Next Level [w/ DVD, Limited Edition / Jacket A]

OK, so I'll be the first one to admit that I was NOT excited about this album AT ALL. And the first couple listens were NOT spectacular, but perhaps I was being biased. Coz once i listened to again, IT WAS FRICKIN' AMAZING!!!! Altogether, I find it reminiscent of her RAINBOW album, and I liked it. After listening to it and analyzing the tracks, I find that each one has SOMETHING interesting and unique about it, and after a while I was really able to appreciate it :) good purchase <3

I pre-ordered this, and unfortunately I regret it. For while the singles for this album were all great songs (GREEN and Rule in particular), the album-exclusive tracks overall lacked punch and didn't grab my attention. It's a good normal j-pop album, but Ayu's worst album yet. Perhaps if there were only one or two interlude tracks, and the songs were recorded to reflect the quality of the singles, then this album would have been AMAZING. Hopefully her next album will floor me. The live disc is the disc I am very pleased with. This particular live featured many songs that fans the world over wanted her to perform live, and she performed them, and performed them WELL. What a truly amazing performance it was. The DVD was, of course, lovely, and the videos are truly Ayu: enjoyable and not what is usually expected. NEXT LEVEL album: 3.5/5 LIVE CD: 5/5 DVD: 4.5/5

While the singles on the album are great, most of the album tracks themselves cant match. rollin' is one of the good songs on here. The opening interlude is nice and aside from disco-munication, the rest of the interludes on the album suck. The Live CD is awesome and every track delivers. The DVD is great too. The Sparkle PV alone is reason enough to at least get the cd+dvd version.