Tracklist for MADE IN JAPAN on AWA, regular ver. out June 29, Baidu uploading tracks

[metropass]

I suddenly think that may be we would get Winter diary as the secret track in the CD album?
Since the PV of Winter diary is included in the DVD LOL

[Meat Pao]

How's the mixing and/or mastering in this album? I know that's been an issue plaguing her past few albums and I'm curious what do you guys think of it this time.

I won't be able to give this a listen until the weekend but reading all these positive reviews is getting me really stoked!!!

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by metropass

Actually I found her voice is quite weird in the chorus of FLOWER, I can't describe how weird is it in a more specific way but her vocal makes me feel that it was quite hard for her to sing.
I only feel satisfied with her voice in You are the only one and TODAY.

I believe she is trying to sing in a certain Japanese style that she neeeever sings in, haha. IMO it worked.

[Aga-chan]

Originally Posted by indigochild

I always take into account what longtime fans think of her releases since they've been around the longest and tend to be critical with her recent work. The fact that most veteran fans seem to be enjoying this album says a lot lol

I would say you are also quite the veteran. ^_-

I fell out of Ayu fandom right after "Love songs". It wasn't the music, it was her. How do I say it? Everything got too much. And I think I got to see a side of her that I didn't wanted to. Or thought didn't exist. She usually says how she's a normal girl and I believed her. Even when some fans said things like "People can't identify with her anymore", I believed she was that normal girl. But some things made me understand that she seems to live separated from the outer world. That she's actually quite irresponsible, even to a degree that she seems like a fool.
I don't want to go into much detail, because I want to keep it short. Though the paragraph got way longer than I wanted it to. Well, but here I am now. lol

I've been re-observing her career since like a year or so now. But I think somehow part of the lyrics she posted on twitter, really made me excited for this release. I wish the tracklist would be longer, so I could listen to every track I want to without holding back, as I don't like listening to whole albums before actually owning them. That's why I haven't listened to any full release since "Love songs". I'm patient. ^_- With that short of a tracklist I don't want to listen to like three songs, because less suprises will be left. That's why I only downloaded "FLOWER" and I love it. I like the Japanese style singing she does in the pre-chorus. So lovely. I kind of wish she would record a whole song in that manner.
I hope it gets a nice performance without too much choreography, though. I feel the message is strong enough as is.

But reading the comments, I came to think that it's fascinating that after all those years, all those albums and songs, people use words like "fresh". I love that in some way or another Ayu always has it in her.

And it was quite obviously released like this for the tour. This way the audience won't feel disconnected when she performs these new songs.

[truehappiness]

I think in 2010 onward she showed sides to herself that we may have been better off not seeing but since then she has learnt from her mistakes. However, I think it was a necessary period of her life to get to where we are now and to lead up to what is to come from now on.

[oaristos]

Okay, I can't believe she just dropped an album on AWA yesterday. I was finishing up a paper for my class and couldn't really listen to the album attentively, so I'll write my impressions in detail later.

What I have to say right now is that Summer Love is a very unexpected song, and even though it's a very up-beat, EDM-influenced track, it doesn't feel "too Western" to me. I don't know, in the middle of the electronic beat I feel like I'm definitely listening to J-Pop, and that's good. Also, Survivor reminds me of INSPIRE a lot, another good surprise

I just think it's such a shame that the album is so short and she even included Many Classic Moments in it. I mean, last time we heard she said she'd written 9 tracks, and that's exactly the amount of new songs we have. It feels like she had to release the album ASAP and, in order to make a deadline, she just put all the songs she already had together and called it a day. I don't feel like she put a lot of creative effort into the album, but obviously I wasn't expecting a lot.

Can't wait to see the real cover art though! I assume they didn't shoot it yet.

[truehappiness]

She actually made like 14 but got rid of 5 and I assume one more since tasky is an intro.

Also iirc she had like a double album worth of songs for A ONE that got shaved down to the amount we got.

[douggn]

Mad World kind of reminds me of a Pinks song try

[Aga-chan]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I think in 2010 onward she showed sides to herself that we may have been better off not seeing but since then she has learnt from her mistakes. However, I think it was a necessary period of her life to get to where we are now and to lead up to what is to come from now on.

I guess so. It's probably kind of my fault as well? I guess I believed her too much and trusted her too much. Falling out of fandom was also a time when I distanced myself from Japanese entertainment, other than games. I didn't want to come across her by accident, which did happen. Even just reading her name somewhere made me shake and feel like I'm about to cry. I wished that she would stop making music, so I could feel relief. But at the same time I longed for her. Like I sang her songs to myself, but didn't listen to them.
That makes me seem like crazy. lol But I guess she became a constant in my life. Someone I thought will always be there. Someone who understands. And losing that was quite difficult for me.

