Rank the Albums!

[Ayumi27]

Well, i'm breaking sugarbasil's pattern lol

1- I Am... - Just perfect, each track was a hit back then.
2- Rainbow - Love the album itself, not any track in particular.
3- (miss)understood - Perfect pop album, my first ayu songs are there.
4- LOVEppears - Its a great album with some J-Pop classics.
5- Memorial Address - I dislike half the tracks and LOVE the rest (entire &, Forgiveness)
6- Secret - I liked many tracks, but not the singles (Especially Startin' and Born to Be...)
7- Duty - A bit boring for me, but great songs like Seasons.
8- Guilty - I hadn't heard it A LOT, so it's unfair to judge it.
9- My Story - Against all odds, i find this album a complete dissapointment
10- A Song for XX - The first one, so, produced with a smaller budget... Dislike it except
Depend on You & Friend.

[Kikaru]

My top five tend to rotate, but here's now:

1. Memorial Address (IMO the perfect album, albeit mini. It's diverse and powerful)
2. I am... (I'm biased because my first Ayu songs were from this album)
3. Guilty (I like the epic atmosphere of this album)
4. Duty
5. Secret
6. My Story
7. (Miss) Understood
8. Rainbow (although it has some great tracks, a lot were subpar)
9. LOVEppears (decent singles, but too techno-trance for me)
10. A Song for XX (the squeaky voice)

[Minttulatte]

Argh, I hate these rating things. Well, I'll give a try anyway.

1. (miss)understood
I don't know. This sounds so unique into my ear. And I have only good memories of this albums. Songs and the music awesome and Ayu sounds so great. And then there's the fact that this has, I guess, most personal songs of all the albums.

2. GUILTY
Oh~ <3 This really made me fall in love with Ayu's music again. Secret really made it weaken for a moment, but GUILTY brought it back. And this is like a story like the album at #3. :3

3. MY STORY
This album has absolutely none bad songs. Besides I've been worshiping this album lately a lot. I don't know why. Well, I love this album too, even if I had to listen Humming 7/4 about 100 times through before I began to love it.

4. Memorial address
Memorial address... I'll never forget this album. It's all because of Because of You. I was like "this isn't Ayu!" when I first heard it. And I hated it. But I have no idea what happened when I suddenly began to love this song. And yeah, album is short, but every song sounds good in their own way, even ANGEL'S SONG and Greatful days.

5. Secret
I have always said this album sucks, but it's not that bad actually. It's pretty good. I think it's a bit too dark or something, but anyways, it has a lot of awesome songs, even Beautiful Fighters is a fine song nowadays to me. And this album has momentum. <3

6. Duty
This has none of annoying songs. This was for a while my favourite album, but then I listened all the albums and it changed. This album has only awesome songs and that rocker feeling on it really hit the spot in my heart. I love this album~ <3

7. I am...
This is here, even if a song is born is boring crap imo. I hate the song into bits. But still this album is better than RAINBOW because this has songs that were my favourites since first listening (evolution for example).

8. RAINBOW
Summerish RAINBOW. <3 This album is awesome too. Maybe it's a bit too popish for my tastes, but I like this a lot. This has creepy sounding HANABI and wonderful Over on it. <3 I love these songs. But I got bored with Real me a bit too fast and July 1st was other that bored me. :/

9. LOVEppears
LOVEppears is here because it makes me really bored really fast. I don't like it, because this album is still one of my favourities from Ayu. I like that trance style on this, because I love trance music. <3 But this isn't so good as the later released albums.

10. A Song for xx
This is my least favourite Ayu's album because this really made me think what kind of a crap this was, but I still listened to it. :3 This album has only few good songs and others are boring or just annoying. I also think that Two of us should had been on the album instead of from your letter or For My Dear... I have never really liked both of those. :/ But I don't hate this album at all. I like listening to these songs though, but it would had been better.

Phew. -.-

[aqua_crystal]

My ideas on Ayu's albums changes every once in a while, but here's the current:

1) (miss)understood
2) Loveppears
3) Duty
4) MY STORY
5) Secret
6) GUILTY
7) A Song For XX
8) I am
9) RAINBOW

[Genki+]

01. (miss)understood
02. Secret
03. Memorial Address
04. Guilty
05. I Am...
06. Rainbow
07. My Story
08. Duty
09. A Song For XX
10. Loveppears

I love all the albums though

[Melrose]

@Powwo: Secret too dark? o_O It's got a TON of happy poppy songs. And you don't like too dark albums but you put GUILTY as no. 2? Lol. XD

01. Secret
Great theme, cover and songs. It has happy songs, sad ballads, powerful rock (not depressive rock like GUILTY, which I don't like) and two great interludes.
Stand out tracks: until that Day..., 1 LOVE, JEWEL

