first impression ranking:
01 Not yet - This is a little weird sounding. It's just not something you'd expect, and really out of the box. I can't really get a feel for whether I like it or not. It really sounds like the beginning of a really long remix. It sounds really repetitive lyricswise too. At 1:27 it gets a little quiet but then goes back into the remix-y feel. I classify it as an "interlude" because it's repetitive, sounds like a remix, and is super short at 2:01.
02 until that Day... Uh.. okay? At first impression, it sounds like an 80s/Classic rock song. Haha. At 1:00 it becomes a little more technoish. The vocals seem to be at a minimum, and the background is more prominent, that's why it feels like an interlude. It almost feels like a remix as well, I'm assuming the chorus starts at 1:45 and if it does, I like the chorus a lot. The fast singing is cool, because it's done in a sort of new way. The end of the chorus is very interesting as well, with the whole drums going with her voice. I don't like the robot voice though, haa~. The guitar gets a little boring, simply because it's not really used well. At 3:36 it sounds like it gets acoustic and a violin holds a long note, which is refreshing from the rest of the song, but then it goes back to the same old, same old, and continues that way for the rest of the song.. A song that I think I'd have to be in the mood to listen to it.. I like the ending a lot at least.
03 Startin' - A song I've always liked, though it's sort of a new style for her. The guitar arrangement is nice in this one. I also like that it's a lower key than she usually tries and the way she sings. The vibrato actually sounds real for once. I don't like the English echo thing "Tell me startin'" or whatever. The chorus is one of the best parts of the song, the tempo sounds exactly where it should be which I can't say for all the songs on this album. The interlude and the guitar solo is nice too, I like how it keeps the pace of the song which is sometimes difficult during free solos. I like the weird crowd sort of drums at the end as well, though I don't remember them being in the single (perhaps I have a bad memory). Once again though I don't know if its novelty will wear off, as with JEWEL.
04 1 LOVE - I like this song from the first few seconds, which is rare. The singing doesn't sound like it really goes with the guitar but around :50 it starts going together (the part before the chorus). "JUST ONE LOVE!" They slowed it down a lot from the panasonic ads from listening to the chorus. The best part about this song, in my opinion, is the end of the chorus when the bass goes with her voice. The guitar playing is really supurb in this song which I think is rare (I mean, it's always GOOD but I've been hard pressed to find a song besides alterna that it could be considered 'supurb'). At first I was disappointed with the guitar solo because I thought it was repeating the same thing over and over and then I see that it goes into a true solo. Another one I'd be interested to see live because yoshio tends to mix those up in lives. I overall think this song is very good, kind of MY STORY style.
05 It was - At first seems very simple and calm... and stays that way through the verse. They put some sort of effect on her voice in part of the verses but doesn't sound bad. In the chorus it gets a lot heavier. Once again a MY STORYish song, something I would've expected on that album. I'm a little disappointed that whoever composed it didn't try to think out of the box, but I suppose you have to have these types of song on every album. There isn't even a guitar solo to blow me away. All in all, I sadly probably won't listen to this song a lot even though it's good simply because that's what I tend to do to songs that sound the way this one does (and she has a million of them). Though this song IS in one of my favorite key signatures.
06 LABYRINTH - Great, the word I can't pronounce. I love the word itself but I always pronounce it "lab-rin-ith" rather than "lab-rinth". I like it from the beginning, and at :49 it starts all coming together, sort of like adding instruments (I think it's an echoing piano). And at 1:08 it starts throwing in sharps and flats to make it AWESOME. I'm a little disappointed it was only an interlude and not a real song though.
07 JEWEL - i've listened to this song a lot and it SOUNDS like the second coming of HEAVEN but the lyrics are like the second coming of Free and Easy. I'm not sure if I like HEAVEN or JEWEL more, I probably like JEWEL better because the lyrics are more uplifting and not about death. Also the chorus is very moving, even though it doesn't crescendo you know that it's the most important part of the song because her voice gets more dramatic. I do think she sings really oddly in this one though, if you listen to the beginnings of words.. well, it's just not how she usually sings. Also the harmonies are faint but go well with the composition. The best lyrics of the song is at the end "You are my precious treasure". But I don't know how long I'll actually listen to it, the novelty might wear off like HEAVEN's did.
