What is the cure?

[Zeke.]

^ I enjoyed your take and appreciate the long post. However, I dislike when artists are bashed because they aren't 'deep' enough. Sure, it's nice to see a deep artist, with a visionary properly expressed - but what is it if the music does not sound good? Sometimes you just want something that SOUNDS great, regardless of if it's mindless, if you can't understand it, etc.

[Minttulatte]

I think I have said it before but I'll say it again. Timmy is one of the best things that has happened for Ayu's music in years. Now I just wish CREA could make a comeback as well at least for one song. I don't mind if it was a piano driven love song, it would be nice if CREA was back someday. I never lose my optimism regarding this fact.

She also needs to start releasing singles again. I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since the last one. I also hope for more TV performances and all that. I'm starting to lose my interest in her again, sadly. :/

And her lyrics... Well, she does has these repetitive lyrics in some songs, but not all of them. But even though I find myself enjoying her music these days (hell, I'm one of those few who love Party Queen! XD) her themes are almost always the same. It's been like that since GUILTY I believe but I didn't really care about it first, because I thought that on new album she'll have lots of new stuff to write about but ended up being disappointed. She seems to use same themes but different words to express herself. But at the same time I just don't care what kind of songs she writes as long as she's personally happy with them. But I do think that albums with a story (like Party Queen) are amazing and she should release more albums like that. Not in same style but so that they have a concept and songs are in a order that tells a story.

What's with her fascination with gyaru fashion these days btw? I have nothing against it (anymore hehe) but I think that she hasn't used this style this much before. I'm kinda over it for now. I want a new fashion style already but I guess I gotta wait until the next album. XD

//Sorry if this message is confusing. I'm just so ****ing tired at the moment. It's 2:10AM in Finland after all

[Andrenekoi]

Not to bash Namie or anything, but I don't find most of her PVs to be memorable at all... usually it's just her wearing a variation of her iconic outfit dancing in front of a car or something like that... And the most I like Namie's music, I don't find it to be specially creative or different for the most of her career... I would say most of her releases are entirelly on the safe side.

@isthisLOL The good thing about the generation rebeling, is that the next will will rediscover everything the past one ignored... And there's a chance Ayu is among the rediscovered stuff.

[Rocky Raven]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Not to bash Namie or anything, but I don't find most of her PVs to be memorable at all... usually it's just her wearing a variation of her iconic outfit dancing in front of a car or something like that... And the most I like Namie's music, I don't find it to be specially creative or different for the most of her career... I would say most of her releases are entirelly on the safe side.

@isthisLOL The good thing about the generation rebeling, is that the next will will rediscover everything the past one ignored... And there's a chance Ayu is among the rediscovered stuff.

^ For me that's certainly why Namie is getting herself back again.
She has an IMAGE that ppl can always rememeber when they talk about.
Who's Namie? "The singer who has never put off her boots and danced all the time since 1992. Oh she's still around? That's cool lemme check her out!"

I was a big big big Ayumi fan when I first started listening to Jpop, not gonna lie, I came to Jpop kingdom thanks to CONAN OSTs & Ayumi's music.
Songs like Depend on You & Carols are and will forever be masterpieces.

Then one day I started listening to Namie just because I find my personal style are changing more into Urban/R&B Influenced Pop sound and MOSTLY, less dramatic PV style (a girl loves a boy, the boy lefts, the girl cries, everything goes on.)

I hope Ayu will realize just one simple thing, LESS is MORE.
She changed so much, so so much from a unique Jpop trump card to become someone who i can never identify.
Who's Ayumi? What should I tell to a friend when they ask me that? =)

Also, I miss her soft beautiful voice on WILL or Secret, those 2 songs beat the whole horrible Party Queen imo. I really miss those sound from her.

[SURREAL__RAINBOW]

Originally Posted by Rocky Raven

I hope Ayu will realize just one simple thing, LESS is MORE.
She changed so much, so so much from a unique Jpop trump card to become someone who i can never identify.
Who's Ayumi? What should I tell to a friend when they ask me that?

She's always been changing and that's one of the reasons why I love her. Who's ayumi? A very versatile Japanese artist who is always trying new things and taking risks, following her heart and doing what makes her happy.

She's unique and she's always been unique, and she will always be. Even if you look back, she turned into a complete different person if we compare her in evolution and then her looks and music in (miss)understood. Both albums are totally opposites but it's still the same artist, and that's incredible and amazing.

If people can't identify with her anymore, fine, I really don't mind. But at the same time, people love ayu. I've met so many Japanese people and they all know who she is and can name many of her songs.

