agree let's take it slow, 3 songs would be the rght number in order to get accostumed to his style..hopefully we will be contented :innocent

I wonder if she will do a full English language song on this album or maybe for a single.

^hell no. lol

I don't think BRILLANTE is awful, but it is really overrated imo. It's kind of just an average Ayu song to me. I can sing why everyone likes it, but I'm just not that into it at all. :shrug

I dnt get it why there's a bunch of love for brilantte...
N to be honest i dunt really like timmy..
Kinda umm..forget it..
Lol..

I hope ayu works with bounceback or D'A'I again..

Yeah, I mean, I LOVE BRILLANTE, but everyone is all on his **** now and I'm like...shut up. LOL

That's a nice thought--but no, I doubt she'd do that at this point.

me too. i didn't know there were ayu fans who DIDN'T love it...lol!

seriously, one of my favorite ayu songs in a long time. definitely the best on FIVE.

but as we all know, opinions vary widely and we all have our own.

i agree with the person who said they would love to see bounceback and dai on this album. those two along with timmy and maybe another composer...that'd be great.

I've heard some of BOUNCEBACK's recent output with idol groups and it's nowhere near as good as the stuff they did with Ayu. I wonder if this album will be mainly Yuta/Timmy/CMJK.

I wouldn't mind hearing some more of Timmy, just to see what hes got. BRILLANTE was just that, brilliant, but I don't want to hear an entire album of nothing like BRILLANTE.
Lets see what the man is made of first.
I would like CREA to do something... (please, oh please!!)

Agreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!~:laugh

I don't want to make any predictions, cause I feel like in the end I'll be disappointed :laugh

But when will we hear at least one new song? If there's no singles, so we won't hear anything till album's release?

Now I'm kind of wondering, if this album will have no singles at all...
How many PVs are there in the new album? Maybe just 3?

I kind of want this. Imagine having an entire album of fresh material.

the first time i listen to "BRILLANTE, i was like... "What the.....". The song itself is just okay and different from any of Ayu previous release..A standalone track in Ayu's albums.. just like "Sexy Little Thing" in RnRC, .but if it become a single, i don't think it will receive very well in Japan. Since the people there are suckers for ballad (i think..). Among all of the songs in FIVE, i think "progress" will get more success than the others.

Well, it's just my opinion :).


EDIT :

and for the new album~ I hope Ayu will release at least one song compose by herself~ and that would be great since most AHS members really missed her beautiful work :)....and that includes me!!!! :).

and Ayu, please release a beautiful ballad. as beautiful as CAROLS :)

I'm so excited! I could really use a new ayu ballad right now.

I don't care what direction she takes the new album in! I will always support her and her new music! I am just excited about a new album *_* I don't hate on any of her choices or her decisions about who she works with. As long as she keeps singing I will be happy! :)

Me tooo :D:D:D

...really? yet another ballad?

ok, I want to know why some of you think BRILLANTE is awful. like, what made you think while listening to it "omg, this song is awful". i'm honestly curious.

I'm...so...EXCITED :thud

i always skip it so never thinking about it..
lol:D:D

Yeah I'm curious, too. I can see why people may think it's not all that great... But awful? How strange.

FIVE having no singles was a first for Ayu, so maybe she'll do the same for the upcoming album? Maybe she's seeing that her singles aren't as profitable anymore? Yet her singles still do so much better than a ton of other well known artists, so it's all in the air really.

Speculation on the album has already died? :o

It's not like we have an official announcement + the album won't be out until March/April. There is not much left to say about it :thud

Maybe awful wasn't the right word. Boring as hell seems to match it better.

^^ I was being sarcastic. :P

I agree, it is really boring. It's like there's no point listening to the full six minutes because it never really reaches a climax anyways.

Im confused, why does everyone think there will be no new singles??

She might release one a month or two before the album. No singles at all would be new territory for her, I'd love to hear an album with entirely new material.

She'll be able to come up with the concept/direction for the album right from the beginning, instead of after the singles have been released. A lot of Ayu albums suffer from the singles seeming out of place with the album's overall sound. No fault of her own.. it would be hard to come up with an album concept when the first single might come out a year before the album's eventual release. Love songs (for me) was the first Ayu album that felt like a cohesive set of work.

Although if there's no singles, I think it will be on the shorter side. NEXT LEVEL length.

