NEXT LEVEL album thoughts - Page 11

ayu_ready? · #**201** 25th March 2009, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcluva420

i personally think NEXT LEVEL is much better than GUILTY .

YESSSSSSSSS

emi♡ · #**202** 25th March 2009, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

I agree with you on some points yes. Although I'm a She not a He. I think my username must give off too much of a masculine effect or something...

omg! NO...okay look, I always thought you were a girl! And then...maybe it was someone else...but they kept correcting me saying they were a guy, and I guess I mixed them up with you lol

Sorry

Dustie · #**203** 25th March 2009, 10:09 PM

I absolutely love the refrain in NEXT LEVEL! It's the best track from the album - the rest sounds rather random...

Andrenekoi · #**204** 25th March 2009, 11:12 PM

The only thing that bothers me is when some people start talking about how bad and not emitional her music is now and how good it was before... I (and a lot of other people) prefer her actual moment than her past one... I hate Fly High, Boys & Girls and Audience to death (even if I like B&G on concerts) 'cause to me it's just a overly happy song with immature girlish lyrics.... I can see myself when she is singing Mirrorcle World, Alterna, Raining Day, Sparkle much more than when she is singing her "classics" and I like how her creative lyrics are much more mature now (even if she never stops writing about the smae things in most of her music).

And I can feel emotion in most of she is singing now (and I can't feel it in some... but I can't feel it in some of the older ones too)... Some people said that GREEN lacks emotion... to me is one of her best ballads ever! And I'm not talking only about music, I'm talking about the lyrics, her voice and all the emotion I feel from this song, even before reading the lyrics (that I really like too)... A lot of people that don't like GREEN loved Days, and to me, Days is another wintery ballad like the ones she releases every year...

If you don't like NL, thats not a problem... but when people starts talking about how bad this album is and how much she needs to rest... then, I don't like it... Because these people is saying that the songs I like are not good and are not respecting that sometimes it's not about how good the songs are... It's just about being or not being someone's cup of tea...

sparkle glitter · #**205** 25th March 2009, 11:15 PM

I like everything except for the interludes. I was expecting more. Ayumi needs to just get rid of interludes altogether. This is just annoying now.

SunshineSlayer · #**206** 26th March 2009, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

If you don't like NL, thats not a problem... but when people starts talking about how bad this album is and how much she needs to rest... then, I don't like it... Because these people is saying that the songs I like are not good and are not respecting that sometimes it's not about how good the songs are... It's just about being or not being someone's cup of tea...

But then you just said that you hate songs like Fly High and Audience and that they are immature, so aren't you doing the same thing? There are always going to be people on either side either criticizing the new era or the old era. That's not likely to stop anytime soon.

waterballoon · #**207** 26th March 2009, 05:30 AM

@SunshineSlayer: Okay, I get what you mean. I agree with you that she honestly needs a long rest though... I really like this album, but I've never really agreed with the release date.

Anyway, what I meant in that quote where you were "What?", was that you made it sound as though you're enjoying something like Fly high just because it contains a lot of 'regrets' in it (in the lyrics), as compared to another song of similar style but with lyrics that are extremely confident and positive (EnergizE), which makes me wonder if a happy-sounding song needs to have a tinge of regret/negativity to be enjoyed. But I doubt you're such a person, though you're a sunshine slayer.

In any case, I so disagree with what someone said about Fly high/AUDIENCE/Boys & Girls have immature lyrics! Omg! That is quite a bad song to say, because those songs have really amazing lyrics. I don't think her lyrics from any era is 'better' than lyrics from another era... they are all the relate-able and heartfelt lyrics from Ayu.

For me, I enjoy albums ever since RAINBOW, as in I can listen to these recent albums at one shot and enjoy them a lot.

For her earlier years, I find it hard to listen to them in albums (except Duty), her earlier songs are really stellar as songs, but I don't like listening to them in their albums.

I don't know what that means, but I know I enjoy both the old and new Ayu.

