ShuiMei
11-29-2006, 12:25 PM
When it was announced that Hamasaki Ayumi, Ayu to her dedicated fans, such as myself, would be releasing a mini-album at the end of the year, I was admittedly unexcited, which was the first time since I began following her career in 2001. Her singles this year were disappointingly lacklustre, especially when compared to the solid and enjoyable singles she gave us last year, a mini-album would simply consist of the single tracks, the previously previewed songs "1 LOVE" and "JEWEL," and a title track.
However, once it was announced that Ayu had changed her mind and that Secret would be a full-length album, my anticipation had returned and I was anxious to hear what Ayu had to offer us with a full-length album. Some people questioned if the uninspiring singles we had this year would be an indication of what we would get on the album, others worried that it would be a rushed effort, having changed their minds last minute that the album would be of full length as opposed to a mini, but I was fairly resolute that Ayu would give us something to make up for the singles.
Thankfully, she proved me right.
Secret is a pleasant surprise for Ayu fans that have long desired the return of solid album tracks, something that has, arguably, been weak, if not absent in her last few offerings.
The album starts with the electronic-pop powered introduction track "Not yet," it's reminiscent of "Catcher in the Light" from MY STORY in that they both give off an ethereal ambience, well "Not yet" does at first, until it breaks out into a faster-paced trance-inspired track. It's been a long time since Ayu's last remix album(s), and the charm and energy of "Not yet" leaves me hungry for more. It's a great way to start off the album and transitions perfectly into the next track.
"until that Day..." is a pop rock track, though it's hard to tell at first as the beginning of the song starts much like a dance track would, the arrangement is really interesting in that the instrumentation is charged with rock-elements and Ayu charges through the song with her "rock" voice, but the underlying rhythm of the song is repetitive and reminiscent of Ayu's dance-pop work. It actually it almost takes two minutes before the song really gets into the groove of things, the chorus is heavily rock-influenced, but the rest of the song can't help but give off a feeling of Ayu's infamous dance pop music. The song can feel like it drags on a bit seeing as it takes a while to get into things, but it's a great listen.
Before I go on, I must say how well this album transitions from one song to another, it probably isn't until the end of the album where we're given an onslaught of single track after single track ("Born To Be..." to "Beautiful Fighters" to "BLUE BIRD") that the transition work starts to crack. Anyway, the cross from "until that Day..." to "Startin'" is excellent as well.
"Startin'" is easily my favourite single track of the year. It's unabashedly fun, catchy and unfiltered poppy goodness. I find the electric guitars to be a bit excessive, maybe bordering on cheesy, but it's all apart of the fun I suppose. Despite the headache-inducing disaster of a PV, this song is still enjoyable and fits perfectly in this album and works well as we move along to "1 LOVE."
Many appear to be rather enamoured with this track, but I find the chorus too hoarse and monotonous. I'm not too fond of how Ayu uses her voice in this song, and the arrangement seems too rough as well, it reminds me of Memorial address's "Because of You" or MY STORY's "About You," but both were done much better. The song's only saving grace for me are the verses which aren't nearly as flat as the chorus.
"1 LOVE" is followed by my personal favourite song off the album, "It was," which also appears to be everyone's least favoured album track, go figure. It was revealed that "It was" was meant to be on (miss)understood but was ultimately put aside, which is a damn shame, as I really could have used this song on that album. It's a mellow acoustic pop-rock track, much in the same vein of the album tracks on MY STORY like "HOPE or PAIN" or "HAPPY ENDING" but executed much more masterfully.
I love everything about this song, the arrangement is top-notch I love the layering of Ayu's vocals, or really, Ayu's vocals in general. Actually, vocally, this is also my favourite song on this album, especially in the chorus, particularly when she sings "bokutachi wa..." the way, her voice peaks at "wa" it's just so "Ayu-like." I suppose to some, it seems a little pitchy, but it's just so reminiscent of her older work, of her character in general, that I love it.
I suppose it's not an extremely exciting or powerful song, but it's the kind of song that Ayu does really well, and the kind she's been particularly good at since venturing deeper into pop-rock inspired music. Things don't necessarily have to be different to be good, so long as it's done well, it satisfies, and that's what "It was" is for me.
