Evaluate your least favorite album

[truehappiness]

Probably.

RAINBOW IS beautiful, but at the time, people were basically like "Wow, this is no I am...!" or some crap like that. :[ I dunno, RAINBOW really decided whether or not some fans were staying or going with Ayu.

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by InoriNoUta

So they'll hate GUILTY until the new album comes out ?

... I dunno, I thought RAINBOW was a beautiful album

agree , the style of RAINBOW is very different from I am ...

maybe it was released at a time when trance/dance music was still in ?

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Probably.

RAINBOW IS beautiful, but at the time, people were basically like "Wow, this is no I am...!" or some crap like that. :[ I dunno, RAINBOW really decided whether or not some fans were staying or going with Ayu.

guess you're right on that in that RAINBOW was either a make or break album coming from ayumi

[Ani_C]

IMO, I Am... has amazing songs but weak transitions throughout. Rainbow on the other hand has some great hits (Less than I Am... to be honest) but I thought the flow of the music was brilliant.

e.g.:

Tracks 1-3: Powerful/Upbeat
Tracks 4+5: Powerful/Saddens
Tracks 6+7: Rock bottom (Absolute depression xD;; )
Tracks 8-12: The mood lightens
Tracks 13-15+ : Resolution (Happy time which I love even though some people always complain about these tracks).

edit: It was consistent 8D Now I Am... (just cause I wanna make more visuals)

Track 1: Powerful kinda neutral start
Tracks 2-6: Energetic still neutral
Track 7: NEVER EVER! So happy and awesome xDD
Track 8: It saddens too fast
Track 9: Oh snap we're somewhat bitter sweet but it picked up too fast.
Track 10: This interlude was pretty cool but the location is kinda whack xDDD
Track 11: M kinda saves it right here.
Track 12: For the love of... I dislike this song xD Although the lyrics are powerful and the MS classic arrangement redeems it for me.
Track 13-15: Dearest, No More words, and Endless Sorrow! Could you ask for a better ending, HELLZ NO! Best part is you don't have to listen to Flower Garden if you don't like it

Point is, I Am... is kinda all over the place with great redeeming songs we all know (the lyrics to ;D ) and love, and RAINBOW has solid transitions.

[Kikaru]

^NEVER EVER is happy? I always thought this song is like the epitome of her desperation and anger.

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Probably.

RAINBOW IS beautiful, but at the time, people were basically like "Wow, this is no I am...!" or some crap like that. :[ I dunno, RAINBOW really decided whether or not some fans were staying or going with Ayu.

I agree that Rainbow is probably a staying or break album. On the other hand, I think some people didn't like Rainbow as much after I am... was because the music style is different (I am...-rock, Rainbow - more synthed pop).

I dunno, I used to really like Rainbow, but for some reason I'm at this phase where I really dislike extreme synthed pop or trance, so that might have something to do with why I didn't like Rainbow. Although I quite like the ballads on there though.

[waterballoon]

The thing is people just keep expecting MORE from Ayu ever since I am... I think in hindsight... maybe people will now realize that they are so crazy over I am... because of the really awesome songs inside (NEVER EVER, M etc) but I think they forgot about the album as itself in the process.

And when RAINBOW came out, it was actually a more coherent and 'packaged' album compared to I am..., but people were too judgmental of the MANY new things that Ayu did from RAINBOW onwards - use of English, change of direction in music, etc

Simply put, I suppose people love the style of I am... so much that although RAINBOW is seriously very good (to me), they bypassed/belittled it because of I am...

And yes. MY STORY was too 'boring', (miss)understood was too ... what was the complain that people have of this one?, Secret was too 'short'/'boring'/'similar', and GUILTY was too 'empty'/'haphazard'... You sort of wonder why people don't look at the albums themselves and realize the beauty in each of them.

[Seiko Yua]

RAINBOW rocks. period.

what happened to the evaluations?! XD lessee some critiques here!

[KarenPang]

You can definitely tell the sound consistency wasn't there in Secret . I rather she leaves it as a mini album though

having said that that's the only complaint I have of Secret as I absolutely adore the album

[Bad Wolf]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

The thing is people just keep expecting MORE from Ayu ever since I am... I think in hindsight... maybe people will now realize that they are so crazy over I am... because of the really awesome songs inside (NEVER EVER, M etc) but I think they forgot about the album as itself in the process.

