[Miliyah Kato] invites you to embrace LIBERTY in thread #7

[Toniayu123]

Originally Posted by Warren

This makes me so happy, that she brought you in as a fan because of this album. It really shows how powerful this album is!

P.S I was reading that you read Miliyah's book "UGLY" I know you didn't love it but did you manage to find it in English or can you read Japanese? I really I want to read all her books! Hopefully I'll find them in English. Or it's back to Japanese lessons

The book is only available in japanese...you should go back to japanese lessons haha I can help you with anything you need

Originally Posted by chocopockymaster

The only thing keeping LIBERTY from being practically perfect in every way is Piece of Cake. That "song" makes my ears bleed.

I have to agree on that.

[thinkingoutloud89]

I love PoC. Dont get the hate.

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Toniayu123

The book is only available in japanese...you should go back to japanese lessons haha I can help you with anything you need

You're so sweet! Maybe I'll make that a priority one day. Would make life so much better, easier and interesting. I used to be bilingual speaking Afrikaans fluently but my parents didn't continue it when we moved to Australia -_-

Originally Posted by thinkingoutloud89

I love PoC. Dont get the hate.

I honestly feel a big part of it is the intense intro. Throws people negatively. I'm still not a fan of the track. But It's grown on me a hell of a lot compared to last year. She did a really good job on the song live. I like when she belts "Ai wo sakebou". I also love the Mexican day of the dead theme she had towards the end of the concert. I love Mexico!

Also the video for the song is f***ing awesome. That made me appreciate the song way more. It's a pretty epic video to be honest.

I still don't feel the song is single worthy. But I'm happy in a way because It was because it's easily one of my favourite music videos of all time. Miliyah looks beyond stunning & sublime. I also love the American feel I got from it. It reminded me of the movie Duets. Really chill nightlife American vibe

Maybe that's why people aren't feeling it, It's not Japanese enough! It's not a smooth song like a majority of LIBERTY too.

[Chiharo]

I love POC. Sure, it's not the best song on the album or overly memorable - but I love how emotionally intense it is. And the "screaming" really helps to convey that. It's just a very intense song, but it's also catchy.

I've also been disappointed in albums released this year, and don't feel nearly as excited for Utopia as I did for LIBERTY. But oh well, I still hope it will be a good album.

[280301]

Hm. No previews yet? I'm eagerly anticipating how this album is going to sound in contrast to LIBERTY. I haven't been too interested in the singles released in the past year, but 'Utopia' in its name sounds like it could well be a sequel to LIBERTY.

I recently started listening to Lipstick, BABYLON and MIRROR MIRROR again on high rotation, and ugh. They're so great.

[Chiharo]

It seems there's Utopia and Eien (the songs) available on iTunes?

[280301]

Originally Posted by Chiharo

It seems there's Utopia and Eien (the songs) available on iTunes?

I listened to the previews (only around 30 seconds each) on mora. Utopia I quite like so far, it's easy listening. 永遠 is a bit cutesy and...christmas-ie? (the bells give me a winter vibe), but I'm a sucker for cheese so I'll probably like it in the future. 旅人 seems somewhat forgettable, a typical acoustic track in the vein that Miliyah typically releases, BUT as I haven't heard the majority by any means, I'm going to reserve judgement for now.

Overall, those snippets were quite promising. Unfortunately I cannot access Japanese iTunes. :/

http://mora.jp/artist/572/

[freedreamer]

I saw lots of promo for How Far I'll Go while I was in JP last week. Was so happy she's singing the theme song

[Chiharo]

Originally Posted by 280301

I listened to the previews (only around 30 seconds each) on mora. Utopia I quite like so far, it's easy listening. 永遠 is a bit cutesy and...christmas-ie? (the bells give me a winter vibe), but I'm a sucker for cheese so I'll probably like it in the future. 旅人 seems somewhat forgettable, a typical acoustic track in the vein that Miliyah typically releases, BUT as I haven't heard the majority by any means, I'm going to reserve judgement for now.

Overall, those snippets were quite promising. Unfortunately I cannot access Japanese iTunes. :/

http://mora.jp/artist/572/

Thanks.

