First off, Ayumi is really hitting the jackpot lately with her album and single covers. Her ayumix gold and silver covers were real pretty in real life and so are the covers for this current single.

But perhaps it's the 10th anniversary thing. Avex knows how to milk an anniversary for all it's worth.

I've pretty much lost interest in Ayu's music recently, with nothing of hers catching my attention at all. So this single was a pleasant.... refresher course on Ayumi, or so I hope it would be. There are two 10th Anniversary versions of songs I've previously heard and liked and hopefully it doesn't get mangled into some grungy rock tune like her recent stuff.

Ok, here we go. Let's click play on the player...

So I chose to listen to YOU first, and the starting is still promising. I remember when she first sung this song, her sound was really high and squeaky clean, much like a H!P member's voice. This version however seems to have the whole song brought to a lower key to accommodate Ayu's more mature voice. Somehow this results in a slightly more depressing sound. Like an idol that has lost her sparkle. While it's still very distinctively Ayumi, somehow I think I prefer the old version. It's kind of interesting that she's not dragging the chorus anymore too. The initial version has her singing "Haru no Kazeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" while this current one is more concise like "Haru no kaZE". Not sure which one I prefer.

Thankfully though, the song wasn't remastered to be some clashing and noisy-as-hell track. On the bright side, it isn't jarring and irritating to listen and rather soothing actually. On the downside however, it lacks the sophistication of Ayumi's more current works. Try out this track if you liked Ayumi's early works. You'll feel a nice soft blanket of nostalgia hugging you and rocking you slowly.

Ok, next song. Depend on you. Oh no, the starting is really different. And so is the song. The edge on her sharp voice is gone on this one, replaced with more attitude. This track has been remastered to be more rockish than the previous version, which I suppose is why she has that whole attitude thing going on. While the music is undeniably rock, the tune is still very poppy. Similar to YOU, this version of the song has the whole range brought lower, resulting in that odd nostalgic/depressive sound yet again. Is that how she really wants to spend her 10th Anniversary?

Cliffnotes version, more rocked-out, but maintains her pop side. Not noisy, but not impressive by any means. Kinda laid-back and lazy in fact. None of that warm blanket thing going on in this track, so this is a sort-of-can-try song. I'd buy the YOU version of this single if I were you. No lousy confusing pun intended.

Ok, I'm putting off reviewing Mirrorcle world because I didn't really like the song from the PV. So next up is Life. Another laid-back rockish ballad kind of track, coupled with her not-straining, not-high-pitched voice, which results in another slightly depressing track. Now I know I've said this single is depressing 3 times right about now, but you should know that the depressive mood I'm describing is not the kind that you would normally think of. The normal kind of depressing would be losing your dog. This kind of depressing is more like after your dog died for a loooong time, and you look back at the pictures you took of it a long time ago and you remember those happy times kind of depressive. Nostalgic-depressive is about as close as I can get. It's sort of nice for relaxation and sleeping I guess, but if you're going to need a tearjerker, this whole single is not for you.

Back to Life (too many puns, too little time). Now this song is doesn't sound really BAD, but it is really pretty low on the impact factor and even lower on the memorability factor. It's the kind of song you would mix up easily with another song, but it's hardly the kind of song you would grow to hate. You'd probably ignore it in your music list, and when you shuffle your list and it pops up randomly, you'll go "oh this is pleasant, what song is this?" before checking and realizing what it is.

I'm very rambly on this post aren't I?

And finally Mirrorcle world. The song starts of with very very beautiful and depressing (yes AGAIN) strings, which kind of just pulls you into the song. And then the song starts. Her voice maintains the low range she has been dealing with on this single, and the whole verse sounds like a protest of some sort. Or like the kind of senseless songs those guys in the army sing when running together to keep up momentum or something. The chorus explodes into a hard rock tune backed-up by strings. Dramatic yes. Nice... not really.

The whole song in general is mysterious and enthralling for the most part, but the invasive choruses really just ruin it for me. It's like a pretty girl walking slowly in the wind, smiling and throwing flowers. You don't know what the heck she is doing, but she's kind of nice to look at and hypnotic too. And then, a big bad wolf jumps up and gobbles her up and tramples all the lovely flowers she was tossing around. And then the wolf leaves suddenly too. And then another young girl appears and the whole process repeats itself. After a while, you'll just get really tired of it.

Overall verdict for this single? It's not bad, but the whole thing is really just depressing. It's almost like a farewell single. Get version A if you are intending to buy this, the C/W song is much better in my opinion. Not about to be a chart-topper in my list, but it's worth a few listens every now and then.

Buy CD + DVD (C/W YOU) (ver A)
Buy CD (C/W YOU) (ver B)
Buy CD + DVD (C/W Depend on you) (ver C)
Buy CD (C/W Depend on you) (ver D)

Labels: Hamasaki Ayumi