And when RAINBOW came out, it was actually a more coherent and 'packaged' album compared to I am..., but people were too judgmental of the MANY new things that Ayu did from RAINBOW onwards - use of English, change of direction in music, etc

Simply put, I suppose people love the style of I am... so much that although RAINBOW is seriously very good (to me), they bypassed/belittled it because of I am...

And yes. MY STORY was too 'boring', (miss)understood was too ... what was the complain that people have of this one?, Secret was too 'short'/'boring'/'similar', and GUILTY was too 'empty'/'haphazard'... You sort of wonder why people don't look at the albums themselves and realize the beauty in each of them.

I am agreeing with you to ... idk, the power if infinity or something.

I may have my complaints about her albums - hell I may not even LIKE some of them or they'll have to grow on me for a while - but I've come to appreciate them as individual pieces of work and expressions. As such they become beautiful to me for what they are: a reflection of Ayu's creative mind during certain parts of her life. Like right now I'm totally digging LOVEppears when a few months ago I wouldn't have given it the time of day. A little while back it was MY STORY and before that RAINBOW. I don't think there's any other artist (besides Dir en grey, heh) whose albums I can enjoy both on their own and also by factoring them in together as a "progression" of sound and style.

[dartsofpleasure]

MY STORY

1. Catcher in the Light
I think this is a great album opener. However, I think this song would have fit in more with RAINBOW, and doesn't really work well with "About You" and "GAME" coming after it...
7/10

2. About You
A great song. Sort of bland, but that allows it to be a slightly more listener-friendly (accessible) rock song than "GAME". I love the powerful lyrics.
8/10

3. GAME
GAME's just a pretty good song until the ending kicks it up a few notches into AWESOME.
8.5/10

4. my name's WOMEN
A totally ridiculous/unnecessary/generic pop song. I have come to expect a certain depth from Ayu in terms of lyrics and musical quality, but this song DOES NOT DELIVER. Also, it's annoying.
4/10

5. WONDERLAND
eh, it's not great. It serves its purpose of shifting the mood of the album, but the music is fairly bland
5/10

6. Liar
This song is filler squared. Filler to the nth degree. The verse is fairly pleasant, but then segues into a grating yet forgettable chorus.
4/10

7. HOPE or PAIN
Love it. The strings in the beginning are awesome, and from there the melody just rolls on and it all fits together quite nicely.
7/10

8. HAPPY ENDING
It's sort of a mixture of the style of RAINBOW and the bland pop turn this album has taken. The result is pretty decent. I can't really say anything about it... it's just... okay
6/10

9. Moments
Great song. It just gives you such a good feeling! I literally can't listen to it without smiling. It gets kind of repetitive towards the end, but I don't mind
9/10

10. walking proud
A sweet song. Kind of like if "untitled ~for her~" and "Voyage" were put through a content strainer, stripped of musical creativity, and sold in bulk at Wal-Mart. But still sweet.
6.5/10

11. CAROLS
Mildly annoying (SHIIII-RO-IIIIIIIIIIIII), but pleasant. Lyrics and piano are good...
6.5/10

12. Kaleidoscope
FILLER OMG
2/10

13. INSPIRE
This song is pure pop, yet I love it. It's just so supremely catchy and somehow managed to combine all the right elements of everything without being over-the-top or annoying. Hats off, Ayu!
8.5/10

14. HONEY
Sugar. I have diabetes from listening to this song. But the Morning Musume fan in me loves it! So cute!
7/10

15. Replace
Really catchy. I love the different stages of this song.
7.5/10

16. winding road
Forgettable and boring. Yawn, Ayu, yawn.
4/10

17. Humming 7/4
W. T. F. If there is an adequate explanation for this "song" I have not heard it. I'll just share my thought process upon first listen:
"Oh, cool, this sounds like another pretty neat rock song... hey the verse is pretty cool I wonder what the chor- OMG TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF!"
Seriously. WTF.
1/10

FINAL ANALYSIS: The problem I have with MY STORY is, yeah there are like 5 or 6 great songs, but 11 or 12 of them SUCK. Not okay.
This is the only Ayu album I don't like. All things considered, Ayu has a near-perfect 9/10 track record with me. There were some albums I hated at first, but ended up loving or at least appreciating later (RAINBOW, Memorial address), but I have never been able to make peace with MY STORY. It's just not good enough.

