NEXT LEVEL album thoughts

[Me, Myself & Music]

I actually really enjoy Next Level. I'm not a huge fan of Ayumi, I like her, some of her past material has been really meh and bland for me. It's a good album and it doesn't hurt my head like Guilty did!

[Kaiouforever]

This album is not Ayu's best, nor do I think she took it to the "next level." That said, this is not a BAD album, but I look forward to her next single, and hopefully she will impress me more.

[Kikaru]

Now that I give the album a few days to digest...

I actually rather like NICE LEVELl, because it has the calming affect on me. I can easily picturing myself biking and walking around on a bright sunny day while listening to this song, so that's nice. However, I do think out of the new songs it's the least stand out one.

EnergizE is really fun, and the beat's great. I kind of wish they didn't digitize the arrangement as much because the composition reminds me of a 50s song, and I kind of wish it's more powered by just the clap beats. And I like the fact that this song didn't feel sugary.

Rollin' is...weird. Took me a few listens to get it because the vocoder voice in the beginning reminds me of something I'd seen on the old-school gray alien on the Scifi channel or something. But the chorus is really nice and I have it stuck in my head as I speak.

Identity has the weirdest bridge, but I feel like it has the composition of decision and the arrangement of 1LOVE or the more rockish part of Rule. The only part that bugs me is the "yeah yeah yeah" in the beginning.

Love 'n' Hate is actually the first song that caught my attention. The chorus and verses composition vise reminds me hitomi shimatani for some reason. But it manage to be urban and still maintain some of her more rock-influenced elements in there.

Sparkle is fun and dance-y, and I really like the chorus.

Rule has been one of my top playing songs for a while. The chorus is catchy and it has a good beat.

GREEN will never cease to wow me. As much as I am a newly converted more "pop" person I love the arrangement and composition of the song. I love how it uses the more oriental sound and I think the way she sings it really compliments the arrangement.

Days is heartwarming and reminds me of the holidays.

I love Curtain Call's simplicity. Even with the chorus there's a down-to-earthness about this song that I really love, although I do think it's one of those songs that I'll need to be in the mood in.

Overall for me this album beats RAINBOW and LOVEppears as a pop album. And I love the fact that although it's a pop-driven album, I don't feel the sugary or excessively cutesy. I do think that the flow for this album isn't great (although I'm glad, especially because it's a more pop-oriented album, if it flows too well I have trouble really liking the tracks individually a la LOVEppears which poses a problem for me since I listen to songs on Shuffle and I like to distinguish different songs).

I still think that Orchestral Rock is by far Ayu's most well-done style, and I like the fact that I feel NEXT LEVEL gives the dark atmosphere a burst of color, but at the same time it's not a totally different environment. (And I just realize that this paragraph sounds really weird...)

[mcluva420]

i personally think NEXT LEVEL is much better than GUILTY .

[a_kingdom21]

Originally Posted by mcluva420

i personally think NEXT LEVEL is much better than GUILTY .

so do i.........

[se7entheaven]

I've listened to the album and well, this is ayu's best album-period-
It's just refreshing and not dark. EnergizE is just great, I imagine it will be put in the cute section of her tour. And LOVEnHATE...WOW!!! Her vocal is amazing and I love how she sings and act cool in the song intro ^^ The rest are just great...Take out GREEN and put in Mirrorcle World or some other songs then this album will be (almost) perfect

[zyoeru]

I'll just copy my review from my blog.

Spoiler:

So, the album starts with the song "Bridge to the sky" which is a calm intro with a slight rock-edge, it's semi-instrumental and really sets the mood for the next track.
(Composed by Nakano Yuuta who also composed Mirror(cle World), talkin' 2 myself, decision, and Marionette -prelude-).

Track two is the title track "NEXT LEVEL" and has a distinct summer feel reminiscent of BLUE BIRD, personally this is one of my favourite tracks of the album because the lyrics are really sweet. Although it's a pop song it still retains an original melody.
(Composed by D・A・I who is a personal favourite, he's composed many of Ayumi's songs including BLUE BIRD, SEASONS, Boys & Girls, Real me, Trauma, and monochrome).

