Ayu's music: when did it start to go downhill for you?

[Ranma Matsuri]

Can't really say. I wouldn't use the word "downhill" at this point but rather she's gone in a direction that for the most part, I haven't been feeling. I still consider myself a new fan (not getting fully into her until around the 50th singles/NEXT LEVEL). I enjoyed NL and that album is what convinced me to get into all her other albums (excluding MS and MA which had been the only ones I previously heard). I found that I prefer her older works to her newer works.

While I do acknowledge her vocals have gotten immensely better, I prefer her old voice because I feel more raw energy and I could really feel the messages she was trying to convey even though I can't understand the words. It's a little difficult to read her emotions in her post-GUILTY work. Musically and lyrically, though she's had really good albums before and after, I think her songs were at their highest quality from Duty to Memorial Address. The songs from those albums consistently had songs that imho deserved to be called 'classics' in her discography. But the albums certainly didn't go 'downhill' she just... changed (I think 'mature' is the wrong word for debatable reasons) and because of that, there's been more hits and misses. Secret had to grow on me, GUILTY had some great tracks but as a whole album was a complete bore, and after the 3rd time I can no longer listen to RnRC all the way through without falling asleep or forgetting I'm listening to it in the first place (that's a major indicator that something is boring me lol). I loved NL though (still do) and blossom is amazing so what can I say? lol



I will say with certainty that I agree with the comments on her lyrics feeling the same. It's like, 90% of her lyrics include something about walking together and holding hands. It's not like I want emo Ayu back and her lyrics for the most part are still pretty and more meaningful than most of what's out there but can she seriously write about something else?