Happy with the producers she is working with as well although it will probably sound nothing like Love songs. It won't have that "nostalgia" feeling to it. Timmy's BRILLIANTE composition was very interesting and felt fresh for Ayu, but it will be interesting to see if he's more than a one-hit wonder. CMJK will probably create the more electronic/dance songs, should make for a good mix of different styles.

what makes it boring as hell? come on, you gotta get into more detail than that or nobody will get you.

well,everyone's taste is different.you might love the song alot,but of course there are some people hate it .does this need explanation?

BRILLANTE is not everyone's cup of tea. Me, I like it, but I don't love it, and I can see how someone may just plainly dislike it. From what I've seen on this forum, a lot of people love STEP you and Sparkle, and I can't stand STEP you, and think that Sparkle is an average pop song. It's not a question of quality here, but taste. I can spot a good song, but I don't have to like it. A good example of that is NEVER EVER.

idk I just don't like it. It's slow and really doesn't go anywhere. The chanting isn't impressive either (although I read that it was done by Timmy himself, gotta give him props for that)

The arrangement 's something different when I heard it the first time but that's about it... I wish the song itself was composed differently cuz I can't dig the melody

I do understand what he means. For me it is just that the arrangement of the song is so darn unappealing. The vocals are not impressive either, and I hate the chanting. Though I have to admit that the 'saying goodbye in different languages' at the end was original and creative.

+ The PV is superstrange.

Whether he can actually pull that chanting off without studio help is questionable. Seemed like he lip synced his live performance of it.

Erm, that's exactly the style I was talking about. ETA: Oh, I think we're just viewing the songs differently! When I think of cutesy songs from RnR my mind hops to things like Sunrise, Lady Dynamite, you know? Sexy little things isn't a cutesy song to me, but I can see how you'd think that!

I think he has some other examples of his singing and covers, doesn't he? But I haven't listened to them, so I'm not sure what they sound like.

I can totally see why some people wouldn't like stuff that's as epic as BRILLIANTE. After all if I for instance listened to kpop everything that wasn't super generic and catchy to the point where it doesn't matter what you're listening to as long as you can listen to it for a few days on repeat I would prolly feel the same way too. In a way BRILLIANTE is a small master piece, but as with every song not all the people will see it for what it truly is for one reason or another. In the end it all comes down to taste...though I have a reason for liking/not liking stuff at least most of the time -.-

I really don't know why people make such a fuss about "BRILLANTE". Don't get me wrong, I like the song - it's really beautiful - but a lot of fans treat the song like it's the MOST EPIC song Ayu has ever made.

It's okay if you think so, but not everbody feels the same about such things. I think that "BRILLANTE" is a wonderful song, but Ayu has many wonderful songs and some of them deserve the description "masterpiece" much more than "BRILLANTE"!

I agree with this. I like the melody of the song, but the arrangement really, really bores me. I like her vocals in it, but I don't care for the chanting at all. Unlike you though, I thought the goodbye chanting at the end was incredibly lame and embarrassing.

Wow, so many mixed reviews on BRILLANTE. I didn't even really know people felt this way about it. I don't particularly have strong feelings about BRILLANTE, whether positive or negative. But I do feel somehow, and please don't take this the wrong way, if you really dislike BRILLANTE that much I don't know what you're looking for in Ayu's music anymore. I'm not really saying that the song is perfection and if you hate it you have no taste but... It just seems to have kind of classic Ayu feel but new at the same time. I thought that's what most people wanted but maybe that's not how people feel about the song. FIVE is an album full of new things Ayu hasn't tried before and it seems to be very poorly received by fans here. What kind of music do you want Ayu to do? What kind of direction do you want her to go in? I might make a thread on this topic... or there might be one in existence xD; Too lazy to check, too lazy to make it lol.

^ SO MUCH THIS.

The cynical side of me wants to say that people who didn't like the BRILLANTE video are those who probably don't get/like Ladies Night, the Love songs PV trilogy, alterna, etc. Ayu's PVs often have storylines to them that are either subtle or quite obvious and overt. BRILLANTE's PV shows this perfectly. Slow paced and curious though the PV undoubtedly is, I don't see how anyone couldn't enjoy it. YMMV aside, that is.

FIVE didn't really tickle my fancy, but I do agree that it was Ayu trying new elements in her work which is what a lot of people here go on and on and on about, and have since... probably MY STORY or something. It's okay if those new things aren't to your taste, but it really seems like some people can't be happy with anything.

I myself LOVE ladies night and alterna ( both songs and pvs) but can't enjoy BRILLANTE and Love song trilogy! These songs are ok but pvs, imo, are so lame! ( they're almost on par with Lady dynamite pv)

Love song PV was beyond terrible...