The third track which is titled "Disco-munication" is actually pretty disco-sounding, it has a hard bass, synths, and (maybe) electric guitar. It's the first interlude of the album and it's completely instrumental, setting the techno-inspired scene for the next songs: EnergizE and Sparkle.
(Composed by CMJK who composed other interludes for Ayumi including The Judgement Day (GUILTY), Are You Wake Up? ((miss)understood), and a few songs: until that Day... and Over).

The forth track: "EnergizE" also carries off a techno sound, with an equally heavy bass and electronic sounds with harmonious synthesizers (I know nothing about music, obviously) it's a pretty good song even though it may take some getting used to as it is pretty different from Ayumi's previous songs, this also was composed by Nakano Yuuta.

"Sparkle", the fifth track of the album, is definitely one of my favourite Ayumi songs, fitting in with the previous two songs, it's clearly inspired by techno and infused with a dash of rock. Ayumi's vocals here are akin to Kumi Kouda's. So, yes, I have to say I'm slightly biased because I love it so much, if I was rating songs, this would easily get a 8.
(Composed by Hara Kazuhiro who also composed Marionette, glitter (both GUILTY), STEP you ((miss)understood), Born To Be...(Secret), &c.).

"rollin'" is the sixth track and in my opinion one of the strangest (also the best). Starting with a keyboard intro that for some reason creeps me out as it reminds me of clowns it suddenly stops to introduce a beat (yet another bass heavy song), her lyrics in this change between natural and computerised, which is pretty cool in my opinion. For some reason this really reminds me of the 80s, I guess I can't really put my finger on it, but the chorus is amazing, I love it.
(Also composed by Nakano Yuuta, Nakano really comes into his element on this album imo）.

GREEN is yet another favourite and comes at track seven. GREEN has a vibrant spring feel to it and comes jam packed with Chinese instruments and reminds me of many of Ayumi's other 'Chinese' sounding songs such as Moments, Will, and vogue. I think this is yet another really original song from Ayumi.
I guess for me it marked a new era, her last album GUILTY seemed to be almost entirely dealing with loss and pain, then along came GREEN which literally reminds me of a budding flower.
(Composed by Yukumi Testuya who also composed (don't) leave me alone (GUILTY), Life (Mirrorcle World single), ((miss)understood).

Load of the SHUGYO is the eighth track and is the second instrumental, getting away from the disco elements (almost) this has some really heavy guitar riffs along with a beat which actually reminds me of the Australian didgeridoo. I don't know why, so it's best not to ask. This instrumental really helps take you from disco to Ayumi's rockier songs including identity and Rule.
(Composed by CMJK).

The ninth track is called identity and is Ayumi's first "rock" song of NEXT LEVEL, it's a good song in all, it reminds me of (don't) leave me alone a lot, especially in the chorus.
(Composed by Nakano Yuuta).

The tenth track and third single from the album is Rule, which is also the international theme for the new Dragon Ball theme. Rule is also a heavy rock song.
A running theme in NEXT LEVEL seems to be heavy bass, liberal usage of computers (as in voice masking and synths).
(Composed by Watanabe Miki who composed is this LOVE ((miss)understood) she also composed Kuu's song Butterfly).

LOVE 'n' HATE which is the eleventh track is also a strange song, I think from this album it is the rock song which stands out the most. The intro to this song is really really epic, and the first part of it kind of reminds me of STEP you, but then it quickly changes into something unique.
I absolutely love this song.
(This was also composed by Nakano).

The last instrumental of the album is Pieces of SEVEN which is track twelve. This also has an unusual sound, it reminds me somewhat of a rainy day, I don't know why I get that feeling from it, but it has a really nice calming effect to it which nicely links the rock songs to the ballads even though it does speed up a little to the end.
(Composed by HΛL who also composed some other interludes such as LABYRINTH (Secret), reBIRTH (GUILTY), &c.).