THE END

[TakaSama]

^ Hahaha, this is great! Another person who doesn't really like My Story, but if you look at my review and dartsofpleasure's review, we like and dislike almost exactly the opposite tracks...

Originally Posted by waterballoon

And when RAINBOW came out, it was actually a more coherent and 'packaged' album compared to I am..., but people were too judgmental of the MANY new things that Ayu did from RAINBOW onwards - use of English, change of direction in music, etc

Actually, the only thing that put me off about Rainbow when I first heard it was that the mp3s I had made from the CD (back when I listened to everything on my computer) were ridden with errors due to the stupid stupid invention called copy protection that thankfully died... Once I got a regular CD player, it was like "oh, that's how it's supposed to sound..."

[Melodie]

It would have to be A Song for XX.
I only listen to its title track and POWDER SNOW.
All I have to say is that musically it is rather weak. Lyrically I have no complaints.
If I were to base an opinion on an album solely on its lyrical factor, then my least favourite would be NEXT LEVEL.

[JesA]

Bahaha, time for another scathing JesA review...after I reamed Love Songs. I find it funny that some of these "least favorite" are mostly songs that are ranked 6-9 out of 10. My least favorite album has many 1s and 2s :p

So here I go....my least favorite album is actually I Am... Mostly, because it has like three songs I actually like. Since I love to talk, I'll do a song-by-song review.

1.) I Am... - Starting the album off VERY strong is this track, with a grungy alt-rock feeling. The acapella opening even sounds slightly Native American to me, which netted it more points (Since I'm 1/4 Cherokee :p). It's very minimalist, with an amazing message..topped off with an unique, earthy arrangement. 9/10.

2.) opening Run - The strong start continues with this awesome interlude, continuing the unique arrangments that are prevalent in this album. My complaint with opening Run was that it was too short...but to my delight, the Daybreak single remedied that This is actually my second favorite interlude of her career for me, and I'll give it 8/10

3.) Connected - Aaaand now, the strong start is ruined with a boring, lifeless sounding techno song...Electronica has IMMENSE potential to convey emotion, but this song doesnt do it. It just feels strange...it was a gamble for Ayu to experiment so much with this album, and it pays off on some tracks..but it flops on others, like this one. However, the vocals save it a bit, putting it a BIT higher for me. 4/10

4.) UNITE! - I've never really felt to strongly about this single...it sorta ends up being evolutions awkward twin, because it sounds so similar... I feel like this one was sorta put together to be performed live, because that's where the magic happens..even though the fist thing is corny, this song ALWAYS functions well live. 4/10

5.) evolution - UNITE!'s good twin...even though evolution is quite repetitive, it's a bit more enjoyable for me. As strange as it is, though, I think it's awful/unnecessary live. I grumble a bit every time I see it on a setlist, because it's one of her "staples" that isn't even that good to begin with. It irks me when she does the whole "AI! AI! AI!" thing during the instrumental parts...3/10

6.) Naturally - Definitely my favorite song from this album...lyrically, it's some of her best work. Vocally, there's so much emotion coming from every word. In terms of the arrangement, this is an exampe of how experimentation yields great results. It sort of sounds like something from LOVEppears, which is one of my favorite albums (Besides Secret, RAINBOW, and A Song for XX, which no one seems to like at all :p). 9/10

7.) NEVER EVER - Ehh...this song is so boring and forgettable to me. The first chorus is good, but I end up getting sick of this song before the second verse even starts. The only instance I've ever really liked this song is her 2001 Arena Tour. 2/10

8.) still alone - I hate this song. It's the definition of "filler" for me, and it has a haphazard composition that distracts me from finding the good aspects of it..and the chorus is weird. 1/10

9.) Daybreak - Oh lordy, this is the one song of Ayu's career that no one should mess with :p This is my absolute favorite Ayu song EVER. This song is like a light in the darkness for this album, and the lyrics never cease to hit my heart. The arrangement is awesome too, because I love when rock meets electronica. 10/10, the only perfect score of the album.

