Such a powerful song! I think I listen to the a-nation 07 version of this song every single day.

You think so? IMO it has some good mastered tracks like Mad World and some terrible mastered tracks like FLOWER or Survivor. During FLOWERs chorus her voice is barely hearable.

And IMO her sound quality / mastering is going downhill since GUILTY.
Here and there you'll find some tracks with good mastering.
I personally think walking proud is her best mastered track ever.

Yeah, FLOWER was a mistep, but songs like Survivor and like you said Mad World were really good. Maybe the problem is when it comes to rockish songs so maybe why I noticed it more on A ONE? :/

For me Survivor is a mess mastering wise - maybe i have a crapy quali of MIJ, i should check this when i'm at home... but my Mad World audio is great... :shakehead

As much as i love WARNING, the master is horrible :headache

I love winter because I know I got Ayu's winter playlist <3333

on loop, No way To say, Jewel, Momentum, Carol, Days in fact my favorite winter playlist on Spotify is Ayu's <333

I was watching the official videos uploaded by Avex some time ago and M has like a ridiculous ammount of dislikes compared to her others videos, it is the one with most views (I think) but still, videos with 700-800k views (like evolution, moments or BLUE BIRD) have like 20-30 dislikes, M has about 1.6 million views and almost 2k dislikes, I wonder why such a big quantity and difference :rolleyes

^haters gonna hate? Huge popularity come together with huge hate

Maybe some Christians were offended by her portraying Maria? lol

^There were some in the comments :P

The top comment in M video was how people accidentally searched for "M" :s

This is a darn shame, that song is perfect (and my favorite)

And then the other dislikes are from non-Christians offended by her portraying Maria, because that's the paradox that always happens :laugh

I felt exactly this. The mixing suddenly became flat during Love Again and has pretty much stayed that way. But like you, I also felt that Made in Japan was better in this regard, and then strangely, Trouble fell backwards.

"again" was released 6 years ago

https://i.imgur.com/DysvWub.jpg

If not to think that it is more a maxi single than mini album, that was great release. "Wake me up", "Sweet scar" and especially "snowy kiss" are super amazing. I didn't like Ivy at first, but this song has so great and touching lyrics that I began to love it.

I disliked Ivy as well at first because I found it so repetitive with all those "mashita"...
Now it's my favorite track from again and LOVE again.

Ivy is amazing! I've been obsessed with It Was lately.

wow she sounds almost perfect here. what tour is it?

^AT2015

Thanks, Aderianu!

I just found this video on YouTube of Ayu full appearence on JJ Lin concert. I've never seen this before (only few parts). She is so funny and beautiful here! Love the end when she says "I think I supposed to be go down right now" lol

another big day. It's "Depend on you" 20th anniversary today

https://i.imgur.com/AUMmBCS.jpg

I love that song so much ♥️

Does anyone else get the feeling ayu is very sensitive to criticism?
I know sometimes she gives off this attitude of "I don't care what anyone says, I do what I want" but I feel that she really does, and it's evident by the fact that she has had comments disabled for a while now on instagram. I think it is a bit extreme that she did that. While disabling comments silences a lot of hate, it also silences a lot of love from fans.

she looks soooo cool

I wish she looked like this again, without all these brand clothes, fake nails, heavy make-up and dyed hair :luv2

Have hundreds to thousands of strangers saying horrible stuff about you and see how well you do :)

I don't think it was because of criticism but because of hate. There is a fine line between criticism and abusive comments :no

Oh for sure, but I mean pretty much every celebrity deals with those comments, terrible abusive ones, even death threats and at a much larger amount than ayu, yet I hardly ever see any celebrity with comments disabled for a long period of time on their instagram. I think she's really sensitive, and there is nothing wrong with that, but to shut out all the love and supportive comments from her hundreds of thousands of instagram fans so that she doesn't have to see any hate seems extreme and almost like letting the haters win.

^it really just depends on the person. Some people don't care about hate comments and some do. Ayu cares enough to "sacrifice" the loving comments and although that is somewhat sad, it's probably the best thing to do for her.

It's not as much about being sensitive as it is to avoid a vacuum effect. Usually she disables her comments after some controversy because if people read mostly hate comments, they will most likely jump on the hate train.

I doubt she actually takes that much time reading her comments, or that she even have enough time to spare to do that.

She obviously care about what people think of her and it's not a new thing ... If you read her early interviews she was already concerned by how her image was portrayed in the media or in people minds ! Ok she is a celebrity so judgements come with it but in the end she is human and we are all hurt when someone criticise us. Social medias are the worst thing created regarding this specifical topic.

^I didn't say she doesn't care, I said she most likely doesn't keep around social media reading every other comment about her, and that the decision about blocking comments most likely has little to do with her feelings being hurt. The comments are blocked on her personal youtube account too, and I bet she doesn't upload the pvs herself. :P

But she obviously does get bothered by how people perceive her, as does any other popstar, and people can often be really mean to her over the most stupid things.