I'm happy for namie and her second peak but it isn't going to last, sadly. Same goes for all the very popular singers and groups out there. Although it seems to be that the solo female singers are the ones suffering the most nowadays. Hopefully we'll get another wave of solo artists and people can forget about the groups for a bit


EDIT: Also, namie's peak is been quite long, but ayu's been topping the charts ever since she started This year and last year have been lacking of something, and that is SINGLES. I guess we just wait until she releases a new single and tops the charts again, hopefully

[isthisLOL?]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

@isthisLOL The good thing about the generation rebeling, is that the next will will rediscover everything the past one ignored... And there's a chance Ayu is among the rediscovered stuff.

True, but it's probably at least 5 years til then.

Still, I hope for her to just continue the route she is taking right now, that is: "**** sales, I'll do what I want to do" instead of going back to ASfXX - I am... days just because it sold well - and that would probably be the type of Ayu rediscovered, not the one she is now. More Party Queen(as in experimentation and diversity -> artistic evolution), less I am...(as in generic J-Pop -> staying in the same place or even going back) please!

Artists evolve, fans are left behind, it's natural.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by isthisLOL?

True, but it's probably at least 5 years til then.

Well... smart popstars take this time to experiement with their work... Actually, I would like to see Ayu trying some stuff out of the music market just for fun.

And if people rediscover Ayu, they will start from her peak, but they will go after whatever she did between the peak and the rediscover... ^^

[lumieregrl]

I don't know myself. I haven't been crazy about her releases since Love Songs (which was gorgeous and still my favorite). I like maybe a couple songs from each of the releases since then...Maybe she needs a break to refresh and come up with something new.

[ExodusUK]

Be more visible, present and active. If she's not touring, she's half way across the world. I wish she would take a year out from touring and concentrate on her career as a recording artist like four or five singles in a year properly promoted or something.

[ayu_ready?]

I want her to get conceptual. if you know what I mean. be the class, cool, artsy, minimalistic at visuals and really deep-into making absolutely new music

[waterballoon]

huh really, people don't think she's releasing generic music these days?

Party queen... um half of its 4 promotional tracks are the current trendy dance music (NaNaNa, Shake It ), the title track is another dance track.

Also You & Me is generic as hell sorry, I love it but i can't deny that it's a generic song, though u could argue it's a seasonal song so all right fine.

but i don't think this lady has ever anchored herself into any style/trend for long; every album is something different... some differences may not be too obvious or may be similar to another album but each album is distinct. this is why I love ayumi hamasaki.

and she may not be #1 now and she may make dumb (imo) decisions very often now but imo she hasn't exactly lost her magic. i still like Namie Amuro and Kuu a lot but they never really shift styles as quickly as transiently as Ayu.

i don't think a cure is needed; Ayu never was popular forever - her peak lasted around the same time as many singers; ASFxx to LOVEppears was a build up, and her peak was from Duty to I am... and really escalated during the RAINBOW era, and we know by Memorial address she's already declining in sales. so yes imo she has always been as she is. it's just that fans move on, and it's silly for her to try too hard to "win" them back, if it means losing "ayumi hamasaki - the product". cos that's a gem in J-Pop.

[Mimichild]

I agree with most of this thread but I think the problem most people don't realize is that Ayu doesn't have anything to prove anymore. In a way she reminds me of Mary J. Blige because earlier in her career, her music was filled with alot of pain. Now she's overcome those demons and most people don't like that she's singing about different things. With Ayu, if you would look back at her earlier career her music was mostly angsty and feel with alot of self-disappointment. Her (in-depth) interviews were serious and she constantly felt that she had to fight with her inner demons to finally accept herself and the iconic,flawless music she created was the outlet.

However, she's older now! She doesn't have much inner pain (to the fans knowledge) and is able to overcome obstacles quicker than she used to (going deaf, losing a friend, divorce) compared to back then. Also, like many of you said, she's at that point that she wants to experiment with music just for fun, and there's nothing wrong with that. Actually I'm one of the few that is IN LOVE with PQ, FIVE, NEXT LEVEL, Love Songs, and You & Me. I think it sounds better than anything from My Story, Secret, and to some extent m(u) & Guilty but that's my opinion.

And one last thing. I honestly don't believe her music went downhill, it's just so many people have outrageously high standards for her. I swear it's like they want a beautiful ballad and get a song like Virgin Road, Return Road, and HBYA and gets the response "It's no Seasons! It'll never be as good as HANABI!! Grr-grr!" Also, I remember so many people wanted a catchy dance song and we got NaNaNa, Shake It and got the response "It's medicore! We hate Timmy!" and FINALLY people wanted something experimental and we got the POWERFUL Brilliante, Tell Me Why, the NEXT love, and Eyes, Smoke, Magic was once again people weren't sastified....seriously what do you want from her?? A recycled version of M & evolution so others can complain about it?

