Ayu ~Anything Goes~ XVIII
 

Another round of Anything Goes here!

Personally my fave happy song is ANGEL'S SONG.

Next Level was the last album of hers I truly, completely loved and enjoyed.

I'd say BLUE BIRD is my favorite happy song. :yes It released right around the time I got engaged (on the beach!), so it brings back happy memories.

My favorite happy songs:
-Depend on you
-glitter
-Beautiful day
-TODAY
-EnergizE
-Greatful days
-Winding road (I think this is seriously one of my most favorite songs ever)
-NEXT LEVEL
-Audience <3

I always get Winding Road mixed with Walking Proud. Not when the songs actually play, of course, they're so different sounding, but when I'm looking through my discography and want to listen to one, I always click the other.

Today I listening the JT CM mix of immature and I'M IN LOVE with the bit from 3:07 to 3:22. It's so magical, kinda what I used to feel when I first listened to monochrome (good times :')).

--

Hear any similarities? (the first 40 sec.)

^ damn that's uncanny, but instead calling it out I think that is absolutely genius.

It was pretty well known that she used that as the intro to Free & Easy, even though it was an un-credited sample. The Messenger really impacted the whole visual/Joan of Arc theme for the entire single/era.

is evolution considered as happy song?
If yes then I love it the most :D

OMG!!! I love that movie and I didn't knew about this soundtrack and that free&easy uses a sample from it. Shocking and amazing!

I love how our personal taste is so different hahah Funny to see some people saying that they love some song that I dislike.

Question! What is the chance of Ayu releasing "A BEST 3" in 2017? Or do you think she will wait until 2018 (her 20th anniversary) to release it? I feel like it will be the album to revive public interest in her. Her best collection albums always sell like hotcakes. Namie's best album revived her career so I think if done in good taste, A BEST 3 or "A Complete 2" will do wonders to Ayu's career.

You know... that's a good question. If she does it in '17 then she could maybe revive her image/public interest enough for preparation for her 20th. But at the same time it seems it would fit so well for her 20th because... well... it's her 20th. xD

And, you're right, if it's done tastefully then it could definitely give her popularity a big boost. Namie's BEST FICTION was handled very skillfully. One, they released it at the perfect time. It was the time she was starting to change her image from a 'bad girl, don't touch me,' to a more 'cool girl, let's chill,' type of style which is more appealing to a wider audience (including more teenagers who, let's face it, are the general market for pop stars.) Two, her popularity was also starting to revive itself because of such releases like her singles Baby Don't Cry, Can't Sleep Can't Eat I'm Sick etc... leading into the release of her album, PLAY, which sold nearly 100,000 more than her previous album: Queen of Hip-Pop. So, since her popularity was already on the rise and she had a big grip on the general public, it was the perfect time to release a BEST album since they (as you put) sell like hotcakes (not just Ayu. BEST albums tend to sell better because... well... they have the artists best songs xD) So, yes, Namie's BEST album did revive her career, but that's because her career was already reviving.

Ayu, on the other hand, is kinda going down the other end. Her career is a bit stagnant right now. So releasing a BEST album could go either way. It could sell well, sure, but it may not do what it did for Namie in the long run since Namie was already climbing up the ladder, you know what I mean? But that doesn't mean it can't happen for Ayu. It just needs to be handled well.

... I just realized I didn't answer you question at all. :laugh It just leaves me hoping that Ayu/Ayu's team handles this 20th very well. She's done waaaaay too much for the Japanese music scene to let it go by unnoticed. Hmm. Actually. No. 'Unnoticed' is not the term to use. There'll probably be lots promos (I'd hope). So I guess I should say, she's done too much for the Japanese music scene to let her 20th go by unappreciated.

Namie was already coming through a big boost on her popularity when Best Fiction was released... Play charted for over an year and Baby Don't Cry sold over 1 million ringtones. Also, her singles sales rised almost 2x from Style to Queen of Hip Pop.

:yes

Like I said, she was already reviving. The release of BEST FICTION is just what knocked it out of the park. Her and her team really did plan that out perfectly. They saw their opportunity, knew what to do with it, and took it. (it also gave me Do Me More which. I. love. to. death.)

I just realized I've been talking about Namie in 3 threads and only 1 of them is hers. :laugh

I'm not sure if an A BEST 3 would sell that well as we expect for a compilation album. :/ It can be a huge flop in Ayu's career and go to the opposite way. At this point, I'm not sure if that's a way that she get her popularity back like Namie did...

