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[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by ストロボ・EdGE

Mmm, well I guess Ayu wouldn't exactly completely change her genre like Madonna does, but Asfxx, LOVEppears, Duty, RAINBOW, and I am... are such starkly different albums and styles, at least to my ears. Since Memorial Address and on, it's like she's found her signature style and has stuck to it, with exceptions here and there.

Well, now I have to disagree a little...

I do find a lot of her earlier singles interchangeable between her albums... audience could easily fit loveppears, duty or i am... for example... and while I agree she tends to have 2 "generic" singles on every era, the summer single and the winter single, plus the concert ending song, that sounds very similar too, I would say most of her albums are really different from each other...

Ayu's music is mostly made of a mix of three influences: Dance, rock and classical music... And even when she tries other styles, she mix this style to her own sound instead of totally changing it, having songs that mix her 3 main genres with the theme of the album.

I can see a similar patern on those:

Spoiler:

A song for xx - standart japanese pop/rock from the 90s. Example: A song for xx

LOVEppears - eletronic album with dark and cold tone... I'm not familiar with eletronic music subgenres, but She has a main one here. Example: Appears

Duty - the start of her trying to find out her own sound, so, this album mix a lot of different stuff and tie then together with it's dark tone. Example: Duty

I am... - At this point, she still is trying to find her sound, and she reaches it on some songs like M and evolution... the album doesn't have a main sounding, but It ends being one of her most personal album.... Example: M

Rainbow - the first time she starts producing a album after her sound was found, totally based on her mix of rock, dance, classic, what are the most proiminent elements on 90% of what she releases after this era. Example: Free & Easy

Memorial Address - It doesn't have a main sound or a main tone, still, it's the first time she played with her own sound and started experiementing with it... but if you read the lyrics in the tracklist order, it really does seen like the whole album is a memorial address.

My Story - She takes the experiements started on Memorial Address further, and while she keeps her mix of dance, rock and classic, the rock is the most focused of those. As she is experiementing, she album doesn't have a cohesive sound, but still, it's very personal... I see it as I am...2. Example: Moments

(miss)understood - I do find this one to be very cohesive, even if there is a lof of diversity... IMO it's come from the big influence from 70s and 80s western music u listen here, and that is reflected even on the album artwork and on the tour aesthetics. Example: Step you

Secret - Memorial Address 2 at first, when it became a full album, it gained influences from hard rock. Example: 1Love

Guilty - Even if I like the album and how it flows, it obvious her main influence here came later: Melodic Metal. It's her heavier sounding and probably her darkest album to date. Example: Marionette

Next Level - People hates this one, I love it... This time Ayu put some electropop + 8bit on her formula, releasing one of her most danceable albums, if not the most... At varying degrees, almost everysong reminds of videogame at some point. Example: Sparkle

Rock n Roll Circus - I am... 3. She is experiementing with her own style, she is trying different things, she is going everywhere and evolving her own sound... again, not cohesive, but very personal. Example: Microphone

Love songs - This time, while she focus on her main formula, the bigger part on the rock/dance/classic is the classic, making an grand still soft album, with a more mature sound. Example: Love Song

Someone talked about Madonna... there are some elements from her definitive albums, True blue and Like a Prayer, that still are present on her music... and always part of her music on every chance

[kagami]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Well, now I have to disagree a little...

I do find a lot of her earlier singles interchangeable between her albums... audience could easily fit loveppears, duty or i am... for example... and while I agree she tends to have 2 "generic" singles on every era, the summer single and the winter single, plus the concert ending song, that sounds very similar too, I would say most of her albums are really different from each other...

Ayu's music is mostly made of a mix of three influences: Dance, rock and classical music... And even when she tries other styles, she mix this style to her own sound instead of totally changing it, having songs that mix her 3 main genres with the theme of the album.

I completely agree, especially with the bold part. But I also think a number of her album tracks from her earlier era could be interchangeable as well.

I do think she started to find her sound, the best way for her to musically express herself. But I always maintain that some of her experimentation in these later years has been much, much more out there than anything she did earlier on. B&D, Slt, Mirrorcle World etc.

And, finally, I'm glad she has a solid base for her sound. It's makes her so totally Ayu and it's what I look forward to when I listen to her