ayu-mi-x 7 opinions

[freedreamer]

Originally Posted by zellyx

does anyone else think that acoustic orchestra Kanariya is AMAZING??!
I love it...

overall, the acoustic orchestra album is pretty solid.

Yes..I fell in love with the music! I was never a kanariya fan..now a greedy me just wants the vocals to be renewed lol

[Aditmi Krisnasaki ~II~]

AOV album sucks! (except for the rendition of LOVE ~Destiny~, LOL)

eurobeat album is still perfect as usual so far...

haven't heard the others yet.

[TeamAyu2004]

The AO album is fantastic. I was raving about it, but when i went back to listen to the other Ao's I forgot all about My Story Classical. and what do i find... a Classical/AO version of Moments.. I was pretty disappointed that we have two versions of this song on AO...

I would of rather seen something like, Mirrorcle World, Unite!, Fairyland, Grateful days, or Talkin' 2 Myself then a repeat.

Dont get me wrong... it is good, it is wonderful, but I already have an excellent Ao version on My Story Classical... lets get some new stuff!

[mirrorcleworld]

Sadly, those songs from a song for xx just killed the entire ayu-mi-x 7 release for me x_x

[Sirea]

God you know what.

I was totally not amped for this release when I first heard of it. Not because I thought it'd be blah or I wouldn't like it, it just didn't sound interesting. Then, I heard it, and I loved it to death. But I thought I'd eventually get tired of it.

I still love it just as much as I did the first time I heard it, and I've been listening to it nonstop since. I can't help but think what an awesome summer mix this is. I have a feeling this is gonna be one of those times when you listen to music and you always remember that one point in your life when you listened to it a ton and it's all nostalgic and junk. :3

[Kacku]

My personal ranking: Eurobeat > Acoutic Orchestra > House > Trance

ayu-ro mix 4 was unbeatable here - and this is from someone who wasn't too fond of her earlier eurobeat albums. But here, every single song is full of energy and emotion, and the whole album doesn't have a single bad song. I even preferred the glitter and Startin' remixes to their original versions. Other espacially noteworthy songs would be STEP you (what a rush of energy!), SURREAL, Depend on you and Free & Easy (the songs that made me see that eurobeat can be emotional).

Acoustic Orchestra was similarly awesome. Like with ayu-ro 4, I can't point out a single flawed song - the only reason it's behind eurobeat is because it doesn't cause quite as huge a rush of emotions. But it's definitely her best acoustic orchestra album - the acoustic and orchestra instruments are nicely balanced and work well together. And the songs were awesome. This album's forgiveness remix is surely at least as good as the original, if not better, the NEVER EVER remix is the first good and fitting remix of this song I have ever heard and kanariya's new version takes one of my most loathed Ayu songs makes it beautiful with the chilling piano melody and the removal of the annoying background vocals. Other songs were also good, but not quite as noteworthy. I have to say, though - I think I might still prefer MY STORY Classical over this CD. That would be because I'm a sucker for orchestra music and ayu-mi-x 7 -version Acoustic Orchestra- doesn't have quite as much orchestra (obviously) as the MY STORY remix album. Still, the AO album is undoubtedly on the second place in my ranking.

Next, we have -version HOUSE-. This CD was a huge surprise for me - I've never really liked a single house song I've heard, but this album had many I fell completely in love with instantly. TO BE, Dearest, For My Dear..., Mirrorcle World, fairyland... loved 'em all. I might even say this album opened my eyes for house. The reason it's only #3 is that this album actually had some songs I didn't like - the ending trio and appears were frankly quite horrendous. Still, with the rest of the disc being quite solid stuff, I'd have to say this album was really good and definitely exceeded my expectations.

And lastly, ayu trance 4. Sigh. I'm quite a trance fan myself and this was the album I was looking forward to the most, only to have it turn out to be the worst of the bunch. Don't get me wrong, this album had its good songs (Far away, poker face and Endless Sorrow mixes being my personal favorites), but with the rest varying from ok to baaaad, the CD doesn't really deserve a better grade. Maybe I just raised the bar too high with my expectations, but the outcome was still a disappointment.

Also: ayu-mi-x 7 > all the other ayu-mi-xes. Even with my slight complaints about the house and trance CDs, this collection definitely turned out to be the best bunch of remixes in Ayu's discography.

[Eewyi]

Originally Posted by Kacku

My personal ranking: Eurobeat > Acoutic Orchestra > House > Trance

ayu-ro mix 4 was unbeatable here - and this is from someone who wasn't too fond of her earlier eurobeat albums. But here, every single song is full of energy and emotion, and the whole album doesn't have a single bad song. I even preferred the glitter and Startin' remixes to their original versions. Other espacially noteworthy songs would be STEP you (what a rush of energy!), SURREAL, Depend on you and Free & Easy (the songs that made me see that eurobeat can be emotional).

