed that there are a few comments that talk about her not being able to write as well as before, all lost the "emotional" touch...

I mean, I really don't think so...

Take rollin' for example. I think this song has amazing lyrics; she talks about all the problems in the world now, like economic crisis, global warming, etc. Especially so in Japan, where the economic is really falling at a alarming rate. I mean I think the lyrics are really good in most of the songs, so I don't understand why people are complaining about her not being able to write as well.

For the "emotional" touch... sorry but I've cried to NEXT LEVEL, Days and Curtain call. I don't really know how must a song be to be "emotional" to you guys, but the 2 ballads in NEXT LEVEL are really emotional for me.

Days holds a very special place in my heart, and whenever Ayu starts singing with the choir in Curtain call, I just get chills.

Maybe I'm expecting too little, but I really think this album is awesome.

Again, just because a song tackles tough issues (rollin'), it doesn't mean it must be an emo power ballad (a song is born, anyone?)!

Curtain call's lyrics are way too simple, repetative and cliche as Ayu has been writing about those kinds of things in many of her songs, even though I like it's it's the worst piano ballad she has done (the only ballad that I like less is Close to you).

rollin' might have good lyrics, but the arrangament, vocoder and over all composition are simply not fitting imo - the song feels like an endless interlude.

NEXT LEVEL is however a masterpiece imo, whenever DAI and Ayu work together it simply has to turn out into amazing song.

identity and LOVE n HATE deffo lack "real emotion" and LOVE n HATE only needs an amazing chorus and it would be great.

I don't know after 2 days of listening to the album, sure I like it overall, but still not more than any of her previous albums :(

I'm really loving this album! All the songs are great to me!

NEXT LEVEL: My album favourite. It's so relaxed and beautiful and makes you let out a contented sigh... This song'll be something I'll be listening to for a long time. XD

EnergizE: The english is so cute! Though this song is one of the less-memorable ones IMO. It sounds good but then it didn't have anything new towards the end and got repetitive in my view.

rollin': I really liked this one too! At least I remember really liking it. I don't actually remember how it sounds like. >.> I guess that's the problem I have with rollin' and also EnergizE.

identity: But, I remember the chorus for identity! Love this song. The chorus is so dramatic and reminds me of a heavier version of (miss)understood for some reason. Love it!

LOVE 'n' HATE: Best song out of all the album tracks! I fell in LOVE with this song. It was just so different and had sooooooo many variations and surprises everywhere! I don't care if it sounds all over the place as long as it keeps on surprising me and coming up with new things. XD I just don't like how repetitive songs like EnergizE were.

Curtain Call: A pretty ballad. It sounds sooo much more beautiful on HQ. The lyrics were a bit simple and if Ayu were to have made them more poignant... like, I dunno, use more imagery? And have more sets of lyrics for the chorus (like Who...)? Something like that. I suppose it would have made the song much better.

Overall I love this album and I would really give it an 8.5/10. I think there isn't a track that's truly skippable, like there was in most of Ayu's other albums. But in terms of the tracks along by themselves, I think there are better tracks on other albums that stand out a lot more. This album is a great balance of really good songs, but there's nothing extremely shiny in there.

^doesnt the endless interlude of rollin' make it feels like its really rolling on and on and on? hahaha...
but yea I agree with LOVE 'n' HATE...ITS NEEDS A CHORUS SERIOUSLY...

the 320kbps version made the album so cool and powerful.
and yes I agree with Keikeia about each track being very gd on their own which makes the album super good in terms of music that no track truly stands out. I don't think I would skip much too...

after a while..i skipped (not that i hate the song...but i just wanted to hear wad i REALYL like)

in GUILTY - (d)lma, t2m (O.O i love this song seriously..but decision had a much more powerful opening), GUILTY, glitter
Secret - Startin', It was, the pop section

quite a pity for the above albums...this album shouldnt face that predicament :P

Hmm, hahaha I love LOVE 'n' HATE chorus! I think it's really awesome.

Well I still agree with you about the D.A.I + Ayu thing... NEXT LEVEL is a masterpiece.

But well, actually Ayu has so many albums... I think some albums are more focused on certain aspects of musics than the others.

Like how MY STORY is very lyric-based, and (miss)understood is genre-based, and GUILTY is emotion-based...

I think NEXT LEVEL is like arrangement-based.

Because I can't tell you how much I LOVE the arrangement of the album tracks, especially LOVE 'n' HATE! The way the violins, synth, drums and guitars flow with each other in LOVE 'n' HATE is such a eargasm oh my Godddddd~~~~ :luv2

on her losing her writing spark. even though the lyrics speak of [big or small] problems and such, her phrases are rather cliche. how should i say it... they don't strike as powerful or strong and come out as quite weak. its not like "oooo can't be said it any better!" b/c i'm only getting the impression of "yeah, i know right?" i think she's just writing songs just to write songs nowadays.

^ i disagee. i still think her lyrics are of the same quality as in any other previous albums. maybe she's repeated a couple points, but other than that they're still very well written.

