Oh this is so boring~ TITO is really dead, she needs to put more effort if she wants a good comeback, I agree with CoriKaru. :dead
*disappointed* :( bye bye new japanese stuff...

Knowing that the album's sales will never reach a peak again unless somehow she magically promotes to heck the next single...I hope the next single is This One.

Utada just isn't a person to promote stuff. She just had success thrown at her. So I don't think she actually cares too much about breaking through in America. She could throw all her money into becoming famous if she wanted to, but she doesn't.

utada looks great in those pics. love her outfit! :luv2

i hope her second single is this one (crying like a child) :P but i really want a new japanese single :weep

:yes She has always been popular, ever since her debut album, and even before. But we can't say that she doesn't know how or doesn't at all promote her stuff. Just count how many singles were put in doramas, commercials etc. All artists do it, but she got crazy with dorama promations, I think every album has at least one song that was used in some movie or drama.

I just find irritating how she doesn't put more effort in her work, when we know she can do it. Her PVs and covers got so boring, like she doesn't care at all. But no matter what, her sales are always great lol

I'm glad she's kind of back now!!
I still can't find TITO anywhere!! :weep

Apple And Cinnamon would do a lot better than This One o_o

Oh God. Not this argument again...

Anyway, I hope Apple and Cinnamon is the next single.

@_@ I hope On and On is the next single. Just for the fact that its a non ballad and really energetic =] Fit for the summer. I mean, I'll be fine if A&C turns out to be the single too. I see that song doing extremely well here in the U.S

^Yeah On and On would be good as the next single but I still can't stand that random screaming thing in the background that RAWR RAWR thingy. I can't describe it.

^ I know what you mean, it's this guy screaming "Yea-uh! Yea-uh! Yea-uh!" like ALL THE TIME. It's SO ANNOYING!

It's the one and only reason that song isn't my favorite of the entire album, cause I love the beat and lyrics. Well.. This One (Crying Like a Child) is my absolute favorite, but On And On would be a close second if it wasn't for the Yea-uh! Yea-uh! Yea-uh!

It sounds like she copied that Yea-uh straightly from Usher's song Yeah. Just reminds me of it xD

I really dont want to see another ballad as the next single but if it is a ballad...i hope its This One cause thats my favorite track on the whole album

:laugh

I after I noticed the "Yeah" in On and On it's hard to listen to the song because I laugh.

As for the next single I don't know what song I want, I just hope whatever it is that it does good.

Am I the only one who doesnt really like Apple and Cinnamon? :shrug

^ Nope, I don't really like it either. It's kinda silly to me. Reminds me of cereal.

AaC is excellence! My favorite from the album. The only thing I dislike about the song is the instrumental bridge.

The first single was a ballad, so, this time it should be an upbeat song^^

Most of her songs are kind of like ballads....

^ American Market: lead single => Album => 2 or 3 singles

Utada, you're alive! XD

Hmm, I think that On and On would make a nice single. Even with that guy making noise in the background. :P

Did you think that American bands and artists released a couple of singles and then an album like they do in Japan? That would be cool...

Personally, I like the Japanese system better and would probably listen to more Western music if it was like this. I think a long time ago, like Elvis days, it was that way but now most artists will release a digital single to promote the album and then, depending on the success of the album, will release more re-cut singles.

Are you American btw?

First u release a song to say "Hi, i will release an album!" and then, releases the album... after that, u release singles in order to sell the album, and not the singles...

I think is works better if the idea is selling albums, cuz with singles, people can have the songs they liked and leave the album alone...

In Japan, you buy the singles because you liked them and then you buy the album and the album has filler songs. :( In the US, you only buy the album. If you don't like it return it. I have several times. I once bought the TLC's Fanmail but it didn't have No Scrubs with the rap and they took it back.
:yes That has happened to me so many times. I hear a version on the radio or I watched a MV and that version isn't on the CD. If this version is better, why isn't that version on the CD in the first place? :eviltongu

I guess the only thing that bothers me about both systems is if you love a song and the album/single isn't out for a month or two you have to wait for a decent copy. I love the internet.:luv2

^not to mention albums come with sweet extras like photobooks and posters :luv2

i'm over TITO. LOL. i haven't listened to it in a while. :P

but i'm curious about the 2nd single choice. i wonder which one she'll pick!

She did say she'll pick the most popular one from ITunes. So what's that one?

Apple And Cinnamon

^Then, that would be awesome >_<

Apple and Cinnamon is a good choice. The lyrics aren't strange and it can be catchy.

