Album covers concept

[Andrenekoi]

A lot of people here says that ayu albums after Memorial Adress don't have meaning... I disagree with them...

So... who wanna discuss the meaning behind My Story, (miss)understood, Secret, Guilty and Next Level? =DDD

[Ayumiko]

I think the album with the most meaning is my story and the least meaning is GUILTY...it just looks like a pic for magazines.

[noidea]

yeah, album cover thread xD

Im sure theres meaning behind all of them more(Secret, MY STORY, Next Level) and less( maybe (miss)understood) but they all do have meaning.

I think ill start with NEXT LEVEL because we just had that one in another thread.
So...what do we see on the covers?
-5 televisions of different age, from old to new
-ayu with colorful clothes and curly hair
-colors
I think the first point is by far the most important, like you said in another thread tv=mainstream, i think ayu(and the album) might be the continuation of the line old tv->newer television...->lcd television->AYU, saying that she takes entertainment/mainstream entertainment to a higher, better level, or she wants to be better than mainstream overall

Theres another thing about the TVs, if you look at her tv shedule, youll notice that her first tv appereance in 2009 was music station 27.03.2009(with rule), however, her single Rule/Sparkle was released on the 25th of February, thats very late to promote it, in the end of 2008, when ayu fell down the stairs on the 25th of december, she had to cancel her performance of Days at music station, thats almost exactly 3 months, weird amount of time, dont you think? its said that she was banned from music station(and maybe other tv shows) because she didnt apologize properly. So she might say: I dont care about television! I dont need it, i am better than television.
Well, I think i just got my answer xD I didnt notice before how good both ideas, the tv ages and her possible ban, fit together, but they both express the same to me.
the reason for the colors is simply the musical theme of the album and the lyrics i think


Well, basically what i wrote in the other thread xD

[Andrenekoi]

My Story

http://galeria.ayubrasil.com/thumbnails.php?album=38

(miss)understood

http://galeria.ayubrasil.com/thumbnails.php?album=39

Secret

http://galeria.ayubrasil.com/thumbnails.php?album=40

GUILTY

http://galeria.ayubrasil.com/thumbnails.php?album=53

NEXT LEVEL

http://galeria.ayubrasil.com/thumbna...bum=118&page=1

Covers and booklets =D

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by noidea

yeah, album cover thread xD

Im sure theres meaning behind all of them more(Secret, MY STORY, Next Level) and less( maybe (miss)understood) but they all do have meaning.

I think ill start with NEXT LEVEL because we just had that one in another thread.
So...what do we see on the covers?
-5 televisions of different age, from old to new
-ayu with colorful clothes and curly hair
-colors
I think the first point is by far the most important, like you said in another thread tv=mainstream, i think ayu(and the album) might be the continuation of the line old tv->newer television...->lcd television->AYU, saying that she takes entertainment/mainstream entertainment to a higher, better level, or she wants to be better than mainstream overall

Theres another thing about the TVs, if you look at her tv shedule, youll notice that her first tv appereance in 2009 was music station 27.03.2009(with rule), however, her single Rule/Sparkle was released on the 25th of February, thats very late to promote it, in the end of 2008, when ayu fell down the stairs on the 25th of december, she had to cancel her performance of Days at music station, thats almost exactly 3 months, weird amount of time, dont you think? its said that she was banned from music station(and maybe other tv shows) because she didnt apologize properly. So she might say: I dont care about television! I dont need it, i am better than television.
Well, I think i just got my answer xD I didnt notice before how good both ideas, the tv ages and her possible ban, fit together, but they both express the same to me.
the reason for the colors is simply the musical theme of the album and the lyrics i think


Well, basically what i wrote in the other thread xD

And here are the colors she used!

[noidea]

crap xD the "channel doesnt work" colors xD but her hair and skin are missing^^

[Andrenekoi]

All pics on (miss)understood album have ayu in "hey! I was not right for the photo" situations... what to me, fits well with the title of the album... none of the photos seens planed at all.

Other than that, the album booklet has a strong "vintage" feeling, that I can see on the concert and on the songs too... So, IMO it was a vintage album The colors used and all the hearts was cuz this is intented to be Ayu's girlish album (I read it somewhere).

So, to me this album was like... "I'm a real girl... I'm not divaish in all of my photos, I can forget my lyrics, I can have a awkward smile (cover), I can be missunderstood", while the vintage feeling was because of the album sound.

