What went "wrong" with RAINBOW?

[Catzi]

Originally Posted by all.night.raver

It sounds cheesy but listening to RAINBOW (while under the influence...), I could sort of feel the colors of the rainbow individually! It's different but I got addicted to it after a while!

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by all.night.raver

It sounds cheesy but listening to RAINBOW (while under the influence...), I could sort of feel the colors of the rainbow individually! It's different but I got addicted to it after a while!

I 2nd that with Catzi

[taskinillusion]

Well I don't know because RAINBOW is my favorite Ayu album!

[Bashumaru]

Lol, I thought RAINBOW was the most loved album XD, but RAINBOW to me, has its highs and its lows. Like some songs are better while some songs aren't as good. To me the best album though is Duty .

[TakaSama]

It's funny, because I am... is my favorite Ayu album and I used to hate RAINBOW. But now, RAINBOW, which I used to think was so different from I am... now feels more like the more inventive sister of it. I think a big part of that was the fact that RAINBOW was her first copy controlled album, and since I listened to CDs on my computer, I disliked it for that reason. I also thought that Ayu's sudden use of English in her songs was jarring. But listening to it now, it seems so new and rich compared to some of her recent albums. Don't get me wrong, I've liked all of her recent releases as well, but for very different reasons. I am... and Rainbow are the height of Ayu's personal creativity in my opinion.

[kendelle]

I think it may have something to do with her fans getting older and moving on in musical tastes. Ayu may not yet have found the perfect sound for them.

I LOVED RAINBOW I enjoy I am... too. I like her new songs, but probably not as much as her older songs...

[prussian blue]

Originally Posted by asongforXX

The single tracks were great. The pop tracks of RAINBOW (WE WISH, Real me, July 1st, independent) are some of her greatest and also her last few outstanding pop tracks.

yes the single are great!

but i think ayu's idea is going to finished because it released in the same month with i am... i think thats the reason why rainbow is a little bit not as fantastic compared to other album

the cover is great~ (lol its my first ayu' album and i was attracted by the cover)

songs like WE WISH, close to you, over need time to overcome it

IMO they are not my cup of tea in the beginning

real me lack of melody... its a great song but its too ... (cant describe it)

and other like dolls, heartplace, everlasting dream is great!

well it just my opinion

[truehappiness]

Well, RAINBOW tends to be called an ethereal experience by those who have listened to it.

The songs generate images of a sort of... cloudy.. rainbowy atmosphere. RAINBOW was definitely the perfect title for the album, like how I am... fit with its contents extremely well in conveying raw emotion..

[HanabiChick]

I like both I am... and RAINBOW, but I really prefer to listen to RAINBOW because I can listen to it from beginning to end without skipping a track. I like the mood on it, it's very dreamy-like.

[Aga-chan]

For me "RAINBOW" is a package from beginning to end. The cover art, the booklet pics, the interludes, the track order etc. While ayu has a concept for every album, the concept of "RAINBOW" (and also "MY STORY") is the most present throughout.
Though some of the songs on "RAINBOW" maybe aren't so strong on their own, they all flow perfectly.

[Indie]

I think both albums are amazing and they share most of my fav ayu songs, I don't understand how people say they're so different, they share similar styles; if anything RAINBOW has more of a dreamy sound to it (as someone already pointed out), Over FTW!.

[lumieregrl]

I keep trying to answer the questions, but the truth is I like all of her albums about the same...they just fit different moods and times, and I don't like them all ALL AT ONCE.

That being said, I really enjoy both RAINBOW and I am... I can't pick one over the other.

[TITANIC]

rainbow is one of my favorite song and Pv.. using this song i can make my friends start like ayu

[waterballoon]

There's nothing wrong with RAINBOW lol. RAINBOW is my 2nd favorite album after MY STORY.

There seems to be something about RAINBOW... the way it's displayed... very ethereal and surreal. You can hear it from 'everlasting dream' already.

The pop songs I would say are decent, but don't have that WOW factor IMO.

The ballads, however, are something you can NEVER EVER find in other albums. The dynamic contrast in Free & Easy, the ethereal feel in Over and HANABI, that oomph factor in Voyage and Dolls... her ballads in RAINBOW are among her most unique ones in her career.

[cttncandy]

I was one of those people that was disappointed with Rainbow. Still to this day I think it's right up there as one of Ayu's weakest albums. I just never really felt anything from it. It's still the album I ignore the most, and if I seat down to listen to it I usually have to force myself to finish it. I can't say I really liked any of the singles that represented it either (To me, Voyage is a mess, Free & Easy is not really my cup of tea, and H is not that bad but it's not spectacular either).

Visually though, its amazing! I mean the booklet is probably the best Ayu CD booklet ever. It's magical!

I like Rainbow, it had Heartplace, Free and Easy and HANABI on it. I can't remember the rest, but 3 decent songs on an album is quite good considering that (IMHO) a lot of her albums don't even have that.

[Jwiz]

I don't really like Rainbow. It has a few good songs; like Real me, Free and Easy, Close to you and Dolls but the rest are blahhh. Actually it all depends on personal preferance.

[AmyRoseM]

I think there was a lot of negative reactions regarding RAINBOW when it first came out because we had expected Ayu was going in a more grunge-rock direction (like in I am...). I think everyone was just confused for a moment after listening to it. And then there was the fact that a lot of it was very clean and manufactured and pop, and she was using a lot of English in her lyrics. Because she was so huge at the time everyone thought she was "taking a turn for the worse" or "selling out" and people were afraid. Now, 6 years later, we know that's not the case.

RAINBOW is an amazing album. It was just very different from I am... which caused a lot of people to immediately dislike it (because it was different). Yes, Real Me is like, the epitome of a pop song, but its a freaking GOOD pop song. If Ayu does any genre, she always does it right.

[KarenPang]

she put out something different whenever she release a new album . I like that she doesn't pigeon herself & just stick to 1 type of music genre

that should be the way when artistes tackle experiments in their music . Or else they will get stuck in a rut & they wouldn't be able to break outta it

[Melon Panda]

I like this thread brought out all the RAINBOW fans.