Ayus music today sounds more "dated" than her entire discography

[Livey~]

^ However... we all know that you love MY STORY and you can't live without it!

[truehappiness]

I like MY STORY too, but I think people are giving it that weird I am.... treatment that everyone who joined this place in the early 2000s did. It's one of the strangest things about this fandom... basically LOVEppears/Duty/I am.../MY STORY/(miss)understood are on some sort of pedestal while everything else is 'okay'.

[mizuki-7]

Originally Posted by ComatoseBunnySnatcher

r&b influenced, try to read better.
and lol, Ayu made those songs but they're standard fare. All of you little godasaki stans try to say she's some groundbreaking artist but all of those songs are run of the mill, typical jpop and SAFE jpop at that.
Just accept that it'll never slay. Either way, I'm done.

This forum is more and more funny ! you cant speak without being attacked ...

I am not a stan and I don't put her on a piedestal I just say she has experimented more music style than her peers that's all ! give me examples it's to easy to say "typical jpop safe" ...

[ComatoseBunnySnatcher]

Originally Posted by mizuki-7

This forum is more and more funny ! you cant speak without being attacked ...

I am not a stan and I don't put her on a piedestal I just say she has experimented more music style than her peers that's all ! give me examples it's to easy to say "typical jpop safe" ...

Your little obsession with my posts is a little creepy, tbh.

And a fan supports, but doesn't praise everything -you're a fan, congrats.
And you really want examples, huh?
These are soundwise, fyi:

- ASFXX, but that's her debut so I won't count it
- B&G, Trauma, Immature, TO BE, Love ~destiny~
- Girlish, Audience
- connected (even if I love it), untie!, asib
-RAINBOW is nearly flawless, but Real me and July 1st. Independeturo too.
-MA has Angle's Song.
-MS.... Happy Ending, Hope or Pain, HONEY, Replace, winding road.
walking proud is an A grade ballad, but you can't deny its the typical one.
-(m)u was very out of the box

Won't do the rest, since i think you get the point.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by ComatoseBunnySnatcher

r&b influenced, try to read better.
and lol, Ayu made those songs but they're standard fare. All of you little godasaki stans try to say she's some groundbreaking artist but all of those songs are run of the mill, typical jpop and SAFE jpop at that.
Just accept that it'll never slay. Either way, I'm done.

I will give you this: Most of her biggest hits are generic winterish ballads and generic summerish up-tempos. Very little of her staples have any experiement to them. And most of the loved albums on this forum are her safest releases to date... My Story, LOVEppears, A Song for XX, Rock'n'Roll Circus, Secret... You pick one, it's filled with generic jpop.

She did and does experiement, mostly by mixing genres on an unexpected way: RAINBOW, (miss)understood, Party Queen, Duty, NEXT LEVEL, Love songs are filled with tracks pop singers wouldn't release.
She does experiement a lot more than Koda (you can count her risky tracks with your fingers) and Namie (that usually follow the genres closely). Ai Otsuka experiements as much as Ayu (but she, as a musician, plays with structures instead of mixing genres) and Hikki has the weirdest pop catalogue ever since Deep River. Ayu (and Hikki) are huge parts on creating the sound of post 2000 jpop, but the artists following them (not everyone is) usually uses their less intersting material or a waterd down take on their most interesting as influence.

FIVE was a release focusing the general public and not her fanbase, that's why it has such an un-ayuish vibe. Considering it's her bst selling original EP on iTunes, it worked.

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

basically LOVEppears/Duty/I am.../MY STORY/(miss)understood are on some sort of pedestal while everything else is 'okay'.

Throw Rainbow in there too

Yep. That's why everyone loved Ayu.


@Junnie: LOVEppears is like, my favorite album. But it sounds dated to me because it sounds like that era of jpop, as in, comparison to what else was going on with other people at this time.


And thank god for the accident that was Liar. That's one of her best songs.

[truehappiness]

RAINBOW is/was hated by like everyone. People forget it exists, tbh.

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by ComatoseBunnySnatcher

LOL aside from GAME and Inspire, MS is very bland and anyone could sing it.

INSPIRE is my least favorite song in the album. Lol, and talk about hostility in a post.

