Rank Ayu's studio albums!

[zellyx]

I've been curious lately about why AHS likes or dislikes certain albums. For example... I know GUILTY had some pretty bad reception upon it's release (as well as NEXT LEVEL and Rock'n'Roll Circus), but it seems to have grown on people now and is generally well-received!!

It's exactly what it sounds like! Rank Ayu's albums (including Memorial Address and not including Nothing from Nothing).

1 is her strongest album, 13 is the weakest. Just be sure to say a little about why one album is so awful, or one is so good.

[zellyx]

1. (miss) understood
2. I am...
3. RAINBOW
4. GUILTY
5. Memorial Address
6. My Story
7. Duty
8. Secret
9. LOVEppears
10. Love Songs
11. Rock'n'Roll Circus
12. NEXT LEVEL
13. A Song for XX

My long review:

Spoiler:

1.(miss) understood
A true masterpiece. Versatile, with some of her best songs. (miss) understood, Pride, Heaven, In the Corner, and Bold&Delicious are some of her absolute best works. A good genre mix of pop, ballads, and rock music.
2. I am...
Definitely her most revolutionary album! Every song is raw and emotional, while some are upbeat and inspiring. Beautiful album cover (2nd only to RAINBOW), fitting interludes, and gorgeous music. Some of her best work, including still alone, I am..., A Song is born, Naturally, UNITE!, evolution...
3. RAINBOW
Ethereal! Wonderful interludes mixed with a few upbeat tracks and a very soothing sound. There's something about RAINBOW that's very unique and nostaglic... I can't really say much bad about it. Gorgeous cover art. The single tracks and album tracks actually mesh (Free & Easy next to Heartplace!)! And her ballads are beautiful here, never boring, yet always calming.
4. GUILTY
Even though many didn't like this upon release, it really showcases Ayu's deeper range and new vocals. The vibrato is perfect for the tone of the album, which is generally dark and powerful. Another new side of Ayu. The only complaint I have is the random change out of the rock and power ballads into happy, upbeat music!! Too abrupt.
5. Memorial Address
Because of You, ourselves, and Memorial Address have always been some of my favorite songs! Again, very raw and powerful. Memorial Address is my favorite power/rock ballad, and Because of You is one of my favorite rock songs of hers. Simple album art and well put together.
6.My Story
While I like this album for it's great rock songs, I'm not a huge fan of HONEY, Replace, and a couple of other tracks. The interludes are fitting, and the PVs are some of her best, but it's so hard to place this one above RAINBOW, and the others.. CAROLS will always be one of my favorite ballads and so will HOPE or PAIN and HAPPY ENDING. A very solid Ayu album.
7. Duty
I never really appreciated this album fully until recently!! I gave it a full listen, and I can understand why so many people like this classic! The songs were the beginning of the Ayu we know today. Seasons and Scar are wonderful ballads, while End of the World, vogue, and Duty are classic power songs.
8. Secret
I don't want to give this one #8! A pretty solid album. Startin' is a great pop song from Ayu. The album cover is gorgeous, and a bit of rock and dance genre is thrown into the album. My only complaint is I don't understand the flow... momentum to taskinst and then to Born To Be... is a tad random. Born To Be... is good, but feels too much like a rip off of Bold & Delicious for me. (no one can trumph my favorite B&D!!!! haha)
9. LOVEppears
I have to admit, I really never liked this album. Until yesterday, when I actually gave it a full listen through. I guess I never really gave it a chance. While I'm not a fan of the cover, Boys & Girls, End Roll, WHATEVER (Dub's 1999 mix), too late, Fly High, appears, and monochrome are all great. Though this is offset by the House and EURO mixes and some of her vocals. It takes me a while to appreciate her vocals in this album... still a bit squeaky, but definitely better than A Song For XX.
10. Love Songs
Great album track standouts, like Rock'n'Roll Circus, with some decent singles that seemed to water it down! Love Song, Sending Mail, Last Angel, Virgin Road, Like A Doll, and Do It Again were particularly fresh. It had an improvement in "flow" over NEXT LEVEL and a consistent sound that improves over Rock'n'Roll Circus.
11. Rock'n'Roll Circus
Not her best album, but not quite a weak album either. Fantastic album tracks like Microphone, count down, Last Links, Don't Look Back, Lady Dynamite, and Sexy Little Things!! But the singles were out of place... The album suddenly transitions from party to ballad with no transition. I like the album's concept! A circus filled with different, new genres for Ayu.
12. NEXT LEVEL
Truthfully, I really don't think this album deserves #12, but I don't feel like any other album should have a low position like this. But I have no choice! It's not a bad album by any means, and I'm a fan of the electro genre. Interesting concept! But, the PVs were not up to her usual par, and the tracklist's arrangement was offputting (rollin' to GREEN? NEXT LEVEL to Disco-munication??).
13. A Song For XX
To me, her voice was just too small and sharp for me to listen to! While A Song For XX turned out to be a great song from A Best, I'm not a fan of the genre of this album.

