Ayumi ~ The Anything Goes Thread 7 ~
 

The other thread filled up, so here's a new one!

beloved is way too underrated. It was made with good intentions and the chorus always makes me feel warm and fluffy inside. It may be a little bland, but sometimes tracks like these are what you need if you're feeling down. I think it just came out at an odd time when everyone wanted to hate everything that wasn't progress or BRILLANTE on FIVE, so... bam.

And about the smoking thing... I don't think she ever smoked heavily, but she likely smoked socially early in her career until around 2005-2006? The first time we saw her smoking was in the ARENA TOUR 2002 making of photobook or something where people were debating about a cup with a 'straw' on it or something, but it was likely a cigarette.

I think we were talking about her ballads.

beloved sucks bye

rainy day, JEWEL, walking proud are flawless/gorgeous/etc.

JEWEL best ballad ever.


what does beloved even sound like. or BALLAD. That's a song right. lol

I think all Ayu ballads deserve some love. Even the ones that people rarely mention like still alone or Close to you!

Going back into Ayu's back catalog is like... gem after gem after gem~

I remember BALLAD because I liked iy. I dont listen to it much though....eh


JEWEL is so beautiful and so is walking proud gah

Rainy day is so nice when I'm walking around campus in the rain

Used to think close to you was dull and boring before I really really listened to it. But now it has a special place in my heart, very simple and pretty, lovely for winter.

and still alone is just flawless.

HOPE or PAIN is also an underrated song. :( Liar too.

She needs to work Liar - HOPE or PAIN - HAPPY ENDING into a concert soon.

Do any of you bitches like Beautiful Day?

I know its like, pretty bubblegum or some crap but hey, it can't get any ore cloying than Meaning of Love (that song I don't remember).

Ah ima tashika ni~~

And I LOVE Beautiful Day. It's probably my favorite track on (miss)understood with rainy day.

meaning of Love and beloved are great songs. I love their remixes too (Piano and Acoustic Orchestra). I understand why you guys feel they are not too memorable, though.

I can't say I like Beautiful day.
"It's a beautiful day! It's a beau-" Skipping now, good bye.

I always introduce 'Will' (Personal favorite ballad) or 'HEAVEN' to new listeners while I am playing (miss)understood. Beautiful day would scare them off. xD

Beautiful Day sounds like the 90s to me, haha. What's a beautiful day? Kimi wa mou shitteiru~

Beautiful day is a nice song to listen to
but i wouldnt call it my favorite
or something i would go out of my way to listen to
but if it pops up on shuffle ill be like "sure why not"

On the 7th Ayumi thread already.
I hope me and teamayu started a legacy with these threads:P

I actually like beautiful day. and meaning of life. i love ayu's forgotten album tracks.

meaning of Love, Life, Beautiful Day, Last Links... these songs, ahhhh.

Beautiful Day is my JAM! It's perfect to listen to when I'd go out for a smoke on a sunny day. Not a day when it was scorching, those days were for fairyland or the real summerish hits. But on a nice, sunny day. Maybe a little breeze randomly, but overall very calm. It didn't get better than Beautiful Day during those moments.

I adore the opening synth. And my favorite part is after the bridge and it calms down and then those 4 beats/claps before the chorus comes back in! I live for that part. I once made a whole discussion thread for Beautiful Day because I wanted to know what was wrong with it.

how dare you put BALLAD and beloved in the same sentence you better repent because BALLAD is flawless

BALLAD got a lot more love after the AT10 performance, I think.

beloved and like all of FIVE have yet to have their time in the spotlight. In fact, the same goes for GUILTY/Love songs, imo.

how sad is that no one loves Secret? that is so emotional for me , Secret at AT07 is <3

I dislike Secret as well... Sorry.

BALLAD I have grown to be in the mood for a lot of the time. I live for the part when most of the instruments cut out and it's ayu with the piano, and ayus voice cuts out and the piano trails down, and there a split second of silence. Then ayus voice comes back and piano. I love that part when the piano trails down.

I LOOOOOOOOOVE Secret! It always makes me cry! As do Fated, BALLAD, Carols, Key, Hanabi, To be etc etc

Secret is one of those songs that you gotta revisit every once in a while~ can't play it too much imo.

I don't like the Secret album as a whole minus Not yet, JEWEL, and momentum.

I want Happy Ending performed again~

I can't believe there are people who don't like BALLAD at all... o_o Shame on u! :D Just jokin'. I just get this feeling that I'm the only one who actually loves RnRC era as a whole. It's just awesome.

