Ayu ~Anything Goes~ XV (AHS' Ayumi Hamasaki General Discussion Thread)
 

New thread since the last one reached 500 posts (exactly before I announced it on the previous thread!).

I've also decided to call Ayu ~Anything Goes~ threads "AHS' Ayumi Hamasaki General Discussion Thread" since it's pretty obvious we're chit-chatting with just about anything Ayu here, new or old.

Although I just heard Ayu got another haircut... It seems ironic whenever Sayuri Sugawara (one of my favorite J-pop artists today, as THE SxPLAY today) gets a haircut recently (evidence Sayuri gets a haircut), shortly after Ayu gets a haircut as well... (>_<)

I like her bob, but I would love to see the return of blonde Ayu. It feels like she's been brunette forever (by her standards).

I like new haircut, it's more girl-next-door and not diva
can't wait to see it on MSta

Wait, there are HQ downloads of CM versions of blossom and Sparkle floating around??

I have blossom. It's just cut from the song

Sparkle's CM version was a chaku-uta. I think I have it.

I was just wondering... Can someone list all the Ayu songs that have a special little dance? I know the Trauma chorus dance, and I also noticed there was one for MY ALL and independent when I attended the concert. So, I would kinda like to know what dances I'd have to learn for her concerts because I was so confused XD

You mean dances that include the audience itself yeah? RED LINE ~for TA~ and Sweet season has a chorus dance too. Sparkle has that no no no arm gesture, Fly high has a little dance too. Not sure if AUDIENCE counts, but there's that clapping thing. evolution has that punch in the air during the wow yeahs. Ayu also seem to always include the audience during the July 1st chorus with the swinging. Humming 7/4 during the Everybody GO! Everybody JUMP! parts. Towel swinging in Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~. Not sure if I'm missing out on anymore.

^ You forgot UNITE! independent has a dance as well.

Fly high as well. At the end of Boys & Girls has the hands moving up and down too.

I am reading an article on otakuology, and this portion on the importance of criticism really stood out to me. I found it a very fitting commentary on the state of fandoms in general, especially here on AHS.

^You may be reading a different forum... Over here she is considered superficial if her english isn't perfect and trashed if her t-shirts are too simple...

Yeah, I don't really see much blind praise here... if anything, it's more often dissatisfaction with the directions she goes in.

I think other artists get more praise than Ayu here. Sadly.

I guess it's not so much the case today as it was 2, or even 1 year ago.

I think most artists get waaaaaaaaaa~~~~~~y to much credit for every bullshit they put out. The first time I REALLY hated an Ayu release was A ONE. I get why she released it, because it's the same bullshit most jpop artists release and what the public likes and actually the public and even AHS liked it. But it's a shitty release non the less. It's so bad I would be ashamed to show it to any true music lover who takes the time to REALLY listen to a song and who not just searches for popular tunes. I don't like her social media character anymore, I think it's superficial as fuck. But I always appreciated her tours and album releases. The first time I really criticized an album was LOVE again because as an album it was boring as hell. But despite the production of the songs a lot of the arrangements were pretty creative compared to most jpop. I still really like to listen to the songs seperately. But A ONE is bullshit. It's arrangements are shit, the production is shit, mostly everything is shit. God I'm still so disappointed. That never happened before. I always saw Ayu as more than just a performer. I still see her as an artist and I would love to discuss more deep stuff at AHS about her like analyzing performances/lyrics etc. but sadly most people are just interested in discussing how sexy and young she looks.
I don't know. But often I feel that's also a reason why I'm so harsh on her lately. No one takes the time to appreciate her artistry and everyone is superficial as fuck about her. Only thing that matters is how she looks. I feel as if the only thing people comment about her are her looks. So there isn't much more left to comment than her celibrity life for me.
I don't know, Namie, Kuu, Ayu... everyone released shitty releases that had no musical value to them for 90% of their albums and people still celebrate those releases and mostly talk about how beautiful and sexy they look.
And if you haven't noticed until now, yes I'm bitter about the current state of jpop. lol

Many Classic Moments is A M A Z I N G.

I hope she does a concept album of stuff like this.

Personally I am excited for her next album. No idea wtf it's gonna be like.

There's something really special about this song. You can feel her anxiety and nerves building up as the song climaxes. ASFXX really captured the sound of fragility and innocence really well.