[AyumiAi]

1. Love Songs ( I'm still on a super Love songs high and i love the album as a whole there generally isnt a single song that i skip when listening to the whole album, a true masterpiece, and i truly LOVE strings so this album is made for me!)
2.Memorial Address (The emotion in this album is just so raw I love it, Memorial Address and Because of You are two of my favorite songs ever, and the upbeat songs are great
3. (miss)understood ( Love this album for its versatility and the different sound from ayu, it took some time to get used to B & D, but once i saw it live my mind changed, the same thing happened with Rainy Day, at first i wasnt impressed by it but now its gorgeous to my ears) Love heaven though one of my favorite ballads along with Pride
4. Guilty (This album's rock sound is breathtaking, while i agree there were too many interludes, and the switch from rock to upbeat was weird, the rock part of this album is done amazing, admittedly i wont really listen to untitled for her i always find it forgettable)
5. Rock n Roll Circus ( This album has some of my favorite songs on it, BALLAD is up there on my top listened to ayu songs. It has so much variety it reminded me a bit of (m)u. Ayu tried new things with SLT and it all came together very well, it really is up there with my favorite albums its just hard to rank them)
6. Next Level ( Love specific tracks off of this album but as a whole i dont think it came together as amazingly as it could have, nonetheless the songs are really strong like sparkle, GREEN, and curtain call to name some)
7. My Story (This album once again has really amazing individual songs that i love but for some reason i usually wont listen to the album as a whole, my favorite tracks are Moments, Carlos, Inspire, Hope or Pain, walking proud, my name's WOMAN
8. Secret (this album is great as well, i find it very easy to listen through it completely as an album, yet for some reason i wont pick out specific tracks to listen to, some of the songs here are outstanding like JEWEL, but i can never remember how it was goes)
9. I am... (Great Great album truly revolutionary, all the songs are really strong its up there with my favorites it's just that all of ayu's albums are great its hard to say that one is better than the other, while i know I am... is super amazing as personal favorites its not the highest)
10. Rainbow ( Love rainbow as well, im saying that for every ayu album but its truly true, songs like Hanabi, We Wish, Heart Place and Voyage are great the ballads just melt my heart Hanabi makes my heart drop every time i listen to it but the up beat tracks are not my favorites but their still really good)
11. Loveppears ( so many songs on this album that i can never remember, but there are so many iconic ayu songs that are truly amazing like fly high, To be, boys and girls)
12. Duty ( This album is beautiful, it reminds me of Love songs because of its style, i love Surreal, the trilogy and teddy bear, but scar never really grew on me or girlish, nonetheless i understand why its such a popular album)
13. A Song for XX (I can rarely listen to this album whole, it always feels too long even though its not, and the songs kinda sound all the same even though their not. A Song for XX and Powder Snow are truly amazing, I really like Poker face and Depend on you but the rest is not my favorite)

That's my ranking, truly it all depends on my current ayu mood but thats kinda where i stand now, but i must repeat again XP i honestly love almost all of ayu's albums the same!

[NintendoHTF1242]

I love all albums equally. Love songs and RAINBOW are lower tier for me though.

[Melodie]

Usually, when it comes to rating an album, my opinion changes over time... and now that my interests have slightly shifted towards a different type of music, and are likely to remain there, I should be able to rate her albums objectively, and pinpoint what I like even if I don't listen to her music so much anymore. In my opinion what makes a good album is when the songs can stand on their own without the support of said album. So here it goes.