BRILLANTE and Virgin Road(incredible cinematography) are some of my favorite Ayu PVs lately and BRILLANTE is easily her most inspirational PV for me(as in: for someone aspiring to work with music videos)
I also enjoyed Lady Dynamite as the purely for-fun video it is.

BRILLANTE is good but not so special to me at least. Lyrics are awesome and all but that's it. Music itself makes me think of a sequel to BALLAD. Musically they're very similar and because I love BALLAD like there's no end, I can't find myself enjoying BRILLANTE as much because I feel like I've heard it before. :/

To me masterpieces are everything she released between 2001-2007. Since 2008 her music has changed so much I hardly find any masterpieces in her albums. It's just how I feel. Rock'n'Roll Circus and Love songs are both amazing though in their own ways. RnRC has that experimental tone on it in some songs and Love songs has really cool and touching lyrics.

As for her upcoming album, I wish it's a well collected mix of everything much like what (miss)understood was. Of course I'm trying not to get my hopes too high because that's when I relive the moments of disappointment I felt with NEXT LEVEL back in 2009 and I don't want that. I'd rather have no high hopes instead and I will definitely like at least 2/3 of her album, which is good. XD

^ I think people who weren't disappointed with NEXT LEVEL are quite rare, especially after the epicness GUILTY was. Imo RnRC was missunderstood Part II and I am ready for the next part ^^

I think TK is in London too, he just tried tweeting a photo of him in London but ended up just giving the address to the folder on his computer LOL and he's changed his dp to a photo of Keiko at some BBC building.
https://twitter.com/#!/Tetsuya_Komuro

I always got the feeling NEXT LEVEL was received better than GUILTY. But thinking about it, NEXT LEVEL has much more unique, experimental and somewhat edgy sounds so it only makes sense for people to, at least initially, not like it as much as the "safer" GUILTY.

It was more experimental for sure; I dunno I loved GUILTY from the first moment I've heard it. NEXT LEVEL took months to grow on me.

I think GUILTY is better received than NEXT LEVEL by overseas fans. NEXT LEVEL is always second least favorite on least favorite album polls, right behind ASFXX.

Omg this makes me a lot more happy than it should. It better have something to do with Ayu!

So the new album might be NEXT LEVEL-Rock'n'Roll Circus-Love songs mash up (which means something new) =D
Since all of the composers/arrangers are there!

I remember he said that he had to layer his voice 26 times (or something like that) for the chanting effect in the song~

So yeah, it would probably be hard to sing it live

^ lol that chanting should be prolly done by a choir group or something but since he's only one, it can't be helpped. But I think he was singing live, just with thos other 25 layers in the background xD

:yes:yes:yes:yes

Another reason I think BRILLANTE gets a lot of talk around here is because of the contrast between this and the other four songs on the album. It's the better of the bunch.

Timmy sang live at PoM, but he had a backtrack of course, so he was singing over other layers, his live voice was just the loudest one :)

This was the issue with me, too. I remember my first listen of NEXT LEVEL was one of confusion and mild disappointment. GREEN and Days -- and maybe Curtain call? -- stand out so drastically from the rest of the album that I felt a bit thrown off. Now I'm not so fussed about that; they blend in nicely with the eponymous song's mood. GUILTY, however, was an album I loved from the start.

... NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THIS ALBUM NEEDS TO COME OUT NOW XD

That's not really accurate; I became addicted to ayu's music after I heard all of her uplifting and happy pop and encouraging rock songs, and that is what I want from her. BRILLANTE doesn't contain any of that, instead ayu gives me something I am not familiar with. (speaking for myself of course)

It really is fascinating how there is a big crowd who are supporting the song, a smaller crowd disliking the song and a LOT of people who think that BRILLANTE is ayu's masterpiece.

And I agree, maybe someone should open an thread to discuss BRILLANTE, I'm sure many people will express their mixed feelings about that song there. It's also nice to read what other people think about it.

Well I wasn't so much talking about the mood of the song as I was talking about certain qualities of the song that people have been asking for, something reminiscent of Ayu's old songs yet still rather new. I feel like Ayu miss those marks in ANother song and Why... but nailed it with BRILLANTE. Yeah, people aren't going to fancy it if they don't like Ayu's darker music but to outright hate it and call it awful is what baffles me. Like I said, people may not see BRILLANTE the way I do, several people said they find it boring. But what I'm asking is what is it that would satisfy you if you feel BRILLANTE dropped the ball?

