[News] Ayu to perform at Music Station 31 March

[Xianghua]

Originally Posted by kotora

At least people didn't ask "is she still alive?"

That would be truly depressing

[Andrenekoi]

^To be fair you can avaliate Ayu's vocal on a objective way if you take only technique and notes in consideration... But honestly I never met someone with vocal technique background that ever found her a good singer at any point on her career, even among those who actually liked her music. She was consistently bad at singing from the begining even if she was bad on different ways at different moments.

But I do guess most people around here are basing their opinion on her singing on subjective points, so I kinda agree with you.

(TBH if someome was that worried about how people sing, they most likely shouldn't be listening to jpop)

ps. It's not like I was ever that found of Ayu on tv anyway... Save from the Music Fair she sang covers, the Virgin Road at kouhaku and some Ayuready here and there, she always feels restrained, cold and lacking personality when singing on TV for me. A far cry from the monster performer she shows to be on her own stage.

[melissalove]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

(TBH if someome was that worried about how people sing, they most likely shouldn't be listening to jpop)

Generalizing at its best!

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by melissalove

Generalizing at its best!

Point me 10 top pop vocalists who were relevant (and actually relevant, not one-hit wonders or people that western otakus love but japanese people don't care about) on the past 10 years...

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Point me 10 top pop vocalists who were relevant (and actually relevant, not one-hit wonders or people that western otakus love but japanese people don't care about) on the past 10 years...

Honestly, only one great one comes to mind for me and that is Superfly; everytime I went to karaoke over there, someone would bust out a Superfly song and in general everyone seems to have a good opinion of her, and she is a fantastic vocalist.

[a❤martian]

I suppose pitch, notes, etc can be measured, but even then whose to say that singing certain songs out of pitch sounds terrible? I'm sure there is at least one person who would say Ayu sounded good no matter what. I could even see some vocal coaches having a discussion and debate over her singing.

Like, even when Mariah Carey wasn't tragic I knew people who didn't like her voice. "Too mainstream". Then they would say that the girls from AKB sounded amazing. And I can appreciate that. I've always liked JPop for the interesting vocalists it produces.

[Andrenekoi]

^Its most likely were the TV stations... Ayu's lastest 2 cdls and tour can be watched on youtube for months now and nothing was done

[rikku1994]

Man... Ya'll are acting like it's the end of the world and some of ya'll are getting on each others nerves. A little criticism is never too bad, but everyone here manages to over analyze a bad performance and post a college essay on how bad she was and denounce fans who liked it.

Like smoke a cigarette, get some d*ck or light up some scented candles. Jesus christ...

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by rikku1994

Man... Ya'll are acting like it's the end of the world and some of ya'll are getting on each others nerves. A little criticism is never too bad, but everyone here manages to over analyze a bad performance and post a college essay on how bad she was and denounce fans who liked it.

Like smoke a cigarette, get some d*ck or light up some scented candles. Jesus christ...

[truehappiness]

She does have a pretty large fanbase though that still pays attention to her and probably will for as long as they can. However, she is not getting that many new fans which is what a lot of people are saying as 'she won't get Japan back'.

[pedronekoi]

I'm pretty sure she is aware that her career and music is only appreciated by her old fans nowadays. Her sound and image are far from youth's taste. And that's okay. The main issue is that her old fans are so nostalgic with her career that they have the need to compare her actual work to her golden era (fame-wise and voice-wise) all the time. That time will never come back, Japan was another country, the internet was still growing, Ayu was a different person, etc etc. So everytime people complains about her being not famous anymore, not beng respected as an artist anymore, being a joke and stuff like that is the same discussion about what could she do to change that. Honestly, she can't do a thing about it (and I'm sure she's not willing to do that). Japan won't love her again, she won't have a peak out of nowhere, that's the truth. As long as the fans keep supporting her, she won't be over...

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by pedronekoi

I'm pretty sure she is aware that her career and music is only appreciated by her old fans nowadays. Her sound and image are far from youth's taste. And that's okay. The main issue is that her old fans are so nostalgic with her career that they have the need to compare her actual work to her golden era (fame-wise and voice-wise) all the time. That time will never come back, Japan was another country, the internet was still growing, Ayu was a different person, etc etc. So everytime people complains about her being not famous anymore, not beng respected as an artist anymore, being a joke and stuff like that is the same discussion about what could she do to change that. Honestly, she can't do a thing about it (and I'm sure she's not willing to do that). Japan won't love her again, she won't have a peak out of nowhere, that's the truth. As long as the fans keep supporting her, she won't be over...

