dillpops wrote:Although, on a whole for 2011, how would you compare it to YCCM? Good direction or bad? It's hard to believe we've had so much material since January but her progression over twelve months, to me, seems to be a more interesting one. All three releases (two singles last month and mini album) seem to have a clear 'Maaya' taste to them whereas some of YCCM was lacking direction.
I agree. YCCM seemed to lack direction and seemed more experimental to me. Honestly, I didn't really like YCCM either. There were a few great songs like Himitsu, Utsukushii Hito, and Tegami, but the rest of the album seemed pretty bland.
Then I was really excited with both Okaerinasai and Buddy because they're some of her best songs yet in my opinion, but now she's back to bland songs again. Her voice is getting more and more beautiful, but the songs themselves are a little boring composition and arrangement-wise.
I think it'd be best if Maaya went back to doing more tie-ins. They usually end up with a higher quality because more time and money are spent on them. I think that's why I liked Kazeyomi more than YCCM. Half of the Kazeyomi's tracks were tie-ins. It's better if ~half the songs on the album are already solid tie-ins, so they can spend more time and effort on the album tracks. I think less time and money are spent on the album only tracks, so they turn out more bland (not vocal-wise), especially when all or most of the tracks are album only tracks.
It looks like that might just be my opinion, though, since everyone else here seems to love Driving in the silence. Personally, I like 30 minutes night flight more because there is a little more variety.
