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-   -   Help me love Namie Amuro! (http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101415)

Mary Weather 27th May 2010 07:20 PM

Help me love Namie Amuro!
 
So, I noticed a ton of people here like Namie Amuro. I for one...hate Namie Amuro. *get's eaten* Sorry to say it. I have listened to three different albums of hers and a best album and I still can't get into her. (What am I doing wrong?)

The last thing I listened to from her was Dr. I actually liked the song and it is the only song I like from her.

But I want to change! I want to try to be a fan of her! I listened to those albums and long time ago! (I don't even really remember which ones I listened to. I think Queen of Hip-Hop was one....) So maybe my tastes have changed a little and it'll be easier for me to like her!

So I'm giving it one last try! and I need the help of you fans of her! I'll listen to three albums from her. Choose your top three favorite albums. The ones with the most votes I'll listen to and try to love her! Help me @_@

love in music 27th May 2010 07:29 PM

Just listen to PLAY. If you don't like her after that then you probably won't ever like her.

pommy48 27th May 2010 07:35 PM

I mainly listen to PLAY and PAST<FUTURE and I love some of the ballads on break the rules, but you don't have to force yourself to like her~

Crystal_Ageha 27th May 2010 07:38 PM

I hate her, too, and most of her fans. The only fans worse are Hikki fans, and a select few major Kuu-stans.
Amuro is a sell-out who's had everything handed to her from the beginning of her career, and I can't respect that. She's also completely, utterly talentless as far as singing goes. Her range is easily one of the tiniest in the entire industry, and she couldn't pull off a proper crescendo to save her life. She can dance, of course, but that won't save you. Not by my books, at least. It also doesn't help that she practically lip syncs all the time, since her backtracks are usually so freaking loud that you can't hear her much at all.

You don't have to like her, just because she's currently 'in'. You also shouldn't try to like her, just because so many people here do. A lot of people here are honestly a little.....I won't say anymore. :innocent


Anyhow. Even though Namie Amuro is a disgrace to the music industry, she does have a handful of pretty cool songs. So you can get into some of her music, without being an obsessive fan like a lot of people here. :)
STYLE is by far her best album, I think. It's J-Pop mixed perfectly with Western styled hip-hop/R&B. :yes PAST>FUTURE is probably her second best, for me, but that may be because it's extremely J-Pop this time around, and I prefer that over Western styled genres. Other than that, her only other decent album, in my opinion, is Queen of Hip-Pop. It's not my style, but it's an overall catchy album, and pretty good for what it's worth.
For specific songs, I'd recommend her breakthrough hit, Body feels EXIT, if you haven't heard it already. Very techno-pop, and very catchy. To me, this is one of the only good songs from the beginning of her career. Another really catchy song is WANT ME, WANT ME. It gets stuck in your head, hah... Another good track, that's from the newest album, is FAST CAR. Dunno if you've heard it, but I think it's the best song she's had since her STYLE album. My personal favourite song by Namie is SO CRAZY. A very poppy, slightly hip-hop track with a great chorus. A good amount of messed up Engrish in the bridge to make you giggle, too, hah. Oh~, and check out the song that she did with ZEEBRA, Mummy-D and AI. Do What U Gotta Do. She's only in the chorus, but you should be thankful for that, lol... The song itself is really upbeat and catchy. Great to put on when you're hyper and such.

Alessia_Tateno 27th May 2010 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha (Post 2370471)
I hate her, too, and most of her fans. The only fans worse are Hikki fans, and a select few major Kuu-stans.
Amuro is a sell-out who's had everything handed to her from the beginning of her career, and I can't respect that. She's also completely, utterly talentless as far as singing goes. Her range is easily one of the tiniest in the entire industry, and she couldn't pull off a proper crescendo to save her life. She can dance, of course, but that won't save you. Not by my books, at least. It also doesn't help that she practically lip syncs all the time, since her backtracks are usually so freaking loud that you can't hear her much at all.

You don't have to like her, just because she's currently 'in'. You also shouldn't try to like her, just because so many people here do. A lot of people here are honestly a little.....I won't say anymore. :innocent


Anyhow. Even though Namie Amuro is a disgrace to the music industry, she does have a handful of pretty cool songs. So you can get into some of her music, without being an obsessive fan like a lot of people here. :)
STYLE is by far her best album, I think. It's J-Pop mixed perfectly with Western styled hip-hop/R&B. :yes PAST>FUTURE is probably her second best, for me, but that may be because it's extremely J-Pop this time around, and I prefer that over Western styled genres. Other than that, her only other decent album, in my opinion, is Queen of Hip-Pop. It's not my style, but it's an overall catchy album, and pretty good for what it's worth.
For specific songs, I'd recommend her breakthrough hit, Body feels EXIT, if you haven't heard it already. Very techno-pop, and very catchy. To me, this is one of the only good songs from the beginning of her career. Another really catchy song is WANT ME, WANT ME. It gets stuck in your head, hah... Another good track, that's from the newest album, is FAST CAR. Dunno if you've heard it, but I think it's the best song she's had since her STYLE album. My personal favourite song by Namie is SO CRAZY. A very poppy, slightly hip-hop track with a great chorus. A good amount of messed up Engrish in the bridge to make you giggle, too, hah. Oh~, and check out the song that she did with ZEEBRA, Mummy-D and AI. Do What U Gotta Do. She's only in the chorus, but you should be thankful for that, lol... The song itself is really upbeat and catchy. Great to put on when you're hyper and such.

