Opinions on Ayu's music and voice

[SheFliesHigher]

I can't tolerate Ayu's voice at the beginning of her career for very long. It is way too high, screechy, and flat. These days, I think Ayu's voice just keeps getting better, with more dimensions being added.

About these "poppy" "sugary" songs...I think these just add to Ayu's variety. I am constantly impressed by how she is willing to try new things, and poke her nose into many genres.

That's my two cents.

[PrismaticTears]

The first songs of her I listened to were "Kanriya", "Fly High", and "Boys & Girls." While I can't say I liked those songs, I was intrigued as to the rest of her work. My favorite song of hers is undoubtedly "Real Me." She used a lower register and it sounded NATURAL (aside from the whole fact that i liked the song in general, lyrics and music). Except for the chorus line of "In order to survive," that high note was probably helped along with sound filters and enhancers. No way you could make that sound naturally without your voice jumping into your olfactory glands and your vocal chords crying out in mercy.

Only if she acted like her real self more often! I understand the need for the happy, perky face for the fans, but she doesn't have to add that irritating "sweet as sugar, and cute as a button" facade onto the whole package.

She seemed to have started her whole "iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" notage when she started with AVEX. Again, all her pre-AVEX singing/speaking that's been caught (ie: Swimsuit Idol Vid & Idol on Stage) will show a dramatic difference from her voice almost all throughout her AVEX career.

I wasn't fond of Rainbow because of that nasal voice towards the end (the fuzzy, be-feathered nails were also interesting).

Ayu may've had the ability to become a decent singer (overall voice-wise) if she didn't hurt her voice so much with the forceful Soprano (if that's what it is) that she does so often. If the alleged smoking rumors as true, then that could also be a contributor. If you notice sometimes when she goes backsatge then reappears at concerts, her voice sounds so much worse. I believe she may've had a smoke to help her calm her nervousness but let's not go ino that can of worms. I shouldn't have, but I'm trying to illustrate a point.

I kind of liked "Ourselves" bcause of her moody, lower verses and in the actual chorus she didn't try to reach for the stars too often with her high notes. I actually rather liked "A Song for XX", but you notice the tangent I'm going on? Low-toned songs, it sounds more natural and it seems that she puts more quality, resonance, and robustness to her vocal capers.

I hate it when she tries to sing high-pitched live, because it generally never ends well and she can't necessarily go back and pick out the best parts and try it over again to erase the bad parts.

But at this point I'm rambling so someone else go ahead and take the soap box.

[Hamasaki-Kurumi]

for myself, she still great and her music awesome as always, for example, her latest song, MOMENTS! such a wonderful song to hear ^_^

[fantaisie.sign]

I agree with almost all the posts in this thread so quoting each one would take up too much space. Everyone has said what I was intending to post, therefore I'll try not to restate what has already been said before.

Yes, Ayu does sing too high for her range, yet struggles in live performances when singing both high and low. Examples: listen to the LOVEppears medley from the Stadium Tour concert, then listen to her live performances of Boys & Girls, AUDIENCE, and songs from H on the Stadium Tour. When singing the LOVEppears songs she moves less and performs as if she's trying to find the note. Then when she hits the high notes she sings whatever note comes from her head voice whether it's on pitch or completely off. She has a very limited mid-range, meaning there are only a few notes on the scale that she can hit without using the "find the low note" routine or the "find the high note" routine. Of course, these vocal problems aren't apparent in the recorded versions for given reasons, but her live performances easily expose her vocal problems.

Like many pop singers, Ayu doesn't have the proper professional training needed to fully control her voice properly. Tone problems, vibrato problems, and even proper breathing problems can be fixed by seeing a vocal professional regularly. It seems to me like Ayu tries to resolve these problems herself by making herself into a more professional-sounding singer (listen to the voice transitions from Duty to I am. . . to RAINBOW to Memorial address) but it takes a toll on her actual voice.

But where exactly do the NYC voice lessons fit in? Did they really help Ayu back in the days when the A Song for XX album was being made? Not necessarily. As someone said before, Ayu sounded her best during the "Idol On Stage" days when she wasn't straining her voice by seeing how high or low her voice could go and before the NYC lessons took place. I wonder, how would Ayu sound if she still retained her "Idol On Stage" voice to this day? Did the NYC lessons give her a faux impression that she has to constantly improve her voice? Did they make her ashamed of her "Idol" voice? Does she want to compete vocally with her J-pop competition (BoA, Hikki, Namie, Ayaya, etc.)? Do American artists that she listen to (Christina Aguilera's powerful voice on her Stripped album mainly) have to do with it? Personally, I believe the NYC lessons should have come later in her career because of all the pressure she is putting on her limited vocals now.

