If remember correctly, Did "WHATEVER" from LOVEppears had a long intro???

Reminds me too much of "Brute" by Armin & Ferry. Maybe if I had heard "Terminal" only, I'd enjoy it more, but hearing the two tracks side-by-side makes me almost cringe at how Armin couldn't have made a more unique sound. I know "Connected" was based on "The Love I Lost" but I don't think Armin thought of Ayu when he made "Brute" :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik8CUL0gnUc
(The Love I Lost)

Posted this in another thread. Super good, doesn't quite get a 10/10 for me, but it's close, one point away from an Ayu masterpiece.

Terminal 9/10
I can see why many were disappointed with this song, it does sound like a typical club / trance song, but I feel there is more to this song if you really listen to it. It is really dark in a way and the length of the instrumental parts add a loneliness to the song that is powerful and unique to me. Add lyrical translations to this mix too. I feel like this is what anguish would sound like if it could sing or be a song. This song brings me down to a level of pain. Not an Ayu masterpiece like BRILLANTE or M but it's awesome to me. I like the ambient and lengthy feel to it. This sounds like if Ayu would compose a remix for an Onitsuka Chihiro song.

I'm only a little disappointed because I thought this was the remix version?

But I guess there can still be an album version? I think a sort of "studio version" would be very pretty to listen to.

I don't think the trance itself is very unique, but the composition is dark and pretty, and Ayu's voice probably works the best here out of all the songs. It even succeeds in being somewhat pretty and powerful.

I'm happy with it. It can even get 4 stars to go on my playlist.

This song is da bomb! I love it. It doesn't matter if there was other Armin song that sounds like it, ayu fitted like a glove here!

I'm not used to this kind of music but wow... she sounded great.

I'm the weird one out and have actually really enjoyed Armin's recent works. Intense is one of my favorite albums from him and this song did not disappoint in any way shape or fun. It's the @#$%^! bomb and this song is everything I've ever wanted from Ayu.

God, this song is one of her best. This album is kind of a mess.. there's some of her best songs and also some of her worst lol. Oh well. The amazing stuff is enough to satisfy me. Nobody else in J-pop is coming out with anything THIS good :love

The more I listen to Terminal, the more I hate it. I was hoping for something along the lines of Connected, something with a deeper house sound but retaining a pop appeal. This is neither a good house or pop song, and even worse, Ayu's presence is completly overpowered.

When it comes to this type of music, vocals aren't that important. I know half the reason we listen to ayu's music is for her voice, but being someone who really loves this genre of music, it's not about the vocals this time around, it's about the music. You'd dance to this in a club, it's not the type of song you'd sit and analyze the lyrics and find the deeper meaning that we're all used to with her type of music. :P

I'm not saying that Ayu's presence in the song is completely measured by the amount that she sings. I don't feel this style of song compliments her at all and her presence (even when she sings) is pretty much non-existent. It doesn't feel like an Ayu song at all, whereas "Connected" did, even though that form of trance/house-pop was completely left of centre from her usual sounds at the time. This is one of my favourite Ayu songs, so I'm probably more critical of her attempt to re-create it.

I had my boyfriend listen to the song today because he is all over this style of music and such. He said it was decent, but that it wasn't really dynamic or went anywhere. I then got mad at him and said it was amazing. Haha.

But I do agree with him a little. It is a little one note. The most dynamic parts are when Ayu sings those haunting verses and choruses.

This song is my jam. It's such a complete turn from her other EDM-like songs and I feel the build-up is absolutely fantastic. Her vocals are so on point that it sounds like she's actually battling her conscience with her desires. And the trance adds such a depth to it. I think my only complaint is she sounds like she's forcing the "ni" part of "Kimi ni" sometimes. As if she's having difficulty getting to that note.

Anywayy, I personally adore these kinds of songs so I was a little appalled seeing all the backlash to it lol. Had she released this a few years ago though, I probably would have reacted the same; I wasn't as into EDM as I am now. IMO, this beats Connected by a long shot.

Just now I am listening to the new songs for the very first time.
Terminal is a big disappointment for me and I can't believe it will be on the album like this.
Like others said, it sounds like a bad remix of a song... so draining.

Now Lelio on the other hand, is instant love :) edm done right <3 Definitely gets more emotional response from me than terminal.
although it isn't really unique, I really love the chorus.

I think a lot of people would like the song better if they didn't hear the preview first. I don't feel like gleaning the forum, but I remember reading a few people saying they were excited when they heard the preview and then got their hopes up and disliked the full song.

I gotta say that happened to me when I heard the hals mix of Far Away in that cellphone commercial



It was so mystical and surreal sounding, and I got so excited, and then when I heard the full version I found out that part in the commercial was just a small sample of the full song and I really hated it. But oddly this time around i hated the preview for terminal and loved the full version. lol

^I had the opposite experience with Terminal: I didn't think much of the preview since it sounded like the vocal melody and arrangement didn't really mesh well... But that all changed when I heard the whole song.

Terminal is my favourite of the new songs on Colours. Ayu's voice is so perfect here, she sounds haunting in the verse and evokes desperation and longing in the chorus; I love it when she emotes so beautifully. I also really like the arrangement in the vocal sections, it works amazingly well with Ayu's voice. I'm not so wild about the arrangement in the non-vocal sections of the song, I think I would prefer hearing something calmer, more haunting, more piano-driven, like in the chorus, I feel like the song doesn’t need a pounding dance beat there. However, this arrangement choice doesn’t break the atmosphere of the song or make it unenjoyable, so I'm pretty okay with it.

Overall, Terminal is one of the most impressive, beautiful, and memorable songs on the album, a worthy addition to Ayu's catalogue.

Yeah, the full remix was definitely more drum heavy than the commercial would lead you to believe. To be fair, which version of it did you hear though? There are two completely different mixes of this remix, and the only hint that they're different is the capital S in "HAL'S MIX 2000" on ayu-mi-x II and the lowercase s on the Far away single. The Far away single version (4:37 long) is the version closer to the commercial, and it's more filled-in sounding. The ayu-mi-x II version (4:13 long) is more like a demo or proof of concept, or like a dub mix sorta. The version on the Far away single is, I guess, the final version, and it's an actual remix of the full song and DOES sound a bit prettier... but still not the mysterious version the CM alludes to.

Anyway, back on topic to Terminal... I love the track BUT it's kind of awkwardly paced. It's in this weird place between a full club mix and a radio edit, and it's like Armin tried to pack the dynamic movements of a 7:45 long mix into 5:45 rather than trimming it down to 4:00. So I both want a longer version and a shorter version of this track, if that makes sense. XD

My only real issue with the sound of it is the distortion on her vocals. They only show up when she gets into the high ranges of her voice, so it sounds like they're an accidental sound quality issue rather than on purpose. It's a bit unpleasant. Aside from that, it's great!

Terminal is truly an experience of a song IMO.

I'm totally in love with this song. The vocals, the desperation it evokes, it's awesome... and the music is perfect. I love how the music gets more powerful just before she starts to sing the 1st verse and the second chorus. This song is almost perfect (I wish it would have more lyrics).

I was thinking the same thing. :yes
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showth...69#post3081769