Ayu ~Anything Goes XIX~
 

We're gonna need a new thread here.

I want ayu to make great comeback.

^ Me too but I think others have discussed many reasons why it's virtually impossible at this point. I would think the only hope she might have is if she were to completely rebrand herself, but then again she wouldn't have her legacy to rely on and I don't think the music and certainly not her voice would be enough to rope people in. Without the image she is nothing, but with the image she has so much negativity projected onto her.

I think her main problem (and its not a problem really) is that she doesn't care.
Shje cares about her music and her fans, but she doesn't care what she SHOULD do, but she cares about what she wants to do.
Shes made her mark and shes happy with where she is. Now shes just doing her.

And sadly if you are just doing you you arent very popular. You dont follow the trends you dont do whats popular.

Anyways... thats why I think she wont ever make a HUGE comeback.

Well, of course she is not hot topic number one, but I think she does well. She does not need to rebrand, because her brand is good as it is: there is this whole 00s nostaliga and the 'new/experimental' and content side of her. And the best thing is: she is not planning to quit. What else do you want?
That being said, also I love the Ayu from 2002-2007 era the most. Not that I am against the recent Ayu, but the music from then meant much to me. I don't really have an opinion on the 'recent Ayu'; her music is nice, but it does not do much to me (except for a couple of gems like Sweet Scar and FLOWER)

Now you can be very upset about people hating on her, or wishing for an huge comeback so she is number one again and you all can be proud, but what are you really asking of her? Totally ditching the old image? Or some sort of theme, like Koda Kumi is doing now (and really, Kumi is not innovative but she has that 'own' sound to every song of hers that you guys totally dig.) To me it only made sense that Utada Hikaru made an huge comeback, because she was on hiatus for a long while. Also, now I hear so little about her. Yeah, she released an album, it was OK (I probably listened to it two times) and then again the world moves forward and is looking forward to newer clubs, that last for one debut album and never come back on the market again (unless they have a huge fanbase)

I am really surprised Ayu can still perform a lot as releases new content every year. It makes me happy. I really do not see the point of totally updating her brand, because the people who stick with her, like her for who she is.

I think no one really expects a huge comeback from her but if she has an earworm or huge collaboration, who knows.

I don't see how she can appeal to a wide new audience now.
Thank god she's doing just fine with her loyal fanbase, even though it's slowly decreasing every year.
Speaking of fanbase, I still think she had nothing to apologize for when she so-called abandoned Japan. It wasn't important where she was, she was still releasing music and stuff, even toured. As if Japanese fans could go see her if she was living in Japan. It's her right to live where she wants and when she needs. She needed that escape, it was just a phase of her life, nothing to be sorry about.

I'm not saying she should do this, what I'm saying is that "the people who stick with her" are not going to single-handedly usher in a "comeback" of sorts for her. The topic was a full-fledged comeback, and I commented on the probability of that alone, and what might birth even the slightest possibility of that.

And yes, there is this whole "nostalgia" thing, but Ayu has been milking that for aeons. I mean, how many times can you say "hey people, look at who I was"?

Lately I've been looping HONEY as I walk around campus because the weather has gotten quite nice. I don't care what anyone says, that song is a BOP! I always loved it and was surprised that many actually had such a strong hate for it. To me, the progression is on point, the melody perfectly mirrors the subject matter/emotion, the arrangement is well-balanced, and this all makes for a vivaciously catchy track!

In high school I did a powerpoint presentation on Ayumi and for every single slide I mixed a short 30 second or so clip of what I thought were her best tracks up to that point in time (and thus could could potentially turn them into fans); I remember using HONEY for one of them.

^ I absolutely adore HONEY!

I also enjoy Honey.:yes
Actually, to me it is a highlight of My Story.:laugh
It is full of fun and I think it is a clever use of Ayu's vocal qualities.

I'm so glad to see that others also love this song! For me it was also a highlight of MY STORY :D

HONEY was my first Ayu song when I liked sweeter pop like 2000s BoA. I played it on repeat and then fell in love with the deeper thoughtful Ayu too.

Listen to Colours I really dont care for this album.... I thought some of the tracks where okay, but just the album itself is kinda boring. And it just seems dated... already...
where I can listen to love songs and be in love with it... even Iam... but this album...
hmmm
Anyone else feel this way about Colours?