Wow, I think this album is really going to be disappointing based on these previews and the singles. So far all of the new songs sound boring. I'm kind of glad I didn't pre-order this. To be honest, she did release one of the best albums last year - but even without that fact I'd still be pretty disappointed in all these previews and singles, just the overall direction the album seems to be going.

[Toniayu123]

I'm going to pretend 永遠 doesn't exist and I never listened to it.
Yup, this album seems to be disappointing from the singles and previews so far, hope I'm wrong and I like the rest.

[Chiharo]

Originally Posted by Toniayu123

I'm going to pretend 永遠 doesn't exist and I never listened to it.
Yup, this album seems to be disappointing from the singles and previews so far, hope I'm wrong and I like the rest.

Lol, I know how you feel. I certainly don't like the sound of it and I didn't expect a song like that at all.

But I hope for the other songs to be good or that these previews will turn out better in full.

[280301]

I find Miliyah so interesting as an artist. I feel she has much musical integrity in that she tries different sounds and genres often and they all feel like Miliyah tracks, so I really hope that this album contains a few more upbeat tracks than ballads because I tend to enjoy them more...I think that is what disappointed me about the singles, they are all ballads and Miliyah has released so many in the last decade. LIBERTY was so fresh and was a welcome depature from ballad fests like TRUE LOVERS and LOVELAND.

That said, what concerns me is this lack of promotion? She has an album coming out in less than a week and her social media profiles are still focused on promoting How Far I'll Go. I understand why, it is a pretty big promo, but it has been a month! The album needs to be promoted in conjunction with it.

[freedreamer]

Originally Posted by 280301

I find Miliyah so interesting as an artist. I feel she has much musical integrity in that she tries different sounds and genres often and they all feel like Miliyah tracks, so I really hope that this album contains a few more upbeat tracks than ballads because I tend to enjoy them more...I think that is what disappointed me about the singles, they are all ballads and Miliyah has released so many in the last decade. LIBERTY was so fresh and was a welcome depature from ballad fests like TRUE LOVERS and LOVELAND.

That said, what concerns me is this lack of promotion? She has an album coming out in less than a week and her social media profiles are still focused on promoting How Far I'll Go. I understand why, it is a pretty big promo, but it has been a month! The album needs to be promoted in conjunction with it.

the CM for that is all over Shibuya from time to time and on TV in Tokyo LOL last week. I didnt even know she had an album until I came back to the forum

[tenshi no hane]

I'm not a fan of 永遠 either, but I like the other two. And I'm still in love with How Far I'll Go

I really like Utopia's lyrics, so I made a quick translation. If anyone's interested:

Utopia (lyrics translation)

Spoiler:

Everyone is dressed similarly
Scrolling their LCD displays… What page are you looking for?
A wide yet narrow world littered with information
We’re trapped, killing the time we have to spare aimlessly

We don’t go on adventures
because we don’t want to get hurt
A flat road without any bumps
No need for drama
Whenever we fake strength or show off,
we’re merely providing an escape route for ourselves
But, in reality, we’re actually craving excitement

A red light, there’s ambition shining deep inside your eyes
Come on, let’s go to utopia. We were born for a reason, after all
Yei yei yei yei

We want love, and also money, dreams and status
I don’t think wanting to have it all is uncool
Pointless attacks — a sore loser like yourself can’t rival me
Life is harsh and cruel, but it’s fun

Won’t you try spreading your arms and saying how you feel?
People will ignore it anyway, thinking "it’s none of my business"
Stepping in pace, reading between the lines… You’re turning into a boring person
I’ll discover my own unique utopia

Set your hot heart aflame, show your burning emotions
You haven’t noticed it yet, the red rose of passion

A red light, there’s ambition shining deep inside your eyes
Come on, let’s go to utopia. We were born for a reason, after all
Yei yei yei yei

---

T/N: "せっかく生まれてきたんだら / We were born for a reason, after all" -- This line is hard to translate properly. In Japanese, it gives off the vibe: 'we went through the trouble of being born, so let's not waste our precious lives'.

