"WINTER BALLAD SELECTION" 2014.11.26 Digital Release
 

2014.11.26 in stores
WINTER BALLAD SELECTION

http://i.imgur.com/WkKtkan.jpg

01. Days
02. CAROLS
03. No way to say
04. JEWEL
05. You were...
06. Missing
07. appears
08. momentum
09. POWDER SNOW
10. teddy bear
11. Together When...
12. Over

◆ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/id939521889
◆ recochoku: http://recochoku.com/a0/hamasakiayum...alladselection
◆ mu-mo: http://q.mu-mo.net/ayu_apf/

source: official site

The cover's classy, I like it!

I wonder if she picked the songs?

Yay an expensive iTunes playlist.

Where is BALLAD??

Hoping for a US iTunes release!

I love it when they just put up a playlist and make you pay for it, lol.

Where is Dearest ? :O but the idea is good if people want complet their collection of digital songs they don't have :)

Nice list. I like this better than having some "A WINTERS BEST"

I dont think this is a surprise... but I wish it was more of an album!

The cover... WTF.

I just made the playlist in my iTunes. :)

The songs go nicely together and it's actually a good track list, Days is perfect to kick it off.

I don't expect many fans will pay for this, it doesn't look like these versions are any different to the album/original versions, makes a lovely playlist though, nice selection <3

^These compilations are not intended for fans

'Over' over 'Close to you' tho. wtf?

cover is beautiful and i really enjoy the tracklist. positively surprised to see Missing there

"Missing" and "appears" are too... warm? Idk I never associated those songs with winter. They seem more like songs you play on a lonely summer night. Same with "Over."

I'm surprised with this release.

No Close to you?

appears is at least lyrically relevant at one point, and the video follows... but they shoulda put '99 Greeting Mix on here instead of the original.

But yeah, "Over" is definitely more lonely warm summer sort of sounding. Close to you was specifically intended to sound like Christmas/Winter, so it's odd to see it not here o_O

The rest of the playlist is pretty much dead-on for me, although I might have put Marionette or M on there instead of Missing, personally.

HAHA seeing how they were promoting her winter ballads, I thought A WINTER BEST was comingg LOL
this is nice..it reminds her fans of her amazing winter ballads and LOL Days is first :)

loved the cover and the tracklist as well :heart

the "buying playlist' idea it's stupid itself, but the cover its nice.
and Missing? Maybe bcos the PV, but it reminds me of summer more than winter :P

1400x1400 cover

http://i.imgur.com/z068xBkl.jpg

FINALLY! I was wondering when Ayu would get her digital best release. Everyone should expect a summertime playlist at some point too. Kuu and BoA already got their digital best releases for both the summer and winter.

I really love the cover!

I would add Close to you and cancel Missing. Missing isn't a Winter Song.

I would nix 'teddy bear' as I think it's the least winterish song on this compilation.

'Missing' is very winterish IMO, always thought it was a superior version of 'momentum'.

I do feel that Missing is winterish enough. Appears tho...

I looooooove that cover. Such pretty colors! :D

I think the only reason why I don't associate Missing with winter is because of the PV. As for appears, I agree that the 99 Greeting Mix should have been used.

I think A SUMMER BEST is enough lol. Not bc i have anything against it, love the album but yeah we don't need another one :/

01. Days
02. CAROLS
03. No way to say
04. JEWEL
05. You were...
06. Missing
07. appears
08. momentum
09. POWDER SNOW
10. teddy bear
11. Together When...
12. Over


so is this what Avex considers to be Ayu's true winter ballads?

It's ok, I loved every song in the list, and I'm glad avex didn't produce a physical version.

^I also like how they arranged the songs in a certain way and didn't just automatically slap them in chronological order of release date. It doesn't mean much, but it shows that they spent at least a little time working on this release.