The thirteenth song is Days which to me seems like a wintry love ballad, a really sweet song but not one of my favourites sadly. I think that it's not a favourite due to Ayumi's preference to performing it live.
(Composed by Tago Kunio who seems to compose soley ballads including untitled ~for her~(GUILTY), Key (DUTY), Together When... (GUILTY), and SCAR (DUTY)).

The final song is called Curtain call which is a fitting title for the last track, this song is also a ballad, the lyrics are incredibly sweet and it's possibly the best ballad of the album. This song's lyrics remind me of Who... and the melody is also pretty simple. To my ears it sounds just like a piano and maybe a backing choir. I think that the simplistic sound is a wonderful way to go to the proverbial NEXT LEVEL.
(Composed by Hara Kazuhiro).

But yeah, I have to say, it's Ayumi's best album in my opinion.
It's mainstream genres without losing its rock-touch. Her lyrics are fresh and happier, almost like opening the curtains after sleeping for a long time.
I love it.

[love in music]

yeah i agree that this album is a lot better than GUILTY. it's so upbeat and addicting. GUILTY had some amazing songs but not ones you really want to put on repeat forever (besides glitter).

[Hachimitsu]

I can't believe how awful that picture on the Discommunication page of the booklet is.

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

Like how MY STORY is very lyric-based, and (miss)understood is genre-based, and GUILTY is emotion-based...

I think NEXT LEVEL is like arrangement-based.

Best insight on this thread, in my opinion.

It's a parallel that no one else here agrees with, but I do think that's why this album has such a kinship with LOVEppears. They are both arrangement-based albums.

Too many extratextual readings here: what Ayu said on her blog, how she needs to take a long break so she can make better music, how this album is so last-minute, blah blah blah. Whatever, I don't really care, and I don't see how those factors translate into artistic worth. Particular pet peeve: this was a rushed album. And so? Rushed = bad? Wong Kar Wai made Chungking Express as a break when filming for Ashes of Time ran long, and I'd argue that Chungking is a better movie. The artistic process is not determined by length of time.

I am by no means a strict formalist, but it seems there is too much autobiography involved in how people determine their opinions.

For me, what an artist says about their work of art is helpful but insufficient, sometimes virtually meaningless. The meaning of a work of art is created by negotiation between artistic intention, critical appraisal, and the object itself.

I think this is an album that will sound better in retrospect. As to masterpiece status, I'm not yet sure.

Worst album is still A Song for XX. Talk about a lack of artistic identity. And followed by Guilty. Talk about artistic exhaustion.

As to those issues with vocals, I'll just say that the human body is not a machine. It ages, evolves, adapts, changes. Even vocal technique-obsessed Mariah these days doesn't sound like Mariah from the old days. To expect the same thing is naive. Personally, I think Ayu's voice is still fine.

I'd put up my own review, but I'm sure everyone's eyes here will glaze over from my pretension I take analyzing Ayu's music as serious critical business.

[SURREAL__RAINBOW]

Originally Posted by freedreamer

HAHAH thats what I suggested...except that it doesnt come in a set..
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87618

ohh lol

i didnt see this before~!!~

xDD

[Meat Pao]

I have no idea why the single tracks (Days, GREEN, Rule & Sparkle) apparently sound louder compared to the album tracks when listening to the album on my stereo ._. Weird.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Uemarasan

I take analyzing Ayu's music as serious critical business.

As do I and many other people in this thread. As for the rest of your post, I'm not sure how all of those things DON'T relate to analyzing the album - her voice, production time etc. Rushed is fine, if the reason that you are rushing is because you are inspired. Not because you are rushing to meet a business deadline. If inspiration had simply been the case, there would be no need to announce the release date of the album before it was even recorded. But I don't think the album being rushed was even really brought up much here. It was more about people not feeling "connected" to the songs, the uneven flow of the album, and the tracks seemingly having a short shelf life.

[elvis810]

I like albums which spark controversies instead of consistent comments! Which is why i like m(u) a lot(different comments and great variety of songs) and don't care much towards Secret and MY STORY(unanimously jpop/ayu-ish/rock) and GUILTY(unanimously dark).