I think "LABYRINTH" on its own is rather dull, but when you have it as an interlude between "It was" and "JEWEL" it is perfect. It gives the feeling of something pure and crystal-like, which is why it works so well as a transition into "JEWEL."
The first time I heard "JEWEL" I was not impressed, I thought it was boring but I've never been crazy about Ayu's ballads anyhow, so I wasn't too disappointed; however, much to my surprise, it's really started to grow on me and I must admit I rather like it now. As a piano ballad it's a fairly simple song and much like "LABYRINTH" it gives a pristine feeling, kind of like last year's "HEAVEN," but more stripped down. There's a kind of vulnerability about this song, it may come from the ambience of delicacy and fragility that it gives off, or from the amazingly emotional performance of it on 'HEY! HEY! HEY!' but I think it has much to do with its appeal.
"momentum" is an uptempo power pop track reminiscent of the classic Ayu track "M" and "Free & Easy." Vocally, I find the song very appealing for the most part but I don't think the song itself has enough punch, I wish there was more of a rockish flair or that Ayu sang with more power during the chorus or climax, just to strengthen the song. I think part of me is disappointed that it wasn't a fast, rock track as I thought it would be when I first saw the tracklisting. I think the title of the song gives an impression of something powerful and energetic, which I didn't really get from the song. It's enjoyable but there's something left to be desired.
"taskinst" is an interesting interlude, it starts off with a music box-like melody but quickly becomes rock-charged interlude but goes out the same way it came in, with the music box melody. It's decent, but not my favourite interlude from tasuku.
It's here where we are barraged with a string of single tracks, first with the powerful "Born To Be..." The pop song has a strong impression of grandeur, most likely due to the heavy and layered instrumentation, it feels powerful and inspiring, which is should as it was the 2006 Winter Olympic coverage theme for NTV, but I can't say I ever really liked the song. I'm not especially fond of the arrangement and it feels too "Olympicesque," and Ayu's singing isn't as fluid as I would have liked it to be, it feels too airy and "spread apart." For what it was, an Olympic theme, it did it's job, but as a standalone song, it doesn't do it for me.
"Born To Be..." is followed by "Beautiful Fighters," which is purely cute pop fare, I must also admit I rather like the title. The song is unremarkable and unexciting, but I find it difficult to be too critical of it, particularly when Ayu sounds so adorable when chanting "It's my beautiful fighters! It's my beautiful fight!" The chorus is equally enchanting and cute, I think I just like the way Ayu sings "beautiful fighters," and this is coming from someone who has been cynicial and wary of Ayu's integration of English into her songs since the beginning in RAINBOW. It's not amazing, it's not especially good, but it's enjoyable, and I think that's what it aims to be.
The single track onslaught ends with "BLUE BIRD," which I don't especially like. I think it starts off well, I like how Ayu sings the beginning verse, it's sort of mellow and calming, and I like how she sings "kimi wa sotto mimamotta / kono se no tsubasa" but once she gets to the next line the music changes and not for the better in my opinion. The main chorus is too reminiscent of last year's "fairyland" and feels repetitive. It's uplifting and light- it's a standard summer pop song, but it lacks any distinct personality. Admittedly, I like it on the album better than I did as a single, which could mean that it fits with the album better or that it's grown on me, I don't know which one it is.
"kiss o' kill" is the next track and it's all sorts of awesome, aside from "momentum" this was the other song I was most looking forward to based off the tracklisting. I don't know why some fans thought it would be a ballad or something like "Bold & Delicious" (come now, the title has the word "kill" in it) I was expecting something rockish, and thankfully, Ayu delivered.
"kiss o' kill" is another pop-rock track from Ayu, but it's not your standard Ayu fare. It's dramatic and has fairly heavy use of orchestration, which I love, especially the use of organs which gives the song such a dynamic personality. There's just so much dimension to the song when you flesh it out with all the instruments, it feels full, almost epic, I'm also a huge fan of Ayu's "Acoustic Orchestra" albums (as well as MY STORY Classical) so I'm very partial to heavy orchestration. As for the singing itself, Ayu's voice is strong and in "rock mode" but is not monotonous and hoarse as it is in "1 LOVE" which makes it very enjoyable. A wonderful album track and a very pleasant surprise that didn't disappoint.
