Turned off by the squeak factor?

[myway25]

I was just on soompi, browsing the Other artists section and came accross a thread tat said something like "Most Annoying voice in your opinion".

Ayu was mentioned 3/10 times... Some were quite mean about it, saying her voice sounded like a 10 year old screaming. Saome say she's more of an entaertainer than a singer...Which made me think, a lot of people were probably exposed to her music during her peak era (circa 2011-2003?) when her voice was still quite high.

I first happened upon Ayu when she released Heaven and thought her voice was average in terms of Asian singers. I was wondering--if i'd listened to AFSXX or even Duty, would i have gotten attached to her?

And these ayu voice haters, if they'd heard Ayu's voice now (which is considerablly lower), would they like her? It almost wish these people would give her a second chance.

What do you think?

[truehappiness]

Those people usually don't have any idea what they're talking about. I think they happen to be jealous of her success compared to some of their favorite artists, or they just don't like how pretty she is... (but some people just might really be turned off by nasal squeakiness...)

I think that's just how her voice is sometimes, and she kind of just gets squeakier and squeakier if she talks for a long time... haha. It's a unique voice that takes some getting used to, but that's one of the reasons why I like Ayu so much.

[zyoeru]

Well, people who disliked her voice will go from saying it is too squeaky to just saying her vocals are horrid. My favourite vocals are from Duty anyway.

[freedreamer]

Well...personally I don't mind but sometimes, because of that, I find it hard to spread Ayu's songs because she does have the high-pitched voice and there's a..how should I put it....she sounds very japanese as compared to other singers like Hitomi Shimatani, Amuro Namie..That's my opinion..

and if people hate her voice then...sad for them. LOL
Her voice has evolved, yes lower but I wonder if that's even a concern because I think it's awesome.

[Andrenekoi]

I was turned off by her voice on 2001, 2002... \o

[mobius]

I love Ayu voice no matter how squeaky it is. Like truehappiness said its unique in a way and the first time I heard her I fell in love with it.

[gallowsCalibrator]

I also believe that her voice is very unique and for me, squeakiness doesn't make a difference; as long as it's Ayu singing

[Ianieee]

Agreeing with most, no one has that “uniqueness” of Ayu’s voice other than Ayu xD. Some find it annoying to listen to back in the early days, some actually enjoy it. Doesn’t bother me as much as long as originality is there.

Most people that will say her voice is squeaky though are usually the ones that can’t stand her voice, even up until now probably? Either way Ayu’s Ayu, can’t complain, we all love her

Think my first ever song I heard from Ayumi was Evolution, that’s when I started to like listening to her songs a lot.

[tenez]

I don't mind it at all. I'm more into the emotions of the songs as opposed to the songs themselves, so I'm really not picky about vocals. It's just... Ayu. ;D

[keikeiaznqueen]

I happen to love her squeaky voice. XD I love the new vocals for End roll in A BEST because she made her high pitch in the original on the single and LOVEppears into something even squeakier (with actual squeaks in the highest notes at the end!!) Haha, I dunno, it's just something I really like. I'm actually sad she doesn't do that anymore, but I still love love love her voice. It's really unique and nobody sounds quite like that.

But yeah, I like all her vocals in all eras for different reasons. I think they're all great in their own way. Well, but I know some people who don't like her voice and find it weird, that her vibrato is too much, or she sounds out of breath during lives, etc. That's normal and understandable. But whatever. Each to his own.

[Insanity1240]

First time I listened to her I thought to myself, VIBRATO ABUSE. And while that took some getting used to (i thought all japanese singers sang like that at the time xD) I love Ayus voice! The "squeak" doesnt bother me at all. I like it to a certain extent.

[Embleu]

Unless the singer's voice is extraordinarily good or extraordinarily bad, I really don't pay much attention to voice at all. Melody, arrangement, and lyrics are umpteen times more important to me.

[Crystal_Ageha]

Well, yeah, I was kinda turned off by her voice when I first heard her during her debut. Even now, it's sometimes hard to listen fully to the first four albums, lol. Because she's soooo squeaky. :X But I've grown to love her voice, both before and now (even if it still gives me a slight headache if I listen for too long >.>'). Ayu's voice is certainly an acquired taste, lol!