02. I am...
This album just deserves here for having M on it. XD It has a wide variety of music, yet they all go together so well and it sounds beautiful. I love the raw sound she still had back then. still alone is a ballad that has always touched me greatly for no reason that I can think of, and was one of my first Ayu songs ever. To my surprise I actually like Connected and Naturally, because I normally don't like techno-ish songs.
Stand out tracks: evolution, M, Dearest

03. Memorial Address
Every song on this album could be described as a unique masterpiece. They all have their own theme and sound, yet it flows together so well. I love every song on this album. I also like how there are no annoying filler tracks (aka. interludes).
Stand out tracks: Because of You, HANABI ~Episode II~, No way to say

04. MY STORY
The tracks themselves don't really stand out, but as a whole this album really does it for me. I love the theme and thought that this album portrays. It's got some great songs on it, too, and is my first Ayu album (which I considered a favorite until I listened to other songs more).
Stand out tracks: GAME, walking proud, INSPIRE
Edit: Actually, scrap what I said above. The songs on this album are amazing too. I just realized that when I had a lot of trouble selecting stand out tracks lol.

05. GUILTY
I think this album has WAY too much rock. On the other hand it also has some huge stand out songs, and all songs have something going for them in their own way. There aren't any songs that I really despise, but as an album itself I don't think this really works. The CD+DVD album cover also has a big appeal to me and makes me want to listen to the album and watch the PVs. It also has MY ALL !! and some great songs like Marionette. I just don't think this works as an album because of the many interludes. I also REALLY don't get what the word GUILTY has to do with the album songs. It should be more called like NEVER FOREVER or something, because most songs talk about destruction / creation.
Stand out tracks: (don't) Leave me alone, talkin' 2 myself, fated

06. (miss)understood
How most people LOVE this album above everything else amazes me. When I look at the track list, I notice that all my favorite songs are at the top or the bottom, and in the middle there's a huge gap of songs that I REALLY don't like. This album has a lot of hit-or-miss songs. It has some of my favs, yet some of my least favs. I don't like the album from In The Corner to Will, which is pretty much 1/3rd. It kind of takes away my love for the album. They should have done the songs in a different order or something.
Stand out tracks: Ladies Night, is this LOVE?, HEAVEN

07. RAINBOW
Speaking of hit-or-miss songs, this album has plenty. It has very weak tracks and very powerful tracks, but the weak ones outnumber the powerful ones. This is my favorite album THEME though. I love the album title, art and theme of freedom. I hate July 1st, though. And I don't like everywhere nowhere, WE WISH and Over. I'm also not a fan of Dolls.
Stand out tracks: Real me, Free & Easy, Voyage

08. Duty
Well, I guess this album goes here. I don't really like my three bottom albums. This is a short album with a lot of songs that I don't like or don't listen to much: Duty, vogue, End of the World, Far Away, teddy bear, Key ~eternal tie ver.~ and girlish. Yea, almost the entire album.
Stand out tracks: SURREAL, SEASONS, and uh... SCAR or AUDIENCE I guess.

09. LOVEppears
I'm not a fan of techno-ish music, so I don't like this album much. It's simply not my taste. It's fun every once in a while, though. Especially monochrome and WHATEVER (live version). I also don't like Boys & Girls. AYU!! Stop performing that HORRID SONG! >_< (Or maybe I just don't like it because it takes up a concert spot on the set list lol. I'm not sure. I didn't really listen to it before watching her concerts.)
Stand out tracks: Fly High, End roll, Who...

10. A Song for XX
Lol, need I say more?
Stand out tracks: A Song for XX, YOU, Depend on you

[Melrose]

^

We have almost the same!! *soul mates*

[Seiko Yua]

standout tracks for me in italics ^_^

01. (miss)understood all of 'em except (miss)understood and criminal
what can i say? ayu took some chances and it was the best thing she could ever do <3

02. Memorial address all except No Way to Say
my most favorite song of ayu's is HANABI ~episode II~. her music on this album took a different and unique turn from her pop roots and it came out brilliant. the lyrics were piercing, the music was rockin', and you had a pv for every song!

03. RAINBOW Real me, Heartplace, Voyage, Close to you, independent+
i like how ayu took some chances with this album as well, but it's still the last stretch of the old ayu so it's a win-win kind of album! ^_^

03. Secret**Startin', 1 LOVE, taskinst, Born To Be..., kiss o' kill, Secret
though the album was a bit rushed and supposedly put a lot of strain on ayu, i think she does pretty well under pressure and this album shows it. so what if taskin stole an instrumental from hoobastank, who cares?! i think it's the best taskin interlude by far. the risks ayu took in this album (Startin', Born To Be...) proved good in the end.

