So why hasn't Ayu remade ASFXX yet?

[truehappiness]

I was revisiting Mirrorcle World (the single) today and listening to the 10th anniversary mixes of Depend on you/YOU, I wondered why she hasn't really given the entire album that sort of 'rearrange/new mix/new vocal' treatment. I want that album to find more appreciation since the 'sound' of it is a bit of a turn off since immediately after ASFXX, we got the Ayu sound in LOVEppears that we still kindasorta have today.

Though I feel like if Ayu DOES pursue this sort of project, she should do it a bit differently than what they did with Depend on you and YOU. Perhaps make everything less sparkly and 90s feeling? They polished up both tracks and had Ayu sing the songs again, but I think they should have gone the route of the A BALLADS ASFXX mix rather than just refining what was already there.

Are you interested in A Song for XX being remade with 'current' Ayu in mind? I think it would be a rather rocky record.

[chocopockymaster]

I almost wonder if it wouldn't be really difficult for her. One of the things I love about that album is how sincere it is (and I mean, all her music is to a certain extent, but there's just something so vulnerable about the person she was when she first debuted) so for her to recreate the album when she's grown so much and changed as a person and really found her "ibasho" would be really hard. And I think it would lose something of what made it so special to begin with.

[Delirium-Zer0]

I gotta agree here. The new vocals in the 10th anniversary versions sound so... insincere. The "Aah~"s at the end of "Who..." are just so mechanical, I didn't like how it sounded at all. Mechanically, technically, yes her vocals were much better, but the feeling just... wasn't there. If she'd redone ASFXX back around her fifth anniversary or something, she mighta been able to do it, but no way she could capture it these days.

[truehappiness]

That would be around the time she did the new ASFXX version on A BALLADS, right? I feel like that would have definitely been a good time to do so... but she was incredibly busy at the time, iirc. With her TV show among other things and that was nowhere near as crazy as her schedule seemed to be in 2001/2002, but it was still a lot. Things have really changed for her since then.

If not in album form, I'd like to at least hear a few more of the tracks performed by Ayu as we know her now. I feel really bad for some of Ayu's album tracks because after one or two performances, they get lost in the mix and never get recognized again. Praise Hamagoddess that we got Connected (finally) in PREMIUM SHOWCASE.

[chocopockymaster]

Yeah, especially since the Hana performance at AT09 and For My Dear... at PCDL were so great. :') POWDER SNOW having made more of a comeback in recent years is great too.

[truehappiness]

SIGNAL ~ Hana ~ too late was perfection along with And Then ~ Naturally.

[Raiu-Ayu]

As much as I would love to hear the ayu of this era tackle A Song for XX, I think it would probably be a bad idea. People weren't all that impressed with the YOU and Depend on you from Mirrorcle World. Like you said if she would have done it around the time of A BALLADS I think it would have been perfection.

I feel like the ayu of now doesn't relate to the lyrics as much as she did back then. They would sound insincere, as people said. She performs the songs live yes, but when there's the energy of the crowd and the adrenaline is pumping it all comes together.

Back then ayu focused on the loneliness and confusion and isolation she was feeling, her recent lyrics show she's more at home with herself now and more content. I would rather see ayu produce like a 'reply' to A Song for XX, like a "if you could talk to yourself back then, what would you say" type thing.

[NintendoHTF1242]

Originally Posted by Raiu-Ayu

As much as I would love to hear the ayu of this era tackle A Song for XX, I think it would probably be a bad idea. People weren't all that impressed with the YOU and Depend on you from Mirrorcle World. Like you said if she would have done it around the time of A BALLADS I think it would have been perfection.

I feel like the ayu of now doesn't relate to the lyrics as much as she did back then. They would sound insincere, as people said. She performs the songs live yes, but when there's the energy of the crowd and the adrenaline is pumping it all comes together.

Back then ayu focused on the loneliness and confusion and isolation she was feeling, her recent lyrics show she's more at home with herself now and more content. I would rather see ayu produce like a 'reply' to A Song for XX, like a "if you could talk to yourself back then, what would you say" type thing.

THANK YOU! I was trying to word my thoughts but couldn't figure it out... But your post got it on-point! I feel like "A Song for XX" belongs in the past. She can still sing songs here and there live, but an entire rearrangement album just doesn't seem like something Ayu would wanna do. Considering she doesn't like "poker face" and she just simply doesn't relate as much to the lyrics as she used to.

