On to the NEXT LEVEL with Ayu!

It has been a while since Ayumi Hamasaki's last studio album (GUILTY) was released, at least for Ayu's standards more than a year of wait is a pretty long time! The wait was finally over in March 2009. In the end we've got a really solid pop/rock album with impressive electro pop notes. So, unlike with GUILTY this time Ayu and her composers experimented by combining the old Ayu flavor with new music tendencies.

As the result we've got tracks like "EnergizE" which combines electro pop with electric guitars, "rollin'" and most notably "Sparkle" which was previously released on her double A-side single Rule/Sparkle.

The other part of NEXT LEVEL consists of songs with notable rock hooks with urban sounds such as "identity" and "LOVE'n'HATE", while "Rule" is continuing Hamasaki's series of harder rock songs. Unlike a couple of her previous albums, NEXT LEVEL has a bright note to it.

On another hand, I find that the album lacks impressive ballads, as even though Days had amazing lyrics, the arrangement turned out to be pretty generic for Hamasaki's standards, while Curtain call has a really pretty composition and arrangement, but it lacks powerful lyrics. Over all it's a nice track to close the album with, but not really on pair with most of Ayu's ballads.

NEXT LEVEL is a fun album with a great repeat value and you shouldn't miss it, even though it might not be the greatest album Ayumi Hamasaki has produced and that's the only reason it's getting 4/5.