10.) taskinlude - This interlude is just creepy and weird...and especially forgettable. When I looked at the album's tracklist before doing this review, I couldn't really remember what it sounded like, so I had to listen to it again...and that's something I never do with Ayu. 1/10

11.) M - I feel like this song is incredibly overrated..she always performs it, people always use it for sets, and people always rave about it...and I dont' understand why. The PV just seems random and hokey to me, and I don't like the attempted Christmasy arrangement. 1/10

12.) a song is born - Ayu's solo version of the song....and not as good without KEIKO. This song feels really long and drawn out to me, and the arrangement bores me. I wish Ayu would've done a different take on the song, like BoA and Kumi did with The Meaning of Peace. Kumi did a really awesome solo version, which I wish Ayu would have done with this one.. 2/10

13.) Dearest - Yet another Ayu staple...but I don't have anything bad to say about it. This is the song that got me into Ayu, since I heard it on Inuyasha when I was like 11 or 12. This is the sort of timeless classic that Ayu needs to revive for her recent concerts..I say completely forget about UNITE! and evolution, and put Dearest in its place. 9/10

14.) no more words - This song is really boring for me, and I'm ready to stop listening once I heard Dearest..Dearest is so dear to me (punny ) that it's good enough to bring the album to a close. This song just seems to keep going and going... 1/10

15.) Endless Sorrow ~Gone With the Wind version~ - This arrangement is really ugly, to be blunt...the original arrangement would've saved the album a bit, by interrupting the large string of fast songs. I just completely frown upon NOT putting the original on the album for a bad mix...0/10. Yep, I just did that :p Endless sorrow is one of my favorite I am...-era singles.

Overall, I praise the album for its experimentation with different styles, compositions, and arrangements...but it doesn't work in most cases. It has a few gems here and there, but sometimes, she hits a lull..and by sometimes, I mean a lot. This album proves her label as an "artist", but it's a bit of a blemish on her label as a "singer".

Pros: She demonstrates bravery by trying new things, it has a lot of techno overtones that complement her rock-tinges very well, and it's not ballad-heavy.

Cons: Some of the songs just end up sounding ugly (still alone, and the Endless Sorrow arrangement), and a few of them sound the same.

Overall, I give it a 5/10...average

I have a very weird view of her albums..I sorta consider them in two tiers..and upper tier (favorable) and a lower tier (not as great)..

Upper tier: Secret, RAINBOW, A Song for XX, LOVEppears, NEXT LEVEL, Rock'n'Roll Circus
Lower tier: Love songs, Guilty, I Am..., Duty, (miss) Understood, MY STORY

[Melodie]

^While I agree with some of your views, most of them go entirely against what I like. It's funny, almost xD

[Aditmi Krisnasaki ~II~]

my least favorite album is RAINBOW..

1. everlasting dream - 4/5
- beautiful and makes us feel like we are about to enter ayu's magical world

2. WE WISH 2/5
- the silly vibratos + cutesy voice.... oh, get rid of it ayu~

3. Real me 4.5/5
- oh my... heavy synth in the beginning, gospel chorus.. this song is a diamond...
but the outro is too long, makes it sounds boring now..

4. Free & Easy 3/5
- amazing arrangement, horrible vocal... don't compose those high notes if you can't reach it with your own voice ayu... LOL

5. Heartplace 0.1/5
- one word: gross... T_T never like this song no matter what

6. Over 3.5/5
- finally a nice asian-sounding ballad, beautiful arrangement from HAL but with kinda weird (?) chorus ==a

7. HANABI 3/5
- it's a pretty nice ballad but it's not really my favorite, it's just so overrated by so many ayu-fans, and idk why.. ==a

8. taskinillusion 4/5
- perfect interlude! easilly memorable and absoutely beautiful! But kinda weird in the end.

9. everywhere nowhere 0.5/5
- it still has a good melody (not like Heartplace) but ayu's silly vibratos once again ruined the whole song ==

10. July 1st 3.5/5
- one of my ayu's favorite summer song. it's just the first verse sounds a lil bit strange too..

11. Dolls 4/5
- a very beautiful sad ballad, and even her vibrato doesn't sound annoying as usual, one of my favorites.

12. neverending dream 5/5
- a dreamy and gorgeous interlude, another one of my favorite interludes

13. Voyage 5/5
- the best song of 2002! the beautiful music box intro, those strings and shamisen, all flow perfectly in this song!

