New album 'Colours' out July 2nd [II]
 

Recent updates: covers came out and all PVs are available to watch somehow. Only things that haven't been released so far are booklet shots and making-ofs. There is also a possibility for a hidden track, perhaps...

Covers


Tracklist


Composers/arrangers


Preorder links + bonuses

I enjoyed Lelio and XOXO a million times more than I enjoyed Shake it and Nanana's pvs. She looks a million times better too lol

Angel's pv is okay, I found it pretty but the end could've been better. Also, I expected shots from the ballerinas from a bit further away so you could actually see their dancing properly.

Colours is definitely a very fun release with very solid tracks and gorgeous covers :) I enjoy when ayu takes risks or tries new things, I was so bored with love songs/love again.

This will be one of my fave albums from her. She looks good! She's happy! The songs are nice!

^^Agree with you, Colours is a fun release. It's like a new breeze after LOVE again dullness for me.

The PVs are not bad they're mostly OKs or generic but it may be something that she rarely does and have already been done by other singers so it seems not as impressive, grante her older PVs are more detailed, and like truehappiness said her made in Japan PV seems to be more high quality than her overseas PV although there are some cases it's not.

FTL PV is nice, I like both versions of it
MGR PV is love! the minor thing I don't like is her acting
Lelio is generic, not bad but I don't really dig her make up and her baggy white shorts
XOXO is the same with Lelio, generic. The clothes and the overacting are big minuses for me but still bearable
Angel has been said a reminisce of Curtain Call, it's nice and her dress is gorgeous.

I was thinking maybe she should've have made PV for all songs and made this one her Beyonce album lol

ayu AYU :weep

xoxo looks like something a Real Housewife would release, which is hot in a different way I guess but like.....:shakehead

Lelio looks like 2010 with a 1500 yen budget

Angel wasn't that bad (until the end) but she looks like a sim during some parts?? The song tho, who thought that chorus was a good idea who allowed this why is this happening

I had my complains for party queen/love again but overall I still liked the albums. I feel nothing for everything from Colours rn, except some of the covers if I pretend the font doesn't exist.

As I said in the other thread I always put my expectation lower when she's filming overseas, seems like Luiz Hernandes's videos are always boring when they have more than 2-minute long :laugh
I don't know if he's the director of those, but, I think not, they're more entertainer. :D

Want to see them all in better quality to make more judgements, but I do like Angel.

Like, not love. hahaha

Yeah, I agree with above. Colours is not the album for me. Pray and Lelio are the only songs I listen to. :( (I totally even forgot about Now & 4EVA and it's stupid title. The song's good though.)

The PVs... yeah they've been disected so I'm not going there. Just gonna say someone should sit Ayu down and treat her to a viewing party of all her old PVs so she can reconnect with why people loved her.

XOXO PV =

Ayu, you must have been high on something while you were in process of this abum...it's like a huge mess, everything is, except for covers if we don't aknowledge the font on sone of them lol But whatever i'm gonna let you have some lazy fun xD

i like everything about this release except for Terminal & the low budget PVs..all the PVs look just OK... but i need something extravagant and awesome like she used to have.. why ayu whyyyyyyy......if not..it'd turn out perfect!

This is how a "selfie" music video done right:

^But first, let me take a selfie.

I'd like for everyone who said that Ayu's new PVs are just like all the other edm music videos being produced right now, to watch this please.

A video doesn't have to have some grand, deep concept to look good.

And, videos that DO have some deep concept don't just get a free pass to look crappy.

thanks for sharing.

I don't care what other edm mvs look like I want something interesting. This isn't. She set the bar too high with her pre 2011 releases...

Honestly, even if Ayu made an MV like that...people will be flipping and pissed. There'll be those who want MEANING in PVs, those who want BUDGET, those who want SOMETHING GOOD TO LOOK AT. so...bottomline: it really doesnt matter what she does anymore lol

^^sry, I think I was unclear.

That Calvin Harris video is miles ahead of hers. I saw too many comments that said that Ayu's Lelio video, and XOXO are just like other edm videos being produced, which is totally untrue.

Another good EDM music video. Imagine if this is the video for Lelio and not some crappy visual effects flying around her while she dances like a crazy woman...

I was thinking the same, she could've taken those electronic music PVs in the style of Zedd or Ellie Goulding.

