[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

She's there, just at the concerts and all that. And the Namie argument is pretty out there imo considering that Namie doesn't really change all that much from release to release. She does have catchy tracks going for her but IMO that doesn't really mean she puts all that much effort into them compared to Ayu. It's funny to see someone say Ayu hasn't 'changed her style' when she's pretty much one who has changed her style the most compared to most other acts, just not so much recently since she's been buried in a sea of medium temponess. again seems to be breaking away from that with actually-uptempo catchy tracks and Ayu working with a western/UK producer for the 'main track' which is something she hasn't done before. I think people are way too negative when it comes to Ayu releases if they don't for some reason check all of the 'required wants' on a list (amazing PV, awesome compositions/arrangement, great lyrics, memorable covers, and so on) and just aren't happy if it lacks one or more of the above.

I also wish she had more dynamic PVs more often but there's not really much we can do about it. I just look forward to future releases since we can usually expect something new eventually.

The problem is you can be there with all the concerts and still not be doing anything refreshing. This isn't really about me finding a point of criticism in everything Ayu does. I'm well aware that she doesn't need my criticism on top of her history with avex. She's been an amazing artist but she's now just a singer. I don't know why she doesn't try anymore? Maybe she's just tired from being awesome and on top of everything for so long that she can finally take a break?

And Namie differs a lot from Ayumi, just like Koda does (though Koda is horrible example to use here because she sells horribly too). Namie today sounds nothing like Namie 10 years ago. And it's not like she did this for one record. It's been a consistent improvement and effort to forge a new sound/new style for herself to maintain her career. That's why she's still selling. It's not because she uses cheap western music, it's because Namie actually does some interesting things, she still does a crap ton of choreography, and her music is genuinely different from what it was in the earlier part of her career. Ayumi has only tried on a new sound for approximately one record before ditching it for a new sound on the next record, which makes it difficult to keep up and stay interested if there's not a smooth transition from the style of one album to another. Good examples are going from GUILTY to NEXT LEVEL... two VERY different records.

again has some decent songs on it. I like Wake me up and snowy kiss, Sweet scar and Ivy are also great tracks. However, I absolutely despise how poorly they've been presented. She spent 1/5th of the video of snowy kiss sitting on a car hood lip-syncing. And about 2/3rds of the video was her fighting/shoving/being shoved/kicking/throwing stuff in slow motion. I've never seen so much action-packed spontaneity gloriousness in a video!!!

And Sweet scar, as nice as that is, was almost a Copy & Paste of Don't look back. Wake me up... for a video with such an amazing dance beat, for something that really gets you out of your chair, she spent over half of the damn video sitting down.

I know it sounds super critical, and I really don't mean to be a jerk. But she really isn't trying here. It's not like I'm making this up. Just look back at videos like 1 LOVE, then look at videos like Sparkle... then look at Wake me up, then at You&Me. Look at videos like ourselves, or like Free&Easy, then look at Song 4 u. There isn't an attempt to put on a show anymore.

It's like Ayu goes in a room and tells the directors, "For this video, I'd like to sit on a futon instead of on a rocking chair." And they all turn around and go "BRILLANTE Ayu! What pure artistry!" Nowadays, it's like "Who can I have a breakup in this video with?" And then she grabs the nearest dancer and kicks **** at him and throws him around in the video for 5 minutes, interspersed with cuts of her sitting with messed up hair on a car, or on a motel bed, or on a sink, or at a table, crying and lip-syncing with her mouth so wide it's like she's eating the air around her. And if that's not it, then she looks like an AYU-BOT in the video.

I'm genuinely not trying to be an ******* about it. But it's very disappointing that she's heading down Seiko Matsuda road. In 5 years, THIS could VERY likely be our dear Ayu:

Do you want that? I don't. I really don't want Ayu playing with herself on an album cover.

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

So you want Ayu to release fast paced but interchangeable PVs with songs that sound like generic western music from different genres like Namie? Ok, them...

Let's hope the February release sounds like some Jennifer Lopez left over and that the video feature Ayumi dancing in front of a car with a bored face...

Sure. If she did it for more than one album in a row, I'd be happy. Read the above ^^

Originally Posted by AyumiAi

I don't think thats what he is referring to, For example she released a really sad song like part of Me and that involved more than just one scene, the PV was ARTISTICALLY shot, and had various scenes and a plot of some sort. OR pv for 1love or startin or (don't) leave alone they have movement, or a sense of effort or artistic attempt. recently i feel like thats lacking in her PVs as well, I'm not excited to see them anymore, the last time i felt something of the sort was for BRILLANTE. Or even something like ourselves, as an upbeat song, I don't know ayu in PVS just always looks the same now a days >.> even HBYA pv was terribly dull even if it had a "meaning" party queen and Nanana PV's just were terribly normal and cheap in my opinion. REturn Road was a bit more eventufull but once again it had nothing clear happening, it was like a watered down and not as good Microphone PV It doenst mean she has to do JLO stuff

Thank you. This is very much what I am trying to say, but you're saying it without the jerk attitude that I am.

Originally Posted by Leaf King

Maybe we should accept that Ayumi Hamasaki the commercial artist doesn't really exist anymore? There are many artists out there who don't sell a lot, but they continue to make music regardless. If Ayu stopped caring about the general public, it's about time we did too. It's not devastating to see low numbers on the charts for as long as she's still singing. How it's affecting her personally we don't know, but she hasn't retired yet for this reason. I trust that if Avex denies her the appropriate funds to produce music, she'll take matters into her own hands.

I don't want to. Ayu started this thing years ago where she decided to be Ayu and stop being a product. She's managed to be an amazing artist through those years, why is it asking too much for her to continue being an artist today? Being commercial doesn't mean you have to be like Jolin Tsai and make every dang album a comeback, but it doesn't mean all of your videos for the last year should show you in the same outfit with the same guys doing the same things in the same parts of the world just to different soundtracks. It's not trying. And I don't have to have perfect from Ayumi, but I want effort.

The mini-albums have been like waiting up all night to see Santa Clause and after he puts the presents under your tree, he gets completely drunk and destroys the house before peeing on the Christmas tree then storming out the front door hollering that no one ever appreciates what he does for them.

Originally Posted by TeamAyu2004

i don;t know... I thought the videos from Guilty to RocknRoll were completely dreadful.
to each their own.
there were a few gems here and there, but most diffidently not the ones 'most' people seem to like.

I dont think a lot of people have accepted the fact that she is no longer on top.
This is what happens, look at Seiko and that other old chick (), they are no where near the top but still make music.
their budget is down, but they still do PV's, concerts, albums...
Ayumi is here to stay for many many years, even if she is reduced to just 10-20K per album.

That's Ayumi's future if she doesn't change. ^^ THAT.

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Brillante is so old! It was released like... a decade ago!

Nops, actually that was just last year.

Among everything that annoys me on AHS when Ayu is releasing stuff, the capacity some of her fans have of having the most bizarre time perception of any fanbase is easily on top of the list.

I think you're mistaken. I didn't see any mention of distorted time perception. They very clearly stated that the last video that piqued their interest was BRILLANTE. Not that it's been over 20 years since they last saw an interesting video.

And be aware, time is relatively different for all of us. For me, it's a lot faster because I'm going on 26 than it is for someone who is 18. A year makes up a much smaller percentage of my overall life so it doesn't feel as long to me as it does to someone younger than me. Keep that in mind in the future.

EDIT: I totally get that this is just a rant and wouldn't change anything. But still, my feelings on Ayu right now are that I get my hopes up for a new release only to feel like she really didn't make an effort to make it a gift at all.