this mini-album is just amazing. 2015 is flawless.

Totally in love with the new mini album :) especially Shape of Love. can't stop listening to it

Is it a Mandolin in Shape of love? That bridge <3 Sorrow's bridge is awesome too <3

Sky high sounds so HAL and anime, I loved it.

Flawless mini album.

Sky High is my favorite by a lot! I think Sorrows might be my least favorite (mostly due to her voice being too upfront), but the bridge is awesome.

Let's pray for good sale :gun

This album is impeccable. I couldn't be happier with how it sounds. Sorrows is amazing. The bridge reminds me a lot of count down since it has scratching in it as well. Shape of love is my favorite song on the mini, and probably my favorite song from Ayu since November. Sky high is another uplifting track like Step by step, but it feels much more like "organic Ayu."

All these songs, aside from Step by step and Sayonara take me back to other eras in Ayu's discography. Summer diary is (miss)understood/Secret; Shape of love is LOVEppears/Duty; Sky high and Sorrows are Memorial address/MY STORY. One could argue that Step by step is LOVE again/A ONE and Sayonara is Colours.

Anyway, this album really is a celebration of Ayu's career in my opinion.
Step by step - 8
Summer Diary - 9.5
Sayonara - 9
Sorrows - 9.5
Shape of love - 10
Sky high - 8

oh man, you hit the nail on the head re: Namie and Koda's stuff. Koda hasn't been enjoyable for me in years, with the exception of a few singles, and _genic was SUCH a surprising misstep, especially since her last few albums were great.

A ONE and sixxxxxx are surprises too, imo. They're both really solid releases. It's like she's found a good groove with her vocal style and the compositions she gets. Even the songs that should be typical poppy stuff have something that sets them apart (Summer diary, for example, was something I expected to not think too much of, but it's really great! Somehow bittersweet and tender).

I have just listened to Sorrows and i am totally blown away... really strong track both musically and lyrically.
Shape of love - pretty, feel like end of summer really.
Sky high has a nice refreshing feeling. So sad this mini is...mini ^^

Let's pray for her to get that top 10 smash! :gun

omg Shape of love is amazing. The lyrics, her voice, the music - everything is perfect ;_;

Actual CD Pic from ebay^^

http://oi61.tinypic.com/k054qp.jpg

I love sixxxxxx. she is back!

The euphoria of a new album...
Just wait two or more weeks after the album release...

I hope so too. If this album doesn't sale...it's epic

Shape of love!!!!! :luv2

wow, Shape of Love is absolutely gorgeous! The preview didn't do it any justice! I'm absolutely in love with it!

Sorrows. That song absolutely KILLED ME. It's absolutely breathtaking! I'm blown away. This song should have had a PV.

Sky high. I'm still loving the chorus! ^_^

Man i know taste is taste but this album is out of this world for me. It's like the best of the best! Whomever says that this sounds cheap........you need to get your opinion together lol

Wow! Shape of love was the biggest surprise of this mini album. It didn't stand out much to me from the preview, but the song in full is beautiful.. I got goosebumps. It might even be my favorite now. My favorites on the album are Sorrows, Shape of love, and Sayonara <3. The rest I like, but they're just good songs, nothing that wowed me like the others. Sky high is probably my least favorite, it bored me.

Shape of Love preview definitely did not do the whole song justice AT ALL. Holy crap the song is gorgeous. DEFINITELY my favourite alongside Summer diary. I'm really enjoying this mini album! Good job Ayu.

The mini is ayu-worthy.

What a great mini.
And I was able to do what I wanted and add the best tracks of sixxxxxx (all of them) to the best of A ONE to playlist the best Ayu album in years.

http://oi57.tinypic.com/28l9enp.jpg

Also, when hosting I got this Bot Checker:

http://s22.postimg.org/la08g7pc1/untitled2.jpg

When a CAPTCHA spell checks 'believe' better than avex...

