'Terminal' thoughts
 

Whooooooa, darker than I initially thought. Will update later with complete impressions. Discuss!

I love it, at first I was like it's so club-like but then it got dark even with the thumping repetitive beats. And the end was abrupt and haunting. I imagine she can use the track for opening / interlude with epic video next time

Omg..I love it so much! Hands down! Best song from the entire album! So haunting and touching~!! And it's the most different style! I mean...only one part with ayu's singing..this is different!

just...horrible ! :( I love trance music, but armin van buuren latest productions are very bad. Very disapointed by this title... :(

I like the climax but the song is way too long. Sounds more like a remix than an original song.
But i like it :-)

I will love this song if not so long..

Who can make shorter version?

I expected more, but I think I still like it. it's so dark. I think it fits more winter than summer.

I'm gonna quote myself lol

I bet there'll be a sharp divide of opinion between hardcore fans of the trance genre vs. ayu fans who don't follow the trance movement, but enjoy the genre occasionally :laugh

I'm a casual fan of Trance and I love it! :laugh
I already said it, but I'm just soooo glad Armin van Buuren and Ayu decided to let it be full Trance and not a watered down version to please the general audience.
Also, from all the new songs, her vocals sound with the best here.

That beat... Pure epicness. And personally I'm glad it's that long, it doesn't seem like it really is, and I had to check again, because I thought it's about 3 minutes long :D
I just wish her vocals could be as soft as 10-15 years ago in this song, but that's okay.

agree :yes

I love it, this is my kind !

i have to admit that if the dj will put this track in disco, i'll love this song.....and it's evident the collaboration with a famous dj
for me it had to be more short but it looks beautiful O.O
i'm so undecided T_T .. i love but also i dislike XD

I really like it! I love the lyrics. I wish she had more lines, but hey. I love how haunted this song sounds.

CAN SHE NOT SLAY THIS HARD, EXACTLY WHAT I'VE WANTED FROM HER FOR SO LONG! It's like Sparkle and Connected had a love child but it turned out evil, dark and on crack. I'm living for this beat, like seriously! AYU IS NOT KIDDING WITH THIS

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz1esj28hm1r1emlm.gif

I don't like it! Too much noise, not enough Ayu. And the noise is very generic lame remix sound.

I like it!!, it's different but good c:

THIS IS SO HARD I LOOOVE ITT!!! IF THIS CAME ON AT A CLUB ID GO CRAZY LIKE A MOTHER!! I CANT DEAL AYU <3

bye~

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...laneous/DJ.gif

I really like it! I never expected Ayu to do a song like this. It's different but very good.

It sounds like a very long interlude, but a good one, I wonder how it's performed live since there's not that much Ayu, but I bet it's gonna be awesome.

Terminal is amazing. Armin really delievered in the prdoucton of this song. I just wish there was more lyrical content to the song itself though the beggining slays and the ending was perfect. This will definetly be a hit in clubs I'm sure.

I see gifs of overwhelmed divas everywhere since I logged in. Awesome!

Anyway. I like Terminal, because it is very new for an Ayu-song. The sound is a bit heavy and I am not really into this dance/house-genre... though, I like it!

But... does this song remind anyone of another Armin track? I can't remember the song. It was a collab as far as I can remember. Please, help me out!

I think it's amazing that Ayu took the risk to make a song like this.
I'm excited to see what it'll be like when she performs it live (because I'm sure she will!). :D

I didn't know I wanted this because I didn't know Ayu had it in her but wow :love

I kind of wish there was a bit more in terms of verses and choruses but I guess because of the lack of lines it works against the music.

You are probably thinking of Brute which was Armin van Buuren and Ferry Corsten (Connected).

I wonder if it was intentional, tbh.

Listening to it for the first time in full. Goose bumps! This must be what they call perfection...

Armin... Oh, please deliver us a full armin-ayu trance album...

Terminal is going to play on loop forever! Starting NOW! ò.Ó

i love trance and dance ayu music..and this track sucks big time IMO

even the gucci-gucci val helden remix was better than this

Terminal is everything I hoped for and more! Catchy catchy!

