My Journey through Ayu's Music

[Earth_maiden]

Okay, I've been thinking about how my journey to Ayu started, and I realized there have been a lot of songs that have had some major significance for me. My idea was to make them into an "album" to show my journey through Ayu's music and why each track meant something special to me. So, here's my album/journey:

MY JOURNEY


You - Aggressive Mix
This is first song I ever, ever heard from Ayu, because I was trolling Limewire looking for Initial D songs, and this song was in the list from some user. So I downloaded it and listened to it for a few weeks until I got sick of it, and didn't really think about Ayu again for a year or so.

Hanabi
I heard this song in a kingdom hearts AMV (which wrongly titled the song "Rainbow", so I thought this song was the very famous Rainbow and I wasn't very impressed with it), so I downloaded it and it was one of my only 4 or 5 Ayu tracks.

No Way to Say
not sure why I downloaded this song, it was probably in the same user's account that I downloaded Hanabi from, so I downloaded it and listened to it a few times. It didn't leave much of an impression on me. But I would still include because now, every time I hear this song I remember the days when life was a little simpler, I was still in high school and the world didn't seem as scary as it does now.

Dearest
From downloading all the Inuyasha songs I could find on Limewire. I liked this song quite a lot, not as much as BoA's "Every Heart", but I still listened to it a lot.

No more words
Same as above, except this song I truly adored and still listen to often. It was possibly this song that really got me interested in hearing more from Ayu.

Rainbow
After realizing that the song Hanabi WASN'T the real Rainbow (after reading a random music blog, I think) I found the real song and downloaded it, and it was probably after this song that I really started to get hooked on Ayu.

STEP you
After one of my close friends went on a holiday to Malaysia, she came back with a whole bunch of random Japanese CDs, and she burned me a copy of the album "miss(understood)". I didn't listen to it for about a week or two, but when I put it in, I won't say I was immediately hooked, because the first track, Bold and Delicious, kind of scared me. But the next track I really enjoyed, and the more I listened to it, the more I found myself slowly becoming addicted.

fairyland
I was looking for some Ayu PVs to download on Limewire, so this was the first video I ever watched of Ayu's, and it's still probably my favourite PV ever. So the song is also special to me.

Startin'
It was around this time that the single Startin'/Born to be was released. I wasn't initially fond of the song but after watching the crazy PV a few times I began to really love this song.

Beautiful Fighters
And then Blue Bird/Beautiful Fighters was released, and even though I liked Blue Bird, I thought fairyland was a much better "summer" song, by comparision. But I loved the lyrics and PV that came along with Beautiful Fighters, so that's the song that hooked me.

Heartplace
Kind of random placement here, but it was around this time that I started going through Limewire and downloading all of Ayu's albums. I downloaded Rainbow first because I was sure it contained the track Rainbow, and I was disappointed to find it didn't. But after listening to the album Heartplace really stuck with me, the power of Ayu's vocals and the arrangement just struck a chord in me.

Real Me
Another case of going through the album, but this song it was more the PV that made me fall in love with the song. I just loved the dances and Ayu's head bling.

Voyage
I was watching the PV and was crying at the end of it, the two lovers reunited across time, and everyone including Ayu thought she was crazy but she wasn't, ahhh, I really loved this PV! Plus the sweetness of the music and the vocals made me love the song ever more.

fated
Then the glitter/fated single came out. Fated is my most played Ayu track ever, according to my lastfm stats anyway. I just really loved this song, even though apparently many people didn't. Oh well, I was happy with it!

Mirrorcle World
I, like most other Ayu fans, was estastic to hear Ayu had extended the awesome "Mirror" track and made it into a full single. I think this track was my ring tone for about 8 months or so.

GREEN
And of course, Green. The beauty and elegance of this song still hooks me every time I listen to it. Do I need to explain much more? XD

Sunrise ~ LOVE IS ALL
This song appeared at a time in my life that was terrible and depressing, so it was like a beacon of light, giving me the strength to get through each day and try to smile. It will never stop being a song that was a pillar of strength for me in my time of need. Which is why I see it fits to end my story of my journey through Ayu's music, with my head held high and a smile on my face, ready to face whatever may come my way.



