NEXT LEVEL album tracks now available on dwango.jp! (interludes revealed)

[kendelle]

Originally Posted by TerryXX

XD

the interludes dont really affect me, i mean cmon have you all forgotten ayu's ear?
she really need a rest, or vacation =P

WELL YAH But U KNo baetHOV'n woz DEFF fully aN He maed SoooOOOooo mannY GReatesT musIx!!!>??@!!!!! hOMfgg Ayoo iz juZ 22222 lazZ!!

[v3lun420]

Oh.... with all these interesting comments/posts here... I really can't wait to hear NL, and off course wanna know the reactions afterward IF this album turns out to be good. If this album turns out to be bad, well there are already lots of negative comments here, so more negative comments won't hurt anymore^^

To Kendelle: In a way, I think Ayu should be honored that you put her in the same level as Beethoven. But anyway, if u really read Beethoven's history, he wasn't got much praise as he IS now^^

[CoriKaru]

I was actually considering purchasing this Album.......

Buying an Album before you've heard it when you might not like because you think it's going to be good is no different than choosing not to buy an Album before you've heard it when you actually might like it because you think it will be bad and/or not worth the money. There's plenty of Premature Judgements going around. Let's stop bashing people for choosing how to spend their money (Calling their actions stupid, ignorant, ridiculous and the sort). You can always buy the album for them if you want them to have it that badly. That's been on the tip of my tongue all day.

And hey, once the Album is out and I hear some stuff or perhaps if I hear some previews, I may change my mind and buy it. The "NEXT LEVEL" preview does sound interesting. Heck, although "GREEN/Days" didn't do it for me at all, I may just buy this Album for "Rule/Sparkle" if the remaining new songs aren't convincing enough.

[polka-dot-jewel]

The people over at mixi have MANY different reactions to all the songs as well. Here are some of the reactions that I'm seeing over there:

- It's different from Ayu's other albums, and there's a lot of diversity in the album (meaning there's many different types of songs on there)
- I've seen a few people talk about how there's many interludes
- There's A LOT of disagreement over there; many people love it, many people aren't quite sure of it yet. (One person even said that they didn't quite like what they heard, but the lyrics were deep and meaningful.)
- NEXT LEVEL, overall, seems to have a "brighter" feel than Secret and GUILTY had.
- A lot of people didn't quite like some of the songs at first, but after listening to them more and more, they started to like them.
- Someone compared identity to 1LOVE. (But like some people have brought up, that's just one person's opinion, so to other people, identity may not sound like 1LOVE.)
- LOVE'n'HATE continues to be a popular track, with MANY people loving that song.

[sparkle glitter]

Originally Posted by v3lun420

Oh.... with all these interesting comments/posts here... I really can't wait to hear NL, and off course wanna know the reactions afterward IF this album turns out to be good. If this album turns out to be bad, well there are already lots of negative comments here, so more negative comments won't hurt anymore^^

Yeah, and even if it is a good album there will still be people here nitpicking about every wrong note or bad lyrics or whatnot. Same old same old wonderful non-greedy Ayumi Hamasaki fans at AHS

[SunshineSlayer]

Ok, here are some more translations as I am reading them from a Japanese Ayu board. It's funny that they kind of say the same things we do here.

"It seems there are various opinions about this album and that is natural. But people that only ever praise Ayu are not really fans I think."

"I just can't believe there are 4 instrumentals..."

"I don't understand people saying they won't buy the album when they haven't heard the full thing yet" (no one has heard the instrumentals) But apparently even some Japanese are saying they have canceled orders or won't buy now, just like here.

"Here lyrics seem vacant."

And in reply: "Have you seen all the lyrics for the album?!?! NO!!!!" lol.

A POSITIVE COMMENT: "Lately I have fallen into the sound of songs like Sparkle, so I am looking forward to this album. Rollin' brings to mind the feeling of Naturally. I think the full album will be fun to listen too but I do think that her lyrics sound much more direct than before."

Basically they spend a lot of posts going back and forth about the negative feelings fans are expressing towards the album and what constitutes being a "good" fan. I swear, I feel like I'm reading the same message board as here, lol.

I really think that this album might split people a lot.

[Zeke.]

Thanks for the translations!

That's hilarious that the Japanese are just like us when it comes to Ayu. Ha ha.