I think she probably had go through experiences that some or even many of us go through much earlier in life? Looking at how a grown woman, who is really smart and lovely overall, can be such a fool is quite painful.

I have to say, seeing people like you and some others on this site, though I haven't come here in ages, is a nice thing. ^^ I thought most fans would have fallen out of fandom by now. It's nice to see people stick to her, even if they like her current music less or listen to her without being the fans they used to be.

I come back and somehow write so much. But I guess it's nice to get some things off my chest. Especially if they seem to understand. So, thanks for that. ^^

I would like to know if we will ever hear those songs she got rid of or if they're lost for good. Maybe they didn't fit into her vision for the album? I would really like to know her thought process for these kind of things.

[pimenta]

Originally Posted by oaristos

Okay, I can't believe she just dropped an album on AWA yesterday. I was finishing up a paper for my class and couldn't really listen to the album attentively, so I'll write my impressions in detail later.

What I have to say right now is that Summer Love is a very unexpected song, and even though it's a very up-beat, EDM-influenced track, it doesn't feel "too Western" to me. I don't know, in the middle of the electronic beat I feel like I'm definitely listening to J-Pop, and that's good. Also, Survivor reminds me of INSPIRE a lot, another good surprise

I just think it's such a shame that the album is so short and she even included Many Classic Moments in it. I mean, last time we heard she said she'd written 9 tracks, and that's exactly the amount of new songs we have. It feels like she had to release the album ASAP and, in order to make a deadline, she just put all the songs she already had together and called it a day. I don't feel like she put a lot of creative effort into the album, but obviously I wasn't expecting a lot.

Can't wait to see the real cover art though! I assume they didn't shoot it yet.

Interesting, I actually feel the opposite way. I feel she actually put a lot of effort into those 9 tracks instead of just trying to rush to do more tracks just to have a longer album...
imo having a short album means she spent more time in each track, instead of just rushing to do many tracks with less effort put into each of them.

[Aga-chan]

Originally Posted by pimenta

Interesting, I actually feel the opposite way. I feel she actually put a lot of effort into those 9 tracks instead of just trying to rush to do more tracks just to have a longer album...
imo having a short album means she spent more time in each track, instead of just rushing to do many tracks with less effort put into each of them.

I don't think such a correlation exists, meaning a shorter album doesn't necessarily mean she spent more time on each individual track. Specially not in how she seems to work.

It started years ago that fans started claiming "rushed" because of additional information that was provided. Or they made up. I really want to know if people really actually hear the "rushed". It seems more like an excuse for not liking something. It's okay to not like something, but that doesn't mean it was "rushed".

[truehappiness]

She does tend to spend only a few months on an album at most, but those times were in 2009 to around 2012 when she would do video shoots for songs recorded beforehand and also work on final album tracks at the same time in the span of about 2 months. This album probably sprouted during CDL planning and she has been writing and recording since then up to sometime in April I believe which might be one of her longest production times since MY STORY not counting singles of course.

[freedreamer]

Originally Posted by douggn

Mad World kind of reminds me of a Pinks song try

YESSS HAHAH I felt the same! And thats a good thing

[Yuniz_hime]

Her past few albums/mini albums make me "oh this song reminds me to this. that song reminds me to that". But this album, I can't think/remember to link to her old songs. It still have the 'Ayumi vibe'. Maybe because we don't have any clue what this album will lead us to. She just drop everything (okay, almost everything) to our face today. And with this kind of promotion/marketing, it makes me excited with the album. Now I can't wait for the physical album to come out

[Aga-chan]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

She does tend to spend only a few months on an album at most, but those times were in 2009 to around 2012 when she would do video shoots for songs recoded beforehand and also work on final album tracks at the same time in the span of about 2 months. This album probably sprouted during CDL planning and she has been writing and recording since then up to sometime in April I believe which might be one of her longest production times since MY STORY not counting singles of course.

Back during the TIME Asia interview she stated that even given a month she does it, I think it was about composing, in the last three days. Going by that "I am..." may be her most "rushed" album. But look at how loved it is.
That is what throws me of with these "rushed" statements. Because your favourite album may be the "rushed" one. Those statements only started appearing when we knew that she shot three PVs in three days, when we knew that a mini album became a full album etc.
She also seems to do a lot of last minute changes, like adding or cutting songs, changing arrangements, perhaps even rewriting lyrics.

[Chibi-Chan]

This is easily her best album since Love songs. I really love it. After almost 6 years I finally enjoy a whole album and not only a few songs.

[Queen Bee]

This album...wow...I am really happy with how it turned out!

[Anna.L]

I think she made more songs for a futre repack of the album or another mini
She can do whatever she wants in avex, but avex doesnt let she does just this numbers

[koumori]

Tracks 1-6 are flawless.

[Chibi-Chan]

By the way, how am I supposed to tag it? M(A)DE IN JAPAN or MADE IN JAPAN?