NEXT LEVEL album thoughts

[Tom Punks]

Originally Posted by emiko

Hello obvious gap between types of Ayu fans and the correlations to when they became fans...

I wonder how many people that totally love Ayu and her newer lyrics think her best albums happened after (miss) understood

I've been thinking that too. It seems like most people who love this album are newer fans, and people don't like it so much are her older fans.

[dreamland2.0]

Well I'm listening to it right now and I think it's great!!
I'm really looking forward to listening to this album all the time!!
My favourites (of the new tracks) are definitely rollin', identity, and LOVE n' HATE
and ALL the interludes sound amazing!
And I officially love Yuta Nakano, she can use him all the time if it was up to me

And just for the record some newer fans do like her voice from her early years!
(like me)
I think it's a matter of musical preference and what particular musical style she chooses for an album.
If you don't like electro-dance music then, you might not enjoy an album like NEXT LEVEL.
Personally for me, I like all her albums

[yukito]

Fantastic album!!! Love NEXT LEVEL, EnergizE and Curtain call. Is it just me or does it remind the song Without You by Badfinger or more well known by Mariah Carey, just the piano intro.

[sparkle glitter]

Actually, if I listen without any interludes I like this album more. They're very annoying. EnergizE reminds me a lot of independent and her old songs. This album is refreshing, but the interludes are too much.

Also : Idiotic when people feel the need to say her old albums are better than her new ones. As if her old albums were just oh-so-epic. Maybe if you're a depressed loner.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

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.

There's a huge diference in saying "I think this album is bad, I like her older works better" and "this album is bad, she is losing her spark! Her songs aren't as good as they used to be and her new songs will not be remembered by anyone this time"

Even if I'm a new ayu fan (started being a fan in Memorial Address era because of the Because of You video and the AT03-04), I'm not new to jpop nor to Ayu's music...

[ayumisrael]

I'm a fan since 2003 (Close to Memorial address era) so I guess it's in between old and new (and maybe it's the reason there is a good balance in my liking of ayu's old and new works).
The first songs that made me love ayu are mainly from LOVEppears (which is my favorite album by her). Except for LOVEppears, I am... and Duty though I like NEXT LEVEL more than the rest of her albums (and I love them all, of course nothing is perfect and I have my own preference in albums and songs etc.).
I think a lot of old, new (or middle) fans can have this balance too but everyone should repect both ayu's old and new (not saying to like, but just respect) and respect other people's preferences. feelings and likings. For some examples:
If for a person ayu's older voice is better, than that's how he feels we should repsect it, if someone feels that ayu's latest style is the best for him, then we should respect it.
If someone says that he feels that some of the new lyrics are better than the old ones, we should respect him (and of course we have to get respect in return).
The whole thing is subjective and even if most agree on one's opinion and there is still that one that feels differently we should respect him and he should respect the others.
We are discussing about music, not about if the sun is yellow and the skies are blue, therefore nothing is a fact but it's how everyone feels towards something, songs, voice, albums, appearances etc. I do think that harsh words and sentences opinions are giving people legitimate to negatively argue about things and opinions so people should share their opinions in a less harsh way and covney it better.

[tourniquet]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

^ 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.

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.

still the vocoder hate? xD that's really something subjective. I never found songs with vocoder less emotional or something. actually, I like that slightly distant, cold sound it produces.



ah, I still haven't got excited for this album. I'm whoring right now kuu's DRIVING HIT'S and it's like fantastic. the whole thing is just a disco mess from a lot of mediocre songs which I totally love. the thing makes we want to shake my ass and get ****ty and all that, but NEXT LEVEL totally leaves my like after some minutes.

I guess she can't make good albums ALL the time. I don't really like I am... or MY STORY as a whole either. may be one of those albums I loop some songs (the singles in this one) but leave the rest alone.

