NEXT LEVEL album thoughts

[Aozora]

Before I'm attacked for this... remember it's just my opinion :p...

I don't like this album.

To be honest... it ranks last on my list of my favorite albums of her underneath A Song for XX. And I honestly tried liking this album. I kept listening to songs and tried to listen during different moods... nope... I just don't like it.

I never really cared about the lyrics since I don't understand Japanese anyway... so I don't know how her lyrics compare and it wouldn't matter to me anyway, and I loved the melody of her songs... it just seemed... something was lacking?

All of the songs on this album had the potential to be amazing, they all had great melodies and I think they are easy to remember for the most part. However, my favorite part about Ayu's music was how it started softly and kept building up towards the end when her chorus was the strongest. It seems like on NEXT LEVEL the songs have the opposite effect. The beginnings of the songs were amazing (especially LOVE 'n' HATE) but after that... it seemed repetitive and nothing really built up. If it had... this would have easily beaten GUILTY for me.

My plays for her NEXT LEVEL songs on iTunes are really low compared to her other songs because I'll listen to a song and halfway through... I'll get bored and want to listen to a different one :p.

[Coelacanth]

Originally Posted by Aozora

However, my favorite part about Ayu's music was how it started softly and kept building up towards the end when her chorus was the strongest. It seems like on NEXT LEVEL the songs have the opposite effect. The beginnings of the songs were amazing (especially LOVE 'n' HATE) but after that... it seemed repetitive and nothing really built up. If it had... this would have easily beaten GUILTY for me.

I think that's probably the thing I don't like about this album. All the new songs have pretty weak climaxes..

I think NEXT LEVEL is the weakest album track. Does this song even have a climax? And was I the only one shocked that this was a DAI composition? It has a good melody and stuff, but by DAI's standards it's barely impressive.

rollin' is pretty sweet. It reminds me of a 21st century version of too late on acid. However, I think the song would have definitely benefited from an interesting bridge to build up to the final chorus. In addition to that, I think the mixing is strange.. like there isn't enough "boom" to it. This might just be due to the fact that the song is completely programmed though.

identity reminds me a lot of B'z, which is definitely a good thing. What's great about the song though, is that it sounds even better if it's played consecutively with decision and 1LOVE. It's a lot like those two songs, except a little funkier and with better instrumentation. The bass and drums sound a lot more prominent in this song as well. Actually, the drummer on the record is Josh Freese (who formerly worked with Nine Inch Nails and is the current drummer for A Perfect Circle) and the bassist in Chris Chaney (who also played bass on Together When...). The breakdown in the middle is just, wow.. badass.

LOVE 'n' HATE is pretty good. I'm so glad she decided to do a song with a little bit of an urban flavor. But I mean.. the sound is a lot like American pop/R&B circa.. 2004? I mean, it sounds really dated and forced. I think Yuta should stick with the rock arrangements. It's still pretty "fierce" though, it should probably be good live. Did anybody notice how sexy her voice sounds when she's counting?

EnergizE is really fun. I don't get all the hate for it at all. It's up there with her other "fun" songs like AUDIENCE and independent (which both have clapping lol), while not being too upbeat and chaotic like until that Day... and evolution

Curtain call is alright. It's the new song I've least listened to, to be honest. I don't feel like, this ~amazing~ emotional connection to it like some of the power ballads on GUILTY. I will say that the instrumentation is well done though, it reminds me of "Hey Jude" from the Across the Universe OST, very well done. I would have gotten emotional if the melody was just a little stronger..

Rule has grown on me a lot. I used to think that its melody was really weak and unmoving, but I think I've finally connected with the energy of the song. The verses are really strong. The chorus is too, just not by itself lol. The song flows very smoothly.

Sparkle is pure awesomeness. I love the filthy electro-ness and all the rough synthy sounds throughout the song. I love how the chorus just explodes. The energy is all there. Only complaint is that the ~no, no, no~ part carried on a little too long.

Days, loved it since I first heard it. Nostalgic sound. Wonderful vocals. Gives a feeling off that I can't really explain.. it makes me feel happy, even though I feel like it shouldn't.