And yeah, those people who talk about her "squeaky-ness" now, for the past five or so years, are just talking crap. :\ Because, besides the occasional high notes she hits (because she still naturally has a kinda high pitched voice), she hasn't been very squeaky since after RAINBOW. For Ayu, that had become the default insult for haters, like how Kuu-haters call her a ****, or whatever. I'm sure a lot of people actually do feel this way, but whatever. That's just their loss, right? I mean, really, even if I hadn't gotten used to her voice, I love Ayumi and her music way too much to care anymore. Every singer has their "flaws" (though, I don't technically consider, in this case, Ayumi's high voice a flaw). And if we're talking about annoying voices.... Damn, so many singers, especially in Japan, have obnoxious voices, lol..... So Ayu has a lot of competition in that area. XD

[chloeM]

who cares... it's ayu we love...~~~

[AngelSenshi]

The first song I heard of Ayu was Depend On You. At the time, that was pretty damn squeaky but I loved it. I thought everything about her, including her voice, was unique. After that I lost touch with her music. I was young, still learning about all the possibilities of a computer but I always remembered that song. When I got into her music again was in 2001, somewhere I'd seen bits and pieces of Dome Tour and her voice wasn't solid there, it was still 'squeaky' and even then, I still loved it. When I heard her voice again, I had heard Real me and Because of You. Regardless, I still had I love for her voice.

I was never turned off by that squeaky voice, rather I found it quite attractive. Of course, occasionally I'll come across a high squeak in some of her older stuff that makes me cringe a little, but otherwsie I always loved it because it was uniquely hers. Years later, having first heard her voice in Depend On You in 1999 or 2000, I adore her voice still.

[love in music]

I think these people only heard her first couple of albums or something. One of my friends was like that and thought her voice was always squeaky/high pitched and then I gave her some songs like MW/identity/talkin' 2 myself to listen to and she was so shocked/surprised and then became a fan lol.

[Not~Yet]

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha

And yeah, those people who talk about her "squeaky-ness" now, for the past five or so years, are just talking crap. :\ Because, besides the occasional high notes she hits (because she still naturally has a kinda high pitched voice), she hasn't been very squeaky since after RAINBOW. For Ayu, that had become the default insult for haters, like how Kuu-haters call her a ****, or whatever. I'm sure a lot of people actually do feel this way, but whatever. That's just their loss, right? I mean, really, even if I hadn't gotten used to her voice, I love Ayumi and her music way too much to care anymore. Every singer has their "flaws" (though, I don't technically consider, in this case, Ayumi's high voice a flaw). And if we're talking about annoying voices.... Damn, so many singers, especially in Japan, have obnoxious voices, lol..... So Ayu has a lot of competition in that area. XD

Yeah, all of this. I wasn't bothered by hear squeaky vocals when I first heard Dearest/M/evolution etc though, but I guess I was aware of them because I clearly remember warning my friend about her momentarily sheep-like vocals when we listened to Dearest. XD But I love pretty much all of her vocals, because her voice is always unique and emotional. I've said this here before and I'll say it again, even with the flaws in her voice I've always, from the very first moment I heard it, thought her voice is really beautiful. From ASFXX till now. It was quite a shock for me to find out how so many people, even fans, said she has a bad voice.

[truehappiness]

For Ayu, that had become the default insult for haters, like how Kuu-haters call her a ****, or whatever. I'm sure a lot of people actually do feel this way, but whatever.

Actually, I think Ayu's default insult is that she's plastic/fake. The voice thing is close, but I'd say waaaaay more people think that her face was completely remade with surgery or something of that nature. As for that **** thing, I think many people have their reasons for thinking that, since it's not like people just came up with that from nowhere, you know?

[indyplus]

^I agree.

And I have never been turned off by the squeak factor. I really love Ayu's voice since the beginning and I also disagree with people who says that it's bad at the moment...

[AyUmIXx]

i don't really like her squeaky vocal really.. because it's just too high pitched.. so i love her vocal better starting from 2004 vocals and specially now
and i also don't think that she's a great singer if she has to be compared with some other great singers out there, but at least she CAN sing.. the most important thing is that, she has her own originality plus uniqueness, and she can write great lyrics for great songs
that's why i love her
she's not just depending on her look, but she still can sing