Graves Posted October 13 Author Posted October 13 1 minute ago, Suilen said: She kinda has all the ingredients for the success: iconic, a no. 1 million seller, gay-friendly... But maybe you need more than that. But not the crucial Suilen vote, I fear. Her fate was sealed from the start. 1 1
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 And her first Kouhaku performance, mama a legend was born https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15p411d7gr/ 1
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 56 minutes ago, Graves said: 27th Single「H」 Track #10 on RAINBOW 11 x 1: @AvadaKedavra HIGH SCORE: 10 x 6 (Graves, Kyle-x, Invisibility, UrMom, Meloetta Carey, blueberries) LOW SCORE: 5 x 2 (Fevesy, Katamari) HOST SCORE: 10 When I think of the single most confusing result of the rate, it's this one. A song I had expected to be sitting pretty in the top ten, representing RAINBOW with pride... lavished by affection and considered as one of her all-time greatest tracks (rightfully so). Instead it's found languishing at the bottom of the top forty, getting mediocre score after mediocre score. Why, girls? July 1st is the PERFECT Ayu summer bop. I don't say that lightly with as much affection as I have for Greatful days or fairyland, but no others hold a candle to the originator. Putting her pop sensibilities to the ultimate test - July 1st matches smooth-sailing verses to an energetic chorus with aplomb. The gentle guitar strumming that picks up pace and turns into a full-blown jam session. The weird and wonderful record scratches that echo throughout. The quiet synth droning of the introduction that ties it so wonderfully to the other RAINBOW songs. This is a PERFECT song. You can say what you want about Ayu overusing her "la la la" choruses, but this is one that is totally earned. She's not being lazy and neglecting a full chorus - this song HAS a chorus. She's showing the sheer joy of the music, so lost in feeling that she's unable to string any words together anymore. Riding the melody over the final chorus. A joyous four minute package and I would not change a THING about it. There is a reason she spent so many years trying to recreate this song. Suilen: I find songs named after days/months kinda tacky unless your name is Kelis. Kyle-x: So there's this summer CLASSIC. Oh how I love this song. Invisibility: When I think of her ultimate, most fulfilling summer single, it's this. Bright, nostalgic, bombastic, and with iconic guitar licks. Meloetta Carey: July 1st - Happy End of Pride Mix when? 3/16 This is NASTY WORK AGAIN.... the classics are UNDER ATTACK!!!!
Graves Posted October 13 Author Posted October 13 27th Single「H」 Track #7 on RAINBOW HIGH SCORE: 10 x 7 (Kyle-x, SA*KURA, Invisibility, UrMom, blueberries, sanzo, confide in me) LOW SCORE: 2.5 x 1 (Curaga) HOST SCORE: 8 Initially released in July 2002, HANABI first hit airwaves as the closing track of the H EP. Ayu herself said that she wanted the EP to feel like a Summer's journey that ended in sadness. I think it's safe to say she succeeded there, right? This is definitely a downer ending after the high flying of the preceding tracks. An ode to a lost love, I give her credit for really selling the sadness in her delivery here. The way her voice wavers over some of those final choruses? A method actress for sure. For the most part, HANABI is a simple ballad sang atop a looped music box melody, but Avex were eager to point out the UK trip-hop influence at play too. And you know what? I hear it! The added flair during the song's choruses goes a long way to making it more unique and interesting. It's sort of similar to some of the ballads on LOVEppears, how they would add dance and trance elements to them. I think it works just as well here, and makes this my ballad of choice when it comes to RAINBOW. HANABI didn't get a video, but it does have the honor of being her final million-seller single! The H EP was, in addition to another number one hit, the best-selling single release of 2002 in Japan. This was Ayu's only time topping a year-end chart too! An unexpected factoid? Perhaps. Ayu did retain a lot of her physical-selling prowess with singles at a time when other J-divas were starting to lose theirs. Kyle-x: She's singing with such emotion here, I adore this song. The "electrical Bossa mix" is a cool take on it. Invisibility: I always go back to the way she emotes and powers through the beautiful instrumental and music box. Curaga: So boring... Glad she stepped it up in episode II! 2/16 1
Graves Posted October 13 Author Posted October 13 RAINBOW losing all of her singles, and putting one singular song into the top thirty. She had once chance...