I agree that still her lyrics are well-written...they seem so to me, well

I liked LOVE n HATE & rollin lyrics & all their arrangement, well, they are simply my 2 most fav songs :luv2

I know how much fans complain about lack of ballads & such

I guess that during her 1st half of career, age 18-23 is such a state for everyone, a state of becoming really mature :yes that explains deepness of the lyrics & thoughts

if we remember clearly her emotional state that time was rather low, because she was lonely, and it explains dark view on things around

her getting on top influenced too, that explains her lyrics too

now she's mature, confident, positive & has friends, so she doesn't have that emo-state

I guess so

this is the first time that i fall in love with an ayu album in first sight!

I LOVE HER NEW SONGS!! i was waiting for this since MY STORY!!

but one album to another the same the same sound
Memorial/STORY/(miss)u / Secret / GUILY....
THE SAME DEJAVU

but now is the moment for the first time in a long time for a REALLY BRAND NEW PRODUCTION!

this album is the best in year!
my favorites:

02.NEXT LEVEL
04.EnergizE TOP1
05.Sparkle TOP1
06.rollin’ TOP1
09.identity TOP1
10.Rule
11.LOVE ‘n’ HATE
13.Days
14.Curtain call

You can write a better lyrics?
Lyrics is AWESOME. She's #1 in writing lyrics.

First impressions of song names was OMFG what is it?:thud But when I read lyrics translation I've understand that Ayu will NEVER disappoint ME with her lyrics. Simply masterpiece!:yes

so true.

first, she must, she has a contract and deadlines.
second, what is there STILL possibly to write about?

she's practically fulfilled all her dreams and her life consists of recording, touring, having fun with her staff and probably bathing in all the bling she's making with it.

it's not that I think she should stop writing her own lyrics, but anyone thinking that she can still genuinely express her emotions as elaborate and honest as she maybe once did is definitely lying to themselves.

I hate this thread now.People can't oppose to other opinions because TEH AYU[insert any creative word here] will hunt you down.YES,HER LYRIC-MAGIC IS SLOWLY FADING.

As much as I like this album,it still won't be special.I think it lacks emotion.ARE YOU GOING TO HUNT ME NOW?

uh, chill. there are just people with agreeing and disagreeing opinions, and until now i've never seen anyone in this thread act as immature as you just did.

^Immature?No.I just think people are being a bit "bah" towards some negative opinions.Especially that pretty comment regarding Ayu's lyrics:rolleyes.

Lol I agree that she has lost her spark in writing lyrics lately. But she's written lyrics to nearly 200 songs in 10 years. What do you expect? I can barely write 3 poems in 5 years hahaha.

But in regards to this album's sound lacking emotion... I'm not sure how I can agree with that. LOVEppears was full of upbeat songs, and it was even criticized that Ayu had happy-sounding songs with depressing lyrics (Trauma, for instance). I mean, her classic upbeat songs like Audience, Boys & Girls, Fly High, Evolution, Naturally, Surreal, Too Late etc. etc. don't exactly sound like the most emotional pieces of music.

I actually really like this album a lot. I do feel emotion and meaning throughout the entire album, but I agree that the way the singles were put in there makes them seem kinda out of place. This is like a breath of fresh air after GUILTY, which was a disappointment to me. I like electro-pop music. I don't like Ayu trying to do rock all the time, it's boring. And after hearing her speak about the album on the radio, I can really appreciate it and her more. She doesn't stick to the same thing over and over; she wants to do different things. Some people need to accept the fact that not everyone is gonna love it. No need to get upset if someone hates a song that you love.
I also don't think people should judge her lyrics based upon a translation you've read because I've noticed when translating that sometimes going Japanese to English ends up simplified in order to get it to sound right. I don't think Curtain Call is simple or cliche...I think it's very direct and one of her better piano ballads. :luv2

Well for me..first, I agree with the writing spark thing.

But the last thing, some of those songs you mentioned are like THE songs that send me on emotional roller coaster, but I really think for those songs, it IS because of the lyrics, my example would be immature.

I don't really feel like Ayu connected so well in these songs because of the nature of the songs. I don't feel it really has anything to do with bad lyrics or lack of emotion, imo, it's because the songs are the style they are. It's different from anything Ayu's ever done, including whatever work she's done people consider techno or whatever...

NEXT LEVEL isn't exactly techno or electronic that much either...to me she's really just inserting it into her songs.

I think this is a great way to put it. Only because I never thought of it like this, but it makes a lot of sense.

It seems like each album really has a theme, and this album's theme revolves around the arrangement. I think she's exapnding her horizon to view other things other than herself and her own experiences, which may seem like lack of emotional thought, but she's still great lyrically. Her songs may not be blatantly about her subject, but it's still something most people can connect to.

Then again, with age comes wisdom. Wisdom she may have not had when she was writing before. I think because she grew out of those earlier (and much more emotional) stages, her lyrics are becoming a little more mature (to some, unemotional).

