Rate the new songs!

[November4]

Originally Posted by November4

So we basically have the entire album now (and not even the album title yet). Let's rate the songs! After the album's released we can rate them again and see if our opinions have changed.

For now:

XOXO - 5/5
Angel - 5/5 (I'm sorry but that high pitched note at the end slays me)
Lelio - 4/5
Terminal - 3/5 (sounds like a stretched-out remix tbh)
What is forever love - 5/5
NOW & 4EVA - 3/5

Favorite: What is forever love

Hello new me - 5/5
Pray - 2/5
Feel the love - 4/5
Merry-go-round - 5/5

Amazing album. <3

Time to re-rate!

Feel the love - 5/5 (+1)
XOXO - 3/5 (-2)
What is forever love - 5/5
Hello new me - 5/5
Pray - 3/5 (+1)
Angel - 4/5 (-1)
Terminal - 4/5 (+1)
Merry-go-round - 5/5
Lelio - 3/5 (-1) "achoo!" "bless you"
NOW & 4EVA - 4/5 (+1)

Seems like the novelty factor of the repetitive songs is wearing off pretty fast. XD

And I can't with hearing "earl" instead of "girl" in XOXO omg.

[Kanzaki]

I actually stayed away from listening to any previews before the entire album was out/leaked, so these are all equally "fresh" to me. Idk if that in any way alters my opinion of them, but I like to think it makes a difference that they are all new to me.

-

Feel the love
I'd heard beforehand that this album was a bit of a dance-off. As this song opens, my head snaps up and within a minute, this album has already kicked off with a very catchy, dance-pop beat and Ayu's voice clearly singing 'feel the love - we can dance all night'. And there ain't nothing wrong 'bout dat shit, tbh. While I'm not blown away, I find nothing about this track I dislike. Ayu's vocals are strong, not over the top screechy-strained as they've been before and the melody's just above average.
5.5/10

XOXO
It doesn't slow down with this next track. A synthy-pop track starts, with Ayu's voice fading in - more catchy, upbeat english. "Girls just wanna haaave fun". Oh, gosh. Didn't dislike it in the 80's when Cyndi jumped around with that same message (in her thirties then, too) and I'm not about to dislike it now either. It just makes you happy, hearing something lighthearted like that to a catchy beat. It works. The japanese portion of the song really saves it from becoming overly repetitive - honestly, it would've done very well with more of her native language. Yet again, it's unremarkably catchy and fun.
6/10

What is forever love
Feels like roughly the same BPM, but this is a different genre - pop. Ayu is joined by a male voice in this duet and they do compliment each other very well. If not for the extra vocal in this track, I fear it would've fallen very flat. The melody is average, and honestly I'm very bored by the end of it. Ayu's english is cute in this track - "what is forever love" does make me chuckle a bit though.
5/10

Hello new me
I wish I liked this song, I really do. There's little to no build-up, but the chorus just still doesn't do it for me. Lovely message and her voice is fine (although not struggling per se, I really don't like it in the more high-pitched parts). This has both brought down the tempo and flow.
4/10

Pray
Sounds interesting as it begins, but it really starts to shine when the chorus comes along. There's no mistaking that feeling. This is a genuine, future concert tear-jerker. It sounds so bittersweet, it's slightly heartwrenching, and sure, I've heard melodies like this from her so many times, but...it has that unnamed Ayu-quality that makes it go straight to the repeat-list. The emotion in this is very reminiscent of a past Ayu, and I even think I can hear her peaking through at about 3:40 in this song. She proves that her voice still is strong here.
7.5/10

Terminal
Oh, goodness. We're in da cluuub again. This beat really is something. I'd say a tad more fierce that the dance tracks. It's like this holds an even bigger promise of awesomeness. I'm happy to hear her sing in a mellow-low key japanese that beautifully transforms into a higher pitched song. Starts to sound a lot like Last Angel, then has a beat drop like none other. Holy crap. Dat melody. Yeah, might actually drop my laptop if I keep rocking like this while sitting. There's a limit to how much she actually sings in this, but it's a good call; the melody speaks for itself. Wow.
9/10

Angel
This song starts and the dub-step influenced melody and her voice really could have worked. But it doesn't. The song is great. Her voice isn't bad. The way she sings just doesn't get this track up to where it belongs. It's like I can hear where she wants to go with it. I remember dancing my ass off to similar tracks where the artist really nailed the voice, but she falls flat here. It's a shame, because it's the one missing key factor that would've made this song amazing.
7/10