The thing is, if people are actually taking their time to bash her every single move, she still is pretty famous (not comparing the them as artists, but think Sandy or Madonna for an international referece, whose recent releases all tanked but still have pretty much a megastar recognization)

About being respected as an artist, this is relative. Other artists seens to respect her as a musician and icon, legends like Yoshiki watch her tours, newer acts take her (sometimes way too much) as an inspiration and some of her recent movie tie-ins were all based on her status as an artist...

Her back catalogue still puts her among the most downloaded acts in Japan when she is about to celebrate her 20th anni and her lastest real hit is over 10 years old, she still sells out larger tours than people who peaked after her (even some "queen of live").

Even if her numbers aren't as impressive as they once were, they are still pretty impressive for someone on her position. That's why she isn't losing her sleep over the haters.

She is a polarizing figure and an aging popstar, one of those most likely everyone will become the biggest fan ever overnight once she dies (what I hope only happens in 200 years from now)

[oaristos]

I think the biggest problem is that Ayu seems to be very comfortable right now. She's the richest Japanese artist, the best-selling female solo artist of all time, and is already a legend in the industry. Sometimes I feel like she's very aware of that and that's why she doesn't feel the need to create anything new.

All of her recent released have been rushed, songs being written and recorded in only a couple days, all of her videos being single-shot (this is not an aesthetic decision anymore, it's just lazy). Every single song sounds like something she could have done at any time in her career, every single picture simply shows "Ayumi Hamasaki being pretty in a cute dress while standing in front of a pastel-coloured background."

I miss when her albums used to deliver a message, or at least show a new side of her. I know it's impossible to always inovate, but everything she does nowadays is just too safe. Nothing changes, absolutely nothing. It saddens me to say that her last "unique" release was Party Queen. I hated the album but I appreciate the album lyric-wise and the attempt to try new genres. She complained her entire life for being "a product," but now that she apparently can be herself... it's just not interesting.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by oaristos

I think the biggest problem is that Ayu seems to be very comfortable right now. She's the richest Japanese artist, the best-selling female solo artist of all time, and is already a legend in the industry. Sometimes I feel like she's very aware of that and that's why she doesn't feel the need to create anything new.

All of her recent released have been rushed, songs being written and recorded in only a couple days, all of her videos being single-shot (this is not an aesthetic decision anymore, it's just lazy). Every single song sounds like something she could have done at any time in her career, every single picture simply shows "Ayumi Hamasaki being pretty in a cute dress while standing in front of a pastel-coloured background."

I miss when her albums used to deliver a message, or at least show a new side of her. I know it's impossible to always inovate, but everything she does nowadays is just too safe. Nothing changes, absolutely nothing. It saddens me to say that her last "unique" release was Party Queen. I hated the album but I appreciate the album lyric-wise and the attempt to try new genres. She complained her entire life for being "a product," but now that she apparently can be herself... it's just not interesting.

IMO her lyrics are sharp as ever, I actually can even relate to what she writes better nowadays than I do with her older lyrics, probably because at 29 I relate more with the adult Ayu issues than I do with the teen Ayu conflicts.

Colours and A One didn't had tight concepts like her other albums, but Colours showed she going a new direction for her (and mostly exceling on it IMO) while A One showed safe but extremely well crafted ballads. Made in Japan showed her feelings towards her homeland and another tight concept, and it's not her fault if western fandom expected sushi and ninja because it was based in Japan.

The last two tours had great concepts, depth, great amount of storytelling and comentary about her image (cdm) and the society she lives in (mij).

I don't get why people complain so much about that considering her tours from 2003 to 2009 were pretty much flashy for the sake of being flashy and her albuns from My Story to Rock n Roll Circus had poorly executed concepts and were constructed around summer and winter singles. Also, her fandom it's way more conservative than it likes to think it is, and everytime she really tried to shake things up she was shitted on by her fans...

[Party_King]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

IMO her lyrics are sharp as ever, I actually can even relate to what she writes better nowadays than I do with her older lyrics, probably because at 29 I relate more with the adult Ayu issues than I do with the teen Ayu conflicts.