^ This, no matter what she does, i don't think she'll ever get another peak. No matter how hard she promotes, no matter the quality of her music/pvs/whatever, i think she'll never be huge again. + The general public will barely know 1/4 of A BEST 3 if there is one, so i don't think it'll have huge sales.

I think a cover album would get more interest/be a better idea than A BEST 3, considering most fans already have a majority of her discography besides the casual listener. People were impressed with her cover of MOWY and Many classic moments, so a cover album would get people talking about her again

I'm all up for a cover album ever since she performed Haru yo, Koi by Yumi Matsutoya on a TV show years ago. It was beautiful and the song fit her voice so well! :heart It's still my favorite cover of hers. She already has a few that could also be added to an album, so I don't see why not :yes



Ignore the title of the video, the person who uploaded it apparently thought it was aiko :laugh

^ I love love love this version so much! It fits perfectly her voice. <3 It would be nice a cover album+tribute album just like they did with Utada and TRF. I would love to hear other artists singing Ayu's song (that's very rare).

Yeeees! A cover album would be so good, or at the very least, a tribute album. Ayu's team really needs to get on that soon, as Utada and Mika Nakashima already have their own too.

and have a studio version of this :D

The thing is, we will never get a studio version of this caliber; the time for that has passed. Her voice at this state fit that performance perfectly, but there is no way in Hell she could do it justice today. I can see it turning out to be a HUGE disappointment for everyone because I see this being referenced so much that I know everyone would have high hopes riding on it.

But I thought we were talking about a cover album of other artists covering ayu's tracks, weren't we? Ayu doing a cover album wouldn't have the same appeal for the public as various artists recording their versions of ayu's tracks would.

^ unfortunately that statement is very true. I love that song as much as all the others but I worry she'd do it with that higher pitch that she seems more comfortable with. Not necessarily the cutesy voice, but yall know what I'm talking about. That performance was once in a lifetime (career) and it was perfect. She looked great, sounded great, staging was great, I loved her outfit etc, etc,

We'd hate it now, though.or definitely be disappointed, as you said.

-------
but on the correct conversation here.

I'd kill to see Koda Kumi sing M, since I've heard somewhere apparently she really loves that song. (It was M, right, Koda Kumi fans? I know there's a bunch of you here.) And Hikki to sing Dearest just because I'd looooooooooooooooooove to hear an Utada Hikaru version of that song.

Ha, there was that video someone recently posted about 2001 jpop on like music station they discussed it and it showed Utada and ayu on that one episode where they were together laughing. And they asked Utada if she listens to Ayus songs often and she said she sings ayu when she goes to karaoke. And ayu was like "I want to hear!"

I actually think kumi could do distance better. She had the pipes for it, to really bring out the drama in the chorus. Or No way to say for her cause shit I love those winter ballads. I'm not sure what would suit hikki though. Maybe Rainbow. Actually yeah, I'd love to hear hikki sing that.

...do you mean Dearest? or do you mean Hikki's 'distance'? :laugh

Oh, Rainbow would be good. But I still think she'd be good for Dearest because of the maturing she's done the past eight years. Her voice is so different from Heart Station that I think at this point in her life with all that's gone on, she could sing that song with the raw, honest emotion it really deserves. And, let's be honest here, with Kumi's vocals she could deliver any of Ayu's songs and sing it better than Ayu has recently. But because of those last stanzas her voice would be sooooooooooooooooooo good with 'M'

"Maria, daremo minna naite iru
Maria, dakedo shinjite itai
Maria, dakara inotte iru yo
Kore ga saigo no koi de aru you ni"

She'd own that part right there and I wanna be there to hear it

Lol yes I do mean dearest. After I typed it I was like "wait, that doesn't sound right" but I just kept going lol.

Haha it's all good. I actually looked up 'Ayumi hamasaki - Distance' into Google to make sure that wasn't a song of hers I've missed or something.

To be honest, I'm surprised she hasn't released a song called that yet. It's one word, which she tends to do, so just capitalize it 'DISTANCE' and bam. Already looks like an Ayumi Hamasaki song. I can already see it now. Ayumi Hamasaki new single: DISTANCE. Released date: sometime after she just released something else and right before she releases something again. Pre-order now for the small amount of $7,000 dollars and you'll get a shoelace!

I can already imagine how amazing that'd be.

wow same here, I can imagine how amazing for Hikki to cover Rainbow *_*

YES to Hikki singing Rainbow, Koda singing HANABI, Perfume singing glitter (lol), Gackt singing Tell All (I can totally imagine him singing this song with the powerful vocal) and Ami Suzuki singing poker face. *dreaming*

I discovered that there's tons of tv lives of her in Dailymotion and now I'm watching it nonstop.