Merry-go-round
It's all slightly boring pop until the chorus where some male vocals makes it stand out a bit from some of the other tracks. It still doesn't quite get up to epic heights still, but nevertheless, a good song. I think the different elements could've been mixed together a bit more seamlessly.
5/10

Lelio
Isn't this Singlish for 'radio'? Ok, screw that thought, because this shit is fantastic. Repetitive, engrish, silly or whatever, I don't care - it sounds effin' great. So many different elements are in this song that were all present in previous ones, but this is perhaps the only one where it all blends together and really works. Yeah, I'm still not annoyed by this. In fact, I want more. Can I have a Lelio pt. II please?
10/10

NOW & 4EVA
a pop track - a genre which I don't feel like she's done too well on this album, yet this begins and immediately catches my attention. That's nothing compared to my very audible 'ohgodyes' by the time the chorus kicks in. There's just power and conviction to it. Plus is sounds nostalgic. The good kind of nostalgic. And yaaaassss, the guitar riff. Isn't an Ayu pop-rock track without the riff. Ok, my day is now complete.
8/10

[KPL]

Originally Posted by Kanzaki88

I actually stayed away from listening to any previews before the entire album was out/leaked, so these are all equally "fresh" to me. Idk if that in any way alters my opinion of them, but I like to think it makes a difference that they are all new to me.

-

Feel the love
I'd heard beforehand that this album was a bit of a dance-off. As this song opens, my head snaps up and within a minute, this album has already kicked off with a very catchy, dance-pop beat and Ayu's voice clearly singing 'feel the love - we can dance all night'. And there ain't nothing wrong 'bout dat shit, tbh. While I'm not blown away, I find nothing about this track I dislike. Ayu's vocals are strong, not over the top screechy-strained as they've been before and the melody's just above average.
5.5/10

XOXO
It doesn't slow down with this next track. A synthy-pop track starts, with Ayu's voice fading in - more catchy, upbeat english. "Girls just wanna haaave fun". Oh, gosh. Didn't dislike it in the 80's when Cyndi jumped around with that same message (in her thirties then, too) and I'm not about to dislike it now either. It just makes you happy, hearing something lighthearted like that to a catchy beat. It works. The japanese portion of the song really saves it from becoming overly repetitive - honestly, it would've done very well with more of her native language. Yet again, it's unremarkably catchy and fun.
6/10

What is forever love
Feels like roughly the same BPM, but this is a different genre - pop. Ayu is joined by a male voice in this duet and they do compliment each other very well. If not for the extra vocal in this track, I fear it would've fallen very flat. The melody is average, and honestly I'm very bored by the end of it. Ayu's english is cute in this track - "what is forever love" does make me chuckle a bit though.
5/10

Hello new me
I wish I liked this song, I really do. There's little to no build-up, but the chorus just still doesn't do it for me. Lovely message and her voice is fine (although not struggling per se, I really don't like it in the more high-pitched parts). This has both brought down the tempo and flow.
4/10

Pray
Sounds interesting as it begins, but it really starts to shine when the chorus comes along. There's no mistaking that feeling. This is a genuine, future concert tear-jerker. It sounds so bittersweet, it's slightly heartwrenching, and sure, I've heard melodies like this from her so many times, but...it has that unnamed Ayu-quality that makes it go straight to the repeat-list. The emotion in this is very reminiscent of a past Ayu, and I even think I can hear her peaking through at about 3:40 in this song. She proves that her voice still is strong here.
7.5/10

Terminal
Oh, goodness. We're in da cluuub again. This beat really is something. I'd say a tad more fierce that the dance tracks. It's like this holds an even bigger promise of awesomeness. I'm happy to hear her sing in a mellow-low key japanese that beautifully transforms into a higher pitched song. Starts to sound a lot like Last Angel, then has a beat drop like none other. Holy crap. Dat melody. Yeah, might actually drop my laptop if I keep rocking like this while sitting. There's a limit to how much she actually sings in this, but it's a good call; the melody speaks for itself. Wow.
9/10

Angel
This song starts and the dub-step influenced melody and her voice really could have worked. But it doesn't. The song is great. Her voice isn't bad. The way she sings just doesn't get this track up to where it belongs. It's like I can hear where she wants to go with it. I remember dancing my ass off to similar tracks where the artist really nailed the voice, but she falls flat here. It's a shame, because it's the one missing key factor that would've made this song amazing.
7/10

Merry-go-round
It's all slightly boring pop until the chorus where some male vocals makes it stand out a bit from some of the other tracks. It still doesn't quite get up to epic heights still, but nevertheless, a good song. I think the different elements could've been mixed together a bit more seamlessly.
5/10

