Winter single "Zutto... / Last minute / Walk" 2014.12.24 in stores III
 

2014.12.24 in stores
「Zutto... / Last minute / Walk」

First winter single since 「You were… / BALLAD」released at 2009. Gorgeous composer team: Tetsuya Komuro, Kunio Tago and Tetsuya Yukumi created "TK ballad", "common winter ballad" and "rock ballad".

[ CD regular edition ]
http://i.imgur.com/vx5BzMB.jpg
・ AVCD-83126
・ ¥1,200
・ First press: B2 size poster
01. Zutto... (Original mix)
02. Last minute (Original mix)
03. Walk (Original mix)
04．Zutto... (Original mix -Instrumental-)
05．Last minute (Original mix -Instrumental-)
06．Walk (Original mix -Instrumental-)

[ CD Fan club members Limited Edition ]
http://i.imgur.com/6uf3rmx.jpg
・ AVC1-83202
・ ¥1,200
・ First press: Card with serial number to access "Zutto ..." video clip making streaming; Christmas card with printed autograph
01. Zutto... (Original mix)
02. Last minute (Original mix)
03. Walk (Original mix)
04. WINTER BALLAD MEDLEY (「Days」「CAROLS」「No way to say」「JEWEL」「You were...」「momentum」「POWDER SNOW」)
05. Zutto... (Original mix -Instrumental-)
06. Last minute (Original mix -Instrumental-)
07. Walk (Original mix -Instrumental-)

[ MUSIC CARD ]
http://i.imgur.com/WqXOlbh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/xNZ9qg4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/sWKRgq8.jpg
・ AQZ1-76835 / AQZ1-76836 / AQZ1-76837
・ ¥800
・ Size: A5
music download deadline: 31.01.2015
01. Zutto ... (Original mix)
02. Last minute (Original mix)
03. Walk (Original mix)

[ digital release ]
iTunes: Zutto... (music video)

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COVERS

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Songs info

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PREVIEW

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Special gifts

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photos from PV shooting
2014.11.22 Japan

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Photos from recording

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as for PV release
the same day with single, but not 17th. Seems we'll get PV 24th

Walk kind of reminds me of untitled for her... it's a beautiful piece too.

seriously Zutto gets a PV....the weakest song on the single....=|

I really like the single. It's a typical seasonal release, I don't know what you guys expected?

And I really love Last minute and I agree with artcika on this:

I'm loving this single. Last minute > Walk > Zutto... for me.
Last minute is the best rock song she's had in years.. blows me away every listen. You can tell she put all of herself into that song.
Walk is very emotional too. I absolutely love her vocals in this song.
Zutto... is yeah, a pretty generic j-pop ballad but the chorus is catchy as hell which is what makes me love it. If you're going to go generic make it memorable and catchy, and that's exactly what this is.

Great job ayu! After going so long without a winter single this is more than what I needed :D

Honestly I think this single is great. And well done. All of these songs also flow together well and create their own darker environment for this single which I like. I'm listening to them again, and I haven't enjoyed her ballads this much in a while. Zutto... is definitely the weakest but still an okay ballad. Just okay. It sounds a basic ayu ballad that I'm never going to listen to. The last two are more special in my opinion and I get rock influence with last minute, god bless. I'm just glad that everything feels darker than anything in a while. And the lyrics are amazing.

More elaboration on my opinions about this single:

also while some of you said the back vocals are too loud i think what they tried to do is not exactly the back vocals but to make an impression as stronger vocal impact something like what GACKT had in his White Lovers & Stay the ride alive. They are less prominent though. But really i personally don't have a problem with Ayu's in the song.

Man i still hear GACKT singing whenever i listen to the songs lol they would make an awesome duet from one of these.

Walk is very Love Again-esque, though it's not a bad thing for me. Some parts remind me of SAKURA, others of untitled, and her voice sounds a lot like it sounded in petal.

And yeah, Zutto... definetely the weakest...
But it's a wise choice for a PV, I think, since it's the easiest song to promote to the general public. And it's the kind of ballad the japanese people love. I just hope the PV is pretty. :)

Right now my favorite songs are Last Minute and Walk. I love the lyrics to all the songs although I have a feeling I'll listen to Zutto the least.

Wow. I just wanted to say Last Minute absolutely blew me away, and Ayu hasn't done that for me in quite a while. I'm very pleased! A return to form. And I love Zutto and Walk as well. Really great single!

