What went "wrong" with RAINBOW?

[emi♡]

RAINBOW is the i think major turning point in Ayu's career, because it was such a huge change for her then.

I mean when you think about it, all her major hit singles are on I am... that she still performs today, you know, UNITE!, evolution, M, Dearest. She's known for these songs, and for me, they represent a classic ayu style.

For RAINBOW to come out, I think it was just really different. Different compositions, like Free & Easy, heartplace, a little bit Real Me, close to you. And I think that, they're more experimental Ayu, as in, she had her hand in the themes and comps. such like that. I think that alot of fans who expected another really upbeat album like I am or Loveppears were a bit disappointed with RAINBOW and she lost fans, and yet on the other hand, she also gained a lot of new fans as well. And so, this album represents a turning point for her fans in that way.

For me, now that we've all had time to see the direction of her music after RAINBOW, I think it was more of a transitional album, because now, I think, we see an Ayu who is completely involved in every aspect of her music, and experiments with it in her way to develop the sound that she wants, something that I think, became more real starting with RAINBOW.

And we see the same sort of thing with (miss) understood. She experimented, did what she wanted. She lost some fans, she gained some. It was an interesting time here at AHS then. I only wish I had been a member here in 2002 to see the reaction to RAINBOW's release.