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 I love Real me as much as any alienfucker but she is not even in the top 5 best songs on RAINBOW
Suilen Posted October 13 Posted October 13 Not this... She put her whole experimentussy into this. 1 minute ago, Graves said: Curaga: So boring... Glad she stepped it up in episode II! ... 1
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 49 minutes ago, Graves said: Track #4 on MY STORY HIGH SCORE: 10 x 5 (Suilen, Kyle-x, blueberries, AMIT, Fevesy) LOW SCORE: 4.2 x 1 (Curaga) HOST SCORE: 9 Come on, feminist anthem! Obviously me as a man trying to address a song like this is going to be imperfect, but let me try. I don't doubt that all of the J-divas are true feminist icons, they show it every time they share their art with us. Powerful and confident women who can entertain, amuse, make us feel deeply. To be on the sort of platform that Ayu was at the time was surely a dizzying height to look down from. That is, if she even had the time between recording albums, music videos, TV episodes, touring, photoshoots... What I mean to say is Ayu and the divas worked like dogs during this era. Providing a wealth of content and endless memories for so many, and all while dealing with sexist attitudes from inside and outside of the industry. It can't be an easy thing to experience, especially for a young woman. As a whole, MY STORY is a record personal to Ayumi's experiences and struggles, and the stuff she's had to put up with to take her career this far. my name's WOMEN is one of the times when Ayu, instead of looking inward, decides to turn her frustrations outward and channel them into a rallying cry for women everywhere. Not just for a woman at the top of the industry, but for all of the office ladies, wait staff, housewives... anybody who's been underestimated or looked down upon because of their womanhood. Japan's culture is still very conservative in many ways today, and twenty years ago? Honestly I think this might be one of her most brazen tracks of all. To pen an entire feminist tune as a full-blown popstar, no longer content to be controlled in the same manner as an idol singer... it deserves points for that alone. Oh, and the song? It bops. One of those songs that is just hooks on top of hooks, a melodic explosion that never lets the pace slow too much. I love her delivery and the very unyielding percussion throughout, really fits with the declarative nature of the song! The factoid that everybody probably scratches their head at, however, is the video budget. Right there on the Wikipedia page for "most expensive music videos". An Ayumi Hamasaki album track. Not even a single. And not even made for the MY STORY DVD! This was included on the STEP you DVD a few months later, a whole different album era. What an odd choice. I guess it does show the kind of power she had back then, able to score such a budget for a song that was tucked away as track #17 on a DVD single release. Damn. The video's pretty but she has better. Nnn I can't say I see where all of the budget went. Suilen: I also have multiple people, including women, inside me. Kyle-x: MOTHER. The PV eats down and the song is incredible. Invisibility: Ayu incursioning into New Jack Swing vibes should be so random but it works really well! Plus, you can't have her at the helm of a woman anthem and make it not bop. Curaga: Love the intro, but this one loses me after that... The chorus is sooo stiff. Love the lyrics, of course. Meloetta Carey: Her showgirl moment. This was also my first Ayu song and my first J-diva song. Thank you List of Most Expensive Music Videos Wikipedia page---crazy that Avex gave her so much money for CD+DVD singles. Bad Decisions: loved it at the time but sounds dated now. AMIT: sooo catchy in the best way, one of her best songs period. 5/17 ATRL not feminists confirmed? She always brings the drama when doing this 1
Suilen Posted October 13 Posted October 13 Real me is good, but yeah, not exactly the last song standing material, and it's probably missing top 20.