The one thing I like about the American market, I think someone here said, was that the sales are A LOT more stable.

Which they are...Japanese sales largely depend on like the first week...and singles are like, the first day, and then they disappear and sell like 1k a week for god knows how long.


I actually think I prefer the American system...from a point of view of someone who downloads everything before they buy it...I would think the American one benefits the artist more...but I don't know.


I'm really glad that hikki came out of her cave and that they're promoting again.

It would be awesome if they have CD singles, OBIs, and goodies in America :)

^ Again following the OT :P. But isn't a bit obvious that No Scrubs with rap doesn't appear on the album? Probly I was already a download-er back in 1997, and I got into American/European music during that time, so I knew that by 80% the single version that we heard on tv/radio could be different from the album version. That's the way to attract people to buy the single. And to a certain extent, if they love the single, there maybe a chance to boost up the album sales (the ultimate goal in American market).

Back in that old days, I did struggle about whether or not to buy an album when I just loved the song I heard on tv. I knew that the song could have a different arrangement compared to the single version, but I always hoped that there would be more songs I love from the album.

Ok back to hikki... So TITO revives while the JPN side is still in the middle of nowhere...?

I just listened to This is the One for the first time today, I had bought some of the tracks but this was the first time I listened to it completely through...

I was so shocked. She's... sexually charged. Who knew? ( :P )

Dirty Desire was a... 'Is this really her?!' sort of feeling.

lol I thought more tracks in Exodus's even more up there ?

If you compare that with This Is The One , it's already considered mild to me

no way I can play Exodus if my mum's around :innocent

^ I've never heard the full album of Exodus. But what really shocked me was in Dirty Desire when she sings something about 'being at work from 9 to 5 thinking about nothing but 6 and 9'.

(o_O) I was like is she serious?!

:roflmao

dude trust me if you listen to Exodus , you will go even o_O than usual

some of the songs in Exodus are quite in your face , like The Workout . Man when I 1st heard The Workout , I was corrupted overnight by her LMAO :lmfao

:yes uh huh... Exodus is really sexual @__@

"so i showed him how people in the far east get down" - The Workout..and the rest of the song too x _ x

T_T T_T

yeah I remembered that line , omg :dead2 :dead2

even Tippy Toe , You Make Me Want to Be a Man & Wonder 'Bout is also quite :dead2 too , lyrics wise

I never understood You make me want to be a man; can someone enlighten[corrupt] me?

"How people in the far east get down?" lol! Not as bad as Dirty Desire's oral sex talk!!

http://ksolo.myspace.com/music/Utada

Contest winners announced. This may be extremely delayed BUT....its one of the first signs (after the promo in Hawaii) that Utada is coming back to the U.S and doing promotion.

The song talks about wanting to be a man so she can understand her (at the time)husband better.

Oh ok that makes sense. I thought it was about being unsure of your sexual identity. I'm an idiot.

lol

I love Tippy Toe...not really the whole, "dont let your family know thing" but that song is <3

Hikki likes to have fun with her lyrics in english...I think it entertains her because she knows what our industry is like, and conversely, what we think about her culture.


oh I was just gonna say, I just noticed that Uso Mitai Na I love you and Simple and Clean share a little snippet of their compositions lol People probably already noticed though...I just thought it was interesting.

the winner could be a famous singer one day! lols <3
I thought the lady who dressed up like her with the bad accent won :roflmao

oh wow you're right!

I'm so happy that one lady didn't win~ This girl is cool. I did not expect what I heard AT ALL lol

She has a very soulful voice...I kinda like her version better than hikki's....:paperbag

So it's safe to say there won't be a 2nd single from This is the One?

Why I don't know. She had so much momentum with this album, with Come back to Me, and she screwed it up completly.

Who said that?

So wait, that one lady who dressed up like her and butcheredImeansang "Come Back to Me" isn't the one who ended up winning the karaoke MySpace contest thing? :thud

That's a good thing. Who ended up winning? The other girl?

^

The person you described won the Japan version. The new winner is the U.S winner :D

^oh I see, I forgot there were two versions.

Huh?? There was a japan version??? :confused

There was a JPN MySpace Utada Karaoke Contest as well as a America Myspace Utada Karaoke Contest. I posted the link to the JPN winners somewhere in the first pages of this thread.