And now that someone mentioned budget, I remembered when I said the 10 tracks are probably because she worked with those producers thus the PV turned out like that.

Imo she shouldn't have made any of those videos in the first place. A waste of time, money and effort.

Seriously how could someone like this become that b**** in XOXO


I could never image the artist of 'Secret', 'Will' or 'rainy day' would turn into this 2014 version. I used to cry listening to her 'Secret' back then, but now look at her, XOXO is worse than the worst joke. How could someone ever find it interesting & enjoyable?

One thing that she need to know now is...TO HIRE A NEW DIRECTOR!!!

i accepted all PV...what has been done, it's done...

but next...she really need a new director...

ALSO

GET BACK TO JAPAN FOR MAKING A PV....

i almost always dissapointed with her overseas PV

The problem with her is that she's controlling EVERYTHING... :no :no :no

She wants to do an amateur selfie mv and dressing up like a drag queen, no one dares to say no. If she wants to dance like a crazy woman in front of the camera, no one dares to tell her don't. Her staffs will tell her the video was awesome and she's awesome and there we goes... :headache

She really needs the CREATIVE director/producer to do their jobs and be creative... :eviltongu

evolution -> next level -> progress -> hello new me

As you can see, our Ayumi, she changed her style so much (the simple girl in HEAVEN, the princess in JEWEL, the queen in BRILLANTE) , but what for ? I think she did it to get higher and higher level in her career... I really dislike Ayu in XOXO PVs but her pure beauty in Merry-go-round and Angel is so wonderful, it saved my life.
Maybe, everything she's done in XOXO is suitable for the lyrics and I believe she isn't that b**** as you said.She's still ayumi who we loved because of her effort and everything I heard/read for the current tour...
Please AHS members, give her a break (as you like or not this album), wait, and enjoy her music again to the day she can't sing anymore or her hearing gets limitation

^What's so wrong with her having control? She's doing the things she wants to do even though they might not be popular...I think that's an admirable quality!
I'm not gonna pretend these PVs are amazing or works of art or anything, but if she "wants to dance like a crazy woman", I think her of all people deserve to do what she wants.

she's still a great person. yes her music image has changed. I guess she just wants to have fun right now. Literally. No more boundaries really.

Sometimes I wish to tell her, Ayu can you just sit and record acoustic music like during her Encore. It's so beautiful lol but i guess, this is just one of the many sides of ayu or Hamasaki Ayumi. Though she says she wants personal and career to be separated, I wonder if its really the case.

Girl just wants to have fun. That's all she needs now.

Yeah, why does she have to be stuck on A Song for xx-RAINBOW in order for everyone to like her? Girl just wanna have fun and doesn't want to be depressed/lonely and too promotive with an awesome promo and marketings. She wants to be laid back, perform on some arenas releasing some music and have fun. It doesn't mean everyone has to like it/her but that's how she is now. And oh how I love this music we got here (only wish we could get more lol)

I agree with the above posts.

I think at this point of her career, her fans need to realize that the Ayumi Hamasaki now is no longer the old product anymore. What we get now is so close to ayu the real person that the image is of course imperfect. Ayu used to say that Ayumi Hamasaki the product and ayu the person are two different things, which is clearly not happening anymore, because:

1. She has more power and more control over her own music/image, hence the lack of criticism or creative input from new teams. In other words, what you get is what she wants, not necessarily what the company thinks what's right or attractive.
2. She doesn't care about the market much anymore. She has stated many times in magazine interviews or the lifestyle book that she releases music not to cater to anyone but to express her self. She is not afraid of anything, not even failure, as she has her own judgment of success or what's worth.

So, it really left the fans to decide what to do: take it or leave it. If your goal is to seek and enjoy highly crafted visuals, I really don't think the present ayu is the right thing to look for: she might occasionally come up with something the market accepts, but it won't be as consistent as the last decade. If you stick to her because you find her stories interesting or enjoy her company, it might be a nice experience to grow with her. After such a successful career in the past (at such young ages) and quite a few failing relationships, ayu has become a very strong person who is at the same time pushy. Of course she can experiment with new sounds and new images always, but I really doubt she would change this kind of attitude - the idiosyncratic, pushy, and courageous personality that took her so long and so much to gain, which has distinguished her from a lot of other highly successful Jpop artists and super stars.

