^How's this?

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...r209/Utada.jpg

From Kyo City Music.

Does any japanese sites have the full english lyrics yet D:?

I thought that as well when I first became a fan during the ULTRA BLUE era. I actually just bought DEEP RIVER not too long ago, and I have to say it surprised me! the visual style might not seem anything like UB and HS, but some of the songs already follow a similar style!
Like: Sakura DROPS, traveling, Deep River, A.S.A.P (kinda), Final Distance, HIKARI.

Also "Uso Mitai Na I Love You", but that one's in a completely different league (rock).

I'd suggest listening to the entire DEEP RIVER album just once :) unless ofc you already did that and you simply didn't like it ;)

^Maybe it's because Hikki countinuosly change some aspects of her style on each album. and that's what i love her most <3

great album, I listened to it earlier on and loved pretty much all the tracks, especially FYI, On And On and a few others. Me Muero and Poppin' I wasn't feeling though :((

still impressed though, so much better than Exodus. :yes

^ I totally agree! this alvum makes Exodus look like a joke!! Even though I did luke that album it's nothing compared to this one!!

Thanks guys! And off Course I'm buying this album!!! I just cant wait all the way till may to hear it!!

I hope that everyone's the listening to album now are enjoying it! I shall wait until iTunes releases it, or buy the CD. Depends whether I'm impatient or not. XD

After listening to "Taking My Money Back"... i thought...

is this an Interlude? XD

I'd like to defend Exodus as a quirky little album with a certain charm. Sure the producion was a bit awkward at times and some of the experimentation fell flat, but there were also glorious moments where it all came together: Kremlin Dusk, Animato, and Hotel Lobby are probably better than anything on this album, in my opinion (though I haven't listened it to death yet haha). But I think TITO is more consistent.

Alright... after listening to the whole album... lemme tell what i feel. XD

I think... This is the One is a cool and well-done album. I mean in my Opinion, this is something new from Utada. Then... lemme state what i feel about each track.

01. On and On

Oh my GOD! This is an excellent track. I really love it... but there are some instance when i can't hardly understand what she's singing. LOL. A great track to open up the album.

02. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence ~FYI

Not actually my favorite... but it's beautiful. It's like a merge between Utada and Utada Hikaru. Maybe if it's placed on the tracks of Exodus, it will go pretty well on the flow of the album. I'm not sayin' that it's not appropriate on the album but its sort of something that has its own corner. :D

03. Apple and Cinnamon

Beautiful... but it keeps repeatitive in times especially on the bridge where Utada says "Don't look me that way",. if im not mistaken.

04. Taking My Money Back

For me, this song is my least favorite. It's not i don't really like it but... for me, yeah... UTADA tries to be mainstream this time... but this track... is the most mainstream of all the mainstreamness ever existed. LOL

05. This One (Crying Like a Child)

Probably the strongest track on the album for me. It has the potential to be the next single and honestly speaking... it has the most descent lyrics on the album. XD

06. Automatic Part II

Nothing much to say... like a song from a Charlies Angel movie!? errr

07. Dirty Desire

Its a WOW. Something like ***** Cat Dolls will do. It's a new twist from utada.

08. Poppin'

Poppin!!! Yeah! Poppin!!! For me it's a FUN track. I think, it's a comical relief of the album. :D

09. Come Back to Me

Dunno what to say... it's good ... and it's played for a countless times on my player. Haha

10. Me Muero

Many people don't like this neh? But for me... it's a nice track.. But... it... it... sorry but... it doesn't really suits the flow and athmosphere of the whole album... Maybe it's a sign for the next style that Utada will be using!? LOL...

Overall...

This is the ONE is the One that i've been waiting from Utada. XD

What the heck happens at the end of Dirty Desire? It's like the song just goes crazy and falls apart.

Poppin' is ridiculous. The spoken parts are kind of awkward, especially when she says, "I could share them (the stars) if you like. Would you like that?" She sounds like she's asking a kid a question at the dinner table.

Me Muero has some 0_0 lyrics, about being suicidal and "smoking my days away". whoa.

I actually think this album is overall better quality than Exodus. The songs seem to be better produced and use some actual instruments, not just a bunch of super electronic sounds. I like her vocals for the most part and the album seems more cohesive because the style is pretty similar throughout. I also appreciate that she's not using her Asian background as a gimmick like she did in Exodus.

