『A BALLADS 2』on sale 2021.03.12

[Katsuyuki012]

I really love Days. The only negative thing I can say about it is that it replaced Pray for the TA15 finale IIRC.
One time I was watching Ayu PVs and my mother entered the room when Days was on. I re-started the video (she asked me to) and she absolutely loved how cute Ayu is in the PV, so that's a sweet memory. It's one of her favourite Ayu songs/videos, but she also LOVES NaNaNa. Her taste varies a lot. :'D

[rainbow_smile]

It's okay to dislik Days (or any othr song), but you don't have to be rude about it and act like your taste is The Ultimate Right Taste and 100% objective (i.e. saying that people who like listening to it aren't "in the right mind" or that it's a "flat out lie" if they don't think it's the most uninspired song).

[!Lawi!]

Originally Posted by Deep snow

my problem with Days in NEXT LEVEL is its placement after Pieces of SEVEN. so jarring. after a very heavy and upbeat interlude (which I love), then suddenly ...Days? I never got used to this, and since ARENA TOUR 2009 I became convinced that Rule is the one that should have followed this interlude. sadly this isn't the only time I find the listing of her songs weird.

Well tinfoil hat time but I always wondered what was going on there. LOVE’n’HATE countdown stops at 7 (which always made me wonder if there was a pun with Hate/Eight), then pieces of SEVEN, and obviously then Days (no need to explain the connection). So yeah, don’t know if that’s pure chance or if I’m missing some kind of hidden meaning!

[Deep snow]

Originally Posted by !Lawi!

Well tinfoil hat time but I always wondered what was going on there. LOVE’n’HATE countdown stops at 7 (which always made me wonder if there was a pun with Hate/Eight), then pieces of SEVEN, and obviously then Days (no need to explain the connection). So yeah, don’t know if that’s pure chance or if I’m missing some kind of hidden meaning!

love this! tinfoil hats aside, I think ayu's definitely not beyond this kind of cheeky so there might very well be some meaning behind her track listings I read that Björk spent months just arranging the order of the songs in her album, so all I know is that artists put a lot of thought into this

[sitara]

Originally Posted by !Lawi!

Well tinfoil hat time but I always wondered what was going on there. LOVE’n’HATE countdown stops at 7 (which always made me wonder if there was a pun with Hate/Eight), then pieces of SEVEN, and obviously then Days (no need to explain the connection). So yeah, don’t know if that’s pure chance or if I’m missing some kind of hidden meaning!

Cue the seven year itch!

When that album was released she recently seperated from her longtime boyfriend at the time, Tomoya Nagase. They were dating for 7 years, so there's that.

[Deep snow]

Originally Posted by sitara

Cue the seven year itch!

When that album was released she recently seperated from her longtime boyfriend at the time, Tomoya Nagase. They were dating for 7 years, so there's that.

sorry to keep derailing the thread from the A BALLADS discourse but OH MY GOD

except she separated from Nagase around A BEST 2/GUILTY era, no?

[rainbow_smile]

Didn't they break up shortly before MY STORY? I've seen people say that the release of HONEY was pretty ironic, because it was written about Tomoya Nagase, but they broke up before the song was released or something along those lines

Edit: nevermind, I googled, and they split in july 2007, so before GUILTY and after A BEST 2

[!Lawi!]

No wayyyy, now I'm convinced that means something!
Ayu definitely puts meaning behind her track lists, from TROUBLE that can be read both ways, RnRC that seems to be a backwards day, and maybe Party Queen (I always imagined it was a night out going wrong).

But sorry I feel I've kept the conversation away from A BALLADS 2 for too long! All this talk really made me excited for the tracklist, still hoping for a few surprises but even if we get a nice compilation with a decent cover I'll be happy to just have something Ayu-related!

[visionfactory]

I hope EGG makes its appearance as hidden bonus track

[Deep snow]

Originally Posted by visionfactory

I hope EGG makes its appearance as hidden bonus track

other than ^this gem, what underrated songs would y'all think should be included in this album?

[Surreal17]

Originally Posted by Deep snow

other than ^this gem, what underrated songs would y'all think should be included in this album?

If we're talking post RAINBOW, I would say Will (ballad ver idk), rainy day, BALLAD, meaning of Love, November, Sweet scar, Petal, Walk, Story, Zutto..

[Deep snow]

Originally Posted by Surreal17

If we're talking post RAINBOW, I would say Will (ballad ver idk), rainy day, BALLAD, meaning of Love, November, Sweet scar, Petal, Walk, Story, Zutto..

Will and rainy day are some of my favourites ever. Will truly deserved a PV because it has such a unique sound that I haven't heard from her before or since and would have made a powerful Double-A with HEAVEN, while rainy day has that quiet dignity and I love how effortless she sounded singing it. I could listen to these two over and over.

I agree with Story too! this and Out of control are great underrated gems in A ONE in my book.

[thinkingoutloud89]

all here fro Will, November, Sweet Scar and BALLAD

[kotora]

Originally Posted by visionfactory

I hope EGG makes its appearance as hidden bonus track

This joke never ends.

[TheRainbow]

I don’t know if they count, but I’d add Secret, You are the only one, a reworked version of Sorrows, walking proud, Letter, You were..., Pray, reworked version of Melody, Sweet scar, crossroad, and forgiveness.

[AyuCanada]

what is EGG?

[thinkingoutloud89]

^ebay sold a lot of bootlag CDs back in the day and EGG was always among the songs on the CD. Since than its some sort of inside joke that Ayu will release a song of that name some day.

[Evan Odinson]

You know what's funny? Egg magazine (It's a magazine for gyaru fashion) and they posted some ayu PARA PARA dance covers on their Youtube Channel this year lol if you look for "Ayumi Hamasaki Egg" these are the first results

[Party_King]

I would love to see Curtain call on this

I think all her main/single ballads will be included 100%
aka HANABI ~episode II~, No way to say, Memorial address, Moments, walking proud, CAROLS, HEAVEN, rainy day, JEWEL, momentum, fated, Together When..., Days, You were..., MOON, Virgin Road, Love Song, beloved, how beautiful you are, Missing, Hello new me, Zutto..., Last minute, The GIFT, You are the only one, æternal

I doubt that we’ll get any re-arrangements, even if this is the point on A BALLADS...
...and I hope the remastered Tracks are at least as good as SEASONS and TO BE from the original A BALLADS...

[~angel*ayumi~]

I rly hope The GIFT won´t be included, that´s like the only Ayu song I actually hate