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

[kagami]

I agree with everyone that has said she is still experimenting. And I absoloutely still think she puts passion and heart into her music, it's just not as desperate as before as she is in a better place (emotionaly) right now. She is a strong confident woman, not a lost and sad child and I for one love that. I love that Ayu has been able to grow and accept herself through her music. And heal...Not many people get to do that and I think it's a beautiful think. As a great man once sais 'if I can't heal from my art, then how can you heal?' I think that's what Ayu has always been aiming for.

I honestly think she has had some great and not so great music throughout her entire career...And some of her more recent stuff is more out there than some of the things she produced before (Mirrorcle World, SLT et cetera).
I guess it all just comes down to what you personally want to hear.

P.s. I love her deeper huskier voice, it ain't boring or bad to me at all...It's sexy

[Memorial address]

I do not think Ayumi has gone downhill. She continue to release lovely songs so I am happy ^.^ Why are many people hating Guilty? It is my favorite album and I think it is very lovely ^.^ I also love Secret, most kiss o' kill ^.^

[RyRyMini]

I like her new albums more than her old ones. Singles have been kind of lackluster though.

[untitledforayu]

In my opinion, her peak was during the Duty/I am... era. She hasn't yet made an album as solid as Duty and as impressive lyrically, thematically and stylistically as I am...

Since then, she only went slightly downhill until around GUILTY where her music just became generic pop, with notable exceptions. I quite enjoyed NEXT LEVEL as it was something new for her and quite refreshing. However, as far as I'm concerned, she hit rock bottom with Rock'n'Roll Circus. It's like she has nothing new to say anymore, so her music just sounds boring and repetitive these days.

[ayumisrael]

No downhill for me either.

I think though that until around Memorial address ayu's music was really oriented with the help of her manager/producers (hence the need for ourselves) and that's where you would find her releasing a lot of different things both in singles and albums.

Since then she became more and more independent with each release and she also has changed, she got a bit more matured, she changed perspectives, she likes releasing summer/winter singles in order to make her fans and management happy (thus make her happy) and she mainly experiments with her albums tracks nowadays, NEXT LEVEL album is a good example, Rock'n'Roll Circus' Don't look back and especially Sexy little things which was kind of a "breakthrough" since how many artists make swing pop nowadays?

She still has brilliant songs, and still has emotional explosers (MOON was one for me) but they are different (I wouldn't say in quality) and ayu is different and her way of doing things is different. It's either you get along with it, you might lose her sometimes or keep on track regulary enjoying the great or less things she has to offer. ^^

[Don't look back]

it didn't yet. sorry to say, but she has so many bad songs in the past. i used to not like her because i only tried out albums like Duty and MY STORY and thought she was boring and overrated. Rock 'n' Roll circus made me realize she does have talent and can make an exciting album. then looking back at her past 4 albums i realize how good they are too (not as good as Rock 'n' Roll circus though ha). i was missing out not giving her a chance before because of her boring old music. sorry if i offended anyone by saying this, it's just my opinion. a lot of people like her old music and i respect that and can enjoy a few old songs too.

[Jwiz]

It went 'downhill' when my expectation for her music heightened rapidly while being an ardent fan of her.

[Uemarasan]

Thank you, everyone, for contributing to this discussion! I would reply to each and every one of you, but unfortunately I'm only human But thank you for allowing me to read all of your points-of-view!

Originally Posted by Jwiz

It went 'downhill' when my expectation for her music heightened rapidly while being an ardent fan of her.

You know, you've hit the nail on the head. That is exactly what I've been going through with Ayu these days.

[sugarbasil]

Originally Posted by Jwiz

It went 'downhill' when my expectation for her music heightened rapidly while being an ardent fan of her.

You hit the nail on the head.

Anyways, I was constantly impressed and pleased with her music until GUILTY. It is still my least favorite album. I also didn't like NEXT LEVEL much. Moreover, I really didn't like the photoshoots, album art, music videos, ect. during those album eras. So two albums like this in a row and I started to feel it went "downhill."

I did, however, very much enjoy RnRC and I've got a feeling of satisfaction back at least.

[prussian blue]

Originally Posted by sugarbasil

I did, however, very much enjoy RnRC and I've got a feeling of satisfaction back at least.

I really feel her music is going downhill since (m)u until NL though, I just cant follow her songs because they just font fit me, something is different in songs from the albums. But thanks god RnRC was so fabulous and she caught my attention again.

