Has ayu lost her touch?

[bluegie]

@Ayu_no_tenshi: you wrote a long msg. My eyes almost dried out after reading it haha.

Sometimes I think about what you've written as well. Almost everyone knew that her earlier works were all about her past, her dark experience, etc. At this moment she writes lyrics for her fans, and sometimes I think she does incorporate her current life into her recent work as well. The thing is, she doesn't have a common normal life anymore (well she's a diva). The lyrical content may not connect to the audience (I'm talking about those casual buyers. Fans will get connected easily anywayz). Back in the old time teenagers got attracted because they may share similar experience.

And about her health. You know ayu will never stop herself. Back then during DOME TOUR period, she was transported to the dome by wheelchair. Her health wasn't great, but she insisted to perform. That's part of the reason she gets her success, in which she never gives up. The only thing we can do is to pray the show finishes as fast as possible, so that she can head back and get a rest.

[AyUmIXx]

^
the thing is, she won't.. she's a very stubborn woman..
i don't know who can stop her doing that..

[Ayu_no_tenshi]

@blugie: yeah...i know. i agree with you. it has a lot to do with her being successful but she really needs to realize when it's time to start taking it easy (which i highly doubt will happen anytime soon, if at all). my main point was that i think if people truly love her and call themselves fans, they should try to support her regardless of her slump period and attempt to understand the situation better instead of constantly complaining. you can't expect her to be perfect ALL THE TIME and living the life she has isn't exactly an easy task. i'm sure half of us here wouldn't be able to handle it as well as she has or make it as far as she did. have a little faith. she'll make it through this.

[zyoeru]

Ayu_no_tenshi, I agree with you completely. That's all I can say on the matter right now. XD

[nanakopy87]

Originally Posted by Ayu_no_tenshi

@blugie: yeah...i know. i agree with you. it has a lot to do with her being successful but she really needs to realize when it's time to start taking it easy (which i highly doubt will happen anytime soon, if at all). my main point was that i think if people truly love her and call themselves fans, they should try to support her regardless of her slump period and attempt to understand the situation better instead of constantly complaining. you can't expect her to be perfect ALL THE TIME and living the life she has isn't exactly an easy task. i'm sure half of us here wouldn't be able to handle it as well as she has or make it as far as she did. have a little faith. she'll make it through this.

yes.this is so true.i'm 100% agree with you

[AyUmIXx]

^
that's what i've been saying since the first post i posted on this thread haha
let's us support her no matter what she does.. because no one can stop her...except for herself..

[Ayu_no_tenshi]

Originally Posted by zyoeru

Ayu_no_tenshi, I agree with you completely. That's all I can say on the matter right now. XD

Originally Posted by nanakopy87

yes.this is so true.i'm 100% agree with you

Originally Posted by AyUmIXx

^
that's what i've been saying since the first post i posted on this thread haha
let's us support her no matter what she does.. because no one can stop her...except for herself..

thanks to all 3 of you. i wish more of us felt this way. it's quite sad, actually.

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

BTW, NL is one of her most cohesive albums IMO... besides I am..., Secret, Duty (yeah, Duty), Memorial Address and My Story IMO all of her albums show a particular direction

They really do. I hate it when people say that Ayu has no musical direction anymore when she's always had one for every single album. There are other artists who quite literally have no musical direction or progression let alone a fraction of what Ayu has.

