[Utada Hikaru] Utada Hikaru（宇多田 ヒカル）'s Official Thread [v.19]

Originally Posted by sakidrops

ITA. Neither album compares to DEEP RIVER or Distance for that matter.

Distance is her best album for me, hands down.

Originally Posted by greggerz189

Those weren't. The album tracks are what were nearly insulting to listen to. Nijiro BASU and Celebrate were beyond lackluster. And Boku wa Kuma? What a waste. Amuro's music is quality all around lately; her PLAY album was flawless and it's album tracks were amazing. BEST FICTION is very deserving of outselling HEART STATION by millions of copies.

If you actually find Hikki's music insulting... are you even a fan? Doesn't sound like it. PLAY was a mess of an album and deserved to sell only half of what ULTRA BLUE did And what are you talking about with BEST FICTION? It's just some best album, nothing new...

Originally Posted by Zachery!

"Beautiful World" is awesome, that's the best track for me.
But I think "Stay Gold" is just ok, as with "HEART STATION".
"Prisoner of Love" is bleh and so is "Flavor of Life".
The best tracks, I think, are "TAKE 5", "Beautiful World", and "Fight the Blues". I think all the other songs are either just ok or mediocre.

Mediocre:
Kiss & Cry
Flavor of Life
Prisoner of Love

her older stuff was better.

FINAL DISTANCE, anyone?

You think POL is mediocre? And K&C? FOL?! I'm assuming you didn't like Distance or First Love much then, right?

Originally Posted by GRACE

I doubt Japan's taste in anything seriously, after seeing what Japan creates...

God damn it Japan creates the weirdest ****.

Anyway, I'd HATE for her to continue with the Heart Station style, like hate to the point of stopping listening to new things she puts out.

Japan's taste isn't bad... it's just different from Westerners. But from a Japanese perspective, most people liked HS much better, which is quite evident

Originally Posted by criminal

I love how everyone suddenly knows exactly what Japan likes.

Yeah and ULTRA BLUE and HEART STATION aren't even that far from each other. They're quite similar, in my opinion. As for quality, again, they're really similar. They both have their perks and flaws. I'm kind of inching towards HEART STATION, but even if I am, ULTRA BLUE is right next to it. D:

It's not hard to know what Japan likes since most of us here follow the charts and sales like crazy. But I agree about UB and HS not being too far apart, but for me ULTRA BLUE is so inconsistent and uneven. You've got great tracks like BLUE but then total failures like "Nichiyou no Asa." And you've got really fun, up-beat catchy tracks like "Keep Tryin'" and then the messy, boring "Kairo." HEART STATION doesn't have the peaks like UB, but it also doesn't have the horrible lows like UB.

[Mirai Noah]

I really like HEART STATION and ULTRA BLUE, but DEEP RIVER is my favorite Hikki album.

[Melon Panda]

HEART STATION's definitely got consistency. The whole album flows together the way an album ought to, but each track shines in a different way. I remember Utada once talking about the album in an interview. She said something like, "It wasn't that I was simplifying the music, but growing musically." I can't remember the exact words.

I feel like DEEP RIVER was her most mainstream album - First Love and DISTANCE were R&B-flavored, and ULTRA BLUE and HEART STATION were ethereal/synth-styled. My favorite album of hers would be HEART STATION, simply because I loved it the moment I started listening to it as an album. Before the album came out, I was sure I'd hate HEART STATION because the singles didn't appeal to me very much. They were, as many have said, boring; they just didn't stand out on their own. When I began listening to the whole album on my iPod, starting from Fight The Blues, something just clicked. I can definitely understand why some listeners despise the album, because I once felt the same way, but after listening to the album as a whole, my opinion completely changed.

(That sounded corny and way too mushy. It wasn't meant to, though.)

[xiaou-xijiang]

Originally Posted by dddaiyamondo

If you actually find Hikki's music insulting... are you even a fan?

you can still be a fan and not like an album.

Originally Posted by dddaiyamondo

You think POL is mediocre? And K&C? FOL?! I'm assuming you didn't like Distance or First Love much then, right?

what does that have to do with anything? Distance and First Love don't even compare. I thought POL and FOL was very mediocre and forgetable. K&C, First Love and Distance (the songs and the albums) are gems.

Originally Posted by dddaiyamondo

But from a Japanese perspective, most people liked HS much better, which is quite evident

you can buy the album and still not like it. lol. Does having a Japanese perspective change everyone's opinions?

[RikkuK]

Originally Posted by xiaou-xijiang

what does that have to do with anything? Distance and First Love don't even compare. I thought POL and FOL was very mediocre and forgetable.

I agree completely. POL is crappy. Even utada herself said she dumbed down the lyrics so the Japanese audience could relate more to them...ugh

But Deep River is by far the best imo

[Huaka]

Deep River is the only album I can stomach all the way through. For the most part, I don't really care for her music.

[GRACE]

^Because it's Japan's taste :3. My opinion of it is that it's a pile of crap. I adore her first four albums, I love every track on Distance and DEEP RIVER, and I love most of First Love(though, I haven't listened to it in a long time), and an EXODUS is okay too. I just don't like Heart Station. Separately, the songs are fine, but together, I just don't like it.

