woww..this is another great opinion...
i love your idea..
it's really making sense...

human evolves why not Ayu??
she's trying to do some thing NEW that she has never done before so she may know what will the fans react to the NEW invention she did...
(she ever said something like that on the CD Data interview or what magazine interview..i forgot..it was the recent interview...when she was about to release (miss)understood album)...

moreover..most important..she loves that kind of music..
remember how excited she was when she first listened to Sweetbox's samples of songs?

I disagree. I actually think (miss)Understood could be the best album she has ever released. I was so surprised when I listened to the whole thing and just loved it to pieces. It disappoints me that it didn't sell well.

I think Startin' is a good song, and the PV amusing. Born to Be...is only decent, with a terrible PV. Blue Bird & Beautiful Fighters fall short of my standards for Ayu, and the PVs aren't that great either. At this moment I don't think Ayu is at her musical best, but she'll probably wow me again sometime soon. I certainly wouldn't say she's been going downhill...but there are many people who do say that.

I also don't see what's so wrong with the original poster making this topic. There is no topic like this currently on the front page, so it's not like it's a repeat thread. Maybe some of you are getting mad because it's a repeat "idea" that you don't like...?

Hmm I think it's Ok to express opinions^^

I really have to agree with you in some points-I also don't like Blue Bird a lot because it's similar to Blue Bird in my opinion.
I think the Carols Pv is very boring.
And the Walking Proud PV isn't very interesting...
Yes, I also don't like much of Ayu's songs since Missunderstood a lot.
But I don't think Ayu goes downhill.

If you know Ayu you know that she is a singer since 1999 and released around 100 ..can't you imagine that she don't wants to release alwys the same kinds of songs?
This would be more boring!

I personally really like the (new) Music Style she used in Missunderstood.
This "Ya ga da wo" sounds very bad at first listening-but anywhen you get used to it. XD
I personally love Pride and B&D a lot^^.

I think we only have to get used to Ayus new Music Style-that's all^^

I think it's so meaningless to discuss this kind of things. People have diffirent opinions and tast and Ayu, she will continue to make music and PVs thats makes HER happy now.... might be a piece of crap for somebody else but Ayu dont care and you disappointed fans can't do nothing about that. argue all you want about her music and the going downhill thing, it dont matter.

Everyones opinions are fine, but everyone also seems to be ignoring the simple fact that her sales took a sudden and swift downturn with the release of B&D and has yet to recover. (we will see about Blue Bird) And that is something that is not opinion, but fact.

I don't think she's going downhill, but I have to agree that her recent stuff haven't been all great.

IMO I dont think ayu is going downhill at all and she is far from going downhill you gotta look at all aspects of her career before you say she is going downhill

To me ayu's not going downhill.(Alteast for the music part) Her recent songs just aren't as mainstream as before but they still have their own uniqueness (ladies night, altera, born to be, beautiful fighters) I listen to ayu's songs like everyday at work and my playlist consists of mainly her recent songs (my story, (miss) understood, 2 new singles) I do have to agree her recent pvs arent very good (except for moments, carols, game, my name's woman, alterna, step you, is this love?, ladies night...) but on the bright side, her vocals improved as well as her concerts...my story:love I bet if the (miss) understood cover was better, it would of sold more. Atleast I would of bought the cd version too. About the low sales, IN MY OPINION, there was a lot of factors. (b&d released as a single, the song itself wasnt that easy to accept by ppl, (miss)understood cover, and when all that was going on, another artist, kxxx became very popular and started releasing lots of songs that are liked by many (mainstream) and became the "it" girl. (with all the fresh image) but just because someone else is more popular, that wont change anything to me. Ayu will still be my fav artist...and I also dont mind what other ppl say about ayu (bashing) they have their own opinions and I accept that.

If you ask me which ayu album is my fav, it would be (miss) understood...even though it has the worst cover!! but music wise, its my fav!:luv2

My blue bird single's been shipped out! yay!

It is a fact, but not one that means Ayumi is "going downhill". To me, "going downhill" means the quality of her music is declining, and I don't think that is the case. Less people may like her music / Ayu herself these days, and that could be why her sales have been lower, but does that REALLY mean her actual QUALITY has declined? There is plenty of high quality stuff that is not popular, and plenty of low-quality junk that IS popular. Popularity and sales do not necessarily indicate quality, at least I don't think so.

Do we really need this thread? We have discussed this over and over...Yes, its okay to express your opinions about Ayu, but again this whole opinion thing is turning into yet again another discussion about it. We cannot keep having the same arguements over and over. And yet, we still have threads like the "To those who don't like beautiful fighters," and this one.

I don't think Ayu is going downhill. She's doing her thing. She's doing new styles.
You say you like Ayu because she was the first artist you ever got into to and she didn't turn into a hoe. I think you really need to reevaluate why you like Ayu. You also need to see the things that make Ayu special. We talked about it in another thread...i think you should read it. Do you read lyrics? Some people don't, but I've found that Ayu writes some of the most beautiful lyrics, and they seem to go with her PV's.

I just think that you need to understand everything about her...i'm not sure that you do from reading your ridiculously long post. There are going to be people who don't like everything she does, and we, the people at this forum, I've found, respect that. But it just doesn't sound very mature of you to just bash everything IN DEPTH. You can have your opinions, and that's fine. But the way you came out in that first post does not benefit you.