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by ayumisrael

I'm a fan since 2003 (Close to Memorial address era) so I guess it's in between old and new (and maybe it's the reason there is a good balance in my liking of ayu's old and new works).
The first songs that made me love ayu are mainly from LOVEppears (which is my favorite album by her). Except for LOVEppears, I am... and Duty though I like NEXT LEVEL more than the rest of her albums (and I love them all, of course nothing is perfect and I have my own preference in albums and songs etc.).
I think a lot of old, new (or middle) fans can have this balance too but everyone should repect both ayu's old and new (not saying to like, but just respect) and respect other people's preferences. feelings and likings. For some examples:
If for a person ayu's older voice is better, than that's how he feels we should repsect it, if someone feels that ayu's latest style is the best for him, then we should respect it.
If someone says that he feels that some of the new lyrics are better than the old ones, we should respect him (and of course we have to get respect in return).
The whole thing is subjective and even if most agree on one's opinion and there is still that one that feels differently we should respect him and he should respect the others.
We are discussing about music, not about if the sun is yellow and the skies are blue, therefore nothing is a fact but it's how everyone feels towards something, songs, voice, albums, appearances etc. I do think that harsh words and sentences opinions are giving people legitimate to negatively argue about things and opinions so people should share their opinions in a less harsh way and covey it better.

I think the problem comes in when people start talking about lack of emotion, in any of her works...

which is also subjective isnt it? I personally think there's certain things Ayu does with her voice that people say is emotion when...it isn't really lol She's just singing in a certain way. For me, emotion comes off through the music and the lyrics...

but feeling emotion and from where is also subjective lol

How interesting it is...the different ways people see music.

[bluegie]

@ayumisrael: I'm surprised you have been a fan since Ma. I thought you're newer (well not that new now but two years ago I thought you're a new fan after STEP you lol).

For me, it's not about her old music vs. new music. It's more about how she recycle her music. I think I've said it before that I wasn't too fond of her during I am... to RAINBOW era, cuz her music styles/arrangement (esp the single songs) were practically similar to each other. Don't ask me why I thought they're similar, but if you were a fan back in 2001 or 2002, you should see lots of posts about M vs. Free & Easy, evolution vs. Naturally, July 1st vs. Greatful Days, etc. I didn't buy I am... because it was lame to me (lots of singles, those few album songs aren't that great), and I bought RAINBOW at that time because the cover was shockingly pretty. I didn't head back to ayu until Ma.

And then I see the similar thing again. Secret and GUILTY are pretty similar in sense (well this is subjective. Probly lots of you dun think in that way. But when I listened to GUILTY I just felt that's quite similar to the previous album). So for me NL stands out more because she tries to do something else instead of those rock/metal/loud music.

Originally Posted by emiko

^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.

I dunno what you're implying (yeah actually I'm a bit confused when reading this message lol... my brain is slow at this point). I was reading your last post about the emotion part, and I find it quite right. We don't need to deny that ayu's singing skill is getting better nowadays, and the way she handle the "emotion" should be better in some ways. The thing is, I just don't feel the "natrual tone" (or "sincere" from your post) in her newer songs.

For example, she resang End roll in A BEST. Technically her vocal in A BEST version is better, but at the same time she lost the "raw" feeling that I could hear in her LOVEppears (or A) version.

Another example. Judging from the comments that were made a few months ago, at least 85% of people preferred LOVE~Destiny~ 10th anniversary version. I dunno I dun even think the vocal sounds good at all. And the way she sang it in the 10th version totally dumped the original feeling of the song. I love she used the softness to handle to old version (and I really think it matches the lyric). Whenever I listen to the song I feel like she's telling a story. The new version can't even hit my brain at all.

[sparkle glitter]

Originally Posted by tourniquet

I'm whoring right now kuu's DRIVING HIT'S and it's like fantastic. the whole thing is just a disco mess from a lot of mediocre songs which I totally love. the thing makes we want to shake my ass and get ****ty and all that

Except nobody is talking about Driving hit's. Save the Driving hit's review for the kuu thread. Koda Kumi is NOT relevant in discussing thoughts on Ayumi Hamasaki's new album.

