I was just thinking this the other day because I was listening to some of Kumi and Namie's older material. Namie's first several albums all sound like they exclusively belong to a specific era... I would even argue that all of her albums up until style have this characteristic. And you can tell that Kumi's first four albums come from the early to mid 2000's. But If I was to listen to I Am... I would honestly think that it could have been made fairly recently. Even songs from LOVEppears and Duty seem to sound pretty modern to me. Even comparing Duty to Genius 2000 you would think that Duty came years and years later even though they were released in the same year. To me, Ayu's music is timeless. It's not a bad thing that other people's albums have a sound that is specific to a certain time period because, after all, they were made to fit that specific sound at the time. But, it's just super cool that Ayu's sound has remained so fresh. I guess RnB tends to evolve more frequently then the styles that Ayu explores, but still. I find it easier to listen to Ayu's earlier albums whereas I have to be in a certain mood to listen to the earlier albums of Kumi, Namie, Utada, etc. GO AYU
