So... you're angry she's not writing about your life?

Also, you should try unplugging or something.

Yeah Memorial Address is really good but it has two of her songs that I always skip and those are Greatful Days and Angel's song, sorry but just no :laugh Five on the other hand has two ok songs "why..." and "another song" (not my type but they are just ok) but has Progress, Beloved and BRILLANTE, masterpieces imo :yes so for me it goes something like Five > MA >TROUBLE > sixxxxxx

So, I've been looking at the major online retailers selling* the album, and nobody seems to have updated the tracklist yet...it still says there are five tracks, but there is no information on the new titles at all. Really, it could just be that Ayu's team/the retailers haven't bothered to update it yet, or they have strict instructions on when to update it (i.e. uploading the AWA/streaming services really *was* a last minute choice). But I find it strange that her team have enough time to release her album on major streaming services, but haven't bothered to update her own website, mumo, or other online retailers' descriptions yet?

I also think the AWA announcement will likely be related to lives or PVs, but I find this quite interesting overall. I mean, Ayu's team haven't been the most diligent at updating information in the past, but they seem to be orientated and focused in their tactics used in this era. Perhaps Ayu does have a few surprises still up her sleeve? I don't want to say 'new music', but it also could be possible?

EDIT: Sorry, I just realized someone posted this earlier!

By the promotion strategies and design work over the years, it's really easy to tell that avex has cut-off a lot of the manpower / talent / budget.
It might be as well a tactic to release all songs with tracklist on streaming services, so people will subscribe to it. But truly speaking, not putting it up on official web and product listings even until today is really unacceptable, from a sales point of view.

btw, the new official web doesn't even have ayu's biography. not that the world doesn't know who she is but isn't it basic stuff?

She made "The way I am" for a very specific reason.

This is a whole new meltdown level lol
Impressed.

Also dead at the person saying she’s gonna release a summer playlist as AWA surprise. You are SAVAGE

I could understand being sad about that if you think that's the truth. Isn't that a bit dramatic though? Maybe she's going through some tough times both physically and mentally and that's translating to some people as not caring. She has shown over the years how much she cares, are you just going to disregard that?

I can´t understand why everyone ois hyping W so much, I think it´s supüer boring and flat o.o
I think I will sticj with the way I am as my favourite track.

I think W is just the edge people were looking for since the other two new songs are very 'gentle' but good as well. IMO, The way I am is probably the best of the album.

W is a nice song, but feels soulless and dishonest in the way she sings it. Can't explain it better.

It makes sense with the lyrics, I think the way she sings, the changes in her voice, is what gives so much sense to the song.

For me When Ayu releases an album it's like a party with friends. Sometimes it's marvelous and i'm the happiest on earth, and sometimes it's just ok or boring, and at the time it's disappointing and unpleasant.

But that's not why I don't love them anymore or I wonder WHY I love them or that I'm afraid of not having a great party or moment with them anymore. Sometimes It's because I was not in the mood for that or sometimes it just doesn't work. That's all. It's not a big deal.

I don't challenge my love and trust in her on each album.

(year after year I realise I deal with Ayu like I deal with people I love haha)

Well, but I understand that taste change or change differently than Ayu's choices and taste, sometimes it just the time to say goodbye but without blame the other of all the wrongs (yes again, as in a love affair haha) "c'est la vie" isn't it ?



Well, I hope She will sing We are the Queen and W during a the a-nation !

maybe, but somehow it makes it just a louder, rakish track. Not everything has to just transporter through lyrics. Its still music she makes, not a poem. Could be the mixing tho

We're on the same page here, because this is exactly why I cried pretty heavily over MADE IN JAPAN. It was the first time I heard a little spark of that Ayu in the music in years, but I also realized that it suddenly mattered less for people to hear it. Ayu was a huge deal because she has been a little part of all of our dreams made real. Who truly isn't an Ayu-stan because we universally agree that there are so many aspects to her that no other artist has ever had?

I'm going to disagree that TROUBLE is a bad release. I think it's not as complete a release as it could be. That's all. This is the most on-point she's been with covers, the first time she's done actual promo efforts in years, and as I listen to these songs, I feel like WatQ and WORDS have been perfectly complimented by three songs I see as tracks that should have come after Love songs/FIVE.

I can hear the production quality in these new songs clear as day. To be clear: The last time we had a song anywhere near what W is, it was 2005-2006 and the songs were GAME and alterna. And I think Ayu nailed the hell out of this song. This is everything I wanted for each release since Ls. I strongly encourage anyone who's confused about how much TROUBLE actually is Hamasaki Ayumi: WatQ is a page right out of 2010-2011, aeternal is a page right out of 2002-2004, WORDS is right out of 2012-2015, W is 2005-2006, and The way I am is 2007-2009/2013/2015. This is really touching the sounds that have been most important to fans.

Also, can we please give her a serious round of applause for making one of the most diverse-sounding releases she's had in 10 years? I think she actually made an effort to not do the exact same thing five times in a row on TROUBLE.

Have a seat, please. If that's the attitude you show up with, you're not adding anything to the conversation.