I enjoy this version too for the maturity in her voice

At first I thought that Many Classic Moments is boring but I have to admit that after a few listens I changed my mind. Of topic : I also really loved HYDEs version of DEPARTURES and hitomi's Anytime Smokin' Cigarette from GLOBE's cover album.
And with every spring coming I am totaly enjoying ASFXX album in it's entirety. I know it was released in winter but i am totaly connecting it with spring and I can't explain why:-)

Her voice was so good in 2009!

I don't know what happened because 2008 was sooo sooo unbelievably bad (the AT08 vocals and Together When lives...*shudder*) but she suddenly improved so much after CDL08-09.

I don't think she had a release that was mostly loved around here since Secret...

I think 90% loved Love Songs but of course there was the whole "too much TK" thing for some people. 2010 was pretty great really and happy times for AHS until the whole Mannie thing became evident in early 2011..

And Party Queen cover and album , mini albums that were singles , then songs from mini albums being released again on full studio album, the word LOVE used XYZ times...
My, those times were chock-full of drama... glad that was over(?)

The "if you don't like it, LEAVE!" type of comments and argument has been around for aeons. I know because I was dicked by it many times.

I think people for the most part LOVED Love songs and even FIVE, but since then it has been hits or misses. Most recently, "hits", but only after things like Mannie, LOVE again and Maro.

sixxxxxx and A ONE were relatively liked, without too many detractors imo.

Yeah, I feel like last year we came out of that dark period of being an Ayu fan...with two albums and Ayu seemingly suddenly interested in her career again. The only thing bad thing for me was her obsession with pushing MOWY.

I think there was a little too much 'drama' after 2010/2011 and we only really got out of it after 2014.

I personally ADORE Colours still as an experimental album.

That cover song was something that I was also obsessed with when it was released and I still love it very much but I can see that she kind of oversaturised us with sheer number of perfomances of that song. The only thing that I do mind is that whenever she performed it live she was singing it in cutesy voice and really there is nothing cute in those lyrics:shakehead

I think she overdid it for sure, but I think it is out of her system at this time.

(A COVERS tho pls)

A COVERS would be an interesting release and I could be mistaken but she has a number of songs already done that are scattered on already released singles and albums.
That Haruyo Koi live version is good but it really needs a studio version with instruments and everything

Mannn, tell us how you really feel! :roflmao

I think in general, I feel more open about her music. Instead of simply accepting it and liking it because it's hers, I at least try and form my own opinion and understand what could be better, etc. I don't pressure myself to love her music anymore, but I don't pressure myself to dislike it either.

Because her music has been kind of not super great for a while, I comment on her appearance more because I think she looks great these days, so mature and refined, but her musical releases have been so-so to me. They could be miles better.

I agree that A ONE has terrible production, which sucks for me because I like the ideas for the songs... I just think they could've been done so much better.

Every time I try to push the conversation in the direction of what she is doing, how is she doing and why she is doing people over here imply (when I'm not openly say) I'm fanatic and biased, even when I myself don't really like the release and am just trying to understand were it came from. Even by you, btw, so I find this post of yours really funny :P

I think it's pretty clear that Ayu has been in a slump as far as "unique" live performances go since 2010ish. I really liked Rock'n'Roll Circus and POWER of MUSIC, but since then it has seemed as though everything has been a bit of a retread of something from AT05 or AT06 or AT07 where she sort of made the "baseline" for lives since then.

I'd like her to try to push herself out of trying to infuse "Vegas" showmanship into things and go a different direction for performances while still utilizing the dancers and such.

AT12 was interesting, except thing that it was tour with drag queen Timmy and I can't stand it

I like Timmy, but I think sometimes his outfits (that Ayu wants him to wear, I know) are WAY too distracting.

I know he is very nice guy and I have nothing against him and his talent
I just hate octopus, huge heart and other shit that he wears. That's so embarrassing!!

:yes he should burn his outfits

Oh man, I completely agree with you on this one. I love POWER of MUSIC and I wish she would try something similar again (maybe with less fake looking lips but that's the only thing I complain about :P). I love the costumes, the songs, most of the "new" arrangements of the songs. Someone here said that her vocals were terrible during PoM and that her voice was drowned out by the orchestra but I still like the overall concept of it. I'd also like her to stay away a bit from those "Vegas show" like performances.


