Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeke.
The term "generic" gets thrown around a lot, and misused when describing ayus songs specifically. I would not say those epic ballads are generic, but predictable? Yeah, I might agree to that. Generic refers to something that isn't special, and something that any other artist could have released with identical results. The catalog of hits she has built over the years of those epic, perhaps predictable, songs have something to them that just screams ayu. Lately it hasn't been the case, hence the term generic being used in the correct manner. For me, when a song progresses and it hits in all the right places that you felt it was growing toward, that's perfection. But when it hits and you're all "oh, so this is how it's going to be? Ok, I think I can get into/used to this." Then it's already a battle to enjoy the song as much as you enjoy the former experience.
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I think it's totally possible for a song to be generic within the context of Ayu's discography, especially so late in her career when she has 250 songs. Are "Together When..." and "CAROLS" generic in the world of JPop? Goodness no. They're VERY ayu. But are they generic among Ayu ballads? Absofrickinglutely. She has a ton of mid-tempo sweeping ballads that I can't immediately identify because they're all in a pool swimming around in my head. The ones with more distinctive arrangements within the pool of Ayu tracks - like HANABI with its echoing percussion & music box, JEWEL with its piano basis and "fuller" sound than teddy bear - I'm going to enjoy much more.
This one feels different than Together When..., CAROLS, MOON, part of Me, etc. Those songs are all in a similar key with a similar feel and outside of the intros they're not that different from one another, at least to someone with my music (both listening and performing) background - someone who listens to or studies different genres than I do will probably not feel the same way. But to me, Pray does stand out among them.