So, that's the journey I have taken, shortened to 17 tracks to make my own little Ayu album. It probably wouldn't sell very well as a compilation album, but all these tracks have meant something personal to me, which is why I would include them in that exact order.


If anyone else had a story like this I would love to hear it!

[Mary Weather]

That's awesome! I may do something like that too ^_^

[CHE.R.RY]

Wow this is a neat little thread .

I honestly can't completely remember how it went but I'll wing it from what I can recall!

Dearest
Well this was the first song I had ever heard from Ayu. I remember waaay back in my 7th grade year I was friends with these two people (one is actually AyUta, and the other is not on here) that were really into anime, especially Inuyasha. I started to take an interest so one of my friends (the one that's not on here lol) burned me a copy of Inuyasha ending songs. I remember thinking Dearest was just meh, as I thought the song was sort of nice, but I hated the way the girl's voice sounded really strained in the chorus parts. I didn't know the name of the song until later when I bought an Inuyasha ending themes album. Sometimes even now, I still can't believe it's Ayu who sang this song. And of course, I don't dislike it anymore...

no more words
Now this song was beautiful to me. I thought the female's voice was really lovely in this song. I was shocked to find it was the same female that had sang Dearest (it was all in kanji and hiragana so I couldn't read the names in the booklet). Looking back, I still remember how peaceful and at ease this song made me feel when I would listen to it.

Now this is when it got tricky...because I got into her trance remixes...so this may not be in order........

Appears 'Armin Van Burren remix'
I'll never forget I was going through Myspace music profiles when I discovered Ayu's trance. I had been just starting my Japanese music craze and was not really familiar with the artists yet. I had somehow found the identity of Ayu and had tried looking her up before, but her music was always just godawful to me lol. Well, I was bored one summer afternoon (I was going into my sophomore year, this was 2006) and decided to give her music another whirl. Coincidentally, all of the Ayu music profiles had Ayu trance on them for some reason. So this was one of the songs I found and it was instant love . That was also when Myspace would let you download them so I was able to grab them.

M 'Above and Beyond Mix'
God this song was just amazing! I loved it so much...It brings back such good memories of my fragile teen years. This, of course, was one of the songs I found on the Myspace music profiles.

Fly High 'Voodoo & Serano remix'
This was my most favorite remix/song I found of Ayu's on those Myspace remix profiles. I used to blast this song all the time, and my mom even liked it when I showed it to her. I still see it as being a legendary trance remix.

Depend on You 'Svenson and Gielen remix'
This one always filled me with such excitement. I loved it dearly.

Trauma 'Jam X & De Leon's DuMonde remix'
I always wanted to dance when I would listen to this one.

Boys & Girls 'Push remix'
LOL for the longest time I always thought this song was called 'Boys & Girls Push' because of this remix. Me and AyUta would always make nasty jokes about the title of this song . I can't say I was entirely inlove with this song, but it was kind of cool.

Real me 'Megara vs DJ Lee remix'
This one blew me away. It came in second in my favorites, just behind Fly High.

Naturally 'Wippenberg remix'
Man this one was amazing too...I always felt like I was in another world when I'd listened to it. It was just so surreal sounding.

...So most of my favorite trance remixes came from the entire first Ayu trance album (I didn't list them all because it would take too long), and from there I started to wonder what her other music was like when I realized she wasn't all trance...

STEP you
I remember this was a really catchy song for me. I liked it almost instantly. It was hard for me to get used to the original mixes of the trance remixes I heard. They sounded slow and lazy lol.

1 LOVE
I didn't know it at the time but this song was brand new when I heard it. It was my most favorite Ayu song for a long time.


.........So I can't remember how it happened exactly after discovering the trance remixes. I know that I didn't listen by album, but more like found songs floating around and grabbed 'em whenever I could. From then on, Ayu quickly became my most favorite Japanese artist to date.