1. GUILTY, Duty, (miss)understood
2. Love Songs
3. Rock'n'Roll Circus, Loveppears, I am..., MY STORY, RAINBOW.
4. Secret, Memorial address, NEXT LEVEL
5. A Song for ××

[kalikagai]

01. Rock'n'Roll Circus
02. GUILTY
03. (miss)understood
04. NEXT LEVEL and Love Songs
06. MY STORY and Secret
08. Duty
09. A Song for ××
10. Memorial address
11. I am... and LOVEppears
13. RAINBOW

[TITANIC]

1. I Am...
2. (Miss)understood
3. Love Song
4. LOVEppears
5. Memorial Address
6. Secret
7. MY STORY
8. GUILTY
9. NEXT LEVEL
10. Duty
11. RAINBOW
12. Rock 'n' Roll Circus
13. A Song For XX

[relmy]

1. I am... - a masterpiece, really. Every song on this album is amazing, suitable interludes too. The lyrics too, so so good. It's also got the most fitting album title in my opinion. It's just her masterpiece album. It's got great flow and I love every song.
2. Duty - Ayu rock at it's best, and most emotional, level. This album does everything well, rock songs, rock influenced ballads, upbeat tunes that don't sound out of place, great ballads, and a typical Ayu "high emotion song" (teddy bear). Not too fond of girlish, but compared to her other "happy album enders" (independent, Humming) it's tolerable
3. Secret - Great ballads (JEWEL, momentum, Secret), kiss 'o kill is one of her best songs. I love the upbeat stuff too. I like every song on this album actually... I used to love until that Day & 1 LOVE 'til she overkilled that mediocre live performance of them
4. LOVEppears - the lyrics on this album ♥ I loath Kanariya, and I'm not that fond of TO BE and End roll, but everything else on this album is amazing
5. (miss)understood - lots of variety on this one, still some really weak songs here though (rainy day, Beautiful day), but the really great ones make them easy to ignore (B&D, Ladies Night, Will, HEAVEN, fairyland)
6. Love Songs - some of the albums below have better standalone songs, but this album worked so well as a concept, but also, it may be because I'd not really liked the previous few albums as much. Also, crossroad. I've played that song so so much it's now my most played Ayu song. I LOVE it.
7. memorial address - I hate Greatful days. ANGEL'S SONG annoys me too, the rest of the songs are great though, but Greatful Days is easily her worst song, hence the albums lower ranking for the quality of the other songs
8. RAINBOW - great standalone songs (Voyage, Free & Easy) but... I just find I rarely listen to this album.
9. MY STORY - as an album it's bland, but standalone 90% of the songs are great
10. NEXT LEVEL - I like this album more than the ranking shows, I couldn't decide which way round to put this and MS. I love GREEN, rollin' and identity. I hate Days. I hate it so much.
11. Rock'n'Roll Circus - got bored once the theatricals stopped being dramatic. Last Links is amazing though, and I'll probably get into Sunrise in the summer.
12. A Song for xx - ranked so low because of vocals, more stand out songs that RnRC (ASFXX, Powder Snow, For my Dear, Depend on you)
13. GUILTY - As you can tell, I'm not too fond of newer Ayu rock, and this song is just that. I like talkin' 2 myself and glitter, and I won't deny that Untitled is powerful, it just falls so short compared to all her other albums. I never think, "I want to listen to GUILTY" it's always..."why is there nothing I want to listen to on GUILTY?!". They're not bad songs, and I do listen to them from time to time, I'd just rather listen to something else.

[Picaflor 7/4]

love:
rainbow, memorial address, my story, i am..., love songs

like:
secret, (miss)understood, rock n roll circus, loveppears

dislike:
everything else

[thatstacey]

This was harder than I thought.