14. Close to you 2.5/5
- yeah, it was a nice christmas ballad the first time I heard it, but now it sounds so flat and boring.. T.T easily forgettable

15. independent 3/5
- i love the claps in the beginning, but the chorus is too repetitious and it needs a bridge to make a good summer upbeat track

16. + 0.5/5
- it's not really necessary to be included in this album. doesn't fit the theme and ayu's voice is at its top-most horrible point.. T_T

overall 3 out of 5 stars

this ayu's album with the best interludes i must say, however her vibratos ruined some of the songs with the nice melodies and arrangements, yet it has some of her memorable songs for her fans...

[Sirea]

Ohhh boy. I'd like to jump on board, iff'n there's still room!

My least favorite album (that I've heard, sadly there's a few I haven't) has got to be Rock n Roll Circus. There are songs I LOVE on this album, songs that are forgettable, songs that bring back bad memories... I don't think any of them are -awful-, but it's just the way they fit together that's pure yuck.

01. THE Introduction - 2/10
I listened to this like, once. I've forgotten about it since. It was pretty forgettable.

02. Microphone - 7/10
Great, powerful song, loving the rock thing... but... it's a little drawn out and doesn't go anywhere. It's also completely out of place and sets up entirely the wrong expectations for the rest of the album, seeing as how it's so different from everything else...Whatever, it's one of the best songs on this album so there you go.

03. count down - 6/10
I actually had to re-listen to this song to remember my opinion of it (this will happen more as this evaluation continues). There's nothing inherently bad about it... but nothing inherently good either. It's a typical pop rock song with a hint of blah.

04. Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~ - 6/10
I mean... it's like... a ballad version of a song that was already done. Seems sort of cheap. Pretty, but cheap.

05. BALLAD - 10/10
This is probably one of my favorite ballads of Ayu's. So emotional... I never tire of this. Just pure goodness.

06. Last Links - 7.5/10
This is another typical pop-rock tune with strings thrown in for flavor which is okay by me. The melody itself is a little more memorable than count down, but coming off of BALLAD, the transition here (read: none) is jarring. Good song, weird placement.

07. montage - 5/10
An almost Visual Kei interlude... if you're gonna do something this grand, put it in a song... it's just weird on its own.

08. Don't look back - 7/10
The Bollywood thing's pretty random. I love the song and the PV but the style came out of nowhere coming off the heavy orchestration of the interlude... I dunno. Meh.

09. Jump! - 8/10
Fun, bouncy, dancey interlude that I could listen to more than once, and that's saying something. Haha.

10. Lady Dynamite - 8/10
This is a good, high-energy song, but the chorus could have done with some more instrumentation I think. Just feels weak I guess.

11. Sexy little things - 10/10
I love this. Pure love. Nothing but love. So catchy and awesome and different and LOVE. Great coming off of LD as well.

12. Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~ - 5/10
What? Haven't I heard this song before? Oh. Wait. It's recycled music - excuse me - a different version of another song on the album. Once again, cheap. The first time I heard this song, I was going to go on a summer vacation with my boyfriend's family and this was going to be a theme of sorts for me. The trip was pure unadulterated hell. Now I associate this song with that. Sorry Sunrise, you suck by association. And why put this after SLT!? Sooooooo awkward.

13. meaning of love - 6/10
Oh lookie. A ballad. After that sugar and sunshine-fest of track 12. What?.... Oh whatever.

14. You were... - 8/10
Okay so this at least makes sense here, and it's actually a ballad that can hold its own. Can't hold a candle to BALLAD, but meh. It's just okay, good even, but nothing to write home about.

15. RED LINE ~for TA~ - 8/10
I actually really like this song, but almost never listen to it because it gets buried under songs I just plain like better. Plus I always forget about it because her "finale" songs are usually boring (untitled ~for her~, rainy day, Curtain Call...), it's hard to remember that she does have a few good closing songs every now and again. xD

OVERALL: 3/10. The songs individually average out to much more obviously, but evaluating it as a whole, taking into consideration its massive lack of flow and apparent ADD just takes the completed picture and rips it to shreds. Sorry RnRC, you tried... but here's some Ritalin for your little problem. We'll talk later.