The album rocks in my eyes. :heart

^Totally agreed.
What does everyone expect this...craziness from Ayu?
NEXT LEVEL is an amazing album, the best she's put out since, IMO, My Story, although I'm a huge fan of Guilty and Secret. Musically, it's the most appealing and market-able stuff she's put out and fans should be happy with that...

I just don't understand all the...mean criticism.

I tend to agree with that. The lyrics for Next Level are not bad or anything like that, they are still better than most other artists, but I have gotten the feeling over the last year or two that she is simply releasing songs just for the sake of releasing songs. And when that is the case, I always think its best that that person take a break for a while instead of continuing to cash in with stuff that they probably know is comparatively weak by their own standards. (this is also referring to the album as a whole, not just the lyrics part.)

This is exactly what I want Ayu to do. I'd rather her take a break for at least a year, and then come back with some amazing material rather than keep putting out mediocre music.

The ironic thing about her writing spark is that, on the list of things she covered in her lyrics, the ones that she haven't done extensively are the Sparkle-ish lyrics.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

d album may be different with her old album..
n when i first heard d full album i was surprised..
it seems not ayu album..
but i'm still able to go with d flow by d rhytm n enjoy it..

n bout emotional lyric..
stop complainin it..
ayu has written hundred lyric..ne..
n they r all have deep poetic lyric..

n until now on this album..
i guess d lyric still remaind d same..
still have d deep meaning..

n they r all have their own theme..
not like d other artist whose lyric have d same old same old lyric such as LOVE..
BROKEN HEART..
n d all kind of love theme..
ayu keep standin on her poetic lyric..n have various theme..
until now i'm still able to feel it on NL..
i still dont understand why there are many of u keep on blaming d album lyric..

make ur own lyric for ur song..
if u r still objected by this album..
CAN U...???

Before I'm attacked for this... remember it's just my opinion :p...

I don't like this album.

To be honest... it ranks last on my list of my favorite albums of her underneath A Song for XX. And I honestly tried liking this album. I kept listening to songs and tried to listen during different moods... nope... I just don't like it.

I never really cared about the lyrics since I don't understand Japanese anyway... so I don't know how her lyrics compare and it wouldn't matter to me anyway, and I loved the melody of her songs... it just seemed... something was lacking?

All of the songs on this album had the potential to be amazing, they all had great melodies and I think they are easy to remember for the most part. However, my favorite part about Ayu's music was how it started softly and kept building up towards the end when her chorus was the strongest. It seems like on NEXT LEVEL the songs have the opposite effect. The beginnings of the songs were amazing (especially LOVE 'n' HATE) but after that... it seemed repetitive and nothing really built up. If it had... this would have easily beaten GUILTY for me.

My plays for her NEXT LEVEL songs on iTunes are really low compared to her other songs because I'll listen to a song and halfway through... I'll get bored and want to listen to a different one :p.

Bridge to the sky :eviltongu
I don't like this intro. Usually, Ayu has good if not amazing intros. This is quite mediocre.

NEXT LEVEL :no
This song sounds so much like "Beautiful Fighters" mixed with "BLUE BIRD". It's like a softer version of these songs! The song is not terrible, but not that good. It annoys me that it sounds like the 2 songs. XD

Disco-munication :yes
I like the beat of this interlude, very nice. I wish they didn't add Ayu's remixed voice in the song though. It kinda ruins it.

EnergizE :yes
The English part sounds like something Koda would sing, LOL! The verses sounds like something Morning Musume would sing. XD How weird? This track is actually not bad. The beat is quite catchy! I like the rockish chorus. Sounds kinda like HandMC's style? What a weird mix! :P

Sparkle :eviltongu
Sounds too much like "MW". I don't really like this track...

rollin' :yes
This is pretty good. I like the beat. I have a feeling that it's gonna be forgettable though.

GREEN :eviltongu
DO NOT LIKE. PERIOD.

Load of the SHUGYO :luv2
Wow, major difference from "GREEN" much? I LOVE IT. <3 I wish it was a full track. Ayu should do this kind of rock more often.

identity :shrug
Ayu's "Yeah, yeah, yeah" are so ANNOYING. She must stop that already. Anyway, the song isn't too bad. Sounds like a mixture of so many of her songs though. And gosh, those "yeah, yeah, yeah"s...

Rule :eviltongu
Disappointing rock track. DO NOT LIKE.

LOVE 'n' HATE :yes
I like the beat of this song so much! The singing isn't as good as the instruments though. I didn't though it really fitted together? But the background music is GENIUS!

Pieces of SEVEN :eviltongu
I don't really like this interlude.

Days :yes
Decent mid-tempo ballad. Her voice sounds a bit strange though. But overall, I like it.

Curtain call :shrug
This song sounds so sad. I love the piano. It's beautiful, but sort of forgettable. Doesn't go in my top ballads.


-OVERALL- Well, I don't think I enjoy this album that much. The only song I would say I love is an interlude. Something is wrong!? "NEXT LEVEL" will probably end up like "GUILTY" and "Secret" which means album I do not care for and skip. It's unfortunate. I guess Ayu's music style is not my type anymore?