^I actually like it, but yes, as an album, as a concept, it feels really random :laugh

Some of the songs are okay. I'm just not in love with anything about it.
When an album first comes out there is a song or something I'm attached to and then the rest kinda grows on me Or I just love it instantly...
But this album... Im like Blah... Ill skip it. lol

I really love "Terminal" even tho I hate EDM haha

To me Colours was kind of a step back for Ayu. Back towards Party Queen.
After Party Queen when all of the Love Again releases were coming out, I felt relieved and that Ayu was back on track. Then Colours had me worried again.:no
The videos were seemingly low budget and simple. The music was interesting in the way that Ayu had never really done EDM before but I don't think that style worked well for her. At least not on this execution. I sort of never understood the concept of the album. It is kind of like she made Colours just because she could. No meaningful inspiration or theme. I barely recognize her on the cover even.
I felt some of the producers didn't really "get" Ayu. Sometimes it felt like she was singing someone else's songs.
But I don't hate the album. I think there are still good things about it. Despite the things I mentioned about the music, I still found it refreshing that Ayu did something new and different. I loved XOXO and Terminal and Feel The Love and some other tracks were enjoyable too. Angel really frustrates me though because I think it's a beautiful song but when Ayu starts singing the chorus and saying angel in kind of an Engrish way, it ruins it for me.:dead2

i LOOOOOOVE Colours. it is her best album for sure! all of the songs are near perfection and i loved that she finally managed to make album full of fun songs (except Pray) like she did with NEXT LEVEL. XOXO PV is bad but i just won't watch it never again so it's okay for me :yes i don't get all the hate for Angel, i think it's beautiful and the beat is neat!! that bass is perfect. i have felt kinda disconnected to ayu after 2014, her music doesn't manage to get meanymore like Colours did

it's funny how different people's opinions can be, right?

I almost never listen to songs off PQ and Colours. Just two albums that aren't my cup of tea. Pun intended.

Colours was alright. Terminal was one of my favorite songs by her, but overall, the album just felt like a failed experiment. Still liked it better than LOVE again though lol

Terminal and Pray are master pieces tbh the album is fun but the PVs, on the other hand, are a freaking mess :rolleyes Party Queen is still one of my faves from her :laugh

I don't even remember Colours :/
And I think I never listened A ONE full. Oh, and I never listened sixxxxx.

I just feel so disconnected to ayu when I listen to CoLoURS (I can't even stylize it right lmao). Idk it just doesn't feel like her, and so when I listen it doesn't feel like me either. Except Lelio - fun for the gym.

sixxxxxx isn't bad, just really forgettable. I like most of the songs on it but nothing really stood out to me besides Summer diary, and even that I could probably live without. The mini-album is just kind of there lol

^True that, sixxxxxx was like "Oh yeah I got these unrealeased songs I didn't use for A One, wanna hear them? pay me" :laugh

The capitalization for Colours was a design choice by that HK design firm. I mean they basically just had her name as like ayuMI hAMAsaki or something so I wouldn't say it was the actual title of the album.

To me, she just wanted to make some music with Western producers and it succeeded at being a bit of a fun test but nothing more than that.

Colours just feels off.
Like its a really long mini album. lol Or just a single and we have never gotten all of it.
It just doesnt feel like a complete project for some reason.

^I feel the same way about MIJ, I loved it, I really did but it feels like an uncomplete project to me, wo got the introduction (amazing btw) FLOWER keeps the japanese style of the intro, then the next 6 tracks are this kinda pop/rock + ballads that we are so used to and then jump to an EDM with 90's vibes and that Globe cover, it feels so random tbh, I like it but as whole album it seems like a rushed project.

I actually enjoyed Colours at the time of it's release, even though I don't find myself revisiting it unless I'm listening to ayu's discography as a whole. I can see how one can compare it to Party Queen because of the genre and production direction, but I feel like the quality of the tracks on Colours is infinitely better. It may not have a concept but I'd rather have random songs that are great than a concept album of mostly subpar songs.

Interestingly, the one song I don't care for on Colours is Terminal haha.

It's by Clanhouse which is from Singapore.

But yeah, it's officially listed as Colours.

Oo, I mix up a lot of the HK and Singapore work and sometimes forget Colours was an SG design job.

Unpopular opinion chiming in I guess.

As a backstory, I stopped listening to Ayu in 2008, and just recently started listening to her again.

Not gonna lie, out of all the albums that I have listened to that she released in the last nine years, I think Colours is probably my favorite of the bunch. Primarily because it's a unapologetically fun album, and I feel Ayu was at her most comfortable making it.

