Ayu Then vs. Ayu Now

[Sirea]

Ayu has definitely gone through many style and genre changes since her debut. Mainly though, there seems to be a single striking contrast between how younger Ayu sounded and wrote, and how more mature Ayu sounds and writes. What do you think are the main differences between the two, and which do you prefer?

For me, younger Ayu's voice wasn't as pleasant as it is now. It's gained a lot of power and depth. That, I think, helps her emotion come through more. And while I am a huge fan of songs like Moments, INSPIRE, and Free & Easy, I feel like her more current songs (especially those most recently released) have really helped her shine. Her lyrics though, especially if you look at songs like powder snow, used to be much more overtly emotionally-charged, whereas now they tend to have more ambiguity, and I don't think I have a preference for one or the other... depending on my mood I like both just fine. :]

[SURREAL__RAINBOW]

Funny because if you asked me which one I preferred maybe a year ago for example, I would say "the old ayu all the way".

I think that her older works feel very nostalgic to us all, and normally they feel "better" or superior than her current ones. Her rawness and the way we started discovering her, is what attracted us all at first. Also the way she discovered who she really was and how she developed as an artist.

She was always looking for her place, asking who she was and the way she was, and where she was going to. We also got many lyrics about love, which made us identify with her strongly.


I feel right now that, all what she was before, made ayu now. Without anything that happened before, ayu wouldn't be who she is right now. I like the ayu of now, her lyrics and works are more laid back, but bold and awesome when they have to be.

She found her place, I believe. She is letting go a little bit, she feels free. She doesn't have to sing about freedom to feel free anymore... and that makes me happy.



I saw ayu this year, and she made it clear that without her fans, she would be no one. I appreciate her so much, and the way she is right now, and I think I will always like the now ayu more than the old ayu

[C+R+E+AYUMI]

I don't know...it's absurd we old fans always say "i prefer the older!" but actually i agree with SURREAL..there was a feeling of Nostalgia that made her lyrics and songs so powerful...now it's true that she has a more powerful and deep voice and i love her voice now much more than before but about lyrics..no, i loved her older.
But if her lyrics aren't that sad now it's a good sign her life turned into balance now.

[Rebirthia]

I think we should focus on the present. What if old Ayu was good, well, that's ok and I won't never put aside those faboulous years in Ayu's career. The goood thing about music is that we can always go back and enjoy old songs. But what Ayu means to me is a present thing, it's strength shown every day, with ever new tour, project, little by little creating her albums... sharing bits of her real life with us. And expressing her new self everyday with new styles and new songs. I am revisiting all her lyrics and I must say her old lyrics are superb... and that the newer lyrics doesn't fulfil me that much. There was a moment that I found them too repetitive so I stopped reading them. But recently I started from the very beginning... I should say I haven't gone through her lyrics since NEXT LEVEL was released, so I have more than two albums ahead to discover, and maybe I'll find something that illuminates me.

It's true there was a time when I though I would never like Ayu again as much as I liked her at the beginning: (miss)understood album was a shock for me. Now years have passed and I find (miss)undesrstood one of her best albums form the new era (that is to say, RAINBOW onwards). I did enjoyed RnRC, and I sense this new album will be even better (I haven't heard nor read anything from this album yet).

I don't know what A-future will bring, but I would like to enjoy her music and spirit everyday, regardless of what may come tomorrow.

[love in music]

I think what's definitely different nowadays is her voice. I am so happy about how her voice sounds now. If she still sounded like she did from 1998-2001 I would not listen to her music as much as I do now. The albums that I do listen to the most are all of the albums from Memorial address - Rock 'n' Roll Circus because her voice really shines the most on those albums and the arrangements to most of her songs are fantastic. I notice that lyrically she has gone through changes too. I feel like most of her lyrics used to have a hopeless/sad feel but now she's more optimistic and you can see that she wants to spread that optimism around in a lot of her songs nowadays. I have to say, the lyrics to "Last Links" are probably my favorite lyrics from ayu because of the hope that they bring. I love her hopeful lyrics nowadays, and prefer them to something extremely dark like say the "POWDER SNOW" lyrics. All in all, my favorite ayu is the ayu we have now. I enjoy so many more of her songs nowadays than I do in her earlier albums (even though a lot of those songs are great too). Her voice + compositions + lyrics just appeal to me a lot more now.