Beautiful cover, although I don't like when they put a huge A in the middle of a lovely picture of Tokyo Tower. It might look good if they choose a simple one like A Classical in the middle.
As for the tracklist, yeah, why they didn't put Close to you. It's obvious. The chimes was so perfect for winter. I don't mind Over, although its more sad summer night feeling.

people forget that appear's lyrics are linked to christmas and watching the PV it gives a very wintery feel 8winetr does not mean cold btw). Oldschool ayu Fans now that, probably newbies who question appears...

yet I also feel Over is to summerish (like the whole RAINBOW album excpet for that one song that is supposed to sound wintery and that is not on here)

I've been listening to Ayu since I was in middle school; so a good 7-8 years? I never grew fond of appears tbh. One of my least favorite Ayu songs; which is why I show much disregard to it. I like it now; but never watched the PV or read the lyrics lol. So excuse my ignorance.

Exactly what I was thinking! :O

Obviously not there

Love the cover!

so avex.

Missing actually works well leading into winter. Actually, the time I felt my surroundings mirrored Missing's the most was during a sunny snowfall. But I think it was either in November or early spring - where spring was on the verge of taking over but one day the snow fell down hard while the sun shown around 4PM. It was a very unique and strange occurrence but the colors and everything totally mimicked the environment that Missing creates.

Missing is a distant song. It gives off the feeling of opposites as well, and a painful irony (which the lyrics seem to portray as well).

oh dear...

No close to you... the most christmassy song in the entire discography (ayu said so herself) and it's not on the playlist??? Wtf?

I would have nixed songs like teddy bear and over, imo they are too sad.
Instead i would have made a playlist with wintery songs, nothing that fuels winter depression, lol XD

ooh avex...

This is nice as a digital release. Her A SUMMER BEST did well on digital sales, so this is actually a good idea :)

i like it how they have this winter ballad compilation. if they have made it into a physical album i would have bought it! :P A WINTER BEST and A SUMMER BEST

I laughed way too hard at this.

where...is...M?????

All of those songs are on my A Winter Best playlist.. except Teddy Bear. That song. I don't know, i love it but I can't associate it to any season but i tend to imagine night time whenever I hear it.

And appears HAL mix is better with this playlist.

I get that "Close to you" is a very winter-y song, but I for one am really happy that the song is not on here because it's the only Ayu song that I downright dislike, it's just so boring and bland, doesn't deserve to be on a compilation IMO. I think "Over" feels quite winter-y with it's desolate piano tune so I don't mind it being there, but I would definitely replace "teddy bear" with "BALLAD"; while the first one is not too out of place, the latter is a much clearer choice for a winter ballad compilation.
But that's just my nitpicky-ty opinions, overall I quite like this idea even though it's not really too exciting for someone who has all of Ayu's albums already.

As much as I ADORE Christmas time, I used to really dislike Close to you as well. However, when you really get into the Christmas environment, Close to you grows on you. For me, I fell in love with it while walking on a still winter's night past a local church which was adorned with Christmas lights.

I love all of the the associations you make with songs. I feel that on a profound level. Like scenes in different seasons, different places, settings etc. I'm ot, but I really do like whenever you mention these things.

Thank you :D I'm glad that you appreciate that. I often think when I step outside "what song does this weather feel like? What song does the environment replicate? What song does the air taste and smell like?" When the environment of the music you are listening to mirrors your surroundings, that's when you can truly appreciate the beauty and hidden aura behind the product. That's when you can truly appreciate the subtleties, all the decisions, and all the work that went into painting that aura through sound. When the environment of the music you are listening to mirrors your surroundings, that's when you truly are able to experience what it's like to break the barrier; that's when the intangible world of music crosses over into the real world. Becoming one - living, and existing within, the music. That's when the imaginary becomes reality.

well...this is what a lot of fans have been begging and begging for ages here, a winter collection with songs that everybody already have.

there you go, buy it!

I'd buy it if its a Physical release with covers and booklet with glamorous pics

really?

its hilarious:yes

I do the same thing; glad I'm not the only one lol.

me too :D

I just listened to the song, and I do see what you're getting at but the whole feeling of Christmas and winter in the song doesn't save it in any way for me. My main problem with the song is the flatness of it all, and how Ayu sings it just sounds so... dispassionate and completely separated from the "Christmas spirit" that it seemingly wants to convey. It has potential to be a good Christmas song for me, but it falls way short and the positives are just too outweighed by the negatives.
But it's only one song, and I have a more or less positive opinion on all other Ayu songs released so far, so I can live with it. People who enjoy the song, can keep enjoying it and I'll just take my pick of all the other great Ayu songs I can listen to this Christmas (many of which appearing on this selection). :)

The A BALLADS version of M should be there.