05. I am... Connected, UNITE!, evolution, Daybreak, M, A Song is born, Dearest, Endless sorrow + Flower garden
though ayu's career peaked with this album, i just got too much of a mainstream feel from it. i think this album took a western turn in a musical sense which was probably a good thing, but i didn't get that ayu feeling. although, some of her best lyrics come from this album. and i'll feel really unamerican if i hate on A Song is born lol

06. MY STORY About You, Liar, INSPIRE, HONEY, Replace, winding road
for me, this album was too cutesy. though i admit i liked some of 'em (hence, my standout list), i just think ayu lost her maturity within the lyrics with the compositions. even the cd booklet photoshoot was WAAAY to pink for my tastes.

07. LOVEppears Fly high, Trauma, And Then, immature, Boys & Girls, End roll, monochrome, LOVE ~refrain~, Who...
at first, i never gave this album a second glance from her singles, but after i forced myself to pop it in my cd player during a long road trip, i can understand the many fans' love for it! ayu is so young and she conveys it well through the compositions but then she is so mature and conveys THAT through the lyrics. i'm really partial to trance/techno/eurobeat so i find myself at a loss of thought as to why i snubbed this album XD BUT then again, she still has her nasaly pre-pubescent voice and can't really hit those notes so that's why it's bumped down so low on my list

08. GUILTY talkin' 2 myself, fated, Marionette -prelude-, Marionette, The Judgement Day, glitter
i already did my rant on the evaluate your least favorite albums thread. but i think lyrically, most of the songs are the same and run together and ayu needs to take a break from rock ballads. it's a dark turn that could've worked well on an album if ayu hadn't have overused it.

09. Duty vogue, SCAR, AUDIENCE, SEASONS, teddy bear, Key ~eternal tie ver.~
the lyrics on many of these tracks are beautiful, but many of the songs call for ayu to hit some notes that she can't quite reach...

10. A Song for XX
i feel bad for ranking it because i haven't even heard 3/4 of the album @_@

**yes i know there're two no. 3s but i have to put 'em as a tie because they're both no. 3 equally in my heart ^_^

[tourniquet]

my current rating:

1. Duty
a long time I didn't like Duty too much, but it really picked up in the last year. now I love songs like SCAR and End of the World the most, which I hated deeply before. the singles are great, although I'm a bit sick of them - the song Duty has this apocalyptic/melancholic feeling which I really love.

<3: Duty, Far away, End of the World, SCAR

2. GUILTY
uhm, I am shocked that this rates now at second. you see, I like ayu's darker efforts quite a bit... the album is like Duty very well-flowing, although nothing stands extremely out. you don't have a track you can repeat for quite a while, but no track is really weak either.

<3: Together When..., Mirror, untitled ~for her~

3. (miss)understood
what saves this album are the shiny, shiny outstanding single tracks and some pearls like (miss)understood and rainy day. the middle of this album doesn't exist for me. In The Corner, criminal, Pride = horrible to my ears. hate them with passion. </3

<3: STEP you, is this LOVE?, (miss)understood, rainy day, fairyland, HEAVEN, Bold & Delicious

4. Secret
shocked again... I didn't like it during release, but right now I pretty much enjoy it. it's flowing so semi-well. Not yet is in my opinion the perfect prelude to kiss o' kill. and they should've made it into a full song, of course.

<3: Not yet, until that Day..., Startin', BLUE BIRD, kiss o' kill, Secret

5. MY STORY
I love to call this MY STORY IS TOO LONG. the styles are too similar and it draaaags to the end. you just wish for the disc to explode or something... but the tracks have very high production value and the singles were mind-blowing. the rest is still pretty good, but... you don't REALLY memorize the melody or anything. I couldn't hum it for my life's sake.

<3: Catcher In The Light, GAME, INSPIRE, Moments, HOPE or PAIN, walking proud, winding road

6. LOVEppears
I don't like some of these "classics", but it has some very strong tracks... it doesn't sound very good mixed for a sophomore album.

<3: Fligh high, kanariya, And Then, immature, TO BE, WHATEVER

7. RAINBOW
my first ayu-album I ever listened to. I'm so sick of it, lol. but it flows quite nicely.

<3: WE WISH, Heartplace, Free & Easy, Dolls

8. I am...
endlessly overrated. honestly, it's my least favourite ayu-era. I skip almost the whole album, because the music is not my taste, even if there are some great tunes. the trance-inspired tracks are bearable. this version of Endless sorrow also sucks... endless.

<3: M, Naturally, Connected, I am...

9. Memorial address
don't like it too much now. listened it a lot at the beginning of my ayu-fandom. too immature, somehow. forgiveness is the worst ayu single ever.

