I agree. As she sung a lot of old songs in PCDL, I liked them much better here, than her old performances. I didn't really like her old voice, so about the MY STORY era it just got so much better, but just this year it seems that it's going down again. I think CDL wasn't really good, because she made a tracklist of songs that she couldn't sing.

I don't think it's SO bad, as many people say, but her Sunrise, some Rule and some You were... performances (NOT to forget evolution) was just too.. crappy. I just think she should take a break and try to relax a bit more on the scene (not screaming)

But a lot of old songs are better today. TO BE and evolution, just to name some

i actually don't understand why Ayu has problems with her voice...

because she can sing.when i watched early performances or those when she was a teenager her voice seems to be alright

i don't know of these things but maybe it's due to her ear...

Well her deeper voice is really good I think
You know, it's just creepy to see a woman in her 30s with a very high pitched voice right ?
That's why I'm really ok with her current voice
It's just there are some bad performance like what PinkShinigami said, but maybe it's just because she's tired or something

Ayu clearly improved vocally overall until the end of 2005, then slowly worsened and hit rock bottom around CDL0708(when her hearing on one ear completely vanished), but she is slowly but surely climbing back up. Her songs are getting harder again, her range is expanding(GREEN and Rule had notes in it she didn't sing since M!), she holds notes longer again, controls her vibrato better, some performances of CDL0910 were really good(momentum, You Were...), better than everything she did after Together When... at CDL0708(which was her last really good vocal performance and a big exception to the rest of that era).

You can actually even say her voice in some aspects began worsening in 2002, Duty is probably her hardest song so far, yes, Duty, might sound weird to some people, but it requires an impressive range for a pop singer at nearly 3 octaves WITHOUT headvoice and falsetto, fewest popsingers can do that, Ayu butchered the song trying to sing it again in CDL0405. However at that time(~98-01/02) she damaged her voice by trying to sing higher than what's natural for her which is usually inrepairable damage.

I had no idea Duty was such a difficult song to sing, but I did notice she couldn't sing it well at CDL0405.

Duty is incredibly hard, I'd say 99.8% of all pop songs are nothing compared to that, even some songs from great voices are fairly easy compared to it.

It's no wonder then why it hurts my throat to sing along then. This raised my respect for the song that much higher. XD

Duty is kinda hard to sing, never really thought about it though. (me and my alone at night karaoke sessions ^^; ) I think if anything still alone is her hardest to sing, isn't it her highest pitched song?

still alone? no way! xD still alone isn't very high, she has at least 10 songs with higher notes, her highest pitched song is kanariya, Duty is only a note lower and requires a much bigger range

can you tell me her top 10 songs with the highest notes? these are interesting!

anyway, about her voice... I only have a problem with the quality of her voice. Like many of you have mentioned and discussed, her voice has changed many times throughout the years. Nevertheless, what I feel is the problem isn't her vibrato, or her voice going lower... if anything I feel these are positive changes to her voice.

But the fact is that the quality of her voice has gone downhill ever since late-2007. I just watched JEWEL Orchestra version @ FNS in 2006, and I could still... enjoy it to say the least. Nowadays I cringe at her live performances... most of Future Classics were like these.

And since teddy bear was brought up... I can't deny that teddy bear @ Future Classics was easily the best performance, but seriously... that compared to teddy bear at AT 03-04? It's kinda obvious that a negative change has occurred in her voice, right?

Like what SunshineSlayer has mentioned... her voice now is just way too choppy, strained, breathy and weak as compared to say 2003-2006. I remember being REALLY hyped about hearing Days in PCDL, but when I started, oh God. She was singing really choppy and staccato-ish that... it almost doesn't sound like the Days I know. That's the extent of how bad she could sing.

I don't mean to sound rude, trollish or harsh, but the fact is that her voice has gone downhill since late-2007. I don't know what contributed to that; maybe it's drinking... I mean I secretly suspect she drinks to herself every night in her house after break up with Nagase, so... :shrug

yeah it would be nice to up the difficulty of her songs nowadays but i dont want her voice to just flat out die

but what are her most highly pitched songs

cdl 09-10 was rough on some performances. . .like because of you as it seems to be mentioned. but i just hope she is working on it. i really love her deeper voice. its nice. she just has to control it better

Can't tell you the top 10, I'm far from having absolute pitch(being able to recognize the height of notes just by hearing them), but I can list some songs that are higher than still alone:
kanariya
TO BE
Connected
M
Duty(I just noticed I talked crap about Duty being lower than kanariya, Duty, kanariya and TO BE all feature her highest note)
I am...
Dearest
A song is born
GREEN
Rule
all these feature a highest note between an E5 flat and an F5
i'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I can think of right now

^ Seems like her range hasn't fallen short at all. :) but if you ask me... she probably had more difficulty pitching the high notes in GREEN & Rule than in ... M and Dearest lol

I really love Ayu's voice and also the Guilty CD, it's awesome same as the DVD from TAIPEI 2008.
It's true that sometimes she has problems with singing like the last CDL, it wasn't as good as the year before but I still love all from her so much.
I believe that everything is okay and it's just some mistakes sometime.

well, comparing her singing Connected and GREEN in the studio recordings she seems to struggle only a little more, she had vocal classes when she rerecorded her old songs in 2008 making her hit these notes again, I think for the most part her worsening is her not hearing herself on stage, when it's quiet she sings much better and M and GREEN have the exact same highest note and I hear her struggle a little in both.

wow I never knew M and GREEN's highest notes were the same cos it always sounded like M was the 'screechy' mode of Ayu aka Dearest, M, SEASONS, Connected, kanariya etc lol.

I think her range has been pretty stable... that's good to know lol

I bet she'd have an easier time if she swayed back and forth and used "spirit fingers"

I still think still alone is a pretty high pitched song ^^; Too bad some of those listed as the highest pitched are some of her best too. hell, with the exception of asib, those are all some of my favorite songs. I wish her ear didn't deafen. But atleast she tries. A for effort. D:

She sings the exact same way in all her songs now and that forced vibrato is such garbage. So yes, it's not necessarily her voice, but the way she sings, which has become garbage.

I love her deeper voice now; it sounds very mature, and she is still a singer, even though many people are complaining, I still think her voice is amazing, and not many people can pull off an amazing voice with only one ear working... I mean, she does have a bit of trouble in some preformances hitting the right notes, but it doesn't have a huge impact on the preformance, imo. I still love to listen to her lives, and I think that her voice is simply getting older and maturing, not worsening :)