I think my favorites at the moment are FYI and Apple and Cinnamon. But I'll need to listen to the whole album before I can really decide how I feel.

I'm surprised so many people rank First Love so low on their list of albums!

couldn't agree more. Those 3 songs you named are true masterpieces imho and are indeed on my all-time favorite song list.

I haven't listened to TITO yet, and I've never listened the the full First Love and Distance albums, so right now my ranking:

1. Ultra Blue
2. Heart Station
3. Exodus
4. Deep River

And I think TITO will take Deep River's place... I just cannot knock Ultra Blue and Heart Station of my top 2 :no those albums are too precious and brilliant to me

I felt bad for downloading it so I'm just gonna wait till the 24th so I could buy the album through iTunes.... :)

THe album was fantastic but i couldnt listne on for Poppin' and Me Muero...a few strong tracks, a few ok tracks but What i enjoyed was the consistency..that's something impt for every album

:shakehead

Thanks! :)

The pics on her site are the pics in the booklet, FYI

I found the song funny, in an ironic sort of way. So in the song, her lover has dumped her. He went to Istanbul for some reason. Maybe the same guy from CBTM. Anyway, she's just depressed about it. She's drunk or wants to be, eating Godiva, probably hasn't taken a shower since the break up and she's contemplating shop lifting or some sort of crime. :D Despite the subject matter, the song is kinda upbeat. We have a bunch of breakup songs on this album that are depressing but this one sounds happy. Especially since it follows CBTM which I find so sad, this just perks me up.

haha! xD

Since when did Utada post here?
OMG HI UTADA!

OMG did she really sing this
in Dirty Desire
When I’m alone at night,
WOW..omg..its quite...loud

and this
Is this UTADA?! hahaha...

Can anyone link me to the album? I can't find it anywhere. T_T

type "utada this is the one download" in google, it's the 4th link!

Automatic part 2 is nothing like what I expected, and I'm a bit disappointed. I was hoping for a rerecording, or at least a sample!

What about sales?

Wait a minute... Are my eyes deceiving me or did TITO seriously only sell 27213 copies on its first day..?

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/

Perhaps it was meant to be 272k?

Ugh, I'm delusional! :cry

Only 27k? For real? o_o wow

I saw that as well, but look at the date: March 13th.

Which means it's still yesterday's sales, which is kinda strange because the album wasn't officially on sale yesterday but for some reason, it already sold xD

I think today will have much higher sales.

^hasnt it always been like that...because the ORICON week doesnt count the next friday...like how they dont count the tuesdays in the normal cycle...

its been that for singles and albums..and since it applies to ALL singles and albums..i dun think thats any negligible

Wow, I'm so excited that it's finally out there! It's different from what I expected. There are some songs I like, some I hate, and some I'm not sure about. I think I need to get used to this style..

I dunno, I think the sound is a lot better for mainstream American music. So, I have my fingers crossed that the album does better over here.

And ... am I hearing things or does she talk about Captain Picard in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence?

^ You're not hearing things, it's there.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI full lyrics:


I can post the rest of the lyrics too, if there is demand.

That ... makes me so happy. I can't even begin to say.

Thanks for posting the lyrics. <3

Ouch... :shakehead

I dun think people are tired of her. I think it's more due to the fact it's an English album. Exodus sold quite good a few years ago because it's hikki's first English album, people were curious.

And honestly, TITO sounds like Utada, not hikki. Japanese only wants hikki (and so do I). Also, I would rather see this album doing bad in Japan, then doing good in the US..

I still don't know why This Is The One's released on a Sat instead of a Wed , I just hope Oricon will factor in the weekend sales into next week even though in this case I don't know it will work :shrug

people don't usually buy releases on weekends, so i think the "real" sales will be out by wednesday? :shrug

I also think that there wasn't a lot of hit singles that were included in this album, plus there wasn't much promotion.

But still, I never thought I'd see the day where an Utada album would sum up less than 60K her first day in Japan... I thought she could sell anything under any circumstances...? Looks like she better not put out any blank CDs soon :innocent

I'm sure it's a combination of things. People in Japan may not be liking the sound, or perhaps the economy is strapping them down. It doesn't really matter how the album sells in Japan though, what we want to worry about is how it sells in the states

I think its too early to bemoan the sales. It released on a very weird day. Wait a few days first, then cry about it.

