New producer, new composer.

[boogieordie]

Originally Posted by yys113

For those people who don't like MY STORY, it's your problem, and stop questioning others opinion on it. .

That goes both ways.

Originally Posted by Qt Mashi

yep and i noticed it's always the same ppl who complain~

And?

[elepop]

Originally Posted by Ayuspeed

Wake up. A lot of people here like ayu's older work better than this new stuff. Ayu's music changes a lot. And people dont always like the latest style.

I agree. I prefer her older stuff. Most of the newer fans like RAINBOW a lot. I prefer her older stuff like LOVEppears, DUTY or I Am...

[elepop]

Originally Posted by TeamAyu

Yup Ayu fans are really annoying aren't they... over these months I have truly come to see why people can't stand Ayu fans at times.

Ayu fans are annoying? I'm sorry, but you're a fan too. It's not our faults if some of us don't like everything from Ayu. (Although, i DO like most things from Ayu) Well, hey, it's not because you're an Ayu fans that you have to agree and love everything she does. And it's not because you don't like her latest album that it means that your not a true fan.

That's why people complain... Her latest album is not good. I don't like CAROLS. Forgiveness is too long. Her concerts suck. She's not good singing live. She's getting too sexy. This PV is weird. This one is boring. Blah blah blah... Those comments come out quite often and, i don't agree with any of those things. If they want to complain, let them do. But i'll still like this or that anyway.

People always expect more or something like that. I just appreaciate the things she does instead.

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by asongforXX

People always expect more or something like that. I just appreaciate the things she does instead.

Not meaning to bash you here, just so you know, but I look at things entirely different.

Now, Ayu is an artist, or at least, she's supposed to be. As she is, I expect her to be good at what she's doing. I expect her to improve all the time - a standstill is not enough even.

I have high expectations of all musicians, directors, writers, painters I like - when they release something that's crap imo, I won't appreciate it. I'm not one to say 'better luck next time' when Kitano would be coming out with a boring, retarded movie. When Thursday's new album would suck beyond imagination, I wouldn't appreciate it. They're artists, I expect them to do good, to do better, to do best. An artist must always try to improve him- or herself. Self-criticism required. When improvement is not happening, either just quit, or do all your best to get on top again. When you just made an album and half of the songs suck, just get rid of them and write some new ones!

I'll have to admit though - that's the curse of the pop world. It's all about money in the end, so out of 16 tracks written, 16 get recorded and released. Pity.

That said - that doesn't mean everyone should dislike or like the same things. There's still taste to consider. Just expressing my opinion here.

[elepop]

Originally Posted by sxesven

Not meaning to bash you here, just so you know, but I look at things entirely different.

Now, Ayu is an artist, or at least, she's supposed to be. As she is, I expect her to be good at what she's doing. I expect her to improve all the time - a standstill is not enough even.

I have high expectations of all musicians, directors, writers, painters I like - when they release something that's crap imo, I won't appreciate it. I'm not one to say 'better luck next time' when Kitano would be coming out with a boring, retarded movie. When Thursday's new album would suck beyond imagination, I wouldn't appreciate it. They're artists, I expect them to do good, to do better, to do best. An artist must always try to improve him- or herself. Self-criticism required. When improvement is not happening, either just quit, or do all your best to get on top again. When you just made an album and half of the songs suck, just get rid of them and write some new ones!

I'll have to admit though - that's the curse of the pop world. It's all about money in the end, so out of 16 tracks written, 16 get recorded and released. Pity.

That said - that doesn't mean everyone should dislike or like the same things. There's still taste to consider. Just expressing my opinion here.

LOL, no that's not bashing me! You have your own point of view.

I don't expect Ayu to be the best writer, to have the best PVs, her songs to be each and every one of them amazing, or any of those things. Ayu is not perfect and i don't expect her and everything she does to be perfect. I appreciate what she has done to us and if it's not her best PVs, album or whatever, well, that's too bad. I don't expect her to improve majorly and to be just a perfect artist. No one is anyway!

Of course, when she had a BIG success and come back with something that has not been has big, some people are dissapointed. So am i, but i won't say or complain about how i dislike something. I'm more the type that see the side i likes in an album or song and thats all. I don't focus on the bad side much.

True, it's all about people's taste. Right now, Ayu is being more sort of pop/rock. Some people don't like it. Some do. It's always gonna be like this

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by asongforXX

Right now, Ayu is being more sort of pop/rock. Some people don't like it. Some do. It's always gonna be like this

Hehe, true. Funny thing though - I'm a big rock-fan, but this new stuff of Ayu's just doesn't float my boat. Maybe it's because I like rock a whole lot; it's easier to spot the weaknesses in these songs.

