I truly believe she is now singing to just keep fans happy. She hasn't had a "REALLY" good song since Glitter/Fated in my opinion. Well somewhat Green/Days was pretty good, but certainly not up to her standards. Rule/Sparkle were acceptable. Sunrise/Sunset were okay. But nothing really blowing fans away I don't think, Such as Heaven, Evolution, STEP you, and all those major hits of hers. Also you have to factor in people don't buy CD's as much as they used too.
But as a whole Ayumi's music to me hasn't been the same since the breakup with that one guy. If you notice right after that her lyrics seemed to of lost that epic feel, or maybe it's translations that have lost that powerful feel. I'm not sure who to blame there. Songs like Curtain Call and Days sound good musically, But they aren't good lyrically.
And though I love You Were/Ballad I feel like it's her first song shes actually tried on in sometime. I don't know maybe that's just me, but it feels like she actually worked hard on it. The lyrics though don't appeal that much to me, the music/vocal and videos are very creative and good to me. But I also feel in a way that Avex is trying to make her fail. I know that sounds weird, but they to a point have some control over her, someone needs to set her down and be like DUDE-ette you gotta come clean about what the issue is, before you release another "semi" good song, I think she's hiding something.. That legendary woman just isn't the same anymore. And it makes me sad. She was such a role model to me in her early years. I always wanted to be like her someday. (well not so much the fame part, but the highly respected as a person part). But now I look at her now and It's like a stranger. I don't even know who this woman is using the name Ayumi Hamasaki. I must quote a Japanese song "Where is that warmth?" or something similar to that.
And for my avex trying to fail her theory.. Did any of you notice Ai Otsuka's cover for "love is best"? Did you see how crappy it was? I had almost pre-ordered it but when I saw the cover it turned me away. So little things like that make me wonder if Avex is trying to fail it's artists, by allowing something like that to reach the public.
Idk I'm sure i've written up a million contradictions to myself, I don't debate or war really well in forums. Just random thoughts I've come up with.
I hope 2010 brings Ayumi back... But i'm sure some of you noticed a change between Guilty and Next Level.. Guilty was a very unique different CD cover. Next Level was americanized. I feel that the Japanese music industry is becoming to American.
And to me an American I try to find other styles of music cause American music gets old, and with Japanese more and more using american styles... Is there even a good authentic music to listen to anymore?
*breathes* I could rant on for hours, but I'm going to come to a close
