[News] New mini album 'sixxxxxx' out August 5th, 2015 V

[BlackSilence]

Originally Posted by pepper

I will agree with that, Sorrows is also way too chaotic in arragment, the verses didnt match the chorus at all... I still love the Linkin park part lol

ahem Tell all was exactly the same, except even a bigger mess lol this one at least has somewhat of a link, doesn't just blasts out like Tell all in the chorus. The original version was really chopped and made no sense to me, i still liked it though lol

i love Sorrows. I think some people who say the mixing is off need to just stop paying too much attention to the technical side and just listen to the music. Unless it blatantly pokes your ears. Which i don't think it does. *shrugs* I could give you worse examples of really obvious bad mixing lol

[xLuna&1LOVE]

Since one member pointed out the terrible mixing of one song, suddenly everyone is paying too much attention to the mixing of every song she is releasing. I think it is a bit exaggerated. Sorrows sounds fine in my opinion (and I only heard the preview)

Sure, bad arrangement is bad arrangement and needs to be called out, but I think Ayu made a lot of improvements since she is back on track. May I ask what you are hearing, which I am obviously not hearing in songs like Sorrows and even Last Minute?

[My Rainbow]

Sorrow is great. i don't get the criticism. It sounds amazing.

[Delicious n Bold]

Going back to the longer preview of Sorrows, I too hear something amiss in the chorus. It sounds... Flat and a bit noisy and it feels like the music wants to overpower Ayu or that ayu wants to overpower the music. Did Naoki mix this? I bet.

I think it's that some people are more sensitive to sound and when they hear something that sounds off it's very off-putting. I can barely listen to A ONE on my expensive headphones because the shit mixing comes into the forefront.

[~kashifaita~]

Idk what y'all are goin on about or if y'all just have really fantastic hearing, but I think Sorrows sounds perfect. Sure, Last minute was a bit...over the top in mixing but every song on this album barely had any flaws...at least to me. Anyway, I give this album an A. Each song has it's own flair, own emotion. I feel like it's a sort of...mini diary or a confessional of the things that have been troubling Ayu these past couple of years. Even the album art looks raw and not as flashy as her past albums. It's very personal compared to Colours or LOVE again; maybe even beyond that of A ONE. It would've been great though, if she just included these songs on A ONE itself haha.

My personal favs are Shape of Love and Sorrows. The way she sings both of those songs are just...magical. I've very pleased with this release c:.

[TheRainbow]

For me it's that her voice (and guitar, I guess) is too loud and the drums are barely audible in places--hearing the drums more would make the shift into the chorus more impactful and enjoyable. I like the song, I just feel that it needs a bit more polishing.

[Welurru]

My problem with Sorrows isn't the mixing of her voice, it's the instrumental itself, far too chaotic. It doesn't seem to fit the melody she's singing which I'm guessing is why she sounds loud over it. I mean, it's good when it's stripped down after the instrumental break but then the drums kick in again seemingly being hammered for a completely different composition.
Lower the drum track and you'd have a better song. As it is, it's my least fave on the mini but still a strong 6.5 out of 10.

Step by step remains a 10/10 for me so I appreciate my opinions probably differ from most of y'alls.

[Loulines]

I'm totally in love with "Shape of love". I can't stop listening to it and when I do I just feel the emotions I haven't felt for a long time... this is the same feeling I had when I was listening to Ayu's classics for the first time...

I usually don't do this but I'm happy to say that good-old Ayu is (kinda) back ♥
And I absolutely love her voice in "Shape of love"!

[dreamlover13]

You guys are sleeping on Pray!

[RealLight]

Step by step - At first, I found it boring and very bland, but now I can say I like the verses and I love the build up the pre-chorus has and the bridge is quite nice too, the only downfall is the chorus though.

Summer diary - Meh, I don't like the composition, the arrangement, nothing.

Sayonara - Nice intro, nice instrumentation and I love how catchy the chorus is, but as some people said, it doesn't live up for the build up through of it, like on the last 2 choruses, I was expecting a BOOM and got a "boom". However, it would be SO MUCH BETTER if it was a solo song, these guys vocals are so bland and emotionless.