As proof that all things are subjective, I completely disagree with everything you said.

I dont think at all she is just putting out songs for the sake of releasing songs, saying "Oh, I must put out songs, so whatever, let's do it."
If that were the case, she would not have had the long time in between Mirrorcle World and Green.

Also, I thought Guilty was a very weak album, one that I didn't like at all, but this album is so great, I love listening to it. Of course, the songs are not on the level of Surreal or those type of songs, but that is because those songs originally came from an era far from now.. next year will be the tenth anniversary of Surreal!! I cannot believe it..

It's a matter of opinion.. and I dont think she herself wants to stop releasing musics, and all that.. this is her life. If she rests, what is she going to do? Someone who is a singer will get the urge to sing so much if they are away for even a month, so I dont think it's even possible for her.

The major thing is.. I think it's her voice. If her vocal status was great, and hitting such high notes, and clear, I dont think anyone would have a problem with this album, but there's so many problems, and so much processing, that it is hard to look past it. Lets be honest here, her vocal performance isnt the best of her albums. But for me, Duty was the worst vocal quality, and NEXT LEVEL is a step above.. but she can do better. I wish that in the next year, her vocal status returns to 100%, and she can give us great vocals.

So one's person's trash is another person's treasure.

But all I can hope for is a great turn out, and can't wait for the singles after this album, whenever they will come, and for the even higher levels of Ayu~

For most of those songs, I have the exact opposite feelings. But I too am not a big fan of this album. But then again I was never a fan of any album, I'm the kind of guy that cherry picks songs and disregard everything else. I prefer good songs/bad album over bad songs/good album.

I think that's probably the thing I don't like about this album. All the new songs have pretty weak climaxes..

I think NEXT LEVEL is the weakest album track. Does this song even have a climax? And was I the only one shocked that this was a DAI composition? It has a good melody and stuff, but by DAI's standards it's barely impressive.

rollin' is pretty sweet. It reminds me of a 21st century version of too late on acid. However, I think the song would have definitely benefited from an interesting bridge to build up to the final chorus. In addition to that, I think the mixing is strange.. like there isn't enough "boom" to it. This might just be due to the fact that the song is completely programmed though.

identity reminds me a lot of B'z, which is definitely a good thing. What's great about the song though, is that it sounds even better if it's played consecutively with decision and 1LOVE. It's a lot like those two songs, except a little funkier and with better instrumentation. The bass and drums sound a lot more prominent in this song as well. Actually, the drummer on the record is Josh Freese (who formerly worked with Nine Inch Nails and is the current drummer for A Perfect Circle) and the bassist in Chris Chaney (who also played bass on Together When...). The breakdown in the middle is just, wow.. badass.

LOVE 'n' HATE is pretty good. I'm so glad she decided to do a song with a little bit of an urban flavor. But I mean.. the sound is a lot like American pop/R&B circa.. 2004? I mean, it sounds really dated and forced. I think Yuta should stick with the rock arrangements. It's still pretty "fierce" though, it should probably be good live. Did anybody notice how sexy her voice sounds when she's counting?

EnergizE is really fun. I don't get all the hate for it at all. It's up there with her other "fun" songs like AUDIENCE and independent (which both have clapping lol), while not being too upbeat and chaotic like until that Day... and evolution

Curtain call is alright. It's the new song I've least listened to, to be honest. I don't feel like, this ~amazing~ emotional connection to it like some of the power ballads on GUILTY. I will say that the instrumentation is well done though, it reminds me of "Hey Jude" from the Across the Universe OST, very well done. I would have gotten emotional if the melody was just a little stronger..

Rule has grown on me a lot. I used to think that its melody was really weak and unmoving, but I think I've finally connected with the energy of the song. The verses are really strong. The chorus is too, just not by itself lol. The song flows very smoothly.

Sparkle is pure awesomeness. I love the filthy electro-ness and all the rough synthy sounds throughout the song. I love how the chorus just explodes. The energy is all there. Only complaint is that the ~no, no, no~ part carried on a little too long.

Days, loved it since I first heard it. Nostalgic sound. Wonderful vocals. Gives a feeling off that I can't really explain.. it makes me feel happy, even though I feel like it shouldn't.

GREEN is great. It feels totally out of place on the album because it's the only time Yukumi and tasuku appear, so the song has a really different feel, but this is an excellent, excellent song. It shows that tasuku is still a very strong arranger. I'm really proud of Ayu because the song has some very nice vocal moments.

And finally, yeah, the interludes.. I like them all. Probably won't listen to most of them again though except for maybe Bridge to the sky. Pieces of SEVEN surprised me. I didn't think HAL would actually change things up. Sounds nice though.

That wraps up my overall thoughts on the album I guess. Not sure yet how it stacks up to her other albums, definitely in the lower half though. Duh, lol.