The album closes with the title track "Secret" which, quite honestly, bores me. The composition is very rich and pretty, but Ayu's singing is much like her older style of singing ballads, which, as previously stated, never really struck me the same way her uptempo songs did. Her singing is just too subdued here for me, it's very "full" sounding, but lacks the strength and pitch I'm partial to, but I'm not too disappointed, like I said, her ballads never really resonated with me that much, and seeing as I was spoiled last year by "HEAVEN" I can't expect too much.
Ultimately, I was very satisfied with this album. I had been hungry for some solid Ayu songs this year, as her singles just didn't cut it with me, and with Secret Ayu gave me what I had long desired: really good, enjoyable album tracks. The fluidity of the album also made the weak singles of this year work remarkably well with the album as a whole and I was able to enjoy them with the album tracks while I couldn't enjoy them on their own as singles, and so that is the greatest weakness of the album, the lacklustre singles, because regardless of the fine album tracks Ayu managed to deliver, the stars of the album are supposed to be the singles, and they just weren't there this year.
Last year was an amazing year for Ayu's singles, STEP you/is this LOVE? was one of my favourites of the year, fairyland/alterna was a strong summer single, and "HEAVEN" has easily become my favourite Ayu ballad, but come the release of (miss)understood and we were given decent but unexciting album tracks, most of which were composed by Sweetbox's GEO. The GEO tracks were a departure from Ayu's regular style, that is if you can even say she has a particular style, the woman's a chameleon. While they weren't bad, they weren't particularly interesting or compelling, and seemed to lack that Ayu flair that characterizes so much of her work, it was missing that special spark.
MY STORY on the other hand, was a year of good singles and fairly enjoyable album tracks; however, it was a long album, and some of the album tracks, while decent for the most part, started the blend in with one another, some of which were difficult to tell apart.
With these past three albums, each has had their own strengths and weaknesses, MY STORY and (miss)understood were plagued by undynamic album tracks while Secret lacks the strong, compelling singles that have made Ayu's career what it is.
While Secret is a more than satisfactory listen, its weak singles have sold it sort and make it difficult for it to standout when compared to Ayu's other albums, especially when Ayu has had strong albums that had both great singles and album tracks like LOVEppears, I am..., and Memorial address. However, what had started off and progressed to be a rather unexciting year for Ayu fans has ended with great results and is a wonderful surprise. Ayu has much to be proud of and her fans should be pleased, I know I am.
Favourie Tracks: It was, Not yet, kiss o' kill, Startin', until that Day..., JEWEL
However, once it was announced that Ayu had changed her mind and that Secret would be a full-length album, my anticipation had returned and I was anxious to hear what Ayu had to offer us with a full-length album. Some people questioned if the uninspiring singles we had this year would be an indication of what we would get on the album, others worried that it would be a rushed effort, having changed their minds last minute that the album would be of full length as opposed to a mini, but I was fairly resolute that Ayu would give us something to make up for the singles.
Thankfully, she proved me right.
Secret is a pleasant surprise for Ayu fans that have long desired the return of solid album tracks, something that has, arguably, been weak, if not absent in her last few offerings.
The album starts with the electronic-pop powered introduction track "Not yet," it's reminiscent of "Catcher in the Light" from MY STORY in that they both give off an ethereal ambience, well "Not yet" does at first, until it breaks out into a faster-paced trance-inspired track. It's been a long time since Ayu's last remix album(s), and the charm and energy of "Not yet" leaves me hungry for more. It's a great way to start off the album and transitions perfectly into the next track.
"until that Day..." is a pop rock track, though it's hard to tell at first as the beginning of the song starts much like a dance track would, the arrangement is really interesting in that the instrumentation is charged with rock-elements and Ayu charges through the song with her "rock" voice, but the underlying rhythm of the song is repetitive and reminiscent of Ayu's dance-pop work. It actually it almost takes two minutes before the song really gets into the groove of things, the chorus is heavily rock-influenced, but the rest of the song can't help but give off a feeling of Ayu's infamous dance pop music. The song can feel like it drags on a bit seeing as it takes a while to get into things, but it's a great listen.
Before I go on, I must say how well this album transitions from one song to another, it probably isn't until the end of the album where we're given an onslaught of single track after single track ("Born To Be..." to "Beautiful Fighters" to "BLUE BIRD") that the transition work starts to crack. Anyway, the cross from "until that Day..." to "Startin'" is excellent as well.
