Guilty/Next Level

[AyuCharm615]

Why do u think that Guilty was a bigger succes that Next Level.....
Guilty outsold Next Level by a long shot.....
did u guys enjoy that album more than next level?

I like the styling of guilty, but i love how ayu switched it up in Next Level....i guess ppl didnt like the change...its her lowest selling album...

what do u think?...i prefer Next Level over guilty..

[pommy48]

well not a lot of people are selling that much except for some artists

i guess it boils down to personal decision, i definitely prefer GUILTY over NEXT LEVEL

[love in music]

i dunno, GUILTY had more emotional songs and maybe people prefer that over the fun songs that are found on NEXT LEVEL. imo, NL is way better than GUILTY. she experimented and the new things she tried out really worked for her.

[waterballoon]

There was a point where I listened to GUILTY a lot because it's a really emo album and I was in a emo phase then, so it really "helped" me lol.

But I feel that both albums are really similar actually... the only difference would be the genre/style but I felt like there were many twin songs lol.

[jbrat2219]

Times are hard... Everyone who is not a boy band is struggling to sell in Japan.

[dreamland2.0]

I like GUILTY a bit better. It was the album that got me into Ayu, and I love the dark rock tone. However I did like the more experimental mood of NEXT LEVEL.

[untitledforayu]

GUILTY was released before the Global Financial Crisis, while NL came out right in the midst of it, which would account for some of the drop in sales. In terms of Oricon rankings NL and GUILTY are quite similar (NL might be a bit better? I can't remember), so really it depends if you measure success relative to the overall music industry or simply on an artist's sales trends...
Also, just considering Ayu's been in the public's eye for an extra year can also contribute to NL's lower sales...I mean you would expect that over time, the Japanese public would be growing tired of hearing/buying music from the same artist.

[AyumiBest]

I really like GUILTY better than NEXT LEVEL. GUILTY was my taste. XD

[Minttulatte]

Lately I've been listening to NEXT LEVEL a lot. It has grown on me so much I can say that I love it now. I like the LOVEppearsy vibe it has with all those techno/house/electro whatever genre it was songs now. Though I still don't think Nekku is one of Ayu's best albums I have to say that I prefer it over GUILTY.

[asmAyumi1992]

I don't know. But for me, both albums have their own concept. I love the dark GUILTY and the change in NL.

Most songs in both albums are my favorite songs.

[brener]

I love the melancholic air found in GUILTY, it's a great album and its emotional and strong concept fit me very well due the moment I was passing trough. But, considerin' now, I do prefer NEXT LEVEL. I really enjoyed to see ayu puting her face into a new style and trying a electro vibe in her music. Tough she did well in the POP mood started with MY STORY, GUILTY closed that era pretty good and now it's a good time for changing ways of production... By the way, NEXT LEVEL for me is her best album since (miss)understood.

ps: I think that both albuns are astonishing and reached its goal. GUILTY can gives you a taste of sadness and melancholia and NEXT LEVEL shows plenty colours of a new tomorrow fullfiled with good and unkown emotions.

[Andrenekoi]

Guilty = before crisis
Next Level = during crisis

NL's rate at oricon is higher, it's chart life is longer, it's singles sold better (even during crisis) and it's tour is longer...

So... I don't really think that Guilty had a bigger sucess

You can't compare different eras sales as the economy and culture were the same... You can't even compare 1998~2000 sales to 2001~2003 sales for example cuz the later ones were already lower for everyone on music industry

[TITANIC]

Im liking NEXT LEVEL more than GUILTY. I like her music style changed in NEXT LEVEL. but actually what makes me love NL because the major song NEXT LEVEL, Rule and sparkle.
In gUILTY only Together when and Marionette I like it very much.

[vampireknightzero]

I prefer GUILTY, i like the songs more in GUILTY than in next level.. like Together when, marionette, don't leave me alone, decision, untitled for her

[ren0210989]

GUILTY is pure love for me
NEXT LEVEL is great and all, but GUILTY just has more feeling and that special something (rock )

[sanzo2011]

GUILTY has more better songs than NL ! but i love all singles from NL

[Not~Yet]

Tbh in my opinion GUILTY was more "experimental" and different than NEXT LEVEL. Imo NL is pretty much like secret and m(u) while GUILTY was verging on being almost metal with many songs. I absolutely love both albums now that NL grew on me, and I don't think they're really comparable... GUILTY is from totally different genre range than NL, the "feel" of the albums is totally different (positive-negative) and so on.

[C+R+E+AYUMI]

I prefer Nl much more than GUILTY...
the songs are all pretty new, the style freaks and it isn't boring at all.
maybe GUILTY had stronger singles

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Guilty = before crisis
Next Level = during crisis

NL's rate at oricon is higher, it's chart life is longer, it's singles sold better (even during crisis) and it's tour is longer...

So... I don't really think that Guilty had a bigger sucess

You can't compare different eras sales as the economy and culture were the same... You can't even compare 1998~2000 sales to 2001~2003 sales for example cuz the later ones were already lower for everyone on music industry

yeah, it only sold more because it came first.

Not to mention, she didn't release a bunch of crap before it either...

[ayuayu798]

It's a tie for me. However. I got tired of NL faster.