:luv2 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4o...E3%81%BF_music :luv2

YES PLEASE.:inlove:yes:heart
We need this to happen.

It really would've been a great opportunity for them to have the A Best anniversary edition have a second disc with covers of each of the tracks. TRF did something similar years ago if I remember correctly where one disc was them, and one was covers.

Granted, she's had a lot of songs since A Best, and it would be good to introduce those to the public more. But we all also know people would want to hear the "classics."

^ They shoulda have done this for sure.

I'm listening to this live nonstop. It's the first time I read the lyrics of "no more words". So sad and touching :(

WHY DID THEY EDIT THAT VIDEO SO BAD!!!! I was so excited when I was a new fan to see she actually performed 'no more words' and then that was what I got. Uggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggh. :no Actually, if I remember correctly, that entire tour is horribly edited.

But yes, the song and the live is beautiful. I just wish we actually got to see it. All of it.

i love no more words. that song is so underrated!

Yes, we need no more words again soon. For an anime tie in, it's sooooooooo good.

Hahahahah you say this because of the backstage scenes between the live? I think it's cute lol

Omg I hate no more words. I feel like it has a very awkward melody or something.

Someone uploaded this years tour onto youtube and I was checking it out since I felt pretty like I'd barely seen anything from MADE IN JAPAN, tour-wise that is.

I think it's great that she chose GREEN as the opening song, however I felt like halfway through it when there were the ribbon-dancers and the guys all dancing around during the guitar "solo" that I was watching part of a Christmas parade or something... XD

I may have overreacted a tad... haha xD but it may just be me but backstage things should be left for after the concert while the concert is for the concert. Also, like I said, I think that entire concert was so badly edited thay by the time I got to no more words I was just so done.

I could totally imagine GACKT making an entire album covering Ayu's songs. I know it's not going to happen but it would be pretty awesome.

As for an Ayumi Hamasaki tribute/cover album, this is my ideal setlist:

- Utada Hikaru - A Song for XX
- Every Little Thing - Heaven
- Ken Hirai - Tell All
- KOKIA - Brillante
- Gackt - No way to Say
- MISIA - M
- Toshinobu Kubota - Love Song
- Lucifer (extinct group) - Last Minute

hahahaha I can understand your feeling. But I feel that sometimes it's really cute to have backstage videos between performance... Like in July 1st from STADIUM TOUR, it's so awesome to see her progress thru the making of the tour and the final project. :) But I love me some backstage after the full concert.

I love No More Words so much. I've been really hoping for it on the TA Tour.

Last year during the acoustic/unplugged segment on her birthday show, some random girl screamed out "NEVER EVER" and then she actually sang it. I kinda want to do the same thing this year with No More Words, lol.

SCREAM KANARIYA! SCREAM YOUR HEART OUT FOR KANARIYA! (sorry I had to do this but really! *-*)

Haha, I thought of it, don't worry. But I think she'd give some major side-eye lol.

"KANARIYA!"

"Oh, did I hear BLUE BIRD?"

"No, KANARIYA!"

"BLUE BIRD it is!"

:roflmao

Yeah... pretty much. xD

"NO, KANARIYA WITH K!"

"WAIT! KANARIYA?"

"YES!"

"WHERE ARE THE CANARIES? STAFF TAKE THE CANARIES OUT OF THE ZEPP PLEASE!"

If you scream "KANARIYA!" and she sings it don't forget to record sound before that somehow cuz... WE NEVER KNOW!

I wouldn't say I hate it, but I've always disliked it for this same reason.

I've always loved no more words. Always. It's so.... I don't know. Passionate? Honest? It's one of the few songs that I've over-listened to and can still stand to listen to today. Though the way the chorus is sung isn't my favorite, the lyrics are, of course, great. When I first read those lyrics in high school I actually got teary-eyed. Man, I used to identify so much with Ayu back then.

I've always loved it too

Back during A Best Tour that's what I voted for haha. And it got to the pool of results that Ayu would choose from. Unfortunately she didn't sing it though.

The atmosphere it creates is beautiful imo.

I love no more words, especially the acoustic orchestra version. That version makes the song sound somewhat haunting, which is very different from the original, which sounds more like it's meant to be inspirational.

....there's an acoustic orchestra version? Which album or single or compilation or whatever did this come from? (I feel like I should know this but I don't.)

I really like Missing! Though most of her recent discography hasn't yielded a true hit, this song is one of the gems for me.

You can find it on ayu-mi-x 4 + selection Acoustic Orchestra Version :)

I'd never dare to ask her to sing kanariya lol

^ Thank you, friend!