If you actually put Colours + A ONE + sixxxxxx in some good order and remove the weakest tracks it would make AN AMAZING album. For example:

1. a Bell
2. Shape of love
3. Zutto
4. Last minute
5. Sorrows
6. WARNING
7. The Show Must Go On
8. Sayonara
9. What is forever love
10. Summer diary
11. Step by step
12. Sky high
13. Out of control
14. Lelio
15. NO FUTURE
16. Terminal

I would personally remove sth around Summer diary/Step by step/Sky high because those 3 are the most similar to each other (musically, not melodic) and maybe add merry-go-round or NOW&4EVA... I just can't decide cause Sd/Sbs/Sh are better than merry-go-round/NOW&4EVA... Terminal/Sayonara are enough for trancy stuff...That would be perfect diversity album. I didn't included Mowy or Tell All because they was already somewhere (digitally) These are the strongest tracks (imho) from those 2 albums, mixed with this mini, we could have it all...

I was trying to keep mine with just this years releases but your really right.
Add Colours to the mix, seriously cull all 3 and rearrange them to flow right then that's an amazing album right there.

A perfect Ayu era with Colours+A ONE+sixxxxx would have been:

Single: Summer Diary/XOXO (July 2014)
Single: Sayonara/Merry-go-round (November 2014)
Single: Last minute/The GIFT (March 2015)

Album: A ONE (June 2015)
Tracklist:
1. a bell
2. WARNING
3. Sorrows
4. NO FUTURE
5. Terminal
6. Lelio
7. XOXO
8. Last minute
9. Sayonara
10. The Show Must Go On
11. Sky high
12. Summer Diary
13. Merry-go-round
14. The GIFT
15. Walk

I haven't listened to sixxxxxx in full yet but I already had an A Colours tracklist. I imagine I could pull together a MY STORY length album now or two shorter albums as tracklists.

Just realised Step by step reminds me a bit of NEXT LEVEL, but I actually like it more. I was really not fussed when it first came out but hearing bits of the rest of the mini has gotten me really into it :D

do you guys realize the ending of shape of love is used for the beginning of summer diary, so surreal !!!!

This album is sooooooooooooooooooooo good.

That bridge was totally stuck in Sorrows so Ayu can have a moment on stage when she performs it, lol. Yuta did some good stuff with Shape of love's arrangement.

Sky high oozes concert closer.

I wonder if CMJK got busy and can't work with Ayu atm.

I had the feeling that we will get PV for Shape of love...
remember that Summer diaries is to be continue...
maybe the continuation of it is in Shape of love PV...
the song is too good for not having a PV and proper promotion...

I love this new mini album! Shape of love and Sky high are the standouts for me, but I'm definitely enjoying all of the songs. I like Summer diary much more now than when I saw the music video preview, probably because it was cut off before. Her releases recently have been amazing.

Full version of Sorrows is amaaaazing, although the bridge is a tiny bit strange....love how raw her vocals sound on the chorus, gonna be unreal live!

LOL

Am I the only one who thinks this looks like the a cover of an album by The GazettE?

I love how ayu's voice has improved so much since R'n'R Circus.

This mini album is so gooooooood :3

Wow... And I thought A ONE was perfect. But this... I was trying to hold back the tears while listening to this.

Didn't Ayu have a cover with one of those flowers on it before? Or a booklet? Hm...

So if you said that, there is a chance that this mini album will go to the actual album like what happen with love/again.

I really can't get over Shape of love. I think this is the first album of hers where my favourite song on it is the ballad lol It's just so...delicate sounding. I can't wait until she performs it live (hopefully!).

I love all 6 songs but Sorrow and Sky high are giving me eargasms the most.

"sixxxxxx" is an absolute masterpiece! :love Not only did I already love the first three songs, we've heard, already...but the last three songs just top it all off. :blove Truly amazing! I love how "Sorrows" is all rock/love..."Shape of love" actually reminds me a bit of "BALLAD" (which I love! :yes) so of course I'm in total love with it...and I just can't get over how beautiful/fresh the melody of "Sky high" is. :heart Overall, this is probably my most favorite mini album from ayu & come to think of it...dare I say that I actually think this mini album blows the entire "A ONE" album...out the water?! :laugh :luv2 (I still love "A ONE", though...) ;)