"Startin'" is easily my favourite single track of the year. It's unabashedly fun, catchy and unfiltered poppy goodness. I find the electric guitars to be a bit excessive, maybe bordering on cheesy, but it's all apart of the fun I suppose. Despite the headache-inducing disaster of a PV, this song is still enjoyable and fits perfectly in this album and works well as we move along to "1 LOVE."
Many appear to be rather enamoured with this track, but I find the chorus too hoarse and monotonous. I'm not too fond of how Ayu uses her voice in this song, and the arrangement seems too rough as well, it reminds me of Memorial address's "Because of You" or MY STORY's "About You," but both were done much better. The song's only saving grace for me are the verses which aren't nearly as flat as the chorus.
"1 LOVE" is followed by my personal favourite song off the album, "It was," which also appears to be everyone's least favoured album track, go figure. It was revealed that "It was" was meant to be on (miss)understood but was ultimately put aside, which is a damn shame, as I really could have used this song on that album. It's a mellow acoustic pop-rock track, much in the same vein of the album tracks on MY STORY like "HOPE or PAIN" or "HAPPY ENDING" but executed much more masterfully.
I love everything about this song, the arrangement is top-notch I love the layering of Ayu's vocals, or really, Ayu's vocals in general. Actually, vocally, this is also my favourite song on this album, especially in the chorus, particularly when she sings "bokutachi wa..." the way, her voice peaks at "wa" it's just so "Ayu-like." I suppose to some, it seems a little pitchy, but it's just so reminiscent of her older work, of her character in general, that I love it.
I suppose it's not an extremely exciting or powerful song, but it's the kind of song that Ayu does really well, and the kind she's been particularly good at since venturing deeper into pop-rock inspired music. Things don't necessarily have to be different to be good, so long as it's done well, it satisfies, and that's what "It was" is for me.
I think "LABYRINTH" on its own is rather dull, but when you have it as an interlude between "It was" and "JEWEL" it is perfect. It gives the feeling of something pure and crystal-like, which is why it works so well as a transition into "JEWEL."
The first time I heard "JEWEL" I was not impressed, I thought it was boring but I've never been crazy about Ayu's ballads anyhow, so I wasn't too disappointed; however, much to my surprise, it's really started to grow on me and I must admit I rather like it now. As a piano ballad it's a fairly simple song and much like "LABYRINTH" it gives a pristine feeling, kind of like last year's "HEAVEN," but more stripped down. There's a kind of vulnerability about this song, it may come from the ambience of delicacy and fragility that it gives off, or from the amazingly emotional performance of it on 'HEY! HEY! HEY!' but I think it has much to do with its appeal.
"momentum" is an uptempo power pop track reminiscent of the classic Ayu track "M" and "Free & Easy." Vocally, I find the song very appealing for the most part but I don't think the song itself has enough punch, I wish there was more of a rockish flair or that Ayu sang with more power during the chorus or climax, just to strengthen the song. I think part of me is disappointed that it wasn't a fast, rock track as I thought it would be when I first saw the tracklisting. I think the title of the song gives an impression of something powerful and energetic, which I didn't really get from the song. It's enjoyable but there's something left to be desired.
"taskinst" is an interesting interlude, it starts off with a music box-like melody but quickly becomes rock-charged interlude but goes out the same way it came in, with the music box melody. It's decent, but not my favourite interlude from tasuku.
It's here where we are barraged with a string of single tracks, first with the powerful "Born To Be..." The pop song has a strong impression of grandeur, most likely due to the heavy and layered instrumentation, it feels powerful and inspiring, which is should as it was the 2006 Winter Olympic coverage theme for NTV, but I can't say I ever really liked the song. I'm not especially fond of the arrangement and it feels too "Olympicesque," and Ayu's singing isn't as fluid as I would have liked it to be, it feels too airy and "spread apart." For what it was, an Olympic theme, it did it's job, but as a standalone song, it doesn't do it for me.
"Born To Be..." is followed by "Beautiful Fighters," which is purely cute pop fare, I must also admit I rather like the title. The song is unremarkable and unexciting, but I find it difficult to be too critical of it, particularly when Ayu sounds so adorable when chanting "It's my beautiful fighters! It's my beautiful fight!" The chorus is equally enchanting and cute, I think I just like the way Ayu sings "beautiful fighters," and this is coming from someone who has been cynicial and wary of Ayu's integration of English into her songs since the beginning in RAINBOW. It's not amazing, it's not especially good, but it's enjoyable, and I think that's what it aims to be.
