Care for another member? :)
I do realize why people would fall out of ayu's fandom,but I honestly have never hit a point with ayu where I was really disappointed and dissatisfied with her music. If I don't fall completely in love with a new release, I just think "oh well, maybe I'll like it more next week" or "oh well, she has a billion other songs I could be lovingly listening to" heck, I don't even dislike a single track she has released.I would maybe not care too much for a track or two, but in the end, I always like everything she released at least to a certain extent. I get why people would dislike a lot of the songs that she gets panned for (greatful days, Angels song, etc) but in my humble opinion, I will always like them.

I feel like such a freak for saying that, but it is the truth. All in all, I totally get why people will stop becoming ayu fans after Secret or whatever, but I just know that I'm still standing.

@neuteka I really like you're attitude towards Ayu's music. Dedicated fan :)

OMG I must put my opinion on this...muhahaha:mischief

To the OP, I can agree with you 50/50. It's true that Ayu's music isn't as SPAZ-INDUCING EPIC as it once was (Once you make something like I am... you really can't top it!) but she's one of the few artists in the WORLD that is consistent in making good music. I've listened to virtually every one of her songs and I can say one thing about her, she progresses. Sure she has a slump but what artist doesn't? I've literally had to force myself to listen to MOON because it sounded so recycled (even the lyrics to a certain degree).

But I can't agree with you on the post MY STORY- (m)u era being bland and uninspired. GUILTY, imo, is one of strongest albums vocally and lyrically; NEXT LEVEL was pure fun and it wasn't super serious and it was cool; RnRC was good but moderate compared to previous works. But her PVs during 07-10...EPIC at least 95% were excellent (excluding You were and the sunrise/sunset vids uggghh)

No, you're not alone I agree with everything you say! :)

I don't think that's necessarily true.

At least not for me. I can't speak for other people.

But there are a lot of artists that I have loved at the beginning, and still love after many years.

For me, it's all a matter of the music. In Ayu's case, I have to disregard it.


I don't think it's weird that you love everything she puts out. I've said it many times, From LOVEppears to Secret, I love every single song. I never really counted asfxx or her pre avex stuff in any serious way, but I love them too. For a long time, I loved her whole discography. People thought I was crazy.

Her music has just changed. I think it's odd that some people, not saying you, keep trying to like, say it hasn't...when it's soo obvious lol

And even more obvious that, some people will like the change, and some people won't. It'll always be 50-50.


About the risks...I dont know what risks she can possibly take that will make the music any better...fire everyone and hire "better" people? Tell Max to stop letting TK write her ballads? lol

Ayu picks the compositions she wants, out of a pool of god knows how many. The only reason for her music being the way it is, is that she wanted it this way.

I don't know...maybe people want her to change...but...well...I would never ask it of her.

From next level, i noticed i started to force myself to like what she released; it didnt use to happen before, i could find one song or two i could absolutely love; now... i don't know, her music doesnt make me feel anything, and i think that's because she and i are in different situations now.


Maybe it's just a perception of mine, but i feel she keeps speaking about a lost love (something i cannot relate at all) and that doesn't really move me. i have a bf and i want to say "you are my soul mate" so, i don't know, i remember listening to moments for instance and feeling like, BLOWN AWAY, and that doesn't happen to me anymore. the song crossroad is good, but it doesnt touch me, and also i dont like that basically all her releases lately are just ballads, and to me, that's a little boring. Her rock is not consistant now and that was another let down for me. I'm not saying she is going downhill like some people implied in another thread, because some of her songs are really good, but i just cannot connect anymore with her.

hmmm... some of you say that I am was almost her best album... well let me tell ya that I have the least number of songs on that album that I like, most of them I hadn't even bothered to listen for more than once.

as for other earlier works of her, yes it usually was like BANG "I love it" at the first time I listen to the song, right now she is kind of the "to grow on me" state for me.

to be honest RnRC and NL was sort of a BANG ones for me not all of the songs but a really 50% of them.

You know what? I think again it sorta depends on the person, but I noticed a tendency here that people get dissapointed a lot latelly :laugh maybe it's fashionable?....:innocent

I like her current day music, despite that it isn't what it used to be. But for me, she has proven time and time again that she is an amazing, talented, deep, insightful, etc. artist and singer, no debate, for me personally, there. So, now that she has proven that she can have fun with her music and do whatever the heck she wants. She's older now and more mature. She is a different person now, and I respect that. I doubt that she is suffering from the same issues, or even has to the same feelings towards them. I can tell that her perspective is different, but she is still doing what she feels is right for her, that's never seemed to change.