Lol cute

Spotify released the personal "Spotify wrapped up 2018" in which...

1. My first 2018 song is part of me
2. I listened 166hours in total to Ayu
3. Ayu is number one fav. artist
4. Four songs made it into my top 5 of 2018: W, CAROLS, WARNING and Lady Dynamite

I mean I love her, but I didn't know I was so obsessed with her music lol. Anyone else had high Ayu rankings in Spotify?

^ I do not know how many hours I have spent listening to Ayu on Spotify, but apparently my most listened song of hers this year was aeternal and ranked 2nd in my top of 2018. I mostly use Spotify for others artists than Ayu because I have all of her discography in my phone already, this is the only reason why she isn't first :laugh

I used to be able to precisely track my Ayu listening count with last.fm but now that i also have Spotify it's very hard to keep track.

I don't use Spotify because it's not working in my country. I prefer yandex music and I wish one day ayu appear there too, like some other japanese artists. I still use winamp + lastFM + something that was uploaded to yandex before they ban it.

That was tough year and I didn't listen much music and I thought I didn't listen much ayu, but...
#1 - 浜崎あゆみ - 923
#2 - Fall Out Boy - 292
#3 - Panic! at the Disco - 253

Most played ayu's album - M(A)DE IN JAPAN - 106. It's #4
Most played ayu's song - FLOWER - only 30. It's #9

Man how good was lastfm and the image scrobbler thingy? I made so many Ayu themed images and loved displaying them here. I'm not sure why they stopped it, lastfm hasn't been the same since. :(

For me, Ayu was my #4 artist. None of her songs were in my top 5, and my most played songs by her seemed to be W and monochrome ~POWER of MUSIC~ 2011 Version of all things. :laugh What I gather from this is that I wasn't obsessed with any single Ayu song this year but I was still listening to a lot of her music, a bit of everything here and there.

According to last.fm, Ayu is my most played artist this year :D

Most played album: LOVEppears

Most played songs:

1. Together When...
2. Love song
3. End roll
4. appears
5. ANother song
6. Tell me why
7. Duty
8. M
9. is this LOVE?
10. In The Corner

Both Spotify and last.fm say my top track this year is The way I am. I don't remember listening to it that much.

She was also my top artist with 45 hours on Spotify.

Top Ayu album: Next Level at #2

Well my lastfm account lists Ayu on a fifth place for 365 days and the most played track is The Way I Am on sixth place and it's a tie between that song and W and aeternal.
https://www.last.fm/user/Shami87/lib...rom=2017-12-12

That's what I got for Ayu. I'm surprised it's even 6 hours. I don't stream very often. But this 2018 Wrapped thing from Spotify was really fun and cool. I hope they do it every year.

I also still use winamp, it just was the best player.
On my phone I use google play though, scrobbleong all my tracks on last.fm
I can´t befriend with streaming services ><

I had ayu related skin for winamp... If I remember right, it was sparkling A logo

ahhh the good old Winamp Skins *_*
I made some myself I think xD

People always says Ayu went under a lot of surgeries but when I look at this photo which is from last year, she looks straight out from her model days, only with blonde hair

http://mv-gossip.up.n.seesaa.net/mv-...4_646bfb30.jpg

People who say she did tons of surgery have no idea how much make-up can change someone's face lol That and, like it or not, gaining or losing weight.

I had forgotten about this picture but I am now actually surprised that she felt confident enough to show the world (I mean both haters and fans) a good quality picture of her with no makeup. She just didn't care what people had to say and that's great :cool

Does Ayu usually do concerts in late March?

Not during the last 10 years.
Last Tour with dates in march was 2007

Does anyone remember this ?
https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/p...mited-Tour.jpg

I think it was available to buy at the venue during AT2010 Rock'n'roll circus but when exactly ? Also was it TA exclusive ? I've just bought it on ebay knowing it was a rare item but i don't know the details lol

Saw this on twitter and spotted Ayu on the guy's shirt lol

https://i.imgur.com/F8hHbcZ.png

Her face on it, though... :usaidwat

...kill it with fire!! :uzi

^no kidding!!! It's baaaaadddd

I wish she’d release a really, really experimental album.
Now that records and sales and numbers aren’t holding her back, she could release such cool, contemporary things.

Ayumix 1 essentially could be a normal album in its own right. The remixes aren’t so over the top that it “feels” like a remix album. (Imo, compared to later Ayumix releases, the songs become far more fragmented and obviously a remix. If you played Ayumix 1 to a casual J-POP listener, I don’t think they’d necessarily say “oh this must be a remix.”)

Sigh, I just miss the magic.

There are so, so many things she could be doing for herself.
I mean, major impact could come from such cheap productions.