Originally Posted by Ayu_no_tenshi

i agree 100% with both GRACE and Ayumi626. i would especially like to elaborate on the the statement from Ayumi626 about us (the fans). in the early part of her career, it was more about 'me me me'. singing was her escape and her way of confronting her issues and healing herself or even coming to realize something that she hadn't really known before. she's even said that she was writing for herself and trying to find her place in the world. it was all about discovering herself. then she got to a period to where things were great. she had her newly found success and her wonderful relationship and she started to change. i honestly think that's when she looked at her life and thought "wow...after all i've been through and the darkness i experienced, my fans were always there for me" and that caused her to be more conscious of us and what we want or things that we might be going through. these days, it's almost like she shoves her needs aside in order to please us. she's said several times in interviews that she feels in this day and age, it's her duty to deliver messages of hope to lift people up, keep them strong and help them go on. i can't think of any other artist out there that is as closely connected to their fans as ayu. eastern or western. while this is wonderful and it's definitely one of the things we've all come to love about ayu...it certainly doesn't help her out as much as it does for us. don't you think that we, as fans, have been a little too selfish and way too demanding of her? of course there are some of us out there that wish she'd take a break but i remember when she hurt her hand and almost canceled PCDL. a lot of people were furious. that's insane, if you ask me. her health and well-being should be our main concern. same goes for the voice complaints. i consider myself an extremely devoted ayu fan but i will be the first to admit that her voice has been off and weak lately in her live performances but that doesn't anger me and it doesn't make me upset with her. it certainly doesn't make me like her any less. what it does do, however, is make me worry. i'm really concerned about what's going on in her life. she's had a LOT of bad things happen over the course of the past two years and just as Ayumi626 said...she hasn't really allowed herself time to really think about those things and heal. she just always bounces back immediately with that "GOTTA GO ON!" kind of attitude so that we are not disappointed in her. we sit back and admire her for that and think "wow, she's so strong!" but really we need to know that it's ok to be weak sometimes. she's sacrificed a lot for the sake of her fans. she has all this bottled-up pain and it's completely thrown her off. everyone has their ups and downs. i truly believe that this is just a slump for her and she will get through it eventually. i have a feeling that the next album, or possibly the one after that, is going to be super amazing because everything that's building up inside of her right now is going to overflow or explode and she's gonna finally release all of her emotions and focus on healing herself again. she really needs to take it easy. anyway, as we all know...she just recently wrote and released a song specifically for US. "RED LINE ~for TA~" has some of the most beautiful and touching lyrics. it's all about offering us strength and hope. she's always there for us...how about we be there for her for a change??

I totally agree with you babe!
I support Ayu no matter what. Part of loving someone is taking the good with the bad.

[Ayu_no_tenshi]

^ exactly!!! thank you so much <3

[MemorialAddress]

Well obviously I agree with Ayu_no_tenshi too, since anyone who doesn't must either be an oblivious moron, or just a complete a~hole with no heart who doesn't care for ayu or her well being.

[SunshineSlayer]

^ Yeah, I mean obviously everyone is going to agree with that post. Haven't most of the people here been saying she needs to take a break?

[ever_free]

Ayu's Loveppears albums churned out many great classics like Fly High, Trauma, Boys And Girls, Who.., TO BE, End Roll, etc... Duty album was great too, very different feel from Loveppears. Till now, still listened to the tracks.

Loved the remixes albums too like all the past ayu-mix, cyber trance because the songs were good, thus the remixes were good too. Then came ayu mix 6 (gold and silver), nice concept but bland and dull remixes...

Songs like part of Me, Secret , Green, Will (Heaven Single), then Ballad... similar kind of arrangments?

[Yumsushi]

Originally Posted by ever_free

Loved the remixes albums too like all the past ayu-mix, cyber trance because the songs were good, thus the remixes were good too. Then came ayu mix 6 (gold and silver), nice concept but bland and dull remixes...

Really? The Step You and Beautiful Fighters remixes on 6 are the best darn mixes I have EVER heard! In fact they have converted a few people I know to Ayu.

[emi♡]

^Really really? LoL People seem to either love or hate those remixes...

I personally found them interesting, but I did get bored with them...each song was just boring to me lol

I did the Beautiful Fighters mix though. It was like a whole new song for me instead of a remix.

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by Yumsushi

Really? The Step You and Beautiful Fighters remixes on 6 are the best darn mixes I have EVER heard! In fact they have converted a few people I know to Ayu.