I think similarly to how she wanted to use Rainbow as a way to reach her global, non-Japanese audience, she wanted Colours to follow this idea. The Western producers, the relatively large amount of English lyrics... it did its job I feel, and I think that it is one of her most fun albums she has released since NEXT LEVEL or (miss)Understood. The entire album is irresistibly catchy, and I've found myself listening to it nonstop. "Terminal" feels like Connected Pt. 2(not a surprise it got performed together in the concert), "Hello new me" is so incredibly uplifting, and I love the sassiness of "Leilo" and "XOXO".

The only songs that fall a little flat on this album are "NOW & 4EVA", and "What is forever love".

^ ironically the 2 songs you found flat are the only ones I really listen to now haha.

But I totally understand your thoughts on the album.

For me, I just wish it had better execution. The videos were, imo, some of her worst. And I like visual aspects as much as the audio elements.

I love colours,,, its so enjoyable.... i forget sixxx and a one,,,

I never knew there was so much hate for Colours! I love it too, except for Pray and What is forever love! I listen to XOXO pretty much every day!

I only started to listen to her music around the release of Step you (not even going to tthe y and get the tho right) so I guess it makes sense, but although I am... and RAINBOW clearly have masterpieces, my favourite from her is what she made post Memorial address! Love songs is by far my favourite album, and I strongly love (miss)understood, or Colours.
Actually, apart from Made in Japan that blew me away, I'd say her last to releases were pretty weak in comparison with Colours (sixxxxxx and A ONE). But A ONE gave me NO FUTURE so I forgive it.

People always underestimating what she means...

CoLOURS, for instance, isn't necessarily just random, either the selection of the British spelling or the capitalization.

First, looking at the spelling--it would be entirely fitting with the way in which she has chosen other album titles for the meaning to be along the lines of "col OURS". Which is to say, colors of hers and some other person(s).

Second, the capitalization. Separating it into "co" and "lours", co obviously meaning "mutually with", and though it's not common, "lours" is an English word meaning "lower", and also means a frown or alternately a darkening sky or landscape.

In other words, the title is probably in reference to some unhappiness both she and another feel, some darkness in their lives, which would be fitting with the deep melancholy in some of the album's songs.

^Now do EnergizE :p

Joke aside, I think there's a logic most of the times. Like in Party Queen, the titles without capital letters are those which fit in a full sentence within the song I think, like "(what should I) call (it)".

I find Colours to be a very fun album. I don't listen to it a lot, but I adore XOXO. It's a great song to work out to. :yes I also love NOW & 4EVA, I remember being very surprised after listening to it for the first time, it has a classic feel to it at the same time that it sounds modern.

I don't think anyone is really hating or bashing the album. I think people just have mixed feelings on the album.
I would say the reception of Colours is generally mixed to positive.:rainbow

I think that NEXT LEVEL is still her weakest release even though there are a few gems on that album as well mainly : NEXT LEVEL, Sprakle, rollin', GREEN, Rule, identity and Days and interludes were good

The problem with that album was that there was no consistency among the tracks. Always thought the CMJK remix of GREEN should be put on it instead of the original version tbh.

NEXT LEVEL was hated so much initially but it's hailed as rather good by most of the fandom, I think.

Colours is NOT titled "CoLours" or anything like that. Officially, it is Colours with the capitalization being 'unique' only on the cover like "ayuMi HamAsaKi - CoLouRs".

I really like this explanation, but I am sure they didn't put that much thought into the album name or concept ^___^

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the choice of the British spelling was just having Timmy around.

I'm not a huge fan of Colours. The songs are fun live but it's just not the music I listen to Ayu for, plenty of artists who do it better. It kind of sounds like what it is... tracks from Western producers, that just happen to have Ayu singing on them. I'd like it more if she put more of her own spin on the songs, like the Sweetbox tracks on m(u).

Agreed. The three ballads on there (GREEN, Days, and Curtain call) are so jarring next to all the other tracks. Even though I like those songs, I wish she kept them off the album

I think NEXT LEVEL is sort of a... mess. I do appreciate her effort to deliver something different, though and the same goes to Party Queen: I dislike it, but it's better to have something unusual than another LOVE again...

There are many gems on NEXT LEVEL, such as Days, GREEN, and Sparkle, and Party Queen has one of the best lyrics in her entire career. So I'm glad she released them, regardless them being the ones I 'dislike.'

The whole "rock" portion of NEXT LEVEL falls a bit flat, but the rest of the album is a joy.

I also think Bridge to the sky might be one of her best interludes, next to Catcher in the Light.