I agree with Namie above. Ayu will continue to do what she wants, make her own music how she wants, and sing it how she wants. She's AYU, she can do anything. And while we her fans may not like her songs, it doesn't, matter, because she likes them. And that's what's important to her.

Sorry, I only read the first posts, but wanted to give a short comment.

I disagree with the OP. In my opinion, Ayu has been going up after MY STORY. I agree with some of the crits, especially about Bold&Delicious, but in whole, it seems that Pyro2787 is just a bit tired of Ayu and can only see the bad sides while forgetting the good sides. Personally, i'm always amazed how hard working Ayu is. I can't think of other artists who have the strength to shoot a PV for almost every released song. It's just something. And imo, every PV she's released has been unique. And I really liked the walking Proud PV too...

matter of taste i guess.. And for some reason, most people still love Ayu's music. ^^

I'm sorry, but I have to respond to this:
Can you please tell me how am I suppose to judge whether I like what I'm reading before I read it?

But anyways, no, Ayu's only going downhill in your opinion. I think she just reached a creativity slump as Hanabichick said, which is understandable because after having 200 or so songs one's bound to have one. And as an artist (although not singer), I can understand what it's like to have one. I personally think she's experimenting, and not everyone would like it. I personally think music cannot be truly judged on quality because there's no standard (well, unless one's tone-deaf).

P.S. for the heaven PV, you do know that most people don't look nice when they cry, right?

-

After reading the first and third pages of posts, here's what I have to say.

I myself don't think that Ayu is going downhill because I actually became a fan when My Story was released (and that actually got me into her music). Still, I also thought that m(u) was great despite the somewhat underwhelming tracks B&D and Pride. I also don't think that the PV quality has decreased. I thought that Ladies Night and alterna (especially alterna) were very symbolic and reminiscent of her unique past PVs. However, I do think that BLUE BIRD is too similar to fairyland. Beautiful Fighters and Born to Be are good, but in my opinion, nothing exceptional. And as I saw it, Startin' seemed as if it were more of a parody of Britney Spears' videos (I'm a Slave For You and Toxic), as they seemed very much alike to me.

Still, I don't see this as any sort of downfall on Ayu's part. While BLUE BIRD and Beautiful Fighters aren't anything wonderful, I still like them better than some older singles such as Far Away and NEVER EVER (but that's just my opinion). And although I disagree, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't have the right to say how you feel. So I respect your opinion :)

But to repeat what I said earlier in the thread: "But I'm not talking about the course of years, I'm talking about the course of months in Ayu's case. Heaven came out and sold over 300,000, then shortly after B&D fails to reach 200,000, then m(U) comes out and is her first album to not sell 1 million copies, then Startin' comes out and also fails to sell 200,000. That's a worrying pattern right there and says to me that perhaps the sharp sudden drop has more to do with the quality of the product as percieved by the public more so than anything else."

So in short, the quality of the product is going to directly effect the number of sales. The quality of the product, meaning everything from the music, to the covers, to the PVs. When it comes to someone like Ayu, who is already extremely popular and doesn't really need to win over any new people, her sales would directly relate to the quality of the product. There is something that is keeping 100,000+ people from buying her products recently, that always bought her products before and I don't think it is just Koda Kumi. :) The reasons for the slump are ultimately irrelevant - creative slump, trying something new(although I don't see anything that she has done this year as being "new") - it doesn't change what the situation right now is at all. The bottom line is that her popularity is going down and I think she is going to have to put a lot more into the quality of the product if she wants to continue to stay on top. I'll always support her of course, but as a fan, I want to continue to see her get to make high quality PVs, to headline A-Nation, to continue getting CM endorsements, to continue performing on TV as often as she does - and if her sales continue heading in this direction that will not happen anymore.

She is still making it to #1 in the Oricon chart.

Creative slump. Yeah, definitely.. But usually when a music artist reaches a creative slump, they like to take a little break, you know? :)

People use the excuse "Oh, she's doing the kind of music she wants to do." That's BS. She's just crapping out music with recycled lyrics, themes, etc. for what? To pass time? To increase her fortune? I think so! If she really wants to put out the music she's been putting out lately (I'm talking (m)u album tracks -> BLUE BIRD), I think she's taking the easy way out. Oh yeah, and she obviously has horrible taste in music all of a sudden (Someone needs to seriously break into her house and throw away them sweetbox albums)

I love Ayu, I can't even begin to explain how she positively affected my life with her music. It's not that I hate the recent songs, some of them I don't really hate, but there's something lacking that's unexplainable that was never existant before. I hate seeing these songs added to her discography...

She's just rushing it seems. And she thinks bringing back old composers like DAI and Kikuchi for the new single are gonna help her sales. Pfft. I doubt it. Hope it flops.

"Ooh! Let's bring in DAI to compose a summer song, kinda like fairyland or July 1st, we'll add some outdated techno synth, (no real drums, of course) have no vocal bridge and add some 'la la la's'. And the b-side will be another 'girl power' song because I have nothing else to write about."

She's predictable.

Yes, she is going downhill, but so what? I still like ayumi! I am ayu fans forever. I still waste money to buy her CDs and stuff.

No need to dicuss.
kthanksbye

I'm sorry, but I'm just drawn by curiosity. Assuming you have the power to decide Ayu's releases, what would you want that is "high" quality?