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

[jbrat2219]

^ Yeah I agree, it's all about whether or not I like the song, not if it sounds like another.

[Yum!Fruit_Salad!]

Personally, the "downhill" phase of Ayu's music is post-GUILTY. She has had songs inbetween then and now that I enjoy but the number is deminishing with each release and more significantly to me, the overall quality of each release has been rapidly worse.

[Chibi_Venus]

Originally Posted by StrawbariSnowAyumi

@chibi_venus: well ur opinion is very lovely stated. I agree on some of what u said. Something I haven't seen stated in this thread so yeah haha~ and yes her voice was getting worse imo. But judging from the little concert previews and the crossroad preview she has improved it quite a back and I'm pretty happy XD

Awh, well thank you, hehe. I agree with you on the voice thing: I do hear improvement every so often. She definitely cares about it, and I really think she tries to keep it at least healthy, and that's good enough for me.


(Woot, been here a little over 5 years and finally at my 5,000th post. XD Yay for forgiveness initiate! Teehee~)

[ayumi_croatia]

After GUILTY she started making albums I don't like (Party Queen, Love songs, LOVE again). However she redeemed herself with A ONE and M(A)DE IN JAPAN isn't that bad.

[NintendoHTF1242]

Well my last post here was eight years ago so I guess I’ll make an update.

I don’t think Ayu’s music has ever really gone “downhill” for me (even though in my old post I said NEXT LEVEL era LOL). She releases consistently decent stuff but it’s just that, decent. The last time I was wow’d by an Ayu release was Merry-go-round (because not only did she finally change her up her style but she made good songs too! Colours remains one of my favorite albums). But then sales and fan reception were poor so she threw it out the door and went back to basic. A ONE was fine but not exciting. MADE did absolutely nothing for me though.

So I guess she started to go down in quality (for me) was after Colours (although I stan Sayonara and Story).

[Andrenekoi]

Still don't think she has any bad album, even if her last albums I really loved were Love Songs and Party Queen. Still, before that her latest album I loved was (miss)understood, so we are good.

[KittyKathy]

I would say after FIVE. Party Queen is such a disappointment. I can't say that I like all the songs after FIVE. But, definitely before GUILTY she had the best songs.

[Sky High]

After LOVE again everything went downhill.

[EndOfTheWorld]

This question is interesting to me because years ago My Story was seen as the start of Ayu's "downhill" to me. Then Party Queen happened and it became the new down turn.
If you had asked me this question back before 2012, I would say that What Ayu was releasing during Secret - Love Songs was the best. I used to feel like Ayu was only getting better back in the late 2000s early 2010s. I loved songs like JEWEL, decision, talkin 2 myself, GREEN, Days, Next Level, Sparkle, Mirrorcle World, Sunrise, Last Angel, progress, just to name a few. I would say that Ayu's tours had only become more extravagant and her new deeper voice and style of singing was an improvement over her early years.
But in 2018 I think I would say that Party Queen is when things took a turn for the worst. It was the first thing that Ayu did that actually disappointed me. Before this there were albums I liked more than others but I genuinely loved all her albums. When I look back now I overreacted when Party Queen was released. I was ready to give up on Ayu. I was like, what is THIS? what happened to Ayu!?? These days it is still my least liked album but I have formed an appreciation for it.
As for the public in Japan, I believe that Rainbow was the "beginning of the end". I think international Ayu fans will claim that Guilty or Party Queen is when things went downhill for Ayu.
As of right now I love 1998-2002 Ayu the most. I consider her output during these years as the most creative and high quality. Rainbow being my favorite album.

[axmish87]

For me NEXT LEVEL is still her weakest release in my opinion. Yeah there's NEXT LEVEL which I LOVE TO DEATH , Sparkle,rollin',Rule,GREEN but overall NEXT LEVEL for me as an album is my least favorite out of the bunch

[kendelle]

I feel Ayu is pretty consistent. Personally the albums where I like the least amount of her output on each album is the PQ>Colours eras

I like and regularly listen to a handful of songs from each album but there are a lot of weaker songs or unmemorable ones. As much as I like them during a listen I haven't ever thought "Oh, boy, I really feel like listening to What is Forever Love and then I'll play petal". I honestly forget a lot of those songs exist, which makes it a downhill for me as a fan.