SunshineSlayer · #**208** 26th March 2009, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waterballoon

Anyway, what I meant in that quote where you were "What?", was that you made it sound as though you're enjoying something like Fly high just because it contains a lot of 'regrets' in it (in the lyrics), as compared to another song of similar style but with lyrics that are extremely confident and positive (EnergizE), which makes me wonder if a happy-sounding song needs to have a tinge of regret/negativity to be enjoyed. But I doubt you're such a person, though you're a sunshine slayer.

lol, yeah I totally didn't mean for my name to be taken in this context when I chose it, haha. In my early days as an Ayu fan it was actually ironic, because I was always super positive about everything, haha. And no, I don't think lyrics need to have regret in them to be good, but its hard to deny the brilliance of her happy but regretful songs though.

Nice that we can agree on some things and disagree on others nicely.

waterballoon · #**209** 26th March 2009, 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

lol, yeah I totally didn't mean for my name to be taken in this context when I chose it, haha. In my early days as an Ayu fan it was actually ironic, because I was always super positive about everything, haha. And no, I don't think lyrics need to have regret in them to be good, but its hard to deny the brilliance of her happy but regretful songs though.

Nice that we can agree on some things and disagree on others nicely.

Oh I know right! Like glitter is a good example of happy songs with regret, but again the songs in NEXT LEVEL have happiness/hope that she hasn't really written before, so it's pretty cool.

jbrat2219 · #**210** 26th March 2009, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

The only thing that bothers me is when some people start talking about how bad and not emitional her music is now and how good it was before... I (and a lot of other people) prefer her actual moment than her past one... I hate Fly High, Boys & Girls and Audience to death (even if I like B&G on concerts) 'cause to me it's just a overly happy song with immature girlish lyrics.... I can see myself when she is singing Mirrorcle World, Alterna, Raining Day, Sparkle much more than when she is singing her "classics" and I like how her creative lyrics are much more mature now (even if she never stops writing about the smae things in most of her music).

Yeah, I'm an old fan and I never felt any strong emotion from songs like Fly high, Trauma, or immature (to name a few). I mean, if you never had access to the translation of those lyrics, would you even know what they were about (if you don't speak Japanese)? To me, emotion in a song transcends beyond words, it can be the power in one's voice. To me, she sings songs like Who..., A Song for XX (A BALLADS version), Together When..., (miss)understood and GUILTY (to name a few) with tremendous emotion which is why I enjoy those songs so much.

But emotion doesn't only have to be about sadness. When she sings songs like independent, or July 1st, I hear happiness in her voice despite whatever the lyrics may say. I haven't heard this album yet because a certain postal worker decided to just leave a note saying "we were here" instead of KNOCKING while I was waiting nearby! <_<;;.... But anyway, from what people say it sounds like this album has distorted her vocals a bit? But from what I hear in songs like GREEN, Rule and Sparkle, she sounds so confident! I get such a "HELL YEAH!" feeling whenever I hear those songs. And Days sounds just soooo sweet! I love the way she sings it, before evening knowing what she was saying I could tell it was a sort of love song.

So when people ask me which era of Ayu's music I like more, I can't really say because there is so much I like about the old and new. But I can say that I feel more in her newer works than her older ones. I'm not saying they lacked emotion or whatever, I just didn't feel any particular vibe because her voice, in my opinion, sounded the same for each song; happy or sad. It wasn't until she redid a few of her songs that I felt what she was talking about without reading the lyrics (i.e. A Song for XX on A BALLADS, talk about WOW). Anyway, that's my two cents for now. When I finally get my copy tomorrow morning, I'll give it a good hard listen.

waterballoon · #**211** 26th March 2009, 01:52 PM

^ The problem that people have with NEXT LEVEL is that her vocals are too over-produced that they lack emotion. I mean I'm not so sure of that, but hey, that's feedback from the fans too.

One thing I'm super sure of is that if she were to take a break, her vocals would be back in good condition, and she wouldn't need to rely on "layering" or whatever.

But yes, 100% agree with you! A lot of her newer songs (let's take newer = from (miss)understood onwards) contain strong emotions in her voice... fated and Together When... are like prime examples.

That's why Ayu is so important to me... her voice, however un-powerhouse it may be, always contains a lot of emotion.