The PV 顔も見たくない by Miliyah is nothing crazy, but it’s visually so pleasing. But very little effort from Ayu would even be needed.

She needs a visual director T_T

LOOOOOL what's the context of this? I'm dying

I've seen a lot of people in Japan wearing Ayu's t-shirts or goodies. I was really impressed.

It was not TA exclusive and you were able to buy it from release till end of tour I think.

You know what? Memorial address was released 15 years ago. Can you believe it?

https://i.imgur.com/3Qgoo61.jpg

^ How long have you been a fan Aderianu ? You've been here since 2006 but were you a fan before going on this forum ? :)

I have been a fan of Ayu since 9 years so next year i will feel old when all of her 2009 releases turn 10! But since i was not a fan when Memorial address was released i don't feel old, i was 6 years old in 2003 :laugh

2009 - one of my favorite years as an ayu fan ☺️
I'm a fan of her since really late 2001...
i was 9 years old back than and heared Dearest for the first time.
I didn't understand any word but i felt sad and cried...

Yep, still same old girl from the mags in 90s.

BUT OMG I LOVE THIS. Yeah make-up tricks can transform you like hell!

She's looking super cute!

Good times... I was only 8 years old. ourselves PV gave me nightmares :tired
Did not understand what Because of You PV is about,
and why Memorial address did not have a PV (so I imagined the PV myself :P Ayu wearing funeral dress (similar to SEASONS PV) and singing in a vintage restaurant.)

So I was watching her old appearances on Music Station and other lives and now that I can understand japanese, I can know what she talked about during the talk sessions. And most of the time Ayu and the hosts have been talking about her rich lifestyle and almost out of reality. Like one time they asked her what she preferred: doing the dishes, throwing out garbage, laundry or cooking. And they were surprised when she said cooking because they thought she would never cook at home. And other time on Music Station she said she loves shoes and one day she went to the store and got 70 pairs of shoes. So I was really surprised that people nowadays are complaining about her "lifestyle" and showing her richness. She have been doing that since the beginning lol I was really surprised.

From the 2006. My earliest memory how ayu sang Blue Bird at the final day of her tour and I read about it at the russian fan forum
I graduated from school at 2002 and didn't have interent connection. From 2004 to 2006 I use my mobile phone as a modem and it was very expensive. So I knew about japanese artist around this time


End of december is fully packed at the ayu's release calendar
today is RAINBOW day

https://i.imgur.com/Fcz3lvc.jpg

I am loving Winter diary rn. Wish she would sing this live in a big ass extra dress with princess hair like she did with holiday lives in the past!

Am I the only one the considers the album Colours... weird or off.
I always forget about it. It never made an impression on me and even after all this time I have to look up what album I'm listening too when one of the songs come on. lol

I don't know about ya... but it looks too magazine-ish to me :laugh Like it's not an actual cd cover but it was not intended as a magazine cover parody either so it doesn't properly click to me. It's not ugly though.

I like Colours for what it is (a fun album, a bit different for her), but I don't listen to it much.

I love the covers for Colours. <3

I love the entire stylistic direction for Colours. Love the high fashion stuff - a departure from her usual pink/pastel/gyaru look.

The music's pretty great too, and I don't really take it seriously. It's just a fun time.

She blessed us with NOW & 4EVA on that album. The only gripe that I have is with music video direction on that album. Songs are fun:yes

Colours for the most part feels very, empty? It’s like void of something. You could easily forget it’s an ayu album, or the works of ayu. Her presence isn’t as strong or asserted. It’s mute of her traditional persona in a way, so unfamiliar. Because of that, it feels quite sad. It’s like losing a good friend - they go on living their life, but you can no longer relate or feel the relationship between you any longer. You’re merely a spectator, where as you once felt integrated somehow into the storyline itself. It lacks intimacy, and thus feels dishonest in a way. It doesn’t feel like she is speaking directly to you. It is a conversation in which I feel I cannot participate.

I guess to put it more simply, as opposed to other ayu albums, which when listening to I feel I am in company, when listening to Colours, I feel alone. It doesn’t captivate me, and thus I remain very aware of, and in tune with, my own reality and visual surroundings.

What is a good response to criticism about being too personal and intimate with her own art because she was dating someone who wasn't Nagase after literally building a career around milking her own personal tragedies for the public.

Was in Paris last week and I went to Cafe Marly at the Louvre just to feel the Ayu’s trace there omg haha and seriously felt so nostalgic when I passed by Shangrila where I met her back in 2012 <3

Colours is such a good, refreshing and fun album. Something different. I would like her to experiment more with her music. Covers for that album are so good.

Shuffle-Mode across Ayu's Discography:
After a long time, I was listening to Stephane Pompougnac's Dub Mix of JEWEL again....
Man, i love that version so much!