Agree with Crystal_Ageha for the fact that you shouldn't like her just because she became again really popular, everyone has different tastes and if you listened some albums of her but still you can't like her then give up.

but (for Crystal_Ageha) if you think that she lip-syncs all the time then obviously you didnt see any of her tours (you can hear her voice well in there and she obviously is LIVE, some songs have loud backtracks, especially on tv shows, but on tours you can hear her voice pretty well and sing&dance at the same time is very very tiring that's why artists like BoA and Koda Kumi maybe do less tours than her and sing less dance song or don't dance as much as she does even though they are super excellent dancers, especially BoA that is one of the bests ever // I named Koda and BoA because are the singer/dancers that first came in my mind..but other non dancer artists like Ayu and Hikki also do waaaaaaaaay less date tours than her). Also she worked hard at first (with Supermonkey's, then she become very popular but in the 2000's she lost a lot of popularity and she needed to work hard again to get it all back and we see the results now). Again, everyone has different tastes but really you can't say she didn't work hard to get the popularity that she has =P

Mirrorcle Monster 27th May 2010 07:52 PM

Past<Future, Play and Break the Rules, but you should also hear Say the Word, single, and BEST FICTION is also a great way to start

ville 27th May 2010 07:53 PM

Queen of Hip-Pop, PLAY and Past<Future.

but of course you should try BEST FICTION and Love Enchanced Single Collection.

aloopy 27th May 2010 08:20 PM

Listen to "Concentration 20", "Queen of Hip-Pop" and "Past<Future". But maybe you should watch her tours first, she's and amazing performer and that's one of the things that got me into her.
Start out with "BEST FICTION tour" :yes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alessia_Tateno (Post 2370484)
...but really you can't say she didn't work hard to get the popularity that she has.

Seriously.
I suggest people to read about how she started out before saying stuff like "she got everything handed to her". Oh well.

Spiral 27th May 2010 08:24 PM

Why are you trying to force yourself? If she's not your cup of tea she isn't. You don't have to like her because she's the it girl at the moment or whatever. Like what you want to like. Listen to what you REALLY want to listen to.

With that said, starting off with studio albums isn't usually the way to go when she has quite a few. You should try out her compilation albums first to get more of a feel. 181920, Love Enhanced, and Best Fiction should give you an idea of what she does and how's she changed throughout the years. From there you can see which album you'd like to try out more of.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha (Post 2370471)
Amuro is a sell-out who's had everything handed to her from the beginning of her career, and I can't respect that.

I respectfully disagree with this statement. It's totally fine to dislike her for her lack of singing abilities and what not and other things you stated but saying she didn't work hard to get where she was? No. Just no. She had nothing handed to her. She had to work her way up from variety shows, back-up dancer status, to being with the super monkey's until she got a lucky big break. She didn't happen overnight.

Saying that about ANY artist is just a big no no from me. Just because they have a certain perceived status from the public doesn't mean they don't work hard to get where they are. /2 cents

Uemarasan 27th May 2010 08:42 PM

I actually do respect Namie for getting herself where she is now. Lord knows the road hasn't been easy.

I actually don't think she's much of a dancer. Maybe she should get a better choreographer, but I've yet to be impressed. That's the one thing that irks me about her image: for some reason it's shoved in our faces that she's this awesome dancing force of nature when I only really see stale, awkward, half-hearted moves. BoA has far better choreography.

And I really respect what she stands for, though: a successful single mother and mature Japanese woman who doesn't need a man :P

Crystal_Ageha 27th May 2010 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alessia_Tateno (Post 2370484)
Agree with Crystal_Ageha for the fact that you shouldn't like her just because she became again really popular, everyone has different tastes and if you listened some albums of her but still you can't like her then give up.

but (for Crystal_Ageha) if you think that she lip-syncs all the time then obviously you didnt see any of her tours (you can hear her voice well in there and she obviously is LIVE, some songs have loud backtracks, especially on tv shows, but on tours you can hear her voice pretty well and sing&dance at the same time is very very tiring that's why artists like BoA and Koda Kumi maybe do less tours than her and sing less dance song or don't dance as much as she does even though they are super excellent dancers, especially BoA that is one of the bests ever // I named Koda and BoA because are the singer/dancers that first came in my mind..but other non dancer artists like Ayu and Hikki also do waaaaaaaaay less date tours than her). Also she worked hard at first (with Supermonkey's, then she become very popular but in the 2000's she lost a lot of popularity and she needed to work hard again to get it all back and we see the results now). Again, everyone has different tastes but really you can't say she didn't work hard to get the popularity that she has =P