Last minute has that raw and emotional vocal and i totally loving it!
finally we have the memorial address 2.0 after all these years!
it's going to be a cool performance for last minute.
and i hope she'll perform 3 songs.

Zutto... / Last Minute / Walk is like vogue far away SEASONS, when vogue is the weakest ,far away and SEASONS are the Stronger ones.

Seriously, if the first songs out of three are the greatest, then people complains about the rest is boring ..


I lol.

I think i'm the only one who thinks this single could've been better. I think they are pretty good songs but i definitely won't be listening to them again and again like i've done with M or No way to say. Those are EPIC winter ballads. She'll never sell music like she used to if she keeps catering to a small group of people IMO.

If i have to say something good about the single though...Zutto actually reminds me of her older music like ayu-mi-x III acoustic orchestra album. I don't think it's generic at all, it just doesn't SCREAM at you like walk aka MOON pt. 2 haha. (if you couldn't tell it's my least favorite song on this single.) Last minute is WAY better than anyone was anticipating which is why i like it. It's a medley of HEAVEN & Sakura. All in all i'm grateful she's still making music. Just wish she'd bring back Bounceback to help her make music. le sigh haha

This can't even beat vogue/Far away/SEASONS imo
Walk is such a drag. Zutto... is just okay. Last Minute saves this single

THANK YOU!

does anyone have high quality all jacket cover (and music card too) ???
please help me... i want it for my fans art about 'Zutto... / Last minute / Walk' jacket cover.

yeah i see Last Minute as MA part 2 as well, even though i am sure some would say the two songs are quite different in many ways.

Last minute is easily the weakest song on here for me. I'm trying to wait for the translation, but the mixing makes it almost unbearable to listen to. Not a terrible song otherwise.

I'm getting so choked up listening to Walk, now with the lyrics in mind. Anybody else adore this song? The lyrics resonate with me right now. Ayu's insistence to continue walking on, defending the life she leads, despite being obviously overcome with such strong feelings of self-doubt and insecurity (perhaps from living "selfishly" and letting others down) is so subtly painful in a way that is just classic introspective Ayu.

Downloaded the single on iTunes this morning. I'm a sucker for ballad so this single sounded awesome for me. Last Minute blew me away. I teared up as ayu became emotional. Walk's verse are really pretty especially the first "negatta" part but i'm not a fan of the chorus...

Zutto is definitely my favorite. Though it sounds pretty generic and something that Mika Nakashima would sing; i love it for being it. I'm inlove with the single nevertheless.

Can't wait to have my physical copy.

Anyway, anyone knows if its too late to order the FC version? Will it arrive too on the same date if I ordered it for lets say, tonight@".

you still can buy it
it will arrive 25th, next day after official sale

zeke hopefully will grace us with his presence with some sound opinion and judgement. pls jesus.:no

no it absolutely doesn't sound like a MA pt. 2, she has yet to make any music of that caliber in a very long time. just sayin.:shakehead

God I can't wait to see her perform Last minute live. It's so perfect.

Zutto... - A typical Ayu winter ballad, but it's nice. Could have been outstanding if the chorus wasn't marred with 'Zutto... Zutto..' and if the instrumental was more aggressive.

Last Minute - Gosh...what a mess. It's just a bit too erratic and in places and just seems like a mash up of MA and (miss)Understood. Saying that, it's not an awful song, but I do find myself going 'what the hell?' in some places.

Walk - As others have said, nice lyrics, but honestly I think Ivy (as a song in a similar vein) did it better. It is quite forgettable otherwise.

I think it's a good single with some very obvious imperfections - I'm really excited to see what Ayu's next album will be like.

so far the previews are nice, I don't know if I can find any song significant

i am waiting for the day when she releases something and EVERYONE will love it. Though i don't think that'll ever happen, cuz we're all so different lol

Also i never understood the obsession with some songs from her earlier years, like M or SEASONS, or walking proud, also while i likes No way to say or others i can't really see anything special in them either, to me they are pretty generic stuff. ANd most of them just sound alike to me.

I'd take stuff like this over Colours ANYTIME. It was like a bad dream for me, that album i couldn't wait for the stuff to be over and for her to release something new and fast! this single totally will help to forget the bad taste Colours left lol

I think I overhyped myself about this single and had my expectations too high becuse I feel really let down by this. I heard three ballads from Ayu released at once?? It must be perfect!

