Is There Anything You DON'T Like About Ayumi?

[Coelacanth]

The lack of thought being put into album/single covers is particularly annoying.

I feel that GUILTY could have made a bigger impact if it was packaged right visually. I'm talking about like, epic, groundbreaking PV's and a controversial album cover/cohesive booklet.

I don't like how she's extremely focused on her tours. She seems a lot more focused on touring than her actual music, which should never be the case for a recording artist. I also don't like how she's under the impression that she has to release a full-length album around the same time every year. She seems really nonchalant lately about the direction of her musical career.

[naxxo.licious™]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

The lack of thought being put into album/single covers is particularly annoying.

I feel that GUILTY could have made a bigger impact if it was packaged right visually. I'm talking about like, epic, groundbreaking PV's and a controversial album cover/cohesive booklet.

I don't like how she's extremely focused on her tours. She seems a lot more focused on touring than her actual music, which should never be the case for a recording artist. I also don't like how she's under the impression that she has to release a full-length album around the same time every year. She seems really nonchalant lately about the direction of her musical career.

I agree with u. Her covers most of the time have nothing to do with the songs, specially her album covers. Like Duty. Yeah, the outfit was ok for SURREAL cause it was....surreal lol. But it had nothing to do with Duty. Or as u said, the GUILTY covers...... They're not bad, but they don't suit the album.
Yes ayu, having claws doesn't mean u're guilty

I also agree about ayu releasing one album per year. To be honest i always want new releases, but this is kinda insane. She works SO MUCH. It's not even healthy.

I think she should release an album until she feels she can release a HQ album.
Don't get me wrong. ALL of her albums are just great, MAGNIFICIENT, but the latest ones feel like they were rushed.
GUILTY was incredible. I think the album was really cohesive, but there were 4 interludes! If she had waited some more time, we could've had some new songs instead.

[criminal]

Okay, so I read through the thread and want to quote and reply to some posts.

Originally Posted by guilty_me

Her covers most of the time have nothing to do with the songs, specially her album covers. Like Duty. Yeah, the outfit was ok for SURREAL cause it was....surreal lol. But it had nothing to do with Duty.

I don't really think Ayumi thought about the idea of being in an animal print suit for the cover of her album.. It was her duty to be in that suit.

Originally Posted by guilty_me

And talking about her amount of albums, it's quite scary lol. For example Hard Candy from Madonna, who's started in 1983, was her 11th album.
While GUILTY from Ayu, who started in 1998, was her 9th album O________O

That's just a thing about the Japanese music industry. You have to keep pumping out releases in order to be remembered, for most of the time. I agree that it is scary, but at least we've got so much great music from Ayumi, rather than 4 albums or 5, if lucky.

Originally Posted by truehappiness

And regarding her photoshoots. I think she's looked a lot less on-point with recent covers.. disregarding Mirrorcle World, I'd say that glitter, t2m, A BEST 2, and GUILTY were all very lukewarm-ish covers. They lacked the oomph that Ayu releases usually have. [couldn't they have taken more shots?]~

Maybe she just doesn't care about that so much anymore. She's made her name and she has sellout concerts. Maybe her priorities regarding her career have changed?

Originally Posted by koshka

Oh! I forget this.

I dislike the fact she don't make collaborations after 'a song is born'.
Ayu it's selfish XDDD

I think that she's just an individualist since her lyrics and her songs are so close to her. She can't really share that with anyone else.

Originally Posted by truehappiness

[He's the guy that shot A BEST 2 and t2m]

LOL WTH.. REALLY?! O_O Those are cool pictures.. they're just cool as pictures and not really as meaningful covers. They're kinda like shots from whatever that make-up magazine is. [SCawaii? bea's UP] They're so ordinary and Ayumi chose THAT dude to shoot a music video?! OMG, I have no idea what was going through the management's head at that moment.

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I remember when we used to see Ayu on TV like every day.. :[ :[~

I want Ayumi to have that influence she felt she had when she had to change the cover for I am... [this is getting a little sappy and nostalgic.]

[Chibi_Venus]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

I also don't like how she's under the impression that she has to release a full-length album around the same time every year.

I agree. Everything's always either on New Year's or somewhere close to Christmas. What I wish for is a release somewhere around September, like "Duty."

The only thing I have to argue about with repetitive lyrics and a usual/cliche message in her songs is that, kind of like what truehappiness (and even other members in the past have) said, she's been around for ten years. She's bound to repeat something. All artists do. In a nutshell: Her "repetitive" lyrics don't bother me.

I think the reason we have glamorous shots, fashion magazine styled photobooks, and even ideas that seem like they weren't thought out (whether cover art or not) is that her career is not as high or where it used to be in the past. She still has tons of supporters, but people move on and either grow tired of her or start listening to new artists. I don't think she and her staff are shrugging things of like they don't care, but I think they're getting more around of the ideas of releasing something everyone might enjoy, not just the Ayu fans. Do you know what I'm trying to say? This is all very hard for me to explain while trying to not sound like a basher or someone who's losing interest in Ayu.

Anyway!

The only thing I don't like about Ayu (along with what Coelacanth said about a regular release date for albums) is her overuse of incorrect vibrato. What she does with her voice to create the vibrato effect is, well, completely incorrect! Yes, plenty of singers and performers create the effect by moving their mouths, but hers is slow and forced rather than like the final vibration of a bell. I just can't stand it.

[naxxo.licious™]

Originally Posted by Chibi_Venus

The only thing I don't like about Ayu (along with what Coelacanth said about a regular release date for albums) is her overuse of incorrect vibrato. What she does with her voice to create the vibrato effect is, well, completely incorrect! Yes, plenty of singers and performers create the effect by moving their mouths, but hers is slow and forced rather than like the final vibration of a bell. I just can't stand it.

LOL yeah i know what u mean. Her vibrato can be rather awesome or plain awful.
And as u said, the main problem is that she overuses it. But well, i'm used to it, and after u listen to it several times, u come to like it lol