LOVE again thoughts?
 

So, since half the album has leaked already, I thought I'd create this thread! :lech

How do you feel about LOVE again (so far?)

I was a disappointed when I first heard the leaked album tracks, as I could no longer hear that distinct Ayu sound present. I feel like I'm listening to a different artist rather than Hamasaki Ayumi. But, everything changes and I have to remind myself that every Ayu album is different from the last (this one is just very different hehe).

After heavy rotation though, I don't mind them at all! :love

petal is my favourite so far. Initially from the preview I thought that it reminded me quite a bit of Duty, but I feel this is very wrong indeed. It reminds me much more of the ballads from (miss)Understood, Secret, and GUILTY. I'm still a bit undecided on the verses. They feel slightly weak, and a bit awkward in places. But, this is my only qualm.

I was hoping that SAKURA would be that extra vigour that this album desperately needs, but I realize that this album isn't meant to be full on like (miss)Understood, and to some extent, even Love songs. I believe it is purposely meant to be a bit understated, and even...melancholy? It's so interesting though, as this is perhaps the most powerful ballad present after Missing, and I feel that it encapsulates this meekness perfectly.

untitled for her...story 2 was my least favourite of the previews, but I actually like the full version! You can hear the emotion in her voice, and that really carries this simplistic composition along. :luv2

Bye-bye Darling is the one I think will take me a while to appreciate. It's very generic, and it has to compete with snowy kiss and Wake me up. It's a lot 'weaker' (I don't like using this word) than the previously mentioned tracks, and although it's catchy, it really misses out on that fierceness that the other two boast. :no

I'm a bit scared to hear Gloria. It was my favourite from the previews, and considering that these tracks are so different from their first impressions, I'm not getting my hopes up.

I think this time overall, Ayu has chosen the better songs to be pre-released as singles/on mini albums. Song 4 u, Missing, Melody, Wake me up, snowy kiss, Sweet scar, and Ivy really are the stars this time around. :love

The mini-albums songs are my favourites, the album tracks are good too, but they need to grow on me. However, SAKURA and petal are loveable tracks! Can't wait 'til official CD leak.

I just fell in love with Gloria so bad. omg. I don't know what it is, the optimistic chorus is just perfect for me. And her voice is soo nice aside from the beginning. The verses make it interesting and different.

Ok, from beginning till ending. Wake me up is still raw and awesome. S4U is still growing on me, so it's just okay. My favourite parts are ironically the "yeah yeah"s this time :laugh I recently started adoring the other LOVE tracks though (and now Melody is like one of my absolute favourites).. Missing chorus is so beautfiul too, how could I not like it?

SAKURA is so mellow I'm not loving it, but I think it is a great follow-up for Missing. Thank god it builds up at the end and gets some oomph so I won't probably have to skip it too often :P Then my new love Melody :heart I absolutely love it's sound now. Wah.

Bye-bye darling is a nice throwback to Wake me up with it's rock and electronic sound and is among the standout tracks. Omg I almost forgot snowy kiss was gonna be here, how could I? The middle section is definitely not boring or mellow. At this point I'm actually starting to realize how good LOVE again actually is, it's far less "dragging" than I imagined, even though I figured I would like it anyway.

Snowy kiss -> Sweet scar is like a crash and the silence after it lol. I suppose it's very much on purpose, and it actually works. I still like Sweet scar's blue tone and arrangement. Petal doesn't stand out as much after listening to the previous tracks, but is still dramatic and beautiful at the same time. untitled... story 2 is touching, not a standout musically but lyrically and emotionally. Then Gloria :heart I actually didn't adore it as much as others from the preview but the real thing just speaks to me so much. I love the way she expresses optimism in it. Whoops I forgot Ivy existed, even though I like it a lot :tipsy It's a good ending song. (oh right there's You&Me........) Anyway I love how the album ends on a good and optimistic note. You & Me might actually fit as the ending, if it sounds bad I'll just replace it with the A CLASSICAL version :P

I'm not sure of the "love" circle here. is the optimistic ending the part where you have found love, or the part where you are alone and have faith there will be love again someday? I suppose it's the latter. Looking forward to analyses about this :)

I just so adore the arrangements and compositions on this album. Soooo much. They're vibrant and emotional, and connect to each other. The guitar which appears here and there is really nice. Her vocals have improved hugely and deserve a mention. And what I love is that the sound is kind of timeless, well maybe it's already a bit "dated" sounding lol, but I don't think this album will suffer from "eww this sounds so like, 2013.." somewhere in the future :laugh Glad she's doing her thing. :) now I just wanna hear glasses and.. the other one. Bet I'll like them as well

I'm actually really, really surprised by this album. I enjoyed the mini tracks a lot, so I wasn't expecting to NOT like the album but I have to say, for an album I was expecting to sound really soft and refreshing this album is surprisingly dark, bitter and just... painful. It's definitely the 'darker' side of her "Love songs" style, which all felt strangely refreshing, even if some of the songs were about similar subject matter (struggling with hidden emotions, not knowing how to live honestly, torn between dreams and reality, etc.).

There's just something about this album that's uncomfortable for me, and that's a first with any Ayu record. I just feel like I'm seeing a part of her that's so vulnerable and raw, and it's invasive on my part. I wonder if she was aware of that when approaching this work? It really does just feel like such a significantly more tormented work than her characteristically darker albums previously.

I truly feel for the first time that releasing "LOVE" and "again" was such a MASSIVE injustice for this album. I liked the remixes we got on both of them, but it was so unfair to an album that's really quite strong and distinct on its own that it's now made to look "cheap" by comparison to the previous two releases.