Well, in a nutshell, it's not.

Zutto... - this song is definitely growing on me with each play. but it's nothing that stands out against her other ballads.
Last minute - i like the rockyness of the song but some of the chords sound really bad to me? and the production on this is an absolute mess. this has so much potential but it really falls flat. but it should be good live.
Walk - really unmemorable. i can picture zutto... and last minute in my head but walk??? no.

I can't remember the last time I really liked one song on a single (we haven't had any, but you know what I mean), and I really like all 3 on this one. ;__; None of them are perfect or really amazing but it sounds like Ayu again.

I don't want to say it's a return to form yet, but it's the right direction. Zutto is pretty standard and unexciting, but it does have that Ayu spark that you got each winter.

As someone who's been very critical with most of what she's released in the last couple of years, I'm kinda pleased with this.

Zutto is her typical winter ballad and Last Minute sounds like she's copying herself (Memorial Address/Last Links, etc.), but Walk... DAMN!

The progression she does in the prechorus (around 1:00) simply kills me.
And even if the chorus is a bit over-dramatic, it works here.

Good job, miss!

So pleased with her voice here. Does anyone else notice a difference? It's crisp, clear and brighter than usual. Her tone has changed again. Although, I was listening to Guilty earlier, so that's a huge difference!

Will speak on the tracks once I hear them in full.

At the moment I am enjoying them. This is the stuff I enjoy and want from Ayu. CoLOURS was not really my cup of tea, but this is! I did try not to have high expectations so maybe that helped too!

I think the association to LA is because Walk sounds a little like Ivy. I agree that Zutto should have been the PV if she did only one, so she was smart. It is the ballad that Japan would want a PV for more than the others.

Well, I think her older music was very similar. The only difference is that the audience for Ayu's style as dwindled. Take Taylor Swift. If she just released the same style of country record as her debut five times in a row, no one would buy her records. Ayu could really use a whole new genre, but it's not really her style and she doesn't want to take away from her personal life like Namie to be a big star again. But I believe Ayu could definitely top the charts again if she switched genres.

Yeah. It won't happen. Colours has its place though. XOXO, as bad as it was for some people, was such a fun experience for me as an Ayu fan. It as a throwback to NaNaNa and Shake it <3 but done better, which as bad as Party Queen was, it also had its points.

This single is a major return to form for Ayu. She will never be the Ayumi we knew 10 years ago, but I think hearing this single just makes me feel okay with what she does moving forward, even if its another album like Colours. For me, I just needed to know that Ayumi Hamasaki still exists. And this is enough confirmation for me to feel like it's all okay.

In some ways, this single makes me tear up a little because I remember her work on Ls and FIVE, and this is very similar to LOVE and again, and I had just met my ex right after FIVE was released. So, I remember sitting in our living room and listening to Missing and Ivy and Sweet scar a year later when we decided to move into an apartment together.

Anyway, enough nostalgia. I am more than overjoyed with this single, and I hope that Ayu has a lot of chart success with this one. If you haven't read the lyrics, that's where the bulk of the work went on this single. It seems like she revisits her relationship with her dad on Last minute and might be talking about looking back at how much her life has changed since 2010 in Walk. And I think she lined everything up very well, especially for Walk in the lyrics.

I think the only thing we are missing is more electronic-sounding production akin to stuff like M and No way to say, more orchestral intros on everything, more ethereal effects in the music. But this is very much Ayu.

I am also impressed with her vocal quality. I can hear that she has been with a voice teacher over the last couple years. I noticed a huge change in her voice for her live performances, but I can definitely hear it on this single.

And come on, for the Zutto... haters, it's a nice winter love ballad. Considering we can't name a single female j-pop artist that has released a winter love ballad in recent years, this is a nice song to hear. It doesn't stick out from her history of songs, but it definitely fits in well. And I like the production.

My only gripe with this single is the mix on Last minute. Her vocal sounds a little detached from the production, and I would have preferred to hear it mixed in better... akin to how it was on GUILTY. But either way, it doesn't sound anywhere near as detached as the average Mai Kuraki song.