Exactly.

I will be honest, I'm not enjoying a single thing about this album release. The music is meh, the covers are alright and the PVs are guilty pleasures at best. What I am enjoying about this era? Ayu being herself and having fun. Hot new, younger hubby, looking like she's having a blast. I'm happy she's happy. And honestly, I don't know if we will ever get "Old Ayu" back, but at this point, I've stopped hoping for it. I just enjoy her old songs and be happy for her now.

Lol my comment was a sarcastic play on the atrocious lyrics for XOXO.

Well of course I prefer the fabricated, well-polished "persona" image of Hamasaki Ayumi, with her mysterious, powerful, and melancholic tracks. But, I think the best years are behind us. She's more concerned with playing around, having fun - she doesn't have elaborate images/ideas dreamed up anymore - she's lived them all out.

Although, if the company plans to keep catering to her fan base, idk why they don't make more music that the fan base enjoys. It's like ayu is trying to broaden base but the marketing of multiple album versions and ayu relizing audiences want more like Pray (decision to record NOW & 4EVA) shows they'd still cater to fans - however, I think all that's really happening is fans are becoming more alienated and the "potential fan base" or the people they are trying to reach as new fans aren't interested at all and probably see her efforts as a joke.

I just blazed the new tracks in my great stereo and Lelio, Terminal, XOXO and Angel sound like a heavenly party, they are so rich.

Good point about reaching the new fan base or gaining old fans back.
Well, personally I think it's almost impossible - I am being very pessimistic here.
To reach a second peak of her career, she needs a brand new image/music. However, because her career never dies down entirely, it's too hard to throw something totally new to the face of the general audience. With the relationship drama in the past years, she's always on the headline, so people never really forgets her presence.
Imagine if she went silent for 4 years - she can release music, but just no one cares, and then suddenly she came back with the whole package of image/music that the company and market specialists have proved to be success-ensured, she will have her peak.

But she never escaped the media at all.

very well said! :luv2

Yes I do agree with what has been said on the recent posts. LUOYUXIANG summed it pretty well.

Btw, everyone remembers Hello new me and how everyone started to think ayu is going to remain completely the same with the style and all with nothing new? lol

She is also not doing much to reach younger listeners.... I would say most of the things she released from 2009/2010 onwards were pretty much focused to the 25~older public, what reflects even on her recent choice of tie-ins... The bad thing about that is that the younger public is the one that really buys music... The good thing is that she is aware of her position in the market, and she still has to release an album without not even a minnor hit.

off-topic but I dreamt Colours debuted with 46,202 copies at #2

^It still is 3rd on iTunes Japan... I'm surprised it didn't drop anything yet...

Unfortunatelly Oricon doesnot count digital copies =(

She can have all the fun she wants, but if she's not going to produce good work and put all of her effort into it, then I'd rather not have her do anything at all tbh.


I'm sorry, but a change of style is not an excuse for shoddy work. If she doesn't give a shit about her career, then she should let it go. Go on indefinite hiatus like Hikki. hard truths hurt, but damn.

^^But her pocket does... :P
Having steady digital sales is a good signal even if it's overlooked by Oricon...

^Even if the videos are polarizing the fanbase, the music is mostly well received. Your dislike for anything she released after she turned 20 doesn't make those stuff universally bad.

Having Lelio in one's discography is like the complete opposite of bad work imo. I can see XOXO and Terminal being added to that as well.

I will never want ayu to stop if she gives me stuff like these.

Couldn't agree more, Lelio is the masterpiece of Colours ^^

LOL Sometimes I just wished Ayu won't release anything , just so all these spoiled ungrateful fans in this forum will be miserable. *evil smile*

Btw, Colour is #1 on the iTunes jpop chart

She will always remain the same. It's physically impossible for her to not release at least a few typical sounding songs. She could release an album of death metal yodeling cover songs ranging from beyonce to weird all yankovic, and she'd still throw in atleast 2 or three songs that sound like Moon, Momentum, and Hello New Me. That's what Japan likes, and that's what she's going to give them.

Is she? I thought I saw pictures of Taeyang being number 1, Namie 2nd and Ayu 3rd...