But what really make me feel that her music career is going downhill is when she start to sing "ooooooOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOooOOooOOooOO" in her vibrato, I really get annoyed and also her "rock-cute-sexy-cool-hip" concept of her tour, at first I thought they look good, but after a zillion concerts that made with the same concept, I got so bored with her. RnRC tour isnt really helping from what I saw from the preview too

[hsienko]

Originally Posted by prussian blue

I really feel her music is going downhill since (m)u until NL though, I just cant follow her songs because they just font fit me, something is different in songs from the albums. But thanks god RnRC was so fabulous and she caught my attention again.

But what really make me feel that her music career is going downhill is when she start to sing "ooooooOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOooOOooOOooOO" in her vibrato, I really get annoyed and also her "rock-cute-sexy-cool-hip" concept of her tour, at first I thought they look good, but after a zillion concerts that made with the same concept, I got so bored with her. RnRC tour isnt really helping from what I saw from the preview too

Her last good tour was AT 2007 after that they've all just been crap, especially the CDLs, they're just garbage, same stage every year with rehashed costumes/concepts.

[evolution7931]

Originally Posted by hsienko

Her last good tour was AT 2007 after that they've all just been crap, especially the CDLs, they're just garbage, same stage every year with rehashed costumes/concepts.

Yea I get annoyed with this too. It's like every arena tour for the last 5 years has been based off Arena Tour 2005. 2006 was really good cause the concept was still new. Then 07 & 08 were like..... okay.. change the stage already?

I didn't really like the 04 tour THAT much because Ayu's hair was gross on the DVD so it didn't make me like it very much (LOL) but at least it kept me entertained and not knowing what to expect. 2005 was amazing, the long catwalk with the circle b-stage at the end was a brand new concept (dome tour & stadium tours weren't used as much). Now when I download a new Ayu tour I know its gonna have that 2005 stage with some screens added, then some rock, cuteness, sexy, hip, & encore. Like a watered down Arena tour 2005/6

[PrincessAyu]

Originally Posted by prussian blue

I really feel her music is going downhill since (m)u until NL though, I just cant follow her songs because they just font fit me, something is different in songs from the albums. But thanks god RnRC was so fabulous and she caught my attention again.

But what really make me feel that her music career is going downhill is when she start to sing "ooooooOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOooOOooOOooOO" in her vibrato, I really get annoyed and also her "rock-cute-sexy-cool-hip" concept of her tour, at first I thought they look good, but after a zillion concerts that made with the same concept, I got so bored with her. RnRC tour isnt really helping from what I saw from the preview too

the vibrato thing is really blah to me too, but despite the changing... vocal abilities? I think at times, especially at concerts rather than tv (Msta etc) lives, her voice comes out well even now.

As I read a few pages back, true this is AHS and at AHS there's people who'll always get angry or sarcastic to people who talk a little less than 100% positive about Ayu. Truth is, things ARE changing. Ayu's music has changed and I also think Ayu's concerts (+ outfits) have started to get recycled since 2005 or so. The music is ok I guess, but nothing original. I can totally understand if people feel she's going downhill. The vibrato is one thing, but I think her voice still comes out very well some times.

For the sarcastic people: you should respect someone's opinion and you should be able to respond to someone in a civil way, or decide to let it go and not respond at all. Coming with some sarcastic response, and even harsh remarks that are harsh towards the very idol you're so defensive about in the first place, isn't mature or necessary at all. And it makes no sense either.

[prussian blue]

Originally Posted by PrincessAyu

the vibrato thing is really blah to me too, but despite the changing... vocal abilities? I think at times, especially at concerts rather than tv (Msta etc) lives, her voice comes out well even now.

I understand that people's voice change, but sorry, for ayu case's, I don't really like it. You can always hear a huge gap between her older live voice and her recent one. You know, ironically, I used to hate her voice in AT2002, but after watching and listening too much to her recent tour, once I re-watch AT2002, I feel so touched that she used to have those good voice back in the early 00s. Her recent voice is just... too much for me. But I still do enjoy her songs, I still like her though. And this is just my opinion

[pommy48]

It hasn't really gone downhill for me because I'm bound to dislike some songs and love others on her albums.

She's always experimenting with new things, so the only thing that has changed is my expectations for her releases.

