5 years after "A BEST"....
 

correct me if i'm wrong, isnt it 5 years (already) since the release of "A BEST" (2001/03/28->2006/03/28)???

the purpose of me making this topic cos i want to ask AHS members, (especially the long-time ayu fans) if anything's changed for them (ayu-wise) like her style, music etc.

i think she has matured alot musically... and widened her musical horizons ^^ i think she should maybe do another A Best... *shrugs*

I agree with Neo Daydream in that she's matured so much. Vocally, she's so much better than she was and her style has taken so many twists and turns since A BEST. I don't, however, think she should do another A BEST. I think that would be suicide for her career right now. I think she should wait for a while and then when she retires, release a comprehensive Single Collection.

Yes, many things have changed since "A BEST".

Her voice have and haven't improved for me. It has improved because it's less nasally and high-pitched, but it's not as strong as it used to be.

I think from "I am..." to "Memorial Address" things went really well, and the music was good and amazing.

She has developped a rock side that I like a lot since "Because of you".

Her recent albums and singles from the "MY STORY" and "(m)u" days have been quite dissapointing. There's practically no songs from these albums I'm still really into. Her stuff has been weaker. Especially since she's not composing anything anymore. Which is such a bummer because CREA composed songs are the best. Her music style has been changing a lot. The SWEETBOX inspired and covered songs has been some of her worst ever.

To conclude, I miss CREA!

And I hope her next single will be HUGE!

She's defenitely changed in many ways. I think her voice has gotten better, but she's not using it to its full ability. I don't think she's singing the type of songs anymore where she has to use it forcefully, to fit the feel of the songs (NEVER EVER, UNITE!) I loved all of the MY STORY singles, as well as the (miss) understood singles, minus HEAVEN and Bold and Delicious (the songs themselves, not the entire singles.) I would love it if she:

Brought back CREA, BOUNCEBACK, and had more tasuku. She needs to kick CJMK and HAL. She also needs to kick the event+movie tie ups. I would also LOVE it if Ayu learned how to play the guitar. I have big hopes for her next single, I hope its excellent. But looking back, she has done some amazing stuff. Its a good day to be an Ayu fan.

The one good thing, that I think came out of the GEO songs were: She wasn't afraid to do what she wanted, even at the last minute. She had the whole album planned out, and people expected more of the same stuff. However, she took a chance with what she liked, and did things her way. Thats admirable to me. To not know if people would like the songs or not, had to be intimidating.

mmm interesting.

Ayu has been around for so long...and I am really glad that she is still releasing music now. Even though I miss some of her early works, I still love to anticipate anything new from her. And vocally, she has improved a lot.

Ahh... 5 years from A BEST. I never recognize the time goes by that fast. It's amazing that I still listen to A BEST sometimes. Yeah her vocal changes, and her music direction is different. Every moment is the best (probly except RAINBOW.. the time when I didn't really like ayu).

Talking about NEVER EVER.. Today I just listened it, and it's fantastic.. It's not ayu forcing her voice... It's a way to express the song... I just love this song so much.. :D

I dunno about A BEST 2... but she's enough songs to make one. I hope she'll make another studio album tho before releasing another A BEST ;).

^ well, yeah, I see what you mean..I don't really think she forced her vocals in NEVER EVER/UNITE! , I can't find the phrase in english, sorry =( But I..dunno, just maybe sang the songs stronger? I don't know how I should phrase it.

I was listening to A BEST today, since it is the 5th year anniversary, and I was really amazed how different her voice is now from that recording of A Song for X X that's on there.
I think the music in general has gotten a lot better too. And yes, CREA did come to be.

What's sad is that..

if Ayu starts composing again, there's always this big chance that the public'll be like '...ew'.

/tear falls

^why?

I'm amazed at her change of vocals, not only from ASFXX, but from A Best. Her vocals became softer (either that or my ears became worse) and not as high-pitched. The emotions in the vocals are slightly different. They became more matured, more confident.

I think 2005 have some decent singles (B&D isn't bad, but just isn't good), and Will is a good return of CREA+Dai :D However, I think her style changed a little from the more techno sound of the duty era to the pop-rock edge of the I am...to the more rockier in this era. If she wasn't so influenced by SWEETBOX, things would be better...

Actually if she made an album with a higher quality than "I am...", people would still be "ewww". They just need an excuse to feel nostalgic about the "old times".

If the problem were the lack of CREA compositions why was Humming 7/4 voted as the worst song from MY STORY in a recent poll?
Also if the problem was the lack of CREA compositions and GEO sucks so much, why was MY STORY considered much worse than (miss)understood in the polls here when MY STORY actually has 3 songs fully composed by CREA and no GEO songs but (miss)understood has only 1 co-composed song (not fully composed) by ayu? :shrug

^true dat.

personally, Humming 7/4 is one of my favorite ayu songs ever. CREA compositions ARE real nice, but if she doesnt compose herself, that doesnt make a song less good, IMO.

and on the A BEST 2 issue:

i think it'd be cool because she re-did the songs for A BEST, BUT...i dont think its the right time right now...remembering that the original A BEST was supposedly the end of her career, yet it sold so deliciously (haha..) that she kept going...a A BEST 2 will probably not come till..(*chills*) the end of her career.

You hit the nail on the head. People tend to look back on the past with rose-colored glasses, so to speak. It's why older people always talk fondly about "the good old days", even those times surely had their share of problems as well.

Ayu has never been perfect, but she keeps trying new styles in order to stay fresh, which I appreciate. I Think A BEST is an excellent album and anyone wishing to be introduced to Ayu should give it a listen. I also think (miss)understood is an excellent album and proof of how powerful her vocal talents have become. I don't find myself yearning for "the old Ayu" at all, because honestly I don't think she has changed much as an artist; she's the same artist as she always was with more power and experience to do the things she wants to do.

Well put~ u grab the words right from my mouth :D
ayu is still the same old blonde(at heart) still writes good lyrics for songs
and true ayu's only thing that changed over the years was her vocal control
and just about any music style she've tried

I Ayu were to create the rock-songs in 2001 as she does now, she would have failed. Her voice now is very suitable for both pop and rock, while back then it wasn't. Her image was different then aswell. She was still kinda of 'fresh and new' as the queen of Jpop (even though she had 3 #1-albums already). Now she has thousands of tracks, making it extremely hard to create original stuff. Her tours, however, haven't been so different. Ayu always makes HUUGE shows. While most artists will just get on stage and sing, Ayu changes her outfit every few songs and adds alot of extravaganza.

oh no no no, people have different point of views (or points of view i dunno whichever is correct LOL). you probly like song "A" while I like song "B". Now I shiver myself with sweat again LOL.

Back to the topic... It's weird, but I was never fond of CREA's production... Now I think about it and realize that CREA music was one of the reasons I didn't buy I am :tired. Actually there're some pretty good ones, such as M, evolution, Voyage, etc. However, to be honest some songs are really similar to each other.. For example, M vs. Free & Easy; evolution vs. Naturally. I remember still alone sounds like another ayu song but I forgot which one was. I was tired of the similar music and the overexposure of ayu at that period. It's quite funny that I wanna buy I am now... cuz I miss the album.. probly I should buy it soon.. :D

I don't think it's just that people look back with rose coloured glass, I got all her works at the same time(no songs got any hype or anything, I diden't even know who she was), and came to like her biggest hits nonetheless, M was my favourite track from day one, even though I had no idea about sales, hype or whatever. I still like a lot of the new stuff she releases, but I can understand why she's loosing some popularity too.

This sums up precisely Ayu's development for me as well. I still hope she gets back on her old level. She can do it, she just has to take the time and actually get around to it.

I just hope she comes out with some completely brilliant singles that does away with all doubt and shows the world Ayu's still on top. Our theme for summer '06. :)

As for the 'rose-coloured spectacles', there's definitely some truth in that and I won't deny it either. Just playing those 'good old' albums like I am... and LOVEppears reminds me of good times; so on top of the music just being plain awesome, there's memories along with it that make it even better. However, I must add that I only discovered Ayu after the release of Rainbow but that I, for instance, like Memorial Address a lot and don't like Rainbow much at all, eventhough I had accostumed to Rainbow just as much as to I am... and Duty and so on. Memorial Address still managed to grow on me and it's one of my favourites because it has good songs. That's just what lacked on My Story. Wouldn't know about (miss)Understood because I haven't heard it yet.

Impact and SheFliesHigher you guys WORDED IT PERFECTLY. People just NEED ANY reason to think about the "good days" whatever those may be. She is definitely at her best right now and it is amazing and really REALLY ANNOYING as to how contradictory a lot of Ayu fans are, it seems like NO ONE is ever satisfied. We got to gripe about everything, not that we can't have opinions but do people argue this much about most of the other Japanese artist, I personally don't think so.

Oh wells everyone's missing out cause I LOVE Ayu more than ever, and I'm not one of those "OMG IT'S AYU IT'S PERFECT" people either that many people are very fast to label because I am positive about most of Ayu's pieces. I really have no "nostalgic" feelings for the past because as amazing as CREAs pieces were, they were honestly not that strong in terms of composition and many pieces sounded a like. I can barely see the difference in the transition from "evolution" to "UNITE!" sometimes. Oh wells I have waited it seems forever for a general positive attitude from this forum and it never seems to come. It's funny how "Memorial address" was once BOUNCEBACK crud and now one of the forums favorites, and how "(miss)understood" is SO bad because of GEO yet "(miss)understood" was so much more popular than "MY STORY". Hmm I guess we'll never be satisfied.

But on the topic of A Best II, I don't think it's really necessary. We have gone over that question for months now and I think most of us feel it's not necessary. Overall Ayu is at the prime of her game even if she isn't nearly as popular as she once was. For a Japanese Pop Icon to last almost a decade in the spotlight is amazing.