I don't really like it either. I mean, I think it's alright, I can listen to it if I'm listening to Rainbow, but I don't even have the song on my computer. It is kinda.. flat. I think it's a mixture of the composition and her singing. lol But it definitely should have been on this "winter ballad selection" album.

Any knowledge of whether or not the tracks are remastered?

I've always loved Close to you!

Her displacement is what intrigues me. It's not too...forced. Like she's thinking out loud as opposed to making this big statement. Like she's, staring off into the distance just saying her deepest thoughts out loud, just to be heard.

Exactly! It's more like a sweet narrative. It's definitely different than her more powerful and emotional types of deliverance, but that's also what makes it unique.

Basically this is

A WINTER BEST

and suddenly A BEST entering the chart again on position 3

haha A BEST is number 3 and WINTER BALLAD SELECTION is #8. Pretty good.

(Recochoku)

lol the pattern is:

ayu releases something

everyone: "Oh it's good. NOW I REMEMBER THOSE OLD SONGS OF HER, LET'S DOWNLOAD A BEST"

Seriously you gotta love this. I know ayu didn't want to do the best back in the time but it was probably avex's smartest move in her career lool

Same question here.

WINTER BALLAD COLLECTION is #2 on iTunes Japan J-Pop Chart and #7 on iTunes All Genre Chart

Was listening to the previews of the songs, and it seems like they're using the 99 greeting mix of appears?

Maybe it's just me, but the volume of her vocals on appears seems a bit higher (in volume) than the single version... I wonder if they are remastered?

I'd love to know if they're remastered.

Such a lazy release though. I would have loved a physical release, remastered, maybe some new re-recordings ala A BALLADS, professional photo shoot, etc.

The track list is just so weird. Ugh.

^ This release isn't worth all that honestly. I arranged these songs according to the tracklist and slapped on the cover and voila, same thing.

I don't care if they're remastered, itunes quality sucks.

orangeakira makes a good point. xD

Really wish this was a physical release with more tracks. momentum needs a re-master.

^Agree with Pieces_of_SEVEN. The cover seems too simple. Seems like they're doing for the sake of releasing something. >_<

I'm glad that Over is in the list! But I think Close to you should be in it too. Lucky it's a digital release afterall. But it's still a lazy release! Not too happy at this point. lol.

I don't why I'm gonna post this, but okay:

It's not a release for fans, people. It's OBVIOUS we have all these tracks. But casual listeners maybe only have Days single and know JEWEL because it was played like hell at 2006, for example. This is the target public of this compilation.

++++++1

Plus it's a digital release. I see it as the equivalent of those iTunes Essentials releases some artists have.

Well someone had to say it.

Thanks, I myself was to lazy to post something like that.

This is so boring that I'm speechless.

I'm a bit speechless because these crap iTunes releases are another sign of her decline in popularity. :(

She hasn't been popular for a GOOD while now. This is not "another sign". It's just easy money.

Then it's another sign she's running out of money. :(

She is not running out of money! LOL Jesus, this release is all Avex. I'm so sure ayu was like "omg let's release a playlist of old songs, I NEED MONEY!"

"Guys, there's a new LV luggage set I've got my eye on, imma need you to release another seasonal playlist so I can go get it kthxbai"

LMAO. You know I wouldn't put it past her if this was the case :P

Okay guys imagine you're a casual Ayu fan and you remember songs of hers from the past that seemed good for winter, but you dunno where to get them cuz she's got too many albums, so you just say "fuck it" and download the ballad best-of B'z released in 2002 instead.

News flash, Ayu fans: this playlist best-of is for THOSE people, not you lol. It's a damn nice favor to them AND avex is smart enough to see it as a revenue source! How is this a bad thing? XD

I'm loving how momentum sounds. Still iTunes quality but at least her voice doesn't sound like it's being washed over.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy about this release! The cover is pretty and I made my own playlist from the track listing.