Granted, the Depend on you (10th anniversary version) was flawless.

[truehappiness]

I think the YOU/Depend on you remakes felt like afterthoughts. They didn't really do much to the songs and kinda just spruced up arrangements slightly and had new vocals. They didn't really show what she could ~really~ do to the songs IMO.

[Tom Punks]

It'd be cool to hear the album redone! I don't think it'd be "good" in the sense everyone is talking about (artistically, emotionally, whatever) but it'd be interesting to hear what she'd do with it. I don't see why she would ever do it tho lol

[truehappiness]

It's the only album to me that doesn't really have the "Ayu sound". I mean, it has the concentrated essence of why everyone likes Ayu in it BUT the album itself just lacks that sound that many associate with Ayu. Rearrangements would be neat at the very least.

[Coelacanth]

'Wishing' has become my favorite song off ASFXX in recent years. I think it's an incredible song precisely because it was recorded by 1998 Ayu. There's just an innocence and naivete in her voice and in the lyrics that wouldn't be able to be re-captured in an updated recording imo. It would be like an adult Michael Jackson re-recording 'Ben' or something...

[Tom Punks]

And it'd be nice to hear a version that didn't make me wanna claw my ears out.

I mean, it's not THAT bad but it's definitely a little hard to listen to unless you're really in the mood for it lol. I wouldn't even mind if they were done Depend on you style and weren't all that different, only updated. But if she could transform the songs like she did with Movin' on without you, that'd be even cooler obviously. I don't really care if she doesn't have an emotional connection to any of the songs anymore lol since they're like 80 years old at this point.

[truehappiness]

I think I am just extremely optimistic at the potential of the project because of what sleeperspaceborn did with from your letter, ahaha. (STILL)



This remake makes me want to cry and have a carton of ice cream while wrapped in blankets.

[Delirium-Zer0]

I don't think the album needs to be re-performed, I think it needs to be re-produced. I'd like to hear the same vocal tracks used (but with some slight pitch correction put on them so they sound perhaps a bit more like the vocal tracks on LOVEppears and Duty) and with some amped-up production so they don't sound quite so unassuming, 80s, and... well, frankly cheesy. An album that honest just shouldn't sound cheesy.

[Aderianu]

I want that album with new vocal! really, that's my biggest dream

[DonkeyKongRemix]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

I don't think the album needs to be re-performed, I think it needs to be re-produced. I'd like to hear the same vocal tracks used (but with some slight pitch correction put on them so they sound perhaps a bit more like the vocal tracks on LOVEppears and Duty) and with some amped-up production so they don't sound quite so unassuming, 80s, and... well, frankly cheesy. An album that honest just shouldn't sound cheesy.

I totally agree! Re-recording it could possibly change the whole meaning and feeling behind ASFXX whereas re-producing it could be super awesome!

At the same time...

I wouldn't mind either way. I would love it if she redid For My Dear...at least because...let's face it, those vocals are pretty tough to handle. Which is sad considering it has the potential to be one of my favorites. XD

[Delirium-Zer0]

I kept waiting for some kind of remix or something to capture the feelings that the album version of FMD seemed to just...not...quite...reach. When A BEST was announced I was hoping it would be included and get a new vocal & mix, but no. When Ayu released A BALLADS I was hoping for something there, and again no. She started doing the 10th Anniversary versions and I was hoping FMD would get this treatment too.... but again, no. Then she finally performed it at PCDL and it was actually VERY VERY VERY close to what I was hoping to get for a freakin' decade - I listen to that version almost exclusively now, it's SO good. The concert hall acoustics and her better vocals make for a PERFECT update of the song IMHO.

[Delicious n Bold]

Giving me pokemon vibes
Let's leave that masterpiece of an album where it belongs... In a soundproof room.

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by Delicious n Bold

Giving me pokemon vibes
Let's leave that masterpiece of an album where it belongs... In a soundproof room.

Lmao.

I don't really see what more they could have done for the 10th anni versions. I mean, I suppose there is a lot they could do but generally speaking, the way they handled them for the context of her 10th anniversary was great. Anyways, the only song I care to hear re-recorded and re-produced is POWDER SNOW. CDL was good but I want an official studio version.

Also, ayus vocals aren't that bad on a song for xx. It may get exhausting after a while but overall her vocals there are fine.