haha.same.i don't look like 23 at all:no
she's still look so young.
so,i think we shall have higher resolution of the covers this week?

I was expecting something a lot weirder. But that's ok, because she looks gorgeous (and really young!) and different. She's never done a cover art based on something so obvious as a national flag, but it looks good.

I like them, because I just loved the ViVi shots we got. I'm kind of surprised that they used this shoot though. Would have loved the other ones with her in the leather jacket against the wall to be the cover shots.

ahs scares me sometimes. lol xDDD

CD+DVD cover is growing on me so much :D just the title on her face :no
the CD Only one is still a big NO to me..

off-shot pictures are a lot better though imho -sigh-

i'm really impressed by these covers, i didn't have much hope considering the recent string of fails but, go ayu!

i think i like the CD only one more, although her eyes are beautiful in CD+DVD

I'm here everyday except I dun post until ayu has something new coming out, or some interesting topics attracting my eyes. And I think lots of us (older fans) have already debated/discussed with the newer fans about her new direction of music. Overall I think it's just our tastes towards ayu/her music are a bit different. Newer fans are attracted by her newer music/videos/whatsoever, so it's understandable that they get excited by her recent music easier than those of us who love her past music. Also, we were used to her dramatic changes (esp her images), so sometimes we hope to see her making some bold statements instead of giving us something like sunrise/sunset.

But after all, I believe all of us love ayu. If not, we won't even bother to post here. Criticizing is not a bad thing as long as it's not something really harsh. Not that we dun love her new music, it's just the level is not always over 80% (the passing grade for an A-) :P.

I know I am here...and I've known her since LOVEppears/Duty era! I am just too busy to post :)

Still VERY excited for this album and the direction she is taking!

Actually, I really liked Sunrise/Sunset (when it came to the music/PVs) as an old fan sooooo..... eh. I think I might just be an exception, haha. I came onto the fan-scene after &'s release, which was pretty amazing. It'd have been even crazier if I were actually a part of it during 2001/2002 when I listened to teddy bear / For My Dear, but... I don't think AHS was that big at the time and I wasn't interested in forums at 11/12, haha.

For me, a lot of the people I knew that frequented AHS from 2003-2007ish have left the forum for the most part. I think they just fell out of love with Ayu or moved on from listening to Ayu primarily and Ayu is just a bit of a distant memory.

lol over at Hikaruforums they are comparing the CD Only version to a picture of a frog.. i lolled at it, over here it's fishlips, over there it's frogface lol

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/5277/knipselaa.jpg
Credit to madkool @ hikaruforums

For me, both are very pretty! I love both of them. I can feel Kuu-ish here.

oh my God the AHS drama returns :rolleyes

Expecting more when we get leaks/PVs and all that... :heart AHS ;)

sorry AYU but the covers doesn't work for me :no

to be honest its... u - gly :tired

i was hoping to see something more fierce from you since the title is Rock n' Roll...

im definitely sure the booklet will rock! :)

I think the cd only covet is a little off. I think it's cuz of the cheap flash hitting in all the wrong spots. It would have been wiser to do that shot in a lighter area. The cd+dvd cover is awesome! I love it.

OMG THE CD+DVD COVER IS AMAZING!!!

I'm def not a "new" fan either, and I don't really think sunrise is that bad. The composition and to a certian extent the structure is very different from her past summer singles. I think people, new fans or old fans are too quick to label her songs when they don't like them or discard them simply because they have some reseblance to a song she relesed earlier (Which all of the songs she releases will have to a certain extent considering the enrmeous body of genres she's done already). I remember when talkin'2 myself came out and it got so much praise even if it's not really a ground breaking song in any way for ayu, and definitely not more so than sunrise is. :)

:love CD+DVD cover is stunning!

