Utada Hikaru

[sweetsmile]

^ I agree, but her album isn't that bad ^^

I actually really like Prisoner of Love and Take 5; the other new songs, I think I just need to keep listening to them to get used to the tunes.

[Guest amydien]

Whaaaa? New album out already? When was it released? (I havent been updated on Hikki's career lately..)

Yessss.....another addition to my Hikki album collection!

I hope it's a good album. Ultra Blue wasnt so bad, although I didnt like her duet with Yamada Masashi (One Night Magic).

[sweetsmile]

^ It will be released on Wednesday, the 19th.

It's already out on JPOPSUKI though >.<

[Guest Raw Sugar]

Is her album called Heart Station as well? I've seen it around, but I always thought it was the single. :/

[butterflyeffect]

^ Yup, her album is called Heart Station.

The single is Heart Station/Stay Gold. ^^

Heart Station is really starting to grow on me~

[Guest kongo89]

First post on this forum, and of course it's dedicated to the wonderful and talented Hikki~!

HEART STATION is undoubtedly her best album since DEEP RIVER, none of the singles or even non-singles disappointed me as much as ULTRA BLUE's tracks. I mean, all the tracks off of HS are very repeatable material, whereas...I don't even listen to much of UB, except for the lead singles lol.

My favorite songs off of HS are "Fight the Blues," "Take 5" and "Prisoner of Love."

I love the whole aesthetically dreamy theme of the album, it definitely brings me to another realm in a way.

Looking forward to her getting awarded her SIXTH Golden Disc for 'Album of the Year' and breaking more records.

I certainly hope that the sales reflect the beauty and enthusiasm of this album. Do you guys think she'll be able to achieve another #1 album on the year-end chart? It would be great for her to land back on the spot she deserves ever so much, it has been almost like a second home to her lol. Just two more days until we see numbers, yay!

[Guest littlemisssunsunshine]

i love utada. shes so talented.. i dont think theres a song that i dont like. my favourite femal j-artist for sure.

[Guest simplirain]

Fight The Blues: LOVE this song when I first heard it. It's an ear drug, I swear. The synth and the way the song flow is just amazing. One of the best songs on the album.

HEART STATION: This song is kinda repetivve but it's alright. i still ike it. xD The lyrics are nice haha.

Beautiful World: Another synth-type song! Yay!! Love the piano in this one.

Flavor of Life: Mehh. This song was cool when it was release as a single but now it's just old. And someone I would prefer if the ballad version would be placed as the bonus track.

Stay Gold: LOVE this track. The piano and tune just fits in perfectly.

Kiss & Cry:Really not feeling this track. The trumpet in the intro throws me off =/

Gentle Beast Interlude: Lol this has got to be the weirded interlude Hikki has ever made. It sounds like a bunch of materical mix in together.

Celebrate: I love the beat! Very addictive when I first heard it. The 'OW" in the middle was awesome. x]

Prisoner of Love: I have high hopes for this song because of the title xD

But the whole track disappoint me. It was really dull and bland. And it gives of this Distance feel to me. A part of the chorus reminds me of Wonder 'Bout for some reason. =/

EDIT: the only part i like about this song is the english lines.

Take 5: This song is GOD. Everything in there was good, with the backup vocals, the synth and the arrangement. But one thing that pissed me off is how it stop so SUDDENLY. I know how it deals about death and all but come on, the song can end SO MUCH better than that.

Boku Wa Kuma: I was hoping she won't place this song on the album but she did! Argh. I don't get how Take 5 (which is about death) suddenly goes to, "I am a bear, I am a bear....I must be chocolate in my last life."

Rainbow Bus: It's a really cute song haha. One of thsoe songs where I can sing along while doing my hw or whatever.

Besides the weird tracklisting and the abrupt ending for Take 5. I love the album. It's very refreshing and soothing to listen to.

As for Hikki next english album, I just hope she knows what she's doing.

She was too crazy with Exodus.

[Guest Raw Sugar]

^ Wow, such a thorough analysis. I thought my file was just messed for Take 5, I didn't know the abrupt ending was intended. Hikki is so creative.

I gave the album a few listens. For some reason, everytime the album plays up to the interlude, after that, I get tired of the album. I don't know if it's because the first part of the album was all her A-sides so I find them more listenable and something I can sing along to. I can honestly say I love almost every single track up until the interlude so I'm just going to give my opinion of the tracks after the interlude. Celebrate is starting to grow on me, it gets kinda catchy. I thought Prisoner of Love was going to be one of her best tracks on the album, I was hoping for something more along the lines of Flavour of Life. I liked the beginning of the song, before the music starts playing and the part in the middle when theres no music. It's probably the beat that ruined the song, its just such a typical beat, nothing special. Take 5 doesn't do anything for me neither. I think the abrupt ending, if that's how the song is suppose to be anyways, must have imply the abrupt ending to life maybe (since the song is about death right?). The only thing I feel about this track is that it proves Hikki is original, way to end a track. Rainbow Bus, I like the "wooahh, waaah" part, so catchy. I don't particularly like this song like I do her A-sides but I feel this was a good way to end her album. It's very cheery and happy.

Okay, I realized Fight the Blues was not an A-side so I'll just say, I didn't like the song when I previewed it, but now I definitely think it's one of the best tracks. I love it. (:

Overall, the album was enjoyable. I hope the rest of the tracks will grow on me. One thing I'm really gona complain about is the cover. I wish she'd stop doing head shots for covers. ):

[Guest she-smiles]

she rocks.

that's as simple as i can put it.

[Guest sikhye]

Her new album sucks

I'm going to puke.

Lazy fatso.