The Japanese iTunes users seem to be enjoying Zutto... a lot more than the other tracks haha.
Zutto is at No. 12
Last Minute is at No. 71
Walk is at No. 145

I still don't get why people want artists to "return" to earlier points. It would be like a person who does not progress in his life. Artists are bound to change things up. I studied art and It was a pain for me to stick to the same thing longer then a year. People have to stop that nostalgic thinking....stop listening to her and treasure the 15 albums you have so far, or embrace thefact that she is moving on and tries new stuff..."tries"...she is not perfect in everything, but she tries to progress and that results in songs that have flaws and others that don't - thats how it works.

i love Zutto... the most as well...

by the way...it's just Ayu who charted on recochoku from Utada tribute album.

Movin' on without you doin great

YouTube views for the songs are SO low!! I think this single might be a complete flop u.u

Once you look past the horrible lyrics, the songs themselves are actually not bad.

My favourite is Walk - I love the build up in the chorus. For me, this comes closest to the "setsunai" winter ballad that I like.

Last Minute is a close second. It's okay, the sort of song that would sound at home on Love again.

Zutto is my least favourite. Not only is it absolutely nothing original from her, but the chorus blatantly borrows all the most distinct tropes from other much better songs (Will, etc). Creatively, this is low, even for her.

But I really liked Walk, and I expect it'll be on repeat a lot when I walk around in the winter. And I'm not gonna skip Last minute if it comes up on shuffle. Zutto I can do without.

^funny how everyone likes a different song so the single actually is pretty great eh?
The lyrics are actually good, I don't know why you call them horrible? Its basically the standard ayu/japanese lyric content.

I love everything.

I'm not hating, but does anyone else think that TK and the other guys tried too hard to replicate their past hits for ayu, and came up short? That's the feeling I'm getting...but the songs are definitely starting to grow on me.

You must have missed the last thread? It wasn't well liked at all there. zeke already pitched in his dislike of it. No need to worry lol.

Link: http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=445

Me too. It just sounds by the numbers and calculated. :shrug The compositions for Zutto... and Walk also feel REALLY forced and uninspired.

---

I think Last minute may be my favorite now, if only because it has a melodic progression that makes remote sense to me lol. That mixing tho.

Last Minute makes me think of MOON with more guitars. I feel crazy if I'm the only one who thinks this. I really wanted another alterna or Microphone, so I guess I hyped myself waaaay too much for the "rock" track. it's nothing like Memorial Address. I don't think she'll ever do a throw-back to that song.

But then there's Walk which is like November's older sister. and well, zutto is ayu ballad #12039484 and forgettable for me. Winter singles were never my thing, so I'll just keep jammin' to Movin' On Without You.

It is still Last minute >>> Walk >>> Zutto... for me.

I can see where you're comming from. And i ended up listening to it right after the other. Moon sounds much calmer and smoother, to me, Last Minute just hits you in the face with very rough guitars. In terms of structure it does resamble MOON but the arrangement is much heavier. And the arangement is different. I mean the intro of MOON already has guitars in while LM doesn't give out that untill the intro of the next verse starts . But yeah you have a point there. Still I think it hits the spots with with a heavier tracks of her rather than MOON. The song itself just feel much heavier to me than MOON, somehow.

You know piano and heavy guitars is the best combo followed by strings and heavy guitars. It reminds me of some of my favorite Evanecsence tracks.

Don't worry, you're not alone ! I actually went through half of ayu's discography yesterday to find the name of the song I had in mind, I could sing it but didn't remember the name... it ended up being MOON. There's something in the chorus that sounds similar.

In the end my favorite ends up being Walk. I'm such a TK fan.

Whut, are you serious ? Hahahaha, I think vogue is the best song from that single, SEASONS is a nice ballad and Far away is boring.

Anyway, I don't like the single. I tried to listen to the 3 songs like 6 times, and I can't even remember the sounds, I only remember Zutto Zutto because it sounds like a slower WILL

Always after another Alterna (and Guilty!)

And I love Far Away and Vogue! Seasons is nice but not as good as the other two for me.

I love walk, the end is gorgeous

Meanwhile, the trilogy made me a fan because Far away was like nothing I'd ever heard before with its heavy-fog-in-a-crystalline-cave atmosphere, vogue was my second favorite with its very thick, well-produced eastern flavor, and I thought SEASONS mostly a crappy manufactured pop ballad, but it was certainly the best crappy manufactured pop ballad I'd ever heard XD

The original trilogy kinda had something for everyone, I think. I don't think there's a clear, objective best or weakest track on there - they're all high quality but your taste is going to determine which one you like best.