:love CD+DVD cover is stunning

tis is way earlier than i expected to c the covers. i am definitely liking the cd+dvd version. pure loves. i like they placed the album title on her cheeks. kinda cool and diff. definitely wayyyyyyyyyy better than NEXT LEVEL, and (miss)understood covers. i'm glad that the theme has nothin to do with circus. =)
i jus wish she would have use a full body shot for the cd only version. cos her outfit is so amazing. so it's kinda a waste.
p.s i have a feelin the limited box with have the same cover as cd+dvd

NEXT LEVEL covers were awesome, better than these ones I think.

I love the Unpleasable Fanbase and/or Broken Base that AHS is. XD

That aside, I love the covers. They were what I expected them to be. While the CD-only has a bit of an "I will stare into your SOUL" vibe, I still like it. <3

The only thing I ask of this album now is that I will instantly love it. ^^;

agree wichoo, for sure NL covers were way too better than these ones.

Holy Snap, Crackle and Pop!!!!!!
Yours truly is lovin' the new covers. I truly dig the CD only but CD+DVD version is fierce. I love the natural facial expressions. I saw the covers on jpop-wiki and then came here to see what everyone's opinons were.

This really made my day.

I like both :)

Wow! I actually really like them! and I haven't been feeling much love for her album covers lately

I like both but she have to including the Circus theme, to make it more real. ^_^

2001 - 2002 was definitely the craziest time in ayu world. And actually I think I started coming here in around 2002, but didn't register until a year later... because at that time some ayu fans were pretty aggressive (not in AHS, but in other places). I didn't bother to join any ayu world :P. Of course there are lots of people in out of ayu world throughout the years (and that applies to every artist). I bet a few years later there will be a bunch of 2007 - 2010ish ayu fans will be gone, and another generation of new fans will join AHS. I hope I will long live here... lol

Sunrise isn't that bad, but not good anywayz (IMO btw...). For me it has nothing to do with the resemblance. Rather it's quite a boring song, not getting me excited. The pv is quite boring as well... :P

Oh btw I'm not making a statement that old fans only love her old stuff. I do love some of her newer stuff as well. e.g., t2m (except the pv), Days, Sparkle, Curtain call, etc. It's just that I have passed the moment that I automatically love everything she releases. I guess that's normal.. rite? :rolleyes


Oh I expect less drama this time, because kaz doesn't direct the pvs lol (at least not the ones filmed in London). :lech

both are cute, imo! :) i think they're pretty good for today's Ayu cover standards, lol.

lol it seems like even though ND Chow shot the covers, they have still stirred quite a drama... not gonna expect any less for me. This is AHS after all. :mischief

Probly ayu should bring back Leslie Kee and see if he's the most powerful person to suppress the AHS drama...:mischief

But don't we love drama...? :yes

She had both better and worse covers and even people who only recently became fans know what to expect when it comes to Ayu covers as the age where she experimented with stuff is long gone ^^ I like the CD+DVD one a lot, even though it's design is pretty messy.

Oh yeah... even Leslie's shots can't satisfy everyone (e.g., Secret). But you do bring me back into memory.. the time when RAINBOW cover came out, everyone was so excited.. I would say her experimental stage ended after Ma... or maybe MY STORY. Personally I felt that after Moments' cover was released. I remember that I was kinda disappointed that she used flower on her head again since she used that concept in 2000 (around SEASONS - Duty).

Yeah, I always think that the handful or two of older fans that have stuck around here while many others have left are probably the most hardcore of hardcore Ayu fans even if these days they are disappointed in her work, because after all they still stick around and are still ultimately supporting her. :)

^ I think through these years, from the her blog posts, Ayu is beginning to shift from a balanced emphasis on both songs and image to just her songs alone? But of course, maybe i'm being pessimistic here, putting hard work on something doesn't guarantee success.

join date doesn't mean old or new... I'm an ayu fan since the end of 2003, I'm an old ayufan? LOL Maybe not everyone stop coming here because they stop loving ayu... a forum is not like your house or school so it may be a moment when you get tired of writing or of the users... There's a lot of ayu fans that will never log into a forum ^^

and back to topic, I'm happy to see that maybe 70% likes the covers or at least one of them ^^ This is positive and a change from R/S, NL, S/S covers ^^ Yw/B also were more appreciated and after S/S covers it was like "OH, thanks GOD!!" LOL

Yup, CAROLS was the last cover that wasn't just a close up of her standing/sitting in a dress/costume, so I pretty much agree.

