I loved how the MOON/blossom covers were. She was still in the same outfit but there was still variety. We got a super close-up pic and far away pic which I thought was pretty cool. She could have just had the same CD+DVD pic for all 3 with her just tilting her head slightly or moving her eyes.

I ordered my singles from YA and saved about $30, even though I won't get my CDs on release date...which kinda sucks but oh well...lol

Yeah, same. M/b surprised me with the differences in the covers so I hope it's the same for these singles. The versions for L and crossroad now honestly seem so similar, I can't possibly make a decision based on content alone like for M/b so I'm holding out for the covers this time. The best looking one gets to come home to Ranma-chan. :lech lol

Yea i was thinking about ordering them from YesAsia but i really want them on release date XP so im going to order them together, but since cdj ships them early before my mixed shipment will be sent on lets say the 26th or 27th so crossroad will count for the 6th or 7th day and L will count for its first day sales.:D

I really wish for covers, we could have something like ayumix 4, completely different outfits, backgrounds, poses, bust still the same photoshoot. I dislike how now a days the covers are just slight off angles of the same thing, or are the same angle, but different poses.

^^I agree. At least HEAVEN had a TINY bit of variation.

But still...I want something drastically different, like how R'n'Rc was.

Ayu mentioned that she did another magazine shoot on Twitter -and- according to fans in Japan, apparently she will be appearing on CD DATA (aka CD & DL DATA now) for the first time since 2007.

I can't wait! The last few CD DATA shoots from her are some of my favorites, and they have sooo many pics. I hope she shot with ND CHOW again this time!

^^
Amazing!
Also, did she mention specifically which photoshoot it was?

where did she write on twitter that she'll appear on CD DATA? :O I must have missed it O_o

It was not on Twitter. She mentioned a magazine shoot on Twitter, and then the second statement I made about CD&DL DATA has nothing to do with Twitter, haha.

(Though someone on Twitter mentioned how CD&DL DATA had in big letters that Ayu was the cover girl for the October 2010 issue... http://twitter.com/saema_n/status/21441394179)

Ohhh, I combined them hahaha :P

It's okay, haha. I added something in there so that people wouldn't get confused.

Can't wait for her first CD&DL DATA in 3 years!

Can't wait, imagine if they did one of those track by track notes thing and Ayu commented on all of her past 50 singles :love

^
*__* That would be so amazing!

OMG I can't wait :D

Why is that magazine so special???

Her shoots in it are usually really nice and she hasn't been on it in the last 3 years. The last time she was on it, ND CHOW shot her in Hawaii for glitter/fated.

^
I tried searching for it, but nothing is showing up. Do you possibly have a link for that article? Sorry for asking >.<

Do you mean the photo shoot? http://zyrex.org/gallery/Ayumi1/Ayum...ata/mag16_001/ So gorgeous :love. One of my favorite ayu shoots ever.

^
Yes, thank you! That is a gorgeous photoshoot. But I've also only ever heard positive things about ND's photoshoots.

Thanks for the reply.
I can wait for the reveal of the full tracklisting of both new singles and after that, I'll get both. :)

OMG!!!The photoshoot is absolutly lovely!!!

So much about someone telling the truth :rolleyes

I think CD Data specializing on rock bands now
and we'll have 4 magazines? Vivi+sweet+unknown+cd data?

news..... news.... i neeed more newwwss..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nice.
Listening to one of Above & Beyond's remixes...AGHHHH I want more trance remixes.

lol

^ I'm at it ;)

ack, i saw you guys talking about a photoshoot and thought that pics were released from the single's cover photoshoot!!! :dead

oh well, back to waiting in anticipation!

I think I know the era that she was on back in 2007 - the A BEST 2 era...

A lot of photos! And they was always very well made, there was 2 shots that are in my top fav:
http://zyrex.org/gallery/Ayumi1/Ayum...ata/mag10_001/
http://zyrex.org/gallery/Ayumi1/Ayum.../CDData/mag02/

i love how almost all of them are natural and pretty ^^

i can't wait for each of mag, and COVERS for two singles... !

4!! god my wallet'll lose weight again >.<

But I can't wait to see them.

It's nice to see a cd data.

cant wait for scans!

I can't wait for covers! lol

I can't wait to see what happens with her photoshoot - it's going to be really interesting for her 49th and (most importantly) 50th singles!