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 28 minutes ago, Graves said: 15th Single Track #6 on Duty HIGH SCORE: 10 x 5 (Kyle-x, Curaga, blueberries, AMIT, Katamari) LOW SCORE: 4 x 1 (Fevesy) HOST SCORE: 8.5 Duty is not my favorite Ayu album, but respect has to be given for just how... off the walls this album can be. This song is insane. I mean, that looped vocal track is something else. What other pop girl singles sound anything like this?? The opening tones sound like the on-hold music for an internet helpline, while the ending sounds like a riff session at the rock concert sound check. The fact that not only is she taking these weird-ass risks, but also that she's pulling them off really well? All in one song? Far away isn't even one of my Duty favorites, but I find it impossible to not at least respect the hell outta this song. Oh, and this was a single too. Like, this was the kind of material she was putting out to sell her albums! It peaked at a respectable #2 and sold over 500,000 copies. It hasn't remained as much of a live staple as the other Duty singles, but I think if anything that sort of adds to the weird mystique with this song. The video... is okay. I respect the longform Duty film more than I really like it. It is camp though. Ayu dancing around the wasteland in her little bucket hat. You go, girl. Kyle-x: She was getting experimental here and it works, plus the lyrics are really emo so I have to stan. The PV is a bit trippy. The "HAL's MIX 2000," "Alex M.O.R.PH. Extended rmx" and "RANK 1 remix" are great and for some weirder remixes the "CRAFTY Remix," "Dub's Mute & Feedback Remix" and "Ocean View Remix" are really cool. Invisibility: One of her most forward-thinking moments of this time period... I've been obsessed with the looped sample from the beginning. Curaga: Super cool atmosphere in this song... kinda genreless. Fuuucking love that cascading synth at 1:43, wtf... ok nvm, this is a 10, mama. That nearly constant "now now n-n-now now" in the back was holding it back from my 10s, but idc anymore. AMIT: such a hypnotic song, it's nothing like I heard before. 4/13 Now THIS was really too avant garde for the girls.... but at least it's almost top 30 1
Graves Posted October 13 Author Posted October 13 4 minutes ago, Kyle-x said: I love Real me as much as any alienfucker but she is not even in the top 5 best songs on RAINBOW The children yearn for R&Byumi.
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 1 minute ago, Graves said: The children yearn for R&Byumi. Let's see how ANother song fares in pt 2 then
Graves Posted October 13 Author Posted October 13 But wait! There's more! 10th Single「A」 Track #8 on LOVEppears 11 x 1: @SA*KURA HIGH SCORE: 10 x 5 (Kyle-x, blueberries, Maresia, sanzo, AvadaKedavra) LOW SCORE: 5 x 1 (Katamari) HOST SCORE: 5.5 The sole ballad of the A EP. This song kind of reminds me of the debut album actually, what with the twinkling sounds and that brief guitar solo... you know, despite the fact that the following song on the LOVEppears tracklist is the one ACTUALLY meant to reference the debut. It's a very nice song, don't get me wrong, and I do like that it is one of her less optimistic songs lyrically, like the title says it all: this thing is OVER. With that said, I don't really rate it among her best ballads unfortunately. Nice for a listen when I'm playing the album in full, but not something I'm seeking out separately, you know? This was Ayu's tenth single. Or at least part of it. The A EP was a sort of sample for LOVEppears. Released in August of 1999, the EP featured four new tracks from the upcoming album (as well as several remixes) and rode the wave of Ayu hype to instant success. The EP actually became her third number one hit and went on to sell over 1.6 million copies, making it her best-selling single of all time. End roll is actually my least favorite of the four tracks, but I'm sure everyone has a different take on the EP tracks. No music video, unfortunately, but the HAL mix was featured in a chocolate commercial around the time! Mmm, yummy chocolate. Kyle-x: One of her BEST ballads. The lyrics are so sad and her delivery of them is very affecting. The "da urban maesto mix" is really fun. Invisibility: She whipped out the guitar again! I feel like this one is always a moment Live. 10/17 2
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 I love HANABI, to me it feels the least formulaic of her classic balladas? It plods along in such an eerie way.
Graves Posted October 13 Author Posted October 13 Did I draft up an extra elimination at the last minute out of sheer pettiness? Maybe...
Suilen Posted October 13 Posted October 13 2 minutes ago, Kyle-x said: Let's see how ANother song fares in pt 2 then Considering that there's a cancelled man involved, probably not well
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 Just now, Graves said: Did I draft up an extra elimination at the last minute out of sheer pettiness? Maybe... Oh mein gott
Suilen Posted October 13 Posted October 13 Now that's a good ballad (didn't even track it as one, it's that good) unlike another one that's still in 1
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 End roll really hits me exactly where I need it to. It's one of the crown jewels of her discography for me. Absolutely was an 11 contender 1
Kyle-x Posted October 13 Posted October 13 (edited) I've watched this performance so many times ddd. Even just standing there delivering this ballad performance she has so much charisma Edited October 13 by Kyle-x 2
Recommended Posts