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Volume XLVIII: The Return of the Queen
Keep talkin.
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/4...kithread40.gif http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/2...abiography.gif Spoiler:
http://i1068.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3766a0ac.gif Spoiler:
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/3...iscography.gif *Numbers reflect peak positions on the Oricon Weekly Album/Singles Charts. Info provided by Jpop Stop Wiki. Japanese Discography Spoiler:
US Discography (as Utada) Spoiler:
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/3874/utadaawards.gif Spoiler:
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At first I was like "Da Fuq" with that title, but it is kind of different, not obvious, and has some weight to it. Even if you don't know what that number is.
And just reading anything with "The Return Of....." when referencing Utada gets me excited so I will let this title pass with no resistance. |
What a wonderfully informative first post.
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Farts on this thread title.
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Utada the Queen
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is she coming back?
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@Polyrhythm: If you could at least link the last thread in the first post, that'd be good. The last first post was excellent. |
I love how Polyrhythm did for the first post.. LOL.
Man I really hope she'll release something new this year... |
at least we have sakura nagashi.
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I was just listening to her discography the other day and it made me miss her so much :(.
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No point in making the first post informative....nothing's really happening anyway. Recycled.
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Does anyone here think that hikki's career 'truly began' with deep river?
dont get me wrong, i love the 1st 4 songs of first love + time will tell and the first three songs of distance + time limit. but, you know, once she starts sounding like she's taken drugs, everything gets better. |
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I think when it came to experimenting the sound and lyrics, she definitely grew for that album. Even her image changed.
I know hikki drinks like a fish, but I don't know about drugs. It would make a lot of sense if she was a pot head lol. |
I may have gone too far with my simile
But... Stuff like Sakura drops and colours. Her music became 'fuller', more substance. Deep river onward fills you up. TITO is arguable I think. |
I feel like all these convos are just rehashed crap that people keep poking at to keep this thread alive to distract from the fact UTADA HIKARU does not seem to be interested in the Music Industry any longer.
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Did they make her make Sakura Nagashi at gunpoint? XD
"MAKE MUSIC OR THE BEAR GETS IT NEXT!" |
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Anyways. A lot of people have kind of a meh debut album. Exception of very few. Honestly, I don't even think First Love is in my media player. ...Oh no, there it is. It's just not in my playlist. The songs are too R&B raw for me these days. The interesting thing about hikki for me though, is that I felt that she progressed well with every album. Even the style changed, she still had quality. That's nice. TITO is...on it's own. |
I know it sounds meh, but my love for hikki grew more when she started
creating those epic ethereal songs! I feel like in heaven when I first heard Take 5. |
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@conversation: I tentatively agree that Hikki finally reached her comfort zone, music-wise, when she started being more pop-experimental. She found what really suited her voice and style, and became a really unique artist. Not that her RnB stuff isn't great, but it didn't make her stand out from the crowd to me. |
I remember "Sakura DROPS" being one of the first Japanese songs I had heard and one of the first Japanese Music Videos I had seen and thought, "Wow. So this is what Japanese music looks and sounds like then."
Then I listened and watched some more stuff from other artists and realized no. That was just Utada's uniqueness and nobody else sounded like her or her music or was making music videos like she was. Everyone else was just as dry and thirsty as anything else anywhere else. I've told this story before but it warranted repeating. |
That's how I feel about Deep River onward and early Ayu. Now look at them. Hikki is scared that she'll die if she writes another song and Ayu is having nostalgia trips (not that it's BAD, but...)
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Still booty poppin' all day to On and On and Dirty Desire though
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Anyone listened to her radio program?
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But........ I thought she was coming back
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Only in the minds of the delusional.
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it's so nice to hear her voice again.
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Yes!!!! and hikki mentioned that she kinda want to make a cover album because she was inspired with Anthony and the Jackson's cover of Crazy in LOVE (Beyonce). I like the show for the fact that she introduces us the songs she love and I can sense how her musicality has been shaped because of them. And God! As much as i love her singing voice, iM in love with her talking voice. There's this kind of calmness and intelligence with it.
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I miss the old regulars that use to post Heavily in the Utada threads when I first got here. They were as rabid as the ayumistans. 1 or 2 of them even got banned but 1 came back trying to hide their identity. The drama. 1 even forced my original Utada signature onto me because they were annoyed that I didn't have one.
Now I feel old and alone. Like ayumi. |
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And where did my comments go? What's with these pig admin?
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So anyone know where I can download Hikki's singles? Somewhere that doesn't involve 4shared.
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"The return of" ??????
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I am sorely disappointed...Someone needs to change the title of the thread :thud
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It should be a name along the lines of 'she can keep a secret'
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Old man utada is still insisting that In The Flesh is getting realsed as of 30 mins ago on twitter.
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We are all big boys and girls in here. The Thread title is fine.
