Album Thoughts: Ayumi Hamasaki / LOVE again
Title:「LOVE again」
Artist: 浜崎あゆみ
Release date: 2013.02.08
Ha.
Hahahahaha.
Sorry. Give me a sec.
I remember this album. I have so much memories with this one. So this post is going to be so long. I'll try not to go on too much. This album was released as part of ayumi hamasaki's 5-releases-5-months project thing leading up tomy 17th birthday her 15th anniversary, and everyone remembered how messed up that went. At first she released two mini albums, that was oh-so-not-coincidentally called LOVE and again. Hahaha. LOL. If you combine these two mini albums, you get... LOVE again. Whoever thought this shit up should have just went home, and never went back to avex. Which is why I won't do reviews on LOVE and again, because they are the same songs as this album, but just has the remixes and instrumentals. But aren't remixes and intrumentals supposed to be on singles?? You can't dump them in an album! You can't release singles as albums! (Oh wait, she can) After these two mini albums, you get this album, then a remix album called A Classical, that was also a messed up shit. I needn't explain.
The whole album is basically about... love. And it looked like a second part to her 2010 album Love songs, but slower. This random album also came right after her messed up shit with Maro and You&Me. And further, Party Queen. Now you know how random this is. How did it went from Party Queen to LOVE again. I don't know. But I remember this album came out when I was still studying Childcare at college and I basically looped this album in my headphones every day back then. Which is hugely the reason why I have so much memories with this album. Oh, the nostalgia.
But there were so much shit this album caused I don't even know where to start. That's why I couldn't stop laughing at the beginning. I mean, even thinking about this album makes me laugh. Hahahaha. Sorry. I won't go on anymore. Let's start on my thoughts of this album.
If you look at the cover, it's cheap. Though not as cheap as CoLOURS and A ONE, but it's simple, and it doesn't really attract any attention, except if you count how ayu looks Western yet pretty, with her cleavage showing as some kind of attention. Also, the cover again look like a rip-off from a magazine photo shoot, which is lazy as heck. Also, it's very pink. To the point that sometimes I don't even want to look at it anymore. Not that it's bad, it's just that you get sick of it. The font sucks too. It's like, she's just L that shit.
There is a total of 15 tracks on this album, with 2 interludes. We start off with Wake me up, the epic sex song! Not really. But I do think she's singing about her V here. Let's just not get into it. To be honest, no one knows the truth behind her shit. But this song has beat! **Wakup, wakup, yeah wakup wakup... gellup gellup, yeah gellup, gellup...** Seriously, even Arashi's Engrish is better than this woman. Anyway, the PV of this song is... hahahahaha. Sorry. I'm at it again. The PV of this song is her and Maro and this other random dude... at a beach... doing I don't know. Looked like they were in Hawaii, but I don't know. This PV didn't do SHU-YA any justice at all, though. More like a complete betrayal. But whatever. The PV is like You&Me but second part, with a random dude this time. Seriously, I was starting to think these three were having threesomes all night at their motel! WTF? I can't anymore. But ayu will always be cool no matter what shit she comes up with, because at least she's vastly different than your usual J-POP crap. But I also have to say, that scene at the restaurant, ayu was using a fork and the Western guy (??) was using chopsticks... cultural reverse! And that scene in the motel room... what was that about?? Like "Wake up, bastard, let's have sex!", "Go away, bitch, no mood for your V". LOL.
Anyway, next track is Song 4 u. Ha. Hahaha. Here's a chance for me to play abbreviation again. Dis song was the thme song to a vid game called Tales of Xillia 2. No, I can't be bothered with the abbreviation. The PV is her playing chess with... herself, using... herself. She looked like a witch in the video. But she looked good, as always. I also remember back in 2012, ayu's vocals were at its worst. I remember her performing this song on HEY!x3 and things did not go well with her vocals. She still looked very beautiful, though.LOL, that's what she has left. **2 u yeh, iyeh iyeh, iyeh iyeh, iyeh iyehiyeh... 4 u yeh, iyeh iyeh, iyeh iyeh, iyeh iyehiyehyeh...**
Next track is Missing, and I loved this song when it first came out. It was one of my favourite tracks on this album. It still is. The song reminds me of ayu's blond weavy hair. And in the PV, she's crying again. And she was in this corn field-like setting, and there were people, men, floating in the air. Do not ask. I like the lyrics too, but it doesn't really have that powerful impact that she used to have in her older songs. Well, that fact applies to all her songs nowadays anyway.
