Someone else..?

[Mirrorcle Monster]

Well, I recently came across some feelings about ayu and i needed to share them with some ayufans.
When I discoved Ayu I was seriously blown away. She was just perfect to me. I loved how she changed her style for every era, her shocking performances and music videos. And her songs were just epic too. Even if she wasnt releasing something I would always listen to many and many classic songs everyday. But recently I rarely listen to Ayu. There are times when I suddenly feel like listening a song over and over (recently In The Corner) but its not the same as two years ago. Somehow I feel like Ayu is confused about her identity. Sometimes she seems to want to be more simple and "human" (Power of Music/"Life" on Music Station). But other times she is like more diva than ever (specially when Leslie and Ryan are around). I like Ayu acting as a Queen, it is not something that bothers me, and probably it doesnt have anything to do with the fact that I am not as "ayufan" as I was (dont know if this is exactly correct). But I would like to know if it also happened to some of you and if you guys re-discovered your love for ayu after some time passed. About Party Queen, I like the album a lot, and I think I love all the songs.

[AyuBlackwind]

I have always loved Ayu and never had to re-discover any passion for her music. She writes what she feels, and I love that. Her style and voice has changed and I love her style always, but as of Love Songs and beyond, something changed.

As far as being confused about her identity, I dunno about that. She has dedicated her life to music, but lately I get the feeling that she's just feeling a certain kind of loneliness.

[jeffycue]

true! Love songs was really good but not memorable... FIVE is just... then Party Queen is all over the place, very experimental.

MANNIE is the CAUSE of this! hahaha.

^ about that feeling of certain kind of loneliness... i hope she was able to turn it to a really good inspiration for the album, but sadly for me, it didnt reflect as much as i hope it would be.

[KarenPang]

I think your reaction is normal & I'm speaking from experiences since I've been listening/supporting her for the past 6 years

for me , a lot of artistes come & go and I wouldn't lie there're occasions where I wouldn't listen to ayumi's music for days if not weeks but I'm still here isn't it ? xD

It's just a phrase going though & kinda like the bell curve , your obsession with ayumi will naturally reach a peak & then the next it might drop in a non dominant state

And this also proves that you don't eat , drink , sleep & breath ayumi 24/7 which's not healthy

so yeah don't worry , it's perfectly normal & you shouldn't push the panic button now

[letter]

I go through phases every now and then, doesn't everyone? Like feelings, they come and go, and we don't have much control over it. Don't let it bother you; if you're not in the mood for Ayu, you aren't. One day you might wake up feeling revitalised.

[Jason]

After NEXT LEVEL I sort of took a break from Ayu. I still bought the stuff she released after NL (Rock 'n' Roll Circus, AT 2009 etc). I remember I stopped coming on AHS for a while after that as well and I totally missed the release of Love songs and the ayu-mi-x 7 series. But I eventually bought them and although I have a mixed opinion of the ayu-mi-x 7 albums; Love songs dragged me back into her arms, no questions asked.

I've been a fan of hers since late 2002 and I'll continue to be until I die or she retires. But I think with an artist like Ayu, who releases albums so frequently, it's natural to get a bit fatigued and when that happens it's not a problem at all to just take a step back and take a vacation from her for a while. Chances are you'll come back to her and still love her just as much... at least, that's what happened with me

[Zeke.]

I am always listening to Ayu, more now than ever. But it's a lot of the MY STORY stuff. Stuff that really floored me and stuff from A BEST 2 with a little bit of I am... thrown in. I miss her and that feeling. It saddens me to think of the day when anything she releases fails to impress me...

[relmy]

I always listen to Ayu's new releases, because I do enjoy her music, however, the music from Ayu that I always come back to is usually her old stuff. It's normal, I guess.

I think... for me anyway, that what I like about old Ayu, is that it's all retrospect, I know what came after, I knew what she evolved into and what came next, I knew that if I didn't like her look I could just skip a whole year because there's still loads to look at.

Now I know what I like and don't like, I've exhausted her back catalogue down to my "Ayu essentials". What do I do now? I wait. I wait for her to amaze me. From GUILTY onwards, there was nothing. Then Love Songs happened, some of her best songs are there for me, but now, I'm down in the "I don't like it" slump.

Why don't I like it? No real reason, I just don't like how it sounds. It's Ayu, it's pop music, it's all subjective, of course there will be down periods.

[ayuuk]

^Which songs from "Love songs" do you like?

Yeah it's all subjective. As for your "wait" philosophy, it kinda saddens me that it happens to me this time... I have to tell myself to continue loving her, and wait for her someday to amaze me again. Just hope the wait is not too long. Hopefully next album and next tour will have what we like.

On the other note, it suddenly occurred to me that PoM and Party Queen releasing on the same day is a little... weird?! PoM is created in light of the earthquake, but Party Queen gives people a first impression of wilder image of Ayu (I mean for general people, not hardcore fans who know what Ayu is trying to convey).

[visionfactory]

Originally Posted by Heavenly Zerase

But I would like to know if it also happened to some of you and if you guys re-discovered your love for ayu after some time passed.

Originally Posted by Zeke.

It saddens me to think of the day when anything she releases fails to impress me...

