Why I think Ayumi's sales have fallen...

[tourniquet]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

If you flip that argument over and look at it from a different perspective, she puts out amazing work without spending all of the time that Utada Hikaru or Namie Amuro spend, haha. So... -shrug-

utada and amuro are just divas with their release cycles, but they don't actually put that much work into their stuff. namie's all about live performance/perfection and utada is well-known to compose stuff in a night's time. and it comes out just fine. that's because she's a natural songwriter.
and her style of songwriting is greatly appreciated in Japan. I wouldn't call that overrated if you have the gift to grab so many people's attention by just doing what you feel like. if for their stans, they're equally bad.

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Well, most of Ayu's albums are growers where about a year later you realize it's amazing when that "Oh!" moment happens. I think she loves to put out new music, and with Rock'n'Roll Circus, it really shows that she's trying to step up her game after not having all that much time to produce Secret/GUILTY/NEXT LEVEL. If she loves what she's doing, why should she slow down/take 2-3 years to make an album if all most people are going to do is go crazy?

there's lots of fanservice in RnRC, but I don't see anything that indicates her "stepping up the game". if anything I see a woman that's desperately running the same scheme over and over again because she cannot stop for several reasons.

there's little to none musical and artistic development in RnRC. it's a tried and true formula with the exception of Sexy little things and maybe Sunrise.

most of all, I was shocked that they still partly re-use synths from Memorial address.
songwriting is better than in NL, but I really miss those magic moments she used to create. RnRC sounds very down to earth for me, not dreamy, not conceptional, just a fan-serviced ayu product (enjoyable, but detached).

gee, I haven't seen her genuine smile for a while now. that aches.