Kyle-x Posted October 12 Posted October 12 1 minute ago, Graves said: me cursing my parents for not giving birth to me in Japan in 1984 so I could've stanned through peak Ayu and the girls You & Me both 1
Graves Posted October 12 Author Posted October 12 1 minute ago, Kyle-x said: You & Me both The monkey paw granting my wish but turning me into a straight B'z stan instead. 3
Kyle-x Posted October 12 Posted October 12 I think when she performed this during CDL00-01 and CDL08-09 she was wearing leather, this song must bring the BDSM vibes for her 1
Graves Posted October 12 Author Posted October 12 28th Single Track #13 on RAINBOW HIGH SCORE: 10 x 7 (Kyle-x, Invisibility, blueberries, Maresia, Fevesy, sanzo, AvadaKedavra) LOW SCORE: 0 x 1 (Curaga) HOST SCORE: 6 It's hard being a signature Ayu ballad in this rate, they're just dropping like flies these days. Voyage, initially released as the final single from the RAINBOW album in September 2002, is one of Ayu's most enduring songs. In the same vain as SEASONS, it's a GP classic and stood the test of time where many of her other hit singles faded out. A big #1 hit for her back then and a beloved classic today. There's no arguing whether this is a signature song, it simply is. I guess while we're on Voyage we should discuss that movie too. You see, Voyage doesn't have a traditional music video per say, but rather a clip show from Ayu's little acting venture at the time: Tsuki ni Shizumu. A short film released around the same time as the single, it has Ayu in a starring role. She plays a girl haunted by nightmares of a past life - a woman sentenced to be sacrificed by a cult in Japan of the past. Voyage kind of gives you the cliffs-notes version, but there is a full 40 minute video out there for any Ayu super fans. I... might watch it with my friends on some boring Saturday night sometime, but only if there's booze and I can force them to watch her other PVs afterwards. Voyage is a classical sort of ballad. A music box intro is your first hint that she's pulling out all of the tropes for this one. Piano-lead, soaring choruses and a choir coming in at the very end? Oh, she wanted to make a ballad that would be paying her bills for years to come. And she succeeded! I like Voyage, but I always prefer her ballads when they're a little more subversive. A little less obvious, as it were. This song is great, no doubt, but I'd personally sooner listen to HANABI when we're talking RAINBOW ballads... Suilen: out of her three songs that won the record of the year (the other two being Dearest and No way to say), it's my least favorite, though I respect the fact the Japanese GP was willing to eat up any weird **** she put out during her reign. It's not bad, but it's not hitting the spots for me, either. Kyle-x: Girl the PV freaked me out the first time I watched it asjdsakl. This song is beautiful though and one of her best ballads. Deservedly one of her signature songs. Naturally, the classical version on A Classical eats but the "Acoustic Orchestra Version" is slightly better. Invisibility: By this point in her career we were needing a full on orchestra moment from Ayu, and she delivered! Absolutely in love with the introspective search for fulfillment in this one. Curaga: That music box at the very start makes me roll my eyes, but some of the instrumental parts are pretty. This melody is so corny to me, and this appears to be one of her most popular songs ever, so I have to sabotage xoxo. AMIT: the chorus is so wholesome, reminds me of her debut album which is a great thing of course. the strings are beautiful. 4/16 2
Graves Posted October 12 Author Posted October 12 Me every time y'all drag Curaga's scores, knowing that worse is coming. 3
Kyle-x Posted October 12 Posted October 12 1 minute ago, Graves said: LOW SCORE: 0 x 1 (Curaga) Now girl... 1
Invisibility Posted October 12 Posted October 12 The way the remaining Duty tracks are all top 20 material RAINBOW potential getting WIPED though
Kyle-x Posted October 12 Posted October 12 She promoted tf out of this back then but the Kouhaku performance is a slay for the big dress https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV13x411u7eG/
Kyle-x Posted October 12 Posted October 12 Just now, Invisibility said: RAINBOW potential getting WIPED though We have to blame Curaga 1
Graves Posted October 12 Author Posted October 12 4 minutes ago, Suilen said: Not my favorite but I can respect it Thanking your lucky stars that Curaga took the bullet meant for your also low score Me too. 1
Kyle-x Posted October 12 Posted October 12 When she did A BEST 2 promos she performed with SMAP and the result was... interesting... but the funeral chic look ate https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1c5411L7jC/
Graves Posted October 12 Author Posted October 12 (edited) 25th Single Track #9 on I am... 11 x 1: @Meloetta Carey HIGH SCORE: 10 x 4 (Kyle-x, UrMom, blueberries, AvadaKedavra) LOW SCORE: 4 x 1 (sanzo) HOST SCORE: 8.5 Though I have a lot of love for Daybreak, it's release strategy is a tad confounding to me. A post-album single is something of a rarity in a J-pop campaign, though Ayu had done a few before this, but to wait three whole months afterwards to launch the single? And then you're dropping the lead single to the next album just a month after that? A #2 peak for Daybreak is a damn good showing considering all of that, but perhaps Avex weren't so happy with that - this was Ayu's last post-album single for almost fifteen years. And also the last time Ayu would miss the #1 spot for a single for the rest of the decade, so I guess it worked? Daybreak comes in two forms: the rock-ier album cut and the trance-ified HAL's Mix from the single and