Also... I can't help but feel that if, let's say, Virgin Road was released during what someone thought was her "prime" they would consider it a classic, but due to the time that she released it, its "just another ballad in a series of ballads". And if a "classic" like Daybreak was released now it would be received about at well as Virgin Road.

Personally I think that it's not her music that is getting uninteresting but you guys are losing interest in Ayu.

I enjoy almost everything she puts out. I don't think there's a song in her discography that is "unlistenable" I just enjoy her overall style, I guess. And that's what keeps me a fan. Now generally, is her newer music better than her older music? Nah, not in my opinion. Do some of her newer songs match the greatness of older ones? Hmm yeah, I think so.

Best thing said in this thread.

LOL somehow I'm not XD I'm too much into her right now XD

Well, I do agree with Brittney... when u listen to the same artist for years, u get used to their aestheical choices... So, you will not be surprised anymore... Just like u said... she is doing that she feels like, so, this music is her... on the same way her old music was her at that time...

You will not relate to every lyric, but if you and Ayu are going through the same stuff, u will relate to most of it, on the same way, if u r not connected to her, like Lady_Eowyn said, u r not going to feel it...

I don't think anyone can say her music got better or worst... but it is for sure different, and IMO it's good that she takes different directions depending on how she is feeling... Like... I hated RnRC, but I can understand why she felt like releasing it, and why it was good to her...

Her music is very personal to her, and it will change on the same speed and in the same way she is changing...

they're just songs and she always surprises us (good or bad).

@andrenekoi: I guess. But I just said for me, I don't agree. And I don't think it's true 100%.

I listened to ONLY Ayu for at least two years. Probably more like 2 1/2, only listening to LOVEppears-Memorial Address. And after I came here to the forum and got caught up with her, I was still blown away and in love with MY STORY, then fairyland, is this love, HEAVEN, etc.

I have to admit though. Bold and Delicious threw me lol But I still liked it lol and now I love it.

And the Virgin Road thing...this probably doesn't change things all that much for you guys, but Virgin road doesn't sound a lot like, Who..., SEASONS, Dearest, hanabi, teddy bear, etc.

If she released that back then, I would have been like "this ballad is soo boring..." or would have considered it a "special" song...but this is the direction of her music now, and it's like...normal.

In any case, not all fans stay fans forever, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's been dozens of waves of Ayu fans, and I'm one of the newer ones since I started listening to her 3 years ago.

Maybe in two or three years I'll be bitter like some people here, and maybe by then those people will have forgotten completely about Ayu and have moved on to other music. It's like that with all artists. All of us can certainly point out at least one or more artists or bands that we used to really love and that we don't care too much for anymore, right?

i hated you were... and m/b, but it didn't make me question anything. the songs just didn't suit my ears. it's nearly impossible to love every song an artist releases... especially when they've been around as long as ayu and created as much as she. this could possibly just be a bit of a blue period for you?

Oh, I didn't mean that any song sounded alike, I'm just saying it's timing. Like, because a song was released in what someone considered her "prime" they would like it. For example, I love Hanabi. Its a song that I personally would consider a classic, a unique song and I really love Rainbow. But, if she had released it as a song on L I can't see myself as loving the song the way I do now. The nostalgia adds something to the song, I guess?

^Definitely does. I wonder if Ayu were to release tracks from that era that were never before released if people with that mindset (including me) would like them or not.

Yeah I'm like that too. I've only been a fan for 2 years now, but still, I like every bit of her discography, to some extent. Even if a song she releases does disappoint me (blossom), I'm not like "I'll give her one more chance", or anything like that. That's just stupid, IMO. Her style changes constantly. Be patient and there'll eventually be something you like again. Even if she released an album that I didn't like at all, I still wouldn't just totally give up on her (or any other artist).

@LoveShine: I understand what you're saying, but I think that the style kind of renders the idea a little off.. just because like, you know, I dont think people are like understanding this idea that, her music sounds different now. I mean, thats why, some people aren't liking it. That's all I'm saying. I dont think timing really has much to do with it, in this case...

that being said, I'm not going to say that's true for everyone, I mean, you're obviously one exception....but to people who actually pay attention to what's happening in the music...timing is very...second nature. It doesn't really matter where the artist is at in their career.

But I know that in terms of general popularity...I guess that can be true...because a lot of people do follow hype, and such...but...in ayu's case...eh...because people tend to see her music in terms of eras of albums...

I'm sorry, but I think, and I know other people do too, that music she made in her prime, was some of her best, and well, she wouldn't have released anything she's been releasing now, back then...

but meh, you never know I guess.