Finally about the Namie and Kuu-chan situation. I agree with someone said about their earlier albums. Personally I don't like Namie's albums (as a whole) up until STYLE. I found them to be very forgettable and her voice didn't sound nearly as cool as it does now. And for Kuu-chan, the only albums I can highly consider ALBUMS are Kingdom, JAPONESQUE, and to some extent feel my mind. So of course nobody is gonna complain about these two is because they never really set the bar that high in terms of music. Now Utada...I can't complain about this woman...she's just a genius lol

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by Mimichild

and FINALLY people wanted something experimental and we got the POWERFUL Brilliante, Tell Me Why

To my knowledge basically the entire forum worshiped these songs when they were released and still speak highly of them, overall... Of course people aren't going to be satisfied when one or two good songs out of 15 a year are released...

Although, I do wonder where people expected Ayu to be today? I don't really know what I expected, I guess I expected her to just keep getting better and better... I remember thinking around Memorial address, MY STORY, (miss)understood "I really don't see her ending up like Seiko. There is no way that is possible with the type of music this woman releases! It's so good!" and now the painful reality is starting to set in...

[Andrenekoi]

^You can absorb the trends without making something generic with them... You & Me is as generic as her seasonal singles can be... But Nanana and Shake It have way too much rock influence to be generic dance tracks... They simply couldn't be released by somebody else.

[isthisLOL?]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

^You can absorb the trends without making something generic with them... You & Me is as generic as her seasonal singles can be... But Nanana and Shake It have way too much rock influence to be generic dance tracks... They simply couldn't be released by somebody else.

This. There's also irony and sarcasm(more and less subtle) thoughout the entire "dance section" of Party Queen and every one of those songs has vastly different influences, making them far from generic.
Compare that to most of the new tracks on Uncontrolled and you know what generic is. And no, I am not saying Uncontrolled is bad, I really like the album, it's just as generic as generic comes, especially the tracks released this year, and nicely show that Ayumi is really not being generic.

[ExodusUK]

I don't care if she flops as long as she doesn't have to be basic like Namie has ever since PLAY.

[Ayuminaj]

Ok, I don't care if Ayu sells not as well as before but it's still interesting to read you guys and I found something interesting !

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_ja...AJ201208100045

This interesting and precise article gives its own simple explanation why Ayu sells less than Miliyah Kato, Kana Nishino and all of them sell less than AKB48 (all these artists are quoted in the article) : lyrics.

Basically it says people (only "gals" in the article) don't want to listen to sad and complicated songs anymore. I think someone said something about that here.

However I don't like how the article only focuses on gals, way too precisely, and easily links them to Ayu's success. While I'm not sure we can clearly know what a "gal" is.

Of course we don't want Ayu to do something she doesn't feel just to raise sales, and change her lyrics-style is really a tough thing.
Maybe bring a new music-style can do something and start a new trend which will make people listen to complicated lyrics again. If we believe this article, doing like Namie or anybody else won't work. Because Ayu's lyrics won't change.

Anyway sales are not important, what matters is Ayu doing music i like.

[Bigtop]

Originally Posted by Ayuminaj

Ok, I don't care if Ayu sells not as well as before but it's still interesting to read you guys and I found something interesting !

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_ja...AJ201208100045

This interesting and precise article gives its own simple explanation why Ayu sells less than Miliyah Kato, Kana Nishino and all of them sell less than AKB48 (all these artists are quoted in the article) : lyrics.

Basically it says people (only "gals" in the article) don't want to listen to sad and complicated songs anymore. I think someone said something about that here.

However I don't like how the article only focuses on gals, way too precisely, and easily links them to Ayu's success. While I'm not sure we can clearly know what a "gal" is.

Of course we don't want Ayu to do something she doesn't feel just to raise sales, and change her lyrics-style is really a tough thing.
Maybe bring a new music-style can do something and start a new trend which will make people listen to complicated lyrics again. If we believe this article, doing like Namie or anybody else won't work. Because Ayu's lyrics won't change.

Anyway sales are not important, what matters is Ayu doing music i like.

Well, this is pretty interesting... I really have to wonder what high schoolers today have in mind in regards to what songs they listen to...

[ayu_ready?]

I honestly expected her to be happily married with Nagase a while ago. LOLz. I mean when for me she was on her peak. I really did think what it would be in future for Ayu. but after 2007 I think I just stopped to care about it that much

some time I thought at 30+ she'd be happily married, maybe have children, and keep releasing some sweet good ballads from time to time. I also thought she'd be having some show or anything just to keep earning money

[letter]

^I'm not saying Ayu lacks depth per se. Merely that what I once witnessed, recently has been given to us in deficient quantities, and I'm confused as to whether it's deliberate or natural.