I really like Apple and Cinnamon <333 I think it's better than This Is The One...

^ I agree.

Sales aren't so bad for the weekend.

I thought it was supposed to release here on the 25th?
I really need to try and frequent this site more so I am not so confused all the time. :P

^ Only digitally now xD
its been pushed back to may for the physical release D:

^Well ... damn. That sucks.

I thought Japanese do buy MORE of the CDs on weekends lol. We'll see today.

The reason the album could not be selling well is because the Japanese people (who don't think hard, sorry had to put that) just plain don't like it. It doesn't even matter if she gets #1 or not, it would affect her streak so...

Although people might see this as a decline in her popularity, but whose popularity hasn't been declining nowadays. Everyone's has expect Arashi and Namie Amuro :yes

^ I thought I was the only one who liked Automatic Part II ;_;! Yay!!!

5/5
On and On
Apple and Cinnamon
This one (Crying like a Child)

4/5
FYI
Automatic Part II
Come Back To Me
Me Muero

3/5
Taking my money back
Dirty Desire

2/5
Poppin

Here's my rankings

5/5
Poppin'
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI
Apple And Cinnamon

4/5
Come Back To Me
Dirty Desire

3/5
On and On
Dirty Desire

2/5
Automatic Part II
Me Meuro
This One (Crying Like A Child)

I support the Automatic II love!

Love/like: Poppin, Dirty Desire, Apple & Cinnamon, This One (Crying Like a Child), On and On, Automatic II, FYI
Ok: Taking My Money Back, Me Muero
Dislike/hate: Come Back To Me

where's Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence , Melody ? T_T

^ Right after Automatic Part II! xD;

It was hiding and such!

the lyrics for dirty desire actually was really clever.

9am - 5pm are the usual working hours in the U.S and during those hours she is thinking of the 69 position LOL!

wow all this hatin on Poppin' xDDD......I like it :], I'd loop it all day if I really wanted to, it's really catchy and semijazzy <3 woot. But really, we do have it better than the boys ;o.

Yeah....the sales are....no way to really sugar coat it.....disappointing.....BUT!!!!! Atleast she's #1 on Oricon (for now.......) according to:

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/
EDIT: ^and WTHECK is with all the Ayu lookalikes on the bottom of that page? @_@

The question is though.....how much longer can she hold her footing on oricon and why such a weirdass release date?.....anyway.....its not Oricon thats important....its how TITO does in the U.S....thats what really counts....ughhhh kinda disheartening...

^LMAO. Maybe it Ayumi Hamasaki day.

I agree, it doesn't matter how it does in Japan, since she didn't make the album for the Japanese audience, but how it does in America since it was made for the American audience.

I expected higher sales, but looking back now, there is no reason why I should have.

- no promotion at all in Japan
- no TV performances
- no magazine covers, or even articles
- the album basically came "out of nowhere" for the regular listener because there have been no singles.

Maybe the album will go US style and chart for a really long time as long as there are singles and PV's being released.

but it doesn't matter anyway, what really matters is her American sales :D

If you look at the album for what it is, an American album, it's doing amazingly well. :yes When was the last time we saw an American artist (which is what "Utada" is) do this well?

Shes at number two today with sales of 27364

i think the actual BIG sales day, not coming yet...maybe next week, the sales will rise up
i don't like her english album, but i think she will get a nice sales

Poor Hikki. The first day sales are horrible (for someone like her). We'll see later, but I don't think it can sell more than Exodus...

"Utada.jp has updated today with a list of Japanese magazines that will be carrying stories on Utada in the coming month. Check it out for the full list.

＊日本でのメディア露出情報
＜雑誌＞
「WHAT’s IN？」（2/14）
「CDでーた」（2/14）
「CDジャーナル」（2/20）
「i-Pod Fan」（2/21）
「Zipper」（2/23）
「smart」（2/24）
「CHOKI CHOKI」（2/24）
「BLENDA」（3/7）
「In Red」（3/7）
「S-Cawaii！」（3/7）
「sweet」（3/12）
「JELLY」（3/17）
「金沢倶楽部」（3/20）
「HMV the music&movie master」（3/20）
「新星堂 DROPS 024号」（3/20）
「VA for TSUTAYA RECORDS」（3/20）
「装苑」（3/28)"

Definitely not a small amount of magazine articles. 17 magazine articles.
I do wonder why people aren't as curious like they were in EXODUS since This Is The One is totally different from it in everything (except for being in english).