With this new single, I think the quality is pretty much middle-of-the-road for all of them. As with the first trilogy, our taste is going to determine our favorite, but I do think vogue, Far away, and SEASONS were objectively better produced, better composed, more creative, and more interesting. They were technically more well-executed than these.

I don't know why there are people surprised with other having different tastes on music? It's almost 2015 but seems like AHS will always be like that lol

For me the single is Walk > Last minute >>>>(pits of Tartarus)>>>> Zutto...

I think you guys too fast to judge. For me this single really awesome, I don't too much like when I hear this single for the 1st time, butnow I'm in love with all this songs, every track really awesome. Ayumi did a great job again.

i tried giving her a chance again today and it's just not happening. i feel like everytime i stop paying her attention to her music like i did when she released that horrific album rock n roll crap circus, she gets her shit together for at least a second. that or she only made good music when she was dating tomoya. now she's just a mess...

also IMO i feel like those who do like last minute, and i mean REALLY like it. you must've came late to the game with being a fan of hers. that song is just utter garbage.

Zutto... debuted on #5 at Rechocoku Daily Singles ^^
Last minute: #18
Walk: #23

The single itself debuted on #1 at Recochoku Daily Albums :)

"Seasons" makes me want to murder puppies, "Far away"" is kind of wack, and "vogue" is not as good as "vogue (Groove that Soul remix)". The best song from the original trilogy is "ever free".

Seasons is as basic as it gets. But vogue and far away absolute gems. I only wish this single was in the style of those songs. Though I know repeating distinct styles like those would make people complain about a lack of creativity. But hey, creativity without heavy deviation is a lot easier when you don't have much behind you, which is not her case anymore. Anyway, this single is nothing majorly new for the most part. But Walk and Last Minute still managed to feel great and bring something new to me.

@end1ess_sorrow: imo, becoming a fan later in her career does not diminish someone's taste in music. In fact, it often offers a different, less biased perspective at times. But you can say whatever you want, obviously.

I haven't gotten to listen to this single in full yet, but as far as the vogue-far away-SEASONS debate goes... In my opinion, I feel like the only song of the three that stands alone is SEASONS (and I'm not even a huge fan of SEASONS). With the other two, I prefer the remixes. I don't agree that vogue is a high quality song, to me it sounds very cheap. And as far as eastern influences, Don't look back did it better. I think far away is better and the remastered version on A COMPLETE actually made me fall in love with the original but I love the HAL remix more because despite it being more "dancy" it gives the song a much darker and more polished feel. Although I agree that ayu's older songs are more unique, don't really find them "technically better".

I think her current music is way more polished than her older tracks. Back then I thought there was nothing better but now that ayu has continued to grow I realize that her sound is much more refined now. Even if I don't care for a track I can better appreciate how well put together it sounds.

vogue/far away/seasons was when she seriously set the bar for pop music. the composition of vogue is incredible - seriously just listen to those gorgeous VERSES! i still get goosebumps when i hear the opening notes on the groove coverage remix.

far away is also great. The hook is not as distinctive as vogue or seasons, but more than 10 years on, that song still sounds current, and just as moving.

Seasons for me has aged the worst. Which is not to say it's a bad song, it was monumental when it came out, and I loved it so much then, and it will always be an Ayu classic, but now it really sounds like something out of her Catalogue rather than something that still has staying power.

None of the songs on this new winter single compares. Lol.

I hate to throw a wrench in everyone's cogs here, but how many of us have actually listened to Ayu frequently within the month running up to this leak? I feel that if you haven't listened to anything from her in months, you probably have a very uninformed perspective on what Ayu sounded like 10 years ago and what this single sounds like.

I'm super confused by some of the ultra negative responses. The lyrics are honestly her best writing in a few years... Maybe you are mostly used to the lyrics of the last few years that didn't have much to say other than very topical, sober stuff? These songs are very targeted at a theme or feeling and are well written. This is light years beyond Colours and LOVE again. It's actually got some serious heart in it.

I've been a hyper-critical fan for a few years now, but this single blows me away. I couldn't stop playing Walk in my head all day at work.

