Glitter sounds good to me and Fated is alright

As an Ayu fan who tends to enjoy her releases, I'd have to agree that the "quality" has definitely gone down. The depth of the arrangements she used to have around the era of Bold&Delicious were fantastic, and maybe even the best in J-pop. But recently, her sound has consisted of synth beats and the usual drum sounds that are heard in just about every single Ayu song since BLUE BIRD.

But honestly, I don't have a problem with that. I don't let that sort of thing get in my way while I listen, as it is not something that you should let get into your way while enjoying music.

If the tunes and melodies are catchy, shouldn't that be enough? Good music doesn't necessarily always have to reinvent itself, if it works, it works. That's why we get winter ballads and summer pop and spring _______. Because Ayu has found that that is what fans enjoy and love to hear.

Tunes and melodies being catchy sometimes are not enough if people feel like they have bought the same or a similar song from Ayu 3 or 4 times before. Like someone stated before while comparing this song to a song like Surreal, I don't see her bringing in any new fans with this single. They sound more like "status quo" Ayu songs that people who are already her fans will buy, but not something that really jumps out as something that would grab a bunch of new fans in Japan.

Well, the songs still have their own qualities that separate them from other songs Ayu has released. I know that fairyland and ANGEL'S SONG and BLUE BIRD and so on have similar sounds to them, but there are little things that make them different from each other. I fail to understand how some people just can't tell that there is a difference.

I would love for Ayu to become all alternative again and experiment like crazy, but perhaps the experimentation ended when Ayu began to like Sweetbox.

After all, that is where people mark her decline in music and such. [and imo, her decline in complex arrangement.]


One day, when Ayu feels up to it, she'll bring CREA back and probably create the next Sakuranbo/evolution. But until then, we get this. And this is enough for me. I'm happy. But I think some people do expect a little much from Ayu, even though she is the Queen of Japanese pop. [You can say what you want, but Koda is NOT a queen. Her music is not at all comparable to what Ayu made at her peak. Basically, she's got time on her side. Ayu has been out for quite a while with more albums and etc. while Koda has little for people to compare her "newer" material to. Just watch when they run out of genres for Koda to dabble in.]

Well, of course there are differences. :) But I would say they sound way more alike than they sound different.

And Koda isn't even comparable to Ayu imo, so let's not bring her into this. :) Ayu is Ayu and Koda is Koda. Two separate artists with very different ways of performing and kinds of music. Ayu and her fans only need to be concerned with the music that Ayu is making. And to me right now music wise it sounds like Ayu has gotten too complacent - making music that isn't bad at all, but not making music that really grabs you and makes you go "holy s#(@ this is genius!" lol Sticking with what she knows at least won't flop, but won't have extremely high sales either. The pattern of having to wait for the album to come out before I hear the really good stuff, is getting boring to me.

Oh and so I'm not sounding too negative: I actually do like this single better than Blue Bird/Beautiful Fighters. :)

This annoys me too.

I don't understand what people want when they say they want something 'new'. Do you want her to pull a Namie or something?

I've learned to just enjoy the music, the melodies, the emotion put into the songs. I think they've all been consistent since 1998. Most artists would be completely burned out by now.

'glitter' and 'fated' are completely new melodies, new songs. But just because they have the same structure and genre as previous songs, it's completely thrown out as generic and they're compared to last year's song of the same type. I'm not expecting her to spew out songs with a structure like 'SURREAL' and 'ever free' on her every single release. I've moved on from that. I really think that people just over-analyze the songs to death when they first hear it. I used to do it. I didn't know what I was missing when I didn't like Born to Be...

Well, I do enjoy her songs even so. But I think it's undeniable that glitter and fated aren't exactly fresh material. She doesn't need to go a long way ago in time in order to produce fresh songs. alterna is a good example. my problem with glitter is because it has a bit of the amateurism you can find in several JPOP songs in which they basically throw several instruments to play at the same time in order to make the sound "fuller" and upbeat/dancey, but these instruments adds nothing to the song and the arrangements could be better worked even with simpler instrumentation. The chorus of the song could have been better worked in order to sound catchier, after all, choruses are usually meant to be the mopst memorable part of a song. It's the exactly same problem that happens to fairyland and Beautiful Fighters, they all build up good verses but the choruses are quite bland and climax breakers (but at least ayu doesn't have the same problem as ai otsuka, in which almost 100% of ai songs have crappy_filler choruses) I still enjoy the song much despite its flaws

Exactly. Another good example is Step You/is this Love? A single that raised Ayu's sales when they were on the decline because not only were both songs good but they went against the publics expectations of her.

It's ok if people are fine with things as they are, but I don't think it's wrong to want things to be better either.

Yes, it's difficult to stay "fresh" after such a long career, but it's not set in stone that any artist that is around for more than 5 years must become repetitive. Namie and L'arc are two artists that have been around way longer than Ayumi and I would say that both are yet to become repetitive.

I think it's because their genres allow them to be such..

Namie isn't exactly J-pop, and neither are L'arc. My expectation of Ayu is that she releases songs that I enjoy, and she still does so, for me anyway.

Most people seem to want a LOT from Ayu with each release, you know, they expect the new M or the new alterna [which they'd probably hate if Ayu did do it, because it's "copying herself again"] and that's just wrong. You don't exactly see Namie fans crying out for a new CAN YOU CELEBRATE? or anything like that. I don't know what it is with Ayu fans, but I feel like I'm a vast minority in a sea of demanding Ayu-lovers. :<

I don't see how Ayu is more limited than them at all. All three of them are J-Pop and L'arc en Ciel falls under both rock and pop - if anything they are the most limited because they must stay within the rock genre while still having mainstream appeal. Besides those are only a few examples, there are also groups like Mr. Children, Southern All Stars, Spitz, B'z etc, that have managed to stay fresh with record sales to reflect that. (Although B'z I would argue lately are becoming repetitive.)