A very melodic album, i mean, many violin and piano... in some way it reminds me a little to A BALLADS... cos it is plenty of ballads, in that time she wanted to give that hand album "healing" songs, like RAINBOW, let's say that LOVE again it's based on broken relationships, it must have that kind of songs too. For me it's a nice album to listen but anyway i will always love upbeat and other more rocking songs :)

Very nice album, i find most of the songs here great for amvs xD

Just listened to it once... but I believe Ayu released an album that will be among my favorites for the 3rd time in a row. I'm impressed.

Even more considering I was expecting something boring, generic and bad.

My TOP-1 definitely. Can't write any review right now, I'm totally inadequate atm lol.

P.S. Bye-bye darling eats my brain and drives me completely crazy (god, finally I see what that really means!)

the new songs bore me to tears. the interludes were great and should've been made into full songs (as usual) and Gloria was bearable, but the rest... just no. I'm just over these recycled cut n paste melodies with generic string + guitar arrangements. speaks for itself that A Classical will soon overtake Party Queen with scrobbles in my library and this probably won't even come close. I thought the album would be more upbeat like the LOVE and again singles. disappointing.

I love it. I am so impressed with her ballads and vocals lately. But what's even more impressive are the lyrics this time around. I felt detached from most of her lyrics for a while but I'm really liking and connecting to these ones.. especially Gloria, SAKURA, and petal.

Im really happy with the album..
Sakura is such a sweet ballad, its the song i will always listen to when i feel depressed. Petal reminds me of marionette, but it has different atmosphere like darker. Bye bye darling, the verse is very catchy but not fond with the chorus, too repetitive. Untitled for her.. Story 2, i can feel her sadness in this song, feel like i wanna cry together with her.. And gloria, amazing, a song that i will listen to when i need encouragement, especially the bridge part.. And i dont see any cut and paste songs in this album.. Overall i give this album 8.8/10

I'm kind of ambivalent. Wake me up → Song 4 u is still pretty unforgivable to me, and I feel like I'm going to be skipping straight to track 6 every time I listen, aside from maybe Wake me up and SAKURA.

The album tracks sound... cheap and dated somehow? I don't know; it's not really even a complaint because I feel like the sound is kind of refreshing. The interludes, while I like them, sound like they were made in FL Studio or GarageBand... or something. idk.

I do like it, and I find the new tracks (plus Wake me up and Sweet scar) really pleasant listens. But there's just too many ballads (and really awful flow at the beginning) for me to consider it one of her stronger albums. It's just sort of safe and middle of the road, but that's okay, I guess.

I agree with pretty much everything you just said.

I was pleasantly surprised listening to this album. I... I can't even form a proper opinion on it yet! I love it. Definitely one of her top 5 albums for me :)

Boring, it's boring as hell. I like/love most of the tracks, but it just doesn't work as a whole album. And to put "glasses" before "untitled for her...story 2"... I just don't get it.

agree :yes

untitled for her... story 2 sounds waaaaaaay too much like X Japan's "Tears" (look it up / download it)

As usual, I don't like all the new album only tracks, maybe some will grow on me, the one I like the most is Gloria but even then that's not saying much. Gloria is the least filler-sounding to me.

This album has turned into Rock'n'roll Circus Part II for me, full of crappy rock/pop filler.

This album shouldn't have been made, plain and simple

as always, give me a month, I might feel different.

+1

Boring, it's boring as hell. I like/love most of the tracks, but it just doesn't work as a whole album. And to put "glasses" before "untitled for her...story 2"... I just don't get it. :P

I'm dying to see the PhotoBook, it must be wonderful!
and, is it by Leslie Kee and Ryan Chan as well? is there any infos about the photobook?

and, I don't know how i feel about the new album. it's complicated...
well, the songs are good if you listen to either of them. but, it's weird being a full album.
i can't say exactly what's wrong, but it doesn't make me feel like a album...

Wow, they do sound a lot alike lol

This album doesn't seem bitter or painful, at all. It is rather melancholic, but it's all rather light and airy, save for snowy kiss - which to be honest, just feels like a poor version of Last angel. Even untitled for her... story 2 - you can tell she's still hurting, but it does feel more reflective, especially compared the to the angst driven original.

The first two tracks and You & Me (why is this even on the album?) feel horribly out of place. Well, Wake me up works because it's nice opener for the album, but the anime feel of Song 4 u doesn't flow well at all. I also feel like Missing, SAKURA, Melody together is a really bad choice, especially after the two upbeat opening tracks. They're all nice songs, but they do feel like one big song together. As for Sweet Scar, eh, I don't really like it.

I like bye-bye darling, it would be nice if she performed this live in an acoustic encore set or something. There's something nice and refreshing about it. Petal is a nice, but it does feel like the light mid-tempo soft version of tracks like Marionette, which is a bit disappointing. I feel like she did rock for too long, but I think it would have worked here, especially as the album is getting slightly (I hate to say it) tedious by this point.

Gloria should have closed the album - Ivy before it, and no You & Me. Either missing or melody should have been cut, my vote goes for missing staying.

The interludes... oh dear, they just don't work. At all.

I give it, eh, 6/10 maybe, maybe? My favourites are Bye-bye darling, Ivy and Wake me up.

I listened to it a couple of times.
All I can say is that I'm totally unimpressed. This album is full of nice ballads that almost sound the same. She seems to use the same oooold recipe again and again. This album doesn't give me something new, something to look for. I don't even feel the need to listen to it once again, like I'm already bored by the full thing.
It has been compared to Love songs a lot. Love songs was more diverse and inventive. All the tracks were quite different from each other. It is not the case here.
I will only keep Bye Bye darling/Wake me up/Missing/petal/Sweet scar in mind.
Wake up wake up ayu.

loving it so far.
My only REAL problem is the complete uselessness that is Melody and the somewhat boring untitled.

I quite enjoy it <3

Not among my top favorites, but definitely not among my least favorites as well. It's somewhere in the middle, alongside with those albuns that I love to listen to the songs randomly, but not as a whole album.