Okay, that's true. I've mostly seen TV lives, and the bits of her tours I've watched did seem mostly all live. (I could tell, because she sounded so bad. :rolleyes)
Also, people like BoA or Kumi don't sing and dance as much at the same time as Amuro does because they actually SING, not just yell out three different notes. It's easy as hell to dance and "sing" at the same time when you sing like she does, and with the songs she has.
And finally, I've read all about how this talentless bore was randomly selected to be put into a very prestigious arts school, and then somehow selected by the owner of that school to be put into a idol girl group, which, especially back in the day, meant instant success, to at least some degree. She also obviously must be on very good terms with both ZEEBRA and Double, two of the biggest names in Japan for hip-hop and such, especially of Western style (which is what she originally tried to make a name for herself with). This has helped her at least stay in the spotlight, even when her popularity was down.
Oh, and one more thing, she did not work hard to get back her popularity. The slight popularity surge she had after her peak was due mostly to the fact that her mother was killed and people felt bad, and also because she "re-invented" herself and started doing what music was now getting more attention in Japan. And the popularity she has now is also mostly due to the fact that she, again, "re-invented" herself to suit what's hot in Japan at this point. (Seriously, Amuro. How many damn times will you "re-invent" yourself? :rolleyes)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiral (Post 2370541)
...I respectfully disagree with this statement. It's totally fine to dislike her for her lack of singing abilities and what not and other things you stated but saying she didn't work hard to get where she was? No. Just no. She had nothing handed to her. She had to work her way up from variety shows, back-up dancer status, to being with the super monkey's until she got a lucky big break. She didn't happen overnight.

Saying that about ANY artist is just a big no no from me. Just because they have a certain perceived status from the public doesn't mean they don't work hard to get where they are. /2 cents

Yes, she didn't get her lucky break until SUPER MONKEYS, but that was pretty much right away, all while having no singing talent at all. Very lucky. Really, the only person I can think of who's luckier is Ayu. :laugh But at least Ayu has always been true to herself, and she certainly has something special that Amuro does not. Also, SHE works extremely~ hard, and she truly deserves success. But either way.... I don't see why you get so offended about somebody saying an artist is lucky, because in nearly every case of a big star, they were very lucky. That's just how it is. Especially in the Western world, you don't have to work at ALL to get big. And with Namie, that's definitely the case. I don't care if she has dozens of tour dates. All she has to do with those is practice dance moves, since she can't sing worth a ****. And that's nothing, considering she doesn't compose OR write lyrics OR even do TV appearances. So I don't wanna hear how she works so hard, at least not compared to other people in the industry. I respect her as a regular person, for dealing with the death of the person closest to her (something I've also had to deal with), and for being a good mother (it seems she really loves her son, and she gives him plenty of time, despite her career). But I do not respect her as an artist at all. She's pathetic, to say the least.

Cherry Dynamite 27th May 2010 08:49 PM

You don't have to listen to her if you don't like her.

Actually I used to dislike her, but I gave her a try but even after that I still didn't like her but after 2 weeks I kinda started digging her songs but that doesn't happen to everyone so if you really don't like, don't bother to listen to her.

2Hurt 27th May 2010 08:52 PM

I used to hate Namie too lol but a few years ago I tried out a few more songs.. Did U, Say the Word... but I'd say you should try BEST FICTION ^-^

Mary Weather 27th May 2010 11:12 PM

Maybe I'll just try some of her best albums. That might be better. Honestly I could care less what kind of person Amuro is. I'm just trying to like her music. I genuinely want to like her and so that's why I'm giving it one more shot. If I don't like her then I just don't like her, ya know?

Haha, I've always wanted to like her so I figure now, since people can give me good suggestions, would be a good time to try again. I'll still try out the albums more people suggested. Oh, and didn't mean to start a fight between anyone either @_@ sorry....

amorphose 27th May 2010 11:19 PM

STYLE
Queen of Hip-Pop
PAST<FUTURE

I, for one, HATE PLAY. lol Those three are awesome albums though. :heart

SunshineSlayer 27th May 2010 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha (Post 2370471)
I hate her, too, and most of her fans. The only fans worse are Hikki fans, and a select few major Kuu-stans.
Amuro is a sell-out who's had everything handed to her from the beginning of her career, and I can't respect that. She's also completely, utterly talentless as far as singing goes. Her range is easily one of the tiniest in the entire industry, and she couldn't pull off a proper crescendo to save her life. She can dance, of course, but that won't save you. Not by my books, at least. It also doesn't help that she practically lip syncs all the time, since her backtracks are usually so freaking loud that you can't hear her much at all.

I still don't understand your hate of Namie because the reasons you give don't really make sense to someone who actually follows her. Her voice is just fine and it was very strong in the 90s, she rarely has ever lipped synched and she is far from the worst when it comes to using loud back tracks. But the thing that makes the least amount of sense is saying that she had her fame handed to her - she had to work for it a lot more than many other artists that do actually have it handed to them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha (Post 2370558)
Oh, and one more thing, she did not work hard to get back her popularity. The slight popularity surge she had after her peak was due mostly to the fact that her mother was killed and people felt bad, and also because she "re-invented" herself and started doing what music was now getting more attention in Japan.

That's really rude. And its not even accurate. Her mother died in 1998 - she did not have a popularity resurgence until around 2006. Her singles that were released after her mothers death sold less than her singles the year before, there was no resurgence at all.