1. I am...
2. LOVEppears
3. Duty
4. (miss)understood
5. Love songs
6. RAINBOW
7. MY STORY
8. Rock'n'Roll Circus
9. A Song For XX
10. Memorial address
11. Secret
12. NEXT LEVEL
13. GUILTY

[sanzo2011]

1 Duty
2 I am...
3 MY STORY
4 LOVEppears
5 Memorial address
6 (miss)understood
7 RAINBOW
8 secret
9 Love Songs
10 Rock'n'roll circus
11GUILTY
12 A Song For XX
13 NEXT LEVEL

[freedreamer]

1. (miss)understood - BRILLIANT VARIETY
2. Memorial Address - once again, BRILLIANT VARIETY
3. GUILTY - I love the darker and more serious tone of this album very much
4. Secret
5. MY STORY - my first Ayu album!
6. Love songs
7. I am...
8. Rock'n'Roll Circus
9. Duty
10. NEXT LEVEL
11. LOVEppears
12. Rainbow
13. A Song For XX - i just dont listen to it that much..but its still a good album

[love in music]

1. Love Songs - perfect flow, amazing songs, just 1 song I skip.
2. (miss)understood - amazing collection of songs, I just skip 2 songs on here.
3. I am... - lots of epic songs, but I skip 3 songs on here.
4. Rock 'n' Roll Circus - I love many of the songs on here, but there are 4 I skip.
5. RAINBOW - has some really awesome songs, but a few are some of her blandest I think (IE WE WISH, Close to you)
6. Secret - there are some very strong tracks, but I skip 4 very weak tracks.
7. Memorial Address - I love half the songs on here, but the other half are pretty weak.
8. NEXT LEVEL - I skip about half the songs on this one too.
9. GUILTY - some strong tracks, some weak ones. too many rock tracks.
10. MY STORY - I only listen to 4 tracks on this album. they're amazing, but the rest is trash.
11. Duty - same with MY STORY.
12. LOVEppears - her voice is too high pitched. I can only listen to a couple songs from here now and then.
13. A Song for XX - same with LOVEppears

[TeamAyu2004]

1. I am...
This has to be the best album for me. All the songs are just amazing and it was her glory days. Although not her highest selling album, most of the fan favorites come from this album! A true masterpiece.!
2. Love Songs
I feel like this is almost as good as I am... It reminds me a lot of her older work and its just a wonderful album. The singles are amazing, the track listing is amazing, and I feel like every single song of the track fits well to the album.
3. Next Level
When i first heard this album, i hated it. Then over time, i fell in love with it. The interludes are amazing, most of the songs are good as well. I think I would of rated it higher if I like more of the songs.
4. (miss) understood
Another wonderful album. Now my reasoning is how many songs I like per album. It gets harder and harder to judge the "goodness" of each album. lol
5. Duty
Sadly the only reason why this album is 5 is because of SEASONS, although and good song, it just gets to me sometimes. And I feel that, although her best selling album, lacks in "good" ayumi songs. When I think of ayumi, I think of I am, Rainbow, My story. This albums seems the darkest of them all and its a real turn off for me. Some of all my all time favorites on this album are surreal/audience/duty
6. Memorial Address
I wish this album could of been a full album. I think im bitter about it being a mini album and thats why i voted it so low. lol. I felt like this era of music was amazing and should of been more. Memorial Address is just amazing and as well as Because of You and Forgiveness. Its Ayumi through and through.
7. RAINBOW
Another album that is low just because of the track listing. I love most of the songs on here, but the ones that i dont like make this album less enjoyable. Also, the title track, RAINBOW isnt even on here... another reason why i might be bitter towards it, lol.
8. My Story
Same as rainbow, nothing wrong with it. Although i do think Im starting to liek it more and more, but its still low on the list.
9. Rock'n'Roll Circus
This I have a love hate relationship with it. It just doesn't seem like an Ayumi album. Its almost dark but not, then its kinda blah. I just dont care for it very much.
10. Secret
Its not like I dislike it, but... theres only 3 or 4 tracks that I can say I love. There others are okay.
11. LOVEppears
This album I feel is what starts to define who ayumi is. And with great tracks like fly high and Boys & Girls this album is a classic. But most of the songs I don't care for and some sound to similar to me.
12. GUILTY
It was this album that turned me off ayumi for a few years. is till bought the albums, but not the singles anymore. I was very upset and I dont know why. Its not really terrible, but I just dont care for most of the tracks on this album.
13. A Song for XX
Her first album. I dont care for anything on here. Its not that its bad, I feel like she was trying to find her music place and this album shows it. Her voice to seems to be changing all the time.

