Utadah Hikaru!
 

Maybe it's a good idea to create this thread, since the CLT is getting a lot of comments on her latest album, This Is The One.
I'm still listening to the full album for the second time, and will probably write some opinions after a while.
Express your Utada love/hate here!

Thread might be a bit unnecessary...since there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm for the album.

Is there anyone out there who posted anything positive about the new release?

Well, I'm listening to the album right now. I'm only on track #2 though, so I'll post when I finish it. :P

while I can't say I'm a fan of hers (I only know the Kingdom Hearts songs :D), I've been keeping up with all the leaks thanks to them being posted over the last few months on some entertainment news/gossip community I'm on.

I don't understand why Come Back To Me was chosen as the first single. You're not going to break into a new market with a damn ballad. FYI would have been a much better choice though I'm kind of horrified that the amazing melody from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence was paired with such vapid lyrics. In fact, the weakest link on this album seems to be the lyrics. I mean, "love you long time"? really?!

Actually, it's a Utada thread, not a This Is The One thread... But let's see how turns out. I think the album is ace.

It doesn't matter. We can talk about her great Distance album and the few good tracks on Deep River as well, can't we? The title implies it's all about Hikki and not just the new album. I still have the Hikari poster I got with the single on my wall.

Yes! Let's reminisce about how great that Hikari video was...and then rag on how bad Exodus was.

I was just teasing Shinji btw...no need to defend the validity of the thread.

I hate her new album. But I should listen to it more than once, I guess

Hey! Sounds like another artist I know...

The first time I saw Hikki was on Heyx3 Music Champ. She played basketball against Downtown and won. She performed Can You Keep a Secret? as well. It was aight, but that's one of my least favorite songs on Distance.

Alright, maybe I don't hate it completely. I was just feeling really nauseous when I was listening to it, and during Poppin' I literally almost puked.. I think I remember hearing some tight beats in there though, that made her shitty lyrics not-so-bad sounding.

As for old Utada, I like m-flo's remix of Distance.

It's all about Wait & See ~Risk~, Drama, Kettobase!, and Hayatochi-Remix for me. Sunglass is her best American-style song.

Was her Japanese lyrics as bad as her English lyrics...?

Kinda makes me happy that I never learned Japanese.

We'll never know..

Not as bad, but she still makes pretty bad/random references. Her reference to Romeo and Juliet in Drama (Japanese) is almost as nonsensical as her reference to Edgar Allen Poe in Kremlin Dusk (English). Her lyrics aren't great in Japanese, but she does flow better. Japanese Hikari is much better than the English version.

Ahah, according to translations, they are pretty different =P
I don't know which ones I prefer tho. The japanese lyrics are usually either too cheerful or too romantic. In the english albums, she goes all crazy. They don't bother me either way, since I'm not a native-english speaker so the lyrics mostly go unnoticed while I'm listening to the songs. I'm more about voice and rythm/melody (the essence of R'n'B I guess).

I agree with Maou on those tracks, they're probably the best part of Distance (altough I can't skip any track of it).

Btw, it seems the new album is getting very mixed reviews. Some people totally hate it, some just don't like at first, and then there's people loving every bit of it (not too many). I guess that's bound to happen with any Utada album anyway.

Utada shares her birthday with Edgar Allan Poe and cites him as one of her most important influences in terms of lyrics. Every fan aknowledges that part in Kremlin Dusk, so it doesn't seem out of place at all.
However, that's the main problem with her lyrics (at least the english ones), because she fills them with references that only fans "understand", because they relate to everyday stuff that she writes in her blog. People are not supposed to read every single post of an artist's blog to understand that artist... Utada just needs to figure that, maybe.

I'm really loving the new album, and that's all I have to say :\... I don't understand how some of you can say this is a crappy album at all...

Oops! Did I turn you on? :wub:

I know of her love for Poe, but the reference in the lyrics still don't make sense to me in accordance to the rest of the song. It just seems like a needless namedrop to show off her knowledge.

The only Distance song I skip is Parody. I need to be in the right mood for that one.

it kind of seems like she's using this opportunity to sing stuff she could never get away with on her Japanese songs? I'm guessing none of her Japanese lyrics talk about not having panties on.

Not really... The whole lyrics share something with Poe's "The Raven".

