[2006] what's better? ULTRA BLUE Vs (miss)understood
 

*ooops!!! it must be moved to the Asia Chat, it's just me...hihi, :D*

after listening to hikki I have t admit that she has beaten up Ayumi and won with perfect KO
:P

Daaaaamn right ayu_ready? Hikki has gave Ayu a big KO.

I actually listened to every single track, unlike for (m)u, I skipped half the album.

"ULTRA BLUE" with the wiiin~:heart

ULTRA BLUE is much much better :(. In MU there are a few tracks that were awesome but others that just werent up to par. almost all the songs on UB were decent if not excellent.

:thud :no Yeah...Don't make me laugh...


Ayu's (m)u is much better than ULTRA BLUE!:yes

:yes Ultra Blue had this "feel" to it that just screamed: LISTEN TO EVERY TRACK AND ENJOY IT! so I did. and I did enjoy every single track. M(U) was fine, not anywhere near the brillance of her other albums, but it was a good album none the less. but still there were some songs that I kept on repeat: rainy day, HEAVEN, Fairyland. And some I couldn't skip past fast enough: Beautiful Day, B&D(scared the crap outta me the first time I heard it:D) Most of the tracks I listened too and enjoy, but In this case, Ultra Blue wins. :yes

Uhh, this is almost 100% the same thing http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showth...s%29understood


And ayu, death to t'other

^hah, that's funny! so, is this one going in the trash?

But, isn't that one for before "ULTRA BLUE" came out?

Ahh, M(U) is so much better! Ultra Blue is a decent album, but most songs are just filler to me. Besides the singles and the song "Blue", the rest of the album tracks are more or less weak. With Ayu, I loved every single track... when it came out, now, I see a couple of not so impressive songs, but overall, Ayu wins EASILY.

i actually prefer m(U) much more than ultra blue ...

i tried really hard to listen to all the tracks in ultra blue, but i can't and still haven't done it till now

I love Ayu but i gotta admit it, im not a great fan of M(u) and i quite enjoyed Utada's Ultra Blue so my vote is clear ^^

IMHO, I don't think any tracks in Ultra Blue can be called filler. They're all individual and different, any of them could have been singles. And I love the album and even voted for it in the other thread.

Now however, my vote goes to (miss)understood. It's a lot easier to listen to and quite optimistic too. Plus some of the tracks are just fun, something Utada doesn't have on Ultra Blue. One Night Magic isn't much fun, it's quirky and interesting but never uplifting. :( I listened to both albums recently over and over again, and I liked (miss)understood more.

Although nothing can beat the Kairo/This Is Love combo.

ultrablue.

Ultra Blue...as (miss)understood has quite a lot of boring songs...but nevertheless...love it =)

(miss)understood is vastly better than ULTRA BLUE in my opinion. While I did enjoy the consistent ethereal feel of ULTRA BLUE and felt it was by far Utada's most mature album to date, it was an enormous step backward in so many aspects. In particular, the arrangements of the songs are sloppy, repetitive, and sound surprisingly dated. Strangely, I found that the slickest sounding song was the oldest, COLORS. It really is a shame because the songs are all really well-written and flow flawlessly, but the arrangements really don't do them justice. I felt that every song could have been absolutely stellar but as a result of the poor arrangements, most of the album sounded like filler. At first, I liked the album, but by my third listen it became almost painful how dated and monotonous the production sounded. I liked the electronic elements, but I wanted something that sounded more polished or organic, like Madonna's Ray of Light album, the space-age thumpers of Hikki's own Exodus, or the glossy messy-ness of Ayu's RAINBOW album. The other huge problem I have with the album are the vocals. Utada has a lovely voice, but she seems very uncomfortable in her upper register. Unfortunately, I found that on most tracks Utada was trying to sing much higher than she is capable of and was noticeably straining. As a result, very often in the album her vocals either sounded hoarse and raspy or shrill and piercing, and she showed little control over her vibrato. Overall, the consistent ethereal feel and excellent song writing really shine, but at the same time the cheaply done arrangements and technically poor vocals detracted hugely from what could have been an incredible album.

