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.

[apple-pi]

Originally Posted by MeruChan

I think RAINBOW is the worst album she's done..but the song RAINBOW was amazing! the covers too...I think the best work she's done is still Duty hands down! Who's with me??

I'M WITH YOU!! XD
I mean, I seriously don't think RAINBOW is her worst album, BUT DUTY PWNS!
DUTY FTW!! XD

Originally Posted by 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.

Originally Posted by emiko

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.

Heh, I love your posts XD
Seriously, they're really great, it helps me understand what it was like when RAINBOW came out, since I wasn't around back then...
anyway, just thought I'd point that out XD

[emi♡]

^thanks

so yeah, I had my own theory on RAINBOW, which I said above. But I've never been fully comfortable with it because it's based on her releases and what I know of them, and a lot on people and what they say, what I've heard, and so on.

So...I asked Delirium-Zero, what was her take on the subject, and with her permission, I will post it.

And yeah, when RAINBOW was released, it was kinda weird cuz... the album was just COMPLETELY different than any of us expected it to be. While songs like "Free & Easy" and "HANABI" were REALLY different from previous stuff, you could kinda tell from the singles that ayu seemed to be continuing the "raw" sound that "I am..." had. The new tracks were all really well-put-together, but still kinda raw and in a way, dark, you know? So when RAINBOW came out, those of us who loved "I am..."'s raw sound, and the raw sound reflected in songs like "independent", "Free & Easy", and "everywhere nowhere"'s CM version which was less polished, and "Heartplace" which we'd also heard in a CM at that point... we were just REALLY disappointed with how the album tracks like "WE WISH", "Real me", "Dolls" and such sounded. The polished, overproduced sound of RAINBOW was not at all what we expected or hoped for, and alot of us felt like it was a step backwards. (As I recall, "Heartplace" and "everywhere nowhere" were really the only album tracks that everyone seemed to agree that they liked)

The english lyrics coming into her songs felt wrong too. She'd said in interviews that she didn't like to do it, and to us, english lyrics were something that more sellout-type pop singers did. To have ayu do it was like.... I dunno, it just didn't feel right, and lots of us were kinda jarred & upset by it. Like ayu was selling out to sell better or "fit in" with other pop singers. It felt like something avex told her to do.

In retrospect though, aside from "Close to you" and "+", there's not a single song on the album that I skip. It's not really overproduced, just overproduced compared to what we were expecting at the time.

To this day, however, I do think that songs like "Free & Easy", "Heartplace" and "independent" stick out like a sore thumb compared to the "shiny" sound of the rest of the album, which makes the album as a whole still feel awkward and unfinished to me.

So there's my input on RAINBOW.

Thanks to Deli for that

[MissElin_]

You both have great point there. Cuz I am one of those how really enjoy RAINBOW, but there is a big change in Ayus music style. When I heard RAINBOW I was impressed that she could move on from her regular "Ayu"-sound to something new, but still Ayu. I was used to her older music and I have always enjoyed LOVEppears and Duty the most. But with RAINBOW something happend, it was new and I found it highly interesting. I deeply love WE WISH, Free & Easy, everywhere nowhere, July 1st, Heartplace and Real me.

[truehappiness]

tbh, I think that only like <10% of the people at AHS were actually around during RAINBOW's release.

It's pretty weird that a lot of the older fans kinda became distant as the years went by. I mean, barely anyone here probably remembers the present giveaways during A BEST, I am.., RAINBOW, and A BALLADS. Looking through the thread, seems as though like 2-3 people were around back then..

It was a quiet time back then. Threads on new album releases would barely reach 40 posts! O_O

[Ani_C]

RAINBOW is personally my fave xD It's a hard choice between the two I think.

[Melrose]

RAINBOW...RAINBOW..

everlasting dream: One of the best interludes by Ayu, ever.
WE WISH: I don't like the sound of this. The chorus gets kind of annoying. This is a very nostalgic song for me, though. I don't know why. I've never really liked this.
Real me: AWESOME. The lyrics are great, and it's very dance-able. ~In order to surviiive~
Free & Easy: One of Ayu's best ballads.
Heartplace: Amazing, but kind of boring after listening to it too much. Then it becomes good again. The live version is much better, because the guitars are louder. The bridge gives me goosebumbs.
Over: This just doesn't really touch me... I don't like the chorus. Nostalgic song, though. No clue why.
HANABI: Amazing! One of Ayu's best.
everywhere nowhere: Ungh. I don't like the chorus at all. And the strange bitter sound that this song has in the refrain is pretty freaky. This song makes me think of cliché western Pop songs.
July 1st: Love it!
Dolls: It's OK... I only put this one to please non-Ayu fans in the house lol.
Voyage: AMAZING.
Close to you: LOVE IT.
independent: Awesome!