Oh well, I will insist to not listen until i get my copy, my persistence is weakening tough...
However, if CMJK is the main producer/arranger, NEXT LEVEL has a higher chance to score high in my mind.

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

As do I and many other people in this thread. As for the rest of your post, I'm not sure how all of those things DON'T relate to analyzing the album - her voice, production time etc. Rushed is fine, if the reason that you are rushing is because you are inspired. Not because you are rushing to meet a business deadline. If inspiration had simply been the case, there would be no need to announce the release date of the album before it was even recorded. But I don't think the album being rushed was even really brought up much here. It was more about people not feeling "connected" to the songs, the uneven flow of the album, and the tracks seemingly having a short shelf life.

The thing I don't get is how you're blaming Ayu for the 'rushed' thing. I mean it's not exactly her fault that this album is 'rushed' to you. It's avex! I'm 100% sure they told her, "Hey finance year ends 31st March, make an album so that we can get the cash rollin'!"

Surely, Ayu could have said no BUT this is still the company... the people who give her her paycheck...

I gotta agree with maikaru, who mentioned that if she was REALLY "making songs for the sake of it", there wouldn't be a 8 month gap between Mirrorcle World and GREEN/Days.

I mean, in previous threads, I did talk about how I would like an album to be on 01.01.10 actually, but I think if NEXT LEVEL was on 01.01.10 instead, it wouldn't be too different from NEXT LEVEL now.

In any case, if she is REALLY "making songs for the sake of it", then as what others have said, there would be that GUILTY vibe from it. I like GUILTY a lot too, but you can hear she's tired or something. I mean she broke up with her boyfriend, her best friend committed suicide blah blah, I don't think anyone would be in the mood to make an album after such events. But she felt like she "needed" to, that's what she said on interviews about GUILTY, right?

But with NEXT LEVEL, it feels very different. All the songs sound fresh and cheerful... I mean I don't know what "emotions" you guys are referring to when you want to feel "emotionally-connected", but hey, I feel happy and relaxed while listening to NEXT LEVEL. The songs just give me the vibe that Ayu is enthusiastic and excited about this album.

You have also mentioned earlier about the excessive use of effects on her voice on this album... while I agree with you because Rule's vocoders in the verses are SO extra, I think I've got something to say on this too.

If, for example, her voice wouldn't edited for the songs... I sure as hell wouldn't enjoy rollin' as much. The computerized voice in the verses make the song VERY interesting imo, and so goes for a lot of the other songs. These songs are in the 'techno' style whether you agree or not, there are still techno influences here, so I think vocoders and those effects are necessary.

And in songs when they are not so techno, she doesn't use "special effects"! NEXT LEVEL, GREEN, Days and Curtain call are songs with her natural voice, and I think she sounds awesome in all these songs.

Of course her voice wouldn't be as good as her I am... era, but I really wouldn't expect her vocals to be exactly the same as 2001.

I just feel that if Ayu were to read this thread, she really wouldn't know what to do for her next album.

People complain about emotional albums (GUILTY), about experimental albums ((miss)understood), about happy/carefree albums (NEXT LEVEL)... what should she do next that will impress everyone?

I mean she will never make an album that everyone will like (I, for one, dislike I am... a lot)... so it's just unfair to her to listen to a new album and quickly compare it to "older works".

About her writing spark... I agree with panda87 that she has started to use phrases a little too repeatedly nowadays, but it's good to see that these 'repeated phrases' are used in different contexts.

In NEXT LEVEL, for example, she sings about roads AGAIN. But this time the 'road' here is really for a very different reason... it's about moving on. The last time she mentioned 'road'/'walking' was like decision, and you know that wasn't a very happy song, unlike NEXT LEVEL.

Also, while I said rollin', for example, still tackles the "serious" issues currently, the "serious" issues are like topics she has always been writing about. a song is born, is also a song on "serious" issues. For that, can I say that she's getting boring?