I also get a feeling that I appreciate mostly those songs that so many of you here hates. It really annoys me sometimes lol. :'3

I used to feel the same way before but in recent years I've really started to appreciate the album more as it does have many songs I can relate to. :)

I love beautiful day. lol.
Whenever I'm in the car with friends and this song comes up I always make people stop talking so I can shout out. It's a Beautiful Day.
lol

beloved is fine, it's just that in Ayu discography, full with masterpiece ballads, it doesn't shine at all. It's too... easy. She didn't even try. It doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, but it's your typical ballad, and it's kinda saved by Ayu powerful and emotional voice. And the beautiful PV.

finally someone who liked it! :hi5 yeah i like those too! :)

you guys made me listen to BALLAD again haha, yes yes everything about it so beautiful! I looove her Ima dake wa nee yurushite~~ send shivers down the spine :luv2

also loved everything about the single, when it came out, the CM, the PV,and everyone been interpreting the PVs lol,Ayu looked so beautiful inthe pink dress,aahhh the good old days when Ayu releasing a single and it is so much fun waiting for the leak :D i still want her to perform with the dress, she needs to perform BALLAD again

CAROLS, this is one of her best moving ballad! remember the short vid intro at AT05, Ayu and Naoto made a great couple! I loved how Ayu cried fighting with Naoto, soo real!

watched MSta Super Live where she performed CAROLS and WOWed at fans were crying hardly during the performance :shakehead

I almost forgot about CAROLS but after reading these discussions I fell in love with it again. Listening to it plenty of times ~ Live versions are so good!!

Mmm beloved is one of my fav Ayu ballads ever. It's so sweet and generic. Odd but it works for me

:thud

Talking about ballads... My iTunes says that these are the five most played songs, and - lol - they're all ballads.
I'm a ballad sucker~ :laugh

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/7239/87l0.jpg

beloved it's one of those ballads I usually don't listen alone but while listening to a full (mini)album, and I don't really remember how it sounds lol.
Neither meaning of Love :shrug

Instead, I remember Two of us which is a b-side and I don't see mentioned so often here :D. Maybe her voice wasn't the best, but ASFXX ballads are so innocent and sad. They're lovely. One of my favorites Ayu ballads is actually Wishing :heart

And Secret and JEWEL sounds like lullabies, her voice is so calm and sweet. I love them!


I never been a ballad person, but Ayu make me appreciate slow songs much more :yes

Ayu needs to give some of these songs new lives with live performances. A lot of them lack PVs so there's nothing for people to attach themselves to. She has a pretty big list of tracks that either have not been performed live or were added on at the last minute for whatever reason and never got their own performances. (JEWEL and HEAVEN were recently taken off that list)

I'm not going to listen to Carols until I create my Winter Playlist, although the talk on this thread is giving me the urge to listen! Think I will add the live version though (from CDL 04/05 I think) as I love the guitar solo.

Together When... is another ballad I like.

(miss)understood is my favourite album for ballads though Criminal/Pride/Will/Heaven - what a combo of ballads!

And I love Close to Me! I've said it before, but I'd be up for a A Ballads 2 if it's done like the first one.

Me like the performance in RnRC the most :luv2 It looked kind of cheesy and all, but they really created a great live.

I am hoping that she would pull a TM Revolution in some point in her carrier and to bestow us an appropriate self'cover album
A plethora of songs JUST NEEDS TO BE RERECORDED:love

20th anni. 2CD self-cover + tribute album would be amazeballs.

I just rewatched GREEN from Premium CDL 08-09 and still scream so much inside of how beautiful Ayu and Maro looked together...

Sorry if I angered anyone for mentioning this, but Maro was so pretty in that performance. Literally I had so many goosebumps and shivers, it was just beautiful.

Too bad he doesn't dance anymore.

Oh Yes :luv2

Did he quit to eat grass on a plain somewhere, or...?

^ Did you really do that to me omg :roflmao

Looking at my iTunes top 5, melody is no1 and dearest is no3
Ballad queen?

Ayu needs to be back in Japan, im bored, i miss when shes active on Twitter

Just watching Ayu's making off shots from 2004-2005....lol at Ayu talking with the iguana in Fairyland making off.."CAMERA!"..hahahaha
...and omg in STEP you m.o. all those moments with her laughing makes me laugh so hard..:roflmao:roflmao:roflmao
It's so nice to know that she's so natural..

^

that is so funny,when she scared to hold the iguana haha "KOWAIIII"

ayu should appear on Another sky!

I think she needs to appear on music shows first (srsly Avex, wtf)

i really need a full version of merry go round sound. is it going to be perfection or is it going to fail?! Im ready to remove the rap part too

im really in love with the covers.