[tourniquet]

^what is relevant in this discussion is certainly not upon you to decide. there's a context. it's called COMPARISON.

[ayu_ready?]

Originally Posted by Tom Punks

I've been thinking that too. It seems like most people who love this album are newer fans, and people don't like it so much are her older fans.

I LOVE THE ALBUM AND I HAVE BEEN A FAN FOR MORE THAN 7 YEARS

how would you explain that?

[sparkle glitter]

Originally Posted by tourniquet

^what is relevant in this discussion is certainly not upon you to decide. there's a context. it's called COMPARISON.

There is nothing to compare, so drop it, nobody cares.

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by bluegie

@ayumisrael: I'm surprised you have been a fan since Ma. I thought you're newer (well not that new now but two years ago I thought you're a new fan after STEP you lol).
.

That would kinda be me :p Though the first Ayu songs I've heard were Hana and Dearest around the time MY STORY was released, I've became a fan when STEP you was released. It took me a year or so to fell in love with her pre-I am.. stuff. LOVEppears is one of my fave Ayu albums and I have to say that even though the changes to her voice are really obvious I wouldn't change a thing when it comes to the way she sang on each of the albums. I even enjoy her live performances (I think that she has done a wonderful job singing For My Dear.. and everywhere nowhere on PCDL). I really equally like all of her "voices".

I really love 98% of the songs that Ayu has done so far and even though some are of a similar genre I could never possibly mix them up in any way. I don't think NEXT LEVEL actually brings anything THAT new to Ayu's music, as besides the 3 electro pop songs the others are pretty much the mix of the stuff she has already done in a way. I don't think Secret and GUILTY were similar in any way, as Secret was a rather popish album with rock hooks and it had a variety of songs on it, while GUILTY was dark&depressive and mostly consisted of rock stuff and rock ballads. Over all NEXT LEVEL is an ok album, but I simply don't think it's better than any of her previous studio albums.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by bluegie

Another example. Judging from the comments that were made a few months ago, at least 85% of people preferred LOVE~Destiny~ 10th anniversary version. I dunno I dun even think the vocal sounds good at all. And the way she sang it in the 10th version totally dumped the original feeling of the song. I love she used the softness to handle to old version (and I really think it matches the lyric). Whenever I listen to the song I feel like she's telling a story. The new version can't even hit my brain at all.

I totally agree with that. I've been very underwhelmed by all of her rerecordings of the old songs actually.

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by bluegie

@ayumisrael: I'm surprised you have been a fan since Ma. I thought you're newer (well not that new now but two years ago I thought you're a new fan after STEP you lol).

Another example. Judging from the comments that were made a few months ago, at least 85% of people preferred LOVE~Destiny~ 10th anniversary version. I dunno I dun even think the vocal sounds good at all. And the way she sang it in the 10th version totally dumped the original feeling of the song. I love she used the softness to handle to old version (and I really think it matches the lyric). Whenever I listen to the song I feel like she's telling a story. The new version can't even hit my brain at all.

hehe, yeah I'm a fan of her since October 2003 and the first song of her (and my most favorite song ever) is Depend on you =D and yeah I grew to like and know her mainly with LOVEppears (and then I realized she has a new one coming which is Ma) so that too ^^.

I joined AHS like almost 3 years later xD.

For me the weakest 10th anni song is Depend on you (which was a bit dissapointing since it's my favorite song) but my only problem with it is the flat new arrangement... I really like LOVE ~D~ and TO BE's 10th anni versions the best, but I don't know which one is better for me in comparison of 10th anni ver. versus original versions.
Also I do like the fact that the 10th anni songs convey ayu of now along with the old songs, since I don't think ayu should convey the feelings of ayu of the past since she is a different person now, that would be a recycle of the same LOVE ~D~, TO BE etc. therefore I am content with them (still I'm not bettering the 10th anni versions or the original versions). Both have their touches and I wish Doy's would have a better arrangement. =D

On that note I can't stop playing NEXT LEVEL. Will make an orange juice with it tomorrow, that's exactly when I need energy lol

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Tom Punks

I've been thinking that too. It seems like most people who love this album are newer fans, and people don't like it so much are her older fans.