I've been hanging around AHS from early 2006 even though it took a while before I actually started posting, so it's been almost 4+ years now, 5 years since I've got into Ayu and I still can't say I've been disappointed with her music, sure there may have been a PV or two I didn't like a lot, sure there's been covers that were meeh, but I can't say that I've ever truly felt disappointed.

Coming from one who has been listening to MandoPop BEFORE stepping into the Jpop realm, I was never exposed to things like MEANINGFUL covers back in those days. Usually, Mandopop artiste pose nicely and thats it. it really didnt matter. Then when i came over, I realized how much photography and WORK was put into just a cover. So my point is, do covers really matter that much? Well, those that are more exposed to such probably would say yes because you've been exposed to greater forms of work and artistic covers. But, in the beginning, they havent reall mattered much. If a cover is beautiful, then it's all that matters.

and i think there's a general consensus of S/S's covers lol

Right on. Just because I finally joined in 07 doesnt negate that Ive listened to Ayu since around 2001-2002 (whenever she sang M on the MTV Asia/World music awards). Decision dethroned Surreal as my favourite Ayu song and I dont think that everything old is Gold or vice versa. Dont turn this into a new fan old fan thing because that has nothing to do with people liking/not liking the covers, rather it sseems a reinforcement of the clique mentality that governs most forums and turns users away.

Nice covers. I like the style, but something looks strange. O.ò

quite like the cover :) especially when comparing the next level's.

When I saw that outfit and the pictures from Vivi Diary, I was hoping she would use them for the cover!! I'm glad~~~

I'm REALLY like the CD+DVD, the close-up is a change for me, and a nice one. Her face looks SO CUTE!!! I love it! I would really like to have that shot without text and spot lights on it.

CD only is ok. It doesn't strike me as much as the other one, I was hoping a full body shot for this one. Kinda like that one in Vivi where she's just standing with both hands on each side of the photo booth and looking away... Maybe that'll be for the limited box...

Still really like them though!! Personally, I like them better than NEXT LEVEL even though I LOVED NL as an album all together.

It's different from other covers, and I like that~

The "London" look??

Come on people! She´s just wearing a hat with the British flag on it!!

^But...but, but it was shot in London. :)

I have to agree with yumsushi and walking.proud. Loads of people were not members here before but are long time Ayu Fans. I joined AHS in 2007 (different user name) but lurked here and on Ayunite years before. I also joined a German Ayu Forum in 2004. So it doesn't really mean anything. It also depends on what is going on in your real life, I never posted much but because I have a lot of free time atm I'm posting more. Me and others that look like new fans because we only recently joined...that doesn't mean anything. I actually think the join date should be removed so that you can only see it when you look at the members profile. Because I sometimes feel like older members are acting like they are better informed just because they've been on AHS since 200X. But that's probably a problem in all forums. Newbies are always suspicious. ;)

I don't think that's necessarily what anyone meant exactly. The point was that the users from 08-now seem to far outnumber those from earlier times. Of course there are going to be exceptions that the time someone became a fan is years earlier when they joined, but generally speaking that is not the case. So the point is like Bluegie said, the newer users were drawn to newer Ayu and thus are indeed more likely to like her newer material, while a lot of the older users seem to have faded away maybe because they lost interest in the direction Ayu has taken.

Actually, I think there are a lot more fans that have been Ayu fans for a long time and joined later, than some people seem to think.

I've been a fan since early 2003. I didn't join this forum until 2007-2008! That's a LONG time not being "counted" if I could say... My love for Ayu grew faster and stronger around 2007, like, following her news and every release, etc. Before that, I was a fan, I listened to her music a lot, but I wasn't following her as specifically as I have been since 2007.