video release. I'm not too concerned with picking a favorite mix from these as I find them both quite good. The single mix is more cathartic and desolate, matching up rather wonderfully to the bleak-yet-hopeful video treatment. The album mix has a lot of value to me too. I always viewed I am... as a weird sort of rock opera of an album, and Daybreak serves great purpose as the final track to Act I. It climatically closes the curtain on the pop-rock phase of the record and ushers in the second half's ballad suite. The fact that it ends on a forty second sweeping instrumental break only confirms as much for me. I believe Daybreak to be one of the songs Ayu wrote especially for the re-tooled version of I am, post 9/11. It has lyrics that call for people coming together despite their differences, reaching out to each other no matter how long the distances might be. Perhaps this symbolism is why she might have wanted it as a single, despite the shaky release strategy? I give her kudos for sticking with her guns if true, I am... is such a wonderful record and Daybreak is big part of why I like the sequencing so much. Kyle-x: This is a song I've only come to really love in recent years. Something about the arrangement put me off for a while but it clicked one day. I've always LOVED the "HAL's Mix 2002" though and the lyrics are quite lovely. This was the last single with an iconic line-up of remixes. The goth mummy cosplay in the video was a serve. Invisibility: A nice breather moment, although a bit of a puzzling single choice for this particular album. I've always appreciated how it's produced to sound like the instrumental is playing far away. It kind reminds me of New Year's, it has that closure vibe. Curaga: Hmmm, this one kinda reminds me of NEVER EVER in the chorus, but it's not anywhere near as irritating. The instrumental here is way better and the melody feels more modern. Meloetta Carey: I really love the structure of this one and the instrumentation just eats. Bad Decisions: HALS Mix did it's damn thing or else this would've been a cute 5.5. AMIT: I like the HΛL mix but I'm glad this version made it onto the album isntead since it fits so much better and it's the better version of the song imo. 8/16 Edited October 12 by Graves 3
Suilen Posted October 12 Posted October 12 1 minute ago, Graves said: Thanking your lucky stars that Curaga took the bullet meant for your also low score Me too. I'm not scared considering my score for a certain Love pears song
Britneyfan09 Posted October 12 Posted October 12 7 minutes ago, Bad Decisions said: Forgetful queen! Her reaction was so cute Fun fact - this is the first Ayu YouTube video I saw and it was this exact YouTube upload. Crazy how it's still up all these years later 5
Kyle-x Posted October 12 Posted October 12 2 minutes ago, Graves said: Curaga: Hmmm, this one kinda reminds me of NEVER EVER in the chorus, but it's not anywhere near as irritating. The instrumental here is way better and the melody feels more modern. The foreshadowing of the NEVER EVER sabotage that will be incoming from Cuaraga oh neauxxxxx 2
Suilen Posted October 12 Posted October 12 Not a big fan of this one but the HAL mix does bop. I am... remixed would slap as an album I guess.
Kyle-x Posted October 12 Posted October 12 I'm okay with this being out here, I can't see it being above many of the other songs remaining.
Meloetta Carey Posted October 12 Posted October 12 this performance really sold me on the song and it's been my fav Ayu song this year 3
Kyle-x Posted October 12 Posted October 12 It's kinda crazy how this song got like 3 different Panasonic CMs. I think it had the most CMs of any of her songs at the time. I guess they needed the extra promo since she didn't really do many performances of it 1
Graves Posted October 12 Author Posted October 12 7 minutes ago, Graves said: Invisibility: I've always appreciated how it's produced to sound like the instrumental is playing far away. Couldn't put it into words myself, but this Like, this record has TEXTURE and LORE to it.
Graves Posted October 12 Author Posted October 12 RECAP Hide contents 107. + - 5.079 106. Interlude - 5.294 105. For My Dear... - 5.529 104. taskinlude - 5.588 103. A Song is born - 5.629 102. WONDERLAND - 5.853 101. FRIEND - 5.859 100. Wishing - 5.888 99. Prologue - 5.912 98. Humming 7/4 - 6.134 97. Present - 6.197 96. FRIEND II - 6.332 95. starting over - 6.405 94. opening Run - 6.406 93. girlish - 6.435 92. taskinillusion - 6.441 91. Kaleidoscope - 6.547 90. from your letter - 6.582 89. Replace - 6.624 88. flower garden - 6.7 87. neverending dream - 6.718 86. everlasting dream - 6.741 85. Introduction - 6.75 84. teddy bear - 6.829 83. Close to you - 6.972 82. forgiveness - 7.014 81. As if... - 7.062 80. winding road - 7.106 79. SIGNAL - 7.115 78. P.S II - 7.194 77. Catcher In The Light - 7.24 76. UNITE! - 7.253 75. no more words - 7.271 74. Key ~eternal tie ver.~ - 7.282 73. theme of a-nation'03 - 7.312 72. YOU -7.318 71. everywhere nowhere - 7.371 70. Two of us - 7.384 69. independent - 7.435 68. POWDER SNOW - 7.456 67. Hana - 7.5 66. poker face - 7.503 65. HOPE or PAIN - 7.511 64. AUDIENCE - 7.529 63. Liar - 7.535 62. HAPPY ENDING - 7.549 61. Dolls - 7.589 60. 卒業写真 - 7.591 59. SEASONS - 7.735 58. SCAR - 7.8 57. Over - 7.821 56. Free & Easy - 7.841 55. still alone - 7.871 54. LOVE ~destiny~ - 7.882 53. HONEY - 7.888 52. Heartplace - 7.893 51. kanariya - 7.91 50. ANGEL'S SONG - 7.921 49. WE WISH - 7.947 48. ever free - 7.971 47. Trust - 7.976 46. HANABI ~episode II~ - 7.994 45. walking proud - 7.995 44. I am... - 8.065 43. End of the World - 8.071 42. Voyage - 8.076 41. Daybreak - 8.082 1 1
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