Lelio
Isn't this Singlish for 'radio'? Ok, screw that thought, because this shit is fantastic. Repetitive, engrish, silly or whatever, I don't care - it sounds effin' great. So many different elements are in this song that were all present in previous ones, but this is perhaps the only one where it all blends together and really works. Yeah, I'm still not annoyed by this. In fact, I want more. Can I have a Lelio pt. II please?
10/10

NOW & 4EVA
a pop track - a genre which I don't feel like she's done too well on this album, yet this begins and immediately catches my attention. That's nothing compared to my very audible 'ohgodyes' by the time the chorus kicks in. There's just power and conviction to it. Plus is sounds nostalgic. The good kind of nostalgic. And yaaaassss, the guitar riff. Isn't an Ayu pop-rock track without the riff. Ok, my day is now complete.
8/10

I envy your experience of listening to the album all fresh. Reminds of the days when I was in highschool, when I had limited access to internet and there's no leak. Man I got my physical copies of GUILTY and Secret, IMAGINE THE MOMENT YOU PUT ON THE HEADSET AND AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[holy_arrow]

Angel : 8.5/10 : Yeah such a sweet/sad melody and her voice is good too. It’s better than my expect from the preview version. And yes, the only disappointing thing is the simple PV. Ayu is pretty, she will be better with the long hair... the background is cool but the dancers with the simple repetitive dance are unnecessary, I wish they only appeared in the second and the last chorus ! It would be nice if there was the wing sounds after the end of the song.

Feel the love : 9/10, the song is very good and from December, I can’t stop to listen to it. The performance in CDL made me say “WOW”. PV is my disappointing again. The single version is fun but I need to watch her with DJ hello Kitty more; the album version is meaningful and not bad but i can’t love it !
Hello new me : 7.5/10 The beginning is sweet but the chorus are annoying , I think I should say thanks to Ayu for not making PV for this song caused I can’t image how more terrible she would be in the cute style... LOL

Lelio 9/5 : I can say this song is the masterpiece of the album. I love this song although it’s repetitive. The PV is not bad with the colors-changing background. Her white outfit is ok, nice but the black one should be changed
Merry-go-round 10/10: Yeah, Beside FTL, I really love this song and PV from the single released. With the new PV version, I can’t stop loving this song. The song is depth , Ayu is so beautiful with the white short dress (she used to wear it on the Song 4 U performance in Heyx3 2012) , I can realize the meaning of the lyrics from the PV. The appearance of VERBAL, the city at night shot is nice ...

NOW & 4EVA 8.5/10 : Classical Ayu as someone said before. This rock song grew on me on the first day I heard it. It reminds me Return Road and is this LOVE

Pray 8/5 : It’s good but the song is too long that I get boring when enjoying so many times. The melody is very classical and I can’t believe that Ayu skipped this song in the PV-making list and the live tour setlist. Hope for the performance in a-nation 2014

Terminal 7/5 : Ayu singing part is good but the song is too long with ONLY music. It seems to miss the lyrics ... I wonder what Ayu would do in the performance of this lyrics-lacking song

XOXO 8.5/5 : How good is this song. One of my favorite track. On the first time, I really want to dance . But the PV make me dieeee. Ayu is so terrible, I wish she and Licco could change the outfits. The outfit from PV Lady Dynamite is better so far. I hate her sexy dance but love her funny fight with Licco.

What is forever love 9/10 : Naoya and Ayu is the good partners, their voice are great and the song is wonderful. The piano melody is nice and I wish to have the PV even if that is the remade from ANother song. Hope for the appearance of Naoya on the final day of tour and the DVD/BD

[brener]

XOXO - 4/5
Angel - 4/5
Lelio - 5/5 best track on this album!
Terminal - 5/5 this is so old-school yet so fresh, luv it
What is forever love - 4/5
NOW & 4EVA - 5/5 same thing I felt about Terminal

[toLOVE]

Feel the love - 2/10
XOXO - 3/10
What is forever love - 4/10
Hello new me - 1/10
Pray - 1/10
Angel - 7/10
Terminal - 10/10
This song slays the whole album. I wouldn't mind if the album sounds like thing.
Merry-go-round - 7/10
Lelio - 3/10
NOW & 4EVA - 10/10
Throwback Ayu

And just when I thought LOVE again is my least favorite album...