Conversely, I was blown away by (miss)understood, though admittedly it is a love it or hate it type of album. Your enjoyment of the album really depends on how broad your musical tastes are and if you don’t mind cohesiveness being sacrificed in favour of variety. The album is the perfect showcase of Ayu’s incredible versatility and ability to change. It presents such a vast array of musical genres and styles to the listener, ranging from electro pop to funk to sweeping balladry, while still feeling classically Ayu. Furthermore, each track is undeniably polished and refreshing. Even more impressively is how fluidly the album flows despite having such distinctly different and diverse tracks. As with most Ayu albums, the tracks are generally ordered by genre, but the album doesn’t feel disjointed at all. Although every track feels very unique, there is always an underlying emotional theme that flows into the next track. For instance, the album starts off with a burst of exuberance and style with Bold & Delicious, then flows into an equally bouncy song with a slightly darker, off-beat side with STEP you, which flows into the haunting yet still poppy Ladies Night. The album is structured perfectly to never bore the listener but also avoids interrupting the continuity of the album. I loved how it feels very bubbly at first and slowly becomes darker, moving from despair to anger to melancholy, and slowly becomes more uplifting, ending with the sombre but optimistic tracks. I will say that although it flows well, overall because there is so much variety it detracts a lot from the coherency of the album. But that’s the album’s charm, you either get it or you don’t.

Personally though, I think everything I mentioned is somewhat trivial when I listen to music. Ultimately, what it come down to is which album has the better songs, and that is where I think (miss)understood totally trumps ULTRA BLUE. Upon first listen, I thought all the songs from last year’s singles, Ladies Night and rainy day, and the two interludes were absolute stunners and easily some of Ayu’s best work. Upon repeated listens, I began to appreciate the aforementioned songs even more and grew to love all of the album tracks as well. Conversely, on ULTRA BLUE I liked all the tracks but I only loved One Night Magic, COLORS, and Passion on first listen. After multiple listens though, I was expecting to like the album even more, but the flaws of the tracks became more and more apparent. Even still, ULTRA BLUE is a worthwhile album and I might have put too much emphasis on the negative aspects of it, but (miss)understood is by far my favourite album of any artist. To me ULTRA BLUE seems like an album that’s easy to like but hard to love, while (miss)understood seems like an album that’s easy to love and easy to hate.

Ick, long post. I feel sorry for anyone who actually read this whole thing.

My problem is that i've only heard (m)u and i haven't heard UB. So I chose (m)u LOL. I heard Colors in UB and I was amazed haha, and I bet if I were to hear all of UB i'd probably like it more than (m)u because I ruined the album for myself by hearing a bunch of singles before it came out. I bet that's why some of you prefer UB.

(miss)understood.

Though the name blows, I don't like Udata.

OMG i can choose both cds n_nU

No_Doubt.

ZOMG U ROCK. D:'

:glomped XDD

hard, but I think I will have to choose ultra blue

ULTRA BLUE

I have listened to this album so much....I absolutely love every single track. Utada's talent in making music is just awesome. I wish that she'd release more, because everything she releases is top-notch, and the fact that her music is absolutely excellent, just makes me respect her more as a musician, instead of as a popstar.

And even though I love m(u), and would always support Ayu, ULTRA BLUE, blew everything out of the water.

No Doubt, I do have to agree with you though. When I first heard ULTRA BLUE, I felt like some of the songs had been put together in a week or less....like they just hurried to put out the album...but I can't deny...even with all the facts against it, that I just really love this album.

I think part of the reason is that, this album reminds me of the kind of music I would make if I were a musician.

I'll give points for ULTRA BLUE for the creative aspect, since she did try something new with this. But I enjoyed (miss) understood more.

hmm.. I go for Ultra Blue... I dont really like miss understood that much.. >_>

I made a thread like this except it was "Will Ultra Blue be better than (m)u" - It is still pretty active in the asian music chat. Ayu was ahead by a short amount.

:shakehead
oh my...I swear I didn't know...:(

both both equally now :yes

Couldn't have been put better! Great observer! :thumbsup

^ Like in "One Night Magic" :yes

(miss)undersold was an absolute mess of an album. Ayumi Hamasaki lost her special touch with this one.

ULTRA BLUE was by far better. Utada Hikaru has a better way of putting album songs with singles and making them work together.

Also, This Is Love. One heck of an amazing song but her vocals just pierce when the volume is a little high. But overall, the album is quite cohesive if you leave Colors out. (miss)understood works better as a collection of singles than an album. Such a shame, great songs, poor setlist.

:/

There's a reason why ULTRA BLUE is probably going to be Hikki's first non-million-selling-album. Even after the disaster that was EXODUS.. D: I wonder if she'll be able to recover.