One thing I've noticed about this album is that she's writing on a lot of new topics.

EnergizE, LOVE 'n' HATE, Days, Curtain call... are lyrics that she hasn't really written before. Curtain call has that Kuu vibe, I mean the lyrics are really good, but I don't think Ayu has written anything like Curtain call before.

LOVE 'n' HATE and Days, like I've mentioned, are songs on crushes. When was the last time she sang a song on having a crush? Er what about never. (Okay I guess STEP you is about a crush too. )

And EnergizE feels like a song that has no regrets! I remember maikaru saying before that her happy songs always have this tinge of regret in them (and it's sooooo obvious in glitter), but EnergizE is not like that, one bit, at least to me.

Sparkle is also another song where lyrics are something she has not tried before. I know this one is touchy cos it's 'superficial'... but that's why I didn't really talk about Sparkle.

So how is she losing her writing spark if she's trying new things to write about? She has 10 albums and 45 singles. That's so many songs, and I think it's time she leaves the emo-ness behind and at least write happier songs. She has done that in NEXT LEVEL, so I'm happy.

Oh, one more thing before I end. You also mentioned about feeling something while listening to Fly high and the rest. What are you feeling? Suicidal thoughts?

Because to me, EnergizE and Fly high make me feel the same thing - confidence and happiness. The difference is that Fly high had a lot of doubts, but EnergizE is definitely 100% "I can do it".

Maybe to you, even happy songs need to have this "emo" vibe to be good... but that was Ayu in the past. Another member has also mentioned in LOVEppears, many of the happy-sounding songs have dark lyrics. I mean I like the contrast, but what's wrong with have a happy-sounding song that really is happy? Is a song less emotional just because there aren't emo stuff and regrets in its lyrics?

I'm so pleased with NEXT LEVEL. Perhaps it's because I'm in a really depressed mood now, and NEXT LEVEL is like THAT album that is going to help me, with its confidence, loudness and color. I think such an album is fitting for an era like now, where crisis are abound.

By that way, I'm not one of those fans who are totally blinded (so please don't use the fact that I registered at 2007, and that I actually started into Ayu in late 2006 to say anything)... so of course I have my displeases about this album.

Let's just say that I was really when I heard Load of the SHUGYO. That first few seconds of the "ah ah" and the triangle were so redundant! In fact many of the songs have lame intros lol, especially Load of the SHUGYO. Ugh!

I'm sorry for this long post, and I'm very sorry to SunshineSlayer for quoting you and then saying all these, but I'm not aiming you or anything. My apologies...

[elvis810]

BTW, Japanese fans are saying that the lyrics DOES have a lot of meaning.

e.g. in LOVE 'n' HATE, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,0 signified the 7 years of Nagase's relationship with her and it become 0 when they broke up.

the interlude that followed then make total sense-Pieces of SEVEN refers to the bits and pieces of the 7 years they were together.

Clearly, Ayu is just not that "non-sense" or "random" when it comes to her lyrics...
Obviously the break-up did have a huge impact on her despite her fun and happiness in front of the camera and the fierceness during photoshoots and concerts.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

The thing I don't get is how you're blaming Ayu for the 'rushed' thing. I mean it's not exactly her fault that this album is 'rushed' to you. It's avex! I'm 100% sure they told her, "Hey finance year ends 31st March, make an album so that we can get the cash rollin'!"

Surely, Ayu could have said no BUT this is still the company... the people who give her her paycheck...

I gotta agree with maikaru, who mentioned that if she was REALLY "making songs for the sake of it", there wouldn't be a 8 month gap between Mirrorcle World and GREEN/Days.

I don't think anyone "blamed" Ayu for that, just simply stating that is the way it is and it is unfortunate. And as for making songs for the sake of it, as I said, I mostly mean the album tracks.

Originally Posted by waterballoon

You have also mentioned earlier about the excessive use of effects on her voice on this album... while I agree with you because Rule's vocoders in the verses are SO extra, I think I've got something to say on this too.

