ayu's vocals nowadays...

[*hearT_Place*]

^I think that what has given her so much staying power is not as much her voice as it is her lyrics, creativity, and a huge marketing machine. Her voice during the ASFXX era wasn't exactly great.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think her voice is necessarily BAD. I quite like it and she has improved a lot; when she is on, wow...she can turn in some amazing performances. She just doesn't have the greatest techncal skills. She is a prime example of how emotion and expression really go a long way in making a vocal perfomance powerful; but, her inconsistancy shows where the technical skills are lacking.

(That's not to say that vocalists with good technical skills are always perfect. I just saw an Evanescence performance where Amy Lee was hideously flat.)