But, for the original poster - as I suggested to you in the other thread: It seems that you have only listened to her more recent material, so perhaps you should try her material from the mid 90s to early 00s. Try the album Concentration 20.
But if you can't get into her, that's fine. :) Not everyone is going to like everything; just don't bash the artist unnecessarily if you personally don't like them for some reason. ;)

emi♡ 27th May 2010 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha (Post 2370558)
Okay, that's true. I've mostly seen TV lives, and the bits of her tours I've watched did seem mostly all live. (I could tell, because she sounded so bad. :rolleyes)
Also, people like BoA or Kumi don't sing and dance as much at the same time as Amuro does because they actually SING, not just yell out three different notes. It's easy as hell to dance and "sing" at the same time when you sing like she does, and with the songs she has.
And finally, I've read all about how this talentless bore was randomly selected to be put into a very prestigious arts school, and then somehow selected by the owner of that school to be put into a idol girl group, which, especially back in the day, meant instant success, to at least some degree. She also obviously must be on very good terms with both ZEEBRA and Double, two of the biggest names in Japan for hip-hop and such, especially of Western style (which is what she originally tried to make a name for herself with). This has helped her at least stay in the spotlight, even when her popularity was down.
Oh, and one more thing, she did not work hard to get back her popularity. The slight popularity surge she had after her peak was due mostly to the fact that her mother was killed and people felt bad, and also because she "re-invented" herself and started doing what music was now getting more attention in Japan. And the popularity she has now is also mostly due to the fact that she, again, "re-invented" herself to suit what's hot in Japan at this point. (Seriously, Amuro. How many damn times will you "re-invent" yourself? :rolleyes)


Yes, she didn't get her lucky break until SUPER MONKEYS, but that was pretty much right away, all while having no singing talent at all. Very lucky. Really, the only person I can think of who's luckier is Ayu. :laugh But at least Ayu has always been true to herself, and she certainly has something special that Amuro does not. Also, SHE works extremely~ hard, and she truly deserves success. But either way.... I don't see why you get so offended about somebody saying an artist is lucky, because in nearly every case of a big star, they were very lucky. That's just how it is. Especially in the Western world, you don't have to work at ALL to get big. And with Namie, that's definitely the case. I don't care if she has dozens of tour dates. All she has to do with those is practice dance moves, since she can't sing worth a ****. And that's nothing, considering she doesn't compose OR write lyrics OR even do TV appearances. So I don't wanna hear how she works so hard, at least not compared to other people in the industry. I respect her as a regular person, for dealing with the death of the person closest to her (something I've also had to deal with), and for being a good mother (it seems she really loves her son, and she gives him plenty of time, despite her career). But I do not respect her as an artist at all. She's pathetic, to say the least.

Sorry...but ew gross. Not gonna argue with you though. I know a lost cause when I see one.


I've listened to Namie's entire discography a few times through after listening to best fiction first...and well...I've come to only really like her recent works...and only about 10-20 songs or so.

Honestly...I don't know if anyone can help you like her...you just have to give all her music a chance...if you like it, you like it, if you don't, you dont...just keep an open mind with it...and remember what genres you're listening to lol

if you dont like certain genres...you may not like her very much.

JackieRos 27th May 2010 11:33 PM

play beats any other album hands down

I did this thread too and most people loved play cos is an awesome album

and why the hell are paragraphs here O.o

Ayumi27 27th May 2010 11:35 PM

1. Sweet 19 Blues
2. Concentration 20
3. Play

lumieregrl 27th May 2010 11:49 PM

I prefer Queen of Hip-Hop, PLAY, and Past<Future; from her early albums, I like songs here and there. I cannot stand Genius 2000.

Namie's voice improved greatly in the last several albums. I did read that she took singing lessons, so that's probably it.

Mary Weather 28th May 2010 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackieRos (Post 2370822)

and why the hell are paragraphs here O.o

hahahah omg i love that hahaha!

CHE.R.RY 28th May 2010 12:51 AM

All of the albums from Style and onward are very solid as they are her R&B ones :yes. I can't stand any of the albums before Style, so yeah....

RyRyMini 28th May 2010 03:51 AM

Do Ayu fans really have a place complaining about voices? I mean, Namie has NEVER EVER had anything close to the disaster that was Ayu's last evolution TV performance. :innocent

I think you should listen to PLAY.

KarenPang 28th May 2010 05:10 AM

lol I'm a sad basketcase because I only listened to PLAY & PAST < FUTURE from Namie >_<

but PLAY was 1 of the very 1st few jpop albums I listened to when I began listening to Japanese music some 4 years back & I still love it even up to now

Hide & Seek was the one that got the ball rolling for me & the rest's history :)

SURREAL__RAINBOW 28th May 2010 07:34 AM

sorry i had to pick 4!

from STYLE onwards ^^ those 4 albums are awesomee

C+R+E+AYUMI 28th May 2010 11:59 AM

Style and Queen of Hip Hop are great to start with

noisy_harmony 28th May 2010 02:04 PM

Nothing forces you to like her. If you can't find any thing which would make you listen to her, don't try again! There are plenty of well-known j-soft rock (cause I wouldn't say it's rock), j-rock bands and boybands I will never like... For my reasons. YOU DON'T HAVE TO FOLLOW TRENDS.

Spoiler:
...but if you ask :laugh, I can choose my favourites: Queen of Hip-Pop, PAST < FUTURE and PLAY. From old ones I recommend you break the rules and Concentration 20. SWEET 19 BLUES has catchy tracks and album versions of songs from singles are definitely better, but it's filled with many interludes which personally I love, but probably you wouldn't like them, so leave this delicious cookie for later, if your opinion towards Namie will change.

Mary Weather 28th May 2010 05:42 PM

So...after all the trouble I seemed to have caused @_@
I have downloaded and listened to PLAY and I must say...I am seriously enjoying this album! It's so...good! I think I'm slowly falling in love with it...like seriously!!
Step With It and Should I Love Him are really doing it for me! But this whole album is so much better than I was expecting!
Can't wait to download another album and see how I feel about that one. Maybe her newer stuff appeals to me more than her older stuff.