Lol, I love Timmy but yes, his outfits are the worst :rolleyes Though I still think that we have to blame Ayu at least partly for them.

Like I wrote, I get why she released A ONE, but it's a bad release nonetheless. I don't think there is much to discuss there.^^
What I meant by analyzing was something like the threads you made a while back about discussing themes, PVs, lyrics etc. of her albums. I really appreciated those threads but sadly they died very quick.

I loved A ONE, but it has quite a lot of "bland" J-Poppy tracks. However, there was a bit of a concept going into it and you can't say she didn't follow through.

Imo the only truly bland track on A ONE was The GIFT. And maaaybe Zutto... I love A ONE and I still listen to most of the songs even now, I didn't get tired of them even a little bit. So, I don't think it was a bad release at all.

Ayu is a popstar and she follows market trends as much as any other popstar in the world... This works for any of her albumw, including A One.

it's funny how most of fans don't like The GIFT while Ayu adore it so much

Ayu usually says she likes any new release and she probably couldn't even say The Gift is mediocre even if she believed that and wanted to say so. She released the track because she likes it. Of course she'll "adore" it :)
I think the classical version of the gift is beautiful, but the regular one doesn't do it for me.

As for A ONE, I have a few tracks I love, that stand out to me because of the lyrics or arrangement but as a whole it's pretty standard; nothing super special. I still like it though. To me it's a good album :)

The Garbage is crap and JJ Lin should reflect.

I want to hear what else was on that demo tape from Alvin or w/e.

Ugh, I LOVE A ONE and Sixxxxxx.
As others have mentioned though, the production on them isn't great (particularly for Last minute and Sorrows), but for me personally, they are the albums that should have come after Rock 'n' Roll Circus. Seriously, Love songs - Colours was a mess in terms of production also. Love songs and Party Queen really hit hard for me, because if she had just put more time into their production, they could have been fantastic albums. Both sound terribly...cheap? dated before their time?, unlike Duty which still sounds perfect af. :shrug I think A ONE will age better than the releases from that period (2010-2014).

Speaking of Zutto..., Zutto... is a bit like Melody for me, considered the weakest songs on their respective singles, but I love them dearly.

All of LOVE was super strong IMO. Melody takes time to grow, however, but once it does, mmm...

I thought Love songs was produced just fine, but Party Queen is where mixing and such became issues. FIVE was fine IMO as well.

I don't have that many issues with A ONE as it is. It's a solid album although I could probably live without Anything for You since that song is a knockoff of Walk and Story because I really need to be in a mood for it.
Love songs is perfect. Love songs "dated" sound is purposely like that and it captures a nice 90' nostalgia.

I liked the dated aspects of Love songs' sound, I just think every song on it is like.... someone else already did this in the past, and they did it BETTER. Like "sending mail" to me sounds like "Get it on now" by globe meets "Mirrorcle World," but without committing. "Like a doll" is a song with the same lyrical concept as "Marionette" but with no dynamism (and the keyboards sound very sleepily/lazily played).

I like the melodies on that album more and more over time, but EVERY track on the album aside from "Last angel" and "Love songs" needs some kind of new mix or a replaced instrument or two. "November" is good as it is also, but that one just isn't to my taste as much as the rest of the album frustratingly COULD be if it were just.... I mean it just needed another couple of weeks, a few test listens from outside parties, you know?

I had the exact same impression and it's totally legitimate. That's exactly how it sounds. But I (relatively quickly) just came to accept the tracks as they were. I think they are all gradual builders, and you really only get a taste of some sort of climax for a very brief moment, usually toward the end, in each track. We're used to the first chorus just exploding and setting the pace for the entire track; which is what I usually expect, and prefer. After that first chorus, the enjoyment of the song comes from the fact that you know it will come back again, knowing what to expect, and the verses tease you leading up to it's reintroduction. However, the entire LS tracks themselves lead up to one monumental moment, and then it's done; so you have to sit through 5 minutes of a tease for that kind of redemption and release, and along the way you feel the refrains are just masquerading as choruses. But it's also something that's very unique about this album, and I think it works because now she has released stuff that's just dry all-around. It's like in Love songs, the tracks were purposely made to feel that way so that when that short climax came at the end it was more of a relief than anything; where as in tracks she's released since, the first chorus sucks and there isn't even hope that a better climax awaits later into the song.