I think you just nailed a big part of the problem. I really truly, have tried to like this album. I've been really wanting to like it, because I want to be blown away by Ayu again. And I do indeed love parts of it, but I feel the same as you. Even though I've only been listening to it a few days, I'm already skipping past the songs once they have only played about half way. You are right about the "no build up" in these songs. They start great and then they just kind of flatten out.

As for the emotional aspect: Yes, I do feel this album comparatively lacks emotion to her previous efforts. It has nothing to do with whether the songs are happy or sad, but all in how they are delivered. Songs like Fly High, Trauma, Naturally, And Then, Immature etc etc, all indeed has an emotional component to them because you really felt something through her voice and the presentation of the song. I'm wondering if the lack of connection many are feeling to her voice in this album is maybe because the vocals rely a lot more on production in this album (and I'm not just talking about vocoder effects) and that tends to deaden vocals more.

I think that with the album tracks though, that was indeed the case. I think its pretty obvious that the whole reason that this album was made at the last minute in the first place was that Avex wanted an album from her no matter what by March 31st. Just like Avex is releasing something from basically everyone of their artists this month seemingly in an attempt to raise their company value before the end of the Japanese financial year.

That's why I have a hard time believing that these tracks are coming from an organic and authentic place but more like "I have to put an album out now."
I'm glad that you at least agree with this part especially since we are usually at odds when it comes to issues about her vocals. :) But this is another reason why I think a rest would be good for her - so she can heal her vocal chords. I really truly think her vocals have been getting progressively worse since after the release of miss understood. Or actually I can get even more specific and say that it started around the time of Jewel's release. Each time that I saw her live (in concert) since then I thought her vocals were getting a little worse each time. If you collect her tv performances and especially HDTV performances (because the vocal tracks are more prominent than the music usually) you can actually trace the gradual degradation of her vocals over the past two years. This is not an issue of whether someone likes her high or low voice better (in fact I'd even say that her voice may even have been deeper in 03 than it is now) but just strictly on the basis of her power in her voice, the steadiness of it and her ability to hold notes. A good example of this would be to see how many times in 03, she actually pulled the mic really far away from her mouth when hitting power notes, because she actually had the power in her voice to do it then - nowadays though, I don't think the mic ever really left her lips in any of her tv performances last year and if it did, her voice cut out soon after. I'm seeing now after people have heard the album that the vocal issue is becoming a topic on japanese bbs too.

Sorry to go on a bit of a tangent there. :) But I do think it is relevant to the sound of this album.

This album didn't really do it for me, I have to say the singles were better. To me all the song seem to have that empty pop feeling, like she just made tons of electro-songs to finish an album on time. Usually would find atleast one song addicting in an Ayu album but I really don't know..........I still think she had had way more better albums than this one. I'm alittle disappointed. and I'm a sucker for ballads but Curtain call just seemed plain and bland and not much going on for it, it reminds me of a school song that you would sing at graduation.

To me, she hasn't loose her touch with lyrics. She is as talented as she always has been.

Some people is complaining about the way she is writing, or singing, or arranging her music right now and well, i understand that not everyone can enjoy the album on the same level, or cannot connect with the lyrics or the music, and it's fine, their arguments are reasonable and they are in their whole right to express their thoughts.

I disagree however, with the idea about telling her music is not being emotional. One thing is putting music on an album just for the sake of it, and one thing very different is that you are unable to empathize with something she is saying. I don't speak japanese, however, i think sometimes i'm able to understand -more or less- what an artist is saying just because of the way he/she is singing or expressing himself/herself. The emotion sometimes says much more than the lyrics, in my opinion. This clearly happened to me actually, with the Dr. song by Namie. I had no idea what she was saying but somehow i immediatly got hooked with it. Few weeks later, when i read the translation in one of the chorus, i was shocked because ( i know it sounds weird, but it's true) i kind of knew what she was saying! maybe that was just a coincidence... but i think i got my point.

However, I can't say everyone is being fair. Some of the complaints ( not all, of course) i'm reading now have to be the lamest excuses for arguments. Plain ridiculous :eviltongu

Ps.- i'll continue with my review later on (got a bit tired... hehehehe :dead2)

I actually really enjoy Next Level. I'm not a huge fan of Ayumi, I like her, some of her past material has been really meh and bland for me. It's a good album and it doesn't hurt my head like Guilty did!

This album is not Ayu's best, nor do I think she took it to the "next level." That said, this is not a BAD album, but I look forward to her next single, and hopefully she will impress me more.

Now that I give the album a few days to digest...

I actually rather like NICE LEVELl, because it has the calming affect on me. I can easily picturing myself biking and walking around on a bright sunny day while listening to this song, so that's nice. However, I do think out of the new songs it's the least stand out one.

EnergizE is really fun, and the beat's great. I kind of wish they didn't digitize the arrangement as much because the composition reminds me of a 50s song, and I kind of wish it's more powered by just the clap beats. And I like the fact that this song didn't feel sugary.

Rollin' is...weird. Took me a few listens to get it because the vocoder voice in the beginning reminds me of something I'd seen on the old-school gray alien on the Scifi channel or something. But the chorus is really nice and I have it stuck in my head as I speak.