Yeah, I didn't mean to put EP in my previous post -- sorry for the two people who saw it and got confused :D It was late and I was sleepy and delirious o/

And... well, I'm just hoping the photographer in charge of the shoot isn't sucky like some other Ayu photogs in the past. Do not want the dead eyed blow up doll glossy stare look again ;~; Please let that be forever retired and gone.

i want something very original for the covers!XP

same here...but i feel like we don't really get that much anymore. i would love more than just ayumi looking pretty or sexy against a plain background.

everyone here seemed to hate the sunrise/sunset covers, but at least they featured a background (even though it may have been questionably photoshopped). i would love to see something like endless sorrow or voyage, something featuring a scene or a theme. better yet, i'd love to see something creative like she has done in some of her weirder PV's as a cover picture.

^
I kinda agree with you. S/S covers are fugly but there's some background at least.
I'd like something well made and creative especially for her 50th single. Even just Ayu sitting on a giant L like a chair lol. Would be more creative than her latest covers, imo :laugh.

agreed, haha. i don't like the idea of sitting on an L very much, but when she sat in a chair for moments i thought it made a wonderful cover!

also, i like how it tied into the PV. same with endless sorrow.

why is it that now her covers have nothing to do with anything?

Totally agree, i love the connection between song, PV and covers. I think HEAVEN covers were just great, because when i see them the very first word that comes to my mind is HEAVEN. But when i see MOON/blossom cover i see a magazine photoshoot pictures (even if i like them)

I don't expect anything creative from her for covers tbh and still can't understand how some people do. 90% of her covers are unoriginal. They're pretty model-ish shots (or in some cases ugly) but that's all. She hardly ever gives us anything different or unique for her covers like how some of her PV's are. I agree it would be nice for something more original but it's ayu so I'm not expecting it.

If are not original i hope for a beautiful ones. I think her most original covers are:vogue/far away/SEASONS, evolution, SURREAL, Endless Sorrow,Free & Easy, forgiveness and HEAVEN

and HEAVEN is a perfect example of a cover that has no background and should be kind of blah, but it fits perfectly with the them of the single and the PV. i agree that MOON/blossom though is very much like a magazine photoshoot...and not even a great one. i see a lot of magazine photoshoots that would make great covers!

do you mean her singles covers aren't original, or her covers overall? because i think it's pretty par for the course that singles don't go all out in terms of style/appearance. then again, that really depends on the artist in question. some of them don't even bring much effort to their albums -- for instance, how many times can we be satisfied with a close up wide-eyed shot of hikki's face? well i guess that doesn't matter, since she's on hiatus.

Now? Don't you mean since the beginning? Haha.

I was mainly talking about her single covers.. but I don't think many of her album covers are that creative/original either. I think her most creative ones are Endless Sorrow and AUDIENCE. No other covers really stood out as original to me so I just figured a long time ago she isn't one of those artists with original/unique covers and never expected that :shrug

as song as the covers are either A) original B) beautiful or C) both
i am happy :)

Where her single covers lack I think her album covers make up. LOVEppears, Duty, I am..., RAINBOW and NEXT LEVEL are some pretty original covers. Her remix albums also have super original covers! ayu-mi-x II all the way to VI are bad ass covers. My favorites being the entire RMX WORKS collection!

Yeah I'm with identity on that a lot of her covers really aren't that original and some orignal ones just get complained about anywayz
I don't mind any cover. I just would like them to be good.
And I don't see how making a cover like the pv on the single (like endless sorrow) makes it creative. Wouldn't incorporating something new be more creative
Either way. A lot aren't related they're just well...covers...but they still match a theme, no

Yw.../b is wintery. S/s is bright and summery. RnRC incorpoates this nice british blah blah style (which I find creative for her)
M/b is soft and simple like the single imo. They aren't really meaningful but not many are :)

I can't wait for another CD DATA!!! And these magazine shoots. Should be nice. Or at least I hope

Oh I almost forgot about her remix album covers! Those are definitely her most original. I don't see anything original about the LOVEppears, Duty, and I am... covers though. RAINBOW and NL are kind of unique, the colors are really cool.

i think her single appears is uber creative, painting ayu to look caucasian

That would be LOVEppears the album...I find appears where she is black more creative. Never would I think to see ayu so near my skin tone. Plus the little details make it a little more special imo

:yes LOVEppears still isn't that original to me considering she often looks like th anyway XD
That, ASFXX, Ma, (M)u, aren't too original for album covers...

But as jbrat and identity say, the remix album covers are amazing. I forgot about them. They're the best :)
I hope for one soon

thats the cover i was talking about XP
lol sorry if i confused them.

omg the guys saying her covers have never been original/creative... what?