Soooo yeah that album disappointed me on many levels, mostly because I expected one thing (a rock-driven album like (miss)understood) and got something entirely different (...this.)

[neuteka]

Since I can't think of my least favorite album off the top of my head, I went and gave each album a score depending on how much i liked each individual track. I would give each track a rating out of ten, added up each track, and divided by the number of tracks.

Ironically, The album that I stated as my least favorite multiple times ended up getting the highest ranking ( Memorial Address ) I would honestly say that is still my least favorite in terms of an over all album, but each track is just amazing. And to be fair, that is only an EP.

The album that got the lowest score was Rainbow, sadly. I do love that album, but I am not too surprised at how low it scored.

I am not going to go track by track, mostly because there are too many good things I have to say about them, and it would sound like a waste of time. However, I will say the reason for this album getting such a low score is because a lot of the songs I find to be just so so . They are not bad, they are beautiful in their own way, and their remixes are kick-ass, but in this album they just blend into blah. Songs like Heartplace, Over, Everywhere Nowhere, and Close to you fit into this category. I respect them in their own way, but they all felt like "the nice, underrated filler" which is only nice to have maybe 2 times on an album, not 4.

Next thing, the summer songs. For some reason,they are just so so for me, and compared the remixes, they just fall so flat. not to mention + is starting to strain on me. I used to think it was okay, and now I almost dislike it.

[gogirlanime]

So I took a lot of time in studying how I reacted to Ayu albums because some I honestly forgot how I truly felt about them.

I did not include A Song for XX or Nothing from Nothing. Both of these albums are so old and Ayu's style hadn't really been established, her vocals (in my OPINION remember) are pretty terrible, I only like the songs "A Song for XX", "Power Snow" and "Limit" on a rare chance I'll listen to some of the other songs on A Song For XX.

Nothing from Nothing would very obviously be my least-favorite Ayumi album, but since it's not technically part of her true solo career I won't add it. And again A Song for XX is so old and for me such a terrible album that for me it's an obvious pick as my least favorite, so besides these two here are the results.

The runner ups

#2 least fave GUILTY
-5 songs I listen to
-average song rating (every song on album): 6.32
#3 least fave Secret
-5 songs I listen to
-average song rating (every song on album): 6.96

Old-school Ayu albums (Rainbow or sooner) runner up: Duty.
I loved this album back in the day but don't very much anymore

Winner for least fave: Rock'n'Roll Circus

Why: This album was all over the place, it couldn't decide to be a ballad album or a techno album or a rock album. I love Ayu's different styles but some of these songs would have been better if pushed aside for future singles. Something I would have suggested to Max Matsuura would be to remix some of the ballad singles to fit in with the up beat rock and techno songs. Techno and rock can easily be together in an album but when you throw in a bunch of ballads too it feels weird. Also the order in which the songs played was all over the place too you went on a high low high low.

One of my top 10 favorite Ayu songs is on this album "Microphone" but it is honestly almost the only one I'll still listen to on this album too. I also really love "Don't look back" which I listen to a lot as well, I'd say this song is in my top 20 favorite Ayu songs. Then there is "You were..." which is gorgeous and probably in my top 25 favorite Ayu songs.

The Ratings

1. THE introduction
I actually really love this into, it's funky and very different from her other interludes. 8/10

2. Microphone
This song just totally rocks, the lyrics are intense and this song demands your attention with the hardcore fast opening, then the hard bass and guitar at the same time as the vocals. Then the "tell me why tell me why, I don't know I don't know" sucks you in. This song is almost like an argument sung instead of spoken. 9/10

3. Countdown
This song is actually quite nice I like the guitars in it. Once again this is a pretty forgettable song though, it's just another (miss)understood/GUILTY (as in the song title songs) song. The mid-paced sad rock song is back again and it doesn't sound any more different from her previous ones. It's still a good song though I give it 6.5/10

4. SUNSET ~LOVE is ALL~
OMG this song couldn't be more boring and J-pop ballad typical. It's pretty, but it's also just another version of SUNRISE ~LOVE is ALL~ A terrible addition to the collection of all Ayu songs made, it wasn't necessary 4/10