[Andrenekoi]

Feel the Love 5/5
XOXO 3/5
What Is Forever Love 4/5
Hello New Me 3/5
Pray 5/5
Angel 5/5
Terminal 5/5
Merry-Go-Round 5/5
Lelio 5/5
Now & 4eva 3/5

[Kacku]

Feel the Love 10/10: I love this song. I love the melody, love the arrangement (so what if it's "outdated", it gives me everything I want), love Ayu's voice laced with tenderness and thrill... Love love love I feel the love.

XOXO 6/10: This song is average candy: it tastes sweet and sometimes it's a great treat, but you won't really remember it and keep coming back for more when you could have chocolate instead.

What Is Forever Love 8/10: This song just keeps growing on me! I'm a huge fan of DAISHI DANCE and at first this song disappointed me because it's not really his best work... but it's still a solid track, which I keep discovering whenever I come back to it. The melody in the chorus is dangerously infectious and the vocals are reeeally good!

Hello New Me 3/10: It's been a looong time since I've wanted an Ayu song out of my ears so much. Pretty much everything about this song bugs me. I love a good sunshine song, which this one seems to try being, but it sounds soo phoned in and uninspired. At least Ayu's vocals are nice.

Pray 7/10: I want to like this song, it's quality work and so on but... she's done this song better before, and this time it's just a bit too slow and unmemorable and lacking in big, recognizable characteristics.

Angel 6/10: Another case of "I want to like this more but...", this time because wow could this song use some more production, Ayu's voice sounds like it's just awkwardly hanging on top of the arrangement, which I think is too sparse. The melody is really nice, but this song still sounds like a demo.

Terminal 10/10: I kinda feel like I should maybe give this song a slight point reduction because I'm still not best buddies with the weird changes between the gentle vocal sections and the hard-hitting instrumental sections... but what the hell, this is still the best song on the album, Ayu's voice is just unbelievable, the melody (when it shows up) is amazing, the emotions it brings, ugh.

Merry-Go-Round 9/10: I really enjoy every part of this song, and I'm not even getting it mixed up with JASMINE's HERO in my head, yay!

Lelio 8/10: This song doesn’t do that much for me, but damn it goes hard, I do like that.

NOW & 4EVA 6/10: Wow, Ayu is really going through them motions. At least she sings this with some passion, but the arrangement does nothing for me, and the song sounds more like a cheap GUILTY leftover than anything worth paying attention to.

[visionfactory]

I haven't listened everything and don't think I will

Feel the love - 2 stars
XOXO - 2 stars
Angel - 4 stars
Merry-go-round - 5 stars
Lelio - 5 stars
NOW & 4EVA - 2 stars

[Jwiz]

Only like Terminal (Favorite), Lelio and What Is Forever Love (But why duet?!).

[pimenta]

Feel the Love 4/5
XOXO 3.5/5
What is forever love 3/5
Hello new me 3.5/5
Pray 4.5/5
Angel 2/5
Terminal 5/5
merry-go-round 3/5
Lelio 5/5
NOW & 4EVA 4/5

Something like that for me, my only problem with this album is Angel, and I still like it, just not much...

[waterballoon]

Angel: 5/5
XOXO: 5/5
Lelio: 5/5
What is forever love: 5/5
NOW & 4EVA: 5/5
Terminal: 4/5

I love 'em all.

To rate...

Angel > XOXO = Lelio > What is forever love > NOW & 4EVA > Terminal

[~kashifaita~]

1. Feel the love - 8/10
Awesome dance song! And I'm totally in love with the dance breaks. It'd be so awesome if it was on DDR, lol.

2. XOXO - 6/10
I like the instrumental but...idk the engrish just doesn't suit well for me here. It's an okay song that definitely could've been approached better.

3. What is forever love - 7/10
Gosh the piano at the beginning of this is epic. And Ayu's vocals at the beginning and the whispering were great too. But I feel it would've been better off as just an Ayu song instead of having Urata Naoya feature in it. Their vocals blend really well together here though. Much, much better compared to the last two songs they did. I gotta say, it still kinda irks me how Ayu never put "feat. Urata Naoya" lol.

4. Hello new me - 5/10
Verses are good, but the chorus is meh. I got tired of it after a couple of listens. A very typical Ayu song that could just as easily been inserted into LOVE again.

5. Pray -10/10
Ohoho yaasss. This is the ballad I've been waiting for. It's just so raw and emotional and powerful. And that ending, ufff. But seriously, this song just gives me so many feels. It certainly has that "old ayu" vibe to it and her vocals are just superb.