No Future, Anything for you and TSMGO are just like that. TK is good at building up <3

The Show Must Go On still gives me goosebumps.

I disagree. The show must go on kicks in right after the introduction. No future's first chorus is also all-out. You don't feel a sense that anything is missing when they both go off for the very first time. Anything for you's initial chorus is also very heavy. These songs do have slight changes at the end, but it's not at the expense of the versions of the choruses that proceed them holding back.

^^ My dream is to experience it live

All I know is that I think The GIFT is a wonderful song. I love her voice, the piano, the build up and the soothing ending. I think it's miles better than most of the songs on A ONE. Story, Walk, and Out of Control are the only other songs I like just as they are from that album, though I think Last Minute was a great idea but not executed well. I love her voice in it but the song sounds terrible quality-wise, a huge shame considering what it could've been.

Personally, I think Sorrows suffered the most from production issues of the tracks that "could've". Last minute is pretty great by comparison.

You know, I think Ayu needs to really bring some compositions to us... I know we may be overexcited at the prospect, but I personally have loved just about every CREA composition so what's the harm in letting us have another album of CREA?

Walk, guys. That's an amazing example of building up in a song. The way the instrumental goes off in the end and the way she sings "ikiteruyooo" ALWAYS give me chilla

I prefer the gift to how beautiful you are, that's for sure.

I always forget the melody to Walk :-/ not because I don't like it, it's just not something that sticks out to me. I remember I initially thought I'd listen to it the most of the three songs on the single, but i listen to Last minute far more. Zutto...is the dullest though. Bland and generic.

YES 100%

Free & Easy's build up I think might be my favourite from Ayu's discography overall. The emotion! :heart

Hm... for me, how beautiful you are is a m a z e. I love the refrain especially.

YOU DON'T KNOW!?@?!

YOU DON'T KNOWWWWW-WW!?

hbya is almost certainly amongst my top 5 worst ayu tracks ever recorded. It's embarrassing to me.

Been listening to the old songs randomly, from poker face until stuffs like EnergizE, I'm surprised that it's still so much fun to listen to.

IMO she doesn't really have a list like that. how beautiful you are fills a niche she hadn't done yet. I just love that cheese!

that (breath) "you don't know, you don't know" was stuck in my head
and was very annoying because I didn't like this song at all after release.

but now I find it pretty nice. maybe after some lives

The lives are my favorite versions of how beautiful you are. It isn't really as good in the studio track IMO.

live versions are more emotional and I like much more
I don't have ear for music, so I can't pay attention to mistakes or something else that annoy other people

I think Party Queen is the "deepest" album in her career, but a lot of people refused to see the meaning behind it because of the trashy look. They want something aesthetically pleasing. Kinda shows human nature imo ^^

And some say it wasn't executed well, because it had to be spoon-fed to fans for them to understand it. But I personally think that this is because many people jumped to conslusion before receiving the final product. So maybe it's we that are a little shallow because we focus on the first impression and refuse to see the deeper meaning behind it, and we want to judge others by their looks and their clothes (or lack thereof) :)

So, basically, a lot of the fans need Ayu's albums to be aesthetically pleasing and to have a concept, which is obvious to see and you don't need to think too much about it to notice this concept, but imo it actually makes it "falsely" deep.

I'm not blaming anyone however, it's perfectly fine to prefer a good-looking product. We all listen to Ayu and music in general for different reasons.

I personally don't like Party Queen that much, I barely listen to it these days (apart from a couple of songs). The main reason is probably her vocals. So I'm not just praising Ayu blindly, but I still appreciate the album and see where she was coming from and what she was trying to convey.

I'm sorry for the long post, it probably doesn't even make any sense haha I need to get more sleep... But yeah, it was a follow-up to the discussion in the A BEST thread, I decided to post it here because it's off-topic.

I think Party Queen could have been executed way better. I could tell it was all "conceptual" but it went over a lot of people's heads.

I believe the amount of discussion it generates even today alone shows how well executed it was. It was made to be a lasting and polarizing experience, and this is exactly what it is.