"All along I was searching for my Lenore
In the words of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe
Now I'm sober and "Nevermore"
Will the Raven come to bother me at home

Calling you, calling you home
You... calling you, calling you home

By the door you said you had to go
Couldn't help me anymore
This I saw coming, long before
So I kept on staring out the window"

Doesn't this relate a lot with the poem?

That's cool and all, but explain how those fit with the non-bolded parts, the rest of the lyrics that you didn't post and how they related to a "Kremlin Dusk." Then I'll gladly admit her masterful lyrics went over my head. Awesome song, bad lyrics.

I'm not implying the lyrics are great or anything. I'm just saying she didn't just pop Edgar Allan Poe's name for the heck of it. There's plenty of other stuff related to the poet in the lyrics. And even the unbolded parts, make perfect sense, according to The Raven's plot/meaning.
Kremlin means castle in russian, so the title probably relates to the setting of The Raven, which also occurs at dusk (or night, I don't remember).

Again, I'm not implying the lyrics are good. I don't care if they're good or bad anyway, to me it's the same.

I'd say she delivered really good lyrics on Deep River on Ultra Blue, although my knowledge of the language isn't good enough to understand it "on the fly" as with English. But I still liked them, and could make out enough of them to catch the gist of them.
I'd sum up the new album as being catchy in the musical department but the lyrics are embarrassingly horrid most of the time. IMHO she's NOT sexy at all, she's just not that sort and when she goes "no panties on, oops did I turn you on?" or how she thinks of 69 it just comes off as awkward and is about as hot as porn with your math teacher.
Exodus didn't have great lyrics but these are her worst so far. Unfortunately for me good and bad lyrics make a huge difference.

I disagree. She was a cute girl during the early years, but know she's a sexy woman.

I know I don't have anything to do with judging whether a woman is sexy (meaning attractive to males) but I can't help it, it convinced me even less here than on Exodus. I guess that's just my perception from her Japanese works where she gives off a different vibe, as she herself said that she can't write songs with sexual content in Japanese because it doesn't go with the language. With lyrics like those on This is the one, I'd say they're stupid and cheap regardless of the writer being Utada or anyone else.

utada is not a native english speaker, despite what the interviews and comments say. just like they say she went to columbia, when in fact she was only admitted and enrolled for a short time, not even a full semester. her english is a bit lackluster and while she has conversation skills she lacks the pose and elegance necessary to write music conveying sexuality and sensuality over trash and dirt. in english she just comes off just about as sexy as britney, totally trashy. its not a good look for her. and she is WRONG about the sex issue in japanese because Ringo has done it in many of her songs, so hasn't YUKI and other female artists.

LOL!
You, my friend, made me laugh so much now. Do you even know what you're saying?
Do you even know her first album, as Cubic U, is all in english? And that she was supposed the be an american artist, instead of japanese?
Now really, don't go insulting long time fans with random lies. Because you just made that up, black cat. Meow*

oops. I was wrong. I knew she was born in New York and raised in both New York and Tokyo. I actually have followed her quite a bit for some time and used to know people who were fanatically into her. I mean, when you hear her horrible english lyrics can you blame me for assuming she isn't a native speaker? But the bit about Columbia is completely true, they trump it up to be way more than it is, you can go check it out if you want.

I know she didn't complete her studies at Columbia, but she spent way more time than a semester. Just check the translations of her blog, she mentioned that quite often IIRC. And in Japan, at a younger age, she went to an American school.
But what does that have to do with anything, btw? Is it the first time a (mega-)popular artist drops out of school because of the career? I don't see your point.

About the lyrics... listening to TITO more than I should, I realized how original, funny and relaxed her lyrics are. She plays a lot with the language and makes lyrics that are actually supposed to be sung and not just read.
"Let's not get started with the he said, she said."

Have you actually listened to the album yet, btw? I don't see any slutty lyrics, to be honest. Or at least more "slutty" than Exodus. If this is slutty, Britney's or Madonna's albums are pornographic.
"Oops, did I turn you on? Oops, did I turn you on? I only came to party party!"
Slutty? Just because she's being sexy and turning the guys on? Damn, then my girl friends are all sluts when we go to the disco.
Really, it's supposed to be fun, she's not trying to be a (Ringo) diva or something.