Thank you for sharing!!!!

i like CD only better~
it's very nice outfit & hair & make up so i'm happy they picked this style for the covers ♥
only problem is that pics don't look professional, reminds me of (miss)understood booklets somehow, travel diary like.

mixed feeling, it's nice to feel close to the real Ayu but it's a bit disappointing to get unrefined stuff when you pay for it. anyway, travel diary mood makes me hope for 'A World in One' pics in the booklet.

Woah, good point - that would be great!

I really like these two pictures as covers; they look natural and beautiful.

It also seems like these covers were better accepted than some others; You were.../BALLAD was generally accepted, S/S was a drama, and there are very mixed views on NL.

god noooooo~~!!
the cd cover is terrible! it's so cheesy and uninspired! there is so little art direction. her hair, clothes and her pose are all bad! it does not match the title at all.

but the CD+DVD cover is good though. it's good that i don't plan on buying the cd only version anyway.

I actually think there's something great about all the things you find wrong with the CD cover; her hair is a really cute cut and lovely shade and her clothes are really cool. The pose is nothing particularly special but it still looks good. And on the contrary, that cut with that hat and the cool jacket really says something about the title.

^I have to agree about the hair. I've read several posts about her hair and how it looks horrible. I cannot understand that at all. I really love her haircut and the color. It looks so nice.

I think the covers are ok...
I was expecting something fierce (because of the rock n roll concept...) but they're fine :)
I'm glad I got CD+DVD!

The CD only version vaguely reminds me of Nana Kitade's Cutie Bunny CD:

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/ly...utie_Bunny.jpg

But the resemblance isn't really there, maybe I'm the only one who sees it? All in all I'm still very pleased with the covers, I was half expecting a rip off of Pink's Funhouse album cover.

The only truly atrocious thing about the CD version is the lighting. It's too harsh and looks amateur, compared to the soft lighting of CD+DVD.

Hehehe I think it's the little hat on the bunny, and the expression a bit, that may make you think of it :P

I think it's just a really cute cut, and the colour is soft and pretty, it makes her look youthful. It's strange that there are just so many complaints about it, when a while back people were saying she was even looking older with certain haircuts.

am I the only one that find Secret covers really lazy and uninspired? xD

Nope. You're not.
But I rather thought that they looked very poorly made. And the font? Horrible. The CD only is probably the worst Ayu cover ever (with a few exceptions) imo.

I'm sure you're not the only one, but personally, I think they're beautiful.

I actually love both covers and the cd only one makes me thing of a cute mad hatter. I shouldn't have watched alice in wonderland. ;D

She'd be such an adorable mad hatter :P She probably wouldn't be able to play such a role with a straight face though :P

No I also dislike them. And all those tacky stars... TOO MUCH in my opinion (and its worse on the other booklet pics!). :innocent

Yup, I've known about Ayumi from the very beginning of her career, started being a huge fan around 2001, and then she became one of my favourite artists around 2003. But I joined AHS in 2009. :yes

Even though that's easily one of my favourite shoots, I can see why somebody would call it lazy. They are very simple, when you take away all the glamour from them, hah. But she looks so gorgeous and everything, I don't mind at all. XP

I don't understand, either! D: I actually think it looks cute. I still don't see a thing wrong with it, and I've really been trying, lol. :shrug

I like the haircut... but she has too much hair, it so voluminous and doesn't suit her. To some extent it make me think of this awful french singer :

^Whaa, it looks nothing like that! :roflmao If it did, then it would be bad. But I think her hair looks really cute and silky. I love the cut and colour. :yes Maybe it's a little unflattering on the CD only cover from the front, but slighty from the side on the CD+DVD it looks so beautiful.

lol Mireille Mathieu

i love Ayu's hairstyle on the cover album :)
it looks fresh and so cute on Ayu :)
she looks younger :)

Ayumi's new cover already impressed me..I don't know why everyone have to argue about the cover..and try to compare it with her old album cover..:no..
I think, the "Rock n' Roll Circus" cover was perfect...and so was "NEXT LEVEL".