08 momentum - At first, it doesn't sound like anything special... Okay, the verse isn't very special either. I expected it to crescendo into some big verse or chorus but so far it's still boring. It reminds me of a Final Fantasy song, perhaps because of the little triangle. It gets a little better as it's going into the chorus.. and I really like the chorus. It's talking about shiroi yuki (snow). "Boku no saiko no yuki" haha. "It's my best snow". It has a way of sounding almost summery because it's upbeat. It reminds me a lot of fairyland. Overall: I thought this song would be really great but on the album it comes up a little average. It's not bad, but just average. Probably one I'll be skipping past, but it sounds like it'd be good performed live. Probably one of my favorite named songs though!
09 taskinst - return of the taskin, I'd like to call this. It sounds like almost a musicbox at first with drums, very calm. Then all of a sudden it goes into a very rockish sound, perhaps to contrast the two types of songs on the album? Either way, some nice guitar playing here. After the song has had its little "rock" fit, it goes back down to the simple and calm for a few seconds before fading out. A nice little break from the album.
10 Born to Be... - The downfall of the album. No, haha, this is my least favorite song of the album though. I'm forcing myself to listen to it all the way through like I did when she performed it on the concert. What exactly don't I like about this song? I can't really put my finger on it. It sounds very "upbeat", but I really dislike the chorus. Ayu sings wonderfully in it, but the guitar is boring and the bells in the background are sort of a joke. This song just hasn't ever caught my attention because I don't like it. The interlude.. just sounds very Olympics. Maybe that's why I didn't ever like it, because I kind of despise the Olympics. Overall, a song that merits a surefire skip from me every time I listen to the album.
11 Beautiful Fighters - Ayu puts on her cute voice to deliver the album's "kawaii" song. Honestly, this is the type of song you either like or don't. The type is very upbeat and "feel good", even the lyrics are very "girl power". For me, it's enjoyable, though I hate the PV a lot. This song had to grow on me, I had to learn to like this style of song because it's not something that I usually like. If you liked HONEY on MY STORY, this is kind of like a toned down version of it, in my opinion. It's more listenable than HONEY but I would stray far from it if you don't like "kawaii pop" as I think I'm going to start labelling these types of songs.
12 BLUE BIRD - The song eases you in at the first verse, and then around :53 gets into the actual chorus and rocks your socks off. A lot of people said it should've been called fairyland #2 and I think that's true, especially from the video. It sounds very summery because it came out in the summer. The background voices go well with the main voice, very upbeat, not clashing at all. It fades out in the middle and then comes back to the powerful chorus. The lyrics are also very nice if you ever get around to reading the translation. Overall, a very upbeat, happy, summer song for when you're feeling down.
13 kiss o' kill - The best part is in the chorus when it goes to 3/4 time for like three notes. The organ solo @ 3:20 is badass as well. Also when the music starts dropping during the chorus after that is really awesome. I think the verses are a little bland but the chorus is awesome and the composition as well.
14 Secret - A very sweet song from the first note that talks about women and the sky? And a child. I especially favor the composition, though I think it would've sounded better as a ballad. I said another song was MY STORYish, and this could be considered (miss)understoodish, though she sings a little weird as was the same case in JEWEL. Her voice sounds a little low quality though and I'm listening to the 320kbps version of it! Perhaps it's a filter? Well, I don't like that. The song is very slow the entire way through, though around 3:20 there's a violin solo where it picks up a little, then the music drops out. After listening to it, I think it sounds a little safe and cookie cutter, which is a little disappointing, because you would think you would want to end the album on a strong note. I guess they wanted to go the safe way. Sounds like the song that would end a concert to me.
also I have 320kbps if anyone's interested in it.
Topic: 「 SECRET 」 Ayu's 8th album discussion (Read 16032 times)