What a beautiful comment!
That's how I feel about the current Ayu too, but I couldn't quite put it in words before I saw your lovely comment! <3

She tweeted the screen this morning :D Those pictures probably were from yesterday. And Taeyang's album is not on the jpop chart, it's on the general one.

Just took a screenshot:

I thought about it the other day! What a sweet memory... <3

I remember being amazed and surprised by the screencaps I saw before seeing this incredible PV. Incredible song too.

Ah right, they didn't release the japanese version yet, I forgot.
Thanks for clearing that up!
Glad she is number one :D

An album without music videos, mmm, maybe next year. With bad PVs since Party Queen, I'm not going to be sad if she doesn't include them.


:(

No but really, why are these music videos so bad? Who does she think will enjoy these?
Does she not know her fanbase at all? So confused.

Well...maybe the videos are just last-minute work
we had the release date of the album way before she filmed the clips and on the middle of tour rehearsal.
probably she filmed one video per day.

low budget, finding a cheap director available to film on the date.
the result? no polished ideas, bad material and fast edition, like a lot of her album videos (nanana, shake it, snowy kiss...)


btw: Lelio looks like a cheap interlude backdrop video for one of her concerts-.

That's what I said. The moment I saw the video I thought it was the special screen from her feel the love premium showcase concert.

I'm not a fan of the videos. I really don't hate them, but I'm definitely buying cd only.

My post was somewhat of a hypothetical.

I actually like most of the music, so it doesn't really have to do with that. Thanks for totally giving me credit tho. :bsigh

Do we know who directed the PVs?

LUOYUXIANG summarized perfectly the way many of us feel about Ayu now. I really don't think the "old" Ayu will come back, I don't even want to. She's delivering so many great thing in the past years. She seems so much maturer now and it's incredible the feeling of growing with her.

I think people will always get frustrated if they expect that the Ayu in the next album will be the same as 2003 for example. Nobody can turn back to the old self, we're always changing and so do her.

old ayu ?
But, I think Love again was an album with the old classic ayu touch

I don't understand people's yearning for "old Ayu". Ayu making music that is "old Ayu" resulted in the LOVE again, one of her most disappointing albums. You got a whole era of music from her which sounds like everything she has done 1000 times over in the past 15 years. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of Ayu producing the same old, safe and boring song. There's still a few in this era (Pray, hello new me). Experimental Ayu is where her interest lies for me now. This late in her career, she needs to be pushing the envelope on her past discography, and she has done that in part with Colours. Yes, the electronic shift it's not the most amazing work or original, but it's different for her, and it did produce at least a couple of really good songs (Angel, merry go round, MY WAY collaboration). This is what she needs to be doing musically and she will only get better with finding a new sound as time goes on.

She can push the boundaries and still remain true to herself and her sound. Wake me up, STEP you, even my name's WOMEN.

I listened to fucking fairyland today. It made me feel good. Like drowning out the bad.

Yeah... I think you can see in this point of view. Probably this was the reason that I found it just plain boring hahaha :P

ayu has always done a wide variety of genres and sounds. so many people are complaining because they find her current work is awful. "old ayu" means quality product. not that hard to comprehend

Exactly. Moreso, Avex has proven their ability to create iconic electro-pop with Ayu in the past. "WHATEVER" and "Sparkle" are the epitome of reasonable electro music and fortunately, they are part of Ayu's discography.

I don't know for how many hundreds of hours I've been listening to "WHATEVER" and its Ferry Corsten remixes but everytime I get back to those gems, especially when I've been playing a lot of newer music of hers for some time, I immediately get this "Oh yes, that's totally it" feeling.

Same goes for the "Connected", "M" and "Depend on you" German remix singles and most of what DJ Amaya released (a lot of his remixes could have easily made it on official releases under Avex Trax).

It's hard to come up with electro pop studio albums and satisfy listeners that have been around for years when there are already plenty of electronic gems on the remix side of Ayu's discography. Why produce entire studio albums in electro-pop manner, when Ayu has a wide range of remix brands (ayu-mi-x, ayu-ro, ayu trance)?

For instance, Armin could have produced an 'Original mix' ayu trance 5 together with Ayu. That would have been a novelty, too, because to this day, those albums solely existed for remixing songs that already existed. "Terminal" made me wish for that even more D:

I've been having 2 thoughts about her for years.
1. Ayu-chan, you can do much much better! How come you even think these crap are good enough!?
2. Well, you can do whatever you want, its your life even if these are such a mess, you happy then I'm happy for you.