^ Not trying to be snarky but I just don't get this??? Did I suddenly forget what the rest of her discography sounds like because I haven't listened to much Ayu lately??? I mean I could still recite walking proud or Moments by heart, yet you're saying that I'm uninformed and have no idea what those songs sounded like because I haven't listened to them since October? I can quite clearly remember what she sounded like 10 years ago tyvm and it was much more impassioned, lush, atmospheric music than this single has to offer.

Can't input anything on the lyrics though since I lost interest in those back in 2007/2008.

It's quite pointless to argue over subjectivity of "good" or "bad".
I just felt very TOUCHED by all three songs, respectively in their own ways. It's not about quality per se. It's the way she sings them.

For Zutto, it's the little notes she made during the verses that haunts (maybe that's what she meant in interview that someone thinks this song is happy while others sad).

For LM, it's the raw emotion as others have mentioned.

For Walk, it's the integration of lyrics, melody, progression, and her voice, something that speaks her insecurities and make-belief that makes the listener feel powerful and sad at the same time.

So if we want to talk about resemblance and recycling, let's NOT talk about the similarity of MELODIES per se. A song is a lot more than an arrangement of tunes and rhythms. Instead, let's talk about the feelings ayu's songs deliver as a whole. Throughout her career, especially at the beginning when a lot of people were attracted to her, Ayu establishes an image of ambiguity and contradictions: take Trauma, one of her most iconic songs - its melody and arrangement is super happy, but the lyrics are deep and a bit sad, and the singing is aloof and catchy at the same time. It's a crazy mix of emotions, and I guess that's Ayu's magic. That's probably why she can grab the heart of so many diverse listeners.

A lot of some precious ayu songs have this quality of being both sad and happy but neither-nor situation (trauma, monochrome, immature, etc). This ambiguity has gone recently, but now it comes back - I guess that's what it means really to COME BACK. And I feel touched by this sophisticated ambiguity that hardly any other artists can deliver.

This, for me Far away is the best and most innovative song

Are we still discussing the confusion? Seriously, it's a plethora of things. Her classic tracks just sound more "complete" - they sound fully mixed and just ... finalized? I don't hear that in her recent tracks. She has struggled with that for some time. I am wondering if it has to do with them switching to new software to produce/arrange her music. Instead of everything sounding cohesive and enveloping, it sounds like everything is a separate layer if that makes sense. Like it's all just disconjointed and each layer is not fully in sync and harmony with one another. Listen to a track from A BEST 2 and the follow it up with one of these tracks.

I think this same discussion pretty much comes up with any and every Ayu release.

In the end, I think Ayu's always got something for someone somewhere. I like everything but Last Minute is probably da best of the three for me.

Regarding lyrics I'm of the opinion that all of her lyrical content (for ballads at least) have stayed exactly the same since Together When.

She has so many gems in her discography. And i guess it is alright to disslike something. Because most will find something they do like.

And frankly i think it's realy good not to know anything about the technical side, cuz for me example it gives nothing, i cannot tell a difference anyways. Not to add that after a day at work with usual bland music of todays western world in the background, Ayu's songs feel like a fancy & luxurious spa for ears lol This single is exactly what defies Ayu for me - grand arrangements, actual instruments, power ballads aaaaaaand el. guitar solos (lol). Even though i am not very impressed with Zutto.. it's still a very lovelly song to listen to. It is really nicelly put together. It has it's moments, when i kind of go "wow that was really pretty right there".

He lives!



It took me a few listens, but I do enjoy all three tracks.
I wish Last minute would've had a video. Maybe on the album? That's been her thing lately haha.

Wow, I'm quite surprised at the negative reviews on this forum. I thought this was an Ayu fan-based forum. When I read some of the comments, I think I must have gone on an Ayu-Haters forum. I understand that it's ok to write your view, but some people sound like they only want Ayu to produce a certain type of music, and write certain type of lyrics, so when it doesn't fit into this category, Ayu becomes a bad/amateur/rubbish singer???? If you've already given up on Ayu, that's fine, it's ok to feel like that... but then, what are you doing listening to her new stuff and commenting on a fan-based forum? Lol

For me, I think this single has been one of my favourite ballad release for a while... Almost comparable to You were release. Last minute is my favourite song at the moment, love Ayu's rock ballads!

lol. i wonder if she will get confused and mixed up different lines from different ballads during her live performance.