Yes, those two remixes are AMAZING!
I also love the 80 kidz remix of Rule on the R/S Single and the GREEN Remix as well!

[channy]

Originally Posted by bluegie

There's something you can't get even when you just read the info tho. That is the experience of following ayu's career at specific time.

What I'm trying to say is that we have been going through her career concurrently. We have witnessed her ups and downs, her dynamic fashion changes. So it's a bit different compared to just looking back without that particular moment's emotion being connected.

So true!!

[Lady_Eowyn]

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Ayumi~moments

Shes not lost her touch for me. I admit this year hasn't been the best for her, shes realised more so shes deaf, she even knows her live performances are suffering because she appolgised for that Evolution performance recently. She loves her job and she loves to sing and i think her passion lives on and she doesn't want that to die because she loves it.

My impression of most Ayu fans is because of the other music you listen to. A lot of fans i see here like a lot of RnB and over the top pop lark. Ayu isn't that singer AT ALL. Shes a pop artist and ballad artist. Which is completely different. Yeah she may have done songs sorta on the other lengths of pop like STEP you and such but there her one of songs shes written shes not always like that.

Most people i think on here expect too much also. Come on the woman is what 30? Shes had 11 years in music. The music industry seems to value songs about sex, getting women, getting drunk in clubs, finding some lover, drugs, war - Ayu sings nothing about that to be honest and she never will do. You guys all listen to this usually and expect ayu to come out with something amazingly dramatic. Not just that come on guys shes deaf in one ear - there logic tells me she can't dance that well. As a dancer myself you can't dance very well being deaf because your balance is effected dramatically so where other artists are putting on some amazing show with dancing and all this - its too much on Ayu herself. She has to be able to hear her own voice with one ear for a start which is hard enough so dancing and trying to do that is hard because you shake your dear drum and cochlea by dancing thus proving it difficult to hear.

Originally Posted by Terri

In some ways yes, and in some ways no.

Aside from Ayu personally, look at the Japanese music industry. There's countless bands and singers all doing the same thing you sometimes forget their names (I know I do). So, these record companies, such as Avex treat their artists like toys. Dress them all the same, sing the same songs, and so forth. If one artist gets popular for doing something, the rest follow in line.

Finally, I think it's the generation. Sometimes it' NOT the artist, it's the listeners. The artists may still remain the same, but it's the audiences' perceptions and expectations that change. Most fans have been fans for years and not knowing, they grow up and see things differently. What excited them then, is completely vague now. Music is constantly changing and I think as a generation we've been exposed to such many different things that it obscures the way we feel about Ayu, or anybody for that matter.

[QUOTE=Crystal_Ageha;2203832]Okay, I haven't read every single post, but I have read most of them, and what bothers me most is the people saying that all her music sounds exactly the same......

Are you serious??? Every single song sounds the same--Or, every song of a certain sub genre sounds exactly the same? Somebody above said that Because of You and Rule and 1 LOVE all sound the same, because they are dark rock (which, it's actually dark POP rock, of course, at best).... Are you ****ing serious!? Several other people have said similar things...
You guys must just not like that sub genre, then, or at least not those songs, because, for example, those three songs CERTAINLY do not sound alike. Nothing is the same, other than the freakin' guitar. They don't even have the same themes. Some of her songs, of course, do have similar chords or instruments or whatever, but she has a crap load of songs, so a few seasonal songs sounding similar to one another, out of how freakin' many, is not a big deal. Even Sunrise, one of her newest songs - and a seasonal one, at that, sounds distinct from, say, fairyland or BLUE BIRD. And You were... does remind me of No way to say, but no way would I confuse them...............Unless, I just hated her ballades, or never really took the time to listen to them.

