KUMA WILL EAT ANYONE WHO SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT the album. Even the empress Ayu.

7 more days, but still no news about the tracklist..
great job, hikki's staff lol.

I wonder why such mystery? Wouldn't tracklist boost sales? People don't really know what they're buying...

^ Right? wtf.

Nothing new? I can't believe it!!! this is impossible only few days!

Is that really what they're doing...? Or is it some kind of incompetence? No real cover, track list, which means no real promotion in a way...just weird.

^ Well, the fact there's still no info has you guys obsessing with the album. So, I guess it's working as promotion? :laugh

Oh
Ayu sings movin' on without you
Found the track list in Japan iTunes

Wut

OMG! Ayu is covering Movin' on without you!!!

Shiina Ringo does Letters

OK now I really wanna hear it...

Is it a recut tho?

Lol are you joking?

Buy the thing, rip the thing

Ayu's song isn't out until December 9. Only select songs are out on iTunes right now but not Ayu's.

And peabo Bryson doing sanctuary. EW COULD HE NOT

There are previews on iTunes (not of Ayu's track)...the arrangements/instrumentals are totally different..so really happy that they're not straight covers.

YAAAS ayu you better serve that 90s trash.

SAKURA Drops and Keep Trying covers are crap

oh, you are right :)

I wonder if Ayu felt that the lyrics resonated with her so she chose to cover it. Its a nice song and im very excited to hear it! HAHA

For f's sake no. Just not Movin' on without you...I can't stand that song.

No first love...shocking!

^woah didn't noticed

I hate First Love, it's so overrated so I'm glad there is no trace of that song in the album :D

^ wtf is wrong with you?

And yes, I'm happy she's not singing a ballad :D

The only worse songs on the album are For you and time will tell. Kinda disappointed.

Ayu managed to surprise me by her choice. I can't imagine how she can make it work, but nice pick. So happy it's not first love.

i tot it would be nice for ayu to have her own version of final distance

I am at work so I cannot look up. I know that miss Utada is one of the only who is able to sing english... well properly. Is this song in english?

I really like the song, can't wait to hear it.

it has some english parts but not too bad. I think ayu is gonna do a great job!

Such a surprising choice!

Have always lived this song, very curious how Ayu's version will sound :)

i see some songs are available for purchase? can a Singapore account buy it from the japan itunes store?

NOOO!I absolutely like that song :luv2
WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU :irked

Listening to the original now...and it has been so long, but I really do enjoy it. I can't wait to hear what ayu does with it.

Hell yeah!!!
I am SOOOO BLASTING THAT SONG RIGHT NOW!!!!
90' at it's BEST <3
Oh God i hope she would sing it at this year CDL !EEEEk!

it is the worst song choice possible for me. I was not expecting this.

It's essence is remeniscnet of Happening Here. These type of songs do not age gracefully.

Ayu doing Movin' on without you and Shiina doing Letters? This is gonna be so great. :heart

I hope ayu actually does make it different cause I think it's one the songs from Hikki which I most dislike. Not that I hate it, it's just so... meh

^I'm sure she did. I just listened to the previews available and they're ALL vastly different.

and the previews are bad for me :( i love hikki's experimental style, a this jazz influenced music just doent feel right with them :(

Honestly if I were ayu I wouldn't touch "Movin' on without you" so soon after Ayaka kicked so much ass at it. Ayaka's cover is REALLY killer, one of the best tracks on her cover album.

Now, I MOSTLY understand the choice - I wanted Ayu to pick a song that she related to, that she'd actually FEEL when she sang. One look at the lyrics to this track in the context of Ayu's discography, and this is clearly a song that she relates to. The princess/glass slipper metaphor is one she's used before. The topic of getting over being neglected/rejected/friendzoned is a topic Ayu has written about. She can sing the song from a personal point of view rather than singing it as a Hikki cover. So those are pluses.

As far as whether the song's SOUND suits Ayu, I find that has little bearing on the way a cover version ever sounds, at least most of the time. You have no idea what an artist is gonna do with it. On this album already, I've heard the few clips available, and the tracks made available bear LITTLE resemblance to the original songs - Yosui Inoue's beach/island pop/rock version of "Sakura Drops" is a very creative take on the song, and Shiina Ringo's jazzy version of "Letters" sounds like it was always her song to begin with. Sometimes the artist doing a cover hears a quality in the song that we never noticed before - a mournful tone, a bit of melody that was amazing but not emphasized enough, an optimistic mood hidden in the depths of a sad ballad. Things like that. A good cover version can really bring those qualities out, you know? Those covers make you hear the original song differently when you listen again later.

