Disappointing 10th anniversary.

[truehappiness]

Well, she's been a perfectionist since the beginning, as that's how she is. I'd say that she's probably VERY familiar with techniques on how to perfect her vocal and the sound system she uses.. I think she's probably in her "prime" right now in terms of everything except for a few things [I'll leave other fans to explain those.. yeah..].. so.. yeah.

[SolarAngel]

Yeah i'm sure she has had a very enriching 10year journey to learn about all these performance techniques, technology etc. Perhaps the sound quality through live tv was just really bad. Otherwise, i felt the vocals were quite shocking. For example, on youtube when i watch Carrie Underwood performances, the crowd is screaming themselves hoarse and her voice still comes through great. It felt like ayu was just 'whacking' at the notes and words. I'll eagerly wait for the DVD to come out and relish it nonetheless.

[truehappiness]

Hm.. for the record, I don't think comparing Ayu to artists that actually "sing" very well technically and such is fair.. I mean, these are people who have been singing since they were born! Ayu was just kind of picked up.. and she's the only J-pop diva to have not really had a musical background before being thrust into the world of music..

[Melrose]

^

Aw. come on. ^^ Ayu is just not a very good vocal singer, but at least she puts emotion into her songs!! And that makes it better than the most perfect singer in the world, if he/she doesn't sing with his/her heart like Ayu does..

And talk about prime is soo silly. It sounds like she's dead or an old woman or something. Who says that she might not be even better at singing in the future? Maybe she will have a comeback? No one knows. :3

[namiie]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Hm.. for the record, I don't think comparing Ayu to artists that actually "sing" very well technically and such is fair.. I mean, these are people who have been singing since they were born! Ayu was just kind of picked up.. and she's the only J-pop diva to have not really had a musical background before being thrust into the world of music..

True. I've always thought of Ayu as a singer MADE, not a singer born. I think it's a stretch to say that she's the ONLY J-pop diva not to have a musical background, but compared to people like Ai Otsuka, who's been playing piano since 4, she IS at a disadvantage.

However, I really respect her for that since she's made incredible progress in both her songwriting/occasional composing and vocal technique since her debut.

[Melrose]

^

Plus for someone not very musical she's crazy good at composing! (Sometimes I think that the name CREA isn't her, but some kind of underground composer to make Ayu a success and pretend she composes good too @_@ But I'm just paranoid, I hope.)

I thought she could play the piano tho

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by Melrose

^

Aw. come on. ^^ Ayu is just not a very good vocal singer, but at least she puts emotion into her songs!! And that makes it better than the most perfect singer in the world, if he/she doesn't sing with his/her heart like Ayu does..

And talk about prime is soo silly. It sounds like she's dead or an old woman or something. Who says that she might not be even better at singing in the future? Maybe she will have a comeback? No one knows. :3

Most of the time her vocals are better than the rest of the artists I like and her vocals are one of the reasons I actually like her more than the others.
Of course sometimes and in some songs others show better technical singing and abilities but most of the time their vocals doesn't sound half as emotional and as good as ayu's in her songs. That's what I think.
I don't think that it's a fact that ayu isn't a very good vocal singer.. Sometimes though it's right and it goes for every artist. Really good technical singers can suck big time and a lot of times.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by namiie

True. I've always thought of Ayu as a singer MADE, not a singer born. I think it's a stretch to say that she's the ONLY J-pop diva not to have a musical background, but compared to people like Ai Otsuka, who's been playing piano since 4, she IS at a disadvantage.

However, I really respect her for that since she's made incredible progress in both her songwriting/occasional composing and vocal technique since her debut.

Well, if you look at the different people who have had high sales / enjoyed success as a J-pop female artist, you'll see that they either had the ambition to sing / perform well since they were a child, or like.. they were born into it. [Hikki was born into a musical family, Namie went to an academy for training artists, Ai Otsuka's got the music in her and such, BoA was discovered in Korea for her dance/singing, Ami Suzuki [doesn't really count] entered an ASAYAN singing contest and won by like 370,000 phone votes, Yuming was a composer/arranger/pianist/singer-songwriter..] Ayu just sorta just got discovered and from there, she's evolved into one of the most popular female artists that Japan has probably ever seen in its lifetime..

I'd have to say that I don't think anyone who discovered her in 1998/1999 thought she would last this long. I mean, sure, some of the 80's idols had enjoyed some 5-6 years or so of amazing popularity, but they all fizzled out after a while, whereas Ayu still remains relevant. [though it is VERY difficult for her to gain a new fanbase since she's been around for so long.. but I think that can be solved with the right song and the right tie-up. Just look at Hikki and the sort of.. never ending "growth" of her fanbase. Kingdom Hearts, EVANGELION, Last Friends, random-tie-ups that boost the amount of people that are interested in her.. I wish Ayu could have that luxury.