Everytime she appears in public, I was shocked with 1, then 2 comes right after. I start having hope again "must be good next time!" then 1 again..I'm kinda tired:)

btw, I really wanna watch PV making movies. Wanna know how she involved those PVs. Did she make orders to director like "hey just leave my rope on screen so that fans can see how I fly in the air"

Holy cow that entire AYU X AVB album sounds like the way to go! Genius!

#lets-twitter-it-so-it-may-happen !

Some of you fans act like such entitled children. NONE of you know her personally, who are you to say that this music "doesn't stay true to her"? For all we know, these songs could all be exactly who she is at this moment in life. People don't stay the same. Life is fluid and things change.

And don't you dare throw that "she can change and still bring quality music" excuse at me. Colours has generally the most positive reception I've seen for an Ayu release since Love Songs, especially outside of AHS. Quality will ALWAYS be subjective, so saying that in no way backs up your facetious arguments.

:yes

Sigh at peoples hate for LOVE again. It's so full of Ayu goodness. It's weird, I remember the response to most the songs being fairly positive when they were released, but when the actual album came out (with the title) people changed they tune...fickle fickle fickle.

also great post Akutenshi! The whining self entitled opinions of so much of the Ayu fandom are so tiresome.

True. She did say during Feel the love/merry-go-round release that EDM is the style of music she has been listening the most lately, that's why she decided to try it.

NOW & 4EVA or however it's spelled actually reminds me a lot of the old ayu sound, and it's the main reason why I like it.

I feel like this album blends a lot of the different sounds ayu has given us over the years.

Ayu wanted to simply focus on dance music and caved in with Pray doing so well and did some similar tracks.. the PV's may be shit, but of course she'll have a new HEAVEN and so on, as Pray is nice but she didn't waste her time and money on promoting a song everyone has heard before.


The videos have been cheap but she IS creative director so she's become in control of her career.. she may be happy but of course it doesn't meet her old material to some.


Look at Gaga since Born This Way.. her videos are all 20 minutes long and quite annoying really as she took control. It's for not what sells, but what the artist is happy with.


If Ayu wanted hard to promote the album, she WOULD HAVE months before on TV and with better music videos.. this is how she wants it lol

omg the meltdown is too hilarious

seriously I was laughing really hard at all the PVs. she looks like a monkey in Lelio wearing the white hoodie.. also the dancing was bad, plus all the effects looks like a bad early 90s MV.

XOXO was too funny.. it's so bad I laughed like LOL. i don't care if it's a parody but she looks really stupid it's entertaining. i think it's a parody? everything seems freaking obviously exaggerated (weave, outfit etc) I dunno lol.

Angel... omg I fell on the floor when the angels "flew" down on her. like something is really bad with the visual direction of the video.. if they wanted it to be a single take I'd prefer it if she were in the center the whole time. and the effects were so cheesy, they actually had to blur the screen for a second to have her "wings" on? i'm fine with the rope,cos it kinda symbolizes how she isn't an angel/devil at all but I wish they had gone all the way. like maybe at the start she had a car accident and died, and her "spirit" is walking.. the ballerinas with inappropriate faces can come in i don't care. then at the end, angels come down to "judge" her and decides she is a devil but maybe she doesn't care and chooses to fly up with them..? I dunno , like go all the way man Ayu

just the lighting in XOXO is so bad, I can't get over it

the dance break was so dimly lit, like filmed with a camcorder....

actually the whole the execution was so oddly below Ayu's budget and feel...the whole thing is bizarre tbh maybe she is giving projects to friends that don't care how their products turn out

xoxo could have been so CUTE!!! argh, the video was the perfect idea and Lelio with like a extra grand worth of effects would have been stellar

Angel is a lost cause....tbh

I think Leslie Kee cursed haaa!, cuz after FIVE everything has gone downhill so fast production wise, the album still slays!

Is their anyone who is good with graphics who can use the textless pictures and use the same font as Ayu did but capitalize and place them in the correct spot?