^ Bridge to the sky is so AMAZING

To me Days is one of my all time favorite ballads. Does it belong on Next Level? maybe not, but I also think she decided to do something different at the last minute since her singles are nothing like the rest of the album.

Just had to say I find Next level amazing and flawless. It isn't the type of music I'm attracted to right now (nor ayu's music overall) but I loved it since the first listen. It was also my first album so maybe that's why

I do like next level! I bought it just recently. there are tracks on there that were rather unusual for ayu and it's a bit hit and miss. I like rollin' because it was finally a different subject matter for her to sing.

compared to the last few albums she released it really shines. the only song I could *truly* enjoy from her recent releases is tasky... and that's only an interlude!! :( quite sad for me, I know....

I think in hindsight, I liked NEXT LEVEL so much when it was first released cause I'd only been a fan for a year or so. So having a new release was exciting! But I actually do agree that the album as a whole was a mess, with the haphazard genre jumping and lackluster electro pop songs. I do enjoy it to some extent because it brings good memories back and is a great springtime album, but the only tracks that are great (in my opinion) are Days and GREEN. I'd also say Bridge to the sky and NEXT LEVEL.

So yeah, mixed feelings haha.

I thought Next Level could have been split into 2 mini albums. One has the electronic songs, the other has the rock songs.
Then maybe release Days and Curtain Call together for winter.
For Next Level I was obsessed with Sparkle. I listened to it SO MUCH. I would always be watching the music video on youtube. Then the n ext song I heard was Next Level and I really loved that one too. I thought it was kind of breezy and put me in a good mood.
The only complaints I have these days is that it does genre hop and I think it has not aged the best. Because of the electronic sounds, it sounds dated. But a positive about that is that it can be nostalgic of the late 2000s.

I love the intro and interludes on Next Level. So relaxing and also totally bonkers!

I've been browsing through her discography on Spotify.

I'm really into:
"Memorial Adress - take 2 version" from 2003's Memorial Address
"No Way to Say - Acoustic Version" from 2003's No Way to Say
"Love Song - A Classical ver" from 2013's A Classical
"Kanariya" and "Heaven" (acoustic orchestra version) from ayu-mix-7
"Heaven" (piano version) from 2005's Heaven

You can tell I'm in an orchestral mood.

I think most people have an issue with the Curtain call + GREEN on that album. Everything else fits rather well IMO but those two? They needed to do something to GREEN at least to make it fit better.

many many jpop albums have a problem with coherence because of the whole single release schedule. but many artists move away from that anyways now.

but I don't listen to cds much anyways (only in my car tbh) and the playlists I make myself are coherent and have a nice flow. it is only important for me to own the album for my music collections sake and the album artwork... everything is listened to digitally most of the time anyways :p


it would be interesting if ayu made playlists of her songs herself *_____*
that would be worth checking out :D

Honestly...i listen to music on shuffle and very rarely listen to an album in full at any given time. Of course I ~may~ do it, but more often than not I'm on shuffle.

So to me coherence is more of a bonus than anything else. Having an album full of strong album tracks that work on their own is a bit more important for me. Where as a completely coherent album can sometimes be same-same and the tracks feel a bit watered down and there's no way to make each one particularly good in its own right.

Being able to achieve both would be ideal, of course haha.

^ I completely agree.

oop thought I was the only one who noticed that.

The problem was rather simple to solve. They almost had it with the CMJK remix, which would've flowed rather well with the rest of the album if shortened a bit. Dunno why they didn't think of that.

Im trying to find that remix, but cant. lol. the remix they have on spotify is is actually sparkle

Happy 10th anniversary to A BEST 2!

I KNOW! They've uploaded a ton of other mislabeled tracks btw. How do we report this?

Yeah, exactly. That's why I don't mind some Japanese artists nowadays not releasing singles before their albums. I used to think it was a bad idea since they wouldn't be promoting their releases properly, but right now I couldn't care less about sales. I feel like it's easier for an artist to feel 'free' without the need to release singles to please the public (a up-tempo song for the Summer, a ballad for the Winter, and so on).

Been obsessed with the Ayu mix 7 special non stop disc recently. So good!

Just had a thought:

ayumi hamasaki Just the beginning -20- .... of retirement.

lol. Biggest troll of all time.

Ayumi Hamasaki - Empress of J-Pop!
.
.
.
YOU JUST GOT TROLLED!
.
.
.
Ayumi Hamasaki - Empress of Trolling

When you are not sure about how to respond after these two awkward jokes, so you try to start a new conversation, but cannot think of something else than 'Man I have been into SURREAL recently.'