[Melrose]

You forgot Kuu.

[Rocky Raven]

Originally Posted by Melrose

^

Aw. come on. ^^ Ayu is just not a very good vocal singer, but at least she puts emotion into her songs!! And that makes it better than the most perfect singer in the world, if he/she doesn't sing with his/her heart like Ayu does..

And talk about prime is soo silly. It sounds like she's dead or an old woman or something. Who says that she might not be even better at singing in the future? Maybe she will have a comeback? No one knows. :3

I agree with u about the voice n the emotion she have in her song!
But just dont pull all the most perfect singer in the world down like Ayu wa the Greatest, how do u know that they dont sing n work by their HEART in everysong/album/performance they have!?!

[namiie]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Well, if you look at the different people who have had high sales / enjoyed success as a J-pop female artist, you'll see that they either had the ambition to sing / perform well since they were a child, or like.. they were born into it. [Hikki was born into a musical family, Namie went to an academy for training artists, Ai Otsuka's got the music in her and such, BoA was discovered in Korea for her dance/singing, Ami Suzuki [doesn't really count] entered an ASAYAN singing contest and won by like 370,000 phone votes, Yuming was a composer/arranger/pianist/singer-songwriter..] Ayu just sorta just got discovered and from there, she's evolved into one of the most popular female artists that Japan has probably ever seen in its lifetime..

I'd have to say that I don't think anyone who discovered her in 1998/1999 thought she would last this long. I mean, sure, some of the 80's idols had enjoyed some 5-6 years or so of amazing popularity, but they all fizzled out after a while, whereas Ayu still remains relevant. [though it is VERY difficult for her to gain a new fanbase since she's been around for so long.. but I think that can be solved with the right song and the right tie-up. Just look at Hikki and the sort of.. never ending "growth" of her fanbase. Kingdom Hearts, EVANGELION, Last Friends, random-tie-ups that boost the amount of people that are interested in her.. I wish Ayu could have that luxury.

Oh I see. You meant like...even those who wanted to go into music since they were young. In that case, yeah, it is pretty rare to find a J-pop diva who sort of just wandered into professional singing like Ayu.

Yeah, I got into Ayu's music late 2001/early 2002, but if I were to watch her career in 1998/1999 alone I don't think I would have that much faith in her longevity either, from a purely technical standpoint. Of course, the Song for XX/LOVEppears days were great too, but even avex themselves thought she was going to fizzle after 3 years, hence the pre-mature release of A BEST in 2001, right?

Yeah I don't know why Ayu doesn't have any good tie-ins either.

[SolarAngel]

But for someone who's not musically trained, ayu has fantastic vision for her songs. That's why she composed so many during I am and RAINBOW right? So it's unfair to compare her to great technical singers but she has her own unique voice that made her really special and like some of you said, the emotion is present. But it's hard to feel the love when pitch problems are pouring in and i wish for some consistency in that department. I'm not sure what the atmosphere at the live concert would be like. Maybe once you're there, you don't quite care about such things anymore.

[emi♡]

^you don't.

to some perfectionist people I think it's important...but honestly, a lot of us just really enjoy getting to see our artist in person, and i mean, if you really love that artist, you're probably going to like what they put out there, even if it isn't quite their best. Sadly, people always have stuff to complain about, even if it isn't entirely authentic.

I haven't posted in here yet...so I'm gonna dive away from whatever the heck you guys were talking about above...and give my opinions about her 10th anniversary...sorry if someone already said the same thing...For me, Ayu's anniversary is a bit disappointing, I'll admit, though I guess I can understand. I think that at this moment in time, there is something very different about her. I don't know what it is, I don't know if it's even reflected in her work. But things are just, not...as they were.

Ayu hasn't been really doing it for me, but that doesn't mean I care about her less. I know this is a little out there, but, when Heart-Shaped Glasses came out for Marilyn Manson, people were...not happy, and his response was, "Artists are always evolving. If people want to stay fans, they must evolve with the artist." Now...I'm not saying we should just, accept with a smile everything that's happening, I just think that, as fans, we give her time. What else can we do, but wait for her to give us something...an announcement, a single, album, a message...anything.

lol Next year, I'm gonna bring back all these Ayu threads...and see how everything's changed lol Maybe some of us have a right to be "disappointed"...or Maybe she's just taking a break. Solamente lo sabe Dios.