In NEXT LEVEL, the techno songs might have been a little robotic, but in songs where her voice are not tampered (with vocoders), I feel emotion too, like in NEXT LEVEL, GREEN, Days and Curtain call.

lovelism · #**212** 26th March 2009, 02:11 PM

This album really is good to me. REALLY GREAT

ayu_ready? · #**213** 26th March 2009, 02:22 PM

I think that album's theme is electro-pop and that expains the use of vocoder

me, personally, wouldn't like these songs so much if they had "natural" Ayu voice I guess
this voice effect adds smth extra to album's sound for me

Chiharo · #**214** 26th March 2009, 05:25 PM

The album is good,but it's ayumi,so it's a disappointment.
GUILTY was so much better album and is her best ever IMO.

sabbakk · #**215** 26th March 2009, 05:32 PM

I guess it's again my unconditioned love for Ayu's music that talks in me, but I think NL is great. It's creative and somewhat provocative and it is a next level for our ever-changing Ayu.

jbrat2219 · #**216** 26th March 2009, 05:55 PM

Well I listened to the the whole thing one time, and I must say, there isn't a terrible amount of "emotion" per se. But there's definitely a lot of attitude, which is something so new from her! I love it.

panda87 · #**217** 26th March 2009, 06:53 PM

For those of you who disagreed on my statement that Ayu has lost her writing spark, that "as if i could write better lyrics", i must say, it's not like we think under the same light bulb and i've never said i could've done better. I've listened to Ayu since the summer of '99 mainly for her lyrics and genius music arrangements and i know for an obvious fact that her lyrics aren't as captivating as before. She still writes great lyrics, but they're aren't THE best anymore, just ONE OF the best nowadays.

But i'll list the few that actually stuck out lyrically to me from NEXT LEVEL:

NEXT LEVEL (especially the line "even the scar in my past is dear to me now")
rollin'
identity

these remind me of her I Am... era, maybe b/c of the arrangement and the lyrics. these sink deeper than the rest of the songs on the album. and i'm not referring to how she doesn't write certain kinds of lyrics. i'm saying writing in general. now let's go have some ice cream, sheesh.

emi♡ · #**218** 26th March 2009, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrat2219

So when people ask me which era of Ayu's music I like more, I can't really say because there is so much I like about the old and new. But I can say that I feel more in her newer works than her older ones. I'm not saying they lacked emotion or whatever, I just didn't feel any particular vibe because her voice, in my opinion, sounded the same for each song; happy or sad. It wasn't until she redid a few of her songs that I felt what she was talking about without reading the lyrics (i.e. A Song for XX on A BALLADS, talk about WOW). Anyway, that's my two cents for now. When I finally get my copy tomorrow morning, I'll give it a good hard listen.

And this is where I go and tell everyone to watch her sing all those old songs live.

Sometimes I think some people mistake the style she sings in, as emotion. Not saying you, just some people.

Just because her older works had to sound a certain way, doesn't mean that there isn't emotion put into them. When I watch Ayu's old concerts, I'm reminded of why I'm an Ayu fan, because she was just awesome when she was singing, even if she sang a wrong note lol.

But I guess it's just people's preference. A lot of newer fans prefer her new way of singing and performing...I personally don't....I wish she'd go back..at least to AT05.

I really disagree where people think her old songs don't contain emotions like the new ones...if anything, for me, they contain more, because for me, they feel more sincere. Like it was just her...now it's very different in the way she writes, records, and performs.

Maybe it's just the evolution of an artist.

love in music · #**219** 26th March 2009, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emiko

But I guess it's just people's preference. A lot of newer fans prefer her new way of singing and performing...I personally don't....I wish she'd go back..at least to AT05.

i don't understand why people say that. like you can't be an older fan and prefer her newer stuff? i'm not that older of a fan but i've been listening to her since mid 2001 and definitely prefer her singing style now (minus the vibrato) than her older singing.

emi♡ · #**220** 26th March 2009, 08:59 PM

^No, it's just the impression I get from reading all the new threads where people post their thoughts about stuff.

You just don't see many newer fans that like her old way of singing.

I wasn't implying anything about her older fans. They seem to be all over the place in how they feel.