Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - "progress" Preview

Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai (http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/index.php)

- Ayu Music News (http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2)

- - "progress" Preview (http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109323)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeke. (Post 2699697)

I'm not saying people who LOVE it are blind or biased - I am saying when they get so worked up because other people don't love something. None of us hate Ayu or we wouldn't keep coming here. It's natural to feel sad sometimes when you love someone so much and have loved their music and then the releases start hitting you less and less. None of us want that but some of us start to feel that way and then there's the message like "Well too bad for you, I still love it! Heard the first 5 seconds of the new song and it's already the best song of the year!" - stuff like that. :rolleyes
A lot of the time it's not Ayu but its avex and/or the quality of releases now (not the actual songs but the PVs, promotions, covers).

Also, I am satisfied with releases and usually they grow on me and then I love them more because they are different. But it's only natural to think about how fierce it was at a certain point. I still love her releases and all, and after a year passes I usually love the previous release even more! But there is nothing wrong with missing the "spark". It's not like we are ungrateful for what she is releasing, but just can't deny and reminisce about other works and compare.

What I'm trying to get at is I just hate it when fans decide to actually review her music and if it's somewhat negative, even if it is a well written opinion and not just a "AYU SUCKS" - they are looked down on by some. Ayu could release a song of farts and giggles and some fans would still think of it as super amazing.

OK I get what you're saying, but every fandome has fans like that and in a way it's always good to have at least a few of those passionate fans, who are prolly younger and will grow up and change sooner or later. I myself don't understand how some people can be fans of "insert a random idol band" and like all the stuff they put out and if I said anything I'd prolly get crucified, so if you are aware you'll get bashed for having an opinion then don't post it at all, as you know what kind of reaction you can expect or simply don't care about what others say and still post how you feel about something. What I am trying to say is that there will always be people like that in every forum/fan base.

The thing that annoys me is when people try the song only once and then diss it off right away and yet they still manage to form this opinion and are able to write pages with all the reasons they dislike a song. As you said, sometimes you just have to let something grow on you. Ayu works hard to make those songs so trying it a few more times isn't going to kill anyone. Also there is the fact that the majority of Ayu's international fan base can't understand what she is singing about so all they want are catchy melodies and she can't have those all the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by njanjayrp (Post 2699740)

Also there is the fact that the majority of Ayu's international fan base can't understand what she is singing about so all they want are catchy melodies and she can't have those all the time.

This is a good point... many of her most bland sounding music also has some of her strongest lyrics... And this isn't an accident, by having a simpler melody, she is focusing that song on what she is trying to say... as I don't speak japanese, doesn't work for me

^ I actually think simpler melodies work better (Days and JEWEL were said to be simple and I love them). Simple melodies stick, more complex/complicated/awkward melodies don't.

Days had such great lyrics in my opinion. Same with JEWEL <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi (Post 2699829)

I think so too.

teddy bear, winding road, untitled~for her~, RED LINE, MY ALL, JEWEL, etc have very typical or some might even say completely unoriginal melodies and compositions and some of them are often disliked but I feel these songs have very strong and poignant lyrics compared to, say, sending mail or Last angel where the music is all schizophrenic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coelacanth (Post 2699692)

lol, its true though.

Ayu's career doesn't even mirror Madonna's that much. when Madonna would do a new genre, she would really get deep into it. Ayu never took experimentation to that level imo, so no one should expect it.

Mmm, well I guess Ayu wouldn't exactly completely change her genre like Madonna does, but Asfxx, LOVEppears, Duty, RAINBOW, and I am... are such starkly different albums and styles, at least to my ears. Since Memorial Address and on, it's like she's found her signature style and has stuck to it, with exceptions here and there.

i have no problem with the melody but with her voice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ストロボ・EdGE (Post 2699915)

I would say her signature style started with RAINBOW because I still hear influences from that album every now and then, most recently in Love songs. Can you hear the subtle reference to Real me in sending mail? Or a bit of Heartplace in Last Links?

When is the single going to be released? September?

Quote:

Originally Posted by tetsuo69 (Post 2699979)

i have no problem with the melody but with her voice.

Yes, I know, nowadays it's becoming harder and harder for me to listen to some of her songs, I hope she'll be able to improve at least a bit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maemi (Post 2700005)

When is the single going to be released? September?

Yes, I know, nowadays it's becoming harder and harder for me to listen to some of her songs, I hope she'll be able to improve at least a bit.

She has been improving nonstop since late 2007 or early 2008. Her range extended again(very noticable on NEXT LEVEL and Love Songs especially), she gained more control, hits more notes and can control her vibrato better again. Just watch any performance from 2010 and compare it to what she did in 2007-2009. I'd say from what we heard in 2010 and what fans say about her new tour that she probably(now, not 2010) is at 2005/2006 vocal level again.

Quote:

When is the single going to be released? September?

It's likely that it'll be out the week of / the week before Tales of Xillia's release. However, I guess it really depends on the competition. Apparently August is swamped with huge sellers all month.

Regarding Ayu's voice, I don't know if I hear this huuuge difference that some people do. Maybe it's because I know artists who have had much larger changes in their vocals and technique, so whatever is different about Ayu's voice now compared to "back then" is so minute (in recordings, specifically) that it isn't that audible to me, lol.

During live performances however, it was obvious that the deaf ear affected her in 2007/2008 but she has been improving steadily since then. To rank her voice from 2005 to now for comparison's sake... I'd say...

