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I think it is extremely subjective. I think that the Ayu from the past is still around definitely. Songs like Return Road, reminds me, BRILLANTE, Sweet scar, Sexy little things, don't look back, countdown, November, last angel, Love song, like a doll, crossroad, Microphone, progress, MOON, snowy kiss are all from the past two years and are stand outs in Ayu's discography. That's the problem though. There's only a few of them.
When comparing the newer albums to an album like I am..., where every single song could have been released as/was a hit, I guess it is a bit disappointing. However, imagine trying to outdo yourself every time? It would get to a point where you were only making music to retain your 'legend' status, instead of making music for the love of it. Also, popularity and youth doesn't last forever. I believe this is Ayu's mentality.
Can I also mention that it doesn't seem to be the music that is getting everybody riled up, it's her concepts. Personally, apart from the trilogy, M, Free & Easy, Duty, LOVEppears, I am..., and A BEST, all of her concepts are mediocre. Hell, if the I am... Original concept of the day in the life of Ayu had made the cut, it probably would have been more mundane than Party Queen.
The problem at the moment is that we only received Love songs 2 years ago, Ayu only split from Mannie this year, and now she's basically repeating the 'love' concept instead of trying something new. The music is fine, if not better than anything since GUILTY. She's really lifted her game, and her only mistake with A Classical it seems is reaching out to her fans by allowing them to choose most of the tracks, and making this even more symbolic by using a beautiful drawing from a fan as the cover art.
Every artist has a rough patch, but music wise, Ayu has never been completely tarnished by a release.
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