Amaaazing job with "sixxxxxx", ayu! :heart

For me, combine Colours + A One + sixxxxxx:
1 - a bell
2 - Tell All (2015 mix)
3 - Warning
4 - Walk
5 - No Future
6 - Step by Step
7 - Angel
8 - Sayonara
9 - XOXO
10 - Summer Diary
11 - Sorrows
12 - Anything for you
13 - Sky High
14 - The Show Must Go on

I really hope that Ayu pass the next year just releasing singles and doing the tour

I'm already thinking on the setlist

Just got home, I'm gonna listen to it now :D

I always like her rock song but now...Shape of love is so beautiful. How can I not like this song? Sorry, Sorrows!

standout song and surprised one is definetely Shape of love
I have the feeling, although it is very slow and the vocals are very low key, that this song has such a deep meaning . wow. im blown away, seriously. good job ayu !!!!!!

Step by step - 3.5/5
Summer diary - 3/5
Sayonara - 4/5
Sorrows - 3.5/5
Shape of love - 4/5
Sky high - 3/5

My ratings might change with time and I'll give a detailed opinion on each track later. But in a nutshell, I think I like it better than A ONE.

I know I'm super late, but the album cover gives me ASFxx teas.

Best tracks from this mini is "Sorrow". Yesssssss Queen. This is epic.
"Sky high" sounds like it is trying hard to be "blossom" 2.0 and a track on Love songs. Like no, delete it fat.
"Shape Of Love" the title makes me cringe a little... and guess this is beloved 2.0, next.
Sayonara is a bop. I'll kill for a solo version. The guy sounds too robotic...
I can pretend "Step by step" never happened... lol, weakest from the 6.
And last, but not least, Summer diary is amazing. I've been waiting for a fun Ayu summer bop.

It's probably already been theorised, but is it possible that the reason that all the titles of Sixxxxxx start with 'S' is because it is meant to be an extension of A ONE? i.e. A(S) ONE? The two albums truly fit well together, balancing each other.

Sorrows! awesome rock track like always..always love ayu's slow rock number
Shape of love <3 masterpiece! the guitar sound is so unexpected! awesome arrangement of music!
Sky high, pretty good..just like another step by step though step by step is better..

my least fave song is Sayonara
my most fave song is either Sorrows/Shape of love though i love both so much!

overall this album is so great!

Aside from Sayonara, Shape of Love and Sorrows are the best tracks from the mini album. Finally listened to everything in full for the first time (except Sayonara), I don't mind Sky High or Step by step, however Summer Diary for me is the weakest link on the album. Overall the mini is not bad, its a pretty solid release. I much prefer this over A ONE.

I always skip Step by Step, never listen to it again :gun

I very much enjoy this mini I think.

The last 3 somewhat caught me off guard with some aspects of them. So that's good. A lot of things worked well. Certainly better than the previews.

Looks like the flower on Love Classics :-)

I just can't understand why they had to say that all the track will be uplifting and happy durin the first stops of the tour when one or two songs made me cry for real. LOL Shapes of Love is definitely a stand out song on her discography.

Gawddd This album slays musically!! Hope it charts well!! Praying for the success!!

love the "over the rainbow" parts and sparkly tune in Sky High (the song needs some love...hahaha i feel bad for listening to Shape of love and Sorrows so much)

After listening to the whole mini....
Shape of love is nice, surprisingly. Sorrows isn't as good as I thought it would be. Still alright.
And Sky high... well, I really dislike this song.
The instrumentation sounds so unorganic and yeah, cheap somehow. The weakest track for me.
So... my favourite is Summer Diary surprisingly.
Sorrows, Shape of love and Sayonara are nice, gonna listen to them here and there.
And I don't like Step by step and Sky High and probably won't listen to them again.
The mini is alright.

It does look a little like the cover of their single "Cassis"

from AyuAngel FbPage

https://scontent-sin1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...83&oe=564112B1

Loving the promo!

^ like it! What does it say though?

Ayu kept the best tracks for August!!

Promo is great. Hope she will have some lives as well. I miss them :(

This mini is great! I love all six songs...

Hopefully sometime, with/via ayu's music, one can think of this summer.