[gallowsCalibrator]

Although I don't see a concrete difference between "old ayu" and "new ayu," I do see a change in her lyrics and maturity. I noticed that she has a lot more maturity in not only her voice, but also in her lyrics. Since her debut, she's been through sooooo much. That has caused her to mature as well; to grow with more life experience. I think that Ayu today is different than Ayu when she debuted for that reason.

[NintendoHTF1242]

Her lyrics were a lot stronger back then, IMO. Back when she didn't have much self-confidence in herself and whatnot. Those lyrics, were the best.

[Melodie]

As far as Ayu's lyrics go (since it's the only thing she continues to do entirely herself), then I have no complaints.

[Yumsushi]

I disagree with the OP. I think there was much more ambiguity in her lyrics when she first started, which made them seem more poetic. Her lyrics nowadays seem more straightforward but that doesn't necessary mean they aren't as good. Vocally, her voice is obviously stronger now and not as high pitched but I think the emotion behind her songs has never changed.
Image wise, I wish she'd go back to releasing more natural looking images/covers where she doesn't look like she's trying hard to appear a certain way. No more pouting please!

[ayumasing]

I prefer the old days, if you will. While I like her new styles of writing and PVs and whatnot, I usually find myself listening to her older songs rather than her newer sonfs.
And apparantly I'm not joining the bandwagon here, because I think I lik her younger voice rather than her voice now. I don't know, there's something about that screechiness (spelling?) that seems to be appealing to me...I like it. Of course, I like her mature voice as well, but...meh.
But to me, Ayu is always Ayu, and I'm happy if she is happy! (^_^)b

[CHE.R.RY]

Honestly, I have a stronger connection to the present Ayu because I've only been a fan for four and a half years. I enjoy both old and new Ayu because I became a fan by listening to her old music, but at the same time kept up with the new releases and enjoyed them as well. Sure, I saw a slight stylistic change in her music and image, and of course a drastic change in her vocals. While there are some old gems hidden in Ayu's past discography, I find her music of the present day to be really powerful, energetic, and mature to say the least. I like Ayu's new releases 99% of the time, and yet I love her old music too. So it's really hard for me to choose an Ayu I like more...past or present...

[1LOVE-T]

When we're talking about Ayu herself, I have a stronger connection to the "old Ayu" not because I started listening to her then, but because I can probably relate more to that "teen angst" she was feeling. She wanted to discover herself in her music, but her lyrics were the only way to express herself. She was striving for something she wanted to become and she worked hard for it.
As of right now, at this age, I can probably relate to younger Ayu, but I prefer Ayu's mature vocals as opposed to younger Ayu's

[Lady~Deviance]

In regard to this discussion, I would have to say that I am more fond the the "former ayu". Reason being, I could relate to her as a whole in terms of lyrics, image, etc. Her lyrics just enamored me because she seemed so genuinely innovative in comparison with other female singers at that time. I can't properly clarify what I'm trying to say but there was much more authenticity and rawness to her and that's what attracted me to her music back then. And I agree with Yumsushi in regard to her current image. Not a fan.

And as some of you mentioned before, I incessantly find myself listening to her older discography rather than her newer material. I am still a fan of hers, its just that her music no longer gives me that sense of exhilaration as it used to. Nevertheless, I do appreciate her growth and maturity for without it she would not be who she aspired to be presently.
But hey, to each his/her own.

[erika_ayu]

From my point of view, I guess I prefer the old ayu more because I am around the age where I am going through what she went through, all the self-conflicts and all, so I can relate to the old ayu more.
But seeing ayu now makes me happy because she seems to have broke through and rised from all her hardships. I don't know how to say this, something like "nirvana" kinda feel? Ah yes, like NEXT LEVEL feel its like she made it through all and now can smile from her heart and walk on proudly
All I hope is that ayu can be truly happy and there is nothing more that I would ask for from her
No matter the old ayu, present ayu or future ayu, I will stand by her because she has already been a part of me for half my life and this will never change