I love Uso Mitai na I Love You. It's a very good song. :) I like the way she used that Hikari-ish melody. I was very shocked though when I heard it for the first time. I thought "why does this sound like Hikari so much?" and later I found out why. :D

Yeah I remember that. The Japanese words just couldn't fit in to the first part of the chorus, so she had to change that part of music. IMO... I think the Japanese part (that melody) is much better. It builds up the intensity :D.

Ohhhh okay thanks, guess I missed something then!

Minor Utada news today....kinda disappointing.

Credits: Kettowave @ Utadanet

sucks when nobody really asks her an INTERESTING question :rolleyes

oh cool!


"I'm considering it."

Well, thanks. And I don't doubt that we're crazier...Japanese people just sit there and clap.

I agree. "Hikari" just explodes upon you. It startles me sometimes and I have to make sure the volume is turned down a bit. Has rocked my ear drums a number of times.

Haha. That made me laugh for some reason. You know what. A thought just occurred to me.

You know how it's shunned upon to be publicly known as an "otaku" and how they wear masks on Youtube to keep their identity hidden? Perhaps that's the same thing that's going on in those crowds during television performances. They don't want to display their passion for an artist to its fullest extent so they subdue themselves. Not to say that I have never seen a Japanese crowd go crazy publicly but yeah. I don't know. Perhaps.

^yeah. the crazy fandom thing is sorta cultural ^^"

And I always thought the japanese fans are more crazier than american opposite. How strange. Maybe it's just that in Finland we don't go crazy over our favourite artist (well I go). :D But anyhoo, lucky americans if you get a Hikki concert. I'd die to jealousy. :<

EXODUS is 100x times better then TITO, and no one can convince me in other stuff, because TITO sounded very typical and NOT-special-outstanding, sorry :(
and I don't really care about sales, because music quality in EXODUS is 100x times better

I do NOT understand why BoA & Hikki made it to America. they spent so much money & time, I mean, waste so much money & time, but DO NOT earn much and DO NOT get much

I want another Japanese release like Passion :yes

moreover, I want her to Come Back to Japan and release music there

is there going to be an Exodus vs TITO showdown poll? xD

ditto

This Is The One's frankly too much for me even though lyrics wise , it's more mature & not out there unlike Exodus :dead2

Exodus pushes Utada outta her music comfort zone so it's natural for some people to like it or don't

I thankfully fall into the 1st category

That would be awesome!!! :love

^ There is already :D

^Wow....that re-release cover should have been the cover of TITO....and hikki looks so beautiful in that pic. She looks less frail and her hair is finally growing back. Thanks for the news.

no she does not. its just as ugly as the album cover.

yayy news <3

Still boring. As long as she doesn't announce a new single. Anyway, I'm suprised they didn't use the same cover for TITO.

I mean song by song~

EMI is really being a Zenny Geba lol somehow I don't really see a point of releasing Sanctuary I guess they just want to use the new KH game to earn some extra cash.

^Not really. I mean if you think EMI is money crazed, just look at who they have to compete with. Yes its the biggest ass in Japanese music, Avex :yes....who's antics include releasing a billion versions of the same releases and overworking their artists with a billion magazine/TV appearances.

hah, I was just at KMC, and I saw an e-release of Sanctuary out already...and I was like wtf. I havent been here for a few days so I've been behind on news.

I guess it's real lol

This broad definitely needs a new single.
None of this recycled remix crap. lol

everyone is cranky in the Utada thread xD

^and going into withdrawals.

I actually don't mind that they released Sanctuary...because I mean...well now we have it...well I guess we had it on the American disc, but not on the Japanese one right?

Those don't have bonus tracks?

So I don't know...maybe that's why she did it.

^

here are the bonus tracks for the versions:

Japan version:
Come Back To Me (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)
Come Back To Me (Quentin Harris Radio Edit)

American version:
Simple and Clean
Sanctuary (Opening)
Sanctuary (Closing)

I think the overseas version don't carry any bonus tracks at all, but I'm not sure about that. (With overseas I mean Taiwan / Hongkong press)

Yeap, Hong Kong / Taiwan / other presses has the US tracklist except without the bonus tracks.

Credits: Ublog

^Take a look at the U.Blog Twitter box :D

^I have no clue but hey, Hikki's alive :hi5

UNIQLO is a clothing store. At least it is in Japan, lol, I've been to the one in Okazaki. I assume it must be the same in New York. :P

Karaoke party in Tokyo pic

http://listentheworld.files.wordpres...pg?w=400&h=344

here are the winners singing with Utada in Tokyo

I wonder how the Japanese winner sang :lech