Track Listing
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Catcher In The Light
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About You
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GAME
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my name’s WOMEN
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WONDERLAND
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Liar
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HOPE or PAIN
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HAPPY ENDING
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Moments
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walking proud
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CAROLS
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Kaleidoscope
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INSPIRE
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HONEY
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Replace
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winding road
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Humming 7/4
1. Catcher In The Light
A hard introduction with guitars and percussion. Then it releases into this ethereal sound where Ayumi ad-libs til she comes in with some lyrics. Then after all that we go back to the hard guitar sounds before the mashup between the two parts. Pretty cool beginning
2. About You
Our 1st major track is a rock track. Ayumi is showing some fast lyrics, but somehow it’s a tad boring on my part. It’s missing something, then again, it sounds like American mainstream rock from here. So, I wasn’t too happy about this track. Though, the music is good to hear from her.
3. GAME
A soft beginning with her soothing vocals. It shows some kind of restlessness then this synth sound pops in and we go in for a hard track reminiscing “Because of You” from “Memorial Address”. Her vocals are a bit different in the verses like they’ve been computerized, but we go into the chorus and it’s so strong. Darkness is filling this song and your here the strings accent it well. A very strong track from Ayu
4. my name’s WOMEN
I kind of thought of this track as a sister track to “STEP you”. I has that same boom to it in the beginning, but it changes right into the verse where it gets mellow. The song however made me cringe with some of the chords played in it. Other than that it’s a pretty good track.
5. WONDERLAND
Uhm, what the hell kind of interlude is this? It’s so childish and playful with its instrumentation. There’s sounds of kids, rain, birds chirping away, and thunder, an evil laugh, and crickets…Now I’m thinking what kind of weird stuff is this, but I can’t ponder too long, because it finishes quickly into…
6. Liar
A church bell rings out once before it turns into a strange synth sound, combined with a violin. After a while, we’re struck with some hard guitar playing. Though it does quiet down for the verses, it gradually goes back to loud obviously. Ayu sounds great in softer tone, but when we get to the chorus, odd chords pop up again and I’m kinda turned off by it. Still by that mess, it’s a good track with its hard rock/ballad take on it.
7. HOPE or PAIN
Ahhh, the rock ballad. Unlike “Liar”, this song sounds a lot better with the clapping beats and some harmonius violins. There’s no odd chords in it either which omg made me happy. In other words, this is what “Liar” shouldve been. This is probably the cleanest of the rock ballads in this album.
8. HAPPY ENDING
I love how the violins start off the track with the staccato notes. Where it goes into a pop ballad. The verse is really quiet with little specks of sound written in the track. HAPPY ENDING is also one of the tracks that made me wonder why they didn’t make it more powerful. Still is a great track though!
9. Moments
Our next rock ballad of the album, Moments starts with Ayu ad-libbing, though I felt she did it too long before going into the first verse. She did start getting thin in her vocal abilities in the chorus, which is a surprise cause she rarely does it. I still think its a good track and single.
10. walking proud
Another rock ballad? Well, this has more keyboards/strings in it which is a major difference from “Moments”. It sounds familar too me and the guitar sounds like the guy from Coldplay. I guess you can say I was pleased with the track though. Ayu didn’t sound like she was having problems either. Ehhh, but I’m getting tired of the rock ballad thing going here.
11. CAROLS
Piano is featured in this 1st full ballad on this album. I loved it since I first it and OMG, it was so powerful and definitly had probably the best lyrics in it at the time. I just love every quiet part, every loud part…it just really fitted to this tune. Best ballad on the album.
12. Kaleidoscope
Rain? starts this interlude up, but then it hollows out and turns it into a wondrous kind of fantasy interlude with bells, strings, and synths playing the key part to the feeling of it. Then the strings take over and it just sounds majestic and full of life, then it gets louder where it ends pretty quickly.
13. INSPIRE
What a strange tune this is. The guitar part was really cool and the song took on a pop/rock sound. The chorus is so catchy to me that whenever I hear it, I just have to sing with it. It carries the mysterious vibe from “Kaleidoscope” but put with a harder sound. A standout track from this album for sure.
14. HONEY
Haha, Honey is the feelgood track on the album and is another standout track because Ayu’s voice is so, So, SO, strange sounding. Like she’s trying to be cute with it, I can see why as it still carries the fantasy-like vibe from the interlude. HONEY, however should’ve been faster cuz I thought it was just lagging, but I do give her the new sound, which sounded fresh to me.
15. Replace
I love the sounds from the beginning sounded very tribal. Then it goes into a track wheres its like happiness all around, but not to the point of sugar-coatedness. OK, I’m gonna guess, but it’s a nod to her past works since majority sounds like what “Rainbow” sounded like. This probably shouldve been the final track as it has the ending-like qualities.
16. winding road
winding road has such a nice sound comparing to the other tracks, Ayu sounds good in her deeper tones. Still once again it’s a damn rock ballad, which I grew tired of earlier in the album, I guess it’s a bit more americanized since it could fit hearing it on VH1 or something like that. The guitar solo was pretty odd to hear but awesome either way.
16. Humming 7/4
Is it really in 7/4? I can’t tell but I sure as hell know it’s not in 4/4 time. The most rockin’ song on the album is also the final track. I just love how she powers throughout the song. the the chorus is so chant and so damn catchy. ~Everybody, Go!, Everybody Jump! I mean c’mon it’s just totally awesome. The solo is even cooler. Her English seems to be improved also when she recites the chorus also! Kickin’ song for sure! The last parts of the song were a tad strange but still cool
Tracks Recommended
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Humming 7/4
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GAME
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CAROLS
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Kaleidoscope
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INSPIRE
Ayu’s 6th album to me was probably the weakest album to date for me. Lack of anything new other than a certain few songs really didn’t help. The new rock sound she’s taking up is a brilliant idea and still to this date great, but having that many is just kicking us for what we know and love from Ayu. They should have kicked a few tracks and put some of her pop stuff there. Still, it’s got its charms