[bulmasman]

Originally Posted by sxesven

Not meaning to bash you here, just so you know, but I look at things entirely different.

Now, Ayu is an artist, or at least, she's supposed to be. As she is, I expect her to be good at what she's doing. I expect her to improve all the time - a standstill is not enough even.

I have high expectations of all musicians, directors, writers, painters I like - when they release something that's crap imo, I won't appreciate it. I'm not one to say 'better luck next time' when Kitano would be coming out with a boring, retarded movie. When Thursday's new album would suck beyond imagination, I wouldn't appreciate it. They're artists, I expect them to do good, to do better, to do best. An artist must always try to improve him- or herself. Self-criticism required. When improvement is not happening, either just quit, or do all your best to get on top again. When you just made an album and half of the songs suck, just get rid of them and write some new ones!

I'll have to admit though - that's the curse of the pop world. It's all about money in the end, so out of 16 tracks written, 16 get recorded and released. Pity.

That said - that doesn't mean everyone should dislike or like the same things. There's still taste to consider. Just expressing my opinion here.

Taste is always an importnat factor in everything. Some people consider Ayu's earlier works to be worse than her later stuff, while consider them to be better than her later stuff. From what i've heard of My Story i'm at 2 minds about it. On the one hand i like some of the stuff, but on the other, it's not spectacular. As i haven't heard all of My Story yet i'll use mem address as a comparison. Just compare the first time you listened to Mem Address to the first time you heard I Am... Yes, mem address has some nice songs, but I Am... has some EXCEPTIONAL songs. however, this is my opinion and don't expect everyone else to follow it.

I will disagree with sven on something though, and that's that Ayu should always be improving. Yes, it would be nice, but she's not just an artist, she's a person aswell. Nobody on earth can be perfect, and occasinally we shine through our imperfections. I'm happy for ayu to stay at a stand still, but would like an exceptional song every now and then, instead of one here and one there.

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by bulmasman

I will disagree with sven on something though,

How can you!

I guess, I might have high expectations - I'll admit though, only the best is good for me. I despise mediocrity - seeing Ayu heading that way frightens me.

[elepop]

Originally Posted by sxesven

Hehe, true. Funny thing though - I'm a big rock-fan, but this new stuff of Ayu's just doesn't float my boat. Maybe it's because I like rock a whole lot; it's easier to spot the weaknesses in these songs.

I guess it's because her songs aren't real rock music. It's really more rock/pop and mix with other type of music. It's not really "rock". We all know she's truly a pop singer anyway. That's maybe one of the reason.

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by asongforXX

I guess it's because her songs aren't real rock music. It's really more rock/pop and mix with other type of music. It's not really "rock". We all know she's truly a pop singer anyway. That's maybe one of the reason.

Altogether, it is the quality of the music as a whole that's bothering me. My tastes in music are eclectic enough to appreciate anything really. Pop music doesn't bother me at all either, you know, I like some of it even. I love Jpop. I guess it has to do with me setting (too) high expectations.

[w-tachibana]

ayu reminds me alot of what happened to metallica in america, people either love em or hate em, and the only thing that has changed is that their music had evolved as the time has past by. Really Ayu is the same as she was when she first came out, still cutting edge, still original.

[walking proud]

telling ayu to stop doing pop songs is like telling her to ruin her career.

hello?! She is a J-POP STAR. not a J-ROCK STAR. get it right.

[w-tachibana]

^ she is turning into both

[elepop]

Originally Posted by w-tachibana

^ she is turning into both

Well, you can't really call that J-Rock.

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by asongforXX

Well, you can't really call that J-Rock.

I agree.

Nor can one compare Ayu to Metallica. That doesn't mean I like Metallica though. They may have been influential, but their music itself isn't worth a whole lot. Their old songs were recorded in different takes because the drummer couldn't drum the whole songs at once. Later on, they sold out, definitely. This shouldn't become a Metallica thread though, so end of off topic.

[ruixiong89]

Well, yar, haha, I think everyone is really engaging in some intellectual debate here! It's good to see everyone still being very concerned about the direction by which Ayu's music is going, and it's a good sign that her fans are still concerned about her. But well, I think there are some general conclusions that I think we have all approved of.

1. Everyone has their own tastes and opinions, and it's ok that we don't agree with each other's opinion.
2. Ayu will not be able to please everyone no matter what happens.
3. Ayu's music is not truly "individual-focus" i.e. It's made SPECIALLY FOR YOU so that you will LOVE it.

Based on these truly fundamental arguments, I think basically, from my point of view, I think we should try to empathise with her too. Producing music is really tough work and I know that at times, we might think that she doesn't even produce top-notch quality music and perhaps even heading for the worse. However, I think Ayu has really tried her best already.