After Missing, the rest of the album is basically a snooze fest. The next track is SAKURA. And this is a nice song, but you get bored after a while, and then you wouldn't want to listen to it anymore. **ikitekukotowa... towoshitesetsunai... ikitekukotowa... towoshiteureshii... Ah, kimi no tameni...** This is the type of album where you can play it in the background while you study, but then you couldn't and end up falling asleep.
The fifth track is Melody. She took her time with this PV, releasing it months after she released this song. This song is nice, but it's a total snooze fest. And it gets annoying and repetitive after a while. The PV is similar to her older song, TO BE, where she does these splitting image things, I don't know what they are called, but less creative and more lazy. She still looked really nice, though, darn it, ayu.
The sixth track is one of the two interludes on this album, task'n'bass, and I liked the beginning, it caught my attention, but it's still meh. Well, it's an interlude, what did you expect? Next is Bye-bye darling, which is mega forgettable. I mean, it's meh, and you wouldn't choose to listen to this song if you had to choose one song to listen. Ayu's vocals are as cracked and flat as ever too.
After that is snowy kiss, probably the best song on this album (to me). It is intense and has power. And I really loved this song when it first came out. I still love it, but I hardly listen to it anymore. I love the lyrics too. The PV is her and Maro fighting. Like, break up fighting. It's quite amusing actually. Just because the guy is Maro. And the whole slow-mo thing. The setting is similar to the setting in Wake me up, minus the random Western dude, and it has flash backs from both Wake me up and You&Me. Damn bastard being violent towards my girl, how dare he. I'm guessing the message are the end of those two, LOL. Well, they did end in real life, and Maro ended up getting fired, poor dude. He even blamed ayu for his misfortunes. Yeah, now you know what I meant when I said how messed up that went.
Next track is another snooze fest, Sweet scar, and I do not get the whole point of this song. The PV is her singing to plants and shit, I can't be bothered. But she looked mega amazing, as usual. Seriously, how can anyone look that beautiful? Not fair, ayu. The tenth track is petal, and it's a nice song with good lyrics too, but it's basically yet another snooze fest. And then there's glasses, which is the second interlude, and it's nice. Worth listening to.
The twelfth track is untitled for her... story 2, which I think are supposed to be some kind of continuation to her song untitled ~for her~, from her 2008 album GUILTY, which was about her friend who committed suicide or something, I don't know. I can't be bothered anymore. But it's basically another snooze fest like most of the other songs on this album. And to be honest, I would rather listen to untitled ~for her~ than this one.
After that is Gloria, which is snooze fest at the beginning but then it gets glorious (pun intended) towards the end. Worth listening to but nothing special. The fourteenth track is Ivy, which I love and probably another one of my favourite tracks of this album. The lyrics are amazing and touching and definitely worth listening to. I remember I used to listen to this song all the time back then. But I feel like her vocals were too cracky for this powerful song, so it's unfortunate. And out of the whole album, this song is the song I wanted her to perform live the most, but she never did it so I wasn't happy about that.
The last track (finally) is You & Me. Ha. Sorry, give me another sec...