Perfection! I especially like how this armin production still has a heavily noticeable ayu-sound in it - the kind of emotion and haunting sound that you get from ayu's ballad. Maybe it's the way she sings it: she sings it in the "old-ayu" way, with almost no vibratos, and the voice that is strong and fragile at the same time.

Good job

This is actually really new from Ayu so I applaud her for this. I'm not always exposed to such songs so I can appreciate it better because the beats and melody are really dark and beautiful. This could be a really haunting ballad HAHA. Only drawback is the lack of much lyrical content.

Ayu's voice and lyrics are awesome and from the really short preview we got I had high hopes for a dark sounding song and instead I got generic club music I can hear anywhere. :irked

I don't like it, I doesn't mean Bad, but it's repetitive and not enough ayu.
Well, just waiting for the performance on Premium Showcase, maybe it will grow on me.

It's ok. Honestly I don't see myself listening to it that much. I don't dislike it, but i thought there'd be more to it.

Yes thank you! I meant Brute.

Makes the two of us, but if it's true I wonder why.
Ferry Corsten already worked on remixes for Ayu. It might have nothing to do with anything, but maybe Armin is refering to Ferry in some way? Silly idea. Sorry, it just popped up in my head. Do not take it too serious.

that's it!

I like it. But it is too long. I thought 3 to 4 minutes

Ayu's part: "Moshimooooooooooooo~~~~~~~~" not so fond.

I love Trance. This is dark yet so "club-y". But I'm more of a Ferry Corsten fan.



Listening to Armin's "Not giving up on Love" anyway.

this is like a total mess for me, da fuq did i listen to? The chorus wouldn't even bug me but the looooooooooong ass "instrumental" intro in between the verses....you need to be high on something, well... i would need to, to not fall asleep. xD It sounds like a remix of an amateur rather than an actual ORIGINAL SONG. It could have been a good song. But it makes no sense to me. I can stand choruses and verses the rest is godamn awful. xD Ayu did well with vocals and lyrics, though, too bad the song sucks so much in the arangment departament. I don't really know how people listen to this kind of stuff being sober especially when it doesn't even involve vocals, something to keep your attention. It really could have been a good song. lol This one is goign to be skipped all the time for me.

If remember correctly, Did "WHATEVER" from LOVEppears had a long intro???

Reminds me too much of "Brute" by Armin & Ferry. Maybe if I had heard "Terminal" only, I'd enjoy it more, but hearing the two tracks side-by-side makes me almost cringe at how Armin couldn't have made a more unique sound. I know "Connected" was based on "The Love I Lost" but I don't think Armin thought of Ayu when he made "Brute" :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik8CUL0gnUc
(The Love I Lost)

Posted this in another thread. Super good, doesn't quite get a 10/10 for me, but it's close, one point away from an Ayu masterpiece.

Terminal 9/10
I can see why many were disappointed with this song, it does sound like a typical club / trance song, but I feel there is more to this song if you really listen to it. It is really dark in a way and the length of the instrumental parts add a loneliness to the song that is powerful and unique to me. Add lyrical translations to this mix too. I feel like this is what anguish would sound like if it could sing or be a song. This song brings me down to a level of pain. Not an Ayu masterpiece like BRILLANTE or M but it's awesome to me. I like the ambient and lengthy feel to it. This sounds like if Ayu would compose a remix for an Onitsuka Chihiro song.

I'm only a little disappointed because I thought this was the remix version?

But I guess there can still be an album version? I think a sort of "studio version" would be very pretty to listen to.

I don't think the trance itself is very unique, but the composition is dark and pretty, and Ayu's voice probably works the best here out of all the songs. It even succeeds in being somewhat pretty and powerful.

I'm happy with it. It can even get 4 stars to go on my playlist.

This song is da bomb! I love it. It doesn't matter if there was other Armin song that sounds like it, ayu fitted like a glove here!

I'm not used to this kind of music but wow... she sounded great.

