Critique: 23rd Monster

[yabieru]

I like it. Rock Ayu is always well received. I like how she is giving us different styles with the 3 songs she has released so far. The potato voice... I don't find it that weird. Maybe I just got used to it, I don't know

The only thing this song misses for me is that the chorus could be more powerful. The rest is okay for me. Not something iconic but ok. Maybe it's because I'm too obsessed now with Utada's One Last Kiss and nothing can top it now lol

[pommy48]

Any time I see people suggest she needs to find new people to work with, I just think of Party Queen and Colours. She had new composers, new mixers, etc. and that wasn't well-received within the fandom.

As she lost hearing capabilities, she relied more heavily on others' opinions instead of nitpicking it to perfection like she did earlier in her career.. It's always been my view that she had yes-men around her.

So in regards to someone saying "does no one around her hear how bad she may sound", I doubt they will tell their employer the hard truth. It's just like how did anyone approve the mixing of Party Queen? It goes up the chain.

It did break my heart when she said in her TA blog that she was just doing things that made her happy even though we, the fans, were so critical of it.

I don't hold her works up to their predecessors anymore. I just take songs at face value and enjoy it. It has made my journey as a fan a lot happier as well.

[alternarist]

I am just enjoying whatever ayu is dishing out considering it was a challenging year + she was pregnant. So far, the new songs had not disappoint me at all.. namely Ohia no Ki, Dreamed a Dream, Haru yo Koi and 23rd Monster.

I am just curious how is ayu going to keep up in a live performance of 23rd Monster (assuming there is one) haha

[Scorbunny]

It’s not what I expected and that’s a good thing
I’m glad she doesn’t do music to cater to a whole fanbase so what someone doesn’t now, well they can wait for the next release and it makes it more special ����

After Haru no Koi this was the best thing for her to do in my opinion because the releases sound like opposites and I was worried she was maybe going to go for a more refined sound maybe as she gets older but NOPE and I’m happy haha

[M.A.X.]

How I feel about 23rd monster? At the beginning, I was so excited !! New song, rock vibes and gorgeous cover. Nothing new about arrangement but it's ok for me. It remains me a lot of previous ''rock'' song (Talkin 2' myself, Don't leave me alone...) So nostalgic... But for me the song miss something maybe it's because of the vocal I don't know. It's a (good) safe song... I'm still really happy anyway... Better than Dreamed a dream I think which I like too. And I Love Ohia no ki too, so I'm desperately ready for her next album !

[mimika]

I love the song and her lyrics, very powerful and honest as always

Her vocal I guess we can't expect it to be the same as her peak after all that she went through, it's not the best but I don't thin it's horrible either

[Sky High]

At this point I am more interested in her PV than music.

[hidekirby]

Unfortunately the PV didn't do anything to me. I couldn't help looking at the CG sky and being distracted by all the filters. It made it look quite cheap. Something dated she totally could have done almost 20 years ago. Like there is no evolution at all.
The first teaser we had looked fresher being shot in a simple set up.

Still, nice to see they all put effort on this! Happy to see dark ayu still there.
Can't wait to see future PVs.

[ayu_fantasy]

Her peak PVs are from 1999- 2005 I think…. After that every PV just look like there’s no evolution or merely just recycled.

[!Lawi!]

Originally Posted by ayu_fantasy

Her peak PVs are from 1999- 2005 I think…. After that every PV just look like there’s no evolution or merely just recycled.

Rock'n'Roll Circus just called and it wants a word with you.

More seriously, I LOVE the PVs for Don't look back and Microphone specifically, but I think the whole album is really strong when it comes to PVs!

[Deep snow]

I don't have much to 'critique' 23rd Monster with, because at this point I was just thirsty for some fierce song with a cool-looking video, and I got them both

Originally Posted by !Lawi!

Rock'n'Roll Circus just called and it wants a word with you.

thank you for saying this. while I agree that her 'peak', whatever that means, was reached long before, I cannot help but look at Rock'n'Roll Circus with such marvel and fondness.

the whole medley style for Sexy little things—Microphone PVs? iconic. her LOOKS alone in these two videos are mind-blowing to 2010-me, even now. plus the concepts are so cool.

and, please, Don't look back? it's such a simple video but I still get chills. I love the song, and the video is so well done. the cheeky showing-only-one-side-of-the-face, the reveal of the disheveled side, her haunting devastated look, and the whole symbolism with the huge scratched up A BEST 2 -BLACK- poster behind her as she smiles sweetly throughout the video. this video is an MA thesis.

Originally Posted by koumori

I only see a queen in all the gifs you posted Let's not start going down the lane of shaming women for their style now... we're better than that.

thank you for saying this

[xLuna&1LOVE]

^ could we at least agree that you will extend that to 2006 or 2007? The whole Secret era incl part of me had such beautiful PVs!

[tamiresu hamasaki]

Originally Posted by xLuna&1LOVE

^ could we at least agree that you will extend that to 2006 or 2007? The whole Secret era incl part of me had such beautiful PVs!

Agreed! Even though I would rather extent until 2010, her music videos were so intense and bold! such a masterpiece!

My opinion about 23rd monster, I liked how they did more scenes with her, the choreography, I didn't expect that much overall, because I didn't like the song at first, but let's be honest, we can be surprised by others songs maybe?

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol

[kotora]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol

Oh thanks god for that. I don't want to see ayu follows Cardi B that type of style.

[barisuta53]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol

I don’t mind her not picking up on western trends, but the fact she’s not even picking up on Japanese trends is ludicrous.

It’s strange because most of the chart music is pop-rock that Ayu started with. She should be able to do it uniquely and well, but instead she’s putting out walls of sound.

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol

Remember the interview in Singapore where she said she doesn’t want to make stuff that’s trendy just for the sake of it. I don’t think any of the currently popular female jpop acts are doing anything differently. Aimyon’s stuff sounds like it could’ve been released any time in the last 40 years, Lisa sounds exactly like she’s sounded in 2012, Aimer actually used to sound more up to date years ago �� with a proper anime tie in 23rd Monster could have worked regardless of the dated sound.

Also if you look at the streams Last minute, WORDS, aeternal, NO FUTURE, MOWY and even Ohia/DaD have all beaten You & Me ��

[sakamoko]

For me is ok with this little projects. I think Ayu don't want to beat charts or sales numbers, the fandom is so powerful with her and this is enough. She could have retired or taken a hiatus time years ago, but instead we have these singles

[SURREAL__RAINBOW]

Love it so much! Love the theme with the moon in the back. Lovely aesthetics She looks incredible

[Andrenekoi]

I do think people oversees like a lot how hard is for someone almost deaf to listen to new stuff. At this point, she probably has to choose between doing what she already knows from memory or releasing stuff without knowing what the song actually sounds like for the sake of following trends.

"Oh, but she saids she doesn't listen to music anymore".
Yeah, because she is almost deaf. She most likely doesn't listen almost anything anymore. And there's not much she can do about that.

23rd Monster is fun for what it is, but obviously isn't Ayu at her peak as a musician. Considering how long it was the last time she tried something different, I do believe that at this point I should just enjoy whatever comes out for what it is without expecting anything innovative.