MY STORY is probably another weaker point in her discography but I have a nostalgic view of that era as I was becoming a fan then. Objectively however it is a bit all over the place and isn't as strong in theme as RAINBOW or experimental as m(u). The amount of songs I regularly go back to listen to by name is pretty low as well.

[YUKARI]

first downhill was 2006, Secret and etc.
then I guess Rock'n'Roll Circus
then sixxxxxx and A ONE
and I guess even now it's downhill

[rainbow_smile]

Never

[hidekirby]

There were two turns for me.

After the masterpiece that was (miss)understood ; Secret, GUILTY and NEXT LEVEL didn't felt that good... A lot of recycled sounds, less creativity IMO. Except for some songs here and there of course.

Then came Love songs which was pretty classic, safe etc but it was damn cohesive to me, every single track shone next to each other (I just try to forget THANK U). The nostalgic feeling through the whole album was amazing... Now I see it like her swan song. The end of something.

Since then it went downhill a lot. Still some rare gems (Sexy little things, BRILLANTE, Sweet scar, NO FUTURE, FLOWERS) to hold onto... Strangely, I feel the quality went down with the quantity (I mean less songs came with less demand from ayu and her team) : /

[Next_Level29]

I wouldn't call it a downhill but I had some doubts in love again and colours.
I actually enjoyed A One ( I'm still trying to find the hidden message in A One lol) and sixxxxx is one of my all-time favorites.

ps: party queen is in my top3 album list of her, im just saying :-P

[KarenPang]

For me , it is when Ayu released LOVE again onwards . I like songs separately from LOVE & again but combining both mini albums' material into a full length album is laziness and the album tracks (except for petal) were sub par

I liked some songs in Colours but it was the 1st album I felt disconnected as lyrically they don't sound like something Ayu would write

I know many still dislike Party Queen but I'm the rare few that like the album despite the questionable covers

After listening & supporting Ayu for so many years she's still 1 of my favourite artiste . I just wish that now she puts in a decent amount of effort in her PVs as her old PVs were & still wonderful to watch as compared to now where they felt 1/2 finished

I also missed that artistic bold side of Ayu which she undertook as in recent years she has gone for the safe route to cater to her core fanbase but there's only so much recycling you can do until your most loyal fans get turn off & leave

[Cahz-]

When TROLL again was released I felt very disconnected from her, gradually from CoLOURS until MADE in JAPAN my passion for her revived.

[ayumi_croatia]

Originally Posted by Cahz-

When TROLL again was released

[Trinu]

Originally Posted by Cahz-

When TROLL again was released

It took me a while to get that, but yes lmao

I feel that was the worst trick she could have played.

Up until Party Queen I can remember basically every song, but then LOVE again happened, and I was so put off that I don't think I've listened to any of her new albums more than once or twice.

I was flabbergasted by Colours and everything that happened in that era.
I still refuse to believe it's part of Ayu's discography.

From M(a)de in Japan I just checked the PVs and they were so bad I haven't checked the rest of the album.

So... yeah, it all turned south for me after Party Queen.
And even Party Queen started to let see her BS with the whole photo shoot thing and how you needed to have the album in her hands to find out why she chose that cover or whatever.
But the run of songs from call to Tell Me Why is impecable.

[DonkeyKongRemix]

Believe it or not, looking back, I feel like R'N'R Circus was the start of the major decline. I truly feel that it is a failed album and that it gave way to lesser quality.

However, I am still a big fan of some of her most recent albums. Love Songs is still perfect to me, I like the overall feel of FIVE and feel that BRILLANTE is a total standout in her whole discography, and tbh, I LOVE COLOURS. I loved it when it came out, went cold on it afterwards, but then learned to love it again...

speaking of which, LOVE again is just....*sigh* I love some of the tunes, but the whole fiasco around it and the quality of the tracks themselves is just not good enough.

I feel that A ONE is also a wasted opportunity. It had great ideas, but the quality in sound is unacceptable to me. I wish it wasn't like that, but it is. Then there's sixxxxxx. I think this year was kind of sad...

M(A)DE IN JAPAN made me very happy. I feel like it deters away from the recent sound she's been using a lot.