[Kacku]

Simple ranking:
1. (miss)understood
2. RAINBOW
3. Love Songs
4. Rock'n'Roll Circus
5. Duty
6. LOVEppears
7. Memorial address
8. NEXT LEVEL
9. MY STORY
10. I am...
11. Secret
12. GUILTY
13. A Song for XX

Insanely long looking collection of short reviews and explanations beyond the spoiler tag.

Spoiler:

1. (miss)understood - What this album lacks in cohesiveness it makes up for with the sheer quality and amazing versality of the songs. (miss)understood is just packed to the brim with awesome songs in styles never seen before or after (Bold&Delicious, Ladies Night, In The Corner) and the songs with more familiar sounds are also of utmost quality. (m)u is a pretty clear choice as the winner for me.

2. RAINBOW - RAINBOW does a wonderful job of maintaining a distinct, unique, ethereal and beautiful sound even with the songs varying from pure, catchy pop to heart-wrenching ballads and emotional rock. Not every individual track is super strong, but the album as a whole is a joy to listen to. It's also wonderful that despite coming out almost a decade ago, the album still sounds fresh, modern and beautiful.

3. Love Songs - This album gets love for the same reason as RAINBOW - it has a beautiful style tying all the different tracks together. Why is it after RAIBOW then? It wasn't really an easy choice to make, but in the end RAINBOW's more modern sound won over Love Songs' style with more traditional elements. As far as individual tracks go though, Love Songs might even be a bit stronger with the only disliked/uninteresting tracks being insomnia, Like a doll and do it again.

4. Rock'n'Roll Circus - Choosing between Love Songs and Rock'n'Roll Circus comes down to the choice between individual tracks and cohesive sound. This time around, strong, individual tracks come second. Rock'n'Roll Circus also gets the questionable honor for having the worst interludes in Ayu's discography. Aside from these pieces of awfulness, the rest of the songs are pretty much great.

5. Duty - Duty's oppressive and dark atmosphere is to be loved. I love how every song in the beginning keeps up the feeling in their own way and it then climaxes beautifully with SURREAL (the album's best song and one of my favorites). Duty is hurt by its end though; the album is pretty unremarkable once SEASONS finishes. There's nothing wrong with teddy bear or Key and I really like girlish but they don't really evoke any reactions after the emotional roller coaster of the first three quarters of the album. Also, Far away is awful. It doesn't hurt Duty's greatness for me though.

6. LOVEppears - Let's get the negative out of the way first: kanariya is probably Ayu's worst song ever (at least with the arrangement on this album), LOVE~refrain~ is dead boring and Trauma, P.S II and the instrumental pieces are higly uninteresting. That's it though. The rest of the songs are pretty much completely amazing, the sound of the entire album with all the electronic is extremely enjoyable and even though nasal, Ayu's vocals work perfectly with most of the songs. This album is a blast to listen to and also gives enjoyable 90's-nostalgia kicks.

7. Memorial address - With the title song being probably my all-time favorite, one might think this album would rank higher. There are two reasons it doesn't: Greatful days sucks and No way to say is pretty bland here (I find it stronger on its own). On a short album like this, these thigs really hurt. I also have never grasped the all-consuming love for HANABI ~episode II~. It's good, but not amazing. All the songs not mentioned are amazing though, which is why Memorial address easily wins a spot in top 10.

8. NEXT LEVEL - NEXT LEVEL is great everywhere except the rock part - and the ending. The rock department is just really boring as neither Rule nor identity have never really stood out to me (LOVE 'n' HATE is good though). And Curtain call is really not a good way to end the album - it's unfitting for the end and pretty unremarkable as a stand-alone song too. NEXT LEVEL has to be praised for its interludes though; Bridge to the Sky, Disco-munication and Pieces of SEVEN are all orgasmic. The best in any of Ayu's albums, easily.

9. MY STORY - MY STORY suffers the curse that easily falls upon long albums - too many uninteresting and similar tracks. Especially the album's middle section is rendered pretty boring due to songs that on first listen sound almost like carbon copies of each other (Liar, HOPE or PAIN, HAPPY ENDING, walking proud). But MY STORY also has its fair share of blindingly shining gems (GAME, Moments, HONEY, winding road) and its simple, laid-back rock sound works wonders in a certain mood.