As far as art goes, this is the closest Ayu ever got on a album... She does have songs that are pieces of art, but the albums are firmly on the pop area.

Exactly. Ayu isn't a painter. Of course she is a lyricist, but I've always placed composition and arrangement above lyrical content, because music in itself is a more powerful language than words. So, even if the visual is on point, even if the lyrics are the best anyone has ever written in the world, if the music itself doesn't sound complete, or is just not enjoyable when you remove the external elements, then I won't like it. It doesn't matter if the frosting on a cake is delicious and the presentation looks amazing when the cake itself works against the palette. Every song I enjoy by Ayu I would enjoy just as much if she didn't sing a single word and just belted out the melody with la las and lai lais.

Music and SOUND above all else. That's my basis for critique.

my favorite build up is in Mirrorcle/Mirror <3

Yup, it's in my Top 5 too! Along with Curtain Call. Although I'm not sure I could fill a Top 5 Worst Songs...

Couldn't agree more! I've always felt this way as I don't tend to pay attention to lyrics a lot of the time (which means I'm crap at singing along at concerts lol)

Oh my god, I just finished listening to this and I agree wholeheartedly!
Free & Easy is just so ....rich musically, for lack of a better explanation. I love it.

Forgiveness builds beautifully too.

Thank God that the HBYA hate train is here, I detest that song. AHS can have questionable taste, but this song is just so... inherently bad. It grates, it just does. Even the video... and by that I mean, if you had Ayu cut out of the video it'd be alot more powerful. The imagery about love without boundaries is broken when I see the Gyaru queen from hell making the extras run from her oversize lips .__.

I'll hop on the bandwagon -- HBYA is one of my least favorite Ayu songs. I have a few others that most people would not agree with probably, but that song is just...bad. The video is just...bad. It feels like a D-list version of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" done years too late.

I also LOVE Free & Easy and its build-up. That said, as a song it is structurally almost identical to M, which I love much more. It's really just the "No Amen" introduction that really differentiates the song, and does an amazing job at setting the tone.

I'm not a big fan of the Party Queen album as a whole, but HBYA is one of the few songs I can stomach. Interesting so many people hate it.

I think it came at a bit of a bad time and also rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with the video. It's also something that's pretty outside the usual Ayu sound IMO.

You could tell that she was probably going through some major internal crises at the time through the music and overall nature of what she was doing in her career, and I don't think anyone (even Ayu) realized it until quite some time after the fact.

Wow, I don't remember seeing so much hate for hbya during the PQ release... Like, sure some people thought it was bland and maybe a couple hated it, but I don't think it was so universally loathed

I actually don't remember it either. Unlike most albums like NEXT LEVEL, Party Queen seems to have gotten a bit of a strange evolution in public opinion, not going from "we don't like it" to "we kinda like it"/"I get what she was doing".

I wonder if it's linked to the fact that things were kind of uncomfortable in that era and for the most part, a very small handful of people "got" or tolerated what was going on.

Yeah for me HBYA is just kinda bleurgh for lack of a better word! It's a cringe worthy ballad in the vein of Christina's Beautiful which is the kind of song I dislike.

In other news I notice Miccie is releasing a mini-album and a song called End Roll is featured. Is it a cover? I hope so as I loved his live version of it!

How funny that a song about not knowing how beautiful you are generates so much ugliness.

Oh, I get that, it's just a little funny to me that it generates what it does when people hear it.

Like "kyou mo ichinichi..." starts and then blood just boils. Then then "YOU DON'T KNOW YOU DON'T KNOW" kicks in and the song is just deleted at that point.

I was looking at the Heartplace lyrics and the translation from Divine Ayu says "Maybe I keep on fighting against freedom". But doesn't "kitto" mean "surely"?

Also, I found some other translation that says "Surely the fight for freedom will continue"

But then misa-chan's translation also says "Surely, this fight with freedom will continue on".

So now I'm curious. Which one is Ayu actually talking about: fight for freedom or against it?

They should probably add that masa takes some liberties with his translation, so it's not going to be 100%, but he is also a native Japanese speaker who has an interesting way of dealing with her lyrics.

Looking at the kana:

きっと自由との戦いは続いてくんだろう
Kitto jiyū to no tatakai wa tsudzuitekundarou

Literally, I think it means..