Is there anyone that thinks that ayu's dancing break in XOXO PV was actually great and hot except me? It's like, when did she learn to do this (and how is she able to)? =)

I thought she did pretty well in that part omg!

i also think her dance moves on XOXO is much better than in Lelio..

I think everything ayu says in printed media should be taken with a pinch of salt. Most of it is likely built around promoting and marketing her current projects and releases, however honest they might be.

Also I'm sceptical that ayu doesn't care about sales anymore. Money is her lifeblood. Everything about her is high maintenance. Her house, shopping, hair, dogs... I don't believe she (or avex for that matter) would invest in something if it isn't going to get the hoped for returns.

I agree with zeke that ayu and her team seem to be trying to reach out to a younger audience. Maybe this is their idea of being fresh and current. But it doesn't seem to be impressing anybody other than her super loyal fans who are 100% behind her whatever she does.

I still think her personal life is her personal life. Whatever is being shown to us is probably a calculated public image. I'm not saying it's not her, maybe she really is more comfortable portraying this image of herself to the public. But I think it's misguided if ayu thinks this will maintain or boost her career.

That being said, I haven't actually listened to any of the new songs other than FTL so I'm gonna buy the album and hope for the best. To be fair, ayu hasn't disappointed me in the music department yet.

When I listen to Now & 4eva I think to myself "this is the classic ayu"

I liked it a lot too!

Just for fun, those are from iTunes:

Colours still is #1 on the Jpop chart;
Colours is #4 now on the general chart;

Hello new me, from the single, is #29;
EDMA is #71;
Hello new me, from the album, is #72;
What is forever love is #96;
NOW & 4EVA is #104
XOXO is #113
Lelio is #187

I believe Hello new me will be certified...^^

the main thing about me liking ayumi is that she is making now an electro weird album, but in the end she will record another NOW&4EVA and i will be pleased.
She always do that XDDDDDDD

It's a pity Oricon ignoring digital sales!

Gosh, I want this album so badly but feel's like its physical release is still so far!

recochoku is the better criterion, as it's still bigger as far as I know than iTunes in Japan.

Album:
#5 Colours

Single ranking:
#13 Hello new me
#74 NOW & 4EVA
#75 What is forever love?
#84 XOXO
#142 Lelio
#160 Terminal

Uta ranking:
#9 Hello new me

Hello new me could be certificated, depends on how often it actually was downloaded.
Would be great.

^What are albums selling better than Colours?

http://i61.tinypic.com/2wlrmlz.jpg

http://recochoku.jp/ranking/album/daily/

:)

I don't get it, there are different numbers on Apple's site (except for Hello new me single) O.o Which numbers are official then, just curious ;) And I would be gratefull for the source link for the future (thanks in advance) ^^

^^thanks^^

^I'm checking the numbers from the iTunes software... But their rankings aren't daily, so, it may have already changed.

edit: Yeap, it did.

I still cry about Terminal having no PV. I see Ghost in the shell when I'm hearing this :C

^ Same... This is one of the best songs on the album and in recent years and it has no PV :c
Oh, I see :)

I love how 24-hour Party Music is more colorful than Colours lol.

Oh, a re-release of Akina Nakamori's first BEST album?

^ I don't think so!! It has been doing this for the past six months and I have no idea why.

I'm impressed with Colours' digital performance! Today it was #3

http://i.imgur.com/4HH1h9V.png

Someone mentioned that the album is released worldwide.
Let me list the countries in which it is not available but have a sizeable ayu catalogue (according to iTunes):

Canada
USA
Mexico

And that's it as far as clicking the iTunes button and changing my region for 20 seconds goes.

Even Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Fiji, and Peru have it >_>
It'll probably be released everywhere by next Tuesday though.

I bought it yesterday from iTunes Brasil ^^

Look on the bright side! you can still imaging your own super video :love
and not cry about a crapy and cheap oficial video that it gonna change (for worst) the way you see and enjoy the song.

my favorite song was XOXO, and now i can't take away from my mind ayu acting like a mental illness everytime i'm listening the song.

^

:yes

This is SO relevant. I don't even have anything to add, I just wanted to quote it.
As much as I like the new album, I'll always remember it as "that time when Ayumi tried something weirdly different".

It's even available on Israel's iTunes!

http://www.image-share.com/upload/2598/23.jpg

Looking like a pretty nice purchase page.