NEXT LEVEL album thoughts

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by haikudasai

Is she working with the same composers/arrangers as always?

Bridge to the sky
Composer & Arranger: Yuta Nakano

NEXT LEVEL
Composer: D.A.I
Arranger: H/\L

Disco-munication
Composer & Arranger: CMJK

EnergizE
Composer: Yuta Nakano
Arranger: CMJK

Sparkle
Composer: Kazuhiro Hara
Arranger: CMJK

rollin'
Composer: Yuta Nakano
Arranger: CMJK

GREEN
Composer: Tetsuya Yukumi
Arranger: tasuku

Load of the SHUGYO
Composer & Arranger: CMJK

identity
Composer & Arranger: Yuta Nakano

Rule
Composer: Miki Watanabe
Arranger: H/\L

LOVE 'n' HATE
Composer & Arranger: Yuta Nakano

Pieces of SEVEN
Composer & Arranger: H/\L

Days
Composer: Kunio Tago
Arranger: H/\L

Curtain call
Composer: Kazuhiro Hara
Arranger: Yuta Nakano

[jbrat2219]

Wow Yuta Nakano composed most of the album!

[My Rainbow]

I hate people who hates Curtain Call

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by PrincessAyu

NEXT LEVEL gives you a very false first impression of the tone for the rest of the album. It's soothing and nice, but repetitive. And it's actually a mash-up of ayu's "BLUE BIRD" and Brian Addams' "Boys of Summer".

I totally didn't realize that until you mentioned it (boys of summer). I always thought that the music of Next Level was reminiscent of something but I couldn't quite remember. Now though, when i think of Boys of Summer, it is indeed very similar music wise and then the vocal melodies are rehashes of at times Blue Bird and at others Beautiful Fighters.

For the record though, Boys of Summer is Don Henley, not Brian Adams.

[Chu-Lip506]

I am all for "Love 'n' Hate"

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 0

[PoetGirl]

Originally Posted by My Rainbow

I hate people who hates Curtain Call

LOL this is funny said.

[emi♡]

^I guess they hate me because that song is all kinds of unoriginal and boring lol

[PoetGirl]

it is kinda unoriginal, cuz its too similar to without you sang by mariah carey.
but i still like it ^^

[emi♡]

well not just that...its too similar to a lot of ballads from back in the day...

i dont know, maybe thats what they were going for...but it just annoys me a lot because its like ive heard it before on certain radio stations here lol

[TakaSama]

I feel like Ayu made an album that was refreshing and new, but that also incorporated lots of positive elements from her previous work with NEXT LEVEL.

1. Bridge to the sky - this is a simple, primarily instrumental piece with short lyrics that hint at NEXT LEVEL (the song). It brings me back to everlasting dream, but the end of it nicely ties in some electronic elements that become the running thread throughout most of the album.

2. NEXT LEVEL - This is what Ayu has been perfecting every year with fairyland, BLUE BIRD and glitter. Finally, she got it right - beautiful lyrics with background music that instantly takes me to a sunny day at the beach. This time the chorus is interesting, and not full of cheap pop hooks that jump out from the verses; the whole song is solid as a whole. Since I love the melody and lyrics so much, I can even overlook that she still has the strange vibrato she's been doing since GUILTY.

3. Disco-munication - While I thought this should have been the title for a full song, I was pleasantly surpised with this. I love how it builds up from the initial beat to a nice electro-rock sound by the end. And bonus points for the Mario mushroom sound effect.

4. EnergizE - The drum beats at the beginning are cool, especially with headphones. It's a driving 80's inspired pop song, and has elements that remind me of songs from the soundtrack to Flashdance. The lyrics are nice and encouraging, and I like the way she sings this one. She uses a higher pitched voice, but not the cutesy voice of songs like HONEY. Her vibratto is also more under control here. The English is rather distracting to the song as a whole, however, as the line "keep your heads up together" is Engrishy without being real Engrish. Even so, it's fun and catchy overall.

5. Sparkle - I was in love with this as soon as it came out, and even if the lyrics are much more direct and sensual that her normal work, it's like a breath of fresh air. I also don't believe that this song was written solely for the sake of being sexy. It seems as though Ayu is trying to say "Be brave and take a step forward, merge your actions with your thoughts!" This is one of the highlights of the album for me.

6. rollin' - This is my new favorite song of the moment. When it started I thought "hmm, marionette part 2?" but I was nicely surprised with electro-rock. I like the use of vocoder in relation to the lyrics - it's like a robot slowly waking up from the excesses and comforts of life and seeing our current reality - that we can't continue to live the way we've become accustomed to. And yet, the world keeps turning. The way it ends is a little bit odd, but the song deals with confusion as a theme, so I can overlook that part.

7. GREEN - It's a nice concept, it has Chinese influenced music and the lyrics are nice. I have problems with her vocal performance in this song though, it sounds like she has a cold and her crazy vibratto is back. That being said, in the months since this song came out, I've come to like the song as a whole more and more.

8. Load of the SHUGYO - this interlude is a necessary transition from GREEN to the rock songs on the album. In terms of album flow, I really appreciate that it didn't open up with the rock songs, because I finally feel ready for them when Load of the SHUGYO starts. This interlude reminds me of Mortal Kombat, as others have mentioned. Plus, the sound of the beat of the beginning has a very nice asian influence to it before transitioning to rock, the perfect bridge between GREEN and identity.

9. identity - Some have mentioned (d)lma as the predecessor of this song and I agree, but I think identity is better. The lyrics speak to more universal themes, and the music has a danceable undercurrent leading to the breakdance friendly bridge. The first time I heard that bridge I kinda went but actually I like that element of surprise in front of the guitar solo.