Acoustic Orchestra was similarly awesome. Like with ayu-ro 4, I can't point out a single flawed song - the only reason it's behind eurobeat is because it doesn't cause quite as huge a rush of emotions. But it's definitely her best acoustic orchestra album - the acoustic and orchestra instruments are nicely balanced and work well together. And the songs were awesome. This album's forgiveness remix is surely at least as good as the original, if not better, the NEVER EVER remix is the first good and fitting remix of this song I have ever heard and kanariya's new version takes one of my most loathed Ayu songs makes it beautiful with the chilling piano melody and the removal of the annoying background vocals. Other songs were also good, but not quite as noteworthy. I have to say, though - I think I might still prefer MY STORY Classical over this CD. That would be because I'm a sucker for orchestra music and ayu-mi-x 7 -version Acoustic Orchestra- doesn't have quite as much orchestra (obviously) as the MY STORY remix album. Still, the AO album is undoubtedly on the second place in my ranking.

Next, we have -version HOUSE-. This CD was a huge surprise for me - I've never really liked a single house song I've heard, but this album had many I fell completely in love with instantly. TO BE, Dearest, For My Dear..., Mirrorcle World, fairyland... loved 'em all. I might even say this album opened my eyes for house. The reason it's only #3 is that this album actually had some songs I didn't like - the ending trio and appears were frankly quite horrendous. Still, with the rest of the disc being quite solid stuff, I'd have to say this album was really good and definitely exceeded my expectations.

And lastly, ayu trance 4. Sigh. I'm quite a trance fan myself and this was the album I was looking forward to the most, only to have it turn out to be the worst of the bunch. Don't get me wrong, this album had its good songs (Far away, poker face and Endless Sorrow mixes being my personal favorites), but with the rest varying from ok to baaaad, the CD doesn't really deserve a better grade. Maybe I just raised the bar too high with my expectations, but the outcome was still a disappointment.

Also: ayu-mi-x 7 > all the other ayu-mi-xes. Even with my slight complaints about the house and trance CDs, this collection definitely turned out to be the best bunch of remixes in Ayu's discography.

Wow, I think SO much like you : D I must say that I do agree to almost all you said. HOUSE and Acoustic were big (and positive) surprises for me too, ayu-ro-mix was just AMAZING and bursting with energy.
The one that kinda "let me down" was the trance one, it lacked some hard beat I think. It's still good (Especially Greatful days mix) but in this case I refer her older trance work.

But as a whole, like you said ayu-mi-x 7 > all other ayu-mi-xes. I'm pretty satisfied that I spent 95 euros to my Limited box~

[CHE.R.RY]

To be perfectly honest...I wasn't that impressed with these remix albums ...The only one that I did actually like a bit was the trance one. Now that album did have some really solid remixes. I'll just pick & choose what I liked from the albums overall & explain why I did/didn't like the album.

∙ ayu-mi-x 7 -version Acoustic Orchestra- :The only arrangement I liked was HANABI...& that could very well be because it's one of my most favorite Ayu songs that I have ever listened to, & no matter what it almost always still holds its beauty. But over all, I found the arrangement to be very well-done...kudos to Shingo Kobayashi for taking a masterpiece & creating another one .
Why did I not care for the others? I don't know it just seemed like their arrangements were really boring imo. It was like they took a bunch of Ayu songs & turned them into ballads (at least the ones that weren't originally ballads in the first place) that weren't even fully orchestra. The way I looked at it was this, "If this was my first time hearing this song as if it was the original, would I like it?" & without fail, all of them kind of bored me. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore orchestral music, & I usually do enjoy the re-arrangements we get from the singles, but this album was just not for me. I think what threw me off the most was the inclusion of non-orchestral instruments.

∙ ayu-mi-x 7 presents ayu-ro 4 : Okay, I am really not a eurobeat person . I did like it better than AO & occasionally, I do find a remix or two that I find kind of catchy when it comes to euro...so here's the ones that I did find to be pretty cool:

SURREAL (DIMA EURO remix 2011)
Startin' (EUROGROOVES 2011 rmx) - This one was probably my 2nd favorite. It was awesome . Super catchy!
INSPIRE (AKBK 'valle blanco' remix) - Imo, this song is perfect for a eurobeat mix...it's just got that euro sound to it.
talkin' 2 myself (EUROGROOVES fashion mix) - Surprisingly, this one translated into a eurobeat song very well ...it really took me by surprise! This one is my first favorite by far!
Free & Easy (Plum mix) - I actually am not a fan of the original (other than when she says 'konna konna' in those high notes xD), but I did like this mix because it cut out the boring parts & really honored the awesome parts ! But over all, it is a really nice remix with a sick little beat to it.
Depend on you (EUROBEAT GoGo's remix) - I just love this song...it's like HANABI it just sounds so good no matter what form it's in! It has such a beautiful melody to it.

