Lets vent about ayu?/why did your fandom decrease

[Chris85]

Originally Posted by November4

What was that CDL that opened with t2m? Omg she was off-key half the concert. XD

That's Countdown Live 2007–2008 Anniversary, that's the disaster era I was referring to. Many TV performances of that time were also off-key. I guess the solely reason was her increasing hearing problems.

[channy]

Hm. The "talkin' 2 myself" era was rough and unsual edgy for a pop singer. I think it was a terrific time in terms of vocals and appearance. Far from being a disaster. On the other hand, these opinions acknowledge my assumption that it was rough and unusal, indeed

Truth be told, I always prefer the pre-GUILTY vocals. A Song for XX to Secret, to be exact. For some reason, GUILTY takes a special place in it though, because it's the only album to this day, that I would not have liked to have these notorious, bright and high-pitched vocals of Ayu. "glitter" functions as a short break for taking a deep breath before the depressive mood continues with "MY ALL". I always found that so funny.

[Chris85]

Originally Posted by channy

Hm. The "talkin' 2 myself" era was rough and unsual edgy for a pop singer. I think it was a terrific time in terms of vocals and appearance. Far from being a disaster.

Let me make myself clear, T2M TV performances were AWESOME, I enjoyed them a lot and was completely satisfied with them.
I meant Fated, some of Together When performances and especially that infamous CDL.

[November4]

^

Oh yeah that one haha. untitled ~for her~ looool. She was crying but still.

Totally into her music again lately, I just pray she makes her next concert normal. She's had a freakshow for 3 years now, if I want to see one of those I'll go to G-A-Y in London on a Thursday.

[zaqwanbadli]

Originally Posted by microphone

I don't listen to Ayu anymore which surprises me because she was the only pop singer I listened to for a while... It's her vocals. Of course, she steam rolls everyone with her lyrics, but at this point I want to listen to a beautiful voice.

This. ^

[marty]

I think she learned her lesson. She needs to take good care of her voice, 'cause that was indeed a big crisis back in 2009 (and to me she wasn't stable again until fall of 2012). Of course, she has the ear problem too, so she has to work extra hard.
That's why I'm so grateful for the vocals in LOVE again, I found them so much better.

[zaqwanbadli]

Even though Ayu has improved much vocally, I still feel she can do better.

She's still a bit screamish, her phrases are short and by now her vibrato is so manufactured, unpleasant and disconnected she sounds a lot better if she just ditches it.

It's okay Ayu, you can sing in a straight tone, you probably can stretch your phrases longer. When you're good and comfortable with that the vibrato will come... hahaha I'm giving a vocal advice to a professional singer.

[spanishfan]

People talking about bad vocals since 2008, do you remember Power of Music tour? o.o

I like her voice more mature since '05~'06 to now, I can't stand her over pitched fake voice from the '99 ~ '03 era (when it's not faked I can stand it xD)

[Chris85]

Originally Posted by spanishfan

do you remember Power of Music tour? o.o

POM vocals were bad to my mind, I can hardly listen to even fixed DVD version. I think all later tours and CDLs had much better vocals.

Originally Posted by spanishfan

I like her voice more mature since '05~'06 to now, I can't stand her over pitched fake voice from the '99 ~ '03 era (when it's not faked I can stand it xD)

I agree. I just wish she would use her natural voice more often and stop forcing her voice to sound cute in some songs.

[Shirlaay]

I used to love Ayu but I feel recently her songs have gone downhill. K-pop has taken over my music playlists for now hehe ^.^

[Ninix33]

I was cringing when I watched her Lelio PV. She just looks odd as a 35-year old singing and dressed as if she were a person in her early twenties.

A majority of the things that came out when she was at the peak of career did get refined and shaped by other people, even if they were all her ideas. Now that she's lost that filter, all her current work is just sad to see.

She does have difficulty reinventing herself since she was never trained to be a dancer but an artist/singer. I see her posing a lot in her PVs and I'm disappointed to see why she won't learn basic choreography with her dancers since dance groups/kpop are big now.

My friend went to one of her concerts in Osaka recently and she was amused by how staged it was. She had a good laugh about Ayu's fake crying and looking sad for all the ballads. She did struggle a lot with her voice too. Sigh. Her career the last 6-7 years is just

I just feel sad for her

[~*Mabushii*~]

This latest album... *sigh* The music videos especially are killing it for me. This is the first time I've been REALLY really unhappy with something Ayu has pulled out. Even though the songs are as awful as they could be... the music videos. Man the music videos...

[channy]

Originally Posted by Ninix33

My friend went to one of her concerts in Osaka recently and she was amused by how staged it was. She had a good laugh about Ayu's fake crying and looking sad for all the ballads

At least she enjoyed herself laughing at Ayu, so what's the matter? Doesn't sound like she's had no fun at all.

[Kanzaki]

I gotta say, Colours is just the tiniest fresh breath of air from her, after the endless ballads. Idc about the music videos, I'm not going to glare at her awful lipsynching. Songs like that aren't really optimal for big, deep and impressive PVs. She needs to step up her game when it comes to themes for her albums though. They really feel half-done these days.

