Rock or synth Pop? Ayumi Hamasaki Rock 'n' Roll Circus Review

Me review on Rock 'n' Roll Circus

Next Level in the year 2009 proved that Ayumi is the Queen of "futuristic" electro pop! The album is indeed a powerful synths pop album with fantastic "deafening" tunes. Like the "Disco-munication", "identity" and "rollin'". The album received mixtures of good/bad reviews. And bloggers start calling Ayumi "Robot face." Two reasons, one being her signature pose of "faked wide eyes innocent look" and her music "robotic vocal with auto-tune synth vibe".

Next Level album with the theme of "disco"

This one....I have to agree unfortunately to the term coined the robot face, being her concern fan, and a obsessive one. Laugh. I long for her yearly released album and I always behave judgmentally. Ok. I am turning to be a father checking daughter's report card.

robot face- still teenagers bring this to the doctors and claim they want those features

Ok so, now when did we realise that Ayumi rocks? "Because of you" in the mini album called "Memorial Address" year 2003. She used to play a role of a prostitute, a rocker driven styled one who liked to play with sticky fluidly white liquid....Anyway, this music video of her won the Best Music Video in Asia MTV award, which year? I forgot, back in 2004. Ok. What I have to say is that since then Ayumi released many heavy rock songs. One classic example is her (miss)understood album.

Because of you music video screenshots

Late 2009, Ayumi has been showing up in London to record for her new anticipating album in the London Metropolis, and she went to various famous spots for photo shooting. And crazy fans waited for her at hotels and took pictures with her! jealous

Anyway, her album art was revealed early this year...Look! Posing in the symbolic Britain telephone booth and sexyfying in front of Westminister.

BUT

The whole Britain scene has nothing to do with the theme "Rock and Roll Circus". Rock and roll yes, some argues that Rock and Roll originated from here in the Britain, but circuses? Maybe yes, anything like the Royal Circus? Hmmm...

Listening to Rock 'n' Roll Circus is like riding a rolling coaster. The album begins with 'THE introduction'. Notice the CAPITAL lettered THE. Why? I don't know. THE introduction, its arrangement is predictable and sounds stupid to be the opening interlude. And worst thing is it failed miserably to bridge the listener to Track 02- Microphone.

Track 02-Microphone is a Gothic influenced rock song with a little decoration of classic orchestra. Track 03- count down is a slow rock song, "forgettable"...So we are almost at the peak of a roller coaster ya, then it fell backwards. The light is dimmer...We are brought to the slow ballads! Very "dramatic" flow of an album of Ayumi. Very very very dramatic flow and "inconsistent". I remember I play "I am..." and "Duty" like 1000X times 10 years ago. Why because the two Best Sellers of Ayumi followed "logical" flow and nice choreographed!

Ok. We are in a romance scene now. Track 04- Sunset~Love is all~ is a good ballad but smelly music video smell of cow dung. Track 05- BALLAD is a very tradisional J-POP ballad song, romantic, and very fairy-taley video. Ayumi's vocal in BALLAD is benign yet expressive. Make you teary.

Then Track 06- last link. Very powerful soft rock song like an efficacious drug! Strings going forward and backward. Her vocal is delivering. Definitely a black horse in the entire album. Soulful song.

" I feel I can surely walk on well
Under this kind of sky today

Yes, we live on
Putting our feet down on this blue Earth
Even if all the sorrow continuing to spread in this world
May not be healed "

We are gaining speed to go up a coaster again with Track 07-montage. Yawning yet thrilling orchestal interlude, kind of magical. Serves well as an "awardward" interlude to lead us to Track 08- Don't look back. Don't look back is a stand out track like "Green" in "Next Level". A genre Ayumi never had before, it is called "Arabian" genre. She managed to ask a question though:

"You see? If it's true
That everyone remembers the most brilliant period of his life
It's too sad (Don't look back)

How do you
Bring down the curtain ?"

Track-09 brings us high! The club feel Jump interlude without any fail deliver the next Track-10 Lady Dynamite for us! Lady Dynamite is definitely the gayest song of Ayumi, probably the gay anthem from Ayumi from now on. Ayumi delivered this song so well and easily, this song is closest to her genre. She is being the pop queen Hamasaki Ayumi, fun playful and the song has a "night life" "sophisticated" "metropolitan" vibes!. If you dance like a disabled child in your room playing this song on, don't worry you are just fine like the rest of "them". Laugh.

Track 11- Sexy little thing is the best track. Very catchy and fun, she never tried anything like this before! I think the theme, or sub-theme "circus" comes from this track. The music video is very "abstract". If you say she is very Lady Gaga then officially you are blind. Damn blind. If you said she is madonna-ish, then I clap for you! Madonna and not Lady Gaga. Ok.

Track 12- Sunrise~Love is all~. Stupid music video but is a energetic pop song which makes you sing along! "Motto ooki na koe de...Motto ooki na ai o...Motto ooki na koe de...Motto ooki na ai o..." which simply means "louder! greater love! Louder! greater love..." Laugh (again).

Track 13- Meaning of Love. Is this a joke or whuat? I think why not extract this ballad out of the album and put another "rock and roll" track in it? To fulfill the theme of being "Rock"! yeay baby! This song is "just another love song". The worst love song produced ever! Nothing like "teddy bear" in "Duty", "dolls" in Rainbow, "no more words" in I am... and even Curtain calls in Next Level...oh even Walking Proud in My story, and Rainy Day in (miss)understood....(puzzled huh?)

Track 14- You were...quality assured ballad released last year. Very winterish. You would sing along with it.

I thought you were my last person
I wanted my love for you to be my last one
What on earth should I think of
All alone under such a vast night sky ?

I'm thinking again by whose side you are smiling now
I wonder how much time will pass until my suffering ends

The thread of the dream you were talking about sometime
That line you always said
It's easier for me to forget them all, isn't it?
But I don’t want to forget a single one

The moment I'm surrounded by silence
I'm hit by the memories, too tender and warm

Track 15- RED LINE for TA. A song made for her fans. Predicted to be closing song for her concerts from now on. With simple dance step and hands gestures where audience and sing and dance along! Wait. Ayumi's "as thin as paper yet sharp as A4 copy paper" reappears singing RED LINE for TA in appellate. Yeay! I am happy this album ends with this song.

In a nut shell, this album is lack of direction. Or it had a direction initially but lost somewhere in the middle. Not really a rock and roll album, I am quite ashamed of this fact. The flow of the album is taking this form: ABA'B'. where A being rock, B being ballad, A being pop rock, B being mellow ballad. I foresee myself spinning less of this album. THE introduction sucks, Microphone is good but you cant afford to listen to it over and over again. I would probably start from Ballads then listen from there, MY OWN WAY OF playlisting. Laugh.

I am a true fan of Ayumi Hamasaki. This is her eleventh studio album. I have to be judgmental. I prefer her previous Next Level than this album. But many out there, majority, thinks Next Level "coldness" is a trash album. SO I am saying: Ayumi doesn't lost her crown, she is still the pop queen of Japan. Debates are on her, discussion are still on her, spotlights are on her. Laugh and peace!

to robot face-
with love