It's not like it's possible to make you like the lyrics, but if you're allowed to just label them as "bad" or "slutty", I think I'm allowed to explain why I like them =D

I know that over the last 10 years the concept of "sexy" has been reduced to strip club aesthetics (see: If U Seek Amy video- Britney Spears, 28, mother of two, grabbing her crotch and grinding with a bunch of cheerleaders while a bunch of dudes stand there and watch), but there ARE still different types of sexy- classy/sophisticated sexy, femme fatale sexy, cute/sweet sexy etc.

Utada might be a sexy woman but that doesn't make a song like Poppin' any more believable because she doesn't reflect that type of sexuality (this is a compliment to her). Dirty Desire is much more believable in that sense. The lyrics are still dumb, though.

Maybe she has a devil inside her!

Ok, now really, the hell with the lyrics. It's like there's supposed to be an etiquette for writting lyrics, or if the lyrics completely destroy the sound (isn't music more related to sound than anything in the first place?).
Too bad you find them silly, I think they are a great compliment to the overall sound of the album. I don't wanna hear her sing about cars called Hitler or double-suicide with her lover, if the beat is danceable and it's supposed to be a "good vibes" kinda thing. She's not a rock artist, she's not distant-gaze my-son-is-being-drafted-away Ringo, she's a pop/r'n'b artist. What have we come to expect from those genres anyway?

lol :P

OK, I DO agree that probably nothing is as tasteless as Madonna's last offering and I've never heard a Britney album in my whole life, which I'm glad for. As for the comparison with Exodus, it's true it had sexual content in the lyrics, but I found it to be written more cleverly. Everyone criticized it as having dumb lyrics which I didn't find that catastrophic, frankly (even though they're not up to par with her Japanese ones), now a lot of people say that the new album has playful lyrics and whatnot and I actually think the lyrics are dumb... also, because she wants to break out so badly, musically it's really nothing interesting. It's catchy and fun, I'll give it that, but it's not anything you didn't already hear ten thousand times over the past few years.
I think it's possible to write good lyrics about shopping for groceries, so I don't have a problem with sexual lyrics at all, but why I call them slutty is because to me, they have no style and grace to them. Honestly it's pretty disturbing to me how little value sexuality has nowadays when it's just there to sell - I haven't seen the aforementioned Britney video and in a way I'm glad. I'm going off topic, so just let me say things like these are totally degrading to women, IMHO.

I kinda like Britney Spears' new video. Uh oh.

It does seem really trashy after remembering she has two children, though. lol, I completely forgot.

I love utada, she is awesome. I'm a pretty big fan, so no reason to trust trhe words of a fan boy, lol.

I've listened to TITO, I really really really like it. (But of course I like exodus and HF:P) I feel the album is very strong with no weak tracks. Funny out of the 10 tracks on the album one 1 is not that great (imo) and thats come back to me, lmfao. Every other song is win. Especially dirty desire and poppin and on and on... Great album considering she was rushed to release it.


For her english you can watch this

9FmchIpR2-0

Horrible interview, but she is talking none the less.

And her lyrics, her lyrics have always been simple,wheter its english or japanese, she has nothing on ringo in the lyrics department. But one thing I never liked about hikki-chan's lyrics was that I felt they were rarely about her, it makes me feel like they are impersonal. unlike ayu-chan whose lyrics are about her (read teddy-bear for some great stuff). With that being said, I need to pay more attention to her lyrics, I can not defend or condemn them now, although what I remember is good...

this is pretty stupid, I'm not going to argue back and forth back about the details. i'm sure you could pwn me in that aspect. I brought up the columbia aspect because it was embellished quite a bit. I know people who not only went to that school during that time period, but worked in admissions and knew what was going on. she enrolled andd then took a leave and they kept it up like she was a student there whenever she had an opportunity for english press, which looks bad in my eyes. and you can't find any overtly slutty lyrics in her new album because that is all completely subjective. what is slutty for each person? is ringo a slut for singing about being a prostitute? I don't consider her so because she is fulfulling a role to tell a story that has social and anthropological relevance, its more than just talking about not wearing panties and whoring in kabuki-cho. even in honnou, her most sexual song, the graphic parts are all double entrendreus and don't really mean physically penetrate or enter, they mean to spur and provoke her impulses and complexes. however, with utada's english work it just feels sleazy. there doesn't seem to be any kind of redeeming factor about why she is talking about these things. and when I hear dirty desire it just makes me feel gross, its like a total cringe moment. no one really wants to hear about utada's p***y and her deep cravings. And if she is going to write about it she might be a little bit more creative in doing so. You can call her writing playful and silly but it mostly just comes off as cheap and unpolished. it actually at times reminds me of "touch my body" by mariah carey, the way the lyrics go and the way certain parts don't make much sense except to fit in the total overal rhythm of the song.