I'm the weird one out and have actually really enjoyed Armin's recent works. Intense is one of my favorite albums from him and this song did not disappoint in any way shape or fun. It's the @#$%^! bomb and this song is everything I've ever wanted from Ayu.

God, this song is one of her best. This album is kind of a mess.. there's some of her best songs and also some of her worst lol. Oh well. The amazing stuff is enough to satisfy me. Nobody else in J-pop is coming out with anything THIS good :love

The more I listen to Terminal, the more I hate it. I was hoping for something along the lines of Connected, something with a deeper house sound but retaining a pop appeal. This is neither a good house or pop song, and even worse, Ayu's presence is completly overpowered.

When it comes to this type of music, vocals aren't that important. I know half the reason we listen to ayu's music is for her voice, but being someone who really loves this genre of music, it's not about the vocals this time around, it's about the music. You'd dance to this in a club, it's not the type of song you'd sit and analyze the lyrics and find the deeper meaning that we're all used to with her type of music. :P

I'm not saying that Ayu's presence in the song is completely measured by the amount that she sings. I don't feel this style of song compliments her at all and her presence (even when she sings) is pretty much non-existent. It doesn't feel like an Ayu song at all, whereas "Connected" did, even though that form of trance/house-pop was completely left of centre from her usual sounds at the time. This is one of my favourite Ayu songs, so I'm probably more critical of her attempt to re-create it.

I had my boyfriend listen to the song today because he is all over this style of music and such. He said it was decent, but that it wasn't really dynamic or went anywhere. I then got mad at him and said it was amazing. Haha.

But I do agree with him a little. It is a little one note. The most dynamic parts are when Ayu sings those haunting verses and choruses.

This song is my jam. It's such a complete turn from her other EDM-like songs and I feel the build-up is absolutely fantastic. Her vocals are so on point that it sounds like she's actually battling her conscience with her desires. And the trance adds such a depth to it. I think my only complaint is she sounds like she's forcing the "ni" part of "Kimi ni" sometimes. As if she's having difficulty getting to that note.

Anywayy, I personally adore these kinds of songs so I was a little appalled seeing all the backlash to it lol. Had she released this a few years ago though, I probably would have reacted the same; I wasn't as into EDM as I am now. IMO, this beats Connected by a long shot.

Just now I am listening to the new songs for the very first time.
Terminal is a big disappointment for me and I can't believe it will be on the album like this.
Like others said, it sounds like a bad remix of a song... so draining.

Now Lelio on the other hand, is instant love :) edm done right <3 Definitely gets more emotional response from me than terminal.
although it isn't really unique, I really love the chorus.

I think a lot of people would like the song better if they didn't hear the preview first. I don't feel like gleaning the forum, but I remember reading a few people saying they were excited when they heard the preview and then got their hopes up and disliked the full song.

I gotta say that happened to me when I heard the hals mix of Far Away in that cellphone commercial



It was so mystical and surreal sounding, and I got so excited, and then when I heard the full version I found out that part in the commercial was just a small sample of the full song and I really hated it. But oddly this time around i hated the preview for terminal and loved the full version. lol

^I had the opposite experience with Terminal: I didn't think much of the preview since it sounded like the vocal melody and arrangement didn't really mesh well... But that all changed when I heard the whole song.

Terminal is my favourite of the new songs on Colours. Ayu's voice is so perfect here, she sounds haunting in the verse and evokes desperation and longing in the chorus; I love it when she emotes so beautifully. I also really like the arrangement in the vocal sections, it works amazingly well with Ayu's voice. I'm not so wild about the arrangement in the non-vocal sections of the song, I think I would prefer hearing something calmer, more haunting, more piano-driven, like in the chorus, I feel like the song doesn’t need a pounding dance beat there. However, this arrangement choice doesn’t break the atmosphere of the song or make it unenjoyable, so I'm pretty okay with it.

Overall, Terminal is one of the most impressive, beautiful, and memorable songs on the album, a worthy addition to Ayu's catalogue.