The last track is You & Me, and you would've realised I've mentioned this song quite a few times. This song was released with her best of album, A Summer Best, as like the promotional song. But then she decided to shove this song on this album, which was a complete WTF. Like, what was the whole point then? And it has to be the end, doesn't it? I feel like after all the snooze fest, you suddenly get this song, and it wakes you up (pun not intended), and it doesn't really make any sense. Like, after all the heartbreak, she's gonna go back to this song? Back to that summer... **Ano natsu no! Omoi de wa... Ima mo mada, azayaka na mama!** It's all in the past now, but I remember You & Me generated a lot of shit in the fandom back then, and it lasted for so long. The whole Maro thing didn't help, either. But, it's all in the past. All in the past... **Ooh, Friday night... On Saturday... On Tuesday... On Friday night... ** "Maro and I had a lot of sex!! Oh yeah!"
So that's LOVE again. It's basically a snooze fest, but totally not as lazy as CoLOURS and A ONE. If you were there back in 2012-2013 when this whole shit happened, you would understand why I couldn't stop myself from laughing, though. Ah, so many things were happening back then...
Reminiscing...
Conclusion: 5 / 10 stars... I have high requirements... dakara...
Artist: 浜崎あゆみ
Release date: 2013.02.08
Ha.
Hahahahaha.
Sorry. Give me a sec.
I remember this album. I have so much memories with this one. So this post is going to be so long. I'll try not to go on too much. This album was released as part of ayumi hamasaki's 5-releases-5-months project thing leading up to
The whole album is basically about... love. And it looked like a second part to her 2010 album Love songs, but slower. This random album also came right after her messed up shit with Maro and You&Me. And further, Party Queen. Now you know how random this is. How did it went from Party Queen to LOVE again. I don't know. But I remember this album came out when I was still studying Childcare at college and I basically looped this album in my headphones every day back then. Which is hugely the reason why I have so much memories with this album. Oh, the nostalgia.
But there were so much shit this album caused I don't even know where to start. That's why I couldn't stop laughing at the beginning. I mean, even thinking about this album makes me laugh. Hahahaha. Sorry. I won't go on anymore. Let's start on my thoughts of this album.
If you look at the cover, it's cheap. Though not as cheap as CoLOURS and A ONE, but it's simple, and it doesn't really attract any attention, except if you count how ayu looks Western yet pretty, with her cleavage showing as some kind of attention. Also, the cover again look like a rip-off from a magazine photo shoot, which is lazy as heck. Also, it's very pink. To the point that sometimes I don't even want to look at it anymore. Not that it's bad, it's just that you get sick of it. The font sucks too. It's like, she's just L that shit.
There is a total of 15 tracks on this album, with 2 interludes. We start off with Wake me up, the epic sex song! Not really. But I do think she's singing about her V here. Let's just not get into it. To be honest, no one knows the truth behind her shit. But this song has beat! **Wakup, wakup, yeah wakup wakup... gellup gellup, yeah gellup, gellup...** Seriously, even Arashi's Engrish is better than this woman. Anyway, the PV of this song is... hahahahaha. Sorry. I'm at it again. The PV of this song is her and Maro and this other random dude... at a beach... doing I don't know. Looked like they were in Hawaii, but I don't know. This PV didn't do SHU-YA any justice at all, though. More like a complete betrayal. But whatever. The PV is like You&Me but second part, with a random dude this time. Seriously, I was starting to think these three were having threesomes all night at their motel! WTF? I can't anymore. But ayu will always be cool no matter what shit she comes up with, because at least she's vastly different than your usual J-POP crap. But I also have to say, that scene at the restaurant, ayu was using a fork and the Western guy (??) was using chopsticks... cultural reverse! And that scene in the motel room... what was that about?? Like "Wake up, bastard, let's have sex!", "Go away, bitch, no mood for your V". LOL.
Anyway, next track is Song 4 u. Ha. Hahaha. Here's a chance for me to play abbreviation again. Dis song was the thme song to a vid game called Tales of Xillia 2. No, I can't be bothered with the abbreviation. The PV is her playing chess with... herself, using... herself. She looked like a witch in the video. But she looked good, as always. I also remember back in 2012, ayu's vocals were at its worst. I remember her performing this song on HEY!x3 and things did not go well with her vocals. She still looked very beautiful, though.