Colours and A One didn't had tight concepts like her other albums, but Colours showed she going a new direction for her (and mostly exceling on it IMO) while A One showed safe but extremely well crafted ballads. Made in Japan showed her feelings towards her homeland and another tight concept, and it's not her fault if western fandom expected sushi and ninja because it was based in Japan.

The last two tours had great concepts, depth, great amount of storytelling and comentary about her image (cdm) and the society she lives in (mij).

I don't get why people complain so much about that considering her tours from 2003 to 2009 were pretty much flashy for the sake of being flashy and her albuns from My Story to Rock n Roll Circus had poorly executed concepts and were constructed around summer and winter singles. Also, her fandom it's way more conservative than it likes to think it is, and everytime she really tried to shake things up she was shitted on by her fans...

This. In every single sentence.

[oaristos]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

IMO her lyrics are sharp as ever, I actually can even relate to what she writes better nowadays than I do with her older lyrics, probably because at 29 I relate more with the adult Ayu issues than I do with the teen Ayu conflicts.

Colours and A One didn't had tight concepts like her other albums, but Colours showed she going a new direction for her (and mostly exceling on it IMO) while A One showed safe but extremely well crafted ballads. Made in Japan showed her feelings towards her homeland and another tight concept, and it's not her fault if western fandom expected sushi and ninja because it was based in Japan.

The last two tours had great concepts, depth, great amount of storytelling and comentary about her image (cdm) and the society she lives in (mij).

I don't get why people complain so much about that considering her tours from 2003 to 2009 were pretty much flashy for the sake of being flashy and her albuns from My Story to Rock n Roll Circus had poorly executed concepts and were constructed around summer and winter singles. Also, her fandom it's way more conservative than it likes to think it is, and everytime she really tried to shake things up she was shitted on by her fans...

I do think her lyrics are still really good, but sonically her songs are just not as well-crafted, at least in my opinion.

Also, it's easy to say that an album has a "tight concept" but what really matters is how the artist delivers it. Ayumi can say what she intended to say with an album, but if the delivery is poor her intentions don't really matter.

I completely understand your point, I just can't really share the same opinion on her most recent releases.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by oaristos

I do think her lyrics are still really good, but sonically her songs are just not as well-crafted, at least in my opinion.

Also, it's easy to say that an album has a "tight concept" but what really matters is how the artist delivers it. Ayumi can say what she intended to say with an album, but if the delivery is poor her intentions don't really matter.

I completely understand your point, I just can't really share the same opinion on her most recent releases.

I don't think any of her most conceptual albums actually needed explaining to get... People are just obsessed with having concepts spoon fed to them and don't really take time to listen/watch/see stuff and try understanding it on their own. IMO Ayu is at her most interesting when she is not being obvious like naming an album "Made in Japan" and wearing a designer kimono or something. But I guess this is also why people tend to praise the albums more as they age

[JinHamasaki]

Originally Posted by oaristos

All of her recent released have been rushed, songs being written and recorded in only a couple days, all of her videos being single-shot (this is not an aesthetic decision anymore, it's just lazy). Every single song sounds like something she could have done at any time in her career, every single picture simply shows "Ayumi Hamasaki being pretty in a cute dress while standing in front of a pastel-coloured background."

Unfortunately, the industry has changed to the point where CD+DVD do not sell in volumes anymore. I don't think it's Ayu's fault, as I have not seen ANY visually impressive PVs across any J-pop artists nowadays. There's no money in PV making, and so they pulled back on those investments. People aren't buying albums as much, so booklets also suffer. Since Ayu is such a visual artist, a lot of those arts are now lost due to industry changes

[relmy]

Has Ayu really ever had a concept album though? Her albums have themes, or ideas, but it's not like she's ever dropped a Hounds of Love on us.

It's not a bad thing either for an album to just have an idea or theme, or just be a collection of songs. Concept album gets thrown around a lot, but a concept album can still be bad.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by relmy

Has Ayu really ever had a concept album though? Her albums have themes, or ideas, but it's not like she's ever dropped a Hounds of Love on us.

It's not a bad thing either for an album to just have an idea or theme, or just be a collection of songs. Concept album gets thrown around a lot, but a concept album can still be bad.

As mentioned, Party Queen does tell a story lyrically from start to finish just about. Sonically I consider LOVEappears and Rainbow to be concept albums as well.