Graves Posted January 19 Author Posted January 19 HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 (Hey Dude) LOWEST SCORE: 4.5 x 1 (Aria0327) MY SCORE: 8.5 Does this song give album closer energy to anybody else? Maybe it's the downtrodden vibe and the mix of more traditional instrumentation (loving the flute!) with the digital effects coming in and out... they just come together and seem like a nice book-end for the album. A sister song to This Is Love in sound and in lyricism, you know? ...But then they realized they had two singles yet to fit in on the tracklist and put them on at the end. I dunno, just my two cents! But yes, WINGS makes a great lyrical counterpoint to the loved-up intro track. The through-line of ULTRA BLUE is optimism in the face of hard times, but on WINGS the facade seems to slip ever so slightly. Hikaru is more wistful than hopeful in places here, confessing ugly truths like how easy it is to be dishonest with your partner at times. I really like one of the closing lines too: "There are things I could do to be ready for tomorrow, but I’m going to bed early tonight." I LOVE relating to an artist's self-destructive behaviors! Oh, and gaming-minded listeners might have picked up that the ending to this track sounds a lot like some of the songs from games like Pokémon and The World Ends With You. Initially, people thought that both tracks sampled WINGS itself, but it turns out that all three merely used the same vocal sample from a virtual instrument software pack made by Spectrasonics. Neat. The track in question is called 58-Motion Century Vocal Slicer for all those curious! Catch AMIT dragging the vocals here, fake fan: "better than Kairo, but this time she's the one that sounds a bit annoying lol, also still a bit filler-ish to me." Curaga could take or leave it: "Good, not my fav." Fun fact! Utada is not much of a gamer. Not for Pokémon and definitely not for Kingdom Hearts. However, they do love Tetris! Mx Hikki prefers puzzle games, and even hosted a Tetris invitational tournament for Nintendo during this era back in 2006. Icon demolished those kids with no hesitation! ...But how cool would it have been if Pokémon really was sampling Utada? 1
AMIT Posted January 19 Posted January 19 I had no idea about this Pokemon connection but that's cute.
Suilen Posted January 19 Posted January 19 Quote better than Kairo You just had to remind me, rub the salt into the wound huh 3
Graves Posted January 19 Author Posted January 19 I assume that Tetris event was advertised as being a Utada thing, right? Imagine if it wasn't The poor gamers. Imagine turning up to a Smash Bros. tournament and your opponent is Christina Aguilera, holding her Gamecube controller. 4
Ewan Chaos Posted January 19 Posted January 19 Ahhhh Another Chance my favorite from First Love. I guess I can see why some would see it as a bit more basic but I love it. Shame it's already out. Kettobase... do Hikki stans really not like Distance or something? It's like an obvious top 3 or 4 album for me but with the amount of songs leaving... particularly the GOOD ones, MESS. I guess it's just Curaga, more like Firaga... Wings is cute! Wait I never played BW2... okay unintentional (?) connection!
AMIT Posted January 19 Posted January 19 12 minutes ago, Suilen said: You just had to remind me, rub the salt into the wound huh Mess! Someday I will hear whatever you and @Curaga hear on it, I just know it! 2
Cruel Summer Posted January 19 Posted January 19 4 minutes ago, Ewan Chaos said: Kettobase... do Hikki stans really not like Distance or something? It's like an obvious top 3 or 4 album for me but with the amount of songs leaving... particularly the GOOD ones, MESS. I guess it's just Curaga, more like Firaga... This may change as it’s like, actively growing on me, but I always saw Distance as being in the lower half of her Japanese albums. It always felt on par with First Love, probably because of the genre similarities, but definitely below Hatsukoi and Ultra Blue, and barely in the same conversation as Deep River, Heart Station, Fantôme, and now Bad Mode. I think one part of the problem is that it gets lost in the conversation a lot. It’s pretty similar to First Love and will get lumped in with that as “early Utada,” while the very next album is a major fan favorite and one that’s sometimes seen as her growing out of her early R&B-leaning phase into a sonic direction that’s largely stayed a part of her career since then. And within that conversation of her first two albums, First Love dominates the conversation because of its status and the special distinction of being her debut. Add all that to that the fact that a lot of newer Western fans probably got into her via the singles collections before trying the albums, and you end up with an album that kind of gets lost in some ways. 1
nostalgic Posted January 19 Posted January 19 I'm late today so some brief thoughts: Apple & Cinnamon will have their revenge on Mr. Lawrence, know that! Kettobase, sweetie... ROCKtada, I am so sorry. 1
AMIT Posted January 19 Posted January 19 10 minutes ago, Cruel Summer said: This may change as it’s like, actively growing on me, but I always saw Distance as being in the lower half of her Japanese albums. It always felt on par with First Love, probably because of the genre similarities, but definitely below Hatsukoi and Ultra Blue, and barely in the same conversation as Deep River, Heart Station, Fantôme, and now Bad Mode. I think one part of the problem is that it gets lost in the conversation a lot. It’s pretty similar to First Love and will get lumped in with that as “early Utada,” while the very next album is a major fan favorite and one that’s sometimes seen as her growing out of her early R&B-leaning phase into a sonic direction that’s largely stayed a part of her career since then. And within that conversation of her first two albums, First Love dominates the conversation because of its status and the special distinction of being her debut. Add all that to that the fact that a lot of newer Western fans probably got into her via the singles collections before trying the albums, and you end up with an album that kind of gets lost in some ways. It better grow faster because having to read something like Distance being worse than Hatsukoi feels like a hate crime fr 2 2