A lot of people often say that when Ayu mentions "going back to basics" they automatically assume the album will be MY STORY-esque, which is why some people were disappointed with RnRC. So is THAT the classic Ayu everyone really wants? Is that the blueprint fans want Ayu to follow with her upcoming releases? Is that the essence of classic Ayu that BRILLANTE fails to capture? I don't know... I'm avoiding homework with these discussion topics lmao xD; So please, discuss... Or let's make a new thread?



Or just use the one that already exists~ here

wow if TK is really in London..
and i'm happy.. i love TK's composition on Love Song!

Yay for you explaining in detail why you dislike it. Even though I love BRILLANTE I totally get why you don't now. I think it's so interesting how all our tastes differ. :yes

Well I am basically the poster-child for this statement and yes I will say that is my blueprint for Ayumi in a nutshell. But, I love BRILLANTE and it doesn't capture any of the MY STORY vibes but it's just a classic Ayu vibe I get from it.

For me, I feel that ayu has never left her "basics", whatever those are. What defines ayu is her ability to change at a moment's notice and keep fans wondering what will come next, and how she manages to always come up with something nobody's ever expected. That hasn't changed, just look at how she throws out songs like SLT, Last angel, BRILLANTE. And another thing about her songs is that you just can't imagine any other artiste singing it. ayu's songs are just hers alone, no one else can do it the way she does, and that hasn't changed also.

Every fan will have their favorite album, and its human nature for us to want the next ayu release to match up to whichever fav we have in mind. A fan who loves m(u) will want another fun album with crazy variety, while a fan who likes Duty will crave for the next release to be bittersweet and dark. And because we all have different tastes, everything that ayu puts out will surely garner its own lovers and haters. With every release, there will be people who love, and people who hate. It's normal lol. The irritating thing comes when the haters go all out and diss the new release and ayu for "losing herself/not being classic anymore" when in reality what they mean is "ayu didn't release another (insert fav album name) so BOO to that".

Personally, I think my taste in music is really really Japanese. AHS fan favs like alterna, do it again, BRILLANTE are totally not my cup of tea, and I'll listen to those "boring" songs like Days, meaning of Love, Last Links etc over them anyday. :laugh Out of the songs in FIVE, BRILLANTE is my least favorite. But other than that, I love the rest of the album, features and all! (probably the one person here lol) So I hope she continues on the way she's going, whatever that may be. Then again, I've never been truly disappointed in her songs before. Whatever she gives, I take and try to love. If I can't do that, then I just listen to past songs which I do love and wait for the new release. Easiest way to survive in the everchanging world of an ayu fan. :P

love ur post. for I feel the same way :)
ayu has taken risks, ayu has gone the safe road.
for me, the risks standout for a moment, but then after that, i fall back into the safer songs. ultimately, it really depends on what the listener feels like listening to at the pt in time too.

I'm ready for some new details to be released.

It appears that TK may be in London, and with KEIKO too! I wonder if that means that they'll do that upbeat collaboration that they wanted to do. (Ayu and KEIKO)

I feel the same way. I personally think she should just do whatever she feels like and whether you like it or not is more a reflection of your own tastes/likes/dislikes, whatever, and not so much that Ayu is 'sucking' or not living up to the standard that she set for herself in your eyes.

BRILLANTE is AMAZING.

Omg ayu x keiko new song collaboration would be awesome xD
I just hope keiko would keep her screechines low lol.

I said, I do not want ANY collaborations for Ayu's upcoming album, but if KEIKO would participate with her amazing voice in Ayu's album, I would make an exception, because I love KEIKO's voice.

Just listened to her album "O-CRAZY LUV" a few days ago and noticed how much I like her unique voice. "a song is born" was really wonderful...

I hope for a lot of dark/melancholic ballads like MOON, forgiveness, Dearest, ever free, End roll, HANABI, Together When... etc, for the 2012 album ^O^

yeees!!!Finally a collaboration with a woman!!And i really liked a song is born :yes
i really hope so~

If Keiko is up for some singing, I would looove a duet between them. That's something I would actually be interested in.

Agree! There are far too many people who dislike songs but just doesn't have a reason o at least a real opinion. Makes you think that they want to be negative for the sake of being it. >__>

Please let it be true. Anything this man touches turns to gold.

And I like that Ayu wants to collaborate with more artists. Two minds are better than one sometimes.