I love surreal and evolution so much.
I was watching a concert the other day... Rock n Roll circus and I was trying to remember the last time she performed the songs as NOT a combo.

And then I was like, but when did this madness start? I found it... 2003/4 concert and the audience didn't seem that interested in it. LOL

I believe it started at CDL03-04/AT03-04 but was on and off at the time. Looking back at all of her setlists... it seems like it shows up more than it actually does, but it does show up a lot, at least once a year in some form.

I think the last time she sang them both separately in the same concert was at CDL 07-08. It's a good combo but I really want to see SURREAL alone again. Been almost 10 years.

I wonder if they'll release a new remix album someday, would love that. I'm more excited of that idean than I would for new music actually.

It being 20 years Im hoping with get a lot of stuff like we did for her 15th!

Wooow, I didn't realise it had been that long! The first time I heard Surreal was actually as part of the Evolution combo in AT 03/04 and I remember not being able to get it out of my head!

Surreal is one of the songs that turned me into a diehard fan. As soon as I heard that piano I knew it was going to be a special song.:yes
I have the Surreal single in my Ayu collection.:heart
I've been wondering lately about the Duty album. Is it out of print?:(
When I look at stores online it is listed as out of stock or out of print, but the rest of her albums are fine.:think

All of Ayu's music videos and a loooot (could be all from recent years) of live performances added to Apple Music! Finally making her music and PVs more accessible for everyone.

Was searching for some Ayu ads pictures and found this on Yahoo! Actions: http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h193469044 Never saw this picture before! :O

speaking of Yahoo!Auctions, I found this
http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/j...ion/w161150882

I've never seen this before. she looks sooo Japanese here haha

Stylists and make-up artists really transformed her when she became a star, wow. Like 2 different people.

omg....YIKES.

Now I really wanna know what the rest of the pictures from this magazine shoot look like. >.<

ViVi - 2001 December

http://i.imgur.com/KWKtkFom.jpg http://i.imgur.com/us57cnkm.jpg

http://zyrex.org/gallery/Ayumi1/Ayumi-mags/ViVi/mag02/

That make up lol

Kinda random but theres an "Original Version" of Memorial Address or the "take 2 version" is the only one? And why that name (take 2)?

Take 2 is the only version, I think the title refers to it literally being take 2 because it was recorded with the band. Like ASFXX on A BALLADS.

I came in this thread to say that, even now, all the threads from her first London visit, reading them still makes me cry. I went through them all today for the first time in a long while and it's so emotional!

A lot of the images are gone though. :(

I believe the ~take 2~ comes from the fact that the song is something like a cover. She wrote new lyrics for it but the music is not hers.

I think the same as @relmy but @TeamAyu2004 is right too.

You can hear the original version from Kumo here https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw...VdjMFFDVzd6RWc

Thanks! I gotta say, the makeup is overall unflattering in this whole shoot but it really is the cover that is truly the worst. Even the other pictures of her with that same outfit don't look as bad...Now I'm tempted to make one my profile picture just for giggles.

Whaaaaaaaaat??? I never heard about this before! :O Thanks for the info!

That time period definitely evokes lots of nostalgia for me.

I regret not saving the letter I sent to ayu in that book we gave to her. I remember a few things I said to her but most of it I can't recall for the life of me. When she first made a twitter account I told her my name and asked her if she had received my letter and she replied and told me she had! Knowing that makes losing my copy of the letter not so bad.

(Also, I don't remember exactly who was involved in compiling our letters and actually getting it to her, but anyone who was involved and reads this THANK YOU AGAIN!)

I recomend you to visit this thread with gems^^

i love Kumo! Will have to download it again eventually!

I wish there was karaoke version of Kumo or Memorial address. It's one of the most beloved Ayu songs and you can't sing it at karaoke place. So cruel and sad.

OMG my pre-owned version of A Complete arrived and I was very chuffed to discover that it was the first press edition with the photo booklet and pretty packaging AND it looks as good as new!!! A bargain at 12 quid!

That's awesome!!! I'm planning to get A Complete next month as well, hope to be as lucky as you :laugh

A Complete was my first Ayu CD.:yes
I bought the Hong Kong press of it to have the Chinese version of Who. A Complete is certainly worth owning. Even the retail price isn't that bad considering all the songs you get.
My only complaint is I don't like the cover that much. I think Ayu's expression is odd.:laugh
But the photos inside are beautiful.