[280301]

Originally Posted by tenshi no hane

I'm not a fan of 永遠 either, but I like the other two. And I'm still in love with How Far I'll Go

I really like Utopia's lyrics, so I made a quick translation. If anyone's interested:

Utopia (lyrics translation)

Spoiler:

Everyone is dressed similarly
Scrolling their LCD displays… What page are you looking for?
A wide yet narrow world littered with information
We’re trapped, killing the time we have to spare aimlessly

We don’t go on adventures
because we don’t want to get hurt
A flat road without any bumps
No need for drama
Whenever we fake strength or show off,
we’re merely providing an escape route for ourselves
But, in reality, we’re actually craving excitement

A red light, there’s ambition shining deep inside your eyes
Come on, let’s go to utopia. We were born for a reason, after all
Yei yei yei yei

We want love, and also money, dreams and status
I don’t think wanting to have it all is uncool
Pointless attacks — a sore loser like yourself can’t rival me
Life is harsh and cruel, but it’s fun

Won’t you try spreading your arms and saying how you feel?
People will ignore it anyway, thinking "it’s none of my business"
Stepping in pace, reading between the lines… You’re turning into a boring person
I’ll discover my own unique utopia

Set your hot heart aflame, show your burning emotions
You haven’t noticed it yet, the red rose of passion

A red light, there’s ambition shining deep inside your eyes
Come on, let’s go to utopia. We were born for a reason, after all
Yei yei yei yei

---

T/N: "せっかく生まれてきたんだら / We were born for a reason, after all" -- This line is hard to translate properly. In Japanese, it gives off the vibe: 'we went through the trouble of being born, so let's not waste our precious lives'.

Thanks for the translation! ^_^ The lyrics are very easy to relate to. I wonder if the other album-only tracks will also be inspired by our meaningless, yet not meaningless, life aspirations.

[Chiharo]

I really don't like Utopia (the entire album). When I played it it sounded nice - I like the first 5-6 songs. But as the album continued I struggled to find anything interesting in it. It's all ballads and 2-3 mid tempo songs. Which could be a nice thing if they were interesting in any way. The difference between the quality of LIBERTY and this is incredible. This album is like someone forced Miliyah to write songs while she was at her most uninspired time in life.

I do really like 少女時代 and Triangle, though. But just remembering the difference between when I was first listening to LIBERTY and being blown away by every next song and this... whoa.

Then again... maybe it's one of those albums that takes a while to grow. We'll see. Anyway guys, don't expect songs like BABYLON, This is my party, WANNA BE or anything like that.

[tenshi no hane]

I actually prefer Utopia over LIBERTY. I never quite understood the fuss over LIBERTY. I think it's a nice album and has some gems, but I only kept 5 out of its 17 songs. Taste differs, I guess.

I know I'll never listen to 永遠 and BE again lol. But I'm in love with Let Me In, 少女時代 , Triangle, Utopia and 旅人 And I still love どこまでも, I AM and 幻.

edit: Also, I never knew that her father is dead. She refers to him in 少女時代 ("なんでパパ死んじゃったの？/Why did daddy die?"). I googled a bit and apparently he died when she was 3.

[Chiharo]

^ Well, to me even LIBERTY alone had a lot better ballads than the entire Utopia album which is about 97% ballads and the rest mid tempo. LIBERTY has a lot of amazing upbeat songs which are also interesting and catchy which is why, I think, so many people have liked it. It also had variety.

Tengoku no Doa, Shounen Shoujo, Want You Back, Utakata no Hibi, even Memories and Lipstick if you could call it a ballad, were all SO much better ballads in my opinion than anything on Utopia. The only songs that come close is Shoujo Jidai and maybe Triangle. That's why I'm disappointed.

It's also just a big "shock" for her to release an album like this since she never had an album before without upbeat tracks.

But anyway, I really do hope it grows on me!

And oh yeah, she wrote the song "STAR" from her debut album to her father.

[tenshi no hane]

^ I see. Personally, I didn't really care for LIBERTY's upbeat tracks and I already knew Utopia wouldn't have anything upbeat. (She mentioned it previously in an interview, I think. I can't remember where). So, it doesn't feel like a shock or disappointment to me. But I understand it might be to you.

[Toniayu123]

I was so excited for this album *cries dramatically*. Not that i think it's bad, Miliyah's music sounds high quality imo, but not my type of music AT ALL. 少女時代 was a nice surprise though, she should do more of that "light rap" style.
Was hoping for it to replace my obsession with W FACE, guess it won't.