And as far as I am concerned, she just released a 1 off Single out of nowhere some months ago and TECHNICALLY that was a return. Then she re-turned right back around and said, "peace", to your tears. Then she returned with her Radio Show just the other day. A Single. A Radio Show. Utada came back people and she said ,"Hey". I hope you waved back. Rude. |
Oh God that thread title is misleading, lol. XD I was getting excited for nothing! 8D
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I never thought of her as a queen, she was definitely different from Ayu, Kumi or Namie, just like Otsuka Ai is different, I like many of her songs but I never felt the hype, a pity she's not active though.
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^I guess she's queen in terms of sale and numbers because Utada definitely owns all three of them in that department.
I regret not going to ITF when she came to new York. It was mainly cause I didn't wanna go alone. If it was me now that im older and wiser (lol) I'd have no shame. |
I never thought of her as a Queen...
More like the All Powerful Wizard who'd never want that title. |
Thread title almost gave me a heart attack. LMAO
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Title was supposed to be a literary reference. Guess no one got it.
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I think she's more like a national representative or symbol in Japan. It's like she's not always the most popular artists in particular eras, but whenever you talk about hikki in Japan, >80% people will think she's great blah blah blah... |
I was going through Utada songs today to update the iPod here at my movie theater (English songs) and when I got to This Is The One I was dying over how terrible that album is. I mean, how can we even take it seriously, lol. I was like "Well I think F.Y.I wasn't terrible" and I couldn't get over the lyrics "call me... you know my number" lol.
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People took Exodus seriously....that album makes TITO look like a minor offense tbh...
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Apple and Cinnamon > entire TITO album
Minus the awful bridge in that song dear Lord |
This Is The One legit notables:
"This Is The One (Crying Like A Child)" "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI" "Apple and Cinnamon" "Come Back To Me" "On And On" "H is Silent" |
I didn't feel like her lyrics were a sell out.
I don't think she really tried to cater to the American market with it either. Cause um, that's not how you cater to the American market lol She was just, being herself. And she's weird. She is a part of our culture too, as much as she might seem "oh so japanese" to people. |
I personally loved This Is the One. I definitely sensed the quirkiness of it the first time I listened to it but I didn't feel like it was out of place. It felt like she was definitely being herself (yes, even with On and On). It felt like it was an album she had fun making and was able to let loose while doing so, which is why the album is a bit odd (for Hikki's case at least) as a result.
@zahara: Mosh pit? At a Hikki concert? I guess New Yorkers will be New Yorkers... I'm glad you enjoyed it. :) |
Well you guys can continue to love it but I really didn't know how bad it was (in my opinion) until I was going through it today. I'm like "Really?? This One is the only one I can tolerate??" In my memory I thought for the most part I felt the album was just kind of boring but on replay I realized it was just dreadful. Like, downright embarrassing for me, lol. If I had no idea who she was and without complete bias from any of her previous works and I heard this album I would probably play it for all my friends and say "Listen to this awful album I discovered, you will die!" Lol.
I thought it was mentioned that she let the producers handle the second album to really try and push through the American market. I could swear she decided to give up control of the second album in order to garner more success than the first. I think Exodus has hints of Hikki in it and at least is somewhat recognizable as her work, but for TITO I can't even believe it's the same artist who made such great songs as Keep Tryin', Be My Last, This Is Love, Take 5, etc. |
The Album was an obligation. She honestly didn't even look happy to be promoting it in some instances.
She did look like she had fun at the Sephora meet and Greets though. |
One thing I definitely hate about it is the cover... It's just so wrong.
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I think, I liked her compositions...I think lol iirc they were alright for pop/r&B comps, but the arrangements were so simple...they were a bit lacking.
Personally, it reminded me a bit of her earlier R&B, like automatic. They're very simple to me, and not very "full". I feel like she was alright at it, but she didn't start to shine for me until she came out with the ethereal stuff. Even with hikari, I loved the planitb remix more than the actual song. I didn't love love her until Ultra Blue, and it's still my favorite, and imo, her best work. TITO is kinda....I just sorta sweep it aside. People ask me about hikki? Hikki = Ultra Blue :evillaugh That other album? Oh yeah...that was just...this thing she did. You kinda have to be a die hard fan to "get it". Like Ayu's Party Queen... @jean-baptiste: that cover. It-that-shall-not-be-named. The You-know-which. ok im done. |
It's not about TITO being amazing or so deserving of love....TITO was a crappy mess in its own way....it's just that Exodus was so utterly horrendous that anything would be an improvement...
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There are songs on Exodus that prevent it from being "horrendous."
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There were few songs on Exodus I like pretty much but with TITO I never even knew I had such album on my HDD, I always listen to everything I get so it must have been pretty ugly but I'll try it again today out of curiosity.
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Seeing YMMWTBAM and Kremlin Dusk live changed my opinion on those songs forever.