Her "cutesy" image plays a big role in her voice as well. Since Ayu practically labels herself by the cute image, she makes her voice cute also. I can't quite understand why. . . she is in her 20s now, but she is making her voice and her music (independent, July 1st, More Than (+), ANGEL'S SONG, Greatful days [even though I love that song], RAINBOW, everywhere nowhere) into what Westerners commonly call "teenybopper music." Instead of maturing, Ayu is going backwards into the realm of immaturity. Yes, her lyrics improve significantly with time, but I'm confused about where she wants to take her music. Why pair mature lyrics with immature and cutesy musical compositions? Then, whenever she has mature background music she uses her cutesy nasal voice which makes the song, again, become teenybopper-ish. Is Ayu trying to "stay young" by making her music "young" ? Let's see:

A Song for XX -- cutesy music, very poppish, typical first J-pop album, a little nasal
LOVEppears -- more depth (i.e. TO BE, appears, End roll), less typical bubblegum pop beats
Duty -- even more depth and maturity in lyrics and music, few bubblegum pop beats (i.e. AUDIENCE), near perfect vocal range for songs, nasal voice begins to appear (i.e. girlish)
I am. . . -- the peak of music depth with mature-sounding songs, very few vocal problems except some strain and uncontrolled notes (i.e. beginning of I am. . . when she can't control her vibrato before the music begins, the strained notes during the last chorus of M, portions of A Song is born)
RAINBOW -- suddenly reverts to typical J-pop beats with much more of the nasal voice, strained vocals, cutesy music reappears (i.e. WE WISH, Real Me, everywhere nowhere, independent, More Than (+), July 1st, RAINBOW)
Memorial address -- mature lyrics, vocal problems remain most apparent in live performances, little music depth in most songs, nasal songs, mostly cutesy songs (i.e. ANGEL'S SONG, Greatful days, No Way To Say)

Just judging by the different songs that she has had from A Song for XX to Memorial address, her recent songs ever since Duty's release are not suited for her voice. If Ayu remained with the song styles between LOVEppears and Duty instead of newer songs where she has to reach for high notes periodically, her live performances definately would not suffer as much as they do now.

Ayu must realize that the older you become the more your voice deepens. She simply cannot perform the songs that she made back in, say, 1999 like she used to. Wouldn't her composers nowadays realize when composing songs that her voice cannot go that high without strain and going off-key?

So in short, the older and more Ayu becomes, the younger and more immature she tries to make her music and voice.

[bulmasman]

I totally agree with you there about Ayu in the Idol on Stage days with songs like "get out of my life" and the unbeatable "Rasberry Dream" hahaha She was soo good in them days, not to say she isn't now though.

Personally, when singing live, i actually LOVE the imperfections in her voice. It's true! I don't know why, but i would prefer to here something that's not perfect as opposed to something that is. For example... X-Japan's LAST LIVE concert. Definately the least technically good concert they did, but at the same time, the best that they did. It's because it's fueled by emotion.

Also, the imperfections remain a reminder that Ayu is NOT 100% perfect and that she is singing 100% live.

As for her voice on albums...
I am... is without a doubt her best technically. Her voice is almost perfect throughout.

[hiro]

Originally posted by Chibinina4


Ayu must realize that the older you become the more your voice deepens. She simply cannot perform the songs that she made back in, say, 1999 like she used to. Wouldn't her composers nowadays realize when composing songs that her voice cannot go that high without strain and going off-key?

Maybe she should stop singing her older songs or just lower the key that she sings them in. I really loved her performance of whatever and end roll on Stadium Tour. I thought those were great. I was suprised how much more poweful thye sounded than the original.

[Chrono]

PS: How do you know her throat is not shaped to become a singer? Have you seen xrays of her throat? Not to make fun of you but i find the comment really amusing. Also, for most performers their performance level goes down after dancing, running around, and singing for hours. It's expected.

yes, it was quite bad choice of words, i have to admit that. but you need no x-rays to know it, you can hear, whether someone got (..) or not.

i'm not able to translate (..) from chinese into english. (direct translation: throat bottom. someone knows the correct expression?)

And of course level will drop. problem is, level is already low when ayu starts the performance.

in short, or in other words, she just doesn't have the talent to become a great singer. i would gladly see her proving me wrong one day, but from what i see now, she has a long way to walk.

PS. i do take her serious as a singer, otherwise i wouldn't buy albums, with no videos, only music, but she's just not a good singer. look, i'm not saying she's the worst singer i've ever seen, but, there are alot of people who can do way better. too bad they're usually from the 80s and beginning 90s.

[gew-san]

I'm never really a good critic on these kind of things, but I'll just add my thoughts to the heap in hopes that I make sense.

