Deep Dive: Ayumi Hamasaki Part Sixteen (Rock 'n' Roll Circus)

    I love rock n roll, and I love Rock 'n' Roll Circus. I feel like Hamasaki stayed true to her roots with this one, but also kept going in the direction that Secret, GUILTY, and NEXT LEVEL had previously established. Whereas I feel like NEXT LEVEL was a stumble conceptually, I feel like Hamasaki nailed it here for a majority of this project. It took awhile for Rock 'n' Roll Circus to catch on for me, but now that it has it has quickly become one of my favorite Hamasaki albums with endless repeats. It was her first album to be recorded in the United Kingdom, and you can feel that influence penetrate the album all throughout its duration. It stays interesting and British from the beginning to the ending. Let's just adjust our accents into something more British and deep dive!

 

    We open with not a introduction, but "THE Introduction." It does a good job of establishing an early impression. And it sets us up for the surprise that is the next track, "Microphone."

    "Microphone" is THE song of Rock 'n' Roll Circus. It's fantastic. It's thrilling. It's a natural upward trajectory of growth for Hamasaki at this point. Her performance on the song is just so stellar. The music itself is a career standout. And it embodies the album conceptually much like the title track of NEXT LEVEL before it. 

    "Count Down" keeps the chilling, darker adrenaline-infused vibe going. How about that chorus? It's fantastic. By this point, if you were somehow bored, Hamasaki fully has your attention. After "Microphone" and "Count Down" Hamasaki has your full attention. This song has that late-2000s, early-2010s rock vibe. You know what I mean. Think Saving Abel, Daughtry, and Shinedown. I'd argue "Count Down" has aged the best though with its forward-thinking progression. It's style is drama, but it isn't dramatic to be stylish. And I wish very much so that this song had gotten a music video.

    Then we take a bizarre, left turn into pop ballad territory with "Sunset ~Love is All~." I like this ballad. It's very summery and bright. And it sharing its melody with its sister song, "Sunrise ~Love is All~" was a very smart, witty, and cool idea. Its place in the sequencing of this album? Very questionable. We've just come off of two very-rock oriented songs that hype us up. Then boom! We get hit by a ballad that calms us right down like a cat on catnip. Which is my biggest problem with Rock 'n' Roll Circus though it doesn't hinder it as badly as NEXT LEVEL except for right here at this moment. I think the sequence should have went "Count Down" -> "Last Links" -> "BALLAD" -> "Sunset" -> "Montage." Or an interlude should have been before this song. Which leaves me feeling mixed. It just feels like a choice to have "Sunset" right here. 

     "BALLAD" is one of Hamasaki's most gorgeous songs. She sells songs like these so well. The traditional instrumentation works wonders for her and her sound. Hamasaki has always known how to keep a ballad interesting. I'd like to think that these abrupt changes in sound are the "circus" concept coming out instead of the rock 'n' roll side. I usually tend to think of the concept split into two like that. As it makes sense with the songs later heavy pop tracks. 

    "Last Links" is a favorite of mine from this album. It further proves that Hamasaki embodied the sound here and flourished in it. The drama is epic. Just listen to that acoustic opening. Hamasaki gives us an urgent vocal performance where she just utilizes her lower ranges to their fullest. The strings just tickle your ears too. They're so pleasing.

    Then we come to the album's first interlude, "montage." The circus theme comes back here, and it's kinda scary. The atmosphere is so heavy here. It's very cool!

    Now we're leaning into the album's more pop numbers. Spoiler alert: all of them are fantastic and standouts in Hamasaki's discography. This includes the Hindu-inspired "Don't Look Back." That heavily features the sitar and tabla. And they make the song. The electronic elements create such a foreboding atmosphere, and these combined with Hamasaki's playful delivery are a pop force to be reckoned with. She sounds great here. It's delightfully bizarre. I love it!

    Then we have another interlude called "Jump" which gets us ready for the next track. It just thumps and doesn't stop. It also fits right in with the Britannia vibe we've been established with that is clean and yet rough around the edges at the same time. 

    Then we have the unforgiving electronic number with some rock undertones blended in, "Lady Dynamite." It's a bop. Hamasaki goes from rock band to a club in a snap. And it feels completely natural. The riffs after the chorus are ear worms in and of themselves. 

    "Sexy Little Things" is so playful! It's trippy. It's quirky. It's Ayumi. It's also video-game inspired. The vocal effects featured here add to the overall quirk. It's Hamasaki making pop the best way she knows how while staying true to herself and the times. This album has that 2010 shiny gloss on it, but it doesn't feel like it was left behind in 2010. It's still very much enjoyable to this day because of the sensibilities of the early 2010s. 

    "Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~" keeps the fun pop vibe going. And is also the happiest song on the album. Whereas the rest of the album has a serious tone, we have dialed it down right here. And though this was the first single from the album, the synths help it stay sonically relevant with the rest of the material along with the strings. Along with the unconventional drum beats before the chorus that sound like a soup ladle being beaten against a wooden lid. Listen to this song every summer. You won't regret it. 

    "Meaning of Love" brings us back into ballad territory. It's nice. It has the eccentricities of the rest of the new material on the album. There's some instruments (I think a harp is part of it) going on in the background that are just beautiful. Plus the chorus feels so Rock 'n' Roll Circus even if the verses don't. So we are staying true to the album's signatures. 

    "You Were..." is one of my favorite Hamasaki ballads of all time. Once again she delivers on a winter ballad. The jovialness of the opening piano. Hamasaki singing that first verse so comfortably. Then you get a blizzard of guitars and rock on the chorus though the sound still stays true to a Hamasaki winter ballad. And that energy never dies after that first chorus. She's in her zone here, and she knows it. 

    The final song, "RED LINE ~for TA~" brings us back to the album's signature sound. This song was originally featured as a b-side on the "You Were.../BALLAD" single. We get a superior album version here. And it feels completely like a Hamasaki album-ending song. That guitar riff is just breath-taking. And it fits the song so well. There's an acoustic guitar during the verses that is so romantic. The drums sound so garage-rock. It all works so well together. And that chorus? It has just the right amount of energy and drama. That organ at the end adds to the overall album's vibe. And Hamasaki's vocal performance is almost like she is waving goodbye to use while smiling especially with that acapella outro. It's just a great song to a great album. 

    If you couldn't tell from the rest of the review, I love Rock 'n' Roll Circus. It's everything you want a Hamasaki album to be, and it accomplishes it so effortlessly. I wish Hamasaki would return to this sound and energy because it's timeless and would still bring her praise. It has some small sequencing issues and goes off road a little bit, but it always brings it back to what's important at the center. At the heart of this album is an artist that knows what she likes, knows what she wants to do, and knows how to make it happen. And that makes all the difference.

Rank: S Rank

Recommendation: I always listen to this one during October. It has that vibe.

Standouts:

    The singles

    Microphone

    Count Down

    Last Links

    Don't Look Back

    Lady Dynamite

    Sexy Little Things

    RED LINE