Come on guys...whatever happened to "THE WORLD IS ONE"? I'm not taking sides..but I prefer we respect each other opinion..They can say whatever they want about the cover..but in the end, we all will love it anyway..

The most important thing is the content inside the album..:luv2which will end up loving it~~Hehehehe:love

So guys...we should make, "WORLD, UNITED, RESPECT"...sounds better?:luv2:luv2:innocent

Exactly. It looks soft and not as if there is too much hair. I don't get it at all. Fortunately some of you agree and like that haircut. Sometimes when I read these posts I think there is something wrong with my eyesight/fashionsense. :)

Yes, I keep trying, too. I'm not someone who loves everything but with this I just don't get it. But in the end I decide for myself that I'm right, nothing is wrong with me and Ayu's cute. :)

It's just a matter of taste/point of view, nobody is wrong! :yes
I'm still in absolute love with the cv+dvd cover.

I really don't see how you could think it looks like that :shakehead It's got little to do with it.

Please... not another drama lol :no
Chill out I was only being funny!
And I said "to some extent" not "omg it's exatcly the same!".

My bad, I guess I don't find it funny. Not trying to start a drama.

Don't worry, that's fine : )

her hair is kinda... lol though. it looks very kiddy and cutie yeah, but I don't know... not feeling it on her, but meh probably just me :shrug

Seriously, I'm hoping the songs are really good. That's the only thing this album's got going for me.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for 16 or 17 tracks.

^
me too D: it would be awesome! But even there are 14 tracks only I will be happy enough :yes because she seems have worked hard on this album.
Maybe more than NL I though.

~!!! finally!! i`m liking the covers. not gonna lie though, i`m a little disappointed. liking the cd+dvd one more. was hoping one of them would be farther away showing more of her outfit and the environment. either way, nice photos, sanks very much for postin~

The only thing that bothers me is the lighting (or the photoshopped lighting) in the CD+DVD cover. And the text placement (cheeks, srsly?).

But I like them. I think her expression on CD is a bit doll-like, but IMO it works with the cover, especially with the top hat (although I wish we would have gotten a more full-body pic for the CD, the "doll" expression would work even better IMO).

^ agreed heavily about the full-body pic thing.

If it's 14 excellent songs then I'll be extremely happy, it's just 16 or 17 will be a welcome treat. She really worked hard on this album didn't she?

Recently I was looking back on some performances. Assuming you scrapped NL (which I wouldn't dare, since it's part of Ayu's history now) I think Ayu has been wanting to go in the direction of rock for a bit. A lot of the singles leading up to, and GUILTY itself, have a rock sort of feel to them. Mirrorcle World also had a hint of it I think, what with the guitar solo standing out so much. Also, there was A Song for XX that became performed even more like a rock song, starting from a-nation to Asia Tour. She looked really really into her rocker-ish performances like End of the World and Heartplace in PCDL.

I'm not trying to say she's not into all her performances, and projects. Just that, I was thinking, that maybe she's wanted to go for a more rock feel for a while now. These thoughts, I couldn't help them when watching some clips recently...

This or I think it would be even cooler if she had 14 songs, but none were interludes. It'd make this album even more special because it'd be her first full album without any. I'm still expecting them though and I know it's highly unlikely she'd not have any, I just think it'd be cool.

Have hope! Maybe the posters will be something like that; it'd be really really cool, wouldn't it?

^ Aren't the posters usually of the album covers?

I've never gotten any posters, so yeah, you could be right. Since there was so much shot in London, it'd be wonderful if the posters were a bit different.

Cool yes, but i usually like those interludes, especially Load of the SHUGYO and Are you wake up... So i hope 14 songs + interludes :)

btw, this "covers" thread is gonna be full soon :) Oh my

like " Are you still awake?" :D

^ Hopefully there is another Are You Wake Up? Her best interlude, imo.