Not entirely sure though :)

Ayu team should put that on yamanote line.. Because yamanote line always crowded every day. I think it will be good promotion if they put it there.

Finally we back to see her face on the train..the last time I saw it is on A BEST promotion back to 2001.

I hope my big hope for Sixxxxxxx to sell well wont be crushed into pieces when looking on the reality.

Well it gives some awareness but unfortunately sixxxxxx has no hit song to make the mini album itself sell.

I also had the thought that they advertise it as an album but the price is lower.

Like it was with LOVE & again that there were like singles with mini albums price, so here it's the opposite, something they advertise as an album but the price is of a mini album (which the latter is better of course).

Nice promo! I wonder which line is this train promotion at. hopefully on a crowded one.

I haven't been listening to ayu for 2 or 3 months because I was somehow feeling disconnected to her. I've switched to more upbeat songs that got me dancing. But after listening to this mini, i really can't stop listening to Shape of love, Sayonara, Sorrows and Summer Diary. Her delicate voice in Shape of love and that strumming guitar breaks my heart. For me, only her music can bring instant feelings to her songs without even looking at the lyrics and I'm glad I'm getting those feelings with sixxxxxx. Now i feel bad for giving up on ayu a couple of months ago :(

Shape of love really has some epic melodrama feelz going on.
cant.stop.playing.it!!

Did anyone else notice that the beginning of Summer dairy and the ending of Shape of love have the same background bird sounds?

welcome back :yes

can't stop listening to the mini~~! :love:love

Yes..someone already stated about this before you as well..but I forgot who said it...

That's why I have a feeling that maybe we will get the continuation of summer diary PV on hopefully Shape of love PV that they still keep it as a secret..we will see..it's just my speculation though.

It was Kirshwasser, I think :yes

I love this mini-album (album?).

Shape of love is great.

Unfortunately, Sorrows is atrocious because of the poor sound engineering. The vocals are mixed way too loud, the levels are off.. it's just a mess.

Step by step - 3.5/5
cute and cheerful. I quite like it but not love it.
Summer diary - 3/5
It's fine. Quite boring...and that's all.
Sayonara feat. SpeXial - 4/5
This song should has been perfect without SpeXial. The beat and lyrics are amazing except SpeXial. I think they ruin this song so hard.
Sorrows - 4/5
Give me Last Minute vibe. Beautiful piano then turn to rock at chorus.
Shape of love - 4.5/5
LOVE the melody and chorus is catchy.
Sky High - 3/5
It's okay. Pretty song. Feel like it's an episode2 of Step by step.

Over all - 3.5/5
It's okay. Perfect for summer but it's obviously not Ayu best mini album. Noting could compare to Memorial Address.

I won't listen to the 'new album' until I get my copy but lol she should have just called it yukuuuuuumi and replaced sayonara with another Yukumi song.

I just listened to Sixxxxxx and liked every single track! :) Step by step and Sky high are the weakest ones compared to the others, but in general I think it's a pretty good mini-album, wish I could buy it :heart I hope it sells well, Ayu deserves that after delivering so many good songs! :yes

speaking of the Gazette.... Sorrows makes me think of 12012 and them... something about the arrangement and the tone of the song reminds me of their less aggressive songs like "Cassis" and "Over...". i think i might be crazy....lol

Lol Over is a great song. I haven't listened to 12012 in forever. Miss them. I would love ayu to make more music like visual-kei bands and what not.

I'm completely in love with this mini! :heart

After listening to it all I even started to like Sayonara more, though I wish it wasn't right in the middle, since it's the weakest track and kinda breaks the mood for me... oh well. But I love all the others, this mini is soooo good.

Except of the ballads, everything on "A ONE" sounds like that to me. Especially "WARNING", "Last minute" and "The Show Must Go On".

Btw: The instrumental/piano bridge in "Shape of love" is an almost exact copy of Asuca Hayashi's song "Huwari" (ふわり) from her album "Chou", released around 2005.