And there is a pic on the booklet that I really love:
http://galeria.ayubrasil.com/display...album=39&pos=2
Cuz I like how the design on the left and the photo on the right completes a heart^^

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by noidea

crap xD the "channel doesnt work" colors xD but her hair and skin are missing^^

I think it's more a "I'm dressed as a TV"

[noidea]

yea, just trying making a bad joke^^ well, that adds more to the tv->better tv->ayu line

[chloeM]

i never thought of the different TVs she used on a cover~~ good one

[waterballoon]

For MY STORY, the backdrop of the album scan in her in that corset dress (her look on the covers) is extremely similar to like a house... it's like she's opening up. In the Light & Shadow interview in 2004, she has revealed her hometown etc... so I think it's her way to show that she's opening up to people...

And in the booklet scans, we see many faces of Ayu... emo and deep in thought... rocker... typical girly girl with tea and handphone... and bathing... and like having some weird pillow fight which resulted in feather rain... I mean, duh which normal person doesn't do most of these things?

It's kind of like her life... I mean, MY STORY is my favorite album; the title is so good in the first place... it's like the whole album - songs, lyrics, booklet, cover... it's like a mirror of life imo.

And well for Secret... the only thing I really noticed was that the cover and booklet were all very glamorous... like you know she's appearing to be so glam and high, but there's a "Secret" that she's hiding - whatever it is, we wouldn't know - no one would.

And I think people have mentioned that GUILTY's cover is very reminiscent of Duty, with the desert backdrop and all. But... it really appears to be the most shallow of all her album covers imo.

Nice interpretation of NEXT LEVEL btw; it was really cool!

And oh oh (miss)understood! Um well the fact that she engaged Peach Mama John or whatever her name is - an amateur photographer (okay not like Kazuyoshi Shimomura is any better...) to take the photos of (miss)understood... I think it's really showing that she may be the Queen of J-Pop, but she still has her friends; or rather, she doesn't need all that glam and professional people to make her "good"... she just wants her friends.

It's like "I am ayumi hamasaki but I am a girl/woman/human too." Very similar to Secret, but whatever, she's not a philosopher anyways.

[terra]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

For MY STORY, the backdrop of the album scan in her in that corset dress (her look on the covers) is extremely similar to like a house... it's like she's opening up. In the Light & Shadow interview in 2004, she has revealed her hometown etc... so I think it's her way to show that she's opening up to people...

And in the booklet scans, we see many faces of Ayu... emo and deep in thought... rocker... typical girly girl with tea and handphone... and bathing... and like having some weird pillow fight which resulted in feather rain... I mean, duh which normal person doesn't do most of these things?

It's kind of like her life... I mean, MY STORY is my favorite album; the title is so good in the first place... it's like the whole album - songs, lyrics, booklet, cover... it's like a mirror of life imo.

I agree with waterballoon as MY STORY is my favorite album too, you've explained it well waterballoon

Originally Posted by waterballoon

And oh oh (miss)understood! Um well the fact that she engaged Peach Mama John or whatever her name is...

Hillarious! lol I really laughed...Peach Mama John...
I forgot Mika-John company as well Johnny's Peach? Peach John?

[Andrenekoi]

I (miss)understood only had one bad pic, I would think it was a mistake, but all the photos look very "amateurish"... That's why I think this has something with the album concept...

About My Story... There are a clock in every page of the booklet, kind of "this is a day in my life"

[Andrenekoi]

By the way... since My Story, the visuals of the tours are very tied with the visual concepts of the albums

My Story - Ayu like a doll in a place like a glamourous doll house
Tour - Ayu is a princess or something like that in every moment...

(miss)understood - Very vintage... the music, the pics, her looks on the pics
Tour - Very vintage too... remind me a lot of the 60s

Secret - Very simple, and very clean... yet, very glamurous... ayu is like a diva
Tour - It was her "cleanest" tour... It was very focused on the acting and dancing... ayu is a performace diva

Next Level - Tvs, colors, futuristic, eletronic
Tour - Screens, lights, video-game references, a lot of light effects

[terra]

@Andrenekoi
Hmm, yea.. I just realized that too after I read yours
Great discovery,,

I hope Ayu will continue like that,,

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

By the way... since My Story, the visuals of the tours are very tied with the visual concepts of the albums

My Story - Ayu like a doll in a place like a glamourous doll house
Tour - Ayu is a princess or something like that in every moment...

(miss)understood - Very vintage... the music, the pics, her looks on the pics
Tour - Very vintage too... remind me a lot of the 60s

Secret - Very simple, and very clean... yet, very glamurous... ayu is like a diva
Tour - It was her "cleanest" tour... It was very focused on the acting and dancing... ayu is a performace diva

Next Level - Tvs, colors, futuristic, eletronic
Tour - Screens, lights, video-game references, a lot of light effects

You forgot...

GUILTY - dark (atmosphere and sound of the album, I'm TRYING to ignore the covers/booklet lol)
Tour - darkest tour ever. Extremely emo to me as well... lol black is a main color most of the time, and there are very little happy-songs section imo.