Interludes are definitely nice to have, they help link songs together sometimes and in some cases they're really necessary. But still, if there are going to be a number of interludes I want the songs to be long and impressive. Or at least have a few more great tracks, in which case, 16/17 would be perfect.

hopefully with the longer production time, we'll get more tracks or less interludes.

Bahahaha! Exactly! :laugh

Best covers in a longgg time! A bit more experimental and good for it. Here's hoping for a good booklet and photobook :)

True, I don't think her interludes are pointless and she has a lot of great ones, but we have gotten a ton of great ones these past few years so I wouldn't be too disappointed if she didn't have any.

I think the photo book will be great, and I think it will document ayu's stay in London. ND CHOW did the on my way and off my day photo books for her and I thought they were amazing and natural and captured ayu just being herself, hope this photo book is the same :yes

Thanks! Very Cool!

There's no way 100% that the older fans are fading away because they're getting tired of ayu. True, the atmosphere of the forum may turn users away (that's one of the reasons I didn't join AHS or any other ayu forums between 2000 - 2002... rather I joined newsgroup lol). However, you have to account for a fact that there are hardcore posters in different eras. The reason they dun post anymore could due to the atmosphere, but also it could be ayu's fading away in their hearts. I have encountered this once, the time when she released I am. I didn't even bother to buy the album. I was sick to Free & Easy because it just sounded similar to M. I wasn't really interested in H, and I just bought RAINBOW because the cover is pretty. I wasn't deeply into ayu again until & came out. So you can see that I don't always praise ayu old stuff. For me the "recycling problem" wasn't started recently, rather it has been already occurred in ayu's music since 2001. I gotta admit tho that her covers were still very creative back in the old days, so even in that withdrawn period I still found her cd covers pretty attractive.

That's just my personal experience.. I dun even know if that is an answer to your quote :P. I quoted your post because I do agree with you the possibilities of why the older members are gone. But there are other old members like me, who still stick around even ayu isn't attract us as deep as she used to be. No matter what we still wanna support her and there must be some songs/images we love from time to time :).

Ok... a bit OT but I'm a bit curious... for those of you who has been ayu fans since her early career and not joining the forum until recent years (let's say... after 2007?). I just wanna know why you didn't join a long time before..? Was it because you didn't discover this place until recently? Or were you anonymous before and finally decide to join the community? Or was it that ayu wasn't in your most beloved artists before? Yeah I'm just curious :).

I think in most parts of the world, covers don't have to be meaningful at all. Just look at EPop. How often do you find a meaningful cover? Of course there must be a few artists who wanna make meaningful covers. On the other hand, there are several Japanese artists make meaningless covers.

Back to your point. In a certain extend, yes. A "meaningful" cover can convey the music theme/direction. It can even tell the artist's current state of mind. Again that's just my personal preference. Some people focus on the music part. For them a cover is just merely a picture on a sheet of paper :P. Nothing wrong with both sides.

He also did this for her:
http://www.ndchow.com/album%20ayuwe.htm :heart
http://www.ndchow.com/album%20girlpop.htm
http://www.ndchow.com/album%20bluebird.html
http://www.ndchow.com/album%20ayubold.html
http://www.ndchow.com/album%20ayucd.htm

She can realease a new_
A COMPLETE -ALL INTERLUDES-

I know! Some of her most beautiful shoots :D I have a feeling we're going to be getting some awesome magazine shoots like those first ones too.

Ohhh my goodness. Those covers are GORGEOUS. Especially the CD+DVD one. These are definitely the best ones shes had since Secret *__*.

I was always happy and very impressed with his work; this is no different. His work is impressive =]

I agree :heart
I don't remember seeing him in London, but that was probably because I was impressed by Ayu and she was going to the recording studio ;) I saw a photographer, but that was for TA I guess.

Hahaha, this is awesome! Again, I love the album covers but this is just too much of a coincidence. Perhaps she plans to have an Underdome Riot on the planet Pandora? ;D http://www.thewyrmhole.com/storage/p..._mad-moxxi.jpg