5. BALLAD
This song I have a love/hate relationship with. The melody and feel of it is very J-pop typical to me. It starts out quite boring but Ayu's vocals build and the song intensifies to a very strong ballad. The fact that it was so weak in the beginning is what kills it for me, regardless it gets a: 6/10

6. Last Links
A decent song, a good "zone outer" as in a transition song that you just kinda zone out to while you wait for your next favorite song on the album. There is NOTHING special or original about this song over many of Ayu's other songs, so it gets a 5.5/10

7. montage
This break was interesting, but equally made my ears wanna bleed. The loudness and intensity are not like that of Microphone, it's more like a bunch of kids running around making noises 5/10

8. Don't look back
One of the most interesting mixes and arrangements Ayu has ever done. I was almost instantly impressed with this song. The song is something I can relate to a lot so I guess that's what makes it great for me. Ayu's low vocals are high in quality. Usually songs that are a bit on the same level of intensity throughout the whole song bore me but because this song is about distress it works. I love the haunting sound of the line "Don't look back" it's almost like she's a ghost singing this. 8/10

9. Jump!
The distorted vocals and chorus in this break song is great, it gets a bit annoying at the end, though I still love it. This song would make a great remix if whole 7/10

10. Lady Dynamite
I can't understand why some people love this song. It's just another Ayu-typical girl-power J-pop song. It has it's moments but I find Ayu's vocals on the lower side and some of the music loops are annoying as heck 5.5/10

11. Sexy Little Things
Again I have a love/hate relationship with this song. Ayu's vocals can really get on my nerves in this song, at other times the song as a whole is so addicting that I don't care about her vocals. I like the break downs and how the song skips the beat at the right moments. I really love near the end of the song when it makes this sudden 360 switch in the melody and pace of the song, then the ending chimes and sound clip is awesome. 7/10

12. Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~
Again this song isn't terribly special to me, this version I like a bit more than Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~. Again this song isn't terribly special to me, Ayu's vocals are average, melody average, sound effects average, etc. 6/10

13. meaning of Love
Wow just another random unoriginal ballad thrown into this album, giving more reason as to why this album is my least favorite. I don't even know where to complement this song. This sounds almost like a typical old school Morning Musume ballad >o< It's another "whatever" 5/10

14. You were...
I find this song very beautiful and the melody and feeling are in the same category as JEWEL to me. It is very Christmasy, though I like that about it. It isn't terribly original but Ayu's vocals and the instruments are very beautiful. When the main verse kicks in the music has a wonderful visual effect in my mind of fireworks and lights exploding into a huge glow (much like the glowing clown thingy in the PV) 7.5/10

15. RED LINE ~for TA~ (album version)
There is something about the beat of this song that is really addicting to me. It is one of the first "happy" songs Ayu has done in a long time that hasn't annoyed the heck outa me. The melody is pretty and her vocals are done nice. The chorus really adds a depth to the song and of course the purpose of the song makes it special too. It's not terribly original, but addicting 7.5/10

Total
The average song rating =6.5 Though looking at the whole album together I give it about a 5.5/10

But WAIT! You said above that you gave GUILTY an average song rating of 6.32 thats because my "average song rating is my mathematical rating [individual song ratings all added together then divide them by the number of tracks]) Rock'n'Roll Circus got a better average song rating because I hated the interludes in GUILTY which is what brought it's average song rating down further than Rock'n'Roll Circus' I love the interludes in Rock'n'Roll Circus. Plus the fact that Rock'n'Roll Circus got that score having more songs says something too. If you take out the interludes and instrumentals GUILTY even with fewer tracks wins me over more.

Other people

Originally Posted by JesA

9.) Daybreak - Oh lordy, this is the one song of Ayu's career that no one should mess with :p This is my absolute favorite Ayu song EVER. This song is like a light in the darkness for this album, and the lyrics never cease to hit my heart. The arrangement is awesome too, because I love when rock meets electronica. 10/10, the only perfect score of the album.