either way I happen to like Utada and I am a fan of her Japanese work and more than anything I just think that its disappoint her English work, so far, has mostly been crap.

I think this album is cool besides for Poppin' which I thought was embarrassingly awful :lol: for an album like this I think it's best not to over analyze any aspect of it, just put it on in the background and enjoy it for what it is. Which happens to be a rather good 'don't take me serious' album. :)

Except she probably wants the West to take her seriously. :D
Agreed with neko on the sleaziness, pretty much what I wanted to say.
And jigenbakuda, it's true that Come Back To Me is one of the most boring songs on the album, actually Taking My Money Back and that probably are... but TMMB doesn't go anywhere at all. Other than that they probably could pick singles out of a hat. I think FYI or Me Muero would have chances.

Bravo neko! You're almost there!
Now do this:
1 - Go read TLC, Aaliyah, r'n'b and rap lyrics.
2 - Compare to Utada's.
3 - ???
4 - PROFIT!

Sorry for being so obnoxius, but seriously, it took you a long time to understand that Ringo and Utada are from completely different worlds.

Also, check out this Reuters news clip. They say she's a "Columbia drop-out" and that's pretty much the only moment they hint at Columbia. I don't think they make it look like a big part of her life.

I think that if the West takes Kate Perry seriously, while she's kissing girls and liking it, Utada can succeed too.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the obvious Destiny's Child melody rip-off in Taking My Money Back. Or the very odd lyrics in This One (Crying Like a Child)... it seems to be about an obsessed fan.

The only songs I really dislike now are Automatic Part II and Me Muero. I still think that Poppin' is a terrible song, but it's funny-terrible, so somehow I still 'like' it.

In terms of being taken seriously... it really depends how the lyrics are delivered and how the artist is presented. Utada is not anything like Katy Perry and she does not deliver her lines like Katy Perry, so I doubt Utada singing I Kissed a Girl would've been a hit in the West.
Some of the lyrics are extremely awkward and laughable (though I like Utada for her awkwardness, so it doesn't bother me all that much), especially the talking parts in Poppin' (*shudder*). The verses in On & On have some of the best delivered playful lyrics, and I think it's because they're underplayed (burn it up like a gay parade, or however it goes).

Since BoA is releasing at the same time, it's hard not to compare. BoA's lyrics do not come across as awkward or embarrassing, but they're extremely generic and forgettable (perhaps minus Look Who's Talking, and maaaybe Hypnotic Dancefloor... what the hell is a hypnotic dancefloor? Oh and maaaybe Girls on Top, but maybe that's just because I'm used to the Korean version).

Longest post I've ever made here possibly, I'm obviously procrastinating from doing my homework.

if this was utada's first release I'd probably think different. I probably won't give it the time of the day or space on my ipod. I mean, what does she have on other rnb stars? mariah? well at least mariah can (err, used to) sing, utada's pipes aren't so impressive range-wise, but she sings that small amount great. I mean, she goes from ultra blue to heart station to this, its the equivalent of falling flat on your face.

and its currently my birthday so you can't argue with me on that, you have to wait at least 24 hours, so in ya face suckaaaaaa :hmph:

Happy birthday..? :D

Three words: "So yum yum."

happy birthday, neko!

some observant soul noticed the uncanny lyrical resemblance between Poppin' and the muffin top song from 30 rock :lol:

muffin top

LOL!
Omg, so true ahah x)

No one takes Katy Perry seriously, though. :P

Happy birthday Kuro!

Seriously "seriously" or seriously "let's-put-her-songs-at-#1-and-give-her-lots-of-popularity seriously"?

