Next Level by Ayumi Review
Bridge to the Sky
I love the beginning. Very synthy with the constant strumming. Its very energetic but also soothing at the same time. The erratic beat sounds great. If this is any indicator to what the rest of the album will sound like. :heart:
4.5/5
Next Level
A calm start. Very airy and “free”. Voice
. The instrumental is nice, especially the beat during the chorus and after it. The guitar actually sounds good in this song. I prefer this kind of guitar rather than the kind that was present throughout “Secret”. Seemed a little repetitive towards the end though.
4/5
Disco-munication
Lol it sounds like someone is mowing the lawn at the beginning. Then a sound that sounds like it came from a Mario game. Her voice being repeated like that sounds great and catchy. All of the random noises are very interesting to keep track of
4.5/5
EnergizE
Eh, I’m not feeling the start. The instrumental is ok, not liking her singing though. It’s called Energize but I’m not really feeling the track much. It’s definitely poppy, but I feel sort of bored listening to it. I’m sure that the “Put your hands together” part is supposed to be a hook and be catchy but it’s not that interesting.
2.5/5
Sparkle
YAS
Need I say more?
5/5
Rollin’
Twinkling at the beginning, sort of eerie with a flute. Ooo, it’s starting to get energetic. Building up. Ayumi with auto-tune :heart:. The pre-chorus is great. I’m loving this. Reminds me of Mizca
. This song has long periods of break like many of her songs do in “Secret”, however the beats in this song are way better than the guitar she uses in most of her songs. The bridge could be better. The ending is nice, I love that “whining” sound.
4.5/5
Green
I don’t like the beginning or the instrumental. I don’t really like her singing right now. This song reminds me of a lessor version of “Next Level”. I just noticed that it sounds like crossroads. Its not as bad as EnergizE but I’m not impressed.
3/5
Load of the Syugyo
Lmfao odd title. Interesting start. …..waiting. …..waiting. DEAD, I just noticed this is an interlude, of course there isn’t any singing.
3/5
Identity
Creepy start. I’m not really feeling the instrumental. I like the pre-chorus but that’s it. The bridge sounds hawt, but I still give this song a big no.
2.5/5
Rule
Yas, the beginning. I’m liking her singing during the part where she mentions, rule, a lot surprisingly. Now, I know that I hate her voice, but I think it’s a little too faded out in this song, she needs to be a little bit more in the front and less in the back. I also think the bridge is what keeps it from being an amazing track, it is lacking.
4/5
Love N’ Hate
Damn, that start is good. Holy crap, I love the singing. I love the counting too, I die a little when she says “zero” with her accent though
. Uhhhh the bridge is bad wtf. She needs to work on those a lot.
4/5
Pieces of Seven
Soft beginning. The instrumental is nice, it gets better halfway through. Its energetic, love it. Singing would have made it an interesting track for me.
3.5/5
Days
Ballad
. I’m not really fond of her ballads, I guess this one is adequate enough for me. I don’t like the instrumental. Her singing is ok. Nothing that great to me.
3/5
Curtain Call
Uhm…no. Actually, I sort of like the chorus. Her voice reminds me of Koda’s a little in this song. Though I noticed, what exactly is this song doing on Next Level
. It’s nothing like the rest of the album, something else should have been in this songs place.
3/5
Ok, let’s get this out of the way, Next Level >>> Secret. IMO, Secret had a few good tracks but I didn’t really like the majority of the album. It felt like it dragged on; in the end, you can just look at my review of the album in previous pages to hear my complaints. Despite many of you guys hating Next Level, this is probably as close as I will EVA get to liking an Ayumi album. That said, I thought it was actually a good album. There were a few stinkers, but even then, they weren’t too bad. I never gave an overall score for Secret so I made one now to compare with Next Level’s.
Secret 2.5/5
Next Level 4/5
Disclaimer – If you are a hater and don’t like my opinion…..
Newt45
night!
I still remember watching her iconic Alterna video for the first time. No one else could ever. 