I really like the new songs, specially Bye-bye darling, petal and Gloria, and I already loved the singles' mini-albums' ones, so I'm happy ^^ (I didn't really care for these new interludes though D: )

After all, Ayu already gave me two full albuns in a row that went directly top my top 4 with Love songs and Party Queen, I don't expect all her releases to do that... As long as the songs are nice (and for me all songs in LOVE again are, except for the interludes), I'm happy with it :)

It's all good
The midtempos drag a bit
The interludes are REALLY great
8.5/10

indeed ;)

I can say that I'm in love with this album.
9/10

I think I'm gonna take the songs I like and create a new playlist/album in my iPod: LOVE songs: again. or LOVE (songs) again

I do agree they sound very similar. To the point where when one is stuck in my head and before I know it I'm singing parts of another song off the album! (SAKURA and Gloria and Ivy)

My favorite is Gloria and it sucks because that's the one preview I listened to (back when that clip surfaced at CDL). I usually allow myself one preview from the album, and the least exciting one at that as to set the bar low. When I heard the Gloria clip, I thought "well this sounds quite nice! A sweet little listen. If that's how basic the album will get and there's better, I will be happy!" But Gloria ended up being the best new track...

I also agree this album sounds pretty basic as far as arrangement goes (as FL Studio was mentioned and Garage Band).

Honestly, it is quite different than Love songs... but it's the most likely contender to use as comparison. There are similarities. And really, LOVE again is what Love songs would have sounded like if it wasn't very good... So to revisit that formula, and lower the standard while doing so, is quite a mistake.

I really don't get the love for petal. It has so many similarities to Pride and Marionette, although both previously released songs are MUCH better... Ayu has done similar songs in the past, yet made them completely different (winter ballads for example; No way to say, momentum, Days) and people complain then about "recycling" and honestly petal offers NOTHING new and sounds piss poor compared to the previously released songs it is trying to imitate.

I really LOVE this album!!!!!
All songs are so great!!!!!!!!!!!! I enjoy every single song form minis, and all new songs are amazing esp petal, Bye-bye Darling and SAKURA. Her voice is better than previous releases as well. This album is one of her best relreses in my opinion.

However I don't satisfied with PVs this time......maro appears here 3 times, the concepts of some PVs are kind of boring......
And if LOVE and again two minis can be released as singles, this promotion will be better.

Overall 9/10

Good lord. This album is incredibly boring and bland. It now ranks as my second least favorite album Ayu has ever released (the worst being A Song for XX).

Albums/mini-albums I don't care for:
-A Song for XX
-LOVE again
-FIVE
-RAINBOW
-Rock'n'Roll Circus

uuuugggh this album is so FRUSTRATING! The melodies are really, really nice, but the arrangements & mixing are such a disaster! Bland, bland, bland!! This could have been a really fantastic, reflective, dark & melancholy-but-optimistic album - EXACTLY what Ayu is usually best at - but the arrangements are so flat and lazy and do the melodies no justice at all.

I just wanna hear remakes of nearly every track. The stuff on "again" was great, leave that alone, but pretty much everything else needs SERIOUS updating. :(

yeah dis

I feel like her vocals are mixed way too loud on the album tracks :\

I had to delete "Melody" for my playlist, so basically the album now consists of 14 tracks instead of 15. As for "Melody", it's like "BALLAD", "meaning of Love", "beloved", "how beautiful you are" and the like; I simply do not need these songs :D

After my small modification, I must say, that's a beautiful album to listen to!

I blame Yuta Nakano's arrangements for the blandness of this album. Ballads are his weakest point 9 times out of 10 and he arranged every single ballad on here. She needs to keep him on the weird/innovative tracks and get others to do her ballads because his arrangements just aren't cutting it anymore.

OMG! I used to think BALLAD was bland, but not too long ago I was utterly obsessed! It's so gorgeous and all the details. I just adore when the music gets all calm before the last chorus and when the piano just accompanies Ayu's voice, and there's that part where the piano stops and it's silent and then Ayu starts back in and then the piano follows. I live for that part!

Back to LOVE again though, and Gloria: I love the song, it is my favorite as mentioned. Someone brought up how it has an "optimistic" feeling to it and that's exactly it! It gives off the feeling of "despite this, I will try with all my might to be happy. I know there are things I cannot control but I will walk forward with a smile" during the chorus. I have never gotten this feeling of "optimism" from an Ayu song before and that's why it sounds the most fresh out of the album tracks. However, her voice in the verses is horrid. If I hadn't known what the chorus sounded like before-hand thanks to that preview I would have been thinking "wtf is this crap" during the first verse. Her voice sounds really great when she can belt it out, but it seems so hoarse now-a-days when she tries to sing softer.

SAKURA gives me the same feelings that I got from all her new classics... I got chills omg.

It's not terrible by far, but I just don't enjoy it. Best way to describe it is just... boring. Nothing sticks out, with the exception of Wake me up.

so very bland

Finished listening!

Such a perfect album. Just what I needed right now, something soft, gentle, tender but still very powerful. It's just so beautiful. Thanks ayu.

I LOVE IT!! Such a mellow and tender album. Nothing new, but that doesn't mean it's worse for that. It's cohesive and round. I took out You & Me and left it in A SUMMER BEST since Ivy it's the perfect ending for it.

The album is nice. Though it isn't something I would listen to over & over.
But I want an extended version of glasses. I really like it hahaha

After many listens my opinion hasn't really changed. Maybe because I didn't really listen to the mini albums? I mean, I had Ivy on repeat when again came out but that's about it :P

I still love this album, though. The onslaught of ballads doesnt bother me in the slightest as I've always preferred them as opposed to her more up tempo songs. Missing, SAKURA, Sweet scar, petal, untitled for her 2, Gloria and Ivy = I could listen to on repeat all freakin' day! I adore the melodies and I can't wait to read the translations :). And as someone mentioned earlier, untitled for her 2's melody DOES sound extremely similar to Tears by X Japan. I knew it sounded familiar the minute I heard the chorus.