OK, so most songs are love it or hate it. Overall I love the album, but the only tracks that stand out for me are: Real me, HANABI, Heartplace, Voyage and Free & Easy. I am... to me has the stand out tracks: UNITE!, evolution, Daybreak, M an Dearest. So it's a tie. I am also has the nostalgic songs still alone and A Song is born!

BTW, @emiko/Delirium-Zero: Who is Delirium-Zero and why did you ask him about Ayu instead of posting it yourself? XD Also, what does he mean by a raw sound? Non-techno? If so, LOVEppears has MUCH more techno than RAINBOW... So that means LOVEppears is less raw?

[Piccolo]

I think the change with Ayumi started with I am.., not RAINBOW. I could be wrong, but I thought I am... was not as popular in Japan? In terms of sales, there is a very noticeable drop from Duty to I am... Furthermore, her creative control increased during the I am... period, but she was able to produce a few strong gems such as evolution and M during this period, so people overlook that. RAINBOW unfortunately, did not have the same sound everyone expected so many people were turned off.

Delirium-Zero was a forum member here who had great thoughts and ideas. She's no longer posts here though.

[apple-pi]

They said "raw sound" was "less-produced", in the post~ I think... maybe, less mainstream? Or something close to that?

And aww, I don't undertand why there are so many people who dislike everywhere nowhere, I love it XD

I must say though, I never understood what the hype about Heartplace and July 1st was...

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by apple-pi

I must say though, I never understood what the hype about Heartplace and July 1st was...

I think it's because both songs were used in the Panasonic ads that ayumi was featured in

basically the whole album of RAINBOW was overhyped imo because almost 1/2 the album were featured in various Panasonic ads which ayumi was featured in

that's the only explaination I can think of , I could be wrong about it

[waterballoon]

Well, up to this point, I still cannot understand what's so unlikeable about RAINBOW...

IMO, RAINBOW is one of her few albums that has every single song related to the title itself.

And I know I'm weird but I didn't really like I am..., the songs sounded good as their own but when you listen to the album as a whole, it doesn't seem to flow well.

However, from everlasting dream to +, you know that RAINBOW flows quite smoothly, perhaps the only fault I see is Dolls coming right after July 1st; I think July 1st - neverending dream - Dolls - Voyage would be more cohesive but oh well.

Also, perhaps people didn't really like RAINBOW because it had tons of ballads. Maybe?

In any case, I feel kind of sorry for Ayu here. People expect too much from her. Yes, I agree, I am... was a masterpiece but it doesn't mean that you should judge her next album based on I am...

RAINBOW, to me, belongs in a completely different league from I am...

I am... was more rock-techonish to me, while RAINBOW was very poppy and mainstream.
Perhaps, some people prefer the raw sound of I am... compared to RAINBOW... well whatever rows your boat, I guess.

PS: Dolls is a damn good ballad!

[ownsarai]

I love RAINBOW personally, and I love I am... just as much. I think both are absolutely great albums. ^^

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

In any case, I feel kind of sorry for Ayu here. People expect too much from her. Yes, I agree, I am... was a masterpiece but it doesn't mean that you should judge her next album based on I am...

er ya I sometimes think that people are asking too much from her . People are never satisfied with practically anything & everything in life , period

[Rebirthia]

certainly, in my opinion, I am... is her best album, so of course RAINBOW cannot be better than I am...
NEVERTHELESS, some years ago i had a listening of RAINBOW that i enjoyed really much. i experienced the songs i n a very different way. In fact, I have wanted to relisten in depth this album for over several weeks. I will appretiate the songs, but i know they will not fil me in the way I am songs do.

[YuriChan]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

PS: Dolls is a damn good ballad!