Ayu's covers, though... for awhile now they've just been her taking a song & giving it the "ayu sound" when Ayu herself seems to have a somewhat feeble grasp lately on what exactly "ayu sound" means. Back in the day, before Ayu's discography was quite so sprawling, pinpointing "make it sound like Ayu" was probably much easier - She & her producers really did something creative & cool with "Someday My Prince Will Come." Her live version of "haru yo, koi" is absolutely beautiful and IMHO more emotionally effective than Yuming's original. But her covers lately have felt very flat & dated. Rather than bringing older songs into the present, it's more like she tried to awkwardly escort them into the present only for them to fall down spectacularly. Try as she might to drag those songs kicking & screaming into the "ayu sound," they're unsure of which direction to go and the result is a track that makes as much of a contribution to the music world as a fanmade MIDI file with her vocals on top of it.

The SONG is not the problem here - Ayaka's cover of "Movin' on without you" does show that the song can sound fresh while still being the same exact song in every way that matters, I don't see Ayu being able to accomplish that without just sounding really, really dorky.

Ayu's comment from Barks:

The RedOne production team arranged the cover :D

it was arranged by RedOne....?

Now I'm excited for it :D

Oh lord, its going to sound like XOXO then probably.

LOVE what the RedOne team did with XOXO.

just listened to the original version of the song for the first time... the melodies in Utada's songs are SO boring and flat, so I'm really not that excited for this lol

Oh man, I could actually totally imagine her singing Movin' on Without You. And Shiina Ringo doing Letters is like the coolest thing I've heard for a while.

It's not like she covered tons of songs lately or in her entire career ... lol
If you ask me SEVEN DAYS WAR flows very well with the sound and the ambience she wanted to give to Love songs reminiscent of the 80's and 90's ! Dated maybe but it was done on purpose IMO ^^

Is there a preview for ayu's Movin' on without you or only the youtube previews?

Meh, Movin' on without you isn't among my favorites from Hikki. But it doesn't mean Ayu couldn't make a good cover of it though.
And I listened to the few previews from Youtube so far. Some arrangements are really cool imo.

Utada's career is boring and flat XD imo just her english career is worth it

I feel Movin' on + RedOne = not good lol

You can all listen to the previews on Hikki's youtube account :
https://www.youtube.com/user/hikki/videos

I'm not very convinced on this album... :( looking forward to listen to the Ayu's version...

I love that Ayu calls her "Hikaru-chan"

I didn't expect her choice but I'm really looking forward to it.

RedOne? Ummm... this is interesting. XOXO is one of my favourite songs of Colours!

I love how it's an unexpected song choice and also not a song I dislike (First Love).

Ikr?

Movin on without you and Letters are both two of my favorite hikki songs. Definitely top 5. And I was certain they wouldn't be included. But not only are they included, but they are being covered by the two ladies who I'm most excited about being on this album.

RedONE??? OMG!!! Me and her must be joking .. ahaa---.

LOL Anyway, i was expecting a different song but anyway, as much as I love movn on without you, i can't wait what ayu has prepared!

I wished it's more A-rock inclinced and then... RedONE :/

Excellent. Can't wait to hear it!!!

RedOne???! Ayu, why can't you do this to yourself.. RedOne Rearranged your old popular songs and sell that album and rediscovering yourself...

that is the weirdest thing I've ever heard about hikki.


I'm a little disappointed for this song tbh. I wanted one of hikki's more interesting songs, but of course it would be one of the R&B era ones.


I wonder about Ayu's ability to hit these notes at the tempo and be able to pronounce the words.

I wonder if that's how Ayu feels towards Utada lol

Although I think RedONE is interesting, what I really want is a LOUD ANGRY ROCKIN AYU Movin' on without you!

Friends who share the similar experience of living in NYC

RedOne is capable of electro-rock, I was really disappointed they went with their pop/dance sound with Ayu actually. Would have loved if they did their darker Gaga-slash-Porcelain Black sound with Ayu. Was really unhappy with XOXO overall. Not that it's bad, but again, it's just... so SAFE.

I just really miss when Ayu wasn't so safe ;_;

And I'm totally allowed to say "her covers lately" when I mean Happening Here and SEVEN DAYS WAR, both of which I found very VERY underwhelming, and both of which had the same problem. They felt like MIDIs. Like the production team systematically said "What's a more modern version of THIS instrument in the song?" and copied the sheet music note for note rather than building a whole new track out of the song's essence and emotion, like with "sotsugyou shashin" or the other examples I mentioned.

how i wished that she will covered hikki newer song...

it will made her even more 90's...the song is so 90's...my hope that Redone will do excellent job to re-arranged it...

Tracklist
SAKURA Drops / Yosui Inoue (SAKURAドロップス)
Letters / Shiina Ringo
Automatic / Okamura Yasuyuki
Movin' on without you / Hamasaki Ayumi
Flavor of Life / Hanaregumi
FINAL DISTANCE / AI
Be My Last / Yoshii Kazuya
Hikari / LOVE PSYCHEDELICO (光; Light)
For You / Kato Miliyah
Stay Gold / Ohashi Trio
time will tell / Tofubeats with BONNIE PINK
Keep Tryin' / KIRINJI
Sanctuary / Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis feat. Peabo Bryson
- See more at: http://www.generasia.com/wiki/Utada_....vBrlJZMK.dpuf

WoWaa~~~ unpredictable :rolleyes

I wonder which song Utada's team originally approached Ayu with?? I was totally not expecting this song but I am excited!!