The single track onslaught ends with "BLUE BIRD," which I don't especially like. I think it starts off well, I like how Ayu sings the beginning verse, it's sort of mellow and calming, and I like how she sings "kimi wa sotto mimamotta / kono se no tsubasa" but once she gets to the next line the music changes and not for the better in my opinion. The main chorus is too reminiscent of last year's "fairyland" and feels repetitive. It's uplifting and light- it's a standard summer pop song, but it lacks any distinct personality. Admittedly, I like it on the album better than I did as a single, which could mean that it fits with the album better or that it's grown on me, I don't know which one it is.
"kiss o' kill" is the next track and it's all sorts of awesome, aside from "momentum" this was the other song I was most looking forward to based off the tracklisting. I don't know why some fans thought it would be a ballad or something like "Bold & Delicious" (come now, the title has the word "kill" in it) I was expecting something rockish, and thankfully, Ayu delivered.
"kiss o' kill" is another pop-rock track from Ayu, but it's not your standard Ayu fare. It's dramatic and has fairly heavy use of orchestration, which I love, especially the use of organs which gives the song such a dynamic personality. There's just so much dimension to the song when you flesh it out with all the instruments, it feels full, almost epic, I'm also a huge fan of Ayu's "Acoustic Orchestra" albums (as well as MY STORY Classical) so I'm very partial to heavy orchestration. As for the singing itself, Ayu's voice is strong and in "rock mode" but is not monotonous and hoarse as it is in "1 LOVE" which makes it very enjoyable. A wonderful album track and a very pleasant surprise that didn't disappoint.
The album closes with the title track "Secret" which, quite honestly, bores me. The composition is very rich and pretty, but Ayu's singing is much like her older style of singing ballads, which, as previously stated, never really struck me the same way her uptempo songs did. Her singing is just too subdued here for me, it's very "full" sounding, but lacks the strength and pitch I'm partial to, but I'm not too disappointed, like I said, her ballads never really resonated with me that much, and seeing as I was spoiled last year by "HEAVEN" I can't expect too much.
Ultimately, I was very satisfied with this album. I had been hungry for some solid Ayu songs this year, as her singles just didn't cut it with me, and with Secret Ayu gave me what I had long desired: really good, enjoyable album tracks. The fluidity of the album also made the weak singles of this year work remarkably well with the album as a whole and I was able to enjoy them with the album tracks while I couldn't enjoy them on their own as singles, and so that is the greatest weakness of the album, the lacklustre singles, because regardless of the fine album tracks Ayu managed to deliver, the stars of the album are supposed to be the singles, and they just weren't there this year.
Last year was an amazing year for Ayu's singles, STEP you/is this LOVE? was one of my favourites of the year, fairyland/alterna was a strong summer single, and "HEAVEN" has easily become my favourite Ayu ballad, but come the release of (miss)understood and we were given decent but unexciting album tracks, most of which were composed by Sweetbox's GEO. The GEO tracks were a departure from Ayu's regular style, that is if you can even say she has a particular style, the woman's a chameleon. While they weren't bad, they weren't particularly interesting or compelling, and seemed to lack that Ayu flair that characterizes so much of her work, it was missing that special spark.
MY STORY on the other hand, was a year of good singles and fairly enjoyable album tracks; however, it was a long album, and some of the album tracks, while decent for the most part, started the blend in with one another, some of which were difficult to tell apart.
With these past three albums, each has had their own strengths and weaknesses, MY STORY and (miss)understood were plagued by undynamic album tracks while Secret lacks the strong, compelling singles that have made Ayu's career what it is.
While Secret is a more than satisfactory listen, its weak singles have sold it sort and make it difficult for it to standout when compared to Ayu's other albums, especially when Ayu has had strong albums that had both great singles and album tracks like LOVEppears, I am..., and Memorial address. However, what had started off and progressed to be a rather unexciting year for Ayu fans has ended with great results and is a wonderful surprise. Ayu has much to be proud of and her fans should be pleased, I know I am.
Favourie Tracks: It was, Not yet, kiss o' kill, Startin', until that Day..., JEWEL