Should Ayu perform No Way To Say again live?
 

Seems weird that Ayu seems to avoid (for lack of a better world) this song considering it's popularity. Thinking about it, the other big ballad from Memorial Address doesn't get performed a lot too.

I'm a big fan of No way to say. If she sang it live, I would cry a lot. I wonder why she doesn't sing it either because it's definitely one of her best ballads ever both lyrically and musically imo. I really hope she's going to sing it someday. :)

no thanks. it's bad enough with her old voice, i'd die hearing it with her new voice.

I'd love to hear it performed live again. It's not one of my favorite ballads but I certainly love it. that and forgiveness were lovely songs on that album

It's just another song in Ayu's line of generic ballads made to appeal to the Japanese market. She can perform forgiveness and Memorial Address as much as she wants to, but No Way to Say imo can die in a corner. It was composed to sell the single and EP - and it did a good job at that, no need to perform it nearly 10 years later.

sure why not?

No way to say in the main set-list as one of the main ballads... I don't quite favour that idea. I don't care for the song that much, not at this point in her career.

maybe not with this current voice

i think she neglected HEAVEN quite a lot too. when i mentioned about ayu to my japanese friends they would always switch on HEAVEN on their mobile phone. either that or blue bird

And JEWEL

It does sound generic but I don't believe its purpose was to stack cash. I think she wrote the song from her heart with intentions of sharing her feelings. She must have felt BOUNCEBACK's composition fit the vision of "No way to say".

I believe the lyrics are our usual heartfelt Ayu, like for just about every of her songs.
But the composition was clearly a cash-grab and there's a reason it was released as single, maybe even used at all. The same reason CAROLS, HEAVEN...are released as singles and get major promotion.

I have the feeling avex for a long time asked Ayumi to include one of those generic ballads onto every album of hers - and she just did the best she could to turn them personal through lyrics, but the songs itself remain massproduced pop tunes for the J-Pop winter market.

It might be generic, but at least it has a nice, memorable pop melody.

I'd take that any day over the string of crappy generics she's released since Secret.


However, with her current vocals...it would probably be on key, but really ugly to listen to.

^I agree to all points.

No Way To Say is an amazing Ayu ballad, way better than her current ones. I don't care if the music and composition is generic or whatever. The melody is better, lyrics is great and I would take this kind of songs any day before her current ballad style a la hbya or such.

I would love it if Ayu did it live again, if she had her "old" voice. With this current one she might as well just leave it for now.

HALs arrangement is what makes the song for me.

I'd rather preffer a live of JEWEL

I don't think it's generic, I effin' love this song. What the Hell isn't "generic" to AHS? Some Eyes, Smoke, Magic and the next LOVE trash? I wipe my ass with that garbage.

No way to say is one of my favorite songs and it is PERFECT for the winter season. To me it is her best winter ballad (along with Days which I know everyone thinks is "generic" as well). That being said, I am not dying for her to perform it live again. She did at BEST of CDL.

Just because it is catchy doesn't make it generic. It also has a great melody. I would say that's what it takes to make a good song.

This... I don't get the same people complaining Ayu is "not creative enough anymore" asking for generic summer and single tracks pretty much any Avex it cute girl could release...

My thoughts exactly

Well, the obvious reason stated obviously is that the Japanese love ballads and I guess they can be a huge cash-in.
I was browsing the Japanese iTunes the other day and looking at Koda Kumi's 'feel my mind'. The song 'rain' was more popular than the HOT 'Crazy 4 U' and 'Rock Your Body'
Even on Dejavu, 'aitakute' was more popular than 'pop diva'. Pop diva is generic, but it is hot IMO...
I guess in Japan, ballads can be viewed as generic but they will actually view them as hot (like how I view Koda's hot dance tracks)

I don't get how someone calls NWTS generic and then adores HBYA
hell yeah it's AHS :rolleyes

LOL I AGREE! So much WIN!!!

Which songs of hers are not 'generic'? She's a pop star. I see no problem with that.