EDIT:

Oh my gosh, it is soooo pretty!!!! :luv2

To be honest, I've never downloaded any of the remix albums besides an occasional one if a song was recommended to me or something. I didn't realize all these orchestrated versions were even freaking here. Lord, I'm a horrible Ayu fan :laugh

Haha, why not!?:D

no more words is **everything** :love

an amazing song on an amazing album with an awesome anime tie in :luv2 *swoon* he's me every time. especially when the strings kick in <3 and the very last verse. it's so passionate I feel helpless :tipsy

does anybody have a link to the lyrics interpretation pages? I wanna re-read them especially for this song:
I don't quite understand what she means she would rather be among the losers? :o

"If this world were split into
winners and losers,
I'd rather be a loser.
I always want to be a loser"

I feel like there's a very specific reason for it. Wonder if she did any interviews about the creation. Some of her work with DAI as CREA was just.... wow.

Also regarding the winners and losers thing, I don't think she ever addressed it. Was looking at some fan discussion on Yahoo/Biglobe and there was sort of a consensus that she may have thought there was some bitterness in being a winner and that it may not necessarily bring you happiness. Meanwhile, as a 'loser', you may be working harder to protect the happiness you have and not take it for granted. They thought perhaps the themes were similar to 'Dearest' which I agree with.

I don't know, this is some kind of sad song i think she avoids singing for a certain reason (not on the same level of ever free but kind of) and i wouldn't want to hurt her feelings by asking her to sing it if she secretely doesn't want to :tipsy

Hmm... Ever Free is really sad... I still hope she sings it at least once since she plays it I think its not like she doesnt want the song to be there 'cause of being sad... But like she perfomed Untitled so... I mean it's also a very sad song...

Just saw this on Youtube and I'm dying.

^ Too bad none of them can actually sing lol

She's trolled us so badly with ever free in past concerts i've resigned myself to the fact that we'll never hear her sing it.

"Oh you want me to perform ever free?" /has miccie perform it instead

"Oh you want ME to perform ever free?" /plays studio version during costume change

"Oh, you want ME to perform it LIVE? Well..." *starts to sing NEVER EVER* ('cuz of EVER yknow?)

The best part of that video for me was someone being named Do-da Kumi lmao (do田來未)

I have been desperate for a live performance of ever free for so long.:(
But I think it's too late somewhat. She would have to make adjustments to the song to accommodate her current vocals.

I'd imagine she just doesn't want to perform an obscure b-side from 16 years ago when she has so many better and well known songs. It's like asking Michael Jackson to perform the b-side from ABC.

I think ever free is about her grandmother... so I can understand why she doesn't want to sing it.

interestIng! but I don't quite understand that point of view

I wonder if the upcoming construction at Yoyogi means we'll finally see Ayu do Budokan.

Let me dreeeeeeeam

Why are people so obsessed about Ayu performing at Budokan?

Are we allowed to start saying which songs we'd like to see for CDL this year? :D

I really want her to perform Party Queen again someday. :P

It's a very historical place and is considered a huge deal if you can perform there.

For some reason Ayu never has...

Uh it happens to be one of my favorite venues and I love the atmosphere, I would hardly call that being "obsessed" :rolleyes

I too would like to see Ayu at Budokan.:yes
I think many people want that because like it was mentioned earlier, it is a well known venue. If an artist manages to have a concert there it kind of makes a statement about their status in music. With Ayu being one of the most successful artists in Japan's history, fans would naturally want to see her perform at famous areas.
Me personally, I want another dome tour.:luv2
This year's Countdown is only 2 months away! I too am thinking about what it will be like.:thumbsup
I'd like sweet scar to be on the setlist.:)

I hope Ayu releases a single soon. I can't believe it's nearly been two years since Zutto.../Last minute/Walk! However, I don't want her to release another winter single given that that was her last physical single. Maybe spring? :D

Bring on the winter singles!! She hasn't had a good once since Days so I don't care if they were apart of her releases in recent years because they all suck. I need another GOOD one.

^ agreed

Days was the last one.

Days was amazing. Great time in ayu's career in general.

After attempting to listen to M(A)DE IN JAPAN one more time, I'm still not impressed. The sound quality has definitely improved over A ONE and sixxxxx, and every song has a few nice melodies here and there but like... the album itself is nothing special. I feel like I might have outgrown Ayu, tbh. The last time I was geuniuinly excited for an Ayu album was Colours (and that's only because she was using different producers).