[Embleu]

I feel as if her artistry has been going downhill ever since the My Story/(M)u era, but it's been especially disastrous these past few years. What attracted me to her artistry (and I say "artistry", not "music", because it's the visual as well as the audio) was the fact that it was the perfect combination of quirky, deep, fun, and beautiful. Sure, it looked and sounded nice, but there was substance behind it as well. Her earliest lyrics resonated with me, not just because she was able to put her finger on the common elements of the human condition, but because she was able to express these elements in a way that was poetic without being over-polished. Her music videos resonated with me because of the way they told a story (even if the meaning was not always immediately discernible), juxtaposed seemingly incongruous elements to form a harmonious end product, and did so without seeming like she was trying to make her point with a sledgehammer. Her compositions resonated with me because, well, they were catchy, but also because they were not the kind of music you would expect from a seasoned tunesmith--someone whose job was to just grind out melodies.

In short, it was the fact that she was honest, profound, and original (okay, that last one is disputable, but let's not get into it here.) Actually, I believe she was original because she was honest--she didn't necessarily filter her experiences to fit the expectations of the musical scene (beyond reason at least.) But I also believe she was original because she was profound. Now it seems as if all she can sing about is romantic relationships; she used to look at the finer points of existence--loneliness, resolve, self-doubt, and so on with an almost philosophical gaze--but now when she does sing about those things, it's always within the context of romantic love. And there's none of the wistful half-curiosity that colored her earlier works. Now it seems as if all she's concerned about is having love and having fun. It's a trend that I've noticed starting from the My Story/(M)u era.

There have been a few bright spots since then, like Return Road, but they're getting fewer and farther between.

[Andrenekoi]

People only seeing romantic love on Ayu's recent lyrics are only going as far as the album titles go...

[rikku1994]

Originally Posted by Embleu

I feel as if her artistry has been going downhill ever since the My Story/(M)u era, but it's been especially disastrous these past few years. What attracted me to her artistry (and I say "artistry", not "music", because it's the visual as well as the audio) was the fact that it was the perfect combination of quirky, deep, fun, and beautiful. Sure, it looked and sounded nice, but there was substance behind it as well. Her earliest lyrics resonated with me, not just because she was able to put her finger on the common elements of the human condition, but because she was able to express these elements in a way that was poetic without being over-polished. Her music videos resonated with me because of the way they told a story (even if the meaning was not always immediately discernible), juxtaposed seemingly incongruous elements to form a harmonious end product, and did so without seeming like she was trying to make her point with a sledgehammer. Her compositions resonated with me because, well, they were catchy, but also because they were not the kind of music you would expect from a seasoned tunesmith--someone whose job was to just grind out melodies.

In short, it was the fact that she was honest, profound, and original (okay, that last one is disputable, but let's not get into it here.) Actually, I believe she was original because she was honest--she didn't necessarily filter her experiences to fit the expectations of the musical scene (beyond reason at least.) But I also believe she was original because she was profound. Now it seems as if all she can sing about is romantic relationships; she used to look at the finer points of existence--loneliness, resolve, self-doubt, and so on with an almost philosophical gaze--but now when she does sing about those things, it's always within the context of romantic love. And there's none of the wistful half-curiosity that colored her earlier works. Now it seems as if all she's concerned about is having love and having fun. It's a trend that I've noticed starting from the My Story/(M)u era.

There have been a few bright spots since then, like Return Road, but they're getting fewer and farther between.

Because those are the only things she wasn't able to do during her peak? And the reason why all of her lyrics were about romance, love and etc. is because that's what her life is like nowadays? Before all she did was to work even if she had a relationship with Nagase, and now she's simply wants to fall in love and have fun?

[Andrenekoi]

^Even so, besides MOON, Last angel, Sweet Season and November, the rest of Love songs isn't really about romantic love, and besides call and Tell me why, the rest of Party Queen isn't about romantic love either.

Almost every track on LOVE again does concern romantic love, what makes sense considering it's a concept album about romantic love. Gloria, untitled for her… story 2 and Ivy aren't about romantic love.

SAKURA was composed for her driver that died during AT15;
Wake me up can be interpretated as a song about facing your mistakes while being bashed by the public;
And Melody doesn't go that far from her other songs dedicated to her fans like Key or Who.

[Embleu]

Originally Posted by rikku1994

Because those are the only things she wasn't able to do during her peak? And the reason why all of her lyrics were about romance, love and etc. is because that's what her life is like nowadays? Before all she did was to work even if she had a relationship with Nagase, and now she's simply wants to fall in love and have fun?

I'm not accusing her lyrics of not reflecting her current situation; and my beef isn't with the fact that she's pursuing romantic relationships and fun, but rather with the fact that in these pursuits, she's lost the insight that characterized her earlier works. I'm happy that she's happy, but in any case, the quality of her music has suffered for whatever reason.

@Andrenekoi: Yeah, I realize that it's not all hearts and cupids or parties, cases in point: Wake Me Up, Untitled 2, SLT, etc. And yes, Party Queen is less heavy on the romantic love; but Love Songs struck me as being predominantly about romantic love ... huh. Different impressions I guess?

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

^Even so, besides MOON, Last angel, Sweet Season and November, the rest of Love songs isn't really about romantic love, and besides call and Tell me why, the rest of Party Queen isn't about romantic love either.

girl you delusional?

Love songs: MOON, sending mail, Last angel, Virgin Road, November, blossom.. romantic love. Not sure about Sweet Season but it feels more nostalgic than romantic.

Party Queen: call, Letter (some argue it's about Max but solely lyrically Letter is referring to romantic love), Tell me why, the next LOVE (lamenting about the lack of romantic love), Return Road.. romantic love.