Surely (kitto)
alongside/with freedom (jiyu to no)
fight will (tatakai wa)
continue on (tsudzuitekundarou)

Judging from the context, to me, it seems like "freedom" is something that you look for but once you have it, it's a bit of a struggle despite having "complete freedom", so the fight continues on. I don't think it was intended to read as her fighting against freedom as in "not wanting independence" but the difficulties of dealing with it after you get it. I kinda hoped the beatfreak liner notes would elaborate more about this song but instead we just got some stories about her recording it.

Perhaps a magazine from that era talks more about Heartplace.

Ayu would never fight against freedom. One of the main motifs of her lyrics is freedom/independence.

She herself once said freedom requires responsability... I think she means being on control and being free means you must make your life work totally by yourself, and this by itself is a struggle.

The song seems to progress like...

During the search for freedom we have hurt others
- - >
I've obtained the freedom I was looking for
- - >
I can do anything I want
- - >
But that freedom isn't what I hoped it was at all
- - >
So the fight/internal struggle continues on

Seems like thoughts to me that you would only ever think about in your "heartplace".

Way to be passive aggressive

Well, it's pretty direct. I don't think I'm being passive aggressive at all since it's pretty accurate, is it not? A song that (I know it's not the reason why) for the most part tells you that you are more beautiful than you give yourself credit for creating such negative emotions in people. I'm not trying to single anyone out or be unnecessarily aggressive, but it's just an observation after seeing so many people jump on that train.

Ayu thinks we are all beautiful even when we bash her.

One of her best traits and worst traits simultaneously IMO.

Are they pointing fingers at me again?
Have they not forgiven me yet?
Are you crying as you see me like this?
Even if I look ridiculous
Even if they laugh at me
I won’t give up again, just for you

I adore your beauty so much it brings me sorrow

:laugh

I understand the dislike for the song, but I love it when it's live. The arrangement in the HOTEL Love songs AT was great. And it was really touching when I saw it live in a-nation Singapore too.

'I want you all, to proud of yourself.'

Haha - you have a point there!

I think HBYA would get less hate if the 'you don't know....' part weren't in English? There's definitely an overabundance of slightly cheesy one-too-many to be taken seriously 'you don't know how amazing you are! Here I am telling you!' songs in English. And the English part of HYBA is just a bit too cookie cutter in that sense. Combined with the cheesiness of the arrangement, it just becomes a little bit awkward. The sentiment is nice, but the packaging is frustrating. Without the English, I think the attitude would be more 'aaaaw, that's sweet', instead of 'oh god HBYA is really bad', or maybe even if the English part was something more unique people would be more accepting of the song? I think that's a shame too, because the lyrics to me are far more than just the 'you don't know how beautiful you are' fare, it's about being that way and still finding a way to encourage others too. Ayu can see this person, and is encouraged in turn too, and finding worth too.

It doesn't help that Ayu is being so sincere in the song too, you know she really really feels that way! It's nice, but adding a huge does of sentimentality to the above mix and it can just topple over into far far too sweet to handle. It is quite nice when you think about it, but that doesn't mean I can handle listening to the song without cringing a little.

That's be best interpretation of the song that I've ever read :P

It's because it's a bad song, plain and simple. But what you're doing is generalizing that others hate it for X reason in order to make a snappy one liner. People just don't like the song, be it the melody or cheesy English, or the way her voice sounds, or for whatever other reason. THAT is not bandwagoning, it's just a shared sentiment.

My point is that people are NEGATIVE about a song that preaches POSITIVITY. It isn't that hard to understand. That is why the line came out.

You may not like that song but there is no reason to take offense at a jab at the truth, or rather the reality of a situation. It is what it is. Let it be. And IMO it isn't so cut and dry that hbya is so 'bad' even though it does amp the cheese levels to 99. Personally, I think the song is super charming but she definitely doesn't need another one. But songs like call or Letter? MORE PLEAAAASE. Her discog only really has room for one how beautiful you are with the English and the video and the refrain... since then we have had some SLIGHTLY similar all Japanese tracks though.

Thank you again for today
Your smile saved me

Thank you again for today
Just stay there as you are

The Show Must Go on is amazing and doesn't deserve to be torn down by comparisons to Snowy Kiss.