Secret ALBUM: Discussion

[immel]

I didn't notice anything particularly different with Startin' either. Born To Be... is minutely changed, mainly it sounds a lot clearer.

[jkm444]

This album beat (miss) understood! My fav tracks is kiss o kill, until that day, and 1 love. Wow I am surprise that beautiful fighter is the only 5 min song. Least fav is secret maybe I will like it if I listen to it few more times.

Larisa-chan I am surprise that u like (miss) understood better then memorial address.

[alt.total-loser]

I remember someone saying that the background music in Startin' was louder, but I didn't really notice it. o__o; I think it sounds the same.

[catcher_inthelight]

IT IS aLL GOOD!!! AAAAHHHH!!!!!!! *dies*

[norain]

Not Yet - Quite an interesting song, one of the few interludes that I actually like to listen to.

Until that day - Eh...It reminds me of another song I don't like. But I still like it, wow, weird of me. I think one of the best things in the song is the interlude, where it does a little bit of soft and then back to rock.

Startin' - The one thing I like about this song is that it's so American Rip off. lol I like it though. Not the best, but it's one I can bare to listen to just like Inspire...

1 Love - It started off real interesting! I like the chorus. It reminds me of another song in the same way it's written...not by ayumi though. But not a favorite of mine, I'm surprised, I was expecting to love this song after GAME.

IT WAS I KNEW I WOULD LIKE THIS SONG, I really really erally like this song. It just strikes me as one of the ones I like. It reminds me of Hope or Pain. Which is such an underrated song, i bet this will become underrated also. But I like this song a whole lot.

Labyrinth Pretty dark. Hmm...is all I can say...something from a previous album except redone...

JEWEL Practically my lover of this album, every album I have fallen in love with a Ballad. My Story - CAROLS, (miss)understood - PRIDE, Memorial Address - Forgiveness. This album is no exception, Jewel is the best song of 2006 by Ayumi I have to say. Unless she releases a Christmas single.

momentum I have a feeling I'll like this more later when I see the music video, but I do like this song, it's pretty nice. I feel like it's a Moments of the album to me. And I like Moments

taskinst Another tasku productions...reminds me of a SNES game theme.

Born To Be Sigh...this has got to be my least favorite song, but I do like it, just not really.

Beautiful Fighters It's okay. I just...well we've gone through this.

Blue Bird The fairyland of the album, seeing as I didn't like Fairyland all that much I guess it's alright.

Kiss O Kill Doesn't strike me as I like it, pretty dark though. Dark is good.

Secret I just like it, what can I say.

[immel]

Originally Posted by meerkitty

I remember someone saying that the background music in Startin' was louder, but I didn't really notice it. o__o; I think it sounds the same.

Unless someone comes up with some kind of proof I'm going to stay convinced that Startin' is the original version. I'm a lot less certain about Born To Be..., I need to compare them to each other, I think it might have new mixing.

[Isthan]

AMAZING. So unique but at the same time so Ayu.


I’m going to review each song separately:

Not yet: Best album opening ever along with MY STORY’s Catcher in the Light.

until that Day...: Awesome, crazy, revolutionary! Oh, and the funny detail which I posted on the “30 preview”-thread also: the chorus reminds me about dir en grey’s RED ...[em] very much.

Startin’: Ok song if you’re in the right mood.

1 LOVE: So insanely powerful... Makes me want to do something drastic!

It was: Cute! Makes me think about rainbows and other cute things...

LABYRINTH: Good interlude but doesn’t beat Kaleidoscope.

JEWEL: I simply love this. One of Ayu’s best ballads.

momentum: As people have already mentioned, this is very RAINBOW-style. I like it.

taskinst: Not my favorite interlude but ok.

Born to Be...: Well, I’ve never liked this very much, other than as Arena Tour’s opening...

Beautiful Fighters: Lovely. Makes me happy.

BLUE BIRD: A decent summer song.

kiss o’ kill: Simply crazy. And I’m starting to like this even more and more...

Secret: Extremely sad. I love it very much.

[JaysenRyan]

Here goes my review, well, more of an opinion about what I liked.

1. Not yet - My absolute fav Intro/interlude track. Better than Catcher in the light

2. until that Day - Oh yeah, this is what I was waiting for. Def in the top 5 of this cd.

3. Startin' - adore this song, it's the song that got my 32 yr old sister in love with Ayu, along with my 4 yr old niece singing it even though she barely knows English lol.

4. 1 LOVE - probably the best song on this CD.

5. It was - It's a nice, mellow song, but honestly it doesn;t stand out too much. Reminds me of something ZOEgirl would sing.

6. LABYRINTH - easily skippable, fairly boring, but pretty.

7. JEWEL - at first the song seems lacking, but after a few listens, you kinda see the reasoning behind simple instrumentation. beautiful song.

8. momentum - Ugh, I really don't like this song. It really sounds like a reject from one of her very first cd's, it does nothing for me. I can;t believe this song got a PV over "until that Day"

9. taskint - why does her best music end up stinkin interludes? this should have been a full song.

10. Born To Be... - I never liked this song, and the PV was awful. Highly overrated and could have been left off the cd, or at least given new music.