10. Rule - I thought this song sounded like very generic rock when I heard it the first time, but like GREEN it grew on me. The lyrics again speak to more universal themes and are the strongest part of the song I believe. I like the contrast of vocoder ayu and natural ayu during the verses. I feel like the album reaches the peak of it's build up with this driving rock song.

11. LOVE 'n' HATE - I like the false opening for this song, followed by the strings. And even though this is a song dealing with love, a theme I normally find overdone and boring, I find these lyrics to be more complex than typical. Rather than a 'why don't you love me' this song is about the difficulty of making the right moves when you are trapped in unrequited love. And musically, just when you're starting to think, "this is nice but I need more" the guitar comes in. Nicely done.

12. Pieces of SEVEN - Although this starts off like other etherial HAL interludes, the streak of electro-pop and rock running through it makes me love it. From the beginning, you can feel something building up to a breaking point. It's like a light rain that builds up into a ferocious thunder and lightning storm. It's just too bad Days is the wrong song to follow it up with. Of course, I'd much rather have this interlude than Days...

13. Days - This song comes out of nowhere after Pieces of SEVEN and is probably the weakest of Ayu's winter ballads. The overly christmas-y synth combined with pretty sappy lyrics make this the worst song on the album for me. I think this song was simply created to win the Japanese public back after the dark themes of GUILTY and Mirrorcle World. That being said, I would have loved if the YMCK remix had been included on the album in place of the Original mix. The only song on the album that makes me want to skip it.

14. Curtain call - It is a bit of a throwback to the 90's, but I like that it's very simple. A piano and Ayu's voice. The lyrics are also appropriately simple, and honestly I prefer this straight forward love song after the flowery language used in Days. It winds down the album nicely and has an appropriate feel for an ending. The only problem for me is Ayu's vibratto, which is out of control at the end of some of the lines.

Overall, this album has jumped to No. 1 in my Ayu album ranking because I feel like it incorporates the lyrical awareness of I am... with a blend of music from her early and later work and a refreshing electro-pop flare. I love songs like NEXT LEVEL, Sparkle and rollin' so much. I feel like Ayu really thought about the flow of the album this time and it's nice to have a change from the Rock-Pop - Ballads - Bubblegum-Pop formula of every album from MY STORY to GUILTY. Days is the only blemish on the album for me.

A separate issue from the album for me is her use of vibratto. In the past year and a half or so, I feel like Ayu instantly uses vibratto and doesn't try to hold out her notes very often. I hope that she can find a balance again, like she had back in 2004-2005.

[ALfromHELLSING]

Finally got my copy today. So what should I say about it... ???
AWESOME ALBUM!!! So different from all her previous works!!! I really LOVE it!!!
I wish there was one more video clip and having 15th song would be very nice. But still album is FANTASTIC!!! Ayu didn't disappointed me with this album!!!

Now I only need to get three more versions including FP USB.

I'm usually quite tough on Ayu's albums.. but damn!
I freakin' love this album!
:O
It makes me want to dance.
I love 'Identity'.

Curtain Call is a bit.. blah though :/

I can see myself listening to this a lot

[Maemi]

Oh I also must say that I am disappointed about this album's lyrics. I like only GREEN and Days as long as I remember. Rule is ok too.

Well, I guess Ayu doesn't have always to make lyrics with 'deep meanings'

[*Petit*]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

I totally didn't realize that until you mentioned it (boys of summer). I always thought that the music of Next Level was reminiscent of something but I couldn't quite remember. Now though, when i think of Boys of Summer, it is indeed very similar music wise and then the vocal melodies are rehashes of at times Blue Bird and at others Beautiful Fighters.

For the record though, Boys of Summer is Don Henley, not Brian Adams.

I agree, actually it reminds me a lot of the remix by DJ sammy (I know, the hypocrisy! LOL but I love his arrangements). I do find NEXT LEVEL to be a very typical DAI composition for ayu though, it reminds of like blue bird and several others (Ugh, I don't have my piano anymore, it's hard for me to do these comparisons.. >_>).

[Yumsushi]

I cant say its my favourite Ayu album but I do appreciate the gems it contains. I like that the music and singing style seems fresh and funky. I also love love love Sparkle and Days and Next level is the kind of song that only Ayu can sing. What I hate is the placement of the songs on the album, espicially since Next level and Green compliment each other in their sound and should have been placed in succession but the many interludes stand in their way.

[kirei_ayumi]

NEXT LEVEL is definitely one of my favorite albums!
the only thing I dislike is the two interludes, which is disco-munication and LOTS...
but other than that, I think the album is wonderful...

[sitara]

i'm epicly pleased with rollin' because these are lyrics she hasn't written before. and it is about the world's problem NOW.

i just don't think the beginning and ending are fitting (beginning sounds like marionette, then ends, at the ending this cheap swirly sound all of a sudden... it could have done without...)

[jinryuu]

It's a nice album, but not her best. I still need to listen to it a few more times before I write my full review.

[TakaSama]

I think I've listened to this cd like at least twice a day every day since it came out! I really can't stop listening to it, which is funny given how much I rejected her other experimental albums at first. It took me several years to like RAINBOW and I had to play (m)u quite a few times to appreciate the whole even though I loved some songs like alterna and Will. rollin' remains my strong favorite from NEXT LEVEL!

[Catzi]

This album has the same feel as a Lady Gaga or a recent Britney Spears album for me: the instrumentals are AWESOME, and the lyrics fit really nicely, very catchy, but the lyrics also have no substance. I guess, I can't relate to what she's feeling in the lyrics now; maybe I haven't reached that stage in my life.

On another note, I love having D.A.I back as a composer! His tracks are the best!