That day came to my with all the releases after Rock'n'Roll Circus, I think there was so much diversity in that album and everything she released after that sounded all the same to me plus the effort put on those PVs was null. But now I'm fully recovered with Party Queen Even if I'm not in love with the covers and PVs, I appreciate that Ayu tried something different and it's the first time in 2 years that I'm excited about a new release from Ayu ^_^

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by visionfactory

That day came to my with all the releases after Rock'n'Roll Circus, I think there was so much diversity in that album and everything she released after that sounded all the same to me plus the effort put on those PVs was null. But now I'm fully recovered with Party Queen Even if I'm not in love with the covers and PVs, I appreciate that Ayu tried something different and it's the first time in 2 years that I'm excited about a new release from Ayu ^_^

I hated R'n'R but Love songs was a nice surprise. But for me, Love songs is a very different kind of Ayu album. Most of the songs I like from Ayu I like for their POWER and FIERCENESS. But Love songs really has none of that. For me, Love songs is just beautifully done and it's a nice listen while driving. FIVE I disliked and now Party Queen (for the most part).

[everlastingRAINBOW]

She's off and on for me. I get excited when a new album comes out, but even then I only listened to PQ the day it leaked and now only care about a few songs :/

[pepper]

For me, it was time when I needed GOOD music (I was listening mainly to US pop and punk/rock like Green Day), I was 14 yo and when I was starting listening to Ayu, she realesed ASFxx, LP, Duty, I am..., Rainbow, MA and MS was right in the corner, so I had A LOT of music, and I totally LOVED almost single song (that's why I can't dislike ASFxx songs etc) because it was something extra-new to me, and it felt just too amazing. But now I'm 22, so a time have passed, and I can "feel the love again" sometimes, but human being like to get accustomed to every aspect of the world veeery easily. We can't do anything about it. Every "fresh" stuff taste diffrent, we have to accept that fact, and that's it. Just like drugs. We won't feel the same high, but we can't live without it

[jewelbox]

I discovered her through remixes first and then started to love her like a maniac. I had a big break from her music tho. At the time I was completely interested in other kind of music, and GUILTY etc. did not impress me so I "forgot" her. But thanks to NEXT LEVEL I found her again. Although I don't like her new releases even near as much I like her old ones, I still mostly find her music pleasant. Ayu is actually the only mega pop artist I listen to but she is so versatile that it's easy to everyone to find something to like about from her discography.
Buut I can still remember how completely awesome it was to hear is this LOVE?, UNITE!, Still alone, About you etc. for the first time. I know that I can't never get that feeling back but at least I got my nostalgy.

[PoetGirl]

Yeah, when you are fan of someone for a longer time you always have hot/cold periods. At least I do. With Ayu I have love hate relationship lol. When she released Secret I wasnt interested at all, I thought it was horrible, GUILTY is alright, but I wasnt crazy about it either. I started getting obsessed again with NEXT LEVEL, and Im still addicted since Love songs are very close to be my favorite album of hers ever. I realized she'll always be in my heart, same as Britney, no matter if their album hit me that time or not.

[freedreamer]

I believe everyone has period like you. last year in particular, Ayu had only FIVE as a release. I felt as though as though she's missing. And before that, she had so much midtempo stuff I felt her softening up. So naturally, I was a little disappointed.

From when I became a fan, I was wowed by her music. To date, I still am. I don't go comparing her new works and old works because I feel each time it's different. Of course, she has so many classics but that wont stop me from wanting more from her. Ayu has changed of course..and we'll be moving along. Some fans crave for that WOW she has done before but it's really not gonna be the same TOTALLY. As time passes, we'll be amazed with CERTAIN songs and not like when we just started out, where we already had a lot to be wowed at.

Ayu's still my favourite singer of all time. I admit I havent listened much to Love songs as a whole, had some issues with NEXT LEVEL etc..I mean, it's all natural. I consider my taste for music to be really low...so as long as it sounds unique, good and cool, im floored already. Ayu amazes me with the ability that her music still strikes with me

[kumiko.koda]

I had those times where I barely listened to ayus music, too

it was after Next Level that I kind of lost interest in her music.....Love Songs changed everything because I love that album so much.....I like FIVE a lot......Party Queen is a really good album, I only skip the 2 jazz songs (I don't like jazz at all)

I love to listen to her old stuff ASFXX to (m)u......Secret to RnRC are okay albums for me

[relmy]

Originally Posted by ayuuk

^Which songs from "Love songs" do you like?

I think Virgin Road is one of the best ballads of her career, I also adore Love Songs. November, crossroad and Last Angel I really love too because they sound so nostalgic. I like the (studio) version of SEVEN DAYS WAR a bit more than I should too lol

I like MOON, sending mail, Like a doll and blossom. I don't take them everywhere with me like the other tracks, but I do enjoy them when I listen to the album. I don't like do it again.


Sweet Season and Thank U should never have existed, nor should the interludes. If all the songs were like the second category, I couldn't have overlooked two of her worst songs being on one album, but how much I love the other songs means I don't care.

Happy with it being a 10 track album. :p

That response was a bit long, sorry.

[Yumi(e)]

Ayu's music it's like a friend for me (wow, sounds creepy xDDD); that doesn't mean that I live by and for her, just some days I prefer to listen others singers, but I know when I need it, will come up to her music.
Maybe I don't feel identified with her new music today, but will not the first time, after spending time, reconnected with her.

She is part of my life since my 15 years (adolescence was so difficult for me x_D), I can't imagine a future that not interest me their new releases.

Agh, Sorry I can't explain better with my awful english ><;

[Catzi]

I feel the same way! Sometimes she very human and other times she really diva. That doesn't bother me very much, because she is a celebrity and we don't really know her.

I use to listen to Ayu all the time, but I don't as much anymore. Like I use to do chores, and put her on in the background, but now I usually just do stuff in silence. Maybe I'm bored of her music? These days I need to be in the right mood to listen to her, and if that, then usually only a particular song that I'm feeling.

I think it started going down for me after Guilty, but I still follow her and buy her albums, I just don't get as excited as I use to. (Though RnRC was one of her best albums in a long time, and I got really excited for that, listened to it on repeat forever.)