11. Beautiful Fighters - I'll admit it's obscurity on this album, but I adore this song. And I always said It'd be ncie to have an album with all genre's.

12. BLUE BIRD - hated this song when it first came out, grew on me so fast, now one of my fav's.

13. kiss o' kill - it starts off kinda interesting, and has a "free & easy" feel with the Organ, but the song really is all over the place, and doesn;t touch on anything special or specific.

14. Secret - The big secret is this song was kinda boring. I'm sure it'll grow on me, but as of now I do not prefer it.

Well there's my own personal opinions. Bash me if u must.

[maneayu]

mm... I couldn't help but to listen before I get my copy =P

I just LOVE "1 LOVE"!!!!!!! It's so powerful and I can imagine Ayu in the pole xDDDD
She's the feminism incarnation herself!!! Go women, go Ayu!!!!

"Not Yet" and "LABYRINTH" is so Techno-Ayu!! I've missed that so much!!!
Maybe LABYRINTH looks so much like Over, but it has a self emotion, so clear and dark at the same time.

I can't stop by saying that "momentum" sounds like a Koda Kumi's ballad... I'll wait to see the PV, if it'll convince me about it xD

The main song, Secret, is so soft but sad song. So cute, I like it very much.

And, of course, I can't leave this message without saying that kiss o'kill is the strongest song of all, so powerful and melodic, with their pieces of techno and rockish style.

[neokyotodragon]

Dare I say it, this album beats my favorite album: Memorial Address. My favorite track is kiss o' kill and my least favorite, but still good, is Beautiful Fighters.

It seems this album didn't have a "secret" track :<

[Nu-NRG]

I noticed an interesting thing about most of the songs in the album,
a lot of little or big 'changes' within the song
calm>fast etc

kiss o' kill: the guitar vs the solo organ near the end of the song
Not yet: calm at the beginning then morphs in to trance
until that Day: slow lyrics>fast paced lyrics
It was: sounds like a midtempo pop rock but bang turns in to rock..sorta like monochrome and the arrangement is really similar
momentum: ballad -----> slowly builds up in to a uptempo power ballad
it's like Free & Easy/M
taskinst: (WONDERLAND?)piano or circus like music at the beginning then in to a heavy rock sounds<--wicked

[ayu_fan929]

I like this album. The album songs were well done. My album-favourites are "JEWEL", "It was" and "momentum". "kiss o' kill" and "1 LOVE" are also pretty good. The interludes of this album are awesome. "Secret", the track, sounds kind of boring after a few more listens. I don't really like "until that Day..." but it's still alright.

[DA1SUK1DAY01691]

Originally Posted by Nu-NRG

I noticed an interesting thing about most of the songs in the album,
a lot of little or big 'changes' within the song
calm>fast etc

kiss o' kill: the guitar vs the solo organ near the end of the song
Not yet: calm at the beginning then morphs in to trance
until that Day: slow lyrics>fast paced lyrics
It was: sounds like a midtempo pop rock but bang turns in to rock..sorta like monochrome and the arrangement is really similar
momentum: ballad -----> slowly builds up in to a uptempo power ballad
it's like Free & Easy/M
taskinst: (WONDERLAND?)piano or circus like music at the beginning then in to a heavy rock sounds<--wicked

Those are really good descriptions . I think momentum is a perfect name for the song, since as it goes on, it builds momentum.

This may be one of her strongest, comparable to LOVEppears or Duty. It barely exceeds MY STORY, but blows (miss)understood's head off.

[..:Hot:Like:Wow:..]

Let's all hope the Japanese thinks it's alot better than (miss)understood too. I really want this to sell over 1 000 000 copies.

[truehappiness]

I think in the context of an album, single tracks tend to sound better..

[immel]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I think in the context of an album, single tracks tend to sound better..

I think that's much more the case for US releases.

As albums is released last, after the singles, in Japan, the album only tracks is often also of top quality, in the US it's often only the single tracks that's listenable as they are what's going to make the album sell.

For Secret I'd say that the album tracks totally crush the single tracks.

[the angel song]

Originally Posted by immel

For Secret I'd say that the album tracks totally crush the single tracks.

RIGHT ON!

[DA1SUK1DAY01691]

Originally Posted by immel

I think that's much more the case for US releases.

As albums is released last, after the singles, in Japan, the album only tracks is often also of top quality, in the US it's often only the single tracks that's listenable as they are what's going to make the album sell.

For Secret I'd say that the album tracks totally crush the single tracks.

Totally. Kiss o' Kill totally pwns all of the single tracks, along with Secret and momentum. I'm amazed some people give it the reviews they gave it, cause this is totally one of her best in over three years.

[*hearT_Place*]

Originally Posted by immel

For Secret I'd say that the album tracks totally crush the single tracks.

Absolutely!!


I'll post my opinions on each song later, but for now I will say I LOVE this album! The only thing that weakened it was sticking the three Bs one right after the other, as I think the single songs are the weakest on the album. It's a pairing I will have to get used to.

So many of the songs are so unique in Ayu's on way! I LOVE them and I can't WAIT to see them live!!!!