I shall declare my birthday one of peace on EMF......everlasting love and tenderness shall flow there the electronic waves....

actually I'm just getting on a plane and heading to maui so I won't be around for a day or two and hence the forums should be nice and peaceful! :lol:

utada's coming on my ipod, maybe we will return lovers. we shall seeeeeee

Neko reminded me that I don't have enough Hikki on my iPod. I was worried for a second that I didn't have Letters or Hikari there, but it's on.

Shinji, I'd just like to remind you no one was comparing her lyrics to Ringo's. Apart from the Honnou mention, which anyway wasn't "Ringo Japanese vs. Utada English" comparison, but an example of good lyrics with sexual content in Japanese.
Also, the fact that she's a pop/RnB singer doesn't make bad lyrics any better or more excusable. If anything, she could stand apart from the crowd with better lyrics.
"Pop" is short for "popular music", so you can call anything from her through Ringo to Nine Inch Nails pop in one way or another.

Neko, enjoy your birthday toast with Hikki XD

On a different note, I always found Hikari to be one of her more boring songs, musically at least... everyone seems to love it though.

Her worst song is easily Tokyo Nights. Hikari works better after the Bridge interlude than standalone.

That's one thing.
But then the discussion presented other arguments, mainly the fact that people may be looking at Utada's lyrics in a wrong perspective. Expecting them to be as "mature" or "complex" as the lyrics by other artists. One example I gave was Ringo's lyrics compared to Utada's. Utada talks about "Sipping Chardonnay on all working hours" or "Reading old e-mails on her pajamas" or how the way she rhymes "Is pretty darn clever". She's more "explicit", I guess. Like Katy Perry for example. She goes and says she kissed a girl and she liked it and there's no other way to see it. Ringo lyrics, on the other hand, are more about Benji smacking her head with his guitar.

Different artists mean different approaches to music and their lyrics. So people shouldn't label the lyrics as "bad" just because they are "slutty" and/or "silly". You don't label a comedy film bad because it made you laugh, or a drama film because it made you cry. I think the same can be applied to music. (You also shouldn't label a comedy bad if it makes you cry or vice-versa, btw.)

I understand that people may not like "slutty" lyrics or don't indentify at all with Utada's songs. But that doesn't necessarily mean the lyrics are bad, it just means you don't like the "category" they fit in. Unless I'm completely wrong and all these years Pop and R'n'B was not about love, break-ups, sex and parties.

And my birthday toooo~ holla holla

But yeah I was kinda crackin up over the crazy sexual lyrics. "Love you long time"!!!! ahahahahhaa. I wonder if that was her way of playing on the 'Asian woman bad accent' thing. It felt very tongue-in-cheek. I really wonder if this album is actually going to be "the one" that helps her break into the western market. I have my doubts but we'll see... I'll definitely be interested to see what happens with it. Is this really U.S. top 40 radio material?

I just wanted to say that Edgar Allan Poe has this whole Adolf Hitler meets Bill Murray thing going on with his face.

Well he surely didn't influence THIS IS THE ONE :D
But as far as my opinion goes she does have chances with the new stuff on the radio. If people don't have a problem with the lyrics (more with the form than their substance)

Her first single out of the album, "Come Back To Me", debuted at #75 on Billboard's Pop 100 Airplay. Debuting in the top 100 is a first for any of her english singles.
She's been doing a lot of radio interviews, and very funny ones btw, receiving a lot of support from the interviewers and praising text message/mails from people who didn't know her but were listening to the radio. This is looking much better than what happened 4 years ago with Exodus.
She's going to be performing on a LA TV show as well (KTLA Morning News) and doing a bunch of listening parties at Sephora stores.
The girl is pretty active this time around, which is making her very tired as well. Comes with the business.

Oh, it's interesting to point out that in most interviewes the radio people ask her about gossips or scandals from her personal life and say that americans are really interested in a good gossip, noting how it has helped a lot of new artists in the past (ex Amy Winehouse). I don't see Utada as being able to do anything like that tho, and I prefer if she didn't. She's always saying how she's a normal person anyway, and wants to be known for the music.

I think Amy Winehouse's crackwhore antics are what made Back to Black sell like hot cakes, because after trying to listen to it and not being able to finish it, I've come to the conclusion that it sounds like X renditions of Rehab with varying success, but it's ultimately boooooring. Her purportedly GREAT VOICE wasn't enough to save it. Utada on the other hand, thanks goodness isn't tabloid material...