[se7entheaven]

oh well ayu herself rush and haste everything...after misunderstood no more 15+ tracks U_U...but it's ok if all the songs are nice. It's useless to have 20 songs but half of them are bad ones

[KLJames]

NOOOOooo! i highly expected "Disco-munication" is a full dance-able song, now ....
HAIHZZZZ, then pray "EnergizE" is nice enough ....

[krazeyo]

So far I see no comparisons between BLUE BIRD/fairyland/glitter on these forums. (it makes me happy to see she's at least switching that up )

[lfe.]

Also keep in mind that not everyone is a diehard or even a casual Ayu fan so they aren't twiddling their thumbs waiting for the next Ayu single to be available for download on their P2P Programs. While it may be only 6 new songs for most of us it can still be 7-10 new songs for other people.

I'm a little disappointed by 4 interludes, but she always has interludes so I'm getting used to it. She must have a reason/motive for them. She could have easily just left it as a 10 track album. As long as they sound good and flow well with the album I'm cool with it, like MY STORY, m(u), Secret. GUILTY's were boring imo.

[SunshineSlayer]

Here's another good one:

"It seems not many people are expressing favorably for this album. But this reminds me of like when Rainbow came out. Lots didn't like it, but it grew in peoples hearts."

[love in music]

i found this on JPM

"Curtain call - ballad with piano. It's nothing like JEWEL. Choir background vocal at the end. Vibrato and slight man-voice during chorus. I like it.
LOVE 'n' HATE - Dark pop with beat? Chorus reminds me of Koda's BUT
identity - It does remind me of 1LOVE. Chorus is better IMO though. Nothing insanely special but not bad either. I think I'll end up humming this a lot.
rollin' - techno? Electro pop? Kinda like Sparkle (though the latter is a much better song). Nothing special.
EnergizE - techno or electro pop? It's a terrible terrible comparison, but during the verse, the arrangement reminded me of Britney's Womanizer. Is this Lady Gaga's kind of music? (Don't listen so not sure.) And I disagree. This sounds NOTHING like Morning Musume.

So far, I would say...Curtain call, LnH, and identity are the best ones?"

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by part of Me ♥

i found this on JPM

"Curtain call - ballad with piano. It's nothing like JEWEL. Choir background vocal at the end. Vibrato and slight man-voice during chorus. I like it.

lol. "man-voice?" Don't know if I'm looking forward to hearing that...

[freedreamer]

FIRSTLY @WATERBALLOON...U ROCK SO MUCH. really good post. and YEA! (m)u had so much few new songs?! NEXT LEVEL has more. its just 4 freakin interludes...
I will only listen to them for the first few weeks then I start skipping them, just to listen to my favourtie songs but I dont see it as a waste of money because I'm enjoying what I'm listening to.

Originally Posted by Nippon

Ditto.
How much time does it take to write a damn song?

god...


at least i won't feel guilty when I download them

You should try. Writing a song doesnt take very long. Writing a GOOD song, writing lyrics (only when there's inspiration), arranging the song, recording the song, mixing the song, re-mastering the song.

yea. that's how the stuff they need to do to give you your "damn" songs

Originally Posted by jimex289

I understand why some people would be disappointed at only getting 6 new songs. BUT Ayu has worked mighty hard for this album. I dunno about some of you guys but I can't bring myself to be disappointed just because there's more interludes and less new songs. She's been flying back and forth to the U.S. on numerous trips just to put this together and running around like crazy; at the end of the day, all some people can do is complain. I mean, it is what it is. We can't even begin to imagine what it's like to walk in her shoes for a day. Then add her tour that's commencing next month. She has to visualize and work out the whole thing on top of rehearsals (which she's probably about to start doing now). It's still an album either way you look at it; and what's to say this album won't be excellent or those 6 six songs won't be mighty fine ones? Putting the cart before the horse again...at the very least wait for the thing to come out, listen to the songs, and then make your judgment. It's not really fair to her, who's putting this stuff out for us.

EXACTLY. Just look at the time she had to put out this album. She actually took a long break last year from releasing anything new. Why can't people see that...SunshineSlayer also mentioned this..and yea! its a fact...i mean..

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

OK, so Curtain call is up at recochoku and the only parts available for download are 3 verses and a bridge. Seems like there is indeed no chorus.

WOW thats really cool and new. her choice of songs for PVs usually don't disappoint.