The up tempo tracks are good. Wake me up and Bye-bye darling are addictive as hell. snowy kiss has amazing build up verses that lead to slightly disappointing choruses and a minute or two could have been knocked from it. And You & Me ruins what could have been a perfect ending with Ivy :P

This is definitely in my top 3 Ayu albums of all time.

not 2013-ish but I like it.

For me, untitled for her... story 2 is a message not a song. it's dramatic but it will not grow on me.

it's so hard to say this, but I can't distinguish one song from another

I love the whole album..everything sounds so perfect..
love all the ballads <333 especially SAKURA sounds amazing =))
Bye Bye Darling sounds very refreshing ~

Wishing for something more experimental too...otherwise I think I could get so bored I will definitively stop listening

as predicted by the previews, and having listened to the full thing yesterday, I have to say that the only good and kind of powerful tracks are the ones from minis

+ I like petal a lot

I don't like Gloria or Untitled 2, SAKURA seemed quite annoying for me. Bye-bye darling sounds too outdated and like a track off A Song for XX lol

I should say as compared to PQ, the album flow is really good and it creates some nice atmosphere. On the whole, it's not annoying like PQ and is definately better

but taking into consideration the competition we have and modern technology, the album is completely non-innovative and outdated. the melodies are nice,but not outstanding

I didn't expect much from it and I was right.

no way we should compare it to Love songs or label it Love songs pt.II. completly untrue

Love songs is much better. music material is much more interesting and pretty.

the public is pretty demanding, idk if it wants some release which uses the old techniques and everything over and over

it is okay for Ayu to be back to her roots, and I'm happy about it,yet when I say back to roots I really wish to have some epic songs followed by PVs plus some conceptual photoshoots with Ayu looking fantastic and actual mature woman with the least photoshop possible

I finished listening to it a few minutes ago.

I have to say, she's really outdone herself this time. Best album since GUILTY for me. That's a big call, I know, but I thoroughly enjoyed this album.
I felt like I knew where she was going with it. It feels like a completed piece of art. My primary qualm with Ayu albums released in the last five-six years is that they sound like a Grade Eight's Home Ec project: completely random, made with all sorts of different fabrics, and overall coming together as one huge mess. Some songs of the past few years have even sounded incomplete.

To me, LOVE again:
Cohesive, but integrating various sounds.
Vocals are above average, and when you hear a phrase that is sung brilliant, it is delightful. She's really playing to her vocal strengths.
Lyrics are heart-felt, and although she has recycled the usual themes, they just seem...fresh? Like grapes picked straight from the vine?

The only negative I have is that some of the ballads drag on a bit and some vocals (such as that on petal and Gloria's verses) seem slightly awkward (but I correlate this to the arrangement of the songs). But aside from that, this album is nearly flawless.

This is what I needed from Ayu. An album that doesn't sound like a conventional (despite similar sounds from the past appearing) Ayu album, yet could only be made by her.

i like how u changed your opinion from "I don't even want to re-listen to them. :/" to "This is what I needed from Ayu" .. honestly, i do :)

^ Nothing a bit of heavy rotation cannot fix. ;)

Saying that though, that is definitely another point:

Songs on this album really have to be listened to together. When I heard them individually, I just felt a bit 'meh' about them. They were like any other Ayu songs. Together, they just create this amazing story? All these perspectives of a relationship together, all different, yet about the same subject? And it's not just the lyrics, it's the actual composition/arrangements themselves.

It's very similar to what I feel she achieved with albums back in her hey day. She stuck to a topic, and created brilliance.

Together they're just...I don't know. Magical sounds a bit cliche, but I'll use that word I guess. :D

It sounds like "Love songs part 2" to me and that's not a good thing since I didn't like Love songs... It's not terrible, I just think it's boring.
It's too homogeneous, there are too much ballads / mid-tempo tracks, some songs sound dated and I don't like Nakano's bland arrangements.

On a positive note, I like "SAKURA" the most and the lyrics of "untitled for her 2" are really touching. I also enjoy "Melody" better in the album than in the mini.

I need fierce Ayu to come back as soon as possible!

Untitled for her.. Story 2 the more i listen to it, the more im obsessed with it.. So simple yet very sad, i feel like i wanna cry.. I can feel her sadness in this song.. Omg

I finally heard the album. After so many comments about being bland and stuff I seriously expected something dull like MY STORY. LOVE again explained what the music is about. Its emotional, her vocals are one of the best ever, melodies haunt you and never let you be the same again. I cried like a baby. Ayu why are you doing this to us. Its flawless. and honestly, uncomparable, I cant compare it to anythin' she's done in the past.

I really like that album.
My favourit songs are Ivy and SAKURA. So greate songs.
But I also really like the others to.

OMG, what is wrong with you!? Lol.

LOVE again wishes it had power-house tracks like my name's WOMEN, GAME, About You and actually interesting and beautiful ballads like walking proud, CAROLS and something innovative like HAPPY ENDING.

:no

the more I listen to SAKURA the more hopeless it all gets, lol.. I dont think thats what the message is (i really want lyrics)
but it just sounds like something she wants is just right there... but not able to reach it. will never be able to reach it... sadness.

