Del-Zero thank you very much for your analysis on the tracks of the album! I got new perspective on some of them (especially NaNaNa, call & Letter)
This PQ era reminds me a lot of the recent Colours era. That the music is very very good, but the visuals border on garbage. At least Colours had classy covers, but I really really really detest the Party Queen era for all of its visuals & here's why:
Covers:
No, just no. I always love reading little details in print art, and if there's nothing to read into, beautiful things always makes me appreciate them a lot.
But yeah, this is an example where covers are done so horribly with no class that I couldn't care less about what "hidden message" she wants to convey.
So she's "lonely", "alcoholic" and "sad"? Sorry Ayu IDGAF because for whatever messages you wanna see, you fail the moment your visuals don't match with each other. I hate how she doesn't go all the way... if you want to "lonely queen", partying and drinking all night and waking up alone then show it to me. Timmy being your gay bestie sidekick drinking alcohol in the daytime doesn't mean much to me.
Your wet combed back hair looks like you just dived into the pool. Your perfect pretty make up shows you just woke up from partying; a streak of mascara would be perfect for that little indication of crying alone, but no. It's just glamorous (actually trashy glamorous)... you can't do Terry Richardson so don't try.
The covers are a huge fail & I cannot express how much I hate them. In the CD-only she also looks like an alien head with stick hands... what's with the overtly bright lightning too? So much for "dark".
PVs:
My respect for her as a professional artiste fell a little with the Return Road PV. No, I just can't. She ain't no Kim Kardishan or Rihanna or B-List artiste who depends on their personal scandals for music news. That move of putting Mannie's photo in the PV is just disgusting for me, because it tells me she's run out of real creative ideas that she needs to rely on something that already has such a bad rep... *shaking head*.
For Deli's wonderful dig into "NaNaNa" and "Shake It
", I'm shocked their PVs suck so badly... so so badly it's an embarrassment to watch. The plots were garbage, the inclusion of Timmy was more reductive than necessary... and they don't reveal anything introspective or personal like how she desperately wanted to yell out in the tour (which I'll get to later). Also she looks very old and ugly in both PVs with that Justin Bieber x Peter Pan hair
The only decent one was how beautiful you are. She still looked scary regardless. But whatever, I'll give her that.
ARENA TOUR 2012 ~HOTEL Love Songs~:
Officially her worst concert ever imo.
1) her vocals are horrible. garbage even. I listened to digests and what not on YouTube for a quick recap & I think my ears are bleeding. did she have a flu while recording or was she high on alcohol before she started? she sounded so so so so so off and horrible it's shocking even for her standards
2) it is self-indulgent, in a disgusting manner. like Lady Gaga wasn't enough with her antics to show everyone how indulgent she is into herself, Ayu brings it into a whole concert.
I will never ever get over the "I am the lonely queen" desperation in the Party queen performance.
Unprofessional, desperate & giving everyone the chance to say she's failing. Because she was at that moment. Had she gone out to shave her head bald the next day I wouldn't be surprised.
Girl, you release an album post-first divorce trying to make a statement on how sad you are with covers and booklet that don't match it, and when you realize how inconsistent you were, you wanna notch it up with this?! No-go man did you consult your mom before this lame move?!!?!
3) extravagant use of everything... for nothing
I get that it's a hotel ensemble so you probably needed to haul the whole working staff of Hilton hotel in Tokyo to prance around you... but still, horrible execution.
There was never once she was alone, and I think she knows her vocals suck for this tour and that she couldn't be bothered to actually perform (her lazy, nasal vocals sing it all, so does her desperate antics) so she got her dancers and band to literally surround her so she can get away with making mistakes.
Um also, pulling the "MY MAN DON'T GO AWAY I NEED YOU DO YOU SEE MY HAND REACHING OUT???!!!!!!!!!! :sobs" THRICE in the whole concert reeks of a lack of ideas.
4) Maro
ugh I get that she's mentally unstable in this era but even with a flaming gay sidekick like Timmy (she's almost a disgrace to pretty pony~pretty pony~pretty pony~ Hags) she couldn't keep her pants on!
Right after AT 12 we get the little fling with Maro that spun to more shit in 2013. just really cements the idea that she isn't herself in 2012 and someone should be with her emotionally more often than anything.
---
I like the album "Party Queen" very much. It has some of her rawest lyrics since I am... (since RAINBOW she has taken a very universal "we" take on her lyrics, with MY STORY & a bit of Memorial address going back to personal space), and Party Queen is her diary of her adult 30-something self.
I appreciate that, because the lyrics in every song sans how beautiful you are were darn good and introspective.
But that's what angers me the most.
That with such good musical content, she failed in everything.
Anyway all this is my take and my opinion, so don't take it too hard. I know
Andrenekoi is gonna come and berate me for my negative opinions on this era but truthfully I'm interested to see a positive opinion on her visuals for this era, just to see the differences!