[Melrose]

Originally Posted by Rocky Raven

I agree with u about the voice n the emotion she have in her song!
But just dont pull all the most perfect singer in the world down like Ayu wa the Greatest, how do u know that they dont sing n work by their HEART in everysong/album/performance they have!?!

Hmm? I thought I pulled down "the most perfect singer in the world" who doesn't "put their heart into their music", which then excludes any perfect singers who do, like some that I like? : p

[SolarAngel]

Marilyn Manson had heart shaped glasses?! LOL!! Somehow i feel that fans of western metal stars are more unforgiving about such things than fans of ayu. Whatever happens with her, i'll continue buying her albums and DVDs even though ayu sings in the wrong key for the whole concert. I agree that something seems different with ayu. I felt that upon watching the documentary for CDL07-08 and i have a sinking feeling there may not be an album this year. But nobody's going to go up in arms and abandon ayu because of this. I'm sure we all just want the best for her. As someone outside of her personal life, I don't know what would personally be best for ayu so I can only hope for better sales for ayu, in whichever product under her name comes out.

[ayu_ready?]

I have been an Ayu fan for much more than 5 years
being that deep into 'ayuworld' is crazyness, but..

I mean, it so much feels like earlier she used to be more interested in music & what she does, in her looks, promotion & just stats
proving that must be the fact how little promo she has now (and believe me it's not cuz of busy shedule or her age,even Namie has more), how few magscans, how few CMs (do you call 1 sec presence of Ayu in many Weider boring-chaotic-artists-number-at-once a GOOD PR? haha) and other stuff - COMPLETELY NO PROMOTION

PR DOES IT. believe or not, but it does, may be it doesn't affect the sales much, but it does drives the attention to artist & it works, just even for a while

and now it's like she releases just because she has to, not with much intusiasm & creativity
quite understandable though. artist working that much just naturally slowes down it's temper at work

geez, it's YOUR ANNIVERSARY, you are hyper tired, BUT JUST DO SMTH!
just prove you're still on top, ya still rock, ya still care about what you do

she may think that her fanbase will help her in the year, so she doesn't need a pr
but this year looks so usual...it MUST BE SPECIAL, FOR US, FOR HER, FOR AVEX
just imagine, being wise, how many money they could have earned, how many joy we could have had-----------^^--------------

just like a usual year/hell yeah, only tours make smth, but it's so less

guh, even in 'USUAL' years she had much more promotion, many more 'special things' & stuff

and now we have A COMPLETE, haha, such a nice waste of money
a x2 duplicate of A BEST 2, will it sell well?

don't believe it. it must sell 1 million, but how bad A BEST 2 got, A COMPLETE might get even worse
will it have a NORMAL OMFG PROMO?

oh, that's the only thing I care fort now. it's release was absolutely predictable, but it's so...UNcreative?

I hope it gets high sales & awesome PR, then, we will finally remember smth from this anniersary thing..

I AM SO ANGRY & BORED. KILL ME

[SolarAngel]

My concern is that the way ayu is going, her sales are going to continue declining because she or her PR team is not doing the right things to give awareness to ayu's current works. I know she's on coffee mugs and stuff like that but japan is about innovation and progression. Lingerie is all very well but that's not going to help improve her sales. Sad thing is, she shouldn't even have to and her fans should just recognize her for her work but that's not reality, especially in japan where packaging and promotion is almost everything. Seriously, i feel the only artiste that is going strong without gimmicks is Utada Hikaru. Kudos to her.

[alternarist]

i jus re-watched the CDL 0708 DVD. i just wanna make a point (regardless if it make sense or not) that...

ayu felt that since this yr is the 10th anniversary year, she felt the need to have a theme of "celebration" in her CDL 0708 so she had been trying ways to fulfil that. Hence she decided that she have 3 different stages for her CDL 0708 to get closer to all her fans.

Perhaps this is how ayu wants to "celebrate" her 10th anniversary. To get closer to her fans. and hence the increase number of concerts from 16 last yr to 32 this yr. and also overseas concert increased from 3 to 5.

I strongly feel that ayu is doing what she wants and it's not disappointing at all (to me).

[panda87]

my my, this thread is just... O_O loaded with why this, why that, b/c of this, b/c of that, well this and that... and omg, end already.

[namiie]

Originally Posted by panda87

my my, this thread is just... O_O loaded with why this, why that, b/c of this, b/c of that, well this and that... and omg, end already.

Haha, well this is AHS. We love to nitpick.