I didn't listened to this album from the first song to the last but in a random order.I will comment only the new songs:
Sakura - not really my favourite but I really like her "aaaa" in the middle section
petal - haunting vibe similar to the one on GUILTY but somehow it's a lot more refreshing,I think it's a highlight on the album.One of my favourites.
Gloria - I like the circus sounds (very refreshing;reminds me of how I thought it would sound Rock'n'Roll Circus).Another good song
Bye Bye Darling - I like the energy of this song and the verses (very good to listen to it when I'm in the car or when I'm running)but it's a bit repetitive
Untitled 2 - Very emotional this song.I didn't expected to be like this but I like how it turned to be.
Glassed - love this interlude.Wish it were a full song.Bittersweet feeling
task'n'bass - I like a lot the introduction and the ending.Reminds me of Until That Day.. a bit.
I like a lot the new songs (Sakura it's a bit boring but in time you'll never know) and almost all of the songs gave me a bittersweet & healing vibe (similar to Duty & Rainbow but refreshing in it's own way).
P.s:I also noticed a change in her voice :)I think it sounds better.

I'm kind of obsessed with bye-bye darling. I love the intro...tasuku is awesome. I just wish the lyrics were more powerful, but whatever. Gloria definitely sounds like RED LINE ~for TA~ mixed with The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Something". I really love both of those songs, so that's okay. No one would compare this album to Love songs if the word "love" weren't in the title. If anything it's a lot closer to LOVEppears (and not just because of the title). Melody even has TO BE vibes...even the music video does! hehe

Except LOVEppears was pretty much entirely electronic and the most electronic that LOVE again gets is Wake me up and the interludes... LOVE again and Love songs both have a lot of strings, lots of piano, tinted album cover shoots, give off a mellow essence, etc.

I after LOVE again on my iPod when playing by artist, LOVEppears starts in and I was listening to it yesterday and feeling pretty depressed thinking "I miss this Ayu..." Honestly that has to be the most absurd comparison I have ever heard in my life, lol. LOVEppears is was pure modern pop at the time, and extremely catchy. LOVE again on the other hand... it is anything but modern. LOVEppears sounds more modern today than LOVE again does and it's over 10 years old!

:shakehead

Sometimes you have to think a little deeper than the music, which is just one element of the whole. It's no fun to be small-minded :innocent. The subject matter lyric-wise is a lot closer to LOVEppears than Love songs. A few of the songs even sound like continuations of songs from LOVEppears. I most definitely prefer LOVEppears to LOVE again, but that doesn't mean they can't be similar in several ways. No absurdity detected.

Yay, it's time to revisit all of ayu's albums and rank them in order of preference again! Am only including full length studio albums, dis-counting minis.

1. Duty
2. Loveppears
3. My Story
4. I am...
5. Secret
6. Rainbow
7. a song for XX
8. LOVE again
9. Party Queen
10. (miss)understood
11. Rock'n'roll Circus
12. GUILTY
13. Love songs
14. Next Level

Ranks 1 to 10 are super tight since there aren't any album that I really "dislike" or with any weaknesses that bother me overly (or if there are they are really small ones).

Ranks 11-14 are definitely the overall weakest albums for me, albums with tracks that I consistently skip/wish were never made (e.g. You were..., GUILTY, Last angel, November, Energize, etc etc). These were generally albums that had weak track cohesion (i.e. the tracks just sound randomly thrown together), and the songs themselves weren't strong enough for it to be a listenable enough "best of" sort of record either.

Ranking the new tracks in order of preference; this is a no brainer, except for GLORIA, who I now REALLY like after listening to the whole thing. The preview really didn't do it justice.

1. Bye Bye Darling
2. Petal
3. untitled for her...Story 2
4. GLORIA
5. SAKURA

RIGHT NOW i think i like it a lot !!!
The best songs are the ones from the mini-albums

I really love this album. Probably my favorite album from her.
The only problem I have with this album is that almost all of the tracks sound the same.
It's a great album tbh...
Her vocals are great compared to her NEXT LEVEL to Party Queen era...
Though the album's theme is LOVE again... The songs are... glaringly painful...

i like this album and get a similar vibe as Love Songs probably because none of the tracks stand out in these 2 albums.

I could say the same thing. definitely her best since GUILTY for me too. I rarely put forth such statements but this album really got me thinking.
Yes she has amazing songs since that but most songs in the albums really died on me. THIS album has that timeless J-Pop classic sound. It's really beautiful :)

it's nice. that's all i got though.

i mean, there's nothing truly bad i can say about it. well...she included "You & Me," lol. however, i don't really feel anything for it? it's typical ayumi to me. i like her stuff, but how can i be excited over the same old material? there's usually 1 or 2 real stand-out songs on her more recent albums, but this one doesn't really have one to me.

i do like the new album tracks, esp. "Bye-bye darling" and "petal." but i don't expect to spin this album a whole lot.

i honestly dont think she can do any album(s) that are worst than Party Queen

I suppose it's nice. Nothing special imo. I absolutely love petal, amazing song.

Mini album tracks are great but the rest of the record is a yawn-fest. :\

At one point I thought, "OMG just get me LOVEppears!" and that made me feel weird. I've NEVER felt like that about an ayu album. Maybe the songs will grow on me. Or maybe everyone will just have that one album they don't completely care for. Hmph...doesn't mean I'm not gonna spend $150 to get all versions of the album lol

:irked

Well you can't honestly think that the only think Love songs and LOVE again have in common is the word "Love" in the title (No one would compare this album to Love songs if the word "love" weren't in the title.). Yes lyrics are part of the music, but that is just the fore-front. Whereas the music itself has many layers. Well, Love songs does but LOVE again certainly does not. I was listening to the album-only tracks today and they just sound so FLAT! So amatuer-ly produced, sounds like something from fruity loops. I listened to the whole LOVEppears album after that and was almost crying at how lush and detailed that sound was.

Wow we must be listening to very different albums. I can't understand how someone can hate on LOVE again because of its production but love Love songs when the latter has some of the cheapest, most dated sounding arrangements.

Love songs does have a more dated sound, I agree. But it was not as "flat" - there is a lot going on in those songs, despite the library they pulled the instruments from to use for arrangement. There really is not a lot going on in LOVE again.