[Ayu on the other hand has stayed strong consistently in terms of physical sales even with the increased competition~]

I never actually listened to (miss)understood straight, but I do own 3 of the 4 singles that made the album. I also downloaded Bold & Delicious/Pride and the other songs available only on (miss)understood. Regardless of arrangement, I have to say that ULTRA BLUE is much better than (miss)understood. It just had me listening to it more often than (miss)understood had.

ULTRA BLUE vs (miss)understood

Round 1

ULTRA BLUE: I'm from the future
(miss)understood: I'm done

THE END

..what was that supposed to mean LOL

thank you for saying this....i was beginning to think I was the only one who thought it didn't go...

I mean, I love the individual song....but I still dont think it goes well...

And even then, it still looks like UB can over take (m)u. Difference of like 8k in Hikki's favor? <3

I'm biased, I go with ULTRA BLUE.

Well, yeah, but it's still SUPER LOW compared to her other albums..

Like everyone elses sales?~

...

Well, except maybe that KK-thing..thing..

And we'll see how that keeps up her next original album.

You cant skip the fact that (m)u's sales are also horrid in comparison to her other albums. :cry Sad. Rainbow outsold this in a week, remember? xD

4 years ago. Doesn't really count since the market is different. More female/male/shemale competition. ;D

Well, Memorial Address also managed a million and it was a mini album. So yeah, Ayu's sales are getting suckier and suckier. So is Utada. *sigh* When is anything going to recover?

At least Koda has our love. :thumbsup Her stuff are getting better. I wonder how Otsuka will do. We should make a poll comparing Love Cook, Home, UB, (M)U and Second Shashin.

Fixed?~

I think Memorial Address / MY STORY were released at good dates ;D

New years isn't too much of a good day for sales anymore.. D:

Come on... Shashin sounds nicer than Session anyway. And we're keep on spelling Koda's stuff correctly here, even the downright outrageous/tongue-twisting Koi no Tsubomi.

I've listened to most of the songs on Ultra Blue and have to say that I really don't like it a lot...
Missunderstood is a great Album to me!
It includes some of my favorite songs and is just great^^
I wonder how people can dislike MU....

(M)U hands down. I'm not really fond of ultra blue. I don't know, Hikki's vocals sound really really odd, as no_doubt puts it, she's trying to sing out of her range and her vocals just slip off from under her control.

UB sounds like she's trying too hard to be original, and end up with this result which is...not that great IMO

they both have it's own style, so I like both.

UB, just change my mind :D
the flow is better in UB, while (m)u is superior in its track :yes

UB is God.

Although (miss)understood is my fav Ayu album, I prefer Ultra blue, hands down. Songs like Be my last, Kairo... They are just too good.

Ultra Blue. I liked (miss)understood too,but I prefer the old Ayu.

It's really hard to say.. the songs on m(u) are pretty even for me, in that I like most of them, some a lot. I don't dislike any, but I tend to skip In The Corner and sometimes Pride.

With UB, there's about.. one song I can't stand. But it has so many songs that I am absolutely in love with, like Be My Last, Passion and COLORS. I don't think it's out of her range, because she's sung in that range many times before UB. Actually I like her voice and vocal arrangements a lot, and over Ayu's too.

I HAVE listened to both albums and I can honestly say I prefer (miss)understood.

Although I loved ULTRA BLUE, I think it's more of a "relax by the fireplace with some hot cocoa and go to sleep" album instead of an all-around fun album that can suit any situation... ULTRA BLUE is too ballady - I kept sitting there going "OK, I really really hope the next song is a FUN one" ... but my wish was not granted x_x Also, on ULTRA BLUE I think that too many of the tracks sounded alike... on (miss)understood, almost every track is unique and stands out...

I really like (miss)understood. When I listen to a CD, I like to listen straight through, from beginning to the end. When I finish listening to (miss)understood, I feel like I've finished watching a movie or finished reading a novel. There's a better structure to this CD. I like this quality about a CD. ULTRA BLUE has some great songs, but it sounds too much like a greatest hits CD. There isn't too much variation in the songs. You can put the songs in any order and it wouldn't make a difference.

ULTRA BLUE, for sure. As individual tracks, (m)u has some good stuff. But as an album, Hikki's takes the cake. It is well put-together.

ULTRA BLUE's better.
even though i love ayu, (m)U is not an outstanding album

Ultra Blue OWNS Missunderstood!

I do love both albums and both artist did a fine job on the albums but Ultra Blue is most addictive out of the two despite her having a few older tracks.