I pray so hard for a new ayu-mi-x.
The last one was released more than 7 years ago....
And since than she released 3 mediocre classical Albums.

I just realised that Ayu teased us a while ago that she did a photoshoot with a female international photographer. Can't remember the name, only that she announced it around Halloween, because they dressed themselves up as (play)bunnies.

I am curious when that is coming! I almost forgot about it! Maybe she is gonna use it for the new chapter of her tour?? Idk, I don't really understand whatever Ayu means with her social media posts.

Plus, not so interesting, but I am making travelling plans for the summer and was looking into a travel guide. When I looked at Japan, there was a pic with a billboard in the middle, promoting Mirrorcle World. I thought it was funny, how iconic her covers are and immediately recognizable!

I have been thinking about this same thing the last few days. There was a photoshoot with a female photographer. I think she is well known. Wasn't it for a magazine?:think

It's for Numero Tokyo.
It was revealed back in November:

Here it is.:yes

^Yep, it's for Numero Tokyo (confirmed by Ellen) but there's no date yet.

Ellen Von Unwerth is well-kown for her sexy photoshoots, she has worked with huge stars like Chirstina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Madonna (among singers) and many actresses and models and her work is always on point (imo is sexy but not vulgar) so I'm really interested to see how this photoshoot looks like!

I miss her normal release schedule :-(

Progress is such a great song. It still gets me excited, but I'm also shocked at the song being 7 years old now. Was 2011 really that long ago?! Still feels like a new Ayu song to me. I feel like my criteria for an 'old' Ayu song though is anything from before I became a fan lol

I've also been catching up on lives with time off, and Ivy is miles better live than on the album.

Me too! I wish she would do more music and less touring. Not only because I miss having new songs regularly but because of her health condition.

I miss the yearly stuff too. Just hearing from here on a normal basis was awesome. I feel like we don’t even get that anymore

I dreamed that Ayu release a new album called "Snow Bird." The cover was an image of her ice skating.

There were a couple of songs that I saw the titles of but I only remember one called Fight for LOVE, and it was a really gorgeous ballad with piano in it.

I'm really hoping she'll release new music after the tour is over and not just another tour. It won't be long until her 21st anniversary now, maybe she'll announce something then.

I wish she would release new music too, and give us PVs and making ofs like usual. I miss those much especially the hype when the release date is near. Ah those dayssss

Sometimes I'll listen to a playlist at night to help me fall asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night to taskinillusion. It's hard to describe, but during that half asleep/ half awake phase, it was a really nice feeling.

This is so extra lmao. It's literally just a fun pop album.

I think Avex should have made "Colours" entirely EDM because the pop and ballad tracks seem so out of place and don't contribute to the EDM approach at all. And the lack of interludes is a waste of potential, too. Especially this album is virtually made for two to four decent electronic interludes plus they are easily done, no huge production costs whatsoever...

But: "Colours" is still fun to listen to! "Terminal", "XOXO", "Merry-go-round" and "Lelio" are my favourites :heart :)

I agree. NOW & 4EVA doesn't seem too out of place and it is a nice album ending. But Pray and godforsaken Hello new me (I wish I could ban that song from my memory) feel so weirdly placed. I usually listen to the megamix EDMA to get my full 'Colours experience'.

Hello new me is one of my favorite songs of hers. I just like everything about it.

BTW it might not be interesting, but I was inspired by a student who showed me her bullet-journal. She is tracking like shows she watched, or things she wants to do.
Now, it sounds to me like an expanded bucketlist - but I thought it would be fun to write down the Ayu song of the day for me - the one I listened most to, or was in the mood for.

So I got my agenda and put down an A & music note, in which I am gonna journal the Ayu songs of the day, - and basically summerize it to one Ayu song each month.
I thought it would be fun. Hopefully I keep it up, and can write down the 12 Ayu songs for me in 2019.

I thougt it would be a fun idea to do together with some members, if you are in the mood for it. Might be interesting to see how our moods differs each month and what song we are most likely to listen to from Ayu.

Sounds like an interesting idea and since I'm going to move to another country ( going there as an Au pair) it would be interesting to write down the songs that fits my moods over the time. I think I might so this, but not sure if I'd be able to only choose songs from Ayu but I'll give it a try

Sound fun! might give it a try! :yes

Wow! I love this idea, I'm gonna do that for my 2019 bullet journal too! Thanks for that inspiration :)

I just about died when I clicked itunes just now: https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/po...ingle/76680284

That journal sounds interesting! I might try it for a few different artists and see if the tracks I pick are similar in theme :)

^LOLLLL!!! Porkerface!! It's just too good!!!

Happy 20th anniversary to "A Song for XX" album ^_^

https://s2.imagebanana.com/file/190101/zEbY5Ry9.jpg

^ Thanks for the reminder, time to give this album an anniversary listen.