Man, I'm burning through golf claps these days.

I talked about why I actually cried over MADE IN JAPAN back in 2006 but also at the top of this post, but just to clarify: Ayu and the quality of what she can and is motivated to do is directly correlated to the number of people she sees change because of what she does. The reason Ayu held off on announcing her hearing loss in 2008 was the fear that we would feel like she wouldn't be around for us anymore. The vast majority of the statement released about that was centered on how she most definitely will keep going as a music artist, that she had a new tour coming and a new single she was working on (Mirrorcle World), and all sorts of reassurance that she was very much not going to disappear and leave us where we originally found her.

So, I cried over MIJ because I realized she has always been this Ayu but there's so little effort to continue this shared experience with us that everything I've known—and that we've known collectively—is eroding bit by bit, year over year. There are parts of me that have changed, of course, but this is where I fit in. I don't have another musician I care this much about, who's as engaged, and whose fans are as engaged and have a lot in common.

I need a thumbs up emoji with sparkles. This is exactly what I was talking to that I know Andrenekoi doesn't get in all our fights about Ayu now vs back then. Back then, Ayu had something to prove because she wasn't just fighting for herself, she was fighting for all our fights. She hasn't done that in years. TROUBLE is the first time in 8 years I've seen some spark, even if it's tiny.

You've been here for all of five minutes. Shh.

And yet, here you are too... Peculiar? I dare say. I shall. Here you are too.

Girl. We were them once too. We've just grown up. And they'll grow out of it too. In the meantime, they--like we once did too--think their opinions are the most loving, accepting and supportive thoughts in the Universe. (It just hasn't hit them that the Law of Attraction isn't a thing.)

I think that "party/hangout" expectation is what separates those of us who've been here for 10+ years even while we get more frustrated. Ayu is that friend of ours that we're pointing out how fewer people want to show up at the party year over year, and she's just like "KAWAII DESU~!!! Let me sing LA LA LAI x12 all over UR FACE, HUGS PEACEful LOVE again!" And we're like, "Look... Ayu... Look... Look... People are counting on you. People need you to show up just as much as you've always needed it for yourself too. So, show up, please." And then SHE goes, "O_> ... >_< ... o_9 ... <-.0>..." and then releases another "mini-album" with 2 new songs and 16 remixes, and the two new songs weren't even worth the MP3 file taking up space for more than a month or two.

For a lot of people, they show up with no expectations. Because they weren't there when the Ayu signal got installed on rooftops everywhere and we all agreed--Ayu too--that we'd be there for each other when no one else wanted to be there for us. I'd like to see that come back in some way, big or small. But the leader of our troop is Ayu. If she doesn't want it to be there, it's not going to evolve. We simply don't have the influence to bring that crucial element of Ayu without her help.

TROUBLE is a good first step. It's way better than I imagined she'd aim for. If we do our part and just do a better job of being there for each other (and voting people off the island... o,0 ~andrenekoi~... q[0.o]p d[o.0\ l0.o> just kidding... you can stay.... maybe... no, really... you can stay... on Tuesdays... OK.) maybe we can actually set this up for the people out there who need it more than we do now.

Anyway, I like TROUBLE. I liked A ONE a bit too, but this is Hamasaki Ayumi. It's fresh. It's too short. But it is very much Ayu.

Erm... what exactly are you referring to?
Cause she has had plenty of dramatic rock-ish songs over the years since GAME/alterna that are, IMO, way better than W:

- song 4 u
- reminds me
- Return Road
- progress
- Microphone
- talkin' 2 myself
- GUILTY
- Marionette
- 1 LOVE
- is this LOVE?

W has the right ingredients, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

^^Gurl, take a sit. I've been here for whole 5 years before you. I most likely has been listening to her for way longer than you too.

If you guys are really that sad over a pop music release to the point of crying and having a meltdown, it's time to check out what is really going on, cuz it most likely isn't the pop music.

I loveee when orbitalaspect arrives to shake things up and get everyone pressed.:laugh
As for TROUBLE, I have only listened to it a small amount of times. W is my favorite so far. The lalalai sections are addictive and I love the hard rock sound. The Way I Am sounded so much better on LINE Live. I really felt that performance. Those two songs are my favorite so far. We Are The Queens I used to love and still do but I don't listen to it that often. As for WORDS and aeternal, they sound too similar to me. They are both nice songs but that is about it. I like the 2000s sound they have going on but it lacks the creativity that Ayu's music had during that time. The production just isn't interesting to me.
Overall I like this album musically but I don't consider it a new favorite. My biggest issue with this release is the promotion and marketing and the concept. I don't understand any of them. I found this to be the most frustrating and quite frankly annoying promotion from her. I really want to go back to normal singles and albums. So overall I like the music but I just don't understand this release.

So what's with the people here saying that ayu's music changed their life, they started crying because it moved them and all?
Isn't the argument of "it's just pop music" also apllying to them?
Just wondering. You can't take it in one direction, but not the other.

^One thing is being moved by a piece of art. Other different thing is throwing a tantrum over disliking said music.