Originally Posted by mishidabo

so, eventho the interludes thingy is a rip-off , i think you, ayufans, are gonna love the new tracks... or maybe not?

love n' hate - is gonna be the favorite of many, its the one that stands out of the bunch (i actually like this song x_x)
Energize - mph..... haha ... lol
rollin' - it could've been better.. its the same issue with sparkle, the song is going nowhere, but the music is better this time imo
identity - doesnt fit the album, sounds like a reject from guilty (pukes). it kinda reminds me of decision, but lol i only listen to that song once so XD

curtain call - ew ew ew ew ew ew x_x piano only ballad.... the melody is AWFUL! and church choirs? really, ayu? XD

thats the only ones i got to listen to.

i'm only interested in love n' hate, is it going to get a pv?

if identity soounds like 1 LOVE. i'll love it. if it sounds from GUILTY, then i'll love it more too. (imo, GUILTY's is really emotional..and that's what i like about it.) Anyways, the other songs...hmmm haha dunno. Shall patiently wait for previews.

But seeing such reviews (not just from you..but from the Japanese)..is quite saddening. Ayu really doesnt give a hoot about the second place anymore does she. BUT on the bright side, it's gonna be something really new.

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Here's another good one:

"It seems not many people are expressing favorably for this album. But this reminds me of like when Rainbow came out. Lots didn't like it, but it grew in peoples hearts."

Very wise comment. In the long run, all songs become the past and who noes, thye might end up becoming classics still. You wont appreciate that until years later.

[kendelle]

The man voice comment is interesting, I wonder if it's a man singing backing vocals or if Ayu's voice goes all weird? xD

I find it interesting how every aspect of this album has caused to much bickering....even internationally. People have complained about the title, the tracklisting, the number of interludes vs full tracks, that Rule/Sparkle aren't getting decent promotion because of the album, that she should be promoting the album more than her singles, that the covers are bad, that the limited release of the USB was bad, that the extra PCDL CD was bad, that the colours of the limited packaging were bad or they didn't get the perfect colour.

When we see the booklet shoots people will complain about how the lyrics are bad and the disc pictures will be bad and there won't be enough of this picture or that picture.

I bet people will complain if they don't get EXACTLY 1.3Gb of storage on the USB because one of the PVs was larger than Avex expected it to be. They'll also complain if they have 1.4Gb of space because that obviously means there wasn't enough effort put into the album to take up that extra 100Mb.

I am disappointed in 4 interludes. Disco-munication and Load of the SHUGYO (It'll take me forever to spell that correctly :eyeroll ) would have been epic titles for full tracks but I'll be happy if the rest of the album is good. I guess if she can't make a full track then she can't. I'm still excited, no doubt about it as I can tell this album is going to be great...what I dont' understand is how her "fans" have already given up on the album after hearing some second-hand reviews translated from another language. Have you ever been THAT disappointed by Ayu before? She's always been very consistent, she's the only artist apart from The Gorillaz that I buy ever album of even before hearing it

I just hope there are no Born to Be... PVs on the album and CREA gets some action...I can dream!

I remember reading that RAINBOW divided lots of the fans at the time, because it was so different. RAINBOW is easily my favorite album and is a favorite for many of her fans - it just took time to sink in properly. I hope that's the same this time around...

[jbrat2219]

Some of the track descriptions are interesting... I can't wait to hear it!

[jimex289]

I see people are likening it to RAINBOW but I don't think it'll turn out to be anything like that even with the English hahaha. It might be favorable for me because there were many aspects of RAINBOW that made it highly artistic in my opinion. If this album has those elements in it or even just a slight hint of them, I think I'll be left with a good impression. More importantly, people should just take the album for what it is and not expect too much or too little out of it; otherwise I think they're just setting themselves up for a surprise.

[polka-dot-jewel]

I honestly think this is an album where you can't judge based on hearing a song just once; you really have to listen to it two-three+ times to really see if you like it or not. I keep seeing people mention that they're growing on songs based on multiple listenings, or that they'll fully judge a song after they've listened to it again later.

As much as I've seen people comment on how great LOVE'n'HATE is, I'm seeing more and more people start to comment on how great curtain call and identity are. I haven't really seen people talk any about rollin' or EnergizE, though.

[A-TeensFan]

4 interludes??? is this a joke??? i want discomunication to be a full track!!!