∙ ayu-mi-x 7 -version HOUSE- : Eh, the only remix I found to be outrageously amazing was the Mirrocle World (Johnny Vicious Club mix). It had such a good beat & I loved how it included that little sound in it from the original song, plus I love it when that echo effect is added on the voice in remixes. It was really well-done club mix...as for the rest of the album, these are the other ones that I found to be just alright:

No way to say (Sugiurumn remix) - This is one of those songs where I don't really like the original, but only because I find the music to be cheesy. I actually adore Ayu's vocals in it SO much. This remix isn't that amazing, but I still find the music to be a little better than the original mix.
appears (Shinichi Osawa remix) - This remix has a nice little beat to it. It gets kind of boring after awhile though.
Bold & Delicious (Dub's Standard House remix) - This one is probably my 2nd favorite after Mirrocle World. I love what was done with this song! It still maintains that funky feel to it, only with a club beat added to it. It's very good!
M (Remo-con mix) - This almost reminds me of a Deadmau5 song in an odd way (which isn't a bad thing at all). It's a solid remix for the most part.
UNITE! (EK's Big Room remix) - This one also kind of had a Deadmau5 vibe to it in a way. I guess that's what attracted me to it.
crossroad (Johnny Vicious Club mix) - There's that down & dirty sound again xD! Very good! It brought a whole new feel to this song...especially when you consider what the original sounds like.

∙ ayu-mi-x 7 presents ayu trance 4 - Okay, maybe this one was my most favorite because it was the only one I was most hyped for, & of course, I am a pretty big fan of trance. Plus, the ayu trance albums are really the only remix albums of Ayu's that I've really enjoyed, other than the orgel albums & My Story Classical. I liked all but three of the remixes:
Days (Aly & Fila Remix) - I hate the way they slowed down her vocals it made her sound so lazy ugh ...
MOON (Clokx Remix) - Ayu's vocals didn't match the trance music at all imo. I feel like her vocals sound almost out of place in the song.
Rule (Public Domain Remix) - Man, this was disappointing. It just seemed like it didn't translate well into a trance song. In fact, this remix tends to get on my nerves a little .

Like I said I liked all of the others, but here were my absolute favs:
Endless sorrow (Dance Nation Remix) - Omg this remix is to die for! I felt like they synced Ayu's vocals in so well with the trance music!!! Plus, I felt like the song still held that beautiful, kind of sorrowful feeling that the original had to it! Very very well-done! I don't know why but I just love Ayu's vocals in this song, & they sounded so beautiful in this trance remix as well.
Far away (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix) - It reminded me of the original a lot. I love it cuz it felt like a different take on the original mix, rather than a totally new song.
Greatful Days (DJ JOKER vs HEAVEN WiRE Remix) - Ooh man this remix was so awesome! It made Greatful Days sound so surreal & dreamy-like! Plus I adore that part with the synth & the heavy beat...so awesome!
vogue (Groove Coverage Remix) - This one has got to be my absolute favorite! I am so addicted to this remix! I feel like this song translated into trance the best out all of the songs. To me, it truly sounded like an original trance song.
YOU (Ramon Zenker Remix) - I always love Ramon Zenker remixes . This one didn't cease to amaze me. This remix really took a plain, yet sweet song, & made it into a hardcore trance piece.

[Sirea]

Hmm. Yeah. One thing of note for me - I did think the remix of MOON just... freaking... sucked. I don't think I've seen anyone bring this up yet, but they actually took her a capella part, and SLOWED IT DOWN. Quite a bit actually. Now this may be my opinion, but in electro remixes, the idea is to make the result more energetic than the original. MOON just ends up feeling lethargic and bizarre, since her ultra-slow tempo does not by any means match the energy of the rest of the music. Why didn't they just speed up the music to match her original tempo, or even speed up both? Ugh. :/

Also, I really have a hard time listening to the AO version of HEAVEN. It's one of my favorite ayu songs of all-time, and I feel like it completely lost all of its grandeur and splendor thanks to some random string-plucking and little building of the music. This song really deserves some emotional, soaring strings... and instead... it just got... murdered. I dunno... :/

Other than that, every song is somewhere between listenable and the best thing that's ever happened to me. Those are the two bizarre ones.