Endless sorrow, HEAVEN, appears, AUDIENCE, SEASONS, SURREAL, Voyage, evolution, NEVER EVER, &... all these covers that far surpass any sort of creativity that she has recently with her sub-standard single covers ala MOON/blossom.

I know I expect a lot from Ayu but she can do it. I just don't want to see covers for a 50th single that would make me go :rolleyes cos, M/b did just that... Sunrise/Sunset was :gnash but that's another story altogether :)

Wasn't HEAVEN like completely ripped off from Mary J. Blige or something? What's original about SURREAL, the heart on her face? The horse in Voyage is kind of creative though. Don't know what would be original about evolution.. the spotlight thing with a microphone has been done so much. appears was offensive and I don't think of it as original and SEASONS was pretty cool, though I've seen pictures done like that before. Don't really see anything original about & and NEVER EVER either :/

Honestly ayus covers throughout her career can be matched by covers of other artists. Tis why I don't find half that creative.
The ones u mention, waterballon are hardly any of her covers and imo HEAVEN? its just pretty. NEVER EVER, her looking dirty like the cm and t2m.
AUDIENCE, just a bunch of her like its niver been done before and its tacky imo
Ones that look like screencaps from the pvs I wouldn't call creative either

:yes ayu has tons of nice covers but not many of them are some crazy out of this world creativity. Is just me being realistic with myself.
Some of u guys keep mentioning the same covers...uh she has 50 singles lol.

Anyway I shouldn't continue since its a single discussion and not cover creativity. Apparently I have too high standards for what's creative. XD

As I said before as far as covers go. I want nice ones. I don't need exciting and gaudy ones. Just a nice one. ^___^
Same for pvs. I can't wait for them. So much to expect. And times going by faster while I'm so busy. So the wait isn't so harsh

I agree with you on most of that, but I think you should look at AUDIENCE again. I used to think it was only just full of ayu, but it's ayu's head on her staff's bodies! That's what makes it unique to me, never seen anything like that on a cover.

you mean this cover? I'd say it was a complete rip off, but the fact that it's so simple, I could easily see how ayu got the idea. It's like saying that anyone that takes a black and white profile picture in front of white is ripping of Mary. :/

I might get yelled at for this... But for the L cover, I want another diva induced cover like A COMPLETE. :laugh I just think she's so hot when she's divalicious! Ah... 2008 was a great year...

@identity: is that why it looks a bit strange. I guess that ones creative then (but I'm not changing my general point) Its still tacky to me but that's all personal taste :)

The A COMPLETE covers were gorgeous imo. I wouldn't mind something like that either lol. I think the diva look was fitting for her 10th anniversary and would work for her 50th single too. :yes

I would be okay with an A COMPLETE kind of thing... if she'd try to do something creative with it :P or something which fits the songs, like capturing the mood? I think NEVER EVER did that nicely and Endless Sorrow.
I don't even expect something creative, just something which has something to do with the song? maybe? ^^


exactly! It might be a "rip off", but I don't think it's that original to begin with, many people could come up with this kind of cover. Mary J. just did it before ayu (imo).

I'm totally down with her classy diva look. It would fit nicely for such a grand little occasion
I loves a complete

I kinda wanna just skip crossroads cover now and see L's but another side of me is just as excited for crossroad

@identity @strawbarri: well if that's what u guys think of her earlier covers, then I've nothing much to say too. let's hope crossroad & L's covers would please us all :yes

I love a complete covers too! but for the 50th single, she should so something in the nude! I love it when she does something with nudity (MW, rainbow, loveppears).

It's almost the end of the week and no news! I remember someone mentioning Avex's news release pattern once, it's on the weekends right?

^^Fridays, from what I remember?

So today/tomorrow-ish? I hope!

I want her covers to be pretty. that's all :P

I'm not expecting anything. But I do hope for something introspective for L.

I don't know why but I would like her to appear in the covers of L like she did for AT05 when she performed INSPIRE... she looked really pretty! she looked like a real queen :lech


Either way I don't really care lol I just want to see the real stuff!! can't wait :)

^ Omg I thought that was ugly. Lol.

lol thats when you see how different can people feel about different things I guess!

In my case, watching INSPIRE at AT05 is one of those times when I think, "Damn! she is THE goddess!! :thud" :innocent

btw, soon we'll get links for preorder calendar 2011

^Yeah. Kumi's is already up. I guess Ayu's should be soon. Btw, will there be a poster for these new singles? YA won't let me add the single to my shopping cart now...