[Beauty4123]

to be completely honest, i've known of utada since 2003/2004 and i only ever listed to these albums: ULTRA BLUE, Exodus, DEEP RIVER, & HEART STATION. but i've heard all of her singles. either way i like the music utada puts out, and it's really far from being bad music to me. maybe i'm just an easy and casual listener. if i like a song, i like the song. i don't really try to find bad things about it. as long as it sounds good, i like it.

*will leave thread now...*

[Huaka]

Because I'm not a fan. I only listen to her music when I find something that appeals to me, which is usually very sporadic in intervals.

[GRACE]

POL sounds like FOL~episode II~, and Boku wa Kuma sounds like all the other tracks.

[Beauty4123]

i really don't think POL sounds anything like FOL (ballad). honestly. POL sounds more dramatic while FOL sounds more..calmer? and slower.

Originally Posted by GRACE

POL sounds like FOL~episode II~, and Boku wa Kuma sounds like all the other tracks.

POL is not a guitar and piano ballad... it's an up-beat R&B track that sounds more like "For You" than anything. And BWK sounds like everything? Really? K&C? Stay Gold? Have you even listened to this album, seriously?

[pommy48]

POL sounds like FOL?..lol just noticed it's POL and FOL, i think they like two different songs, i mean...they're kind of ballady, but they have two different styles to them~

Originally Posted by pommy408

POL sounds like FOL?..lol just noticed it's POL and FOL, i think they like two different songs, i mean...they're kind of ballady, but they have two different styles to them~

Seriously, they sound absolutely nothing alike. They are completely 100% different styles.

[Luv ~Venus~]

was that comment even necessary Haruka? =/ Hikki's music is the best **** that you'll ever hear and still luv for many more years. I see you'll still luv and play Simple and Clean/Hikari/all the gawddamn UB songs. >_>

As for her albums, I never remembered this many folks hate'n HS. >_> Seriously, I can't. HS is one the hottest album this year and just because she ain't 30 and sayin' garbage like, "Poppin' my body or coochie or wuteva that hell I should pop." in her songs just to young folks to like her stuff doesn't make the album bad. HS does have a amazing flow and although I think Fight the Blues wasn't a great opener for the album, it still connected well with the rest of the album. I really can't say much for BF since it's a best album but I do think she should have put TSS and VS on there and gotten rid of her most horrible songs ever created (WMWM/CSCEIS).

@Grace: Dude! Seriously! Namie's stuff is good but it ain't hot ****. The only thing that was hot from her was 60s70s80s. =/ You see that she just created to garbage songs that had craptastic PVs. O= Seriously, I hadn't been that disappointed in her since she released BDC. How that song ended up being her "comeback" single is beyond me?! O=

[Ayu_desu]

Everyone has a different perspective on things. Not everyone has to feel it any ONE way.

[pommy48]

and listening to POL and FOL, you get two different feelings
FOL, well for me i feel really sad
but for POL, i feel the courage to keep fighting, something like that

and listening to HS, i think it's the greatest album of 2008! one little album packed with so many different styles, is really amazing!

Originally Posted by Luv ~Venus~

As for her albums, I never remembered this many folks hate'n HS. >_> Seriously, I can't. HS is one the hottest album this year and just because she ain't 30 and sayin' garbage like, "Poppin' my body or coochie or wuteva that hell I should pop." in her songs just to young folks to like her stuff doesn't make the album bad. HS does have a amazing flow and although I think Fight the Blues wasn't a great opener for the album, it still connected well with the rest of the album. I really can't say much for BF since it's a best album but I do think she should have put TSS and VS on there and gotten rid of her most horrible songs ever created (WMWM/CSCEIS).

@Grace: Dude! Seriously! Namie's stuff is good but it ain't hot ****. The only thing that was hot from her was 60s70s80s. =/ You see that she just created to garbage songs that had craptastic PVs. O= Seriously, I hadn't been that disappointed in her since she released BDC. How that song ended up being her "comeback" single is beyond me?! O=

LOL thank you, Shanny, HEART STATION is amazing. And yes, some people must be so used to hearing about artists poppin' they coochies that they can't even recognize GOOD music that is written and produced by the artists. At least Hikki writes and produces her own music and doesn't sing whatever's given to her.

Originally Posted by Ayu_desu

Everyone has a different perspective on things. Not everyone has to feel it any ONE way.

True, but why do people find it necessary to come into an artist's thread and say that their album is crap or that they can't even stomach their music? That's just asking for a fight.

[Luv ~Venus~]

Originally Posted by GRACE

POL sounds like FOL~episode II~, and Boku wa Kuma sounds like all the other tracks.

Eh...don't you mean Namie?! I mean, most of the tracks thats on that best album sound the same from start to finish. All of them are upbeat.....just like her last 4 albums.

[pommy48]

i was kinda disappointed with the songs on BF, i never heard namie's past song..but basically, mostly the songs were just fast,upbeat, and i feel like listening to the same song over and over again~ i mean it's ok for a fast,upbeat songs, but it's a best of album...does that mean namie have no ballads! only like 2 on the whole album

at least with hikki, she gives variety