Avril sold around million with her last studio album in Japan (2007) and before that EXODUS sold a million+ too. I guess it is doing well considering it's a US album (but just the fact that she is singing in English doesn't make her American) on the other side I guess that people were more curious about EXODUS and they simply thought that Come Back to Me doesn't really stand out from other American releases + the album isn't that good really :) so I am not shocked it's not selling great, but yeah as someone said before, considering that Hikki's sales are consistent This is the one might sell around 300k+ in the end which would be 1/3 of HEART STATION's sales.

So much for all the "her NINKI is huge talk" from the last week lol

At any rate, this could do her in for her #1 streak on ORICON. She released at the end of the ORICON week, and unless she sells a fantastic amount in the next few days, it's highly likely that she might not be able to overcome RADWIMPS or even REMIOROMEN.

wonder what's happening...O.O
lyrics? lol

The album is overall pretty good, it stands way above average R&B american albums in my opinion. Most things are said about the tracks, but I have to say that some of them grew more to me after I've read the lyrics of them (thank you, people on Utadanet.com!) . Certainly for Me Muero, Apple And Cinnamon and This One ^^
Since I'm hard of hearing (not deaf, I just can't hear some high tones like ringtones and bells) I discover songs twice, first when I hear the melody and beats and secondly when I discover the lyrics ^^
On and On is certainly one of my favourites. The chorus doesn't sound strange to me, I find the lyrics rather smart when she goes "gay" and "straight" for that matter ^^
Also, I can perfectly match the high singing.
Dirty desire and FYI are very good tracks too, the album in general is love. The only song I can't seem to come into is Poppin'. It lacks melody to me and sounds monotone.

Two things; The album needs more tracks. Really. The two extras I found on the leak don't make a damn up for it. If Utada had the chance to produce and sing more songs, she should have been giving the chance for that.
Come back imho isn't a good song for techno remixes (the singing doesn't match the rythm of the beats for me)
She should have been given a chance to take a duet with an american artist, or at least to work out more songs.
It's not that I'm not satisfied after listening all the songs, but this catchy R&B trip might have gone on for Three more tracks to me. Even an interlude would have been great.

Second thing: am I the only one who has to turn up the volume when On And On starts and then turn it down when Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI starts?
maybe it's different on the physical copy (which I'm deinitely going to get now I've listened to the leak!)

Last thing to say; This One, Apple And Cinnamon, probably also Taking My Money back and Dirty Desire would make strong singles. For FYI I don't know.
It doesn't sound like a single to me, but it's for sure strong track.
This album will be succesful in the US, for sure. I have faith in her now, the americans will buy her dirty lyrics and strong beats :yes
I'd love to see her in a PV wearing a hoodie and going gangsta in front of a car btw ^^


Btw lyrics to be found here: http://www.utadanet.com/modules/newb...er=ASC&start=0
Utadanet sure has changed since I last visited it o_O

ALBUMS
1->2->2->2->2->1 - Remioromen - 84,744 + 41,826 + 33,356 + 24,534 + 21,124 + 34,213 = 239,797
x->1->1->1->3->3 - RADWIMPS - 77,493 + 56,823 + 26,098 + 17,295 + 17,391 = 195,100
x->x->x->x->1->2 - Utada - 27,213 + 27,364 = 54,577

she has big competition on the charts right now, so it's only reasonable. but i think it'll pick up later this week.

Album is above average and would do really well in the US...
It all lies in the promotion now, and if there is little promotion, it won't even be noticed by average Joe.

Album is above average and would do really well in the US...
It all lies in the promotion now, and if there is little promotion, it won't even be noticed by average Joe.

Hopefully.

Just because the lyrics are dirty doesn't mean Americans will automatically like them.

A lot of the lyrics have some awkward english and sound weird when being sung, probably because they aren't really your average lyrics and her voice is so different from those in the US.