I want to hear Utada on the radioooooooo!

If you travel enough, you can actually meet her!
And then I'll be jealous of you for my entire life, until I meet her as well.

What kinda touring is she planning on doing? Maybe she'll make a stop to Cleveland..

She's doing some "listening parties" at Sephora stores, am I right in thinking it's a cosmetics chain? That's pretty off, it'd be better if she just did something like playing in Virgin stores or something like that. She only has a couple of stops anyway (three?)
However if you watch that horrible interview on Gossip Girls someone posted here (I'd feel so bad if I were her and I'd be interviewed by somebody who can't even look my name up on Wikipedia to know who they're talking to... not to mention how SHE did all the talking and the interviewer just went "oh that's great" all the time), she said she "ought" to tour in US, so maybe sometime in the future. More probably if the album is actually a success, I guess that'd be definitive only after May.

In every radio interview she made (and she made a lot already), people ask her about a tour and tell her she should definitely do one and they would support her. She answers "I guess I ought to do it one day" all the time, tho, which is not very convincing.

She's going to those 3 Sephora stores: New York, LA and Miami. Sephora is such a huge international chain, I don't know how can it not be good to do events there. Unless Sephora isn't as popular in the States as it is in Europe.
Besides that, in most radio interviews throughout the country people/fans have been able to go there and meet her or phone the show and talk with her. The next radio stations she's going to are Portland, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles. And probably more afterwards, I guess.

Yeah, she's been doing radio shows like crazy! I'm hoping the CD is a success.. well, at least enough of a success so she'll be able to make a third album in the States.

I wish she wouldn't have to make a TITO-like album in order to succeed, to be honest. Exodus is such a better album... If more people knew about it, when it was released, I think it would have been huge. It's a 2004 album that sounds like something that could have come out last year or this year. It was really bad promotion's fault and the record company targeted the wrong market. I do hope she can bring us a third album that's more Exodus-like and I believe she wants that as well. And in a broad perspective, TITO isn't all that mainstream, it doesn't really blend with common american pop. I'd say it's as experimental as Exodus, just not as complex or personal/honest.

No, Sephora's pretty popular here too. Yes, it's a cosmetics chain. I can see that being a good move for her and if these in-store events do well, maybe a tour! I'd hate for what happened to Maria Mena happen to her though, so only if she gets big enough for a tour to do well (Maria Mena = a Norwegian singer, but all her songs are in English, and they're really good, but she did a U.S. tour before she really got very well-known here at all, only had one single to her name, and I think a lot of the venues were pretty empty and she got super upset about it and now no longer releases music here at all! arrrrgh it sucks because I really don't want to pay import prices on her albums).

She had that You're the Only One song, yeah? I used to love that song!

Edit: I'm doubting Utada will tour. Unless the album takes off, which I don't forsee, the record label wouldn't risk the financial cost of it.

Edit #2: WTF @ the prospect of seeing Utada sing something like Poppin' live... O____o

Exodus didn't take off exactly because it was ahead of its time. It didn't fit with what was played on the radio and was probably deemed unmarketable at that time, hence the no-promotion.
But calling This Is The One an "experimental" album is a bit too much. I don't even call Exodus or Ultra Blue experimental, it's just good pop with its own face. In the interviews she makes Exodus sound like it's a hard listen or something, but it's really not if your taste isn't deformed by charts. It's not Kate Bush's "The Dreaming", though in Utada's discography it'd probably take a similar place.

We really have a problem understanding each other merman.

Heeeeey... I DO understand what you mean in your posts! I just have different views, and if everybody had the same opinion about everything, what would the use of a discussion be? It's an exchange, not an argument. I don't have anything against you if you thought so, and I wholly accept your opinions, because they're valid, but does that mean I can't present mine if I think differently? Then I could just stop posting altogether.

I'm not saying it's an experimental album, because I don't really know where a "experimental album" starts to differ from a "normal album", hence I don't know what a "experimental album" is. Common sense calls Medulla an experimental album, but I don't know if Utada didn't "experiment" much more with Ultra Blue than Björk with her album. Madonna might have made a lot of experiments with Hard Candy, as well.
Experimental is a tag as good as indie.