I'm gonna sweep Feel the love PV under the rug, just like NaNaNa..

I thought it was ridiculously cute...

It has such a Beautiful Fighters-y vibe, but they needed to have Ayu as the main character.

The video was.... different. LOL. I liked it... kinda cute.
Although that ending... lol.

I need Merry-go-round full version NOW.

The ending of the video is already a gif XD

^ omg, post it

I'm still waiting for fierce rocker Ayu to make an appearance.

It's that time of the year.
Sleep in heavenly pee~~~~~~

Yes, it's finally Winter season again!
Today is so cold, it snowed here in Turin and I just know it's time for the amazingly awesome and supreme Ayu Winter Ballads Badass Playlist (You were... Music Box version here I come :heart).

^You were... is a perfect song for winter♥

^
loved You Were... so touching and sad <3

still hoping Ayu would perform Step You DJ TAKI-SHIT More Step Up remix, so catchy and has this salsa feeling,if im right lol

You're right, Step You DJ TAKI-SHIT More Step Up remix is such a great remix..and it gives me vibes of salsa too.

Omg, every year on winter time I rediscover Two of us: it's so beautiful.
And of course, A Song for xx album is a must on Winter. And, even if I'm a little ashamed to admit it, I always listen to that M "nicely nice winter parade remix", from the M single. I know, it's M Idol Version, pratically an eresy, and it's so perfect I could cry (I want a little, disgustingly sweet idol dance for this M remix, thanks).

What ayu albums do you think are best suited for december (or winter in general)? for me it has to be her first two albums and of course LOVE again. Also,I don't know why but I always tend to overlisten to NEXT LEVEL in winter :)

^ If you refer to NEXT LEVEL as album and not only to the song, because of Days maybe~ :laugh

These days I can barely stop listening to Days. It gives me the Christmas vibe, along with Close to you~ :heart

Anyway, in my case Love songs wins in winter/december. Same for A BALLADS, but it doesn't count as an album :P

NEXT LEVEL the album :D I know it's a weird choice for a winter album but personally this album gives me loads of energyy :yes
Ohh,I forgot 'bout Love songs ..i always considered it to have a november-december kind of vibe.

December is summer here in Australia so I always feel out of whack xD A fun upbeat song tends to be more welcome lol

In winter I like GUILTY, A Song For xx, Secret, A BALLADS, MY STORY Classical and A CLASSICAL.........plus just about any Acoustic version :luv2

NEXT LEVEL has some great winter songs as well but the album as a whole is more of a "spring" feeling for me because there are some cool upbeat tracks as well. RnRC might be OK for winter as well since it's less electronic...?

The only Ayu album I feel is completely winterish, is A Song for xx; otherwise I just pick one or two songs here and there!
But GUILTY and R'n'R Circus are pretty good too, when I'm feeling less "dreamy and snowy winter" and more "cold and badass winter".

Hmm....

I think MY STORY resonates winter with me most, because it was the first album I ever purchased during the actual release period, which happened to be winter. :)

I definitely agree. That album just resonates with winter...in a lonely/isolated sense. I feel that album would make me too depressed lol

^ so that's two people who understand how I feel about asfxx
It's the winter jam album imo

No Way To Say acoustic version

Heaven piano version

Jewel

these made me cry, so suit the winter feeling <333

^
No way to say it with guitars = winter perfection! :heart

I never thought about it before but yes.
Winter is A Song for XX... its just... so... cold.
lol

Momentum is my winter jam

#better than your faves

Looking for a perfectly smooth XMAS-ayu-ish playlist!

Mine isn't flawless enough~ :laugh

Believe it or not, winter is the time of the year that I actually enjoy most of her works. It's kind of weird, but I'd say nearly all of her albums sound x100 better in winter lol... It feels like

whooosh

Yeah.

Just creating my Winter Playlist and have now included No Way To Say (Acoustic Version) and have changed my laptop wallpaper to an Ayu-wintery one.

Me too.

I first got into Ayu in 2005, and since back then we'd get albums in Jan/Dec I'm more used to that + getting winter themed videos and singles just made me associate her with it.

Totes forgot how amazing the Decoy & DJ Bonka remix of NEVER EVER is.

Its kinda hard to pick one of her album that suit with winter season for me. I guess my choice is between Secret or My Story album. Each of them got a powerful winter song. Or gloomy song.
Secret brings a dark moody winter for me, while My Story bring a heartwelming winter feelings.