[gallowsCalibrator]

These are so awesome to read!! I wanna do one too~

STEP you
First ever Ayu song~! It was found on YouTube while looking at videos for Final Fantasy, and an AMV with this song popped up~ It was soooo catchy... So, with a little help from Google, I found out more about Ayu

evolution The first Ayu song I got on my iPod Actually, it was the first song I got on my iPod! It's still in my top 10 favorites today

M (above & beyond remix)
This was the song that made me a permanent fan, I think... It was my most played on iTunes for a really long time (^_^);;

A Song for xx
When I heard this song, I became an extreme fan of Ayu. This song really made me think~ I began to focus on Ayu more, and a little after this, I became a fan

(miss)understood
I have to include (m)u as a song & as an album~ It was a little after (m)u was released and a little before BLUE BIRD came out that I became a fan I owe it all to this song & album~

kiss o' kill
I was a quiet fan, occasionally looking at her new songs and stuff, until I heard this song. It was so amazing that I stopped everything and Ayu became my #1 favorite singer.

NEXT LEVEL
It was around the time this album was released that I stumbled across AHS... And a few months later that I finally joined

Sparkle
I had been getting a bit tired of music (omg I can't even imagine that now ) when I heard this song, which renewed my love of Ayu (I still loved her, just not extreme fan~) and of music

Microphone
I'd been going through a bit of a tough time when I heard the previews to this song, and it made me happier... When the full song came out, I was so happy. This became my favorite song next to ASFXX and kiss o' kill It also helped me when I sat alone in my room

Looking back at my journey, it seems I became a huge fan of Ayu quite quickly~ I edited some stuff out for the sake of space, or this would have been a looooo~ng story

[Mintkisses]

Wow, I really like this thread!

MY JOURNEY~~

Dearest
This was the song that made me discover Ayu. I used to be an obsessed fan of Inuyasha (still am, kinda xD). I went on a music craze when my grandpa told me about WinMX (I think that's what it was called). This was before LimeWire was either released or popular. So, I looked up all the artists from the animes I was watching and this was the song I had.

still alone
I was in love with this song, but I didn't know that it was by Ayu. I didn't realize that it was from her until a while later, but I thought it was a funny coincidence.

immature
Random song I downloaded from WinMX and I LOVED it! I remember putting it on repeat in my bedroom and enjoying every minute of it.

GAME
When I first listened to this song, I had the goosebumps. I thought it was the best song ever created!

evolution
It's still my favorite song to this day. I used to lay in my bed at 3:00am and listen to this song over and over again. It was the song that convinced me that I love Ayu and she was my new favorite artist.

No way to say 'Vandalize Realize mix'
Amazzzzzzzzzzing. It was one of the best remixes from her. I actually believe that this remix is better than the original. I randomly downloaded this too on LimeWire and it was labeled as the original song. So, when I listened to the original, I was kinda surprised.

Don't Look Back
This song really related to my life (currently, actually). When I listen to it, it makes me feel great, even though it's an emotional song.

glitter
I listened to this song when I was in my Tokyo hotel. I was so happy dancing in the suite looking out the window. It was the best =)

fated
Emotional and just beautiful. I believe it's one of her best ballads. It reminds me of myself and my boyfriend.

STEP you
The second PV I've ever seen of Ayu (first was GAME). I remember having dial-up internet and sitting at my mom's work laptop waiting for it to load so I can watch it.

Naturally
I was on my way to New York (driving) and I was listening to the "I am..." albums for one of the first times ever. I came across this song and just LOVED it. I remember looking out the window daydreaming and thinking to myself just how much I loved the song.

EDIT: Uh-oh, forgot something :x

Sparkle
There was a period between Secret and NEXT LEVEL where I wasn't into Ayu's music (I enjoyed the GUILTY album very much. The only song I liked from Secret was kiss o' kill; and I was obsessed with Mirrorcle World for the longest time). When I heard this song though, everything came rushing back to me. I literally sat there watching the PV with my mouth wide open. I was shocked by the genre of music Ayu tried (and it wasn't a remix!) since the last I heard a Techno-based song on a studio album was Connected (which I love!). I was also shocked on how sexy Ayu was!!! I loved that side of her and it was interesting to watch. So, this song brought me back to the world of Ayu. And I'm still in it!

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

This is cool. I don't really have anything like this though ... I just remember the first track from ayu I heard was "Depend on you (eurosenti mix)" and then from then on, I downloaded everything I could until I started buying everything she released.