If ayus music is so generic and jpop safe, then why is it that I can't find any other jpop artists who quite fill her void or make their attempt at "generic safe jpop hits" even half as good as ayu does them? If I wanted someone who did some strange svante garde shut then I wouldn't listen to ayu. I'd listen to some flop of the charts like rurutia.

At the end of the day, she makes good JPOP. Or did. She is a JPOP artist, glorified.

[truehappiness]

INSPIRE c/w GAME was the least bland of the MY STORY singles.

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

INSPIRE c/w GAME was the least bland of the MY STORY singles.

It was a good single, but for me Moments is the pinacle of that album. INSPIRE is a little too chaotic. It's extremely noisy during the chorus.

[channy]

Done reading. Now, to sum things up:

"A Song for XX" and "LOVEppears" suffer from a very dated early/mid 90ies pop sound and badly aged electro influences, "I am..." contains a lot of cheesy, incoherent singles and gets even worse towards the last tracks let alone the monstrosity they've done with "Endless sorrow", "RAINBOW" is the impersonation of people's hatred and barely anyone is able to recall its existence, "Memorial address" would have better come out as full sized studio album, "MY STORY" is way too long, people fall asleep listening to it and it contains a bunch of the blandest songs ever, "Secret" and "LOVE again" are mere compilations of neglected, partially off-sounding leftovers and "FIVE" is only good for "progress" and "BRILLANTE".

This thread literally just ruined everything I've ever dared to believe in...

[ComatoseBunnySnatcher]

^ go listen to Uncontrolled - you'll feel better on Ayu's biggest flops in no time!

Originally Posted by Zeke.

It was a good single, but for me Moments is the pinacle of that album. INSPIRE is a little too chaotic. It's extremely noisy during the chorus.

Moments is THE single from that album, and walking proud THE song.

[truehappiness]

I connected more with winding road and Replace tbh.

[ComatoseBunnySnatcher]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I connected more with winding road and Replace tbh.

plz take that back i actually like you

[emi♡]

people who really liked lyrics were all like WINDING ROAD EVERYTHING. And then I think she had a performance with it, or talked about how much it meant to her, or something, and then people paid attention to it again.


happy ending/walking proud own that album. And then there's Moments. And then HOPE and PAIN. And then Inspire and my names women are awesome. And then there's Liar and About You.

The album isn't even like her mish mash singles compilations like the other albums lol Why MY STORY gets so much hate will always be beyond me. I couldn't care less about the tracklist issues lol It's an album packed full of great songs.

I get way less, from way more people.

[NintendoHTF1242]

INSPIRE sucks lmao

But anyone who dare says anything bad about HAPPY ENDING...just delete your account off of here bye

[waterballoon]

INSPIRE is her only summer hit that doesn't sound like a summer hit therefore INSPIRE = awesome

[Delicious n Bold]

My story IS happy ending/walking proud.
Two great pop songs that I can listen to every day without problem.
Momants what?
Carlos who? (Although Carlos is nice in winter weather).

[ComatoseBunnySnatcher]

Originally Posted by Delicious n Bold

My story IS happy ending/walking proud.
Two great pop songs that I can listen to every day without problem.
Momants what?
Carlos who? (Although Carlos is nice in winter weather).

I always forget Carlos exists lol.
I forget forgiveness too tho, even tho its a song of life like dolls so idek.

[SummonerXI]

Originally Posted by Zeke.

I realized something today. I remember someone had mentioned the fact that Ayus music was always pretty great at being "timeless". Maybe it was truehappiness. But I totally agree with that statement. I listen to ayus music constantly, rotating between albums and eras seamlessly. Sometimes when I think of how old a song is I'm shocked because it doesn't feel as such.

However, I think more recently the arrangements have been rather weak and not as fleshed out as they used to be. Which made me realize, her recent works sound like they could have been released before I Am... At least. It's very strange, and why I feel it's difficult to stomach at times. People may complain they want this ayu or that ayu back, myself included, but I feel the most frustrating thing is the fact that she was so successful at owning that "timeless" aura with her music, and even though she may try new things, it's as if she's taking steps backwards. It worked for Love songs, that throwback sound, but somehow everything that came afterwards seems stuck somewhere.

Agree? Don't agree?

Love songs could easily be placed after LOVEppears, LOVE again and Party queen after Duty. No?

No