[Guest kongo89]

^ Well...I'm glad you put that as constructively as you can .

It has received great reviews from critics thus far, so every person to his/her own.

As for "Prisoner of Love," I do agree that the beats are a bit bland and the strings are quite predictable, but I really like it. I'm a sucker for Hikki ballads, so it shouldn't be a surprise . My favorite part of the song is "Stay with me...Stay with me..."

[Guest sikhye]

Obsessed Utada fans love it and say it's her best album yet.

Neutral J-Pop fans say it's her worst album yet.

I'm an obssessed Utada fan yet I say it's her worst album next to Precious. Lately, she's been releasing crappy promotions and giving horrible performances. Yet, she probably knows she'll get high sales and praise all because she is Utada Hikaru. If she has time to write stupid blogs about her stuffed teddy bear, I'm sure she has time to release high quality songs- NOT CRAP THAT SOUNDS LIKE A BUNCH OF DEMOS.

If she continues to do this, I hope biased Hikki fans will realize this soon. She deserves crappy reception because she is only giving us stuff straight from her richard simmons right now. Hopefully it's because she lost passion to continue on in the J-Pop music industry and wants to hit in big in America. If not, she'll fall. She only lives in the industry because of good music- she's not a good singer, she's a horrible entertainer and she is no personality.

[sweetsmile]

^ As much as I love Utada Hikaru, I have to agree with you about this album not being as good... and I'm also a big Utada Hikaru fan T^T

Her last album Ultra Blue was really good, so I guess I expected more from her.... I mean, I'll still listen to her new songs and all, but I don't think I'll be as obsessed with them, as I used to be with her old songs.

Her sales are going down anyways >.<

idk Ray... I still think she's a good singer, and yeah, her performances these days were .. but it's not her fault since she damaged her vocal chords or something, right? And maybe she's concentrating more on her English album right now?

I'm surprised you can say such things when you're actually an obsessed fan -__-;;

[Guest kongo89]

Once again, every person to his/her own. Whether YOU like it or not, it's not like you have the credentials to say exactly what is "high-quality" or not (I'd rather take the word of professional critics who have been in the industry much longer than some member of Soompi who simply isn't happy). I think it's better than "UB," and although I do agree that she's not exactly the biggest, most exciting artist out there, but...Uhhhh...When was she ever an entertainer to begin with?

When it came down to performances and promotion, she has always been one to do whatever she could just to keep her career going. I am a big fan as well, and I criticize many of my favorite artists as well, but you're so overly-dramatic about the whole situation. Fans complain about her not releasing songs fast enough, and then when she churns something out quicker than usual, they complain about her not spending enough time to master each track. I am not a big fan of the electronic, synth-y style, but whatever. Her lyrics are still top-notch and at least she is still making her own music instead of turning to a production team.

Yeah, that's it...Let's just form and mold her into another Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda Kumi or BoA. Dance for us Utada, construct elaborate concerts and rainbow yourself out just to make bored fans happy! Grab a makeup artist, a promotional team, a team of producers, an acting coach, a stylist; Utada Hikaru, you are no longer your own person !

[Sk00p]

Other then the rest that we already know; i think Fight The Blues, Take 5 and Celebrate stand out!

Nice album..

[Guest simplirain]

Omg. I'm addicted to Celebrate and PoL right now.

Sexi Lady. <333

[Guest Aiwei]

I'm an obssessed Utada fan yet I say it's her worst album next to Precious. Lately, she's been releasing crappy promotions and giving horrible performances. Yet, she probably knows she'll get high sales and praise all because she is Utada Hikaru. If she has time to write stupid blogs about her stuffed teddy bear, I'm sure she has time to release high quality songs- NOT CRAP THAT SOUNDS LIKE A BUNCH OF DEMOS.

If she continues to do this, I hope biased Hikki fans will realize this soon. She deserves crappy reception because she is only giving us stuff straight from her richard simmons right now. Hopefully it's because she lost passion to continue on in the J-Pop music industry and wants to hit in big in America. If not, she'll fall. She only lives in the industry because of good music- she's not a good singer, she's a horrible entertainer and she is no personality.

I don't think that's her worst album

and you might think that precious was her worst album but do you know how young she was when she composed and wrote those songs?

If you really did read her blog, you should know that she was working like day and night on this album, and posting on her blog was a way for her to rest

so many hikki fans said that she's just interessed in money so she wants to make it big in US, but actually she's really wealthy, I don't think she will bother to make an album, to work so hard on it and so on just to make money, she wants to be recognized for her music by more people and she feels that she's more american than japanese, so that's why she wants to be recognized there. Afterall, she has grown up more in the US than in Japan.

as for her personnality, everbody has its own point of view

yes you're right, she's not an entertainer at all but she doesn't need useless things, just her music so YES I'm really happy that she's not an entertainer

Overall, I think I was a little deceived by this album... It was good but I expected more... however some songs are really good (stay gold, take 5,...). Just don't really like celebrate, a little too marketable

My most favorite album was Ultra Blue

Her old albums were good too but the kind was a little too R&B, a little too marketable (even if she did really great songs like first love, deep river, final distance which is by far my fav song,... )

Looking forward to her sales! I hope she will do well ^^ !

[Guest trashstar]

i'm still going to buy her new album despite bad reviews

besides i think people shouldn't be THAT hard on her. i mean many artists don't even write their own songs o.O

[Applemintz]

Even though lots of people didnt like Ultra Blue, it was my fav album from her so far .. as I havnt had the chance to listen to Heart Station yet ^^;;

I really hope the new album will be up to my expectations~~

I wonder when will they release this album in my place so that I can get it >_<

- edit -

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