WOW I feel exactly the same! I love the H/\L's mix a lot more than the original though I think it brings out the lyrics and emotion of the song better. I also think her Daybreak PV is one of her best despite how boring one could see it. I felt it was just super peaceful and beautiful it was like watching a super gorgeous live performance with a high-budget background.

Originally Posted by JesA

11.) M - I feel like this song is incredibly overrated..she always performs it, people always use it for sets, and people always rave about it...and I dont' understand why. The PV just seems random and hokey to me, and I don't like the attempted Christmasy arrangement. 1/10

I wouldn't give M a 1/10 but almost more like a 3/10 this song sometimes hits me and I love it for like a few days then I go back to almost hating it, there is something about it that just isn't that special to me. I think people love it because it was the first song Ayu released when she was truly on her biggest popularity high so anything she'd release people would love.

[Kanzaki]

I think my least fave might be Love Songs...either that, or RAINBOW. It's kind of difficult for me to decide since I still really like both, and I just recieved my copy of LS. I want to listen to it for a good while and let the songs really grow on me, before I decide.

[love in music]

Duty

1. starting over - one of my least favorite introductions. really boring. 2/10
2. Duty - amazing, powerful song. I love this one. 10/10
3. vogue - I hate the instrumental to this song and her voice really annoys me. I can't handle it.. I just think it's so horrible 2/10
4. End of the world - powerful, haunting, amazing song. 10/10
5. SCAR - her voice is so beautiful here and I love the chorus so much 10/10
6. Far away - TERRIBLE. the arrangement is so damn annoying. 1/10
7. SURREAL - her voice here is so awful.. it's a shame because otherwise it'd be a great song. I cannot stand her voice here. 2/10
8. AUDIENCE - god she sounds terrible and this isn't even catchy. gtfo of ayu's discography ugh 1/10
9. SEASONS - I know the lyrics are great and all but she sounds horrendous in this song. her "LA-LAI" makes me cringe every time 1/10
10. teddy bear - fantastic, beautiful song. 9/10
11. Key ~eternal tie ver.~ - beautiful song, gorgeous lyrics 10/10
12. girlish - AWFUL. TERRIBLE. I will NEVER listen to this again. thank god she hardly performs this sad excuse for a song. 0/10

the bad songs on this album are really bad, thank god there are some really amazing gems in this album.. but still the crap outweighs the good and makes this my least favorite album since the bad songs are serious offenses to my ears and just piss me off.

[JesA]

Originally Posted by gogirlanime

WOW I feel exactly the same! I love the H/\L's mix a lot more than the original though I think it brings out the lyrics and emotion of the song better. I also think her Daybreak PV is one of her best despite how boring one could see it. I felt it was just super peaceful and beautiful it was like watching a super gorgeous live performance with a high-budget background.

I wouldn't give M a 1/10 but almost more like a 3/10 this song sometimes hits me and I love it for like a few days then I go back to almost hating it, there is something about it that just isn't that special to me. I think people love it because it was the first song Ayu released when she was truly on her biggest popularity high so anything she'd release people would love.

Random, but I'm not sure if I did this quote business right :p The only formatting I ever do is Bold, with Cerulean font color..

Anyway, YOU'RE MY HERO FOR LIKING DAYBREAK! For some reason, most people are really lukewarm about it...I prefer the album arrangement over H/\L's mix though. I don't know what it is, but the album mix just clicks with me. I love H/\L's mix though, especially how well it worked in the PV. Daybreak is one of the few songs that I actually took the time to translate to fully understand

As for M, I've always been very negative about it :p I dislike all of these "fan-favorites", for some reason...they just sound tired and overrated to me. I have such weird music tastes anyway :/ When I was first getting into Ayu, everyone would always RAVE about this amazing song...and when I first listened, I was thinking "Umm..really? Is this what everyone recommended?" I dunno why, I've just never really appreciated it like her other staples. During my favorite live, A Museum, I was on the brink of liking it...but then she pulled appears out of the dusty old-school treasure chest, and I completely forgot about M, cuz I ADORE appears. I spent $40 on it on ebay, cuz I loved (and Immature) so much. It was sealed, with an OBI..and not a bootleg. BEST. PURCHASE. EVER :p

Another ironic thing I just noticed.....I'm a "still alone" initiate, when i despise the song. I've gotta keep posting to get it changed :p