Yeah, the full remix was definitely more drum heavy than the commercial would lead you to believe. To be fair, which version of it did you hear though? There are two completely different mixes of this remix, and the only hint that they're different is the capital S in "HAL'S MIX 2000" on ayu-mi-x II and the lowercase s on the Far away single. The Far away single version (4:37 long) is the version closer to the commercial, and it's more filled-in sounding. The ayu-mi-x II version (4:13 long) is more like a demo or proof of concept, or like a dub mix sorta. The version on the Far away single is, I guess, the final version, and it's an actual remix of the full song and DOES sound a bit prettier... but still not the mysterious version the CM alludes to.

Anyway, back on topic to Terminal... I love the track BUT it's kind of awkwardly paced. It's in this weird place between a full club mix and a radio edit, and it's like Armin tried to pack the dynamic movements of a 7:45 long mix into 5:45 rather than trimming it down to 4:00. So I both want a longer version and a shorter version of this track, if that makes sense. XD

My only real issue with the sound of it is the distortion on her vocals. They only show up when she gets into the high ranges of her voice, so it sounds like they're an accidental sound quality issue rather than on purpose. It's a bit unpleasant. Aside from that, it's great!

Terminal is truly an experience of a song IMO.

I'm totally in love with this song. The vocals, the desperation it evokes, it's awesome... and the music is perfect. I love how the music gets more powerful just before she starts to sing the 1st verse and the second chorus. This song is almost perfect (I wish it would have more lyrics).

I was thinking the same thing. :yes
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showth...69#post3081769

Not into this kind of musical style, this kind of remix-y kind of music (I don't know this genre, is it EDM, is it trance?! I'm sorry, I really don't know >_<) but I like the lyrics. I love her vocals, they sound desperate and considering the lyrics I think they fit really well.
I always enjoy when singers sound desperate, close to tears, I think it makes the songs seem a lot more emotional and honest (as weird as it sounds). I can't judge the composition at all, I don't listen to this kind of music at all. It's okay for me, but I'm skipping the beginning part most of the time because I only want to hear her voice.
I do like the song as a whole although I skip parts of it. I think it would be interesting to hear a different mix with it. Maybe a longer version of this one or an acoustic guitar one, (or anything else) I think that would be interesting :)

I love it. 10/10

I was instantly hooked on What Is Forever Love, but my favorite song now is Terminal; it has grown on me so much. Put on your headphones or earpieces for best effect :P Not to mention her voice..fits in so well with the song <3

Trance + Ayu = amazingness. Wish she had a whole album of dark, gritty trance music. She's perfect for it. It sounded powerful, and I LOVE lengthy songs.

well, i like such music, so i like Terminal. But its so long without any substantial amount of lyrics. So to me its just like a song with nice music but wasted without lyrics.

Terminal is definitely my jam since I love trance music. Watching it perfomed live felt like being in a high pumped trance event like ULTRA or smth.

Loved it the first time I heard it. Although the transition from Pray -> Terminal is awful LOL What was Ayu thinking. Also, her voice can be a little unbearable at times. But when she sings, "Kimi ni...," OMG! That part KILLS me! So beautiful! Hopefully Armin works more with her in the future.

I would like it more if it wasn't an instrumental song with a few lyrics

It's so dark I love it. Her voice sounds weird in some parts but it's still amazing.

I kept the iTunes chronology Pray → Angel → Terminal for the CD rip (MP3/FLAC) by design.

My favourite track on Colours. Hands down.

Still cannot get over the fact that it sounds more of a remix than an original song (the preview made me imagine a rather dramatic, epic, dark, Ayu-style one), but, as time passed, i started to get used to and i know like it. However, i only listen until the end of the first chorus, because after that, to me, it just gets too noise and messy.x-x

It's the best Ayu song EVER, in my opinion. \o/ I love trance so naturally I was like OMG YES when it was announced that it was Armin van Buuren working on the song, and then when I heard it in full it was a complete religious experience for me. The lyrics are amazing and her voice is SO BEAUTIFUL.