10. I am... - Blasphemy! Ayu's most revolutionary album ranked so low! I think it deserves its low rating though. For me, I am... stands out more due to its bad tracks than the good ones. It is a pop album with many good songs, sure, but the whole package seems a bit underwhelming with bad songs appearing at an alarmingly constant rate. The good songs may outnumber the bad ones, but listening to I am... still leaves a slightly bitter taste in my mouth, because I know I could be treating my ears to something I find easily more enjoyable.

11. Secret - Secret faces the same problem as I am... It has all the building blocks for an amazing album, but the result sounds less than the sum of its parts. Secret's songs seem to work better on their own rather than together on one disc.

12. GUILTY - GUILTY is pretty forgettable an album. The only songs I really love are fated, Together when... and untitled ~for her~. The rest of the album is pretty bland - the songs are actually quite nice when I listen to them, but I almost never feel the need to do so. Also, the sudden 180-degree turn from rock songs to glitter and MY ALL does all kinds of bad for the album. Both of the mentioned songs would be better off not existing and breaking the album's mood only makes me dislike them more. I think GUILTY would be better for me if not for these out-of-place songs ruining it.

13. A Song for XX - I think the reasons for this album being the least favorite are pretty obvious: horrible vocals, boring songs and even more boring arrangements on the said songs. It's too bad some good songs go to waste on this album though: A Song for XX, FRIEND II, YOU and POWDER SNOW's compositions have potential, as the title song's newer (and live) versions and YOU's rearrangement on A BALLADS have proved. Now I'll just keep twiddling my thumbs while waiting for the day someone will uncover FRIEND II's potential...

[*-_Ayu-fan_-*]

1. GUILTY
2. NEXT LEVEL
3. Memorial Address
4. Secret
5. Rock 'n' Roll Circus
6. (miss) understood
7. My Story
8. I am...
9. Rainbow
10. LOVEppears
11. Love Songs
12. Duty
13. A Song for XX

[Mirrorcle Monster]

1.(miss) understood
2.Rock'n'Roll Circus
3.Duty
4.LOVEppears
5.I Am...
6.NEXT LEVEL
7.GUILTY
8.Love Songs
9.Secret
10.RAINBOW
11.Memorial Adress
12.A Song for XX
13.MY STORY

[ownsarai]

001. (miss)understood
002. Memorial address
003. I am...
004. Love songs
005. GUILTY
006. Rock'n'Roll Circus
007. Secret
008. NEXT LEVEL
009. MY STORY
010. RAINBOW
011. A Song for ××
012. Duty
013. LOVEppears

[PoetGirl]

1. Duty (cause its so EMOTIONAL, dark and sincere)
2. NEXT LEVEL (cause its very original and fresh in Ayu's discography)
3. Love Songs (songs are pure masterpieces, sound is 'classic' imo)
4. GUILTY (cause its so EMOTIONAL, dark and sincere and raw ayu vocals, something 'different' from ayu)
5. (miss)understood (songs you never can be tired off, album where you can hear very much of everything ayu can do)
6. Rock N Roll Circus (same as missunderstood, ayu shows again how she can pull everything off)
7. I am... (freedom, I love it cause of 'free' theme, but atmoshere on this album is quite monotone, especially after M, songs are beautiful standing alone but you easily get tired if you listen to album as a whole)
8. MY STORY (same problem as I am..., I love songs, but listening to the whole album is not easy thing to do, songs will sound alike to eachother)
9. Lovepearss (amazing album, but out of date, I love listening to it but songs are not fresh)
10. Memorial Address (I love the songs, but it doesnt work as whole)
11. Secret (I like the songs, but I cant listen to the whole album at once, its too rock for me)
12. RAINBOW (beautiful songs again but as a whole you can get bored)
13. A SONG FOR XX (beautiful songs but really old sound)

I love every album in her discography, its just... If you have to rank them this is my ranking atm and its reasons

[Yukitora]

1. ALL except GUILTY
2. GUILTY