Maybe it's cause I'm aging, maybe it's my shift in music taste, maybe it's my lack of interest in Japanese pop nowadays as a whole, or a combination of all three *shrugs*

Don't get me wrong, I'll still love Ayu. But musically, she just fails to impress me. And the vocals on MIJ... I had to turn down my volume a few times because her voice becomes so unbearable.

I feel I have a commitment to Ayu since I've been listening to her for so long and I own every album (minus the single- I mean mini-albums "LOVE" and "again") but idk I don't feel a spark with her anymore lol. Hell, she debuted this album how long ago? I only now got a chance to listen to it because I ordered it with Utada's lol (which I absolutely loved, there's still a glimmer of hope in J-Pop).

Anyway, I apologize for the random rant. It's been on my mind for a while now.

Random but how ayu says "show" in "The Show Must Go On" kinda sounds like "shoe(s)" and I got this imagery of her shouting at her disobedient toddler who doesn't wanna put his shoes on before leaving the house and she's all "The shoes MUST go ON!" And he's all "no!" And she's like "yeah yeah YEAH YEAH!!" Lmao. Now I can't help but see this imagery when I listen to the song lmao.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...tists_in_Japan

This link always cheers me up when Ayu's not doing well in the charts. Can't believe she's 15 million copies ahead of the next biggiest female artist. She's way ahead of the game and I feel like no other female artist can beat her EVER. (Interesting to see that AKB is slowing catching up. They are around 6 million behind her. That' sonly 6 more singles!)

NO! AKB! NO! *hides* She'll probably always be no. 1 solo artist! If I'm not wrong German Wikipedia says she even sold 53 million copies but eh yea...

"Days" is okay, I think it's one of the last songs before Ayu's career drastically changed, especially in terms of her former release schedule and the quality of studio productions in general.

However, "Walk" truly is a remarkable winter ballad, too. I think it has been one of her nicest songs of the last few years. Even though it could never 100% win me; for me it's a decent piece of music and out of all three songs the best one from the single.

I don't count "Walk" as a "winter" ballad, even though it was featured on the winter ballad single. "Zutto..." was the winter ballad, and I haaaaaaaaated it. For me, "winter" ballads are songs that sound like the season of winter. Walk sounds like early spring or something to me.

To a certain degree though, the instrumental of "Walk" shows some acoustical features that are characteristic for Ayu's winter ballads, especially those bell-like or maybe snow-trickling-like sounds. I also think the song might be a tad too dark and haunting for a spring song? At least I would probably reckon with something more cheerful after a cold winter.

Maybe I need to check which songs from Ayu typically count as spring time songs, haha :)

When does CDL usually get announced? I can't wait to buy my ticket!

Usually at October, it'll happen from day to day. Latest announcement was made - in the middle of November.

I say early spring because I agree it is a bit dark, but it also has kind of a blind optimism to it, doesn't it? So I imagine it has been a long harsh winter, and the snow is just only starting to melt, and there's a glimmer of hope for the season to finally change and move onward toward life.

:roflmao This is hilarious to me!

So has Ayu given up on her LINE account? The last thing she sent out was like in August.

Possibly. Instagram has basically replaced her other social media and FB/Twitter only serve as IG mirrors at this point.

I'm ready if she's gonna throw another classical in digital. But please, rerecord them. Using her old voice in a bran new arrangements sounds... not cool.

I also love Days very much. Wouldn't mind a beautiful ballad as a Winter single this year. I don't see that happening, though, but one can dream. :laugh

I don't see it as a winter ballad either, but Walk really is one of my favorite songs that she's released within the last few years.

When it comes to winter ballads, JEWEL, momentum, teddy bear, and POWDER SNOW are my favorites. <3

I like Close to You a whole lot. Btw, why wasn't that put onto the Winter Ballad Selection in 2014???

I'm happy to see love for Walk.:heart
When the Zutto single was released, everyone was talking about the other 2 songs on the album and Walk was just the "other" track included. I love it and think it was one of the best tracks on A One.

My favourite winter ballads are Carols, JEWEL and Zutto... because it's just so "winter" imo.

To the Walk talk (how that sounds lol) I thought the most didn't like it but I loved it since I first heard it!

The only weakness in my opinion is the repetition of the last chorus instead of letting the song dive into an unexpected direction. It somehow strains the listening and made me wonder why they didn't put more creativity into this aspect.

I still like the song.

I'm one of those not liking Walk. It's so ...unexciting in melody and arrangement. No matter, how often I listen to it, I just can't remember how the song goes after it ended. It's a curious sensation.

^ I legit can't recall at all what Walk is or sounds like, so I'm going to have to go look it up lol