Hamasaki Ayumi NEXT LEVEL

May 28th, 2009 16:36 in J-Music

Just like I announced in my Japan loot Entry, I am going to review the music CDs I bought over there. Chihara Minorins Parade Album was already reviewed and the next one is Hamasaki Ayumis newest Album, “Next Level”.

This is Ayumis 10th Studio Album. And was released 25th of march 2009 for a retail price of 3,150 Yen. Well, the CD only costs this much. You can also get a CD + DVD and a 2 CDs + DVD Set which will cost a bit more. But I was satisfied with the CD only Set.

Ayumi is giving us 14 new tracks. Some already know because they were released as Singles or used as a promo Song for a movie.

But let me give you a tracklist first:

Bridge to the sky
NEXT LEVEL
Disco-munication
EnergizE
Sparkle
rollin’
GREEN
Load of the SHUGYO
identity
Rule
LOVE ‘n’ HATE
Pieces of SEVEN
Days
curtain call

The whole CD provides music for around 52 minutes. Not even an hour. And why? Because just like in her last Album Guilty, Ayu has some filler tracks without proper vocals and music only and the names of them are Bridge to the sky, Disco-munication, Load of the SHUGYO and Pieces of SEVEN with the longest one being Pieces of SEVEN with 2:31 mins.

The whole CD is missing around 7 to 9 minutes because of that. I don’t know why Ayu is doing this but I don’t like it.

Well, Load of the SHUGYO is indeed a nice track but in my opinion it doesn’t excuse the action of choosing fillers itself.

Beside that, we get an interesting Album without the focus on one genre. A Typical Ayu Release.

We get the Filler, the “summer song” which would be NEXT LEVEL, the rocking songs like Rule – which is my favorite – and of course some ballads like Days and Curtain Call which is a nice outro to the CD.

I want to especially mention GREEN since it seems to be a mix of a ballad and a fast beat Song. I don’t know if there is a special name for this kind of songs but I really like it. I am not that much of a ballad fan but I like songs like this.

EnergizE, rollin’, identity and LOVE ‘n’ HATE are tracks I like too. Well, not the way I adore Rule, but I like them.

This Album is really worth the money and unlike Guilty I listen to this Album more often. It is fun and you want to hear the songs again and again. I have NEXT LEVEL on my iPod nano and deleted the tracks I don’t like. I got 8 of 14 tracks I hear more often then the first time going through the album. Thats a good percentage for the latest Ayu Albums in my opinion.

I want more Songs like A Song for XX, NEVER EVER, AUDIENCE, evolution, alterna and 1Love. Ayu is working an ballad only Albums every now and then. Why not a A Rocks Album for a change of pace?

You want to hear some of her skills? Check the youtube videos below.

Well, at least she is as sweet like a button even if there are some crappy songs and way too many filler tracks. NEXT LEVEL is not her best album, but far away from being her worst release. But you have to remember, this is her 10th album!

If you are interested in this album, then check out cdjapan for purchasing this album.