[Raiu-Ayu]

I like this idea Think I'll give it ago

INSPIRE
This was the first ayu song that I heard (a much unusual situation from what I've heard ) I heard a girl on SoundClick (Sou-hime) cover it and thought that it sounded quite good. Up until that point I thought that ayu was a really just a plastic pop princess but then I found out that she writes her own lyrics and has lots of edge

Bold & Delicious
Me and another member of a forum had heard people talking about Bold & Delicious and thought we'd check it out. This was roughly about 2 months after I'd heard INSPIRE so this was a slight shock for me (I thought it would be a rock song) but I liked it regardless and then a friend sent me a link for (miss)understood...

STEP you
This made me like ayu even more!! At the time (and still now I guess) I was obsessed with upbeat pop-rock songs and so when I heard this I just loved it! It was then I discovered how long a career ayu actually had and I looked into some of her older stuff

M
When I saw the title it peaked my interest. I thought that 'M' could stand for a lot of things. Then when I actually heard the song I was blown away!! The whole song and its meaning just made me fall in love with it and all of ayu's winter ballads.

Startin'
Although not really an amazing stand-out song or anything, Startin' still holds a special place for me as it was the first ayu release I was an ayu fan for! I'll always remember listening to the TV rip from the encore of CDL05-06 then the Onimusha trailer before it finally arrived (with cooky PV in tow )

WHATEVER
Or more specifically WHATEVER live at CDL04-05. It was this performance that made me respect ayu as a performer. I'd never really liked the song when I heard it (all versions just didn't interest me) but when I saw it done live it completely changed my opinion. It was in this performance for the first time I noticed ayu's intense stage presence

momentum
This was the first time since I'd been an ayu fan that a song really moved me. momentum, and the PV mainly, really spoke to me and made me really sad listening to it

talkin' 2 myself
Its not that this song means anything in particular, its just that it was released around at a rather influential time in my life and every time I think back to that period I think of this song

Mirrorcle World
Probably one of the best songs I've ever heard. Mirrorcle World still gives me a tingly feeling when I heard it unexpectedly

Sparkle
My favourite song from NEXT LEVEL. This song made me stand up and take notice of ayu again since Mirrorcle World.

Microphone
The latest song to make me remember everything that I love about ayu

[Earth_maiden]

I really like reading other people's "journeys", its very interesting. Especially all the remixes I see that people love, I want to find the ones I've never heard of. ^_^

[Mirrorcle Monster]

let´s start!

Trauma

The first song ever, i heard it in a CD titled "100 best of J-rock", and i totally disliked it, i thought she was screaming, but after listening some times to it i liked it a lot.

HEAVEN
The second song i heared, and the song who made me fall in love with Ayu....still my favourite.

Mirrorcle World
First i fell in love with the cover, then with the PV and then with the song

is this LOVE?
The first pure rock song i heard, totally love it

STEP you
I noticed that it was on the same single, so i heared it and i loved it

Days
I saw the PV and i really loved it

You Were...
I was really needing a ballad like that

[zaqwanbadli]

Hahaha, this is just thoughtful~

For me:

"Trauma"
I remember dancing to this during my orientation week--the university made the dance as an aerobic session in the evening. At that time, I haven't known Ayu. Nevertheless, it was the live song where she taught Trauma dance, and when she screamed "Trauma!" and the crowd from the live went wild, we all suddenly cheered like crazy too! Her voice gave me strength during the orientation, and that's how it's all started.

"Voyage"
Probably the second song I had--still do--in my phone, I fell in love with her vibratos. This is the time when I got to know Ayu--I started looking up for her in the net and YouTube. At that time, I was still looking for the "Trauma" live and also "Voyage", but soon explored to another songs of hers. I remembered I loved watching her messing up live by forgetting the lyrics, and I suddenly tended to do "La la la" when I forgot mine during my performances, hahaha~

"A BEST 2 -WHITE-"
Since then, I have Ayu songs filled up in the laptop and listens to her only (wow, my world is getting smaller!) Until one time, I saw her "A BEST 2 -WHITE-" DVD and hesitantly bought it because it has "Trauma" in it, even though I already watched it on YouTube. From that moment on, I was a hardcore fan! It certainly wasn't a waste of money-------

"Mirrorcle World"
During my second foundation year, I fell in love with this song, mainly because of its rockish feeling (I don't really like rock that much, so it's weird. maybe it's the vibratos!). I listen to that all semester long, in addition to other songs of hers.