Sorrows - Last minute's sister, but not as boring as the later. It's verses, even if they're the same, I kind like the second verse better, maybe because it has some drums on it, and the bridge would've great if it wasn't for that sound like someone was playing DJ. I still hope she can give us another is this LOVE? / Because of You / Microphone or something like alterna.

Shape of love - Ah, the intro so lovely and gentle, I really like it. The verses are so nice, I wish she could've made the second one a little longer and the bridge is very unique with that acoustic guitar (?). Now, one thing that really keeps it from being perfect (I don't know if you'll get what I'll say), are the drums. In some parts, they're like "1 beat... 2 beats... 1 beat... 2 beats" and it kinda kills the flow for me. Also, it has some very old-school sound, like she could sing it with SCAR, it would be a nice combo.

Sky high -

Originally Posted by toLOVE

"Sky high" sounds like it is trying hard to be "blossom" 2.0 and a track on Love songs.

This, and tbh, blossom isn't that great either, but at least it's chorus sounds better. Also, some people said it has a "fairyland" feeling, but I feel like it's chorus reminds me of Born To Be...

Well, this is a decent mini-album, but Memorial address still being her best. Sayonara, Shape of love, Step by step and Sorrows are really good but Summer diary and Sky high are a big no.

3/5

[My Rainbow]

People shitting on Last minute and Sorrows WTF

[andycruize]

Shape of love and sky high is reallyyyyyyy great, I love both song. Shape of love remind me with duty era.

[NintendoHTF1242]

Bad mixing can fuck with your ears a bit though. The mixing on "fated (Orchestra version)" literally made it unlistenable to me because there's a constant low frequency noise throughout the entire thing. Same with Namie Amuro's "HimAWArI" and "NEVER END" on her Ballada collection. It's extremely annoying.

Granted, Sorrows and Last minute suffer from their own problems. Although Last minute sounds fine to me now that I've been spamming it.

[AyUmIXx]

For me, Sorrows has that raw sounding like last minute but with richer arrangement which i love more than last minute a bit.
both sound amazing.. still.. my most fave track..

[primavera♥]

The mixing in Sorrows is definitely off, which is unfortunate, because it would be more effective with better mixing.

But I do still really enjoy the song.

[melissalove]

Summer dairy is my favorite sorrows is a grower. I'm taking in sixxxxx step by step.

[js_surrealism]

Have to say I was generally meh with most of the songs on this mini album -- Step by step was shit, Summer diary was boring, and Sayonara was spoiled by the inclusion of Spexial.

But Shape of Love! What a lovely surprise! Best song she's put out in ages!

[andycruize]

For me this album score 5/5. I love all the songs in this mini album, fuck for the haters. Ayumi is the best, she always being honest for herself, because she know the best about herself. She dont try to copy the other singer and sing the song the best Way she can.

[Next_Level29]

Originally Posted by andycruize

For me this album score 5/5. I love all the songs in this mini album, fuck for the haters. Ayumi is the best, she always being honest for herself, because she know the best about herself. She dont try to copy the other singer and sing the song the best Way she can.

. no more words needed. (fuck the haters though was very harsh i guess hah )

[orbitalaspect]

I'm super surprised by Ayumi's ballads this year. Anyone remember back in 2009 when You were... / BALLAD came out and everyone on AHS pretty much unanimously agreed that Ayu was out of good ballads? I was definitely not expecting the ballads from A ONE and sixxxxxx, and I immediately noticed that Anything for You / Walk / Shape of love / Story are somehow so much like Ayumi's typical ballad but so goddamn memorable.

I've listened to Anything for You and Walk maybe a few dozen times now, but I immediately remembered the melody for Walk when it leaked in December. And the same for Story when A ONE came out. I can actually play that song in my head throughout the day. And Shape of love is much like that. I've found myself imagining the song playing, and the intro piano repeating.

It makes me happy, as Ayumi's ballads were what I first came to know of her, and even at her low points, I still liked them. But these, compared to BALLAD / Days / Sunset... It's so nice to hear Ayumi Hamasaki in the music again.