01. 2005/2006/2011 (according to those who have heard her live at POWER of MUSIC)
02. 2010
03. 2009
04. 2008
05. 2007

During 2007 and 2008, she had some really huge issues with vibrato but since then she's really lightened up on it. I wonder if she was self aware of that at all at the time. Anyway, I feel like she's made tremendous progress [woah pun] since she had to figure out a way to deal with only being able to hear from one ear. It's like she just keeps getting better~

^ I think in studio recordings you can mostly hear how her range increased only, which is a big part of vocals though.
Especially on NEXT LEVEL(beautiful headvoice notes in GREEN) and Love Songs(Like a Doll, Last Angel and other songs I can't think of right now had quite high notes for which she did not use headvoice/falsetto and which she hasn't reached for a long time or only screamed(Rule))

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrat2219 (Post 2700003)

Musically, definitely her summer songs like BLUE BIRD, Sunrise, fairyland, etc are modeled after independent and July 1st from RAINBOW era, and yeah you can definitely see lyrical references in her newer works.

More recently November seems like it borrowed from a lot of older works and so did crossroad, among others I've noticed.

I guess we can never be sure to what extent it's on purpose, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by isthisLOL? (Post 2700007)

2006 Vocals were NOT good and I don't think it should be a benchmark for her vocals... If you go back and watch Arena Tour 2006 tour, you can hear that her vocals were NOT strong at all. It's the charisma that was carrying the performances because she looks SOOO fresh and energetic. 2008, 2009 tours, she looked so tired and out of it + her vocals were bad. 2010, her vocals were so improved and she also looked fresh, so it was great! IMO, her vocal best was 2003 ~ 2004. A Museum!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ストロボ・EdGE (Post 2699915)

Well, now I have to disagree a little...

I do find a lot of her earlier singles interchangeable between her albums... audience could easily fit loveppears, duty or i am... for example... and while I agree she tends to have 2 "generic" singles on every era, the summer single and the winter single, plus the concert ending song, that sounds very similar too, I would say most of her albums are really different from each other...

Ayu's music is mostly made of a mix of three influences: Dance, rock and classical music... And even when she tries other styles, she mix this style to her own sound instead of totally changing it, having songs that mix her 3 main genres with the theme of the album.

I can see a similar patern on those:

Spoiler:

A song for xx - standart japanese pop/rock from the 90s. Example: A song for xx

LOVEppears - eletronic album with dark and cold tone... I'm not familiar with eletronic music subgenres, but She has a main one here. Example: Appears

Duty - the start of her trying to find out her own sound, so, this album mix a lot of different stuff and tie then together with it's dark tone. Example: Duty

I am... - At this point, she still is trying to find her sound, and she reaches it on some songs like M and evolution... the album doesn't have a main sounding, but It ends being one of her most personal album.... Example: M

Rainbow - the first time she starts producing a album after her sound was found, totally based on her mix of rock, dance, classic, what are the most proiminent elements on 90% of what she releases after this era. Example: Free & Easy

Memorial Address - It doesn't have a main sound or a main tone, still, it's the first time she played with her own sound and started experiementing with it... but if you read the lyrics in the tracklist order, it really does seen like the whole album is a memorial address.

My Story - She takes the experiements started on Memorial Address further, and while she keeps her mix of dance, rock and classic, the rock is the most focused of those. As she is experiementing, she album doesn't have a cohesive sound, but still, it's very personal... I see it as I am...2. Example: Moments

(miss)understood - I do find this one to be very cohesive, even if there is a lof of diversity... IMO it's come from the big influence from 70s and 80s western music u listen here, and that is reflected even on the album artwork and on the tour aesthetics. Example: Step you

Secret - Memorial Address 2 at first, when it became a full album, it gained influences from hard rock. Example: 1Love

Guilty - Even if I like the album and how it flows, it obvious her main influence here came later: Melodic Metal. It's her heavier sounding and probably her darkest album to date. Example: Marionette

Next Level - People hates this one, I love it... This time Ayu put some electropop + 8bit on her formula, releasing one of her most danceable albums, if not the most... At varying degrees, almost everysong reminds of videogame at some point. Example: Sparkle

Rock n Roll Circus - I am... 3. She is experiementing with her own style, she is trying different things, she is going everywhere and evolving her own sound... again, not cohesive, but very personal. Example: Microphone

Love songs - This time, while she focus on her main formula, the bigger part on the rock/dance/classic is the classic, making an grand still soft album, with a more mature sound. Example: Love Song

Someone talked about Madonna... there are some elements from her definitive albums, True blue and Like a Prayer, that still are present on her music... and always part of her music on every chance

Quote:

Originally Posted by maikaru (Post 2700034)

I couldn't agree more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by maikaru (Post 2700034)

2006 vocals were worse than 2005 but still quite powerful and she HAD her moments, but yes, it's when it started going downhill. I was mostly referring to CDL0506 which still had good vocals and only a few later performances.

Although I like the song and I can't wait for the single, I'm getting kinda of tired of her releasing a string of "full-blooded" songs that sort of sit in the "middle" of the spectrum. I would love it if she would release something that leaned more towards specific sound/genre like rock or pop or electronic etc to mix it up a bit.

Oh my lord yes, YES this is delicious I love this !!! Especially the beginning towards the point it gets to the "blossom part" (where ayu sings), and then I love it again at the chorus untill the end :D. Great song!

LOVE IT!!!
It sounds like a combination of the vocal style of old Ayu, combined with her newer musical style. <3 <3 <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by hsienko (Post 2700070)

Exactly!