I started listening to Ayu about the first quarter of 2003. I really enjoyed her Ballads album and a few songs from Rainbow. I also went back and listened to her older songs. It's noticible that her voice has gotten deeper throughout the years. A Song for XX album, in my opinion, was horrible, because she was singing too high. From that album you can a lot of cute poppish songs (Signal, From your letter *shivers*). But in 2003 you don't really hear those type of songs anymore, because I think that her songs changes style according to her voice. Songs like Because of You, Memorial Address, We Wish you get more of a rockish feeling than before, and her high tone is somewhat different from before. Sure, she still has cute songs like Angel's Songs and Greatful Days, but I guess it's kinda like a way of perserving that old Ayu for the people that still like it. I like to listen to those songs once in awhile. Sometimes listening to so much MA, No Way to Say, Because of You, the feeling gets kind of boring. Diversifying the genre keeps it more interesting.

Of course, I found her best songs to be in between, like M, Seasons, Fly High. I think that around that time she was finally beginning to find the right path for her singing. As I mentioned above, her style changes, the time when the song was released was best suited for her voice at that time. If you listen to her sing M and Fly High now, it's deeper than before. It shows how she is working on her voice and has passed the old stages. As you get older, you can't really go back and sing all the high songs like before. She can still sing all the old songs, but it'll just not be the same. Don't get me wrong, I still like all the live performanace of old songs that she sings, but it's just different. It's sort of like a different flavour of the song. As long as Ayu continues to sing, her voice will continue to change, and the genre of her songs will change with her voice. 2003 probably wasn't that pleasing to some people because the change was somewhat sudden.

Am I making sense? I feel like I'm talking to myself in a jumble of thoughts -_-;

[sxesven]

Originally posted by hiro
I've noticed that as a fan of Ayumi, I'm one of the only people in this forum who has dissaproved of her works. Especially the ones from the previous year.

I was just wondering, does anyone in this forum find her 2003 singles revolting? I dont like the direction her music is taking. I think it's becoming too sugary and ordinary (eg Voyage, forgiveness, greatful days....). I've been cringing at her voice ever since she switched to that way too nasally, cutesy singing style. Also, doesnt anyone think she sings way too high for her range? I've noticed there is usually a big difference in pitch when she sings live. Her voice sounds deeper and more resonant (see End Roll, Surreal, and M @ 2003 Stadium). But when she tries to sing in a higher pitch she sounds very awkward and way too nasal (see Boys and Girls and Trauma live).

I was wondering if i am truly alone in my thoughts about Ayumi. I know there are some people who think like me (Prismatic Tears and Chibina) but is there anyone else? I can never agree with the majority of people in this forum.

Well, I agree with you too, Hiro, mainly that is. 2003 was balls. Although I only just discovered her in that very year, everything new released was pretty much nothing special to my ears.

There's a majority of old songs which are very special to me, which are ultra Ayu to me and everything, but none of the songs released in 2003 have given me the special feeling older songs did give me, and I'm not talking about either just Duty songs or either just LOVEppears songs, no I mean alround. As if..., Fly High, Hanabi, Girlish, No More Words... and plenty more... those songs are just way beyond 'good' for me, they're ultra, they're brilliant, they still move me and will always keep doing that.

It's not that I find Memorial Address unbearable. It has some nice songs, like Hanabi Episode II [probably my 2003 favorite], Because of You, No Way To Say, and Memorial Address take 2 version itself. However, none of these songs really get to me, really move me, really give me this special feeling in my stomach... oh man, whenever I listen to As if... for example I am just moved and I got goosebumps all over, for real, but neither of the new songs give me goosebumps. Not in that way, that is. I mean, Greatful Days gives me serious goosebumps but for different reasons. I don't find Forgiveness so special either, and Ourselves is ok but I'm getting sick of all that poppy stuff, and Angel's Song... I'm just glad it's a cover song... it's bad. Ba-had. Baaaad.

On the vox, I don't know. Sometimes I hear something which... I dunno how to put this. You know, the new version of A Song For XX on A BALLADS... those vocals! Ayu with a deep mature voice. Memorial Address take 2 ver. has that kind of vocals too, and I'd love to hear more singing like that... But when I listen to, for example, Greatful Days... I just cringe. It's so bad. *shivers* But the vocals aren't the main thing I bother with, it's really just the songs in general... for example, i love July 1st altho it has bad 455 vocals too. Ayu just needs better music.

[Chrono]

that's the problem, i think. she already didn't have great voice, now the music is also getting worse

[sxesven]

I love her voice. i don't care if it's technically not perfect or whatever, I like the voice, and I KNOW she can do some mad singing, like she did in the songs I mentioned before. She has a great deep voice, but she barely uses it and that is one of the problems.

And she should get rid of BounceBack and get DAI back, and H/\L, and start writing herself again too.

