CD
CD & DVD + CD + Blu-ray
1) Nonfiction
2) (NOT) Remember you
3) Dreamed a Dream
4) 23rd Monster
5) Summer Again
6) ray of truth
7) Remember you
8) Ohia no Ki
9) Haru yo, Koi (Matsutoya Yumi)
10) taskinson
11) MASK
12) VIBEES
13) Nonfiction (Yohanne Simon remix)
14) Just the way you are
ayumi's last studio album release was 2016's M(A)DE IN JAPAN & Remember you was originally supposed to get released last Autumn .
8 prior digital released songs are included in Remember you :
Nonfiction ; released digitally last April
(NOT) Remember you ; released digitally on 1st day of 2023
Dreamed a Dream ; released digitally on July 2020
23rd Monster ; released digitally on last year on 8th April , on the same date as ayumi's debut anniversary & A BALLADS 2
Summer Again ; released digitally on July 1st
Ohia no Ki ; released digitally on July 2020
MASK ; released digitally last Nov
Just the way you are ; released digitally on 18th Jan . A video was made for the song but it's not available in the physical release of Remember you & ayumi does not appear in the video
In addition , 2 interludes ray of truth & taskinson are included in Remember you alongside with ayumi's cover of Matsutoya Yumi's Haru yo, Koi which was 1st originally included in A BALLADS 2 .
Aside from that , a Yohanne Simon remix of Nonfiction is also found in the album . Yohanne Simon also previously had a hand in creating Colours' XOXO & ayumi's cover of Utada Hikaru's Movin' on without you .
It feels so unreal it has been so long since ayumi hamasaki last released a full length studio album as it's no secret that in recent years , her releases have not been as frequent as once was .
On 1st look Remember you might felt it's lacking in new album material ie. only 4 new album songs but surprisingly this time round , it's actually quality over quantity which in ayumi's past studio albums , some of them had too much album tracks & some felt like fillers .
Also this's rare for me to write but for once it would have been nice if ayumi made videos for all the 4 new album songs instead of only making 1 for Just the way you are .
(NOT) Remember you as is just so good and in your face on 1st listen & I'm not surprised it's slotted right after Nonfiction .
The album's 2 only ballads Remember you (the song) & Just the way you are equally good while VIBEES is downright fun & something ayumi has never done before which's surprising considering she has been in the business for so long .
Other than MASK which's still my least favourite prior released song , the other song that I skip in the album is the remix of Nonfiction which ironically doesn't do the original justice as I felt the remix sounded so watered down which end up sounding nothing special .
This year marks 25 years since ayumi debuted in the business with poker face which's so unreal . Despite her not being as musically active as once was , for ayumi to be still around & let alone to release her latest album Remember you after M(A)DE IN JAPAN despite a large time gap differencec , it's commendable .
I had low expectations before listening to Remember you but overall the album sounded much better than I thought . Something I don't often get from ayumi's past studio albums is sound consistency which I realised I don't really encounter that much of a problem regarding Remember you .
With this year being ayumi's 25th anniversary , it will be nice to see she celebrate this landmark milestone deservingly so as the way she celebrated her then 15th & 20th anniversaries , both felt so 1/2 hearted if not sub par so I hope she can prove me & so many others wrong on this .
A lot of artistes have come & gone over the years but for ayumi to be still present in the business , that says a lot & a testatement to her legacy .