I really like Walk from this single. I like the parts when she sings high, haha.

I listened non-stop to the single and with each play it grew on me.
Last Minute had so much potentional from the start and I still think this song is nice,
though Zutto... caught my attention. I am not saying I changed my mind about whether good or bad the single is (I never said it was bad. It simply did not blew me away) but give it more shots and the single turns out to be likeable.

I know Last minute's mixing has already been talked to death, but I want to bring that back one more time to add my own specific complaint. (Disclaimer: I have no mixing-related technical or terminological know-how, this is all just how the song sounds and feels to me.) What most kills the song for me is that the mixing sounds so flat and undynamic, it completely fails at making the songs quieter and louder parts distincly different. It feels like there's a set level of sound throughout the whole song, it always sounds stuffed full even when it's just Ayu's voice and a piano. I may not agree with all the Memorial address comparisions (this just doesn’t remind me of MA, though there are many similarities), but that song is a great frame of reference here: when Memorial is only carried by Ayu's voice and piano, it sounds quieter, it sounds like there's some "air" in the song with the slight echoing etc., and when the guitars kick in, the song gets LOUDER and sounds fuller. They seem to be going for the same thing with this song, but I feel like the mixing completely fails at contrasting the different stages of the song, which just makes it SUPER FRUSTRATING to listen to.

With all that out of the way, I generally like this single. All three songs are at least good, and definitely better than the lousy ballads on Colours.

Zutto... gets the same non-reaction out of me as Ayu's other formulaic winter songs. It's pleasant to listen to, and will definitely not skip it if it ever comes up in rotation, but it doesn't really do anything for me and I could honestly do without it.

Last minute... I do like the song (or at least parts of it) a lot! I love her vocals in this song, she emotes so strongly. The lyrics are really good, it's so exciting to see some angry Ayu. And I like the arrangement a lot: love the raw feeling brought by the rough guitars and acoustic instruments, like artcika and others described. It's just hard to listen to the song when I keep being bothered by the mixing. Perhaps I need to give the song some rest and come back to it later with a clearer mind.

Walk gets better with every listen, and I can't stop listening. This is my favourite song off the single: like LUOYUXIANG said, the integration of all the different facets of the song (lyrics, melody, arrangement, progression, vocals) is on a whole different level here, which makes this song so good to just dive into. In addition to that, the lyrics are amazingly relatable and feel like something out of my own mind, and Ayu's singing here is just GORGEOUS: I get some serious chills from her voice alone at the end of the song, the kind I have not felt after hearing SAKURA's chorus for the first time. This song is a masterpiece.

I agree that the arrangement has been awful since forever

Yes, You're right. I saw a lot of positive reviews on the previous thread and this one is just like "What do you hate from the new single ?" ... Can't believe that , hah ?

As same as u, I like this single and I'm waiting for her performance on 26h Dec and her upcoming CDL ... These ballad songs can't be compared with the early ones Ayu has... but They are really better than many songs in this era of Ayu and the other artist/group as my opinion...

However I'm very annoying with the rock part from the Last Minute, I hope for the classical version from her upcoming classical album.
I appreciate her effort in this release ... :)

I listened to Walk several times and still can`t remember in the slightest, how it sounds like.
It seriously is one of the weakest songs for me. So boring and bland.
No matter how good the lyrics are.

idk if it was mentioned before, but anyway... Today I saw this billboard right in front of Shibuya station, impossible to not see it :D

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/1386/7b0Wzz.jpg
(bad quality picture because I took it super fast w/ my phone, sorry)

I also saw the CM of the Showcase DVD airing on one of the big screens there, so yay for publicity!

Thats nice!! I hope people actually would hear

and I remember years ago, members here said...if they hated it here, i would proabably do well in Japan LOL..so I hope for the case. I think Zutto... is a tune really easy on the ears for the Japanese

THIS! I think this is one of her most heartfelt and genuine works in a while. Electro aside, these songs are the genres we wanted from ayu for a long long time (too bad its not appreciated by many here...due to genericness WHICH Japanese audience love)

Zutto has that melancholic longing feel, Last minute is pure rawness, Walk has that pensive and nostalgic feel. Ayu's voice brought these songs to a new height, and I really appreciate her emotions coming through. Reading the lyrics, it made more sense. This single is LOVE for me.

I love this winter ballad single, enjoy listening to the 3 new songs.