[Brownchild]

Originally Posted by Sirea

Hmm. Yeah. One thing of note for me - I did think the remix of MOON just... freaking... sucked. I don't think I've seen anyone bring this up yet, but they actually took her a capella part, and SLOWED IT DOWN. Quite a bit actually. Now this may be my opinion, but in electro remixes, the idea is to make the result more energetic than the original. MOON just ends up feeling lethargic and bizarre, since her ultra-slow tempo does not by any means match the energy of the rest of the music. Why didn't they just speed up the music to match her original tempo, or even speed up both? Ugh. :/

Also, I really have a hard time listening to the AO version of HEAVEN. It's one of my favorite ayu songs of all-time, and I feel like it completely lost all of its grandeur and splendor thanks to some random string-plucking and little building of the music. This song really deserves some emotional, soaring strings... and instead... it just got... murdered. I dunno... :/

Other than that, every song is somewhere between listenable and the best thing that's ever happened to me. Those are the two bizarre ones.

About the vocal speed thing, I guess they had no choice, because the original BPM does not suit for a dance song, so they either have to speed it up or slow it down, but if you speed the vocals up the result would probably be even worse.

[Sirea]

^ Actually, I still don't see why they didn't either leave the vocals as is and just change the tempo for the music (in electronic music this is really, really easy to do). Or really, speeding up the vocals wouldn't have been that bad either. Several of the remixed ayu songs have been sped up from their original form to suit the new style, especially the eurobeat stuff. Hell, talkin' 2 myself has become a giant tongue twister.

It's just something they could have easily fixed. Or who knows, maybe it was an intentional stylistic choice that I personally don't like. -shrug-

[bondingo]

There were some pretty good mixes on each of the albums, but overall I can't say I was totally impressed. Considering how remixes have been far more scarce from Memorial address and on, I was hoping for far more remixes of new songs. Instead we have a ton of remixes of songs that have already been remixed a million times, and I couldn't care any less about hearing new mixes of them. It sort of feels like a wasted opportunity.

[Minttulatte]

ayu trance 4 = HOUSE > ayu-ro mix 4 > Acoustic Orchestra.

And that bonus disc, the long waited Non-Stop Megamix Version, was totally useless. They should have used completely different remixes for this and not the same ones that were already remixed into a non-stop megamix form (trance, eurobeat and house albums). It was a complete disappointment to me. It's the worst non-stop megamix version of a Ayu remix album ever made to me.

As separate albums I say ayu trance 4 and version HOUSE were definitely my favorities. I got bored somewhere in the middle of ayu-ro mix 4 and almost fell asleep while listening to Acoustic Orchestra. No kidding.

As a whole box I'd say ayu-mi-x 7 wasn't as bad as ayu-mi-x 6. Even though 3 out of 4 albums (5 if non-stop megamix is counted) were good, ayu-mi-x 7 didn't have the same feeling that her masterpiece remix albums ayu-mi-x 4 Non-Stop Mega Mix/Acoustic Orchestra, ayu trance 2 and ayu-ro mix 2 had. Those are still my favorite remix albums of Ayu's.

[channy]

Originally Posted by drdolce

almost fell asleep while listening to Acoustic Orchestra. No kidding.

I think that the Acoustic Orchestra version of ayu-mi-x 7 as a whole album lacks a decent amount of variety. That's the problem I can see.

MY STORY Classical still is my absolute favourite when it comes to Acoustic Orchestra. It's so good, that there are instrumentals throughout the tracklist, here and there. They should have done the same with the new Acoustic Orchestra. Also the sound of MY STORY Classical was more forcing and "loud".

After all, I have nothing against the new Acoustic Orchestra album, but I must confess, I have not listen to it for so many times till now

[Surreal17]

I have yet to listen to the eurobeat/trance/house CDs but I somehow managed to listen to the orchestra version few months ago. And its really amazing. My favourites are Trust and Audience. Way superior to the originals. Love the jazzy/bossa nova feel.

[NintendoHTF1242]

Wow has it really been four years already? I still listen to trance a lot, and I play the orchestra mix of HANABI and forgiveness like every other day haha. I feel inclined to go re listen to all four now, I thought this release was really well-done and fun. I wish Ayu would do another extravagant release like this

[orangeakira]

^I stopped counting how many times I have listened to the orchestra version of Kanariya. I can't believe it took them this long to produce one.

[mi|kshake]

^It's one version of Kanariya I actually like/love! The AO album was worth it for Kanariya alone!

[Surreal17]

I listened yesterday to house version. I really like the to be and crossroad remixes. Dearest too. I need to listen to it more!!!

[Delirium-Zer0]

That AO version of kanariya is, in my opinion, the only version that actually FEELS like what's being said in the lyrics. The album version sounds too mysterious and kinda like "Huh, that's an interesting observation, isn't it?"... the dancey versions sound too empowered. Counterforce's metal version is pretty close but the R&B background vocals do kinda ruin it.

The AO version actually sounds like a mournful acceptance of a truth. I think it's perfect.

I really love many of the remixes kanariya has, but this version nailed it.