CONCLUSION
All the love added up, and now I have some of her live DVDs and some CDs (it's hard to get them here, I have to kinda travel far to get them). I still listen to her only, mainly because I rarely listen to music these days, even though I love music.

You can hear me belt out any song with that crazy vibratos any time, heheh!

[Spartayu]

Oh well, for me, my journey have to be just a few. Because these few songs relived my addiction for Ms Hamasaki Ayumi.

First of all, the song that was keyed into my mind was

Inspire
During that time when Inspire came out, Ms Hamasaki was still in her peak period. Therefore, songs from her were often used by the media to kill time and introduce the famous JPop empress to the world.

I was still young, and didn't really thought much. One evening, when I watched the MTV, I was like "Hey! Look at what that dumb beach is doin'! It's so stupid!" (Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry... Ms Hamasaki, I was still naive...) Little did I knew that the song was actually LOOPING IN MY MIND THROUGHOUT THE YEARS THAT I GROW.


Next is

About you / No way to say
Quite a similar story as Inspire, I had almost the same thought as well.
(Please forgive me, as I can't appreciate art during that point of time.)

Also, little did I knew that the song was memorized by my brain without realizing it.


Followed by

Moments
I heard her voice in moments when she produced a new album. I saw part of her wearing teal clothings while singing the song. I was kind of mesmerized by her image, but it wouldn't change the fact that I hated her that time.


Lastly

Unknown song
Up till now, I still couldn't really find the song. It sounded like that "Woooonderlaaaaaand, wonderlaaaand...~"
I've been hunting for this song even till now, but I couldn't find it. Initially, I thought the title was Fairyland or Wonderland, but to no avail. I may not assure you that it was Ms Hamasaki's product, although it states yes based on my impression.


My hatred for her stopped in 2007.
When I saw her album, "A Best 2 Black/White" in the television commercial, exactly the answer to my repetition! I watched as how Ms Hamasaki wore a teal clothing and sang Moments (Noticed how similar it was to my past?), and then Inspire, About you etc.

All of a sudden, my ears and mind seemed to be levitating away from my body; An uplifting spirit! Which was a good sign (For AHS forum ).

At last, the voices and songs that had been taunting and haunting me for years was about to be gone!

At the beginning of those days, I was like a drug-addict. Until now, I am still a drug addict. The 4(5) songs are very precious to me, without them, I wouldn't be doing anything here right now.

(P.S I would appreciate if anyone helps me fill in that unknown song.)

[aisubeki]

Ooooh interesting!

still alone
I found this song when I was searching for some anime openings, I think I was looking for one of BoA's songs. Anyway~ I downloaded it and at first hated it. The copy I downloaded made her voice extremely squeaky when she hits her high notes, and I thought it was obnoxious.

M
My very favorite Ayu song I was looking up stuff on Kingdom Hearts, I guess it was on YouTube, and I saw a video of the opening with this song as the theme and fell in love with it. So I did a lot of research trying to find it-I knew it was ayu because of comments, but i didn't know what song it was. I thought it was Seasons because of a remix I found of it () I can't remember how I figured it out that it wasn't seasons though..

Seasons
I found the original of this song after getting a remix of it (no idea which one though). It grew on me-and now its one of my alllll time favorite Ayu songs

And songs that have led up to my absolute love of Ayu

Hanabi ~Episode II~
I heard this song when my uncle passed away, and it helped me cope with it a little..

Game
I used to be in some pretty hardcore rock (strange because I can't seem to listen to it anymore without wanting to gouge out my ears ) and I hear this Ayu song. Absolutely loved it I even remember seeing the video for the first time!

Step you/is this love?
The first single I bought Both of this songs are amazing.

Are you Wake Up?
Yes, the instrumental I thought it was awesome.

Startin'/Blue Bird
I was hooked after these songs

And so, I am addicted