November and Last angel? Like a doll? Though to be fair the great songs on here were Really Great (crossroad for example is better than most of the songs on LOVE again for me).

And I really disagree that LOVE again is flat. Wake me up, Missing, song 4 u, Bye Bye Darling, Sakura all had Great arrangements, I urge you to listen to a better quality version on earphones again. I'd venture as much as to say that this is a lot coming from me because I HATED song 4 u when the preview first came out last year, cos I thought it sounded like a generic anime song, but the arrangement is really gorgeous.

When I speak of the album come release time I am strictly speaking about the new songs. I love Wake me up, and I really enjoy Missing. Bye-bye darling has a great arrangement. Sakura is pretty simple so nothing to brag about there. But petal is just horrible. It sounds like a cut & paste synthesizer.

And November is flawless. There are SO MANY layers to that song, every time I listen to it I focus on something different. If you try to look behind Ayu's voice and the main melody, there is some GORGEOUS string work going on there! It's genius.

The vocal harmonies on Sakura (and snowy kiss as well, for that matter) are gorgeous!

I guess we prioritise different things then, because I can't just "look behind the main melody" - for me that's 50% of the whole song, if the writing is bad, it doesn't matter if you have 3 million instruments in there unless you're Bjork and the whole point of your music is to use different sounds to create a tapestry; Ayu's music clearly operates on a different level, as is most pop music. The hooks matter, and the melody (also, cheap drum machines - which to be fair she uses in most of her songs, but they sound ESPECIALLY emphasised in November) just makes it a bad song for me.

EDIT:

I couldn't find a good way to say this earlier but I think I know what it is that bothers me about Love songs - while there was some attempt to use different sounds, for the most part the arrangements and production didn't fit the songs. To use Last angel as an example - the main chorus hook is great, but the cheap synthy sound does it no favours, and the way the verses are so slow and low just sucks all the energy out of the song. In contrast to snowy kiss, and the way the synths works with the percussion, and the way the strings come in during the bridge, it's just so thrilling to listen to. If Last angel came on during a concert (like for that CDL) I'd be fiddling my thumbs, but if snowy kiss came on, I'd be so pumped.

And - THAT GUITAR SOLO IN GLORIA!!

There gotta be something wrong with you if you think petal is a horrible song wtf

I have to agree that petal sounded a bit off for me. It has a great and catchy melody for sure, but the arrangement is missing that "oomph". Nonetheless, it's still a good song and it's still stuck in my head

I'm kind of disappointed with SAKURA. I feel that the song has a potential to be like HEAVEN part II from the previews, but it didn't. I feel that the verse + bridge is to short and because of that I don't feel the "build up" for the song. The song has a lovely verse, a lovely bridge and an exciting chorus, but the flow is just not right for me... I'd prefer it to be verse 1 - bridge - interlude - verse 2 - bridge - chorus - the aaa... part and lalala - end. I'd love to re-arrange that song someday...

GLORIA was unexpected, I really like the verses and the uplifting lyrics
Bye bye darling was catchy as hell, loved it. Now I think this song has a quality arrangement and production.
untitled for her...story 2 was okay. the build up was there but I was hoping for a louder guitar riff sound in the last chorus. I still prefer the 1st untitled for her.

The new tracks have great potentials but they're still missing that grandness I'm looking for in the songs. The mini albums (singles) sure did raise the bar of my expectation for this album, but of course, the best songs are usually the ones they put on the singles right? I was just hoping to find another Microphone, SURREAL or Love Song as an album track.

However, as a whole, the tracks have a nice flow and there's not a song that I've skipped (unlike Love Songs where I always skip Thank U, Sweet Season and the interludes). I'm going to be listening to this album on repeat for awhile I guess :)

I'll rate this album 7.5/10 mostly for it's cohesiveness and all like-able tracks (no annoying tracks like Thank U / most of the tracks in party queen). Duty is my fave album and that one is 9/10.

You're completely focused on the sound, which is why I consider you to be small-minded in this case. My reasoning for finding similarities between LOVEppears and LOVE again is that the lyrics of several songs are quite similar. Love songs was lyrically linear while LOVEppears and LOVE again are not so homogeneous. I must say that in terms of similarities to Love songs this new album has a similar booklet, but I still find more similarities with LOVEppears. The lyrics are not just the forefront. I don't get how you think that lyrics do not have many layers like the music does. Seems to me that you hardly care about the lyrics, which is strange since ayu's biggest draw is the honesty and insight in her lyrics. If all you care about is the music, then listen to Melody and TO BE and tell me they're not similar in several ways.

it is true to me that LOVE again is not like Love songs, people might think it so because the booklets are kinda the same and they're both filled with acoustic sound and ballads
Love songs still seem much much better for me

This is my favoiurite album so far, it's even outdone GUILTY and R'nRC to me.

Wake me up, Song 4 u, Missing, snowy kiss & Sweet scar - nothing to say, superb.
Melody & Ivy I liked much from the beginning.
task'n'bass & glasses - never awaited much from the interludes, but c'mon, they're really fine. Found their place in my playlist.
SAKURA - man, it's such an epic and grand ballad!
Bye-bye darling - already told my opinion about this song, it still makes me crazy.
petal & Gloria don't bring me to chills as SAKURA does, but I enjoy them nevertheless.
untitled for her...story 2 - awesome, but it has nothing to do with entertainment, it's the very personal and private message which I totally understand.
You&Me - though it's my least favourite track from the whole album (especially in comparison to other songs), I never skip it.

The only thing that upsets me about this release are PVs - I totally love only Song 4 u and Sweet scar, others are boring to death imo (well, Melody PV is nice, but it still lacks a piece of dinamics).

This is the first ayu album (really, the FIRST and only one) I listen to without skipping a single track.