It´s almost one month left until crossroad release dat, we should get covers soon, or at least complete tracklist

i miss the days when there was more to a cover than just a beauty shot.

i think we must wait to 1st september to see the covers u___ubut maybe the complete tracklist for crossroad and L we will know soon ^^

I'm sure you already know this - Kumi's covers are always up almost as soon as they officially announce the single, while in Ayu's case sometimes they're up only a few weeks prior to the release. There will prolly be posters for the singles, as that seems to be the trend with Ayu's releases :)

I hear you. Sadly those times seem to be long gone, the last amazing cover Ayu had was Voyage at least that was the last one that had a real concept to it and it wasn't just a beauty shot. I wouldn't mind a cover without Ayu ^^

*SIGHS* Then maybe this is why YesAsia won't let me add the singles to my cart. Well, if they do jack up the price, I'll do comparisons in price(including Shipping) on both YA and CDJ and see which is cheaper.

I hope the tracklist and covers would come before the end of August! CDJ is offering double points and I have a coupon that's going to expire soon! D:

^Maybe we might get lucky and get them this coming week.

oh and i love ur siggy.

Sadly that's one of the reasons why I stopped ordering from YesAsia, they don't really have the right to charge for those posters ^^ I remember pre-ordering Mirrorcle World and they still weren't giving away the free posters, they already charged me for the single and they added the posters a couple of days later and of course jacked up the prices, but back at the time they didn't charge me again ^^

Atm I just want crossroad to leak and that alone will make the wait easier, I don't have any expectations for the covers as I can't remember the last time I really liked them.

I'm not having high expectations. :P

Days/GREEN :love

I wanted to order earlier, but I had to wait for a check from my mom since I didn't have the money. All this stuff has been sitting in my shopping cart. Problem with CDJ is that I almost always get the customs... It's too bad they don't have free shipping. And you're right, they don't have the right to charge for the posters. I believe at the bottom of them it explicitly says "Not For Sale". I wish they'd at least post versions you could order without the posters. Plus, what annoys me about ordering online is if I buy more than one edition I get more than one copy of the same poster. I don't need 3 copies of the same poster. Plus, my apartment's almost fully covered. Pretty soon those posters are gonna end up sitting in tubes in my closet. Oh, and if you preorder before YA finds out about the posters they just add them to the order and don't charge you more, which is what I was hoping to do. Now, even if I order with CDJ, I'm still gonna have to cancel out on ordering a couple other items I want til I get some more money, which sucks.

I think I have around 8 tubes, some contain multiple posters, as I've never hanged one :rolleyes I don't always pay for the customs with CDJapan, it only happened the last time when MOON arrived, the customs were almost 2/3 of the price of the CD :( which is insane and if it happens again I am going to complain to our customs service :innocent I still haven't ordered L and crossroad, as well I don't really need the posters and there are no other FP goodies I'd want, so I am just gonna wait until their price drops to like 500 yen (CD onlys) on CDJapan and then order them.

Covers should be up until tomorrow right?

Since ViVi will be out in 2 days and there will probably be crossroad's or this and L's covers in it in the promotion box in the interview pages :D (like always).

So i will be nervous all the weekend....

maybe there wont be any covers in VIVI and only the square box with "now printing"

Well I may just order one version of crossroad then, but i want the special packaging for all editions of "L" which is the pain there. As for posters, I'm not sure if they'd hand you more than one copy of the same poster if you bought them in a store in Japan. If they did, I'd save one copy of the poster and walk out of the store and shout. "Who wants a free Ayu poster?":P

I also have a few posters sitting in my closet. Not many but there's a couple of Leah Dizon I didn't like. Also, a few free ones I didn't like that YA's given to me for free. What I have been thinking of doing with any I don't want that are still in good condition is maybe sell 'em off real cheap on ebay. And any that aren't so good condition just get rid of them.

Well anyways, I can't wait to see and hear these new singles. I hope we get something absolutely outrageous and exciting.


Oh, and YUP we're getting posters. YesAsia's now jacked up the price on the singles. I did the math and ordering from CDJ will be about $12.00US cheaper with my CDJ points.

Where is it?

^dies to have it NOW

I think it was established that whoever said that wasn't telling the truth.

Well, I've now OFFICIALLY preordered my copies of "crossroad" and "L". I preordered them separately from each other on CDJ. Then I also bought a bunch of other stuff(some ayu, some not) on YesAsia.

I can't wait for it all to arrive.:D

Please someone record it tomorrow! Is any member going?

^I prefer a clear and short preview or a pv preview

haiz...still no crossroad..

i prefer any preview. ;)

although, i really liked the chaka-uta preview, so i hope they didn't change the final song too drastically.