GREEN is great. It feels totally out of place on the album because it's the only time Yukumi and tasuku appear, so the song has a really different feel, but this is an excellent, excellent song. It shows that tasuku is still a very strong arranger. I'm really proud of Ayu because the song has some very nice vocal moments.

And finally, yeah, the interludes.. I like them all. Probably won't listen to most of them again though except for maybe Bridge to the sky. Pieces of SEVEN surprised me. I didn't think HAL would actually change things up. Sounds nice though.

That wraps up my overall thoughts on the album I guess. Not sure yet how it stacks up to her other albums, definitely in the lower half though. Duh, lol.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Aozora

The beginnings of the songs were amazing (especially LOVE 'n' HATE) but after that... it seemed repetitive and nothing really built up. If it had... this would have easily beaten GUILTY for me.

My plays for her NEXT LEVEL songs on iTunes are really low compared to her other songs because I'll listen to a song and halfway through... I'll get bored and want to listen to a different one :p.

I think you just nailed a big part of the problem. I really truly, have tried to like this album. I've been really wanting to like it, because I want to be blown away by Ayu again. And I do indeed love parts of it, but I feel the same as you. Even though I've only been listening to it a few days, I'm already skipping past the songs once they have only played about half way. You are right about the "no build up" in these songs. They start great and then they just kind of flatten out.

As for the emotional aspect: Yes, I do feel this album comparatively lacks emotion to her previous efforts. It has nothing to do with whether the songs are happy or sad, but all in how they are delivered. Songs like Fly High, Trauma, Naturally, And Then, Immature etc etc, all indeed has an emotional component to them because you really felt something through her voice and the presentation of the song. I'm wondering if the lack of connection many are feeling to her voice in this album is maybe because the vocals rely a lot more on production in this album (and I'm not just talking about vocoder effects) and that tends to deaden vocals more.

Originally Posted by maikaru

I dont think at all she is just putting out songs for the sake of releasing songs, saying "Oh, I must put out songs, so whatever, let's do it."
If that were the case, she would not have had the long time in between Mirrorcle World and Green.

I think that with the album tracks though, that was indeed the case. I think its pretty obvious that the whole reason that this album was made at the last minute in the first place was that Avex wanted an album from her no matter what by March 31st. Just like Avex is releasing something from basically everyone of their artists this month seemingly in an attempt to raise their company value before the end of the Japanese financial year.

That's why I have a hard time believing that these tracks are coming from an organic and authentic place but more like "I have to put an album out now."

Originally Posted by maikaru

The major thing is.. I think it's her voice. If her vocal status was great, and hitting such high notes, and clear, I dont think anyone would have a problem with this album, but there's so many problems, and so much processing, that it is hard to look past it. Lets be honest here, her vocal performance isnt the best of her albums. But for me, Duty was the worst vocal quality, and NEXT LEVEL is a step above.. but she can do better. I wish that in the next year, her vocal status returns to 100%, and she can give us great vocals.

I'm glad that you at least agree with this part especially since we are usually at odds when it comes to issues about her vocals. But this is another reason why I think a rest would be good for her - so she can heal her vocal chords. I really truly think her vocals have been getting progressively worse since after the release of miss understood. Or actually I can get even more specific and say that it started around the time of Jewel's release. Each time that I saw her live (in concert) since then I thought her vocals were getting a little worse each time. If you collect her tv performances and especially HDTV performances (because the vocal tracks are more prominent than the music usually) you can actually trace the gradual degradation of her vocals over the past two years. This is not an issue of whether someone likes her high or low voice better (in fact I'd even say that her voice may even have been deeper in 03 than it is now) but just strictly on the basis of her power in her voice, the steadiness of it and her ability to hold notes. A good example of this would be to see how many times in 03, she actually pulled the mic really far away from her mouth when hitting power notes, because she actually had the power in her voice to do it then - nowadays though, I don't think the mic ever really left her lips in any of her tv performances last year and if it did, her voice cut out soon after. I'm seeing now after people have heard the album that the vocal issue is becoming a topic on japanese bbs too.

Sorry to go on a bit of a tangent there. But I do think it is relevant to the sound of this album.