After reading your posts, guys, I became happy that I don't have any music education and that I'm totally musically deaf - thanks to that I can listen to music with my heart and not with my mind. Thanks to that I'm able to feel the full spectre of emotions without expertising (what for r you doing that?) the musical quality of every released song.

LOVE again is a masterpiece for me.

It's definitely my favourite album since "Love songs", yet there are no songs that are outstanding or make me say: "Wow, I'll listen to this song for a week straight!"

But yeah, the new album is A LOT better than "Party Queen", but the songs don't touch me in the way Ayu's older songs do.

It's the first album she's ever released, on which not a single track has received a 5-star rating in my Itunes library. I think it's nor good or bad, with not one track that I simply can't listen to, but neither anything I can't stop listening to. I was pleasantly surprised, however, by how upbeat the album actually is - the tracks may all have a ballad-y feel to them, but quite a few of the songs are upbeat and in fact, very catchy. Catchy doesn't neccassarily equal good, but there are a few tracks I feel stand out: Missing and snowy kiss, and also Bye-bye Darling (that really has a feel to it of old school, beat-up Ayu to it)

I far from dislike it, but it's nowhere near on my top Ayu albums either. It would have been a solid release, had not many of these songs been previously released on a mini-album. 5/10.

i think we have the same taste HAHAHA! the only albums i compared this to were GUILTY and RnRC too. :yes

I do not understand Japanese, so the main draw for me to listen to Ayu, as well as any other foreign artist, is the sound. If I'm in the car and want to listen to a song, I'm not going to recall specific lyrical translations and think "well I don't know exactly where she's saying it but in general I know she's speaking of in this song so I'll listen to it." I listen to the music, and treat her voice as an instrument. For example, take Sending mail... there is HEAVY emotion in that song. The way the music is composed and arranged during certain parts of the song, I knew the emotions she was trying to convey prior to reading the lyrics, and after reading the lyrics, it just increased my love for the song.

Ittai itsu made ittai doko made
Tsuyosa o mote tara

Anata no soba de tada anata no soba ni ite
Waratte irareru yurusareru nee
Sonna hi ga kuru no?

This part is full of hope. It's a depressing kind of hope, where you can feel she is in pain, but still holds onto the hope that one day, things will change.

Tsukiakari ga yasashiku tsutsumu
Konna yoru demo samishisa kakuse nai

Then this part, immediately after the chorus, is filled with hopelessness. The way the music is constructed makes you feel as if everything is lost. That no matter how hard she tries, she cannot "hide her loneliness".

So if a song is poorly constructed, and just a bore to listen to, but has amazing lyrics that I can not connect with WHILE listening to the song due to language barriers, why the Hell would I choose to listen to that song just because I know the lyrical translation is very good?

You are saying I am small minded because I am focused on the music, but sounds to me you are just as small minded focusing on the lyrics. Lyrics can enhance a track, but they certainly do not make one. Honestly, you are out of line calling me 'small-minded', as when I go about listening to Ayu's music, specifically her more intricate songs, I literally feel as if my mind is expanding while I try and pick apart the layers and focus on different instrumentations in the music each and every time I listen.

I love that this is a very cohesive album with strong single mini-album tracks, and flows very well.

My favourite section is from task'n'bass to glasses. While I do appreciate the other new ballads (SAKURA, Gloria, untitled), her voice is a bit too screechy on the iiii or ahhh notes in those tracks. However, I do love the slight variation of how she starts the last chorus in SAKURA (~3:14) on the ahhh. Small detail, but so effective.

Still love Ivy.

Melody is still a bore.

Blech You&Me.

Wake me up to Missing is awesome, but I've over-listened these tracks so they're not as fresh at the moment.

I'm happy with this album. :yes

My 5th favorite album from her, behind Love songs, Party Queen, (miss)understood and RAINBOW. ^^

That would be my ranking of all her studio albums:

1. Rainbow
2. My Story
3. I am...
4. (miss)understood
5. Secret
6. Party Queen
7. LOVE again
8. Duty
9. GUILTY
10. Love songs
11. Next Level
12. Loveppears
13. Rock'n'roll Circus
14. a song for XX

A lot of people compare it to Love songs. I feel that the production in Party queen, FIVE and LOVE again is better than Love songs.

true, i always skip crossroad, moon, like a doll, and blossom whenever i listen to love songs. its just not as good as LOVE again

6 out of 10 stars...

First listen of the album, impressions are not good. There's nothing wrong with the songs themselves, I love most of the mini-album tracks, but in the context of an album it just doesn't work. I struggled to get through my first listen, and that has NEVER happened with any of her albums before.

She's played it too safe here. I'm all for nostalgia songs to celebrate her anniversary but not 13 of them. It's grating to listen to song after song of the same boring pop/rock arrangements. There's so little variety - she fails to push the envelope even a little. The interludes are actually the most exciting tracks on here.

Hopefully this will grow on me with more listens. But wow, I have never had such a negative first reaction to an Ayu album before. It's pretty scary.

The singles on the album are almost flawless, still think Melody, Sweet scar are boring. The BEST song have to be Wake me up, Song 4 u, Missing, snowy kiss, Ivy, both interlude are Amazing ♥ task'n'bass & glasses ♥. All the new tracks are boring; I can't even remember how each song goes. You & Me is alright, I'll listen to it when summer comes, lol. Overall I'll give the album 6/10.

Few more listens, I'm loving bye-bye darling. Matches the quality of the mini-album tracks. But the other new full songs still aren't doing anything for me. petal is so disappointing, after reading the comments here I was expecting another Marionette or something. It had potential, but the arrangement stinks.

Untitled for her story 2 is nice, but has absolutely nothing on the original.

I think I'd be a lot more impressed with this release if the songs were all new like Party Queen. I hope she releases albums with entire new material in the future, so much better that way.

I agree with the people that says the best songs come from the mini's, overall i like the new tracks but they come off as not memorable to me. The same situation i had with the Party Queen album tracks.

