10th Anniversary "To Be" and "Love~"

[SheFliesHigher]

Maybe I'm just not paying attention, but I didn't see any discussion thread devoted to these two "new" songs on the Green single. I was interested to hear what others thought of them.

Personally, I think it's sometimes sad that Ayu simply cannot sing some of her old, classic songs the same way anymore. I actually find "To Be" a little hard to listen to--her vocals just do not fit the song anymore. There was a thread here discussing whether Ayu's vocals have worsened recently, and I do think this is the case, but I don't have any issue with her vocals in "Green" and "Days"...on the contrary, I quite like "Days". I just think "To Be" and "Love~Destiny" were designed for a voice that Ayu does not have anymore, and so I feel like I will never be able to hear her sing them again in a way that will wow me...it's make me a little bit sad, to be honest.

Thoughts???

[GRACE]

TO BE is absolutely divine, I really like what she did with these 10th anniversary versions. She actually treated them as new songs, and sang them accordingly. If she did the same thing as Who..., where she tried to carbon copy the original, I'd have been incredibly pissed and probably canceled my orders of the singles.

[nikku76]

o_O Perhaps if you were expecting the songs to sound exactly the same, it would seem that way (that her vocals have degraded). But being unfamiliar with the past versions, I see absolutely nothing wrong with the vocals. They are strong but not over the top. You may want to keep in mind that Ayumi did not exactly sing the way she should have in her younger years, often pushing her voice past the comfort zone for her range. Voice aside, I would definitely say she has matured in her skill as a singer.

That aside, I am sure I have heard both these songs in their original versions at least once in the past. But they never really stood out. They do now though, whether it's cause they are featured on a single or because they are just better.

[jbrat2219]

I find it weird how some people expect them to sound the same... I mean if that were the purpose, she could have just put the originals on the single... Her voice is different now, she even admitted in her TA message that those notes were hard to hit with her voice the way it is now. But regardless, she did her best and I think it turned out great

[Kazeyomi]

In MW I prefer YOU than Depend on You (even if has a really good arrangement, but the vocals are.. meh :/) but in GREEN/Days

I love both!

Love~Destiny~ makes me sad, is really touching ç__ç' more than the original.
TO BE is amazing *_* I love the new arrangement and her vocals are really good!

I just think "To Be" and "Love~Destiny" were designed for a voice that Ayu does not have anymore, and so I feel like I will never be able to hear her sing them again in a way that will wow me...it's make me a little bit sad, to be honest.

Aw ;_; this is really sad, srsly.

[NintendoHTF1242]

LOVE ~Destiny~ was ruined, the song was already beautiful with that piano

I hate the new version because her vocals aren't as beautiful when she sang it originally. Yes, they aren't supposed to resemble the original, but I WANT MY CUTE AYU >:C

TO BE amazed me though, she did GREAT in that song <3

[milky_way]

I love the new version of TO BE , and I never really cared about LOVE ~Destiny~, so I have no opinion on the new version

[reixminako]

LOVE ~Destiny~ (10th Anniversary version) was really touching, but I was disappointed with TO BE. I think that's just because I don't like the arrangement very much, though. Her vocals have worsened, but that's something that we're just gonna have to deal with -- she can still belt out those tunes! Maybe not as great as before, but she can still do it.

[freedreamer]

LOVE ~Destiny~ was a pleasant surprise...I will listen to this version more and like the song hahaha...

TO BE was i think gd after a couple of listens...at first i felt it lacked something from the original...because it sounded more...digitalized somehow...but then It felt strong as well

I think she did great on both...
about her voice...i think it was good (As usual..on CDs)
and she still sang them either way....

Gd job AYu!

[jimex289]

Originally Posted by SheFliesHigher

Maybe I'm just not paying attention, but I didn't see any discussion thread devoted to these two "new" songs on the Green single. I was interested to hear what others thought of them.

Personally, I think it's sometimes sad that Ayu simply cannot sing some of her old, classic songs the same way anymore. I actually find "To Be" a little hard to listen to--her vocals just do not fit the song anymore. There was a thread here discussing whether Ayu's vocals have worsened recently, and I do think this is the case, but I don't have any issue with her vocals in "Green" and "Days"...on the contrary, I quite like "Days". I just think "To Be" and "Love~Destiny" were designed for a voice that Ayu does not have anymore, and so I feel like I will never be able to hear her sing them again in a way that will wow me...it's make me a little bit sad, to be honest.

Thoughts???

You're not the only one. I felt a little sad and uneasy listening to these re-recordings as well. She simply cannot go back to those days, whether it's her current self that prevents it or her vocal abilities that prevent it. They aren't bad re-recordings and I think it's too much to expect they will sound exactly like the old ones. Otherwise, what would be the point of it being a "re-recording". I'll listen to them for what they are. These two pieces have their own good points about them though, without comparing them to the original which I think is hard to do. Her voice is definitely a lot stronger and this is the main factor that I think changes the overall sound of both.

[GRACE]

imo, if you want to hear songs that sound just like the old versions... why not just listen to the old versions?

[DA1SUK1DAY01691]

I really think she did well on all five remakes (YOU, DoY, Who..., LOVE, and TO BE). They all brought a new aspect to the song, whether it's the voice or the arrangement. (Honestly, if she rearranged "Who...", that in itself would have screwed with the whole song.)

TO BE made me like the song more, since I didn't really listen to it before. I could tell how hard she tried to sing this song, and it came out VERY well. LOVE ~Destiny~ was a pleasant surprise, I felt the same sadness in this version like the previous version.

I think all these songs appeal well to those who want to sing it too, since the range is made a little more narrower.

[Kikaru]

^IA.

I think yeah, her voice isn't suited for some of the higher notes, but I actually found the newer versions more pleasant to listen to. Maybe it's because I like her post-duty voice better, and I didn't really compare them to the previous versions after the preview.

But I love the new Love~Destiny~ and actually like the new TO BE better. I still like the originals, but I like her voice in this version so much better.

[SheFliesHigher]

I think some people are misunderstanding me, or maybe I didn't write clearly....I DON'T want them to sound exactly the same, and I can do without snarky comments such as "why not just listen to the old versions?" =/

What I am trying to express here is that I feel she can't sing some of her old songs in a pleasing way anymore. I don't much like the vocals in either of these songs. I understand people are going to disagree with me, which is good, because I am happy to see others happy with Ayu. I just feel like her current voice can no longer deliver these songs with the same feeling, and I was hoping to hear feedback from others. Just don't mistake what I'm saying as "I want her to produce carbon copies." I'm always excited to hear her sing classic songs, but most of the time, I am disappointed.

However, it's good to see that the majority of folks here are impressed. I'll give the songs another listen and see if my opinion changes a little.

[Yum!Fruit_Salad!]

Ayu delivered with TO BE. Her virbato is evident but the amount it 's heard is low and doesn't have a big appearance i feared it might. I'm not saying she 100% vocally perfect but this peformance certainly to me comes close.

I've noticed from several people's responses that if you didn't care for the original, you probably didn't care much for the 10th Anniversary versions. I never liked YOU, Who..., and LOVE~Destiny~ and the subsequent versions really don't do much for me but I love Depend on you and TO BE originally and hearing these versions make me feel nostaglic.