[Utada Hikaru] Songs of Utada Hikaru | the 51st thread

[emi♡]

lulz sure it is

The point was that, it's not like hikki just sat around and said, "ok....I think I'll have AI do Final Distance....and I think Ayu will do this........and they'll all cover songs about ME."

Her involvement probably isn't totally minimal, but it's not like it's all HER release.


You can look at other tribute albums, like the one for hide, or the more recent one for Judy and Mary. They are like celebration albums. Lots of hype around them.

[thinkingoutloud89]

Hikki said that she picked all the contributing artists..so yeah, gotcha. There is thought behind it.

[tsumekaze_]

Hikki picked ayu? UHMMMMMMM. I wonder why, maybe she wanted to put an end to all the war thing of 2000 or so?

[amorphose]

Originally Posted by tsumekaze_

Hikki picked ayu? UHMMMMMMM. I wonder why, maybe she wanted to put an end to all the war thing of 2000 or so?

That was never between the two artists personally. Just the creation of Ayu's label to try to sell lots of copies of A BEST. Hikki and Ayu have always been friendly with one another. You can see them talking and laughing together on Music Station. ^^

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Originally Posted by amorphose

That was never between the two artists personally. Just the creation of Ayu's label to try to sell lots of copies of A BEST. Hikki and Ayu have always been friendly with one another. You can see them talking and laughing together on Music Station. ^^

I hate the made up rivalries. So lame. I'm more so referring to how they do in the music scene in the US. I think the artists kinda perpetuate that though. But it's not cute to be a nasty, jealous, catty bitch. I digress. But the A BEST vs. DISTANCE seemed more like a friendly competition to me.

[ahtka-chan]

I read somewhere that Hikki wanted ayu to cover a specific song but ayu chose movin' on without you instead.

So I think when Hikki approached the artists she already had in mind which songs she thought it would be nice for them to cover.

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by ahtka-chan

I read somewhere that Hikki wanted ayu to cover a specific song but ayu chose movin' on without you instead.

So I think when Hikki approached the artists she already had in mind which songs she thought it would be nice for them to cover.

Hikki's team approached ayu. Not necessarily Hikki herself.

As was discussed already, Hikki probably didn't go "well I think I'll give this to this person and this to this person," etc. Her team might have asked if she had anyone in mind, and verified "how do you feel about xxx covering xxx?" and such, but it wasn't Hikki entirely. Her team probably did most the work and decision making.

[ahtka-chan]

Originally Posted by Zeke.

Hikki's team approached ayu. Not necessarily Hikki herself.

Who says?

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by ahtka-chan

Who says?

Originally Posted by chocopockymaster

Initially, Universal had planned for Hamasaki to cover another song, but she proposed that she record a different track.

That being said, Hikki could very well have been involved in the process, approving Ayu's song and/or making the suggestion. But I just feel it's highly unlikely that she personally called the artists themselves. She's the artist, not the business. The most logical chain of events was that Hikki's people approached Ayu's people.

[amorphose]

Ayu didn't even want to release A BEST, correct? She was forced into it by the label mostly (if not entirely) to compete with Distance.

[thinkingoutloud89]

^yes that true. glady both albums had their time to shine.
however, in the end we can see hat Hikki still just has to lift a finger to sell a song (the last strange one i cant remember the title of) whereas ayu is struggeling noedays (that said, my ayu playcount is 20x higher than hikkis lol)

[Delicious n Bold]

Someone tweet her and ask her if she knows what the process of creating the cover album was like

[visionfactory]

Originally Posted by Delicious n Bold

Someone tweet her and ask her if she knows what the process of creating the cover album was like

Utada: which album?

[CoriKaru]

The Covers. My take only having listened to the youtube previews.

Letters: First one I listened to and immediately made me appreciate Utada's composition, arrangement and production style/skills in general across all of her works so much more. When Shiina hit the chorus, I became a believer. It's where her influencw shines the most and I love it. Sounds just like her music.

Keep Tryin': Oh dear. Like.....Hatsune Miku at the end of an Anime. Song has been victimized with NO indictments. And the arrangement has lost all energy and now belongs on HEART STATION.

Sakuraドロップス:

Final Distance: Love it. And love the liberties taken. And........this is my first time listening to AI, but I thought AI was a girl this whole time.....

There's one cover I'm especially antsy to hear and review though.......

EDIT:

Found another Cover preview.

Movin' on Without You: She came in sounding like AI's brother when singing the words, "I'm Movin' On Without You," then they up pitched, auto-corrected and auto-tuned her to the point of listenability. She also played it very safe with the arrangement. Like..... they turned it into every other track remixed into some basic throw away crub hopper. Because of these things it has positioned itself directly in the middle of okay. No strong feelings. Not bad. Not good. They played it safe. Which probably was for the best. ayumi's music never sounds quite right to me. This is alright.

[hayasaki]

Isn't AI a girl? o.O I thought she's a girl all these years. XD

[Zahara]

Originally Posted by hayasaki

Isn't AI a girl? o.O I thought she's a girl all these years. XD

This is called shade.

Where are you all hearing Ayu's preview?? Did I miss a video?

[amorphose]

^I'm pretty sure it's a girl. I think he/she was being sarcastic.

[U-GO-BOY]

You can listen to a preview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Am8WLhw28

I like it but the production sounds very generic - well, it was produced by ReDone after all..

[Zahara]

Originally Posted by U-GO-BOY

You can listen to a preview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Am8WLhw28

I like it but the production sounds very generic - well, it was produced by ReDone after all..

Thanks! I actually kind of like it. I caught myself bobbing my head to it.

[bluegie]

^ That preview is in ayu's section.

I looke at the tracklist again and just realize that almost all the singles on DEEP RIVER are covered this time, with the exception of traveling (well it was covered by someone before anyways).

First Love: Automatic, time will tell, Movin' on without you

Distance: For You

DEEP RIVER: FINAL DISTANCE, Hikari, SAKURA Drops, Letters

ULTRA BLUE: Be My Last, Sanctuary, Keep Tryin'

HEART STATION: Flavor of Life, Stay Gold

I'm not really sure where to put FINAL DISTANCE tho. Technically it's a recut single from Distance, but it's in DEEP RIVER as well (since hikki felt it made the album (flow?) more complete by including the song).