I will agree with that, Sorrows is also way too chaotic in arragment, the verses didnt match the chorus at all... I still love the Linkin park part lol

For me it would be sth like

Step by step - 5,5/10 It's a cute song, not really in my taste, but well, cute. And catchy lol but not something I want to listen to all the time

Summer diary - 7,5/10 This is REALLY oldschool and catchy. It sound kinda professional and well though from the begining to the end.

Shape of love - 4/10 it's ok I guess?

Sayonara - 5/10 generic trance-pop song. Nothing new. America and Asia have loads of that songs. I don't hate SpeXial voices though, they are very ok.

Sorrows - 5,5/10 Way too chaotic *melody etc* and loud. Love the scratchy part, why it doesn't have it more?:<

Sky high - 7,5/10 another well produced piece. Catchy and oldschool. I will not give Sky high and Summer diary higher notes because they are not really my taste though. But I apprieciate how good they sound and how catchy they are :)

All songs are composed by Yukumi except Sayonara?

Happened to me during a few months in 2013, i was like "what was i thinking? never again" haha

Sky High is my least favourite, i don't hate it but i want to skip it

ahem Tell all was exactly the same, except even a bigger mess lol this one at least has somewhat of a link, doesn't just blasts out like Tell all in the chorus. The original version was really chopped and made no sense to me, i still liked it though lol

i love Sorrows. I think some people who say the mixing is off need to just stop paying too much attention to the technical side and just listen to the music. Unless it blatantly pokes your ears. Which i don't think it does. *shrugs* I could give you worse examples of really obvious bad mixing lol

Since one member pointed out the terrible mixing of one song, suddenly everyone is paying too much attention to the mixing of every song she is releasing. I think it is a bit exaggerated. Sorrows sounds fine in my opinion (and I only heard the preview)

Sure, bad arrangement is bad arrangement and needs to be called out, but I think Ayu made a lot of improvements since she is back on track. May I ask what you are hearing, which I am obviously not hearing in songs like Sorrows and even Last Minute?

Sorrow is great. i don't get the criticism. It sounds amazing.

Going back to the longer preview of Sorrows, I too hear something amiss in the chorus. It sounds... Flat and a bit noisy and it feels like the music wants to overpower Ayu or that ayu wants to overpower the music. Did Naoki mix this? I bet.

I think it's that some people are more sensitive to sound and when they hear something that sounds off it's very off-putting. I can barely listen to A ONE on my expensive headphones because the shit mixing comes into the forefront.

Idk what y'all are goin on about or if y'all just have really fantastic hearing, but I think Sorrows sounds perfect. Sure, Last minute was a bit...over the top in mixing but every song on this album barely had any flaws...at least to me. Anyway, I give this album an A. Each song has it's own flair, own emotion. I feel like it's a sort of...mini diary or a confessional of the things that have been troubling Ayu these past couple of years. Even the album art looks raw and not as flashy as her past albums. It's very personal compared to Colours or LOVE again; maybe even beyond that of A ONE. It would've been great though, if she just included these songs on A ONE itself haha.

My personal favs are Shape of Love and Sorrows. The way she sings both of those songs are just...magical. I've very pleased with this release c:.

For me it's that her voice (and guitar, I guess) is too loud and the drums are barely audible in places--hearing the drums more would make the shift into the chorus more impactful and enjoyable. I like the song, I just feel that it needs a bit more polishing.

My problem with Sorrows isn't the mixing of her voice, it's the instrumental itself, far too chaotic. It doesn't seem to fit the melody she's singing which I'm guessing is why she sounds loud over it. I mean, it's good when it's stripped down after the instrumental break but then the drums kick in again seemingly being hammered for a completely different composition.
Lower the drum track and you'd have a better song. As it is, it's my least fave on the mini but still a strong 6.5 out of 10.

Step by step remains a 10/10 for me so I appreciate my opinions probably differ from most of y'alls.

I'm totally in love with "Shape of love". I can't stop listening to it and when I do I just feel the emotions I haven't felt for a long time... this is the same feeling I had when I was listening to Ayu's classics for the first time...

I usually don't do this but I'm happy to say that good-old Ayu is (kinda) back ♥
And I absolutely love her voice in "Shape of love"!

You guys are sleeping on Pray!