Actually Walk (even without the extremely awesome lyrics) really stroke me and it's the one I remember the chorus of the most.

It's wierd that a lot didn't like it to that extent but that song had the highest impression on me so far lol.

I really love Last Minute too and Zutto is beautiful but I'm not sure which one is my favorite.

Best full ballad single ever though.

I think this is funny because I had the exact opposite problem with progress's mixing lol. It's always pissed me off that I can't listen to that song without adjusting the volume five times. My problem with the mixing on Last minute is that the backing vocals overpower EVERYTHING. Plus the vocals sound like they were recorded on a $3 laptop mic...

It's a shame because mixing/mastering/overall technical production alone can really break a song for me (...lookin' @ Tell me why) and I find it ridiculous that professionals can put out sub-par products like this and not HEAR BETTER. I mean if you have masses of fans pointing out mixing issues, that's a pretty big red flag that you should really get your shit together as a working professional, especially if you're working for a high-caliber musician like Ayumi Hamasaki.

sweet! promotions!!! because if nobody knows you have a single out nobody is going to buy it.

I have to say it's nice to see the majority of fans love the single, and people who lost interest in ayu for a while feel like she's "back" with this single. I'm seeing lots of positive reviews on this forum and outside this forum. I'm used to going other places and seeing people call her an old hag, but instead they're praising the single. It's a nice change lol

A little thought when I see the billboards, did they stop with the numeric order of the singles ? They stopped at the 50th single [L] and since then, there was no 51st, 52nd, 53rd, etc... Why ??

oh! did Terminal got this kind of promotion?

Ad truck for this single? tie-in?

Now I love Walk more than before, so many surprise vocal by ayu, unpredictable. This single completely fix for winter. Ayu still the best for me

I really like Zutto... and Walk, I think the full versions or both sound better than the previews and are really beautiful.

But Last Minute is the opposite, I thought the preview sounded great, but the full song gets so noisy I can't fully enjoy it, it's by far the weakest of the three for me. I really like the beginning, but it starts getting annoying after 1:20 imo...


idk if it had, but I didn't see any promotion whatsoever for Terminal on the streets...

I think Last minute is by far the most outstanding song on the single. Zutto... Is very generic in every sense, so much it reminds me of something that Kana Nishino would do. Walk is the oddest out of 3. I still don't remember what it sounds like, as the melody is a bit plain, which is a bit odd considering its TK. Overall the single is pretty good and there I say Last minute is prolly the coolest song she's done in years.

how much it will sell on it first week?
hehe...
i hope it will sell well

i notice this too. i guess avex/ayu doesn't care about it anymore since she lost the consecutive number 1 thing.

so this single is her... 53rd right?

I think zutto...is masterpiece, I love it so much, even I read alot of disappointment about this song (generic, not fully mixed etc). Maybe it's because people expecting too much from ayu. For me, I love ayumi nowadays,love her song, her performance etc.

Hearing the songs lead me to pre-order the single. Great stuff!

The short ver. of the PV is out! She looks sooo beautiful, and at the end she looks like Kim Kardashian no joke xD

It reminds me of BALLAD and MOON PV a LOT. I'm so excited to see the full version!!

edit: Have they (avex) always used Music Video instead of PV for Ayu?

Not sure about the pv/mv question, but ahaha the kardashian comment.. *clap*

Definitely has moon vibes. I love a return to visually stimulating and more artistic music videos !!!!! No more cheesy love plots, pleaaase

I really liked the preview--and hey, at least it's not just one scene lol! I wonder what her being so still means, too.

I'm more in the crossroad ice-version camp lol.

The body shots of ice Ayu seems a bit off to me...like her head/body don't match lol. I dunno it just struck me as off? Maybe cuz I'm viewing on my phone? It's not a bad thing but I was just caught off guard. Maybe it's the hair throwing me off haha

However, it looks good. Something I actually want to watch.


About the single numbering, I guess an "old" artist doesn't want to constantly remind everyone just how "old" they are? Haha

^agree with the crossroad similarity.
hope this pv is not boring.

The mv looks simple and beautiful, she's gorgeous :heart

The PV preview looks beautiful! :heart

Well, the styling is 100000x better than crossroad, which I felt like...well it felt like it didn't belong? Aha

I'd say this PV reminds me of the Love Songs era lol. It has a bits of everything :/