Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranma Matsuri
Can't really say. I wouldn't use the word "downhill" at this point but rather she's gone in a direction that for the most part, I haven't been feeling. I still consider myself a new fan (not getting fully into her until around the 50th singles/NEXT LEVEL). I enjoyed NL and that album is what convinced me to get into all her other albums (excluding MS and MA which had been the only ones I previously heard). I found that I prefer her older works to her newer works.
While I do acknowledge her vocals have gotten immensely better, I prefer her old voice because I feel more raw energy and I could really feel the messages she was trying to convey even though I can't understand the words. It's a little difficult to read her emotions in her post-GUILTY work. Musically and lyrically, though she's had really good albums before and after, I think her songs were at their highest quality from Duty to Memorial Address. The songs from those albums consistently had songs that imho deserved to be called 'classics' in her discography. But the albums certainly didn't go 'downhill' she just... changed (I think 'mature' is the wrong word for debatable reasons) and because of that, there's been more hits and misses. Secret had to grow on me, GUILTY had some great tracks but as a whole album was a complete bore, and after the 3rd time I can no longer listen to RnRC all the way through without falling asleep or forgetting I'm listening to it in the first place (that's a major indicator that something is boring me lol). I loved NL though (still do) and blossom is amazing so what can I say? lol  |
Exactly. I miss that rawness in her voice, that imperfection that gave her songs so much emotion. Like I said, that quality of her losing herself in her music, of her being almost overwhelmed by emotion. I find her voice these days too controlled, almost too pretty.
Guilty has some good songs, but it is such a weak album for me. The only song that can stand alongside her "classics" is untitled ~for her, I think. Maybe fated and Guilty as well. Next Level is much better. It's slowly growing on me, so I'm giving it a chance. Rock 'n' Roll Circus, though, has yet to offer me anything. Sunset is lovely, I have to say, but I was hoping that it would be the album to revive my great love for her. I'll give it time to accept it as a typical Ayu album. I really have high hopes for the next one. She seems to have broken away from the usual mold of her summer singles.