EDIT: That's it! It's official! I love this album! I listened to Pink Key and Baby Don't Cry and those songs did it for me! I love this album, it's great! I can admit when I'm wrong! Go Namie! Gonna go download more stuff. ^_^

Andrenekoi 28th May 2010 08:41 PM

Glad u found something u like about her =)
She is not my favorite, I never listened to an entire album from her, but for real? She is VERY good at what she propose to do... ;)

If u liked play, maybe u should try Queen of Hip-Pop and Style =D

Spoiler:
And ignore Crystal Ageha... she is a sad person with no friends that loves hating Namie for no reason and loves calling people names while claims to be the most polite person alive =) (and don't even worry replying me Ageha, if u still read my posts, cuz I'm not going to reply u anymore)

JackieRos 28th May 2010 10:44 PM

^:laugh

2nd on Queen of Hip Pop

anyways I'm glad you love PLAY
I hate ballads but her ballads in PLAY are amazing I love Should I Love Him?

aisubeki 29th May 2010 02:07 AM

Queen of Hip-Hop, PLAY and Past<Future :heart

Annndddd Style is good too.

I loooove Namie :love

TITANIC 29th May 2010 02:31 AM

PLAY is the best for the starter and followed by PAST<FUTURE and Genius 2000

Calico 29th May 2010 10:17 AM

...oh boy XD

Well, I'm glad you love PLAY! IT's my favorite of hers! But for trying out her other stuff, there's really one main thing to keep in mind: Namie has two pretty distinct movements of her career - Her TK era (S19B - btr) and her hip-pop stuff afterwards. And even then thsoe differ depending on the album.

It's great to appreciate both eras if you like her. My favorite "old" album of hers is Concentration 20. Since you like PLAY I would also suggest downloading BEST FICTION to get a feel of her other "new" era albums. :yes

Yoake 29th May 2010 07:11 PM

Play
Past<Future

I only shoes the two last one because I don't really like what she did before

Mary Weather 30th May 2010 06:34 PM

I love Past<Future ^_^ And now I'm listening to Best Fiction and it's not bad at all ^_^

xLitax 30th May 2010 07:59 PM

Well, I'll just say my favorite albums.

- Concentration 20
- Style
- Queen of HipPop

I'll tell you PLAY is really good, although not one of my favorites.

Pieces_of_SEVEN 30th May 2010 11:53 PM

her most recent three.

Kingdom 13th June 2010 09:12 AM

Style thru Play are her best albums, for me. I don't really like the others.

y_nathz 13th June 2010 09:52 AM

Queen of Hip-Hop
Play
Past<Future

P<F is my favourite by far and BEST FICTION is awesome anyway :D

Rocky Raven 13th June 2010 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha (Post 2370471)
I hate her, too, and most of her fans. The only fans worse are Hikki fans, and a select few major Kuu-stans.
Amuro is a sell-out who's had everything handed to her from the beginning of her career, and I can't respect that. She's also completely, utterly talentless as far as singing goes. Her range is easily one of the tiniest in the entire industry, and she couldn't pull off a proper crescendo to save her life. She can dance, of course, but that won't save you. Not by my books, at least. It also doesn't help that she practically lip syncs all the time, since her backtracks are usually so freaking loud that you can't hear her much at all.

You don't have to like her, just because she's currently 'in'. You also shouldn't try to like her, just because so many people here do. A lot of people here are honestly a little.....I won't say anymore. :innocent


Oh, and one more thing, she did not work hard to get back her popularity. The slight popularity surge she had after her peak was due mostly to the fact that her mother was killed and people felt bad, and also because she "re-invented" herself and started doing what music was now getting more attention in Japan. And the popularity she has now is also mostly due to the fact that she, again, "re-invented" herself to suit what's hot in Japan at this point. (Seriously, Amuro. How many damn times will you "re-invent" yourself? )

Yes, she didn't get her lucky break until SUPER MONKEYS, but that was pretty much right away, all while having no singing talent at all. Very lucky. Really, the only person I can think of who's luckier is Ayu. But at least Ayu has always been true to herself, and she certainly has something special that Amuro does not. Also, SHE works extremely~ hard, and she truly deserves success. But either way.... I don't see why you get so offended about somebody saying an artist is lucky, because in nearly every case of a big star, they were very lucky. That's just how it is. Especially in the Western world, you don't have to work at ALL to get big. And with Namie, that's definitely the case. I don't care if she has dozens of tour dates. All she has to do with those is practice dance moves, since she can't sing worth a ****. And that's nothing, considering she doesn't compose OR write lyrics OR even do TV appearances. So I don't wanna hear how she works so hard, at least not compared to other people in the industry. I respect her as a regular person, for dealing with the death of the person closest to her (something I've also had to deal with), and for being a good mother (it seems she really loves her son, and she gives him plenty of time, despite her career). But I do not respect her as an artist at all. She's pathetic, to say the least.

