[news] NEW 浜崎あゆみ SINGLE 『glitter / fated』

CD+DVD

CD only

NEW Ayumi Hamasaki SINGLE 『glitter / fated』

NEW SINGLE
『glitter / fated』
浜崎あゆみ
Release Date: 18th July 2007

Formats: CD+DVD and CD only version

CD/DVD tracklist and cover to be announced soon.

『glitter / fated』will be the first double A-side single for Ayumi Hamasaki after her release of A BEST 2s.

*updated with official covers

[news on 浜崎あゆみ]

It's official, Ayumi's mini-abum (still untitled) will be released on November 29 and according to news sources, the album will contain 7 tracks in which 3 of them will be new songs. The confirmed new songs on the album will be "Jewel" and "1Love".

[news on 浜崎あゆみ]

Ayumi Hamasaki, the reigning queen of J-pop, is set to release a new album. To be more accurate, a mini-album around end-November.

This will be Ayumi's second mini-album since "Memorial Address". Some of the songs that are likely to be included in this mini-album are those singles that are released after "(miss)understood" like,

-Startin'
-Born to Be...
-Blue Bird
-Beautiful Fighters
-Ladies Night ~another night~

and also "Jewel" and "1Love" which is not set for release as a single yet.

Watch this space for more.

[single] Blue Bird - 浜崎あゆみ

Blue Bird-Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayumi's 40th single, after "Startin'/Born To Be...", generated a lot of hype saying that it was Ayumi's top form.

Upon listening to it, i was wondering who was creating all the unfounded hype. It's nothing like Ayumi's top form, fans should be well aware that Ayumi's top form equals to songs like "M", "Fly High" And "Evolution". "Blue Bird" is nowhere near there.

However so, this single is a general improvement over last single. "Blue Bird" sounds like "fairyland" and i hated that song, but thankfully, i kinda dig "Blue Bird". It sounds very summer-like and poppy, it also sounds very safe and typical.

"Beautiful Fighters", a B-side, sounds like Ayumi on an overdose of helium singing the song Ai Otsuka-style while empowering women everywhere. Catchy, but too hearing it too much might just make you hate the song.

Rating: 3/5

[single] Startin'/Born To Be... - 浜崎あゆみ

Startin'/Born To Be...-Ayumi Hamasaki

This is Ayumi's first single after the release of her latest album "(miss)understood". This single topped the charts on the Oricon charts (Japan's Billboard) after her previous single "Bold & Delicious/Pride" almost did not make it to Number 1, threatening the end of her consecutive Number 1 singles.

Chart performances aside, this single is nothing to go crazy about. Even as an Ayu-fan, i will have to be honest to say that i'm not too impressed with this. "Startin'" starts off really strong with the beats and synthesizers but when it came to the vocals part, it seems that her voice was drowned out by the beats. And it doesn't help that the PV (promotional video) was hard to watch, it was too Britney-esque and the butterfly sunnies have to go, Ayu.

"Born To Be..." scores slightly better than "Startin'", at least it feels a bit like a diva song and it is definitely worth a few more spins than "Startin'".

Overall, the single satisfys but packs no punch.

Rating: 3/5