It's part of the horrid regiment of her career, getting the gossips in the gossip columns, her popularity eventually dipping ... still, I think we all can say that Ayu has really left her impact and tried very hard to deliver against the competition. We all can feel that she's being roped into part of this "money-making" plan thing, whereby money is really "everything". It would be a truly ideal world whereby people make music because they love it without this thing called greed existing but still sadly it does. So as much as we hate it, Ayu's schedule, ayu's health, ayu's raison d'être has well, a lot of times be neglected by people around her.

"How does Ayu feel really about what she's doing?"

She's open and frank to her fans, she really wants to deliver the best that she can to her audiences, and I think every single artiste wants to put their best into their own production. They each have different styles which they feel would appeal to their fans and hence they would head in that field.

What Ayu is experiencing now is that yar, she has really put in a lot of effort and I think exhausting your creativity for like 7 years of your career, you can see how much harder it is getting to garner in new ideas (I mean Ayu has tried on so many images and so many styles) which she is still trying to explore "unexplored" frontiers.

So yar, seeing this constraint, I hope that basically, everyone, yar, I know you'll feel your disappointments with Ayu's music at certain times or even at this point, but still, I hope we don't neglect that Ayu's already trying her best, even though knowing that well, not everyone will like her "new" styles and so on. Her schedule has been like crazy, plus her ongoing concerts and so on. It's quite "naturally" that her quality of music might have to suffer a compromise "somehow" (if that's how some of you feel).

Again, I just hope that we'll empathise more with her too. I hope we're not taking this too commercially and well, still realise that she's human afterall. She's not perfect, but neither are we.

[elepop]

Originally Posted by ruixiong89

1. Everyone has their own tastes and opinions, and it's ok that we don't agree with each other's opinion.
2. Ayu will not be able to please everyone no matter what happens.
3. Ayu's music is not truly "individual-focus" i.e. It's made SPECIALLY FOR YOU so that you will LOVE it.

I completely agree!

[Delirium-Zer0]

Definitely in agreement on #3 there. Ayu makes her music for her, not for us. It's up to us if we listen to it or not, if it speaks to us or not. She is an artist and it's an expression for her. Even the "Duty" album, which one could argue was lyrically "for the fans", wasn't. it was ABOUT us, but not really for us.

I don't think ayu is slipping toward mediocrity at all. She has alot of material before "MY STORY", so there seems to be alot more songs from before that we're really crazy about. But if you look at the number of songs per album that you absolutely LOVE, it's not that high of a number. It creates an illusion that her material now is weaker when it really isn't. Only a few of the members at this forum have been actually listening to ayu and following her for more than 2-3 years, and alot of us absorbed a WHOLE lot of her career all at one time so it felt like there was all this good new material to wade through. There wasn't that much more, in reality.

Also, I don't think the new album sounds stale at all. There are a few songs reminiscent of the RAINBOW album, maybe, but "HONEY" sounds more like the Mem. add. pop style than anything from LOVEppears (and I don't like that kind of pop much). The intro to "my name's WOMEN" sounds like "WE WISH". Aside from that, there's not much that's stale about it. New and repetitive though, maybe; the rock style is something she just now started really experimenting with and it's already getting a bit old. And I liked it, too, so that's saying alot.

On the other hand, there are some songs that may have a rather dull style but were so well-done and are of such high quality that they're some of my favorites. "Moments" is a gorgeous song, though that mid-tempo rock pop style is something I usually can't stand because it bores the crap out of me.

I guess my point is that I couldn't tell you what genres ayu should stick with, because I don't know myself until I hear it whether it's a good song or not. She's done so many different styles and has had good and bad examples of each. Whether a song strikes you as good or not is up to your taste, and sometimes the context in which you first hear the song (your initial expectations, whether you hear a short lo-qual clip or not, whether you're in a good mood that day, whatever). Alot of things can affect whether you like ayu's new songs or not.

I personally don't think she's getting stale, I have about 4 tracks on the new album that I just love. I also have 4 tracks on each of her past albums that I just love. (I have about 2 or 3 tracks on each album that I just can't stand, also. Everything else is at least enjoyable, so don't think I'm crazy for calling myself an ayu fan if i only love 4 songs for each album.)

[Rebirthia]

Originally Posted by hiro

I haven't been able to appreciate an Ayu album fully since I am.

i think the same, , i like my story but i PREFER 100 times MORE the album I AM... for me, that's genuine ayu, my story is another ayu, i like it but not so much, and very commercial,, with some ayu hints, obviously

[Rebirthia]

you made precise reviews... ^^