"(miss)understood" ^_^ I do love "Ultra Blue", but "(miss)understood" is more better xD

ULTRA BLUE is better!!
No offense*

hard choice, but..i pick ULTRA BLUE.

What happened to the both option T_T? I ike both but miss was slightly better.

WoW! It wasn't easy to choose one but I picked (miss)understood. Ayu is my favourite singer. Furthermore, it was the first J-pop album I listened to and the first one I bought. However, I gotta say that ULTRA BLUE is a great album and there are many tracks in it that I love!

I pick Ultra Blue! I just love Hikki.

^My first J-album I ever thought of to buy was Exodus '04 (I should say J-English album). The first album I thought to buy of Ayumi's was Secret but at the time I wasn't a fan of buying stuff online.

@Ai: Yea...My fave track believe it or not was One Night Magic. That should have been a single and have it's on PV! That would've been nice!

^^Yes! I loooove that song! It's quite catchy!

The only problem I had with that song was that I couldn't here Masahi's voice as much as I heard Hikki's. It's like Hikki wanted to sing all the verses by herself or something. Lyric-hogger! lol

Ultra Blue like all Utada albums are way to much of an aquired taste for me. I have to be in a certain mood to be able to listen to it, where as I could easily listen to every song on M(U) at any time and enjoy it.

^ I also get that way, when comes to Ultra Blue but still I find UB more...I guess....easy-going than M(U).

missunderstood..
but is better (mister)understood,..
kwakakka

both albums are great, and they are too different to say what's better

(miss)understood is better than ultra blue

(miss)understood seems to flow more. Though i love both :D!

ULTRA BLUE is my favourite Utada album and (miss) isn't one of my Ayu favourites, but overall I still prefer listening to (miss).

Yea, it's like she's finally admitting that she is a DIVA! *snaps fingers* XD

i thought (miss) understood was waaaaaaaaaay better than ultra blue, hands down. Ultra Blue was good but (miss) understood had more songs that really stood out

ULTRA BLUE
BLUE
THIS IS LOVE
KEEP TRYIN'
NICHIYO NO ASA
COLORS
BE MY LAST
PASSION



(miss)understood
Bold&Delicious
Ladies Night
is this LOVE?
(miss)understood
alterna
Will

I choose ULTRA BLUE beacause I like more songs.

Ultra blue was so much better than (miss)understood

wow you write really well, and yeah i totally agree with everything you said

I can't choose. I love them both, and they're so stylistically different that it's not really fair to pit them against each other.

I love Ayu and Utada very much, but since I couldn't decide which album I liked more I just chose (miss)understood cuz I love Ayu more xD

Ultra Blue is much better ;]

I like (miss)understood ^^

(m)u is Ayu's best album imo. Great flow great variety and some of her best tracks ever (STEP you Will Heaven & Rainy Day). ULTRA BLUE is my personal favorite when it comes to Hikki's albums but that's probrably because all her other albums (besides Deep River) were rubbish imo.

(miss)understood

I prefer (miss)understood

ULTRA BLUE
(miss)understood isn't SOOO good for me

i love (m)u but ultra blue is good too. just for me, (m)u is more my style... :D

lol! nice decision! :yes

(miss)understood

i choose ultra blue for no reason... hehe...
i just love the song in it better than (miss)understod

It is a battle between my favorite albums of the two artists...(Though, if Memorial address counted as an album, then I wouldn't have a problem here XD)

I'm gonna go with Ultra Blue, because unlike (m)u, I dislike none of the songs on it. (Beautiful Day is not so beautiful imo) If it means anything, I haven't bought UB and do have (m)u, so it's sort of like a consolation prize for the album lol

EDIT: Shoot! Sorry, made a double post by accident ;_;

I just about despise ULTRA BLUE, although I adored Passion and all its versions. (miss)understood has a lot of musical variety (gospel, 80's pop, etc.) and songs I can listen to on repeat - it's too bad the CD cover is butt-ugly.

I might like ULTRA BLUE more if I give another complete listen, but it's still nowhere as good as (miss)understood.

I just don't like utada


so obviously I voted for (m)u.

I voted for ultra blue back in 2006 when I was in love with the album...

today...I may have voted for (m)u. It's just a completely solid album and I like every single song on it, and if i'm going to be fair, I think it wins. ULTRA BLUE is quite the experimental album...and well...I think I give it more credit because of it.

Oh No_Doubt, where are you and your sensibility and objectivity.

Passion, however, owns every song on earth :P