I don't think so.

I quite like the album and I'm more of an older fan. I think NEXT LEVEL is an album that splits fans down the middle. You either love it or hate it.

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by sparkle glitter

There is nothing to compare, so drop it, nobody cares.

you are being incredibly rude.


on the flip side, thanks to everyone who commented and gave their feedback!

There's lots of nice opinions on this page

[bluegie]

^Actually the reason I came here is to post my thought about NL (yeah received it today, but cdjapan didn't gimme any prize at all ).

Like usual, there are some songs I dun like after the first listen. I don't find rollin' of identity interesting. I'm kinda surprised to myself that I actually like EnergizE and LOVE 'n' HATE. Like many others have said, GREEN is really out of the place. Probly I like Days, so I think it kinda fits into the album (especially it's placed next to Curtain call). To be honest, Bridge to the sky seems to be the weakest introduction from ayu's albums, but again I have just listened to this album for once so probly it will grow on me later on. Overall I think this album is pretty good, suits my taste (as I prefer techno over noisy rock/metal music).

Originally Posted by njanjayrp

I really love 98% of the songs that Ayu has done so far and even though some are of a similar genre I could never possibly mix them up in any way. I don't think NEXT LEVEL actually brings anything THAT new to Ayu's music, as besides the 3 electro pop songs the others are pretty much the mix of the stuff she has already done in a way. I don't think Secret and GUILTY were similar in any way, as Secret was a rather popish album with rock hooks and it had a variety of songs on it, while GUILTY was dark&depressive and mostly consisted of rock stuff and rock ballads. Over all NEXT LEVEL is an ok album, but I simply don't think it's better than any of her previous studio albums.

Yeah I agree that GUILTY was darker comapred to Secret (except for the cover and arts ). But you know, I really feel that she should dump her bands at least once in a while. NL is techno but you can hear some rocky feelings within (unlike LOVEppears, which was 90% techno). I won't put NL as one of her top albums, but I do like she's trying into another directions other than rock, even maybe she is just trying a little.

Originally Posted by ayumisrael

I joined AHS like almost 3 years later xD.

Also I do like the fact that the 10th anni songs convey ayu of now along with the old songs, since I don't think ayu should convey the feelings of ayu of the past since she is a different person now, that would be a recycle of the same LOVE ~D~, TO BE etc. therefore I am content with them (still I'm not bettering the 10th anni versions or the original versions). Both have their touches and I wish Doy's would have a better arrangement. =D

Oh I do have similar case. I joined AHS about 4 yrs after being an ayu fan. I can't remember why I didn't join AHS in the beginning.. I knew this place back in 2002 I think..

Even tho we have different ideas to the 10th anni songs, I do like the idea you look at those songs. The reason I particularly didn't like LOVE~Destiny~ (10th) is that the new style is too far away from the original. And I still think that the song should be softly like a blanket sheet. Whenever I listen to LOVE~D~ (original), I feel warmth and soft. She could have used a different softness to resing the song. But all she did is just using her nowadays usual strong emotional vocal to perform it. It really kills the song. I do like the arrangement of the 10th tho. It give freshness while maintaining the feeling of "have no choice but to follow the destiny" sadness feeling.

Originally Posted by Jason

I don't think so.

I quite like the album and I'm more of an older fan. I think NEXT LEVEL is an album that splits fans down the middle. You either love it or hate it.

Actually I think every single ayu album split fans down the middle

[jeffycue]

the USB is freaking HEAVY!!! hahahaha.