6. Angel - 7/10
Like XOXO, I love the instrumental but I think she overkilled on her vibrato in this song. It's still nice though, and I really commend the high notes Ayu hits towards the end.

7. Terminal- 10/10
BEST. SONG. ON THE ALBUM. Holy crap. Words cannot DESCRIBE how I feel about this song. Sure, the beginning may be a little redundant and long. Sure, it may be another generic EDM westernized song and sure, it sucks that more than 85% of the song isn't her vocals. But the lyrics. The tone of her voice, the emotion she screams when she belts out "irenai." Wow. As I've seen someone mention on this thread, Terminal is a very, very dark song with a theme and atmosphere that can be easily overlooked if not heard closely and read in between the lines. "Terminal" itself means the end of something or something leading ultimately to death (not just an airport LOL) and Ayu's vocals with the instrumental make the whole song sound almost painful and as if she's in agony. God, I can write essays on analyzing this song lmfao, but TL;DR: It's on the verge of epic. Best dance song from Ayu probably since Connected.

8. Merry-go-ground - 9/10
I always loved, loved, loved MGR when it came out. It's very melancholic and Verbal's rap added a very nice touch to it. Like Pray, it gives me a whole lot of feels.

9. Lelio - 7/10
I think the chorus is what really turns me off from Lelio. The song has so much potential but I just keep hearing "achoo" and it won't leave my head...

10. NOW & 4EVA - 7/10
Song is lovely but it's something that, again, could've been inserted into LOVE again. Ayu's goal with this song was to bring back her old style though, so I commend her for it.

OVERALL I think the album is pure awesomeness. Not as great as her oldies of course, but Ayu's definitely on the right track. 8/10 for me.

[perfectodub]

10/10:

1. Feel the love
2. XOXO
3. What is forever love
5. Pray
8. Merry-go-ground
9. Lelio

5/10

4. Hello new me
6. Angel


4/10

7. Terminal
10. NOW & 4EVA

[NintendoHTF1242]

What is forever love and Merry-go-round are flawless; the other songs are irrelevant.

[orangeakira]

Originally Posted by NintendoHTF1242

What is forever love and Merry-go-round are flawless; the other songs are irrelevant.

I really want an acoustic version of mgr with just that guitar strumming and maybe some violins, or something ethereal like the opening and guitar part of Namie Amuro's Alive.♥

I still wish they did a stripped down version of Last Links. The orchestra version wasn't bad but it didn't do the original song any justice.

[NintendoHTF1242]

Originally Posted by orangeakira

I really want an acoustic version of mgr with just that guitar strumming and maybe some violins, or something ethereal like the opening and guitar part of Namie Amuro's Alive.♥

I. Would. DIE! That sounds absolutely gorgeous! The reason I was so drawn to Merry-go-round was because of that guitar strumming omg!

[chikocchi]

Feel the love - 3/10
XOXO - 7/10
What is forever love - 4/10
Hello new me - 6/10
Pray - 10/10
Angel - 2/10
Terminal - 6/10
Merry-go-round - 8/10
Lelio - 7/10
NOW & 4EVA - 8/10

[Luther10]

Feel the Love - 8
XOXO - 10
What is Forever Love - 10
Hello New Me - 8
Pray - 9
Angel - 8
Terminal - 10
Merry Go Round - 10
Lelio - 10
Now and 4eva - 9

[Corvina]

Feel the love - 4/10
Not my kind of EDM. Though catchy and I can listen to it compared to You & Me, which I totally dislike.
XOXO - 8/10
Fun and catchy. The break is too short. And quite bad Engrish, but nevermind.
What is forever love - 6/10
Such a nice melody and vocals, but it's kind of cheesy and repetetive.
Hello new me - 6/10
Biggest case of wasted potential. The verses are great, but the chorus....
Still quite nice to listen to.
Pray - 5/10
Suffers its length. And I actually can't remember how it sounds. Though it's calming, that I still know.
Angel - 2/10
Hm, I just can't seem to like it. The composition is pretty simple, but Ayu's voice isn't able to carry the song.
Terminal - 10/10
Just perfect for me, especially melody and her voice!
Merry-go-round - 7/10
Hm, I like it, I like the atmosphere, though it's something missing for me to be great. Don't know what.
Lelio - 9/10
Another great song. Her vocals aren't that good, but she's having some attidue. Love!
NOW & 4EVA - 8/10
Biggest grower on the album for me. I just don't like the break that much before the end.

Overall, even with the songs I don't like, the album is well produced.
I appreciate that. And there are a bunch of songs this time I'm going to replay a long time for sure!