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by apple-pi

They said "raw sound" was "less-produced", in the post~ I think... maybe, less mainstream? Or something close to that?

uhh...sorry for the delay on this, but the clarification is:

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zero

On one side of the spectrum is the "raw" sound, which basically means almost untouched by studio engineering. It's the product of writing what you feel, playing it as you feel it, and letting the studio like, leave it as-is. There might be synthesizers involved but there's little if any post-production in the studio to make it sound more "finished". This style is taken more seriously by rock music fans, and fans of more emotional, serious, dark music. Fans of that type of music don't like the "overproduced" sound which is typically stripped of emotion through overengineering.

On the other side of the spectrum is "overproduced", where the song has been diluted by studio work into a song intended for selling to the public as opposed to a piece of "art" intended for the artist to let their feelings out. This is the slick production most pop music has. The idea is to make it as appealing to most people's ears (especially young people's) as possible, often without regard to the artist's original intent. This style is the more enjoyable one to most pop-music lovers - to them, the "raw" style sounds simply unfinished and lazy.

The instruments used don't necessarily classify it as one or the other. Where typically "raw" music is guitar- and drum-based, and typically "overproduced" music is made entirely on keyboards & synthesizers, it doesn't mean a mostly synth song can't be raw ("And Then", for example), or a mostly guitar song can't be overproduced ("Humming 7/4", for example).

I'd classify most of ayu's music in a "happy medium" part of the spectrum. Alot of it is very slickly produced, but not overproduced most of the time. It's not usually engineered at the cost of the emotional feelings that went into the song to begin with. I do, however, think that "still alone" stuffered from a bad transition from its original "raw" feeling (heard in the takanoyuri CM) into being very overproduced (resulting in the shiny, squeaky-sounding album version).

Originally Posted by Piccolo

I think the change with Ayumi started with I am.., not RAINBOW. I could be wrong, but I thought I am... was not as popular in Japan? In terms of sales, there is a very noticeable drop from Duty to I am... Furthermore, her creative control increased during the I am... period, but she was able to produce a few strong gems such as evolution and M during this period, so people overlook that. RAINBOW unfortunately, did not have the same sound everyone expected so many people were turned off.

Delirium-Zero was a forum member here who had great thoughts and ideas. She's no longer posts here though.

I think I agree with you on the former, though I must admit, I never really considered people in Japan so much when I made my original assumptions, as I considered her fans on forums, maybe not the best thing to do lol

[sugarbasil]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

tbh, I think that only like <10% of the people at AHS were actually around during RAINBOW's release.

It's pretty weird that a lot of the older fans kinda became distant as the years went by. I mean, barely anyone here probably remembers the present giveaways during A BEST, I am.., RAINBOW, and A BALLADS. Looking through the thread, seems as though like 2-3 people were around back then..

It was a quiet time back then. Threads on new album releases would barely reach 40 posts! O_O

Maybe that's a sign of what they think right there. The older members just aren't interested in her anymore.

I actually became a hard-core fan the day after RAINBOW was released (that's when I bought it), so I was around for the release, but I can't give any imput on how I felt since it was new to me.

However, I actually found out about Ayu in a Japanese class with a member her named Marty. If I remember correctly, he was crazy about I am... and LOVEppears. Maybe he'll come on and share his input.

[AmyRoseM]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

tbh, I think that only like <10% of the people at AHS were actually around during RAINBOW's release.

It's pretty weird that a lot of the older fans kinda became distant as the years went by. I mean, barely anyone here probably remembers the present giveaways during A BEST, I am.., RAINBOW, and A BALLADS. Looking through the thread, seems as though like 2-3 people were around back then..

It was a quiet time back then. Threads on new album releases would barely reach 40 posts! O_O

In all honesty I can't remember if I was here in 2002 or at another forum that has since died (I can't remember the name/address, but it used to be big). I know if I was here it was under a different username, because there was a super brief period in my life where I kinda drifted away from Ayu (but obviously I found my love for her again!).

[CHE.R.RY]

Originally Posted by ~ayu-cake~

I don't dislike RAINBOW, but I feel that the the majority of the tracks are fairly weak and just bore me.

I think I have to agree with this...I don't know, I hardly listen to it, but it's not a terrible album or anything.
I will, however, say that I feel it was a downgrade from 'I am...'

[Ani_C]

Now that I think about it, it seems I Am... has great hits in it but as a whole RAINBOW takes the cake I'd say It's an emotional rollercoaster (Powerful start, saddens up, neutralizes and ends happily)