Of course, I’m posting about this!

Ayumi Hamasaki
Mirrorcle World
Avex Trax
April 8 2008

Of course, I’m posting about this!

Being the HUGE Ayu fan I am, I’ve been pondering over this single a lot. Thinking about the 10 year anniversary crap Avex just loves to feed its consumers. Reflecting about Ayu’s music and what I love most about her. Blah blah blah. That also explains the long breaks in between posts, as well as… you know. Life and stuff.

ANYWAY, Mirrorcle World, hailed as Ayu’s “comeback single,” and according to the sales numbers, it surely is her comeback. Not that she was ever gone, but I digress. Tons of reviewers have christened this single to be her best in years, and to I will agree to that, to an extent. There are a couple of qualms I have with Mirrorcle World, not particularly with the title track, but the rest of the single.

Title track extension of GUILTY’s “Mirror” is just one of those classic Ayu songs. It sounds good, angry, loud and very rock-ish (which is most definitely where she’ll be heading, due to the huge vocal change), the PV looks good, though it has garnered both praise and harsh criticism (although admittedly, I LOVED Raid’s harsh criticism… MENSTRUATION!). Starting off with mourning strings, we soon get the familiar dial-up tune, followed by Ayu’s lower anger voice and a clashing wall of guitars. LOUD AND ANGRY, and I love it.

“Life” is boring. And I’ve taken the time to actually listen to the song, research the meaning, try to enjoy it. I just can’t. Maybe someday I will, but as of now… “Life” is just a big puddle of muck. It’s not bad, by any means… it just sounds kind of simple. Cue in drums, cheesy guitar solo, quiet verse with acoustic guitar, chorus louder, repeat. The chorus melody’s kind of neat, but that’s pushing it too far.

Now we get to the “WTF I DON’T EVENS RECOGNIZINGS THE MUZICS” songs. Seriously, the 10th year anniversary tracks sound hella different from their older, cutesier counterparts. I’m taken aback… and I can’t decide which version of the songs I like more… this is a bad thing. I usually go for the rockier tracks… but “Depend on you” sounds awkward and a poser-like… like a fat kid trying on punkier clothes proclaiming to be the heir of Green Day. Not that he couldn’t be, but the transition’s strange to watch. Same deal with “YOU,” though the track is a little more tolerable. If anything, get the package with “YOU” instead. Shimmery guitars, twinkling production and the rocker Ayu voice, it sounds faintly summer-y, very hopeful.

Mirrorcle World isn’t bad. Actually, had it been anyone else, I probably would have sung it’s praise till the cows come home. Sure, it’s a comeback. Sure, it’s a rockier path to music. But it’s Ayu, and I expect AMAZING quality.

Maybe I should stop doing that.

ONE WORD: UNDERWHELMING

~ by JJ on April 15, 2008.