Newt Posted January 19 Posted January 19 Sad that I couldn't make this in time, things are too busy I'll speak to TITO, since it's already fully out. Honestly, Hatsukoi deserved to be the first one out, but it makes sense considering the lows are the lowest of her career. The campy songs are straight up unlistenable to me. This One (crying like a child) is genius, yall are haters everything about it is serving top-tier hikki r&b ballad. Dirty Desire is a huge bop and deserved to be much higher as well, even if it has corny moments. The best songs from TITO are some of my most played Utada songs, rest in peace 2
Suilen Posted January 19 Posted January 19 (edited) I'll keep it cute regarding Hatsupoi but I'll be to it what Curaga is to Distance Edited January 19 by Suilen 1 1
Ewan Chaos Posted January 19 Posted January 19 13 minutes ago, Cruel Summer said: definitely below Hatsukoi Outside of THAT part... I think your post makes sense. But you should listen more so that it grows Heart Station is the album I'm surprised is the most beloved tbh, seemingly both here and in the fandom in general. It's one of the ones that I only recently listened to for the first time though, so it'll probably just grow on me with more listens. Or when I get over the "let me keep pushing my bed hair down with my hand and eventually it'll stay down" album cover. 2
Cruel Summer Posted January 19 Posted January 19 5 minutes ago, AMIT said: It better grow faster because having to read something like Distance being worse than Hatsukoi feels like a hate crime fr Honestly, the one I feel bad for is Ultra Blue at this point, because I have a feeling Distance is about to overtake her on my rankings and hit my top five - and First Love might, too. Just her and Hatsukoi down there at the bottom, and that feels… disrespectful.
Graves Posted January 19 Author Posted January 19 1 minute ago, Ewan Chaos said: Outside of THAT part... I think your post makes sense. But you should listen more so that it grows Heart Station is the album I'm surprised is the most beloved tbh, seemingly both here and in the fandom in general. It's one of the ones that I only recently listened to for the first time though, so it'll probably just grow on me with more listens. Or when I get over the "let me keep pushing my bed hair down with my hand and eventually it'll stay down" album cover. Heart Station is a pretty good album minus one but it never registers as a top tier favorite for me... you know? To be honest, call me vapid, but I think part of my lesser impression of the album is down to the outright awful visuals. Bad album cover, bad single covers, terrible music videos... It's such a bland looking era. Makes me think that the music is bland too, at least until I actually listen to it again. 3
AMIT Posted January 19 Posted January 19 3 minutes ago, Cruel Summer said: Honestly, the one I feel bad for is Ultra Blue at this point, because I have a feeling Distance is about to overtake her on my rankings and hit my top five - and First Love might, too. Just her and Hatsukoi down there at the bottom, and that feels… disrespectful. Ultra Blue for me is great great highs that I better not see here anytime soon, but also the tracks that left already that I don't really care for. So a bit inconsistent for me, but I actually consider it a good album overall, maybe because the highs are just THAT good. My early favorites (pre-fantome) were Deep River and Heart Station, and now Bad Mode joins them, with Distance trailing just after. I consider those 4 to be her best and a tad above her others. Kinda hard to rank the middle. Hatsukoi and This One is Deleted definitely at the bottom though. 1
Cruel Summer Posted January 19 Posted January 19 8 minutes ago, Subomie said: Heart Station is a pretty good album minus one but it never registers as a top tier favorite for me... you know? To be honest, call me vapid, but I think part of my lesser impression of the album is down to the outright awful visuals. Bad album cover, bad single covers, terrible music videos... It's such a bland looking era. Makes me think that the music is bland too, at least until I actually listen to it again. This is actually a great point! For me, it’s always been in the top half or so, and I think a part of that is because I don’t pay any attention to the visuals outside looking at the album cover to hit play. Until Fantôme - and specifically the video with Sheena, actually - I didn’t engage with Utada in terms of music videos, single covers, photo shoots, booklets, etc. at all. While tastes of course differ, my own evaluation of Heart Station was solely based on the music. But it’s also so heavily composed of synth-pop that isn’t exactly dated, but that still sort of feels “of its time,” that I think it doesn’t quite hold up as well as some others do. Where it was once my clear favorite, I’d really struggle to put it ahead of Deep River anymore, I can’t really say I listen to it more than Fantôme, and I sort of see Bad Mode as an upgrade to the same overall musical feeling. 1
Curaga Posted January 19 Posted January 19 38 minutes ago, Ewan Chaos said: Kettobase... do Hikki stans really not like Distance or something? It's like an obvious top 3 or 4 album for me but with the amount of songs leaving... particularly the GOOD ones, MESS. I guess it's just Curaga, more like Firaga... 1 hour ago, Suilen said: Not this classic, Curaga kinda giving Sephiroth Embracing the Sephiroth and Firaga allegations. Distance is going down 3
Taste of Honey Posted January 19 Posