A BEST controversy..
 

Ayu didn't like it or something? I always hear it mentioned but no one has fully explained it to me. What is the A BEST controversy?

If I remember correctly, Ayu didn't feel ready to release her BEST album yet, and Max wanted this to be her last release (much like he originally intended with A back in '99). Ayu didn't want to retire when she was at her peak.

They A Best contreversy is that They released it as a Good Bye album that would have been AYu's last Album because they wanted to end her career but Ayu didn't want to release because she didn't want it to be over . So she said that she would resing the first songs so that she can give people what they paided for. Wikipedia has it posted heres the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Best

whoa! hold up!! i never knew this one.. damn! that must have been a splap in the face for ayu.. tsk tsk. bad max!

I still think it was all an avex+ayu strategy for grabbing people's attention on buying the album. I'm sorry but I find it really hard to believe that ayumi would mention in public her dissatisfaction openly like that if there was no interest behind that. The controversy in my opinion was created by both avex and ayu in order for the album to get more promotion: "oh no "poor" ayu's a victim of avex, she's crying in the covers, that's so moving" :P:P:P

I have never heard anything about avex trax wanting "A BEST" being her last album. Seriously, I never heard that and I kinda doubt that's the real thing.

From what I have heard, avex trax wanted and pushed Ayu to release her best-of in the last minute to compete with Hikaru Utada's "DISTANCE" album. There were many extreme and over-the-top advertisement for both albums. Including 40 different magazines photoshoots to make in 2 months for Ayu. Ayu said she didn't wanted to make this best-of album at all in the NTV interview.

"Dearest" PV is supposed to be the way she feels towards the whole "A BEST" problem.

This site explains it very well but it's in french!
http://dinibuzz.club.fr/Dossiers/Envers1.htm

avex kills a lot of their artists by pushing a best album though. bands and artists that aren't succesful have their career finished by a best album or a compilation. That's what happened to Nana Katase and BREATH for example.
ayu was in a different situation though. She was succesful and te only threat she was facing was tada Hikaru at that moment. Why not spice things up with a little drama that her career was about to end? That still moves people even nowadays ahah they can't see a title that remids of "farewell" that they get scared thinking she's gonna quit

I personally thought this was going to be her last album, and it sold so well that they decided to carry on her career.

Edit: My plot seems to fit right in between ImpactBreaker's plot.

-Threaten she was going to quit.
-Make an A-BEST album.
-Everyone buys it.
-Ayu uses the end of my career as a excuse for not quiting, and claims it sold well enough to continue her career.

I think it was smart. :laugh

I wouldn't trust wikipedia for info, especially on Asian artists. I never heard about A BEST being her last album. But I did hear that Ayu had wanted to quit around this time. This explanation that asongforxx has seems correct. If you read the NTV interview, you can get the whole picture.

Err.. The more I think about this, the more I think i'll stick to my own opinion rather than going with that of someone else's secondhand thoughts/truths.

She didn't intend to quit...she just didn't want to release a BEST album, as to her, a BEST album isn't the same way Avex thinks of it.

I always though avex pushed the release of A BEST to compete with Utada's Distance album. Then Ayu just said she wasn't ready to release it yet, like she said it was 'too early' or something.

The sad thing is Utada's album sold more in the end and hers was an actual album and not a BEST album which (in terms of japan sales) a best album should sell more than an actual album...

i think its this way:

utada was releasing her Distance album. so avex wanted ayu to compete with her by releasing A BEST. however, ayu thought that releasing a "best" album would mean that its the end of her career. she didnt want to end her singing career jus like dat and so soon, especially she was at the peak of her career then. so she was reluctant to release the album.

A BEST got lots of promotions and she went for every photo shooting sessions then, cos she thought that her career will be ending and hence wanted the audience to remember her. but her singing career didnt end.

I don't know why people don't trust wikipedia there information is always right they usually have stuff about Asian artist before other sites do And I heard about "A Best" being AYu's last album before I even checked at Wikipedia just because people can submit to it doesn't mean its wrong and if it is it usually gets corrected quickly. I even submit to wikipedia a couple of times. If it wasn't for A Best "I Am...." wouldn't have been released

I always heard ayu oposed to it, because she thought it was too early for a BEST album, but not because it was meant to end her career.

wow this the first i heard of it and i would never think of something like that, ImpactBreaker... interesting...

I heard both that Avex wanted to end her caeer and that AYu oposed to it. But since A Best sold so well they could't Just kick AYu out of Avex.But they also said that they released to butt heads with Utada's album but thats just a controversy who knows if it s true