I think some people's problems are, a lot of you just don't like pop anymore, at least not regular pop. (Or maybe you never really did, you just liked Ayumi? Whatever, I don't know.) And in general, that's what Ayumi is. Granted, she's one of the most experimental singers I've ever seen - even though she's always pop, she has incorporated every other genre various times, as well - but in the end, Ayumi is still pop.
So maybe you guys should not only try a different singer, but a different music style all together, and stop hating on something just because it isn't your taste. [QUOTE]

i agree.

sorry i got tired of reading 13 pages lol

Well, i agree with all the guys i quoted. I also loved the post of Cutieismylife; but naturally i want to post my opinion

First, i think there should be a more precise definition of "touch" because the definition of touch can be different to each person. To me, the touch of ayu consists on:

1) her lyrics. Lots of people can write about love, break ups, and feelings. The difference is the arguments you use to talk about them. Her approach to these ideas are so beautifully articulated and filled with so much depth. I often see many pop artists talk about the same subjects, but feels like they are singing about nothing. Their songs are boring and superficial.

2) Her as an artist, not just a singer. putting your prety face in a magazine and just sing (unless you sing like Celine Dion or Reneé Fleming, which is very rare btw) doesn't make you an artist. Ayu writes all her lyrics, and gets credits as a producer. And we all know she can compose too.

there are more points (like her music and her image), but those are the standouts for me. As for if she's losing her touch, no, i think she hasn't. She is still great. However, i believe there are some technical areas she can improve a lot, for instance, her voice in lives and the way she organises her concerts. i definitely vote she gets a new team so she can get some fresh ideas, but that's not likely to happen. she doesn't have a husband, or children, her staff is her family.

However, i think her essence is still intact. there are things that are steady in what she is, like the rock in her songs or the summer/winter ballads. and i think that's fine. i believe some the things she does in her music and lyrics are her signature, and thinking that she should change them drastically is not very realistic,because that would be like asking her that she stops being who she is. and like cutieismylife said, if you don't like what she does anymore,please go find someone else that can fulfill your expectations. may be you expect too much from her. she has a formula, yeah, granted, but who doesn't? all artists have a characteristic personality, in terms of public image and music. they'll repeat themselves a lot, especially if they've been performing 11 years nonstop. i know of several artists that have been released less stuff than ayu, and they have been accused of doing the same things over and over again. I still have to see tracks from Namie that doesn't include lots of dance tracks, lyrics that talk about sex (or getting naughty with a boy) or pop ballads. all artists repeat themselves.

Finally, like Terri said, many of the success ayu gets depends on the audience, and their expectations and interests are different. the audience was not same 10 years ago and is not the same now. In the end, they are the ones who decide how succesful an artist will be. it's not like she's better now, or she was better before, the numbers and the sales only indicate the preference on the audience, not the quality of the artist, and i think ayu is still as hardworking and talented as she was in the past. Just happens that eventually, all artists stop being top sellers at some point, ALL. those things tend to flow a lot, and evern big names like Michael Jackson went through the same thing.

[Andrenekoi]

^I agree with most that u posted (in fact, I myself said the same things sometimes)... but about her staff... I don't think that anyone who is asking her to fire them all in order to get new ideas would do that... It's not this easy... people who are with her forever aren't there just cuz she knows them and feels confortable, but also cuz she knows them and likes their work... It's couse this partnership works, or at least, Ayu thinks they work (imo, they do). On the same way that every artist has their formulas, they also have they favorite people to work with...

[*hearT_Place*]

I don't think she's losing her touch. I remember feeling something like this back in the My Story days, when she had a string of PVs that, back then, I thought were lackluster and "meh". And then, she bounced back with Step you, is this Love, and alterna, which blew me away. I think everything just ebbs and flows. Who knows, we might one day look back and be like "Ahh, the Next Level Era. Those were the days..."

[Raleigh]

I'll be the first one who will mention how 2009 was quite bland for us Ayu fans. Right now I think she's redeeming herself with You Were/Ballad. It might not be her best ballad single but it does point towards an interesting direction. Maybe we'll see something interesting for 2010...