Official thread for Duty reviews

[sxesven]

Since I'm working my way through writing reviews for everything, and since I'm sure other people will also be keen to give their opinion, I'm opening this thread (the recent albums have dedicated threads - the older ones don't all). The most relevant thread I could find was 5 Years of Duty, but since it's been 12 years now I think starting a new thread isn't the worst of ideas.

I posted in said thread myself, saying this:

Originally Posted by sxesven

Still my favorite album by far! Along with Memorial Address, Duty is pretty much the only album I listen to when I want to hear some Ayu. Very strong from start to finish, with nothing but good songs and a large portion of personal favorites, among which the entirely brilliant Girlish. Excellent album!

Fun to see that in 2005 Memorial address and Duty already were my favourites, too (they still are). Judging from the comment, I gather I was growing slightly Ayu-weary in 2005 already, after two years of heavy listening (like most fans, probably, I literally listened to nothing buy Ayu in the first few months after discovering her - and well, there's risks there, then, like getting really sick of it fast, which eventually happened. I'm over it now. Huzzah.).

So, Duty. The album I used to call my favourite out of everything, even more so than Memorial address, but this has changed a bit, since I consider Memorial address to be my favourite (mini) album now. This is the first time I'll be playing Duty since, well, a while, so I wonder how it holds up.

In all honesty, I think the opening track/prelude is kind of tacky now. starting over has a sort of happity-hippity-hoppity cheerfulness to it that is slightly annoying, and it feels extremely dated. S-s-s-s-s-searching. Ouch. Honestly, though, this is probably the only real flaw to Duty. Songwise, it's extremely solid. A different opener might've worked wonders, though.

Duty is the first actual song and it kicks in well enough. The moody strings and the choir set the mood fast. It's a kind of dark, understated sort of R&B affair. It's very constant, never lets down in its menacing feel, and is a special song for those reasons alone. Still, it's not a personal favourite. It's too R&B-poppy (for some reason it always makes me think of Destiny's Child), and the Spanish-sounding guitar puts me off. While it is quite admirable for its composition and arrangement it fails to really move me. Still, good opener.

vogue is nice. It's a fairly standard pop song with some slight Middle-Eastern influences. For me, it's typical of golden era Ayu - even if it's not a particular standout track, it is still immensily listenable. It's why an album like Duty is so admirable; there's amazing tracks, and there's good tracks, but no bad ones. This one is good by my reckoning. Not spectacular though. Interestingly, I have always felt, the slightly melancholy mood is retained. In a way, vogue is summery, but it's neither happy nor cheerful. There's a moody undercurrent at all times, which is quite impressive.

End of the World I have always loved. Like I have said before I am always particularly fond of Ayu's dance tracks and power ballads (and by power ballad I mean any ballad-like song with a rock-yer-balls-out chorus). End of the World is right up there, for me, with Still alone, Memorial address, NEVER EVER, the A Song for XX version off A Ballads. I dig it. I love the vocal squeals (eeeeeeeeeeee). Solid song. Again, notably, this is a track with a noticeable moodiness to it - something that I feel characterizes Duty as an album at least until SURREAL, and which seems to stem from the bass lines.

SCAR is a wonderful power ballad. It's perfect. I love the percussion on this. The chorus is lovely. It was one of the first songs in Ayu's discography, I have always felt, that adequately and maturely expressed feelings of sadness and loneliness. Far away I have always had a soft spot for. It has a very mysterious and magical feel to it, and despite the fact that it's fairly standard pop fare in some ways, it manages to stand out through various means. The percussion again deserves a special mention. It has a very particular drive to it that really defines the song. Good.

SURREAL may be my favourite song off Duty. Despite the first half being good, it's where the album takes a turn for the (even) better. It's the first song that seems free of the (needlessly) moody bass lines. Compositionally, it's pure joy. It builds up amazingly, piano, vocals, drum-and-bassy beats, guitar squeal, blast off. The song is like a huge climax, and when the chorus bursts out it's like you're in heaven. SURREAL has fantastic vocals, I think. I love Ayu's squeaks. So much. Augh. Irresistible drive. Great melodies. Fantastic song.

AUDIENCE is another old-time favourite. Such a great dance tune. It is a pure, positive burst of energy that is cheerful and upbeat without ever feeling cheap. Truly amazing. Great arrangement. Love the hand claps. AUDIENCE is one of the songs I most vividly remember falling in love with (besides SEASONS, which was my first Ayu song). We had visited some family and were driving back home; I was in the passenger's seat and had brought my MiniDisc player with a MiniDisc freshly filled to the brim (33 songs) with Ayu tunes I had just downloaded off KaZaA after discovering Ayu by almost-accident only a little earlier. I put it on, AUDIENCE started playing and right there and then I thought, 'well, isn't it weird how I, a hardcore punkrocker, am totally friggin' loving this uplifting dance music?', and I immediately realized it wasn't weird at all, and that loving music is only a matter of whether you dig it, not of what kind of music it is and what the popular opinion of it is. Probably the most important realization of my life - musically at the least.

SEASONS is the first Ayu song ever heard and so it always will be special to me. I love it to bits - it's no miracle I fell in love with it, and consequently Ayu, only 10 seconds in. It's the quintessential Ayu ballad. Pure, serene, beautiful. Totally essential.

teddy bear is such a sweet song. It's the ultimate display of how little Ayu needs to shine. Simple yet elegant piano playing supports her heartfealt singing. I'll be frank - I've never concerned myself with Ayu's lyrics, never looked them and their translations up, and to some people this may be incomprehensible, but for me it's the ultimately beauty - Ayu has demonstrated to me, like no other, that conveying emotion through voice need by no means rely on the words. I can guess for myself what stories, contexts and emotions the song may tell to the listener, and I love that.

Key ~eternal tie ver.~ I guess you could say is a power ballad (a ballad at the least, of course), too, despite a truly rocking chorus. Still, it's very powerful. It's short and to the point. It's, simply, a good song. I dig it.

girlish used to be my favourite Ayu song for a long time. I recently described in my review of Memorial address how I love the evident 'band feel' in Memorial address, the song, and it's even more evident in girlish. It sounds like Ayu and her band are right there in the studio, jamming this song out in one go. It makes me feel good like nothing else. The way in which everyone joins in eventually, singing along and clapping hands, is pure magic. The live instrumentation works wonders. As a drummer, I always focus on the percussion, and nothing sounds as good as someone actually drumming the song. No matter how fancy you arrange a song, no matter how fancy a drum track you devise, it will never have the liveliness and authenticity of the real deal. girlish is ab fab. The perfect closing song. This could lift my spirits anytime.

So, in conclusion? It's evident that Duty has a lot of strong material. There's so many good songs here, and especially the second half of the album has classic upon classic upon classic. What bugs me more than it used to is the slightly oppressive feel the first half of the album has to it. I already described at some points that there seems to be an inherent moodiness to all these first few songs, and I'm not the biggest fan. It's not like Memorial address, which also has sadness, angriness, and what-not. It's a sort of weariness I could swear is just audible (which wouldn't be odd if you consider the period this was released). Still, the second half is pure joy for me. In all, not as brilliant an album as I remember it - the first half is good, but that's all there is to it. Just a second half as brilliant as I remember it. Which is absolutely fine with me.