[teamMessAge]

Wow I never thought of this stuff before! I always thought the big secret for Secret was Ayu's tattoo. Haha.

She said GUILTY didn't really have a theme, so it makes sense to for the album photos to not really have a theme.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

You forgot...

GUILTY - dark (atmosphere and sound of the album, I'm TRYING to ignore the covers/booklet lol)
Tour - darkest tour ever. Extremely emo to me as well... lol black is a main color most of the time, and there are very little happy-songs section imo.

I don't really consider at08 as Guilty tour xD But yeah, it was very dark, like the album =) only 3 happy songs in the main concert (considerim sur-evo-sur as only one song)

[mcluva420]

My story
The key is like a key to the diary of her story

(m)u
Very girly.. I think the gasp probably represents the OMG moments in life, or lik " omg they don't understand me..blablabla"

Secret
Rebirth, a new fresh beginning.. Coming out of her cocoon.. Blosomming.. Glam. Beautiful

Guilty
Guilty of having a bad outfit! the font works

Next level
Futuristic stuff = the next level
Takin it to the higher level
She's all dressed up in stereotype futury clothes xD

[freedreamer]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

By the way... since My Story, the visuals of the tours are very tied with the visual concepts of the albums

My Story - Ayu like a doll in a place like a glamourous doll house
Tour - Ayu is a princess or something like that in every moment...

(miss)understood - Very vintage... the music, the pics, her looks on the pics
Tour - Very vintage too... remind me a lot of the 60s

Secret - Very simple, and very clean... yet, very glamurous... ayu is like a diva
Tour - It was her "cleanest" tour... It was very focused on the acting and dancing... ayu is a performace diva

Next Level - Tvs, colors, futuristic, eletronic
Tour - Screens, lights, video-game references, a lot of light effects

now that u say it, i'm very amazed by this O.O honestly...i never saw (m)u as a vintage-styled album but I know the booklet and the rather pixelated cover portrayed rawness and genuinity. These are cool observations.

GUILTY's tour...was probably more "mood" related rather than with the visual concept. but yea, i agree...it wasn't at all GUILTY's tour. GUILTY's tour felt like CDL0708.

Originally Posted by noidea

yeah, album cover thread xD

Im sure theres meaning behind all of them more(Secret, MY STORY, Next Level) and less( maybe (miss)understood) but they all do have meaning.

I think ill start with NEXT LEVEL because we just had that one in another thread.
So...what do we see on the covers?
-5 televisions of different age, from old to new
-ayu with colorful clothes and curly hair
-colors
I think the first point is by far the most important, like you said in another thread tv=mainstream, i think ayu(and the album) might be the continuation of the line old tv->newer television...->lcd television->AYU, saying that she takes entertainment/mainstream entertainment to a higher, better level, or she wants to be better than mainstream overall

Theres another thing about the TVs, if you look at her tv shedule, youll notice that her first tv appereance in 2009 was music station 27.03.2009(with rule), however, her single Rule/Sparkle was released on the 25th of February, thats very late to promote it, in the end of 2008, when ayu fell down the stairs on the 25th of december, she had to cancel her performance of Days at music station, thats almost exactly 3 months, weird amount of time, dont you think? its said that she was banned from music station(and maybe other tv shows) because she didnt apologize properly. So she might say: I dont care about television! I dont need it, i am better than television.
Well, I think i just got my answer xD I didnt notice before how good both ideas, the tv ages and her possible ban, fit together, but they both express the same to me.
the reason for the colors is simply the musical theme of the album and the lyrics i think


Well, basically what i wrote in the other thread xD

Love ya interpretation. I never saw those 5 TVs from different era before. I think thats a cool portrayal of evolution of media. and how apt that she chose to use it as the USB cover.

...

as for my own interpretations, I feel like MY STORY has a more girlish and personal concept (accompanied by the pink - which I felt was the colour of MY STORY)

i mentioned about (m)u above .. that it felt raw and genuine from the visual aspect. And the music showcases a whole lot of genres. I think the colour was Red for this album.

Secret was more toned down in the music aspect. There wasn't much variety. And yea, i agree that the visual aspect was very glamorous. Gold.

GUILTY was more dark brown for me (hehe sorry, but i like to have a certain colour for certain songs and albums). GUILTY seemed like an upgraded version of Duty. Leopard prints. Just that now, Ayu has stepped out into the open wheres in Duty, she had just only started to peek out from the cage.

NEXT LEVEL to me, is really a rainbow in music form. It's very bright (barely any dark song...except maybe Sparkle at the most...and even Sparkle has that slight magic). And for this, I'll go with all of your explanations hahha.