This thread is the kind of thing that makes people take Ayumi fans not seriously. Fans of an artist that genuinely does her best to reinvent every so often, breaks boundaries like no other in her market and creates some seriously good, unique pop, but all her fans want is the same thing over and over, completely void of any artistic growth or concept behind it, massproduced to make some quick cash for avex and then rehashed every year. I'm just glad that practically stopped(or rather: got a lot less) after Rock 'n' Roll Circus and enabled her to record her two best albums so far filled with unique songs and great concepts from beginning to end with less mishaps mixed in. :D

Who hates NWTS and loves HBYA? I find both to be pretty generic and not memorable at all, even if both fits perfectly their respective albums^^

And to me what makes it generic is the high chance I have of starting singing and end it singing Carols... or Together When... or You were... or any other winter ballad from hers but JEWEL without noticing it^^

:rolleyes you guys lol

I just wish those nice, innovative concept albums had songs on them that were worth listening to over and over.

Personally, I love Ayu the innovative pop star. To me, it's a far greater feat to be able to take these mass produced songs people want to listen to, and make them something more.

Rather than just, making whatever you want, and throwing in some piano key crashing and weird chanting to make it dramatic and artistic.

That's just me though.

^And considering most people reaction to her past albums, we are getting exactly that: songs that can be listened over and over again on a nice concept package^^ The same 10 people complaining over and over again all over the forum don't make the album worst received, just it being badly received by very very vocal people.

If you say so lol

I think more sales and hype would make me a lot more comfy with that statement though.

As much as she is an anti idol, we're in a recession, she's a female solo, not popular, people don't buy cds...whatever...I think sometimes we need to give the purchasing public just a little more credit.

^Basing on this logic, all of her albums after Duty are successively a little worst than the past one, since I am is her first album that failed to oversell whatever she released before. And even worst, almost everyone's albums get worst little by little after their peaks...

Oh well...^^

http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113505

74,7% people voted PQ 3 or more stars... I guess this happens to be the majority of voters liking the album.

But this has nothing to do with the thread, so, answering the question, I would prefer her performing stuff the never did before (or that she did, but almost never or didn't record), my only complain about AT10 is Alterna being axed from it... NWTS has a got number of performances IMO.

well aren't they just :laugh I didn't say you should base EVERYTHING on sales. I just said...the japanese public deserves a little more credit than people give them.

^The majority of the music market is moved by teenagers... That prefer consuming young trendy artists aimed to them... As mainstream musicians get older, they need to rely more and more on their hardcore fans and some casual listeners here and there. This doesn't happen only in Japan, but in most music markets in the world. And when this happens teenagers call the older acts has beens and people who were into the artist during their peaks say they were better during their peaks, and so on... This all happens to Ayu, but is far from being exclusive to her.

Considering everything Ayu has against her (from getting old, to over-releasing and always getting envolved into controverse that may be tame by western standarts but aren't that nice to some more tradional japanese people) she can hold it pretty well on the charts. People playing far safer than her didn't survived so long and still were competitive... What other female soloist but Utada and Namie peaked on the same period or before Ayu and still sells an album over 100k? None.

Sometimes people don't take into account what they'd give the other albums before weighing their views on a proper rating for the album at hand. It is best to think of:
5: Your absolute favorite album ever - nothing can top this, it's gold
4: Pretty great, very well put together but can't take the place of the top
3: It's not terrible but it isn't a "favorite
2: Much disappointment
1: Can it get any worse?

Nobody said they dislike her taking risks, she can take risks and excel (BRILLANTE), but you can't praise her for trying something different just BECAUSE it's different when the end result isn't great... I wait for the day when Ayumi releases an album of farts, burps, and yelps and the same people would praise her for it being different.

I was under the impression everyone loved this song. Mostly because, how could you not? haha.

I would love to be able to see this performed live.

NWTS is amazing! I loved her vocals on the CD track and at AT0304. Wouldn't be as good now though.

pretty much this :innocent

:yes

why not! i freaking love this song,the melody the lyrics and the PV, made burst into tears,would love to listen to it again. and yes another ballad like Jewel but eh wonder how would Jewel would sound like if she sings it now

This is so true. :yes

i think it's weird when people hate on songs only for being generic. generic isn't always bad :P just hate them for being crappy songs, not only bc they're generic. NWTS is just plain crappy and goes absolutely nowhere, like most HAL ballads.

D':

:thud

HAL is like, the classic Ayumi sound... Lol.

"NWTS is generic", "SEASONS is overrated" .. SIGH