Next track is Missing, and I loved this song when it first came out. It was one of my favourite tracks on this album. It still is. The song reminds me of ayu's blond weavy hair. And in the PV, she's crying again. And she was in this corn field-like setting, and there were people, men, floating in the air. Do not ask. I like the lyrics too, but it doesn't really have that powerful impact that she used to have in her older songs. Well, that fact applies to all her songs nowadays anyway.
After Missing, the rest of the album is basically a snooze fest. The next track is SAKURA. And this is a nice song, but you get bored after a while, and then you wouldn't want to listen to it anymore. **ikitekukotowa... towoshitesetsunai... ikitekukotowa... towoshiteureshii... Ah, kimi no tameni...** This is the type of album where you can play it in the background while you study, but then you couldn't and end up falling asleep.
The fifth track is Melody. She took her time with this PV, releasing it months after she released this song. This song is nice, but it's a total snooze fest. And it gets annoying and repetitive after a while. The PV is similar to her older song, TO BE, where she does these splitting image things, I don't know what they are called, but less creative and more lazy. She still looked really nice, though, darn it, ayu.
The sixth track is one of the two interludes on this album, task'n'bass, and I liked the beginning, it caught my attention, but it's still meh. Well, it's an interlude, what did you expect? Next is Bye-bye darling, which is mega forgettable. I mean, it's meh, and you wouldn't choose to listen to this song if you had to choose one song to listen. Ayu's vocals are as cracked and flat as ever too.
After that is snowy kiss, probably the best song on this album (to me). It is intense and has power. And I really loved this song when it first came out. I still love it
Next track is another snooze fest, Sweet scar, and I do not get the whole point of this song. The PV is her singing to plants and shit, I can't be bothered. But she looked mega amazing, as usual. Seriously, how can anyone look that beautiful? Not fair, ayu. The tenth track is petal, and it's a nice song with good lyrics too, but it's basically yet another snooze fest. And then there's glasses, which is the second interlude, and it's nice. Worth listening to.
The twelfth track is untitled for her... story 2, which I think are supposed to be some kind of continuation to her song untitled ~for her~, from her 2008 album GUILTY, which was about her friend who committed suicide or something, I don't know. I can't be bothered anymore. But it's basically another snooze fest like most of the other songs on this album. And to be honest, I would rather listen to untitled ~for her~ than this one.
After that is Gloria, which is snooze fest at the beginning but then it gets glorious (pun intended) towards the end. Worth listening to but nothing special. The fourteenth track is Ivy, which I love and probably another one of my favourite tracks of this album. The lyrics are amazing and touching and definitely worth listening to. I remember I used to listen to this song all the time back then. But I feel like her vocals were too cracky for this powerful song, so it's unfortunate. And out of the whole album, this song is the song I wanted her to perform live the most, but she never did it so I wasn't happy about that.
The last track (finally) is You & Me. Ha. Sorry, give me another sec...
The last track is You & Me, and you would've realised I've mentioned this song quite a few times. This song was released with her best of album, A Summer Best, as like the promotional song. But then she decided to shove this song on this album, which was a complete WTF. Like, what was the whole point then? And it has to be the end, doesn't it? I feel like after all the snooze fest, you suddenly get this song, and it wakes you up (pun not intended), and it doesn't really make any sense. Like, after all the heartbreak, she's gonna go back to this song? Back to that summer... **Ano natsu no! Omoi de wa... Ima mo mada, azayaka na mama!** It's all in the past now, but I remember You & Me generated a lot of shit in the fandom back then, and it lasted for so long. The whole Maro thing didn't help, either. But, it's all in the past. All in the past... **Ooh, Friday night... On Saturday... On Tuesday... On Friday night... ** "Maro and I had a lot of sex!! Oh yeah!"
So that's LOVE again. It's basically a snooze fest, but totally not as lazy as CoLOURS and A ONE. If you were there back in 2012-2013 when this whole shit happened, you would understand why I couldn't stop myself from laughing, though. Ah, so many things were happening back then...
Reminiscing...
Conclusion: 5 / 10 stars... I have high requirements... dakara...
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