Also - is it really that hard to fathom that not everyone is going to like everything Ayu does? It IS POSSIBLE to not like a song and not have a reason to verbalise why you don't like it. "I don't like it because its not my cup of tea" is a valid reason as any. She has experimented a lot with her music in the last few years - some will like, some won't. When will some AHS members stop acting like whiny little children when it comes to negativity over Ayu's music? When will a thread about a new ayu release actually stay on topic?

i think it's a good thing that Ayu had been experimenting with lots of music these past few years. unlike other artists that have been using the same genre in all of her/his albums, so i think it's a bonus to all of us when Ayu using all types of genre. not everyone likes when Ayu do a collab with other artists, but her past albums, she didnt do any collab at all (except for Keiko and Tsunku). although BRILLANTE is not my favourite song in FIVE, the song itself is really different and new. fresh.

so let us think positively and please stop complaining about the song. :)

Wow, KEIKO? Things are just getting more interesting, I love this!

Ugh, no. No collaborations please. You're just not good at them, Ayu.

Or if anything, what she should do is just... release an album of collaborations only, just to get it out of her system. Then she can never collaborate with anyone else again. That would be fine. >_> Just please, no collaborations mucking up your own studio album, Ayu. I am BEGGING you. D:

I am not sure if I like where this is going or not. A collab with KEIKO sure sounds better than another lame song with Urata...I dunno~ let's wait and see.

I feel like the only person glad that the Urata collabs happened, they opened Ayumi up to yet another genre: mainstream RnB, even if it had heavy pop influences. It was like...the one major genre Ayumi hadn't really done before.

I think the same,Dream ON is one of my favorite songs.I don't like ANother song very much but at least ayu opened up to another genres ^_^

You guys are not alone. I love these collabs. Why... is like the song I listen to most out of all those on the FIVE album. :D And Naoya and ayu having fun together during a-nation was just priceless~~ You can really feel their friendship and it's sweet to watch.. :)

yes...i really like when Ayu is happy on the stage,also in CDL 10-11 they look so sweet and happy :luv2

anyway,i'm sure i'll love this album.Ayu never disappoints me

Just wanna make sure about this...
Is KEIKO there to collab with Ayu? or to record new songs for globe?

I hope for ayu x KEIKO, though. :)

Im neutral about ANother song but Why is just sooo gd to me :) to begin with, im not too much of an r&b person so its not Ayu's fault anyway hahah

And that's the only genre I don't want her to do cuz I simply can't stand that kind of music, it bothers me even more than Urata. Why... was OK because it actually had an Ayu feel to it.

I'm probably the only one that would HATE HATE HATE a collab with KEIKO... I'd rather her collab with Urata or JUNO for the rest of her musical career than one more collab with KEIKO. *shivers*

The bolded part. I seriously thought I was the only one who feels like this. KEIKO's and Ayu's voices doesn't fit together well imo. A song is born duet version is a disaster. >_> So yeah, I'd rather hear millions JUNO x Ayu and Naoya x Ayu collabs than KEIKO x Ayu. .____.;

I wouldn't want Ayumi releasing a whole album full of it but one or two songs is a nice change for me. I enjoy mainstream RnB, especially mixed with pop, but not enough to really like any singer in it so having those 2 Ayu songs is great for me.
And "Why..." for me is just a typical epic Ayu ballad with an added voice for the most part.

OMG! So it's going to be her worst album ever! hahaha

I'm one of those few, who absolutely adore NEXT LEVEL. I would love chapter II of that~ Or something like Rock'n'Roll Circus and Love Songs~

No, you're not. I just remember this:


:shakehead

IMO, their voices sounded bad together (and KEIKO's just sounded bad, period). The studio version of the song doesn't sound much better, so, if they ARE planning to do a collab, it's going to have to be REALLY good for me to like it.

:dead2 now i know where ayu learns to sing using her nose pitch :lech
I like the collaboration between ayu n keiko though (@ least the studio version). Both of them had their unique voice that stands out among other artist. Keiko's voice in Globe's songs are just as fantastic!

Soooo many people on this forum come across this way. At least, to me. :laugh

OMG THE SOURCE OF MY NIGHTMARES! >_____<; At 1:38 my ears bleed! Please Ayu, never again! NEVER EVER! :thud



Seriously, after watching that again ANother song and Why... went up a million points in my book as far as collabs go.

And am I the only one who wants a cover of WOW WAR TONIGHT on the new album? I didn't know this song and I liked the perf at a-nation sooooo much!

I thought their voices went well together. Well, for the DJ TATSUMAKI Trance Remix which is the only version I listen to and LOVE anyway. Both had screechy voices back then but now, I don't think they will blend well together at all.

I like Kana Nishino, but she mixes her RnBish songs with lots of sugary pop. JUJU has some really nice songs too, but other than them I can't say I am close to liking the genre so much.

Pretty much.