What I said was that TITO was as experimental as Exodus is, in the sense that both are pop/r'n'b/electronicish and yet they try to cross some pre-established mainstream boundaries. Apart from that, TITO is the second most singular album in her entire career (japanese or american), so maybe it involved even more experimenting than what we might think. That's not to say it's a "difficult-to-listen-to" album, since the objective of the experiment may be for it to have a "mainstream sound".
"As experimental as" doesn't point to a level of "experimental", it just says that both share the same level.

Yup! That song is great. You should get more of her music if you liked it, she's still an active artist and has released lots of other songs just as good!

utada could never play an empty venue, the key is to understand product vs demand relationship. she isn't as huge here as in japan so they should book only a small number of shows at smaller venues and people would travel crazy distances to see her and it would get her really crazy press and make her look great. like a show in New York, LA, Miami, Austin TX, and Hawaii. There are so many Japanese here in Hawaii if Utada played anywhere she would probably be mobbed like in Japan.

I don't think they'd make her play stadiums right away, but some kind of a club tour might work. But since there's a "Tour" sub-menu on her US site, I guess that a tour of some kind is really considered...

I'd go see her.

Why in the bloody hell do they keep pushing this album back!? They already released it in japan, with 2 additional tracks!!!! and they can't release it here till the 12th of may? wtf... it was "supposed" to be released tomorrow.. but nooooooooo, they hate jigen! I'm planning on taking the day off to go buy the album, and wallow in its greatness, but nooooo they want me to wait... I hate you island... STOP GETTING MY HOPES AND DREAMS UP!

I sure hope this is to built more hype before the release, because I've waited long enough, its not like we are getting extra tracks, in fact we are getting 2 less... so much easier to press 10 tracks compared to 12...

The album was digitally released today (March 24) on iTunes.
The physical release date was pushed back to May 12, but it seems there's another rumoured push-back: April 21.

That'd be much better, May 12 is just too far away and somehow I think it might really hurt the sales. Although I guess "physical sales" aren't in huge numbers generally anyway and iTunes is where the marketing would focus anyway...
I guess it gets pushed back due to release schedules of other artists to maximize the sales. I'm curious to see how it turns out for her :)

She performed "Come Back To Me", "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI" and "Me Muero" on Ryan Seacrest's show (dunno who he is), so I guess that's gonna be good promotion. Let's just hope people like it.

He's such a douche.

But as far as I know it's good promotion for her, right?

Yes. But he's a douche, is all I'm saying.

Can you link to the performances, Shinji?

From the pics I saw of him, my gaydar got tingling pretty furiously.

Anyway, her performance of "Come Back To Me" on KTLA's Morning News was very bad. See it here.

FYI is a little better, at least.

Whoa whoa, hold the phone...

SERIOUSLY!??! TAKE THE DAY OFF WORK FOR UTADA'S NEW RELEASE??? XDDDDDDDDDD

Utada Kills Herself Live on TV

*yawn*

the worst part about all this is that in every interview they say she is the biggest and best highest selling pop star in Japan and then they cut to footage of THAT and for the average american who knows nothing of japanese music it leaves a really bad impression.

utada, take it up a notch, srsly

Exactly.
But you gotta see how the obsessed fanboys react on the youtube comments. It's hilarious.

someone gave Utada a letter for Ringo at the LA Sephora meet&greet. Apparently Utada refers to her as "Ringo-chan"?

edit: I honestly didn't think the KTLA performance was THAT bad. It was underwhelming and bland but it wasn't a total disaster.

LOL @ That!
Thanks for the info grumble =)
I'm going to start calling her Ringo-chan as well, mwahah.

I found that performance pretty standard for her, I mean she was the best on Utada United (not to count Keep Tryin' which was pretty bad) but she never quite reached that level before or after. I was expecting something much more horrid but she was never great live (strange because I don't believe she's stressed after all these years and when she sings bits and pieces of songs in interviews it sounds okay)...
That Ringo letter is kinda rude but if she gets it, I think she'd be pleased :)

You say Keep Tryin' was bad? What about Be My Last?
I think Keep Tryin' was pretty good considering it was the 20thish song.

I'm a substitute teacher, I choose the days in which I wish to work and those I don't. Said day was one a meant for a wallowin! I was in Japan last year for her Heart Station release, kicked my GF out of bed to drive me to the store, lol. If you recall around that time I was searching for maaya stuff to buy as well (came back empty handed... ).