DEEPLY thanks GOD that Namie never ever has someone like u as a fan, honestly, I read and feel so greatful that all the person I've met along the road who like Ayu n Namie are just so nice <3


---------

Back to the topic

U should try BEST FICTION, cause it included her best songs from STYLE to 2007, and then listen to PAST < FUTURE, even my mom who has a big NO to Japanese singers usually sings along Do Me More lol
Hope u'll find more favourite songs from her ^^

Minttulatte 13th June 2010 04:58 PM

SWEET 19 BLUES, GENIUS 2000 and PAST<FUTURE. <3

Chandrachan 14th June 2010 12:41 AM

Listen to
Style
Queen of Hip-Hop
Play
Past<Future
I believe that these are Namie's best albums :D

Aditmi Krisnasaki ~II~ 14th June 2010 10:07 AM

her last 3 albums and BEST FICTION! :luv2

nanakopy87 14th June 2010 10:59 AM

hmm,as a new/going to be her fans,Best Fiction is the best CD to start with.Since its her BEST compilation cd,means most of her best songs are included .if you don't like it,means its hard for you to love her other songs,IMO.
just my 2 cents.if you insist to try,i'll recommend her old stuffs first.

ImpactBreaker 15th June 2010 03:52 AM

If you want to get to like her, I don't think it's exactly a good thing to just pick 3 albums and listen to them once and have a veredict. I disagree with a few people who said you "shouldn't try to lenjoy her just because she's popular". Of course, you shouldn't be pushging yourself to like everything else other people like, but that can be fun if oyu actually feel like you could try working that out, without forccing yourself. I believe one of the facts you are doing this is because you can't get why people exactly like her music and maybe who knows you might even have some sort of guilty pleasure with her, so you want to find exactly in yourself where can you get that good feeling that her fans do when listening to her music...it happens and can be fun! Well, some things can be an acquired taste. I used not to like Namie as much either, but after doing a bit of self questioning why, I started giving second chances to her and now I enjoy her music. The best example of this happened to me with Mika Nakashima. I coudn't understand how she was popular and why people liked those "boring and annoying" songs. I then picked an album in which I liked only one song, and then started to let it just play. In a couple of days, she started to become one of my favorite japasnese artists. The majority of those songs grew on me, and osme of them became much more pleasurable than the ones I liked better previously. I started to see the diversity in her, and she actually made me get interested into other japanese songs that had other genres other than JPOP. I even started to appreciate jazz, which I didn't previously. Nowadays, I'm thankful that I gave mika second chances because I personally feel I'd have missed a good part of waht japanese music could offer me to enjoy.

My advice is, if you pick an album, listen to that song you enjoy most, and then couple it with a few others you enjoy moderately, but doesn't hate. It's possible that your favorite songs might actually shift, and the one you found so awesome, become a little bland and some other you thought were mediocre can become really enjoyable.

It's like getting to enjoy eating vegetables after you've grown hating them. It happens, and it can be a cool experience :D

Picaflor 7/4 15th June 2010 04:13 AM

everything from queen of hip hop, and on.

Karori 16th June 2010 09:48 PM

If you want to listen to more Namie's stuff, I recommend you the following albums:
Dance Tracks Vol. 1
Genius 2000
Break the Rules
(it seems like I am one of the few people or maybe the only one here who likes her old stuff :laugh)

Chiharo 7th July 2010 05:08 PM

I know this thread is a bit old, but I'll reply anyway.

This is for people who wonder how to fall in love with an artist's whole discography;

You can love all of Namie's albums if you have A LOT of patience and time. This goes with every artist. Just take one album at a time, I've read you like PLAY a lot, so if there are any songs you still don't like on that album, listen to them again and again and try to find something good about them. If you still cannot seem to like all of the songs from the said album (which I think shouldn't be a problem, because all the songs on PLAY are awesome and likeable), move on to another album, preferably newer, PAST < FUTURE. Listen to it the same way you listened to PLAY, but if you don't like a song for first couple of listens, don't give up on it just yet! I can guarantee you'll be more fond of it after listening to it MORE. I know it sounds incredibly annoying to repeatedly listen to the song you hate, but at the end you will be so happy for finding out how actually awesome that song is. I believe everyone can do this with any song they dislike. I think if you already like a few songs by her, you can ADORE her whole discography too, and that's really amazing, if you want that to happen. And it's not for the sake of "loving all of her songs and being no.1 fan of her because she's popular" or something, it's because of the great enjoyment you'll discover in every and each of her songs. I'm not lying, I love ALL of Amuro's songs to date. Even ones with SUPER MONEKY'S. And it took me a lot of time for that to happen. I didn't force myself in any way, I just started from her newer albums - to her older albums. I was able to love all of songs by listening to a certain album lots of times. They just naturally grow on you. And honestly, Amuro has such amazing music and I'm glad I've discovered it and didn't give up on her.

I remember I had the hardest time trying to get into GENIUS 2000, and even if I still consider it her worst album, it is incredibly amazing! I love all of the songs now (and I remember thinking "gosh, I'll never like this ******", boy I was wrong). I also ADORE SWEET 19 BLUES and consider it among her best albums ever, and guess what? I used to LOATHE and despise the kind of genre this album is full of! It is just amazing when you can actually think more open mindedly and fall in love with something you hated.

The same goes for Ayu, I like all of her songs because of the chances I gave all her songs. I simply choose to try to like more Ayu and Namie's songs because in general they seem to have amazing songs. And why not discover and like more?

If you've only liked Namie's hip-pop stuff, and tried her older albums and think they are junk and you'll never be able to love them, think again.

Just go from PAST < FUTURE to PLAY, Queen of Hip-Pop, STYLE, break the rules, GENIUS 2000, Concentration 20, SWEET 19 BLUES and then maybe the more older stuff. Just listen to the albums more than once, for God's sake! It will be worth it, I promise! :)

I was speaking kind of generally for people who think can't get into certain albums or songs at all.

tanachu 14th July 2010 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiharo (Post 2417050)
I know this thread is a bit old, but I'll reply anyway.