I do like her Tippy Toe song...cause...yeah lol |
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I wonder if she rehearsed the live stage versions to sound like that or if it was all pure ad-libbing |
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I actually really like Exodus... More than TITO... I'm not even a die-hard Hikki fan! ...or am I? Maybe I just have extremely bad taste. The only thing I didn't like about Exodus was that a few songs towards the end had awkward lyrics. It just didn't flow lyrically. But I loved that album. |
TITO conversation is here again? Cool. I like that album, especially all those R&B ballads. They're great♥
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Even with the songs that were jems on both Exodus and TITO.. those albums are like swept under the rug. Until reading the last couple pages, I actually forgot those albums exist or that I own them. For the most part, I wouldn't say they are horrendous as one said previous. I don't mind the albums, I don't think its as bad as some people feel because the occasional listen can be enjoyable! But both Exodus and TITO are definitely not on Hikki's top five best albums.
I got a chance to listen to Kuma Power Hour, it was great to hear her voice and I really liked the show. I was surprised by Patsy Cline on her playlist! I didn't know Hikki listens to old country. Crazy in Love cover was amazing and I would just love if Hikki did do a cover album like she mentioned. (Wishful thinking, but ultimately I'd prefer new work.) I'd like to see her interpretations of songs. Would they get ethereal? Oh, and I never bothered to listen to her mom's work and I was happy she did play one song from her after Patsy Cline's song. I don't listen to much Enka but it was interesting. Would be nice if she made Kuma Power Hour twice a month... once a month is just so... little. |
@ drdolce: At least I'm not completely alone. :D
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Tito is the epitome of bad music
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^How long have you been gone from this forum? Did you completely skip over the Party Queen era or something?
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It's funny how every now and then people start talking and comparing TiTO and Exodus.
I love Exodus, wish Hikki would release a Vol. 2 of that. TiTO is a good album but I barely listen to it nowadays, but in my opinion, it's better than half of all those crap american artists have been releasing lately. |
I find myself enjoying her first collection album over and over. Mostly the end. I miss the TRAVELING hikki. lol
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Can you keep a secret > all other of her R&B stuff
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I like these conversations about hikki's best/worst works. Hearing everyone's opinions gives me a reason to go and listen to a particular work and appreciate it in a new way.
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omg was eating at a Japanese food place and they were playing Automatic, First Love, Come Back to Me, COLORS, and Can You Keep A Secret?
CYKAS? is the longest song I have ever heard btw, that song lasts four-hundred years. |
Traveling > everything except like Final Distance and maybe Sakura Drops, and Hikari
Up until Ultra Blue :P |
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And I think everyone needs to give "Tokyo Nights" just a little bit more reverence. |
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Who doesn't like Tokyo Nights.
A.S.A.P. gives me chills. |
Omg Tokyo Nights, Hikari, Sakura Drops, Letters and Colors all get me every time. She has so many that I never skip when they come up on my ipod. CYKAS is sooo long but it was what first made me fall for hikki next to hikari and fly me to the moon actually loool the old days.
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Can you keep a secret has a special place in my heart since it was the first Utada song I heard. They were playing parts of it while interviewing her on CNN back when the song came out. I remember being very confused by her flawless English haha
If it didn't have that special place I would probably not like the song because I totally hate the transition from the super catchy chorus to the slow and boring verses. |
I remember reading A LONG TIME AGO that being an otaku meant listening to Utada. I dont know why, but that fact is getting me pumped to listen to all her stuff in 'preparation' for Anime North. So weird. I havent even watched an anime all year. Like, a full episode.
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Really? I don't know why that would be the case. I mean I liked simple and clean and all but always found the song odd lyrically. Also, If I had gone back and listened to First love when I first got into Utada I probably never would've liked her. Thankfully I skipped over it.
Anime North eh? Haven't gone since like '07. Too bad we cant get any corporate sponsors like they do in the US and get real Japanese singers or seiyuu. |
It was some otaku test checklist thing. Odd days.
I wonder if there will be any Utada related stuff at AN. I remember seeing Taiwanese press Ultra Blue and Heart Station. UGLIEST THINGS EVER. Now I will only ever buy Japanese press unless I don't care about the artist or album in general (A Classical). |
HMV carries Ultrablue though!
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Only in Calgary I think :P
They're sold out everywhere... |
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I can't believe there's so much hate for Exodus and TiTO. Both of those albums are superior to First Love & HEART STATION, imo.
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I absolutely agree with liking Exodus and TITO more than First Love. More than HEART STATION though... I'll have to think about that.
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I always viewed HEART STATION as a concept album, it's one of my favorites because of how it flows.
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HEART STATION does flow very well, but it was the only album she's released that had to grow on me. Take 5 is great, but I don't think it beats many of the tracks from DR or UB.
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I don't compare her english albums to japanese because I feel that they are way too different.
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There are elements of that song that just make me melt. |
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bye but no seriously, HEART STATION is much better than Exodus and TiTO. Although I don't like comparing her English stuff to her Japanese stuff. |
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