<3: ourselves, No way to say, Memorial address

10. A Song for XX
****. rerecord it, dear, and I'll love it to death, surely. songs aren't that memorable, production is quite horrible as the style is.

<3: A Song for XX, poker face, SIGNAL

[tinka69]

1) I am... || Her best songs are on this album.
2) Memorial Address || I loved every track, yes, even angel song. It flowed really well and had emotion.
3) (miss)understood || It had a lot of good songs and flowed really well.
4) Duty || Ground breaking, a new Ayu. Classic songs such as Surreal, Seasons, Key ~Eternal Tie Mix~ and Duty itself.
5) Secret || It had Startin' ^-^.
6) RAINBOW || It was different (in a good way). You would like it more if you didn't understand Japanese.
7) LOVEppears || Had some pretty good songs on it actually lol.
8) MY STORY || Fairly average. The songs weren't as appealing.
9) A Song for XX || I came in during the Duty Era so naturally I don't like this album.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

my story
(miss)understood
memorial address
i am...
duty
rainbow
a song for xx
loveppears
secret
guilty

no explanation, just accept it. hahaha

[g~sus~]

Zzz..here's mine:
1. (Miss)Understood-Ladies nite rawks gwahaha(so do B&D)
2. Memorial address-Lovely & unique album
3. I am- i don't own d ori cd it tho penniless
4. Secret-Jewel is great & until tht day too
5. MY STORY
7. Duty- Teddy bear is lovely
8. Rainbow- heartplace..!
urgh..i hate her old albums..too squeeky..

[Rainbow141]

I will list my favorite albums in order of how many favorite songs I have on each album and how important those favorite songs are to me.... Here goes:

1.) Loveppears
2.) GUILTY
3.) MY STORY
4.) I am...
5.) RAINBOW
6.) Secret
7.) Memorial Address
8.) (miss)understood
9.) Duty
10.) A Song For XX

[Rather Hazy]

1. I Am...
Perfection. The album she was born to make, I don't know how to describe it, everything about it is right. It also has three of my all time favourite Japanese songs; M, Evolution and A Song Is Born.

2. Secret
This is another album where I feel like everything fell into place in just the right way and ended up being amazing, especially for such a rushed project.

3. Duty
What on the surface first seemed to me like Ayu's most forgettable album holds inside some incredibly well crafted songs. In some ways this album feels a little like a dry run for I Am..., even though sonically they're not that similar, the feelings of the songs, the genuine compositions and the perfect arrangements, in retrospect, seem to point to I Am... being the next step.

4. LOVEppears
This seems more like a single collection than an album to me, almost all the songs seem like (and were) mega hits, although it's let down by a few duds and the fact that, like I said, it seems like a single collection, there's nothing that really holds all the songs together.

5. (Miss) Understood
Later in her career she's gotten a lot of criticism about too many of her songs sounding the same, but you can't say that about most of (Miss) Understood. I know some of Geo's tracks turned some fans off but I thought generally the album ended up exactly how it had to be for something fresh. Enough variety to be completely fresh but the tracks still sound cohesive with each other. Just has a couple of stinkers that drag it right down for me.

6. Memorial Address
Hard to grade this one because of it being significantly smaller than her other albums, most of the songs are technically perfect but a bit too conventional after I Am... and Rainbow.

7. Rainbow
This could have been even better for me than I Am..., but it ended up wrong. Almost every song starts with amazing, captivating ambient instrumental clips and then when the actual melodies start I snap right out of it. Some of those songs were just utterly bland, although it did have a few true gems. I just wish more of the album could be like Everlasting Dream, Neverending Dream, Hanabi and the first 45 seconds of Everywhere Nowhere.


8. Guilty
Little to say about Guilty, it's not horrible, just unremarkable. It doesn't have as many bad tracks as Rainbow, for example, but it doesn't really have anything that captures me, plus I hear a few songs that seem like a second version of a previous song.

9. My Story
If this was a mini album like Memorial Address it could have been up there with Secret, it's got a few brilliant songs, but the whole album goes to hell after Wonderland and never really recovers properly until Humming 7/4, and by then it's too late. Plus, like Guilty, some of the songs seem too similar to earlier ones from Memorial Address.

10. A Song For XX
Combine the blandness of Guilty with the downright crappy filler from My Story and you've got A Song For XX. I can count the truly worthwhile tracks on one hand with fingers to spare.

[xLuna&1LOVE]

1. LOVEPPEARS
2. GUILTY
3. (miss) understood
4. MY STORY
5. Secret
6. RAINBOW
7. a Song for Xx
8. I am...
9. Memorial Address
10. Duty.