And yes, there are several Namie fans who cry out for another Can You Celebrate or something like that from her earlier days - you just aren't going to see it as much on english speaking forums because most did not get into her until after she moved into hip POP.

I don't think anyone is expecting a new M or alterna with each release - I think that is oversimplifying peoples complaints. I certainly don't expect that, but I also don't think it's expecting too much to not want a summer song that sounds like something she has released several times now. If you do expect that, then to me that is a gross underestimation of Ayumi and her talents.

glitter is fun n catchy, very summery, but i get bored of it already, there's something very disturbing about the verses

while fated, i didn't like it at all at first, but i think it's growing on me *just like Bold & Delicious*

oh yeah, sales will get hurt this time..

Wow. glitter was sort of disappointing after reading all this hype, but I still really like it. I just immediately thought of Grateful days, but hey, I like that song, and I can safely say the chorus is now stuck in my head. (from glitter)

fated, on the other hand....wow. It's gorgeous. The chorus really blends in well with the rest of the song. The interlude is great.

I find it hilarious that we have full tracks before we even have the covers.

Well, I think there's also the factor that Ayu is probably one of the most speedy releasers out of the top sellers.

And also because they're groups, and the majority compose and possibly arrange their own stuff, there's a lot more of a personal sound than with Ayu at times. She doesn't always compose her stuff, but she does write it. Most people will judge the song by how it sounds though, and since Ayu uses arrangers that occasionally repeat sounds and composers that have "recycled" melodies according to some people [NWTS, part of Me, fairyland, BLUE BIRD for some], her sound comes out to be a lot less than original, whereas with the bands that compose ALL THE TIME, there's a bit more freedom, you know?

Agreed.

It's pretty much a given that I will love (or at least GROW to love) anything that Ayu puts out, but I definitely miss her darker days. I miss songs during her Duty and I am... era, songs that made you wonder where she came up with them. RAINBOW, too. But I think she's past that, and is just doing what works. She IS trying to expand into other countries, now, too, so maybe she's just doing what she considers is safe.

I just think that with this change in music also came a change in Ayu's outlook on life.

Instead of thinking that the stardom she has is a "curse", it's now a blessing to her. :o

Yes, it's true that there are obviously differences between Ayu and bands, I was just showing that it's not impossible to be in the business for a long time and still remain fresh. Because many people here use the excuse that it's impossible for Ayu to not be repetitive simply because of the length of time she has been in the business and that's not true. It makes it more difficult of course but it is far from impossible. I also don't really count the "speedy release" thing either as a reason because all of these artists had one time or another where they released like crazy. (L'arc even released 7 singles in a year once!)

I agree about her composers and arrangers - she needs more variety in who she uses; it would solve a lot of the problem. But Ayu has quite a bit of control over her music, so I doubt Avex is forcing her to use the same people all the time.

Yeah, I'm pretty much the same way. I don't dislike these songs - I still prefer them to a lot of the Jpop out there. But as I said before, I think Ayu has gotten complacent and is afraid to release something that might fail(I'm sure I would be too!), so we get singles that are the "safe" songs. They aren't that great, but they aren't going to flop either.

And yeah, I agree that I think her all around creative peak was from Duty to Rainbow. Lyrics wise though I think her peak was her first two albums.

And I feel like I've gone on about this for too long now! haha. Sorry, Ayu just stirs me up sometimes. :)

Well-said.

As much as I loved Ayu's darker look on things more, because it inspired darker music, I'm glad that she's happy...even if it does mean happier music. xD

She stirs me up too! omg.

So, in order from first point to last point:
1) L'arc has had 10 albums in the span from 1993-2005. That's 12 years, 10 studio albums. Ayu has had the period of 1998-2006 and released 9 albums. [8 years, 9 albums.] I dunno if this is telling at all, since I don't know how many tracks are on L'arc albums either..

2) Ayu's unsafe tracks seem to be located in her albums now. I mean, look at kiss o' kill. That'd have been a kickass single, but look where it ended up. All of her experimentalish tracks [until that Day... and kiss o' kill] were on the album and not a single. I don't know if alterna is classified as risky at all.. is it?

3) I think Ayu's feelings were poured out very early on in her career, the majority of which she burnt out in ASFXX. [Damn, she needs to remake those songs. lol] Her themes of holding love in one hand and freedom in the other remained for quite a while until like, Memorial address/MY STORY when her lyrics just went everywhichway. :o

One of Ayu's albums was a mini album though primarily made up of singles. Also you are discounting the 2 years that L'arc were broken up - so it's actually 10 albums in 10 years, plus all the solo albums that the members did on the side. But like I said, the main point is that there are many artists that have been around a long time and still create great music and Ayu shouldn't have to be an exception.

Yes, that's what I've been saying - it's getting boring having to wait for the albums to get the good stuff. ^_^

I agree with everything SunshineSlayer & ImpactBreaker said :yes

well...the single is not that bad...
but somehow...the song like "glitter" sounds repetitive after "BLUE BIRD" & "fairyland" (still I can make a difference between them :D)
I just think 'the interest' & 'flow' of the songs is kinda being lost comparing to "&" & "Momentsu" singles
the single is just kinda...'not impressive'
that's what can I say
although I think 'fated' is still better than 'part of Me'
and...
as a whole...'glitter' single doesn't glitter that much :D