People aren't just referring to vocoders when they are talking about production though. In this album her voice is tripled, quadrupled over(maybe more) as well as other studio tinkering and it definitely sounds more so than on her other albums. This once again points to her voice being weak these days and actually the more tinkering in the studio you do, the more flat the vocal ends up becoming imo.

Originally Posted by waterballoon

Oh, one more thing before I end. You also mentioned about feeling something while listening to Fly high and the rest. What are you feeling? Suicidal thoughts?

Because to me, EnergizE and Fly high make me feel the same thing - confidence and happiness. The difference is that Fly high had a lot of doubts, but EnergizE is definitely 100% "I can do it".

Maybe to you, even happy songs need to have this "emo" vibe to be good... but that was Ayu in the past. Another member has also mentioned in LOVEppears, many of the happy-sounding songs have dark lyrics. I mean I like the contrast, but what's wrong with have a happy-sounding song that really is happy? Is a song less emotional just because there aren't emo stuff and regrets in its lyrics?

uhhh What? lol. That's my first reaction to reading all of this. First of all, I hate emo and I don't even like Guilty that much. I hate that emo is even considered a genre since songs with sad lyrics have always existed since the beginning of time. And once again, when feeling a connection to the song, it has nothing to do with weather the song is happy or sad, it is all in how that song is delivered through the composition, arrangements, and most importantly the vocals. I think part of the reason people aren't feeling that connection is because of the vocal issues mentioned.

I don't think this is a BAD album and I don't think the lyrics are that much of an issue (other than Sparkle), some of them are quite good and some are extremely repetitive. I think that she is capable of better albums though. If you can whole heatedly enjoy this album, that is great for you though.

[tenshi no hane]

I'm not really feeling this album as much as I did with her other ones but it's still pretty good. LOVE 'n' HATE is the greatest track imo. identity is quite good too and I love Disco-munication <3
What's missing for me is a good ballad or two. Sadly I'm not big fan of GREEN, Days nor Curtain Call whilst I usually like Ayu's ballads the most so that's a big loss to me.
All together I do like the techno-rock theme this album has got going, but it just doesn't really stand out to me enough to be totally in love with it.

[emi♡]

Hello obvious gap between types of Ayu fans and the correlations to when they became fans...

I wonder how many people that totally love Ayu and her newer lyrics think her best albums happened after (miss) understood

Anyway...how to bridge this gap?

I really want to start comparing Ayu to dream theater for some reason...in terms of how long they've been making albums and everything they do and how creative it is...it's all my boyfriends fault...

but anyway...you know, I don't think that saying "SO WHAT IF SHES LOSING HER SPARK SHE HAS ALL THESE ALBUMS AND SONGS." is very good argument. Perhaps we all need to take a step back here and remember that Ayu is NOT a musician. She is a SINGER. Sure she has composed here and there, but that doesn't make her an experienced composer lol. Sure she has written her own lyrics, so what? So does kuu, so does hikki, so does my emi, so does a ton of other artists.

Perhaps we should stop expecting things from her that she never had, or maybe things that she once had, but doesn't need anymore.


Ayu is special, yes, I think we all believe that, I think we all love her, but for instance, I would never expect the same level of quality album after album from her as I get from someone who writes all their songs and mixes them and everything.

I think Ayu's special because she imbues what she's given with more of herself...maybe we don't feel that so much here because we're not used to it...I don't know...

meh...whatever. I miss my LOVEppears/Duty Ayu...and since that's never coming back...All I can hope for her is that she does her best with everything she puts out, if I like it, great, if I don't oh well. I don't listen to her stuff that much anymore...cause...it kinda got boring...

I like this album better than Guilty...by a long shot. But...I still don't think its really anything compared to her previous achievements.

for added dramatic effect: I agree with SunshineSlayer's points. Even if he doesn't agree with me.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by emiko

for added dramatic effect: I agree with SunshineSlayer's points. Even if he doesn't agree with me.

I agree with you on some points yes. Although I'm a She not a He. I think my username must give off too much of a masculine effect or something...