Step by step - At first, I found it boring and very bland, but now I can say I like the verses and I love the build up the pre-chorus has and the bridge is quite nice too, the only downfall is the chorus though.

Summer diary - Meh, I don't like the composition, the arrangement, nothing.

Sayonara - Nice intro, nice instrumentation and I love how catchy the chorus is, but as some people said, it doesn't live up for the build up through of it, like on the last 2 choruses, I was expecting a BOOM and got a "boom". However, it would be SO MUCH BETTER if it was a solo song, these guys vocals are so bland and emotionless.

Sorrows - Last minute's sister, but not as boring as the later. It's verses, even if they're the same, I kind like the second verse better, maybe because it has some drums on it, and the bridge would've great if it wasn't for that sound like someone was playing DJ. I still hope she can give us another is this LOVE? / Because of You / Microphone or something like alterna.

Shape of love - Ah, the intro so lovely and gentle, I really like it. The verses are so nice, I wish she could've made the second one a little longer and the bridge is very unique with that acoustic guitar (?). Now, one thing that really keeps it from being perfect (I don't know if you'll get what I'll say), are the drums. In some parts, they're like "1 beat... 2 beats... 1 beat... 2 beats" and it kinda kills the flow for me. Also, it has some very old-school sound, like she could sing it with SCAR, it would be a nice combo.

Sky high -
This, and tbh, blossom isn't that great either, but at least it's chorus sounds better. Also, some people said it has a "fairyland" feeling, but I feel like it's chorus reminds me of Born To Be...

Well, this is a decent mini-album, but Memorial address still being her best. Sayonara, Shape of love, Step by step and Sorrows are really good but Summer diary and Sky high are a big no.

3/5

People shitting on Last minute and Sorrows WTF http://images6.fanpop.com/image/phot...90-250-167.gif

Shape of love and sky high is reallyyyyyyy great, I love both song. Shape of love remind me with duty era.

Bad mixing can fuck with your ears a bit though. The mixing on "fated (Orchestra version)" literally made it unlistenable to me because there's a constant low frequency noise throughout the entire thing. Same with Namie Amuro's "HimAWArI" and "NEVER END" on her Ballada collection. It's extremely annoying.

Granted, Sorrows and Last minute suffer from their own problems. Although Last minute sounds fine to me now that I've been spamming it.

For me, Sorrows has that raw sounding like last minute but with richer arrangement which i love more than last minute a bit.
both sound amazing.. still.. my most fave track..

The mixing in Sorrows is definitely off, which is unfortunate, because it would be more effective with better mixing.

But I do still really enjoy the song.

Summer dairy is my favorite ;) sorrows is a grower. I'm taking in sixxxxx step by step.

Have to say I was generally meh with most of the songs on this mini album -- Step by step was shit, Summer diary was boring, and Sayonara was spoiled by the inclusion of Spexial.

But Shape of Love! What a lovely surprise! Best song she's put out in ages!

For me this album score 5/5. I love all the songs in this mini album, fuck for the haters. Ayumi is the best, she always being honest for herself, because she know the best about herself. She dont try to copy the other singer and sing the song the best Way she can.

. no more words needed. (fuck the haters though was very harsh i guess hah )

I'm super surprised by Ayumi's ballads this year. Anyone remember back in 2009 when You were... / BALLAD came out and everyone on AHS pretty much unanimously agreed that Ayu was out of good ballads? I was definitely not expecting the ballads from A ONE and sixxxxxx, and I immediately noticed that Anything for You / Walk / Shape of love / Story are somehow so much like Ayumi's typical ballad but so goddamn memorable.

I've listened to Anything for You and Walk maybe a few dozen times now, but I immediately remembered the melody for Walk when it leaked in December. And the same for Story when A ONE came out. I can actually play that song in my head throughout the day. And Shape of love is much like that. I've found myself imagining the song playing, and the intro piano repeating.

It makes me happy, as Ayumi's ballads were what I first came to know of her, and even at her low points, I still liked them. But these, compared to BALLAD / Days / Sunset... It's so nice to hear Ayumi Hamasaki in the music again.