I wasn't expecting this either.

On the plus side, no one is butchering First Love. On the downside, AI is covering FINAL DISTANCE. There goes a once beautiful song.

I'm surprised by her choice! I didn't expect that at all
Back in the day when I listen to Movin' out without you in the appropriate timeframe lol I love it, but today the arrangement seems dated for me.

However I LOVE it when Hikki performed it live, the energy of the live arrangement just lift the song better. And I hope Ayu with her version can deliver that kind of kickass, I hope RedOne didn't change it into poppish, I'm expecting more rock in the cover.

AI's FINAL DISTANCE is not bad but I'm not fond of her voice :laugh
Nevertheless I'm excited for this :yes

after reading all the trashy complains, I think ayu should stick in one style and get a group of supporters with similar music tastes. That can avoid those complaints complain and dislike about everything she has been doing.

I am looking forward the cover. Surprised and love RedOne!

What? Did you even hear the final distance preview? AI is killing it. You cray.

Ai's version better than original gg.

Loving Shiina Ringo's cover. But... I am so biased when it comes to her. XD Ugh, I am wayyyyyy excited about this whole thing!

I listened to AI's cover...WOW! that sounds pretty powerful!! Can someone tell me who she is? I've heard of her, but I don't really know who she is. Also, near the end, is that Utada herself doing harmonies or am I mistaken?

LOL but, that Sakura Drops cover cracked me up, to be honest. XD

So, it's Movin' on without you a recut?

very unexpected song of choice...
i've never listened to movin on without you before..
but after listening to it, i found it it's pretty nice song..
so can't wait for ayu's version!

AI's final distance sounds nice but it's still weird to listen to her singing in such slow pace haha..
SAKURA DROPS turns like a spanish song haha
letters wow my fave among all the covers preview. shiina ringo sounds so cool.
KIRINJI? who are they? they also make the song sounds so cute.

Oh dear... First Ayaka did a cover of that song ("Yu-on Club", last September), now Ayu... Hmm...

Did not like that Sakura Drops cover...

Apparently people who went to the listening parties said that Ayu's cover is "really cool"

^That's exciting then!

I'm sure it will fit! I can imagine how it'll sound with Ayu's voice now! It's one of my favorite Utada tracks! The live version from 06 just makes me want to dance! XD

I don't like the song when sung by Utada, but I hope ayu's version can ameliorate the ugly. Sigh.

I wonder how RedOne's arrangement will sound like! So excited!!

Unexpected, don't like the original that much so I have no expectations, which is good :) But that cover of FINAL DISTANCE....I just adore the original to death, and this.....is not my thing.

Ayu... why did you pick something that could go so wrong so easily!!

people who managed to purchase the tracks on itunes please share it!
AI is killing final distance thanks!

I wonder why is it only available on the jp itunes store as yet

sometimes I saw previews of all tracks became available after preorder
can someone check it?

wow some ppl already could listen to ayu's version?
i hope it leaks soon!
i can't wait!!

"Nothing's gonna stop me, only you can stop me" - when ayu and hikki were still -competing- with each other

"I'm moving on without you" - when hikki retired.

lol

^lol

^
^LOL!

is the preview available now? and i am curious with Ayaka's version too (but i couldn't find it on YouTube).

Nobody knows if it's a recut?

Movin' on without you was released about a month prior to the album so it's not a recut. :)

カバーした曲名は現時点では明かさず「シングルカットされた代表曲」としている。ユニバーサル側が別の曲を 指定して依頼したが、浜崎側が逆提案してきたという。
Maybe they were saying that it's the proposed song was from the recut single and which was rejected by ayu and not the song ayu selected.

I am so excited over AI's cover of final distance, that is exactly the song her voice would fit.

But that couldn't be because Utada made the melodies for that song

Maybe Ayu was offered First Love, and since she declined and went for a song they weren't planning on including in the album (movin on without you), they didn't have time or plans to reach out to anyone else to sing First Love?

Maybe. I'm also surprised at no hikari.

^Hikari is on it... LOVE PSYCHADELICO is covering it.

[edit]
Here's the full tracklist:
01 SAKURAドロップス 井上阳水 4:57
02 Letters 椎名林檎 5:06
03 Automatic 冈村靖幸 5:34
04 Movin' on without you 浜崎あゆみ 4:11
05 Flavor of Life ハナレグミ 6:57
06 FINAL DISTANCE AI 4:44
07 Be My Last 吉井和哉 4:23
08 光 LOVE PSYCHEDELICO 5:41
09 For You 加藤ミリヤ 6:57
10 Stay Gold 大桥トリオ 5:51
11 time will tell tofubeats with BONNIE PINK 6:46
12 Keep Tryin' KIRINJI 5:01
13 Sanctuary Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis feat. Peabo Bryson 3:33