[Ranma Matsuri]

Can't really say. I wouldn't use the word "downhill" at this point but rather she's gone in a direction that for the most part, I haven't been feeling. I still consider myself a new fan (not getting fully into her until around the 50th singles/NEXT LEVEL). I enjoyed NL and that album is what convinced me to get into all her other albums (excluding MS and MA which had been the only ones I previously heard). I found that I prefer her older works to her newer works.

While I do acknowledge her vocals have gotten immensely better, I prefer her old voice because I feel more raw energy and I could really feel the messages she was trying to convey even though I can't understand the words. It's a little difficult to read her emotions in her post-GUILTY work. Musically and lyrically, though she's had really good albums before and after, I think her songs were at their highest quality from Duty to Memorial Address. The songs from those albums consistently had songs that imho deserved to be called 'classics' in her discography. But the albums certainly didn't go 'downhill' she just... changed (I think 'mature' is the wrong word for debatable reasons) and because of that, there's been more hits and misses. Secret had to grow on me, GUILTY had some great tracks but as a whole album was a complete bore, and after the 3rd time I can no longer listen to RnRC all the way through without falling asleep or forgetting I'm listening to it in the first place (that's a major indicator that something is boring me lol). I loved NL though (still do) and blossom is amazing so what can I say? lol



I will say with certainty that I agree with the comments on her lyrics feeling the same. It's like, 90% of her lyrics include something about walking together and holding hands. It's not like I want emo Ayu back and her lyrics for the most part are still pretty and more meaningful than most of what's out there but can she seriously write about something else?

[love in music]

Originally Posted by Ranma Matsuri

I will say with certainty that I agree with the comments on her lyrics feeling the same. It's like, 90% of her lyrics include something about walking together and holding hands. It's not like I want emo Ayu back and her lyrics for the most part are still pretty and more meaningful than most of what's out there but can she seriously write about something else?

http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/mircrophone.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/countdown.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/sunsetloveisall.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/ballad.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/dontlookback.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/ladydynamite.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/sexylittlethings.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/sunriseloveisall.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/meaningoflove.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/moon.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/rollin.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/lovenhate.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/rule.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/sparkle.htm
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/identity.htm

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by Ranma Matsuri

Can't really say. I wouldn't use the word "downhill" at this point but rather she's gone in a direction that for the most part, I haven't been feeling. I still consider myself a new fan (not getting fully into her until around the 50th singles/NEXT LEVEL). I enjoyed NL and that album is what convinced me to get into all her other albums (excluding MS and MA which had been the only ones I previously heard). I found that I prefer her older works to her newer works.

While I do acknowledge her vocals have gotten immensely better, I prefer her old voice because I feel more raw energy and I could really feel the messages she was trying to convey even though I can't understand the words. It's a little difficult to read her emotions in her post-GUILTY work. Musically and lyrically, though she's had really good albums before and after, I think her songs were at their highest quality from Duty to Memorial Address. The songs from those albums consistently had songs that imho deserved to be called 'classics' in her discography. But the albums certainly didn't go 'downhill' she just... changed (I think 'mature' is the wrong word for debatable reasons) and because of that, there's been more hits and misses. Secret had to grow on me, GUILTY had some great tracks but as a whole album was a complete bore, and after the 3rd time I can no longer listen to RnRC all the way through without falling asleep or forgetting I'm listening to it in the first place (that's a major indicator that something is boring me lol). I loved NL though (still do) and blossom is amazing so what can I say? lol

Exactly. I miss that rawness in her voice, that imperfection that gave her songs so much emotion. Like I said, that quality of her losing herself in her music, of her being almost overwhelmed by emotion. I find her voice these days too controlled, almost too pretty.

Guilty has some good songs, but it is such a weak album for me. The only song that can stand alongside her "classics" is untitled ~for her, I think. Maybe fated and Guilty as well. Next Level is much better. It's slowly growing on me, so I'm giving it a chance. Rock 'n' Roll Circus, though, has yet to offer me anything. Sunset is lovely, I have to say, but I was hoping that it would be the album to revive my great love for her. I'll give it time to accept it as a typical Ayu album. I really have high hopes for the next one. She seems to have broken away from the usual mold of her summer singles.

[ayu_ready?]

I felt like Moments was the last good single and MY STORY the last awesome album, sorrey

[Maemi]

After GUILTY. Or even before? I dunno But I still love her music