Anyways I'd do it for shiina too, but she doesn't release in america (gawd that sounded dirty...), but Hikki will, so I'll take the day off seeing as I'm not driving all the way tom miami to met her in person.

I thought the come back to me live was okay. I consider it the weakest song on the album, although her "mess up" can be considered improvising... Still utada's lives (and her voice) have been getting weaker since the divorce...

I don't care if hikki fails or not, I still like her, you can make music for only me hikki-chan and bring your friend ringo-chan whoever the hell that is...

This reminded me of kuro_neko. I can already see his blood boiling.
Oh, and there's a new blood boiling news article on MTV, regarding TITO, btw.

I'm a Tori fan as well and my blood isn't boiling - I got used to the fact that every singer you can't place in a box gets compared to all sorts of others, no matter how completely different they are. I mean if you take Tori Amos alone, she's being compared to Kate Bush since her debut and that's just because they're both "sorta quirky" for most people's tastes and make music that's unique and not really comparable to anything. Any female artist that dresses extravagantly means instant comparisons with Bjork and so on. I'm sure you've noticed it.
Same with Utada, there's nobody out there that sounds quite like her nowadays - particularly with what she produces herself because she hired other producers for TITO to get "their sound". Comparing somebody to Madonna and THEN to Tori Amos and Bjork is just pulling names desperately out of hat... and they've called her Japanese Britney ever since Exodus, which is even more weird in that album's case XD

well if they are comparing her voice to Tori's I don't have any problem. As long as they aren't claiming she could best Tori on the keys, then I would probably just laugh at the person who wrote the article. I mean, seriously, Britney Spears? That is the worst comparison. Utada has never sold her image around sex and actually writes her own music. There isn't anyone quite like her in the music world that warrants STOP THE PRESS attention at name dropping, but if I had to compare her to anyone I would compare her to Nelly Furtado, in that they both create genre-bending art pop that is both critically applauded and commericially successful to a ridiculous degree. But no one is going to go apeshit over Nelly Furtado's name, so out comes the Britney comparisons. I agree with Merman about the whole thing. The person is just so desperate they grab any name they can think of. Even Shakira is a better comparison...oh wait, she was a cross over too (except she did it right the first time, O.o)

seriously, what do you get when you mix Bjork, Tori, Madonna, and Britney? A hot mess. Seriously, it would be a musical genius who was so hot and so scandalous the world would just implode. It would be a nightmare. Fortunately that is not Utada.

but then again I would love to see her cover Professional Widow. I can just hear her singing "starfucker, just like my daddy..." "give me peace, love, and a hard cock" XDXD

Oh...kay.

"Watch out Britney — Utada's coming for your crown."

GROAAAAAAAANNNNNNNnnn

and I don't hear Madonna, Tori OR Bjork in her voice. It's like they're not even trying :rolleyes:

Another one.
"It’s kinda like a poppier Portishead meets Beyonce."

Portishead, really? Ahah.

OK Portishead was probably the MOST random comparison ever. And they're not even what MTV plays nowadays, not like when they debuted and caused a trip-hop craze...
She should mention somewhere that she likes Cocteau Twins or Nine Inch Nails just for the kicks. I could actually see instant comparisons with Elizabeth Fraser because as far as I know her name used to be dropped pretty often as well (like Tori Amos, Bjork and Kate Bush), but nowadays nobody probably really knows who she is (although like everybody knows Massive Attack's Teardrop).
So she could be a bit like Portishead with Britney on vocals, with hints of Liz Fraser, Tori Amos and Bjork with Trent Reznor thrown in for a good measure. I think that pretty much sums her up.

the problem will all these comparisons is that they can't capture her strengths. utada's clearest weak point is her lyrics, she has said herself that she doesn't like writing lyrics and usually leaves it until the last minute (the most famous case would be Traveling, where she wrote them on the way to the studio to record), and it comes across. so comparing her to all these adept vocalists and lyricists is kind of a joke. I think they are comparing the tone of her voice. I guess the way she sings might remind people of portishead in a way....or sarah mclaughlin

Hmmm. My favorite album is definitely Distance, but I think my favorite song might be Letters. It's difficult trying to pick between Letters and the simplicity of Hayatochi-remix.