Let's hope the music outshines them.

About the low sales in Japan...I think...maybe they chose a really aweful release date. Why couldn't they be like Avex and be munny hungry lol

I would have liked to see her go up against Ayu :laugh That, would have been interesting.

And it would have given her at least SOME time for promotion in Japan.

^They already did that and Hikki won.

ok that's definitely good to know :D but still, it's AFTER the album release.
that also boosts my prediction it'll chart long, just like most US albums :yes

and yay she's coming in CDDate, their HEART STATION photoshoot was most awesome!! (you know with the pink/yellow theme, also black+flower). Too bad she and ayu don't come in the same S-Cawaii issue xD I would've bought it.

You think she'll be on the cover of any of those magazines? Maybe I'll buy one. I'm sorry to ask but does anyone know the best site to buy Japanese magazines online? ty!

are those even BIGGER than Utada Hikaru!?

The release date of the album was awful (there are a lot of people who buy physical copies of thing that go to stores on Tuesday nights just to browse the new releases). It won't affect her number 1 streak if she doesn't get number 1 for the week though, because in Japan UTADA and Utada Hikaru are still separate entities in terms of albums and sales.

I also think that many Japanese people bought EXODUS out of curiosity, but were unimpressed by the lyrics and style. That might turn people off of buying her future English efforts, especially since they can't understand the lyrics in one go by just listening to the songs at a store.

@emiko; I know, no one can predict the future ^^;
Btw when I said that the americans would buy her dirty lyrics I didn't mean it litturally XD
I meant it in the.. meaning that they will accept them. I have heard really ridiculous lyrics on good melodies and most of times, it's the melody and playability (I just invented a new word I think) that make songs catchy for most people.
For the R&B genre, her songs are very strong on this album. Dirty desire and On And On (I really think one of the two will be released as singles) are the kind of songs you can sing with after hearing two or three times.
To cut it short, not everybody feels the same about this album, but I'm at peace now concerning her sales in the VS.

PS; I'm afraid I'm with you, Keiichi JPU.. Promotion after an album has released ^^;
Btw I don't really know about how Exodus got to the Japanese people. It did sell really well, but I wonder if actually everybody liked the songs on the album.

Anyone else going to the NY sephora event?

too bad for the first time, her most recent album is not my favorite one :(
still competing for the 2nd place! xD

LOVING IT!

wow, i thought the album would sale quite decently in japan, especially with that ninki we saw last week. :shrug

this album will probably flop in the states as well :scry which is a shame because it's not all that bad!

Nah, more of equal.

It flopping in America is solely based the people. I mean if the people don't like the sound of the album it will flop, no matter how much promotion is put into it.

Not being bias here. Same thing applies to BoA. :yes

That's why Ninki's more often than not, can't be trusted... I wonder if NEXT LEVEL will suffer a similar fate?

First of all, that bolded stuff is just your opinion, there is nothing to lead you to believe that the Japanese would think that. :rolleyes And like I said before, this is an American album, by an American artist, and it's doing incredibly well in that respect. Of course she's not going to sell like EXODUS, that was 2004 (when she sold 3 million copies of her Singles Collection).

Sales in general are down, there has been next to no promotion in Japan, and she released on an incredibly odd day. These seem like much better reasoning than "the album isn't really that good".

what does IDEC mean?

^I don't even care

^ OMG i love bobby v! <3

^
^
Very interesting!

Anyway I think sales will rise on tuesday! :yes

Where can I download This Is The One?

EDIT: NVM I found it...I'm so excited, more excited for BoA, but hopefully this is good seeing as everyone is saying it's good!

EDIT2:Okay that wasn't the file that I thought it was, someone just filled it with a bunch of multiple files of CBTM, glad I checked that. So can someone pm the link?

Umm :rolleyes Bobby Valentino can't even have a decent single, let alone a great entire album. I prefer shorter albums (usually around 12 tracks) because otherwise it just drags, and it's bogged down by poor songs. I hate fillers, and I think TITO has none of those :yes

ROFL. She is NOT an American artist. No one has forgotten that this is THE Utada Hikaru becuase she dropped her first name.

:rolleyes

I agree with KD

He should teach a thing or two to Utada, BoA and Ayu :eviltongu Lol j/k.