Bye Bye Darling is the only song that grabs me, and the interludes are killer! The best she's had since Next Level, i would've been all over Task 'n' Bass had it been a full song. That beat is SO HOT!

I do like Untitled and Sakura, there pretty. But i don't see myself listening to them repeatedly or often. I'm usually all over Ayu's album's when there released but i feel like i don't really have interest in this one sadly.

However, i'm still in love with all the songs from the mini's (maybe except for Ivy, but i like Melody now) and they still, together make a very strong release. And that's one of the things i said when the album was annouced, that i wouldn't mind if the new songs were mediocre cause i was very pleased with that we got so far. Song 4 U ranks up as one of my favourite songs already.

If i had to give it a score, and rank it altogether. I'd give it a solid 6/10, which is a little better than Party Queen. But i hope her next album will be as great as the one's before, and hopefully it won't be as mellow.

Tracks i love
Song 4 U
Missing
Snowy Kiss
Sweet Scar
Wake Me Up
Task'n'Bass

Like
Untitled... Story 2
SAKURA
Melody
Bye Bye Darling
Ivy

Meh
Petal
Glasses
Gloria

I put my ramblings in...there...
um. 7/10. It's not bad. Probably a nice fit for Japan and whatever...is happening in her life and whatever. Good for her. Being all...uplifted and all. It does feel really heartfelt and warm, and I'm happy for that. I think people will like it a lot for that.

I won't be listening to any of it much though. I do think it's cohesive. Somehow, idk.

And they need some new ******* ****ing arrangers. So basic and generic at times.

Composition people owned this album. I just don't understand why it's so hard for them to get a nice balance as they used to. It seems like a lot of her recent albums it's like, you either get one or the other, and they just don't...mesh. It just makes the songs that much more boring and they're already medium tempo...

tasuku > Yuta though. You need to go home son.

So whatever. Best songs were Wake Me Up and Snowy Kiss for me. And the interludes. Which kinda means that it's a giant meh for me for the album.

At least it's not completely awful, which I do dread. And you guys are right. As much as I can appreciate Love Songs, the production was ****. It's much, much better here, even if I don't care for it.

Basically I find this album quite average. I have none of the new songs on constant repeat which is kinda a shame, there's usually at least ~one~ new song from her albums I have on heavy rotation. Like what emi said I do like that it at least feels heartfelt and warm. Had again not been released it probably would have ranked higher, I'm just really disappointed with the new songs.

It falls into the lower tier of my album ranks

These albums belong in a museum :luv2
- Duty
-LOVEppears
- I am...
- (miss)understood

Amazing
- Rainbow
- Secret
- Memorial Address

Good
- ASFXX
- NEXT LEVEL

ummm
- LOVE again
- GUILTY
- Party queen
- Love songs
- MY STORY

stop
- FIVE
- RnR Circus

I never said that I'm completely focused on the lyrics. That really would be small-minded of me. I just got the sense that you don't care about the lyrics, which I think are just as important as the music, not just the forefront as you yourself put it. I think it's great that you get so much enjoyment out of the music, but it seems to me that you're using your lack of understanding for Japanese to sort of dismiss the lyrics. But whatever. I'm trying not to judge you anymore as we obviously can't see eye-to-eye on this, lol.

I definitely do like the album.

First 3 mini album (single?) tracks are amazing, then SAKURA and Melody come in, and they are less amazing but very nice to listen to nevertheless. Then follows my favorite part of the album with task'n'bass, Bye-bye darling and snowy kiss. I loved the fact that all these 3 track were together because they just work so well. petal I do like. It's a better track than SAKURA, Melody, untitled for her 2, You & Me and even Ivy. glasses is too amazing for words. untitled for her 2 is ok but a bit boring, same goes for Gloria (which is a tad better) and Ivy. You & Me shouldn't even exist in her discography, even though I do admit the classical version sounds a bit nice.

It's nothing special or extraordinary, this album. However it is a pleasant listen, even though I'm not still sure where would I place it in my favorite - worst list of her albums.

Solid effort.

I get a meh feeling with this album. I found the new songs as a whole disappointing and prefer the mini album tracks by far (though I can't stand Melody at all).

For the new songs, the only songs I really like is Bye-bye darling and glasses (and petal to a lesser extent). I was sorta excited for gloria but found the song disappointing, I only really like the chorus. Task 'n' bass I don't care for either, but then again I don't care for tasuku interludes to begin with (I think the only one I like is taskinillusion).

SAKURA and untitled 2 are just awful. They make Melody sound amazing.

So yeah...not all too impressed with this album. Then again, I like it a lot more than Party Queen.

This falls near the bottom of my personal album ranking (like everything else she's put out after NEXT LEVEL):

-RAINBOW
-GUILTY
-Memorial address
-Secret
-NEXT LEVEL
-MY STORY
-I am...
-(miss)understood
-Duty
-FIVE
-Love songs
-LOVE again
-LOVEppeears
-Rock 'n' Roll Circus
-Party Queen
-A Song for xx

I really don't know why people in general, have such a bad concept of ballads. Everyone loves a few, but if an album has 4 or more ballads (any artist) they are called boring or dull. However, if the album is made up of only upbeat tracks, everyone thinks it's the best thing ever. I understand everyone has a preference, but it seems people have maligned ballads to an extreme. I love ballads, so an album full of them can only be wonderful if the quality is high.

That said, I don't think LOVE again is that boring, I see plenty of diversity. After that horrible period where I lost faith in Ayu (GUILTY through Love songs) I am so happy that since FIVEm she has been making so much good music. This album is no exception.

SAKURA, Gloria and untitled for her... story 2 are brilliant! And adding Melody to SAKURA, those are my top 2 favorites from the album. Snowy kiss is also brilliant. The whole album is so good!