This is for people who wonder how to fall in love with an artist's whole discography;

You can love all of Namie's albums if you have A LOT of patience and time. This goes with every artist. Just take one album at a time, I've read you like PLAY a lot, so if there are any songs you still don't like on that album, listen to them again and again and try to find something good about them. If you still cannot seem to like all of the songs from the said album (which I think shouldn't be a problem, because all the songs on PLAY are awesome and likeable), move on to another album, preferably newer, PAST < FUTURE. Listen to it the same way you listened to PLAY, but if you don't like a song for first couple of listens, don't give up on it just yet! I can guarantee you'll be more fond of it after listening to it MORE. I know it sounds incredibly annoying to repeatedly listen to the song you hate, but at the end you will be so happy for finding out how actually awesome that song is. I believe everyone can do this with any song they dislike. I think if you already like a few songs by her, you can ADORE her whole discography too, and that's really amazing, if you want that to happen. And it's not for the sake of "loving all of her songs and being no.1 fan of her because she's popular" or something, it's because of the great enjoyment you'll discover in every and each of her songs. I'm not lying, I love ALL of Amuro's songs to date. Even ones with SUPER MONEKY'S. And it took me a lot of time for that to happen. I didn't force myself in any way, I just started from her newer albums - to her older albums. I was able to love all of songs by listening to a certain album lots of times. They just naturally grow on you. And honestly, Amuro has such amazing music and I'm glad I've discovered it and didn't give up on her.

I remember I had the hardest time trying to get into GENIUS 2000, and even if I still consider it her worst album, it is incredibly amazing! I love all of the songs now (and I remember thinking "gosh, I'll never like this ******", boy I was wrong). I also ADORE SWEET 19 BLUES and consider it among her best albums ever, and guess what? I used to LOATHE and despise the kind of genre this album is full of! It is just amazing when you can actually think more open mindedly and fall in love with something you hated.

The same goes for Ayu, I like all of her songs because of the chances I gave all her songs. I simply choose to try to like more Ayu and Namie's songs because in general they seem to have amazing songs. And why not discover and like more?

If you've only liked Namie's hip-pop stuff, and tried her older albums and think they are junk and you'll never be able to love them, think again.

Just go from PAST < FUTURE to PLAY, Queen of Hip-Pop, STYLE, break the rules, GENIUS 2000, Concentration 20, SWEET 19 BLUES and then maybe the more older stuff. Just listen to the albums more than once, for God's sake! It will be worth it, I promise! :)

I was speaking kind of generally for people who think can't get into certain albums or songs at all.

I love this post! :luv2 Well-put!

Kanzaki 14th July 2010 09:20 AM

I...hate her too. I think her melodies are annoying and her voice too. I myself tried desperatly to like her music, but I just can't. When I heard "Body feels exit", I wanted to kill her for slaughtering the english language, and not even making a decent song out of it.

Don't try to like her if you don't, you shouldn't waste your time. Listen to some other artists instead.

toniayu 14th July 2010 11:17 AM

play

Lady~Deviance 14th July 2010 09:56 PM

I'm glad you were able to find some of her music enjoyable. I was also in your shoes not too long ago. I refused to accept Namie as an artist but that changed once she released WILD/Dr. I think her Past<Future album is amazing and now I'm a fan. Prior to that I felt her foray into the R&B genre was generic and laughable. I was immersed and grew up in the African-American R&B/Hip-Hop community. Therefore I was highly critical and disregarded her as an legitimate artist for years. I no longer bare those strong feelings.

But who cares right? I think her current works are amazing and once again, I'm glad you and others on this forum have come to accept her music. Cheers!

tsuki 15th July 2010 08:35 PM

style, queen and play.

I srsly lol'ed when I read some of these comments.. ;p
if you don't like her and what she does, why bother listen to her?

I've always liked amuro and some of her songs is very catchy... plus she's nice to look at and she doesn't act SUUuUPA-CuuUTe (fishmouth, ballon-cheeks etc etc) like some of your other idols...

koumori 24th May 2011 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha (Post 2370471)
I hate her, too, and most of her fans. The only fans worse are Hikki fans, and a select few major Kuu-stans.
Amuro is a sell-out who's had everything handed to her from the beginning of her career, and I can't respect that. She's also completely, utterly talentless as far as singing goes.

She's had to go through the murder of her mother, a pregnancy, a break-up and being a single mother, and STILL fights back even after all the bad press in the early 2000's. Oh yeah, she's had EVERYTHING handed to her :rolleyes Listen up, the music industry - especially the asian one - is ruthless. If she hadn't fought tooth and nail, she wouldn't even be known.

My favourite albums from Namie are Queen of Hip-Pop, PLAY, PAST<FUTURE and Checkmate! .

Kana×Shin 24th May 2011 05:01 AM

1. Past<Future
2. PLAY
3. Queen of Hip-Hop

try from older albums:
1. STYLE
2. break the rules
3. GENIUS 2000
:yes

terra 25th May 2011 07:01 AM

The last three albums

Not Fade Away 28th May 2011 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koumori (Post 2691467)


She's had to go through the murder of her mother, a pregnancy, a break-up and being a single mother, and STILL fights back even after all the bad press in the early 2000's. Oh yeah, she's had EVERYTHING handed to her :rolleyes Listen up, the music industry - especially the asian one - is ruthless. If she hadn't fought tooth and nail, she wouldn't even be known.

