[Utada Hikaru] 59th Thread: New best-of album, SCIENCE FICTION (2024)

[mi|kshake]

OMG the Deep River & Ultra Blue PVs are tiny!

[KLJames]

omg, "traveling" new ver sound so good in her latest CM...


『綾鷹 meets 宇多田ヒカル ‘traveling’』スペシャルムービー
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmeIXhK4c1U

[thinkingoutloud89]

album is already out.

[bluegie]

Listening now on apple music (bought it at cdjapan but will not open the album anyway)...

Hikari... interesting... sound like Donkey Kong music..

Originally Posted by mi|kshake

OMG the Deep River & Ultra Blue PVs are tiny!

I hate that they turned all pvs into 4:3 format. Why did they do that? The original ones were 16:9...

[minkAYuko]

Originally Posted by bluegie

Hikari... interesting... sound like Donkey Kong music..

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I read this and had to run and listen to it and IT DOES SOUND LIKE DONKEY KONG MUSIC I'm really laughing!!!

Love it tho!! very underwater stage!

[bluegie]

Oh yeah it does sound like underwater stage as well lol.

I actually like re-recordings (probably except ATY). She managed to give modern vibes to Hikari and traveling. Gotta listen to those 202X Mixes and see if they do good or bad to those classics .

[voltron]

While I appreciate new takes on material in general, Deep River is a masterpiece of an album and I'd really like for her to not touch and ruin anything else from it. The new version of Traveling is...not good. Ultra Blue and Heart Station are full of duds she can mess with as much as she'd like.

Edit: Listening to the album, the new mixes are fine. But the re-recordings are a no. Hikari is also...rough.

[brener]

Debuted with over 100k copies on Oricon Daily Albums

i actually enjoyed very much the new versions, i believe it doesnt ruin the old material, and you can still listen to the old ones ^^

[thinkingoutloud89]

I'm not the biggest Utada Stan. It took my a lot of time to get into their discography and it was a slow process to find a liking to everything they put out, that said rewatching the TVs I came to a realization that I already had some time ago: Utadas Music, whille always a testament to its time and Utadas personal circumstances, never sounds outdated like a lot of their peers music. Utadas discography is also one of the few enigmas in the J-Pop landscape, putting out rather crafted bodies of work with only a very few overall (compared to the average "female" J-Pop singer).

SCIENCE FICTION is what it is, a rather bland Best-of like the last few Single Collections. Utadas music never was fancy for the most part and I guess that's what the charm is (and the reason for what I stated above).

I do think the new mixes are superior to its originals. The sound quality is so good. These new versions just made me realize how much of Utadas vocals are muffled in its original and the addition of new instruments (or maybe just a polish of what was there?!) really makes them fuller.

As for the re-recordings: they are exactly what I would expect from a "2024" Version of those songs, and for that matter they are rather clever. Compared to Namies rerecordings or even Taylor Swifts, who are just vocally updated versions of their originals, Utadas are more of a self-cover. If we never knew these songs, we wouldn''t question them at all.

For that matter I can't share the sentiment of "ruining" older works. Firstly, those are Utadas Songs, and if they don't feel consent with those versions anymore, they are free to alter them to their liking. It is, as a matter of fact, what most artist do during live shows if they have an extended career anyways. Other than that tho, they are not taking away your memories with the originals. Especially in our day and age, where music is this readily available, you are free to chose what to listen to - and in this case which version.

I enjoy the updated version of traveling a lot. Do I think it's better than its original? - probably not. But I like the freshness of it and it brings me new memories I enjoy.

[voltron]

Yes, I'm well aware that the original versions will always be there for me to enjoy. My hope is that these new and lackluster versions don't become a staple for them. Personally, I find that they take away from the greatness of the original works instead of add something new. It's not that I ever expected they would be better than the original, but I feel like they don't add anything worthwhile - and I think their vocals sound really rough. Particularly in Hikari there are parts where they could've benefitted from changing the key or doing something more drastically different. Not to make an Ayu x Hikki "competition," but I think of the 10th anniversary re-recordings - while I don't like them better than the originals, they added some new color and flavor that I can appreciate as their own thing. I just wish the Hikki songs did the same for me.

Obviously most everyone here disagrees and really likes them, and I think that's great for you all. For me, it's just disappointing. Maybe "ruin" is being taken too literally when I say it, and again I do appreciate the idea behind it all, the execution just feels poor and unnecessary.

[thinkingoutloud89]

Hmm I don't see why it should add something, as enhancing the song is not the main goal. Something I already pointed out. It is simply a different version. traveling has updated vocals and a fresh sound, which I fairly enjoy. Hikari is like a different remix, not even really comparable to the original and it shouldn't be, since it is a version its its own. I also enjoy this new take for what it is and it certainly is what you call "a new color and flavor" that you simply don't seem to enjoy. Which is also okay, but it does not take away from the fact that it is exactly what you seek. Lastly I don't think they are "poor" since this album is sonically one of the strongest Utada albums, as everything sounds polished and clear.

[KLJames]

done listening to the whole <SCIENCE FICTION>, and i love it!
"Goodbye Happiness" and "traveling" are my top 2 fav!

[KLJames]

Hikaru Utada - First Love (CDTV LIVE . LIVE)
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKVOF1ufnvM