[LX Ayu]

Hm... I disapprove of many of her works. Example, FORGIVENESS IN EVERY SENSE OF OH MY GOD!!

I think he fame is like up there but dying quite rapidly. Her climax was I Am..., from there on it went down and down a little up with Memorial Address only because people liked Memorial Address and Because of You. The reason is that she finally got some sense back and make some more rockish songs that people like.

Her live perfomances where her voice cracks. omg i'll never stop laughing at those. Hory sheet she owns when that happens. But yeah her voice isn't very strong at all. And her songs are almost monotoned. She rarely reaches stronger and higher pitches, ie; Mariah Carey, nor can she lower her pitches. It's just one pitch to shrill to one pitch to semi shrill.

Even with all this crap about her that I point out, she still owns because the remixes of like... Naturally(wippenberg) and We Wish(ramon zenker) owns. And I actually like her happier songs unlike lots of people just that NASAL kills the song D:.

Over all yes I am disappointed with her stuff (with exception to Rainbow hory sheet that song owns me) after I Am... eh... what are you gonna do right?

ps: HIRO GET AIM SO WE CAN TALK!! No me gusta la MSN.

[jiayulam]

Hey! I liked her 2003 release!!!! !!!!!! As for angle song, the song is ok but the mtv is sort of cutesy. To sum up, she is not past her prime and as for her 2003 release it is better than rainbow, the song, and her a song for xx album. Please bear in mind that she is not an opera singer.

I am beginning to doubt that if ayu entered american idol, she too will be criticized by simon & randy.

[hiro]

Originally posted by Chrono
yes, it was quite bad choice of words, i have to admit that. but you need no x-rays to know it, you can hear, whether someone got (..) or not.

And of course level will drop. problem is, level is already low when ayu starts the performance.

Have you seen DOME TOUR 2001?! That was a very good performance. Very consistent as well. The encore wasn't performed as well but i liked the way her voice sounded fuller for songs i didnt like that well (Duty, A song for XX, UNITE!). I guess all these 20-stop tours are taking a toll on her voice and she should just take one 8-stop tour.

[angela]

i found that her voice have changed so much.. >.< i still prefer her lastime voice... i really dun like her to sing live cos i feel that she is like screaming or shouting and i dun like that.. i prefer her to sing in the studio~

[PrismaticTears]

Originally posted by Chrono
yes, it was quite bad choice of words, i have to admit that. but you need no x-rays to know it, you can hear, whether someone got (..) or not.

i'm not able to translate (..) from chinese into english. (direct translation: throat bottom. someone knows the correct expression?)

Erm....depth? Range? Power? Support? Diaphragmic virtuosity and control?

[ayu_sia]

Ayu's voice is the greatest in Seasons,To Be.End Roll,I Am,Dearest,M,Ourselves.They are my love.

[ayu_sia]

In short,what i wanna say is,I still prefer Ayu's voice in 'Duty' album.'I am' is still ok,"rainbow' is ...not bad,'Memorial Address' is nothing special.
I wonder is there anyone else agree with me?

[Chrono]

Have you seen DOME TOUR 2001?! That was a very good performance. Very consistent as well. The encore wasn't performed as well but i liked the way her voice sounded fuller for songs i didnt like that well (Duty, A song for XX, UNITE!). I guess all these 20-stop tours are taking a toll on her voice and she should just take one 8-stop tour.

well, true, for ayu standards it was pretty good. i was surprised when i saw it. let's assume this is true: 20 stops are taking their toll, so ayu maybe can actually sing a little bit. i'm not argueing about that anymore, everyone values singing and vocals with different standards and norms. imo she can sing due to alot of hard work, but talent, no. (and you can hear the difference, i you listen well)

Erm....depth? Range? Power? Support? Diaphragmic virtuosity and control?

no, none of these. god, i hate english

[kournikova]

in my opinion i dont really connected to ayu's music in a song for xx... i loved ayu since LOVEppears... i think maybe in 2003 someof her song use her cute voice or anything.. maybe in my opinion thats not the way a 25 yrs old singer style... but i still like them because they have a deeper meaning.. i think she is trying to find her new voice.. lets see.. she sing beautifully in LOVE ~Destiny~... and she sing great in Free & Easy and in single between them i think she improved her skill and try to mix-up her style from Techno (Connected), Country (Endless Sorrow) etc... i think this is the kind of developing skill. IN 2003 we cant say that ayu isnt as succeed as before... What i most disappointed in her recent singles... she only included max. 7 songs since free & Easy... and most of them are re-release (Dearest SEASONS AOV)... I wnat the old style single one... like UNITE! Evolution... Much track and much release so it is really money-worthy... She uses her new style in Because of you, Memorial Address, and moments (in my opinion)... now she sing more mature and deeper... ^^