Identity has the weirdest bridge, but I feel like it has the composition of decision and the arrangement of 1LOVE or the more rockish part of Rule. The only part that bugs me is the "yeah yeah yeah" in the beginning.

Love 'n' Hate is actually the first song that caught my attention. The chorus and verses composition vise reminds me hitomi shimatani for some reason. But it manage to be urban and still maintain some of her more rock-influenced elements in there.

Sparkle is fun and dance-y, and I really like the chorus.

Rule has been one of my top playing songs for a while. The chorus is catchy and it has a good beat.

GREEN will never cease to wow me. As much as I am a newly converted more "pop" person I love the arrangement and composition of the song. I love how it uses the more oriental sound and I think the way she sings it really compliments the arrangement.

Days is heartwarming and reminds me of the holidays.

I love Curtain Call's simplicity. Even with the chorus there's a down-to-earthness about this song that I really love, although I do think it's one of those songs that I'll need to be in the mood in.

Overall for me this album beats RAINBOW and LOVEppears as a pop album. And I love the fact that although it's a pop-driven album, I don't feel the sugary or excessively cutesy. I do think that the flow for this album isn't great (although I'm glad, especially because it's a more pop-oriented album, if it flows too well I have trouble really liking the tracks individually a la LOVEppears which poses a problem for me since I listen to songs on Shuffle and I like to distinguish different songs).

I still think that Orchestral Rock is by far Ayu's most well-done style, and I like the fact that I feel NEXT LEVEL gives the dark atmosphere a burst of color, but at the same time it's not a totally different environment. (And I just realize that this paragraph sounds really weird...)

i personally think NEXT LEVEL is much better than GUILTY .

so do i.........:D

I've listened to the album and well, this is ayu's best album-period-
It's just refreshing and not dark. EnergizE is just great, I imagine it will be put in the cute section of her tour. And LOVEnHATE...WOW!!! Her vocal is amazing and I love how she sings and act cool in the song intro ^^ The rest are just great...Take out GREEN and put in Mirrorcle World or some other songs then this album will be (almost) perfect

I'll just copy my review from my blog. ;)



But yeah, I have to say, it's Ayumi's best album in my opinion.
It's mainstream genres without losing its rock-touch. Her lyrics are fresh and happier, almost like opening the curtains after sleeping for a long time. :D
I love it. :)

yeah i agree that this album is a lot better than GUILTY. it's so upbeat and addicting. GUILTY had some amazing songs but not ones you really want to put on repeat forever (besides glitter). :P

I can't believe how awful that picture on the Discommunication page of the booklet is.

Best insight on this thread, in my opinion.

It's a parallel that no one else here agrees with, but I do think that's why this album has such a kinship with LOVEppears. They are both arrangement-based albums.

Too many extratextual readings here: what Ayu said on her blog, how she needs to take a long break so she can make better music, how this album is so last-minute, blah blah blah. Whatever, I don't really care, and I don't see how those factors translate into artistic worth. Particular pet peeve: this was a rushed album. And so? Rushed = bad? Wong Kar Wai made Chungking Express as a break when filming for Ashes of Time ran long, and I'd argue that Chungking is a better movie. The artistic process is not determined by length of time.

I am by no means a strict formalist, but it seems there is too much autobiography involved in how people determine their opinions.

For me, what an artist says about their work of art is helpful but insufficient, sometimes virtually meaningless. The meaning of a work of art is created by negotiation between artistic intention, critical appraisal, and the object itself.

I think this is an album that will sound better in retrospect. As to masterpiece status, I'm not yet sure.

Worst album is still A Song for XX. Talk about a lack of artistic identity. And followed by Guilty. Talk about artistic exhaustion.

As to those issues with vocals, I'll just say that the human body is not a machine. It ages, evolves, adapts, changes. Even vocal technique-obsessed Mariah these days doesn't sound like Mariah from the old days. To expect the same thing is naive. Personally, I think Ayu's voice is still fine.

I'd put up my own review, but I'm sure everyone's eyes here will glaze over from my pretension :P I take analyzing Ayu's music as serious critical business.

ohh lol

i didnt see this before~!!~

xDD

I have no idea why the single tracks (Days, GREEN, Rule & Sparkle) apparently sound louder compared to the album tracks when listening to the album on my stereo ._. Weird.

As do I and many other people in this thread. As for the rest of your post, I'm not sure how all of those things DON'T relate to analyzing the album - her voice, production time etc. Rushed is fine, if the reason that you are rushing is because you are inspired. Not because you are rushing to meet a business deadline. If inspiration had simply been the case, there would be no need to announce the release date of the album before it was even recorded. But I don't think the album being rushed was even really brought up much here. It was more about people not feeling "connected" to the songs, the uneven flow of the album, and the tracks seemingly having a short shelf life.