I remember getting Secret on Christmas morning and watching the PVs! Would love her to release another album around November so I can get it as an Xmas present.

The Naturally remix on that album is gorgeous

missing my ayu, but not in the mood to play her.
Oh, man. lol

^

oh we are the same! i really miss her, but i dont feel like into her songs now, but i do watch her concert xD

does anyone play LINE PLAY here? there's ayu's cute kyara :)

^ When my iPod touch was still alive, yes.

I loved visiting her house and win her gatchas! :thud

I had the bed, the rug, the straw hat (kind of) of the 15th anniversary edition.

Then I remember that there was the Gold.. Classic.. or something edition and I won the dressing table~ :laugh

Wah, I can't care less about I-Pods and stuff (my cellular is a fossil), but I swear, one day I might just buy one for the following things.
Amazingly cute I-pod covers I see constantly on the buses and underground.
And LINE.
Ahhh, so envious!!!

Has anybody listened to Timmy's single Surechigai? available on itunes ;p I'm curious but too greedy to pay him.

Omg yes me too! I wanted to listen to it, since some people said it was pretty good. But I don't want to pay for it, so yeah sorry Timmy.

Can't you listen to the preview? I just did, it contains more English than Japanese and it has a bit of a 90s ballad kinda style to it with boyband-esque vocals. It's OK from what I heard, but I wouldn't buy it personally unless the full song blows the preview out of the water.
For these last couple of weeks, I've been in a phase where I want to listen to Ayu a lot but I've listened to most of her songs so many times over that I feel I won't get enough enjoyment out of it. I'm very excited for the new single to come out, and I'm even more excited for the eventual album so I can finally have some new tunes to listen to! :)

You need QuickTime Player to play anything from Itunes. I don't use Apple products → no reason to install it. Since I am just curious to know how the song goes like, I'm not going to use my money and pay for the full version.

And others are really hungry for her new music just like me and you too. Even though she releases new music and album every year, they're more like rushed and she didn't put much effort in them. I really like how she finally made the decision of only releasing new album when she feels like it's complete and such in the interview some time ago.

I'm very eager to listen to the full version of Merry-go-round because it sounds like a promising song. Everything is all brand new from now on, new CDL style, new single, new music, God I'm just so in love with Ayu right now :banana1

poker face from ABL gives me life <3

When it comes to year end countdown, are you guys and girls watch Ayu CDL? Not the current one for you who live outside Japan of course (different case if she u-stream the concert and you available to see it.) Or prefer hanging out outside with your friends and relatives?
I usually did that if I'm too lazy to get outside and join the hype. And usually year end is rather rainy in here. Set the time and when she start counting down, I also too. Its quite fun (and rather crazy since it was last year performance while here I celebrate a new year.)
There's also some time when Ayu fans in here make a gathering in a cafe and had a CDL played. It was fun.

^
The Ayu fans meeting for watching CDL sounds really fun.

I never celebrate new year with Ayu though.
Actually I never been a fan of lives neither. Don't get me wrong, they're really enjoyable and she's a true perfomer (seriously, compared to other singers who are just boring and standing in front of the mic, she's amazing), but I'd rather be in Japan screaming AYU~ and singing with other fans, than sitting alone in my room in front of the computer. So I usually see them once.

Lol that's so depressive.

But ehy, I bought that giant Party Queen box set with CDL~HOTEL Love songs. Maybe this year I'll give it a try :D

I just joined this year so I don't know how the CDL routine usually goes like. Is there any livestream that we can watch online?

New year's eve with an Ayu CDL sounds so fun, but you've got to have some friend who really appreciate Ayu as much as we do, lol. Nevertheless, it'd be amazing to go to Ayu CDL, or just watch one with friends!

^ Last year new year's eve was sooo boring that I brought my ipod with me and I started listening to CDL11-12 at the exact moment in order to make the countdown with ayu.

I prepared everything in advance, of course!

It was much less boring~ :laugh

I think for few last year she did that livestream on U-stream. Just check CDL this year thread to make sure she gonna do that again or not, kinda forgot.
Oh some Japanese tv station did that either, then replay it on January 1'st, if I'm not mistaken.

No one talking about Ayu 2014 calendar? Not interesting anymore? I bet the picture are mostly taken when she's on LA. It was so predictable.

Well she didn't have a 2013 calendar, so she's probably not making them anymore

Oh kinda forgot about that. But why? Does her fans doesn't buy it anymore? Or too much picture/photo book already that Avex think "Oh they might snap one picture from the photobook and make their own calendar."
That idea kinda interesting though with so many talented artist in here. But be careful with licences.