My favourite albums from Namie are Queen of Hip-Pop, PLAY, PAST<FUTURE and Checkmate! .

Couldn't have said it better myself :yes

She also had to fight to get people to love her new Genre. I know that sounds weird but, when she first tried 'Hip Pop' no one really bought her albums. It wasn't until 'Play' that people started listening to her again. Say what you want about her, but I think it's really admirable what she's managed to do with her career.

I think it's hilarious that people are mostly voting for her recent albums. Where's the love for her early works? haha

I know her voice is a bit....different, but it's still amazing material!

My top 3 would probably be:

(1)Past < Future
(2)Sweet 19 Blues
(3)181920

kayokyokufan 29th May 2011 07:01 AM

I'm sentimental toward Genius 2000 because that was when I started listening to her. I have to admit though that Namie doesn't have the best voice. She's not a powerhouse, but she has a nice voice. If you listen to her earlier work, then you can really hear the evolution of her singing ability and also her style. I think that if you start off with the earlier music then you'll definitely hear her voice improve as you move forward.

kumiko.koda 6th June 2011 08:00 AM

Queen of Hip-Hop
Play
Past<Future

Chibi-Chan 1st July 2011 06:13 PM

Break the Rules
Play
Past<Future

Earth_maiden 2nd July 2011 04:43 PM

Past<Future

wildconnetta 26th October 2011 10:19 AM

Listen to Queen of Hip-Pop, PLAY and PAST < FUTURE. Best three albums.

Best specific songs are LOVE GAME, COPY THAT, FAST CAR, WILD, Dr. (PAST < FUTURE) Hide & Seek, Full Moon, Top Secret, Pink Key (PLAY), WoWa, No, Want Me Want Me (Queen of Hip-Pop), Body Feels EXIT, Don't wanna cry, You're my sunshine (SWEET 19 BLUES), Storm, a walk in the park, How to be a girl (Concentration 20), Break It, Naked, Fight Together, toi et moi (non-album tracks) and Do Me More (BEST FICTION).

Yeah, I like Namie.

bondingo 31st October 2011 09:17 AM

No one needs help to like Namie; it's easy enough to already :P

But my three favorites are STYLE, break the rules, and PLAY.

lfe. 1st November 2011 09:47 AM

Play, it was a great album with songs like Hide & Seek, Top Secret, Hello, Violet Sauce, and especially Baby Dont Cry.

Past<Future, I loved that this was an electro influenced album, favorite song is Defend Love. It was like the sleeper hit of the album since songs like WILD/Dr/LOVE GAME took most of the spotlight.

Best Fiction, it isn't on the list nor it should be since its a compilation album, but its album singles 60s70s80s (especially WHAT A FEELING), Sexy Girl, and ESPECIALLY Do Me More were so good it makes Best Fiction deserve recognition as a studio album.

CherryMoon 1st November 2011 03:09 PM

I cant ignore what Crystal_Ageha said about Namie. I know I am late but this is the first time i see this thread..

Its okay u hate Namie and her works but you are stating things which are obviously not facts and u sounded as if you know Namie so well and seen personally how hard namie works or not.
its rare but shes has written songs before(say the word, I will and the upcoming love story) u said she's a disgrace but u could list a pretty large couple of songs that are worth listening. The way u said that she "re-invents" sounded so bad, i think its perfectly fine since namie's songs is not about herself, she is staying relevant and re-invent so that more people can enjoy her music. just my 2 cents worth.

On topic, since you love Namie's recent works, u should listening to her oldies when she sings them live. i am not a big fan of her voice when she debuted so i didnt enjoy can u celebrate? that much, but when i heard it live during her Play tour, it sounded soo much better.

Delicious n Bold 12th February 2013 01:23 PM

Listen to past>future and uncontrolled
If that don't work... Then it wasn't meant to be.

Surreal17 12th February 2013 01:30 PM

I used to dislike a lot Namie Amuro,I didn't find anything special about her but little by little I began to care about her and her music.She is a little bit generic and her voice isn't the best in the world but she has her unique signature.I recommend the album PLAY and also old songs like Never End,Sweet 19 Blues.However,I have yet to listen to three or four of her albums..

~.:*:.YaSuMi.:*:.~ 20th June 2013 05:08 AM

There was a time I used to dislike Namie a lot... and see me now, she's my second favorite artist after Ayu (sometimes she gets the first place and Ayu the second :P)

The reason I didn't like her was because of her R&B era. Genius 2000 was one of the first albums I heard from her and that one IS NOT the best album to get into Namie`s world... it just sucks. XD
I used to think her songs were so boring and her voice didn`t really impress me.

Then when I listened to Style and Queen of Hip Pop, at first I didn`t think it was a big deal, since I`m not a huge Hip-hop music fan. But the music grew in me... after that I was in love with her.

Specially now.. I totally love her music now: it`s so full of energy, she mixes hip-hop with pop and electronic and I think she is very experienced now and talented (she always has been talented). The problem is that in the past she used to release boring songs and albums *cough cough Genius 2000* and I think maybe it`s because I think she doesn`t write her own songs. She is a very versatile singer and reinvents herself a lot just like Ayu.

chikocchi 21st June 2013 02:57 PM

Queen of Hip-Pop
PLAY
Past < Future

Uncontrolled


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