Well, she is half deaf. And she won't get less deaf. I actually think she does pretty well considering her physical condition.

That's true if you look at it this way, but despite her deafness she said smth like "I won't make any excuses and will continue being professional singer".

I just thought about something.
I was reckoning about the 12-singles collection released by Koda Kumi, and I always wished that Ayu would do the same one day...
As Kumi took a kinda "Around the world" visual theme, I was thinking about Ayu taking kinda Zodiacal signs as a theme, with 12 singles picturing the 12 zodiacal signs, and have songs matching the characters of each sign (and artsy covers of course!) :P

Wouldn't it be great to have that ? :

Fire = "Enthusiasm; drive to express self; faith" => Rockish tracks ?
Earth = "Practicality; caution; material world" => Pop/dance tracks ?
Air = "Communication; socialization; conceptualization" => Mid-tempo/Uplifting tracks ?
Water = "Emotion; empathy; sensitivity" => Ballads ?

Aries : Silent Break
Taurus : Out of my way
Gemini : Losing myself
Cancer : Motherland
Leo : King Story
Virgo : innocence
Libra : JUSTICE
Scorpio : Black Waters
Sagittarius Burning arrows
Capricorn : Set me Free
Aquarius : Down the river
Pisces : soft

The titles are left to be find ^^
EDIT : I found some titles ; suggestions are welcome !

The release pattern would be very long though, 1 per month ? And some sort of best-of or compilation at the end, with bonus material ?
The title of the compilation could be COSMOS, with a long title-track.
The tour made after that could be name [A] COSMOS TOUR and could be spatial/mystical themed.

This is the same as complaining that a professional athlet that lost a leg but keeps around on para-athletism doesn't run faster than he did before the accident.

It's very hard to sing without properly listening to yourself, and between the usual loud sound a concert has and the constant buzz on the deaf ear that actually gets worst the louder the sound on the ambient is, it's surprising she can have any control over her voice at all.

But she will never sound perfect live, and this is something she can't do much about.

I think there were points where she was getting back to getting as good as she was even despite her tinnitus back in 2001-2003 but she needs to get more constant training.

I'm probably the only peson who's actually kinda glad they combined both DVD and Blu-ray in one package for A BEST -15th Anniversary Edition- haha I don't have a Blu-ray player, so I can't buy Blu-ray versions yet or I won't be able to watch the videos for a while, and this way I won't have to buy a separate version of the same release later. I always have this dilemma of whether to buy the DVD or Blu-ray version.

No you are not alone^^
I am also glad, it´s better than 2 seperate boxes, so you only have to buy one^^ Alltough this time you don´t have the differnet cover dilemma xD

I don't have a BR player (yet) but I've been buying BR versions since 2011 :laugh I barely play my discs, but I prefer to have the best quality for when I need it

I'm actually getting pretty excited about the prospect of a new album. I wonder what in the world it'll sound like, what Ayu has been inspired by recently, etc.

^ same! I check this forum everyday, hoping there will be finally news about it.

Can't believe A BEST was 15 years ago! I was 12 and would only find out about Ayu and become a fan 3 years later.

It's a bit more bizarre to think that MY STORY was nearly 12 years ago!

Fark. Just listened to the 15th ani vers. of End Roll. So great! I always thought the vocal dominated the instrumentation in the original A BEST vers, but they have appeared to have fixed it. Maybe it is just the increased clarity that is playing with my perception. Anyone else noticed this?

I only listened to M and SURREAL from the new release on my quality headphones and I actually felt like her voice was a bit muffled. Like the instrumentation was kind of above her vocals even.

I still think Ayu could have sounded great if she did some actual rock music. Not rock INSPIRED music but actual hard rock. Her voice could have been well suited to it.

Of course...I just don't see it matching her style all that much. XD

She should do it at least once.

Also metal.

cute alan leaked ayu's song title at her weibo

keep / 浜崎あゆみ
composed by Kazuhito Kikuchi
http://i.imgur.com/7aIMDsJ.png

^ :O!!!!!

this maybe temporary title =( but at least we know that Kazuhito Kikuchi made song for ayu

*looks Kazuhito Kikuchi up*
*allegedly wrote the music for appears and vogue*

Ohohohoho and now the hype train begins! Looking forward to Ayu working with a composer from those eras!!!