I like albums which spark controversies instead of consistent comments! Which is why i like m(u) a lot(different comments and great variety of songs) and don't care much towards Secret and MY STORY(unanimously jpop/ayu-ish/rock) and GUILTY(unanimously dark).

Oh well, I will insist to not listen until i get my copy, my persistence is weakening tough...
However, if CMJK is the main producer/arranger, NEXT LEVEL has a higher chance to score high in my mind.

The thing I don't get is how you're blaming Ayu for the 'rushed' thing. I mean it's not exactly her fault that this album is 'rushed' to you. It's avex! I'm 100% sure they told her, "Hey finance year ends 31st March, make an album so that we can get the cash rollin'!"

Surely, Ayu could have said no BUT this is still the company... the people who give her her paycheck...

I gotta agree with maikaru, who mentioned that if she was REALLY "making songs for the sake of it", there wouldn't be a 8 month gap between Mirrorcle World and GREEN/Days.

I mean, in previous threads, I did talk about how I would like an album to be on 01.01.10 actually, but I think if NEXT LEVEL was on 01.01.10 instead, it wouldn't be too different from NEXT LEVEL now.

In any case, if she is REALLY "making songs for the sake of it", then as what others have said, there would be that GUILTY vibe from it. I like GUILTY a lot too, but you can hear she's tired or something. I mean she broke up with her boyfriend, her best friend committed suicide blah blah, I don't think anyone would be in the mood to make an album after such events. But she felt like she "needed" to, that's what she said on interviews about GUILTY, right?

But with NEXT LEVEL, it feels very different. All the songs sound fresh and cheerful... I mean I don't know what "emotions" you guys are referring to when you want to feel "emotionally-connected", but hey, I feel happy and relaxed while listening to NEXT LEVEL. The songs just give me the vibe that Ayu is enthusiastic and excited about this album.

You have also mentioned earlier about the excessive use of effects on her voice on this album... while I agree with you because Rule's vocoders in the verses are SO extra, I think I've got something to say on this too.

If, for example, her voice wouldn't edited for the songs... I sure as hell wouldn't enjoy rollin' as much. The computerized voice in the verses make the song VERY interesting imo, and so goes for a lot of the other songs. These songs are in the 'techno' style whether you agree or not, there are still techno influences here, so I think vocoders and those effects are necessary.

And in songs when they are not so techno, she doesn't use "special effects"! NEXT LEVEL, GREEN, Days and Curtain call are songs with her natural voice, and I think she sounds awesome in all these songs.

Of course her voice wouldn't be as good as her I am... era, but I really wouldn't expect her vocals to be exactly the same as 2001.

I just feel that if Ayu were to read this thread, she really wouldn't know what to do for her next album.

People complain about emotional albums (GUILTY), about experimental albums ((miss)understood), about happy/carefree albums (NEXT LEVEL)... what should she do next that will impress everyone?

I mean she will never make an album that everyone will like (I, for one, dislike I am... a lot)... so it's just unfair to her to listen to a new album and quickly compare it to "older works".

About her writing spark... I agree with panda87 that she has started to use phrases a little too repeatedly nowadays, but it's good to see that these 'repeated phrases' are used in different contexts.

In NEXT LEVEL, for example, she sings about roads AGAIN. But this time the 'road' here is really for a very different reason... it's about moving on. The last time she mentioned 'road'/'walking' was like decision, and you know that wasn't a very happy song, unlike NEXT LEVEL.

Also, while I said rollin', for example, still tackles the "serious" issues currently, the "serious" issues are like topics she has always been writing about. a song is born, is also a song on "serious" issues. For that, can I say that she's getting boring?

One thing I've noticed about this album is that she's writing on a lot of new topics.

EnergizE, LOVE 'n' HATE, Days, Curtain call... are lyrics that she hasn't really written before. Curtain call has that Kuu vibe, I mean the lyrics are really good, but I don't think Ayu has written anything like Curtain call before.

LOVE 'n' HATE and Days, like I've mentioned, are songs on crushes. When was the last time she sang a song on having a crush? Er what about never. (Okay I guess STEP you is about a crush too. :innocent)

And EnergizE feels like a song that has no regrets! I remember maikaru saying before that her happy songs always have this tinge of regret in them (and it's sooooo obvious in glitter), but EnergizE is not like that, one bit, at least to me.

Sparkle is also another song where lyrics are something she has not tried before. I know this one is touchy cos it's 'superficial'... but that's why I didn't really talk about Sparkle.

So how is she losing her writing spark if she's trying new things to write about? She has 10 albums and 45 singles. That's so many songs, and I think it's time she leaves the emo-ness behind and at least write happier songs. She has done that in NEXT LEVEL, so I'm happy.

Oh, one more thing before I end. You also mentioned about feeling something while listening to Fly high and the rest. What are you feeling? Suicidal thoughts?

Because to me, EnergizE and Fly high make me feel the same thing - confidence and happiness. The difference is that Fly high had a lot of doubts, but EnergizE is definitely 100% "I can do it".

Maybe to you, even happy songs need to have this "emo" vibe to be good... but that was Ayu in the past. Another member has also mentioned in LOVEppears, many of the happy-sounding songs have dark lyrics. I mean I like the contrast, but what's wrong with have a happy-sounding song that really is happy? Is a song less emotional just because there aren't emo stuff and regrets in its lyrics?

I'm so pleased with NEXT LEVEL. Perhaps it's because I'm in a really depressed mood now, and NEXT LEVEL is like THAT album that is going to help me, with its confidence, loudness and color. I think such an album is fitting for an era like now, where crisis are abound.

By that way, I'm not one of those fans who are totally blinded (so please don't use the fact that I registered at 2007, and that I actually started into Ayu in late 2006 to say anything)... so of course I have my displeases about this album.

Let's just say that I was really :rolleyes when I heard Load of the SHUGYO. That first few seconds of the "ah ah" and the triangle were so redundant! In fact many of the songs have lame intros lol, especially Load of the SHUGYO. Ugh!

I'm sorry for this long post, and I'm very sorry to SunshineSlayer for quoting you and then saying all these, but I'm not aiming you or anything. My apologies...

BTW, Japanese fans are saying that the lyrics DOES have a lot of meaning.

e.g. in LOVE 'n' HATE, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,0 signified the 7 years of Nagase's relationship with her and it become 0 when they broke up.

the interlude that followed then make total sense-Pieces of SEVEN refers to the bits and pieces of the 7 years they were together.

Clearly, Ayu is just not that "non-sense" or "random" when it comes to her lyrics...
Obviously the break-up did have a huge impact on her despite her fun and happiness in front of the camera and the fierceness during photoshoots and concerts.

I don't think anyone "blamed" Ayu for that, just simply stating that is the way it is and it is unfortunate. And as for making songs for the sake of it, as I said, I mostly mean the album tracks.

People aren't just referring to vocoders when they are talking about production though. In this album her voice is tripled, quadrupled over(maybe more) as well as other studio tinkering and it definitely sounds more so than on her other albums. This once again points to her voice being weak these days and actually the more tinkering in the studio you do, the more flat the vocal ends up becoming imo.

uhhh What? lol. That's my first reaction to reading all of this. First of all, I hate emo and I don't even like Guilty that much. I hate that emo is even considered a genre since songs with sad lyrics have always existed since the beginning of time. And once again, when feeling a connection to the song, it has nothing to do with weather the song is happy or sad, it is all in how that song is delivered through the composition, arrangements, and most importantly the vocals. I think part of the reason people aren't feeling that connection is because of the vocal issues mentioned.

I don't think this is a BAD album and I don't think the lyrics are that much of an issue (other than Sparkle), some of them are quite good and some are extremely repetitive. I think that she is capable of better albums though. If you can whole heatedly enjoy this album, that is great for you though.

I'm not really feeling this album as much as I did with her other ones but it's still pretty good. LOVE 'n' HATE is the greatest track imo. identity is quite good too and I love Disco-munication <3
What's missing for me is a good ballad or two. Sadly I'm not big fan of GREEN, Days nor Curtain Call whilst I usually like Ayu's ballads the most so that's a big loss to me.
All together I do like the techno-rock theme this album has got going, but it just doesn't really stand out to me enough to be totally in love with it.

Hello obvious gap between types of Ayu fans and the correlations to when they became fans... :laugh

I wonder how many people that totally love Ayu and her newer lyrics think her best albums happened after (miss) understood :laugh

Anyway...how to bridge this gap?

I really want to start comparing Ayu to dream theater for some reason...in terms of how long they've been making albums and everything they do and how creative it is...it's all my boyfriends fault...

but anyway...you know, I don't think that saying "SO WHAT IF SHES LOSING HER SPARK SHE HAS ALL THESE ALBUMS AND SONGS." is very good argument. Perhaps we all need to take a step back here and remember that Ayu is NOT a musician. She is a SINGER. Sure she has composed here and there, but that doesn't make her an experienced composer lol. Sure she has written her own lyrics, so what? So does kuu, so does hikki, so does my emi, so does a ton of other artists.

Perhaps we should stop expecting things from her that she never had, or maybe things that she once had, but doesn't need anymore.


Ayu is special, yes, I think we all believe that, I think we all love her, but for instance, I would never expect the same level of quality album after album from her as I get from someone who writes all their songs and mixes them and everything.

I think Ayu's special because she imbues what she's given with more of herself...maybe we don't feel that so much here because we're not used to it...I don't know...

meh...whatever. I miss my LOVEppears/Duty Ayu...and since that's never coming back...All I can hope for her is that she does her best with everything she puts out, if I like it, great, if I don't oh well. I don't listen to her stuff that much anymore...cause...it kinda got boring...

I like this album better than Guilty...by a long shot. But...I still don't think its really anything compared to her previous achievements.

for added dramatic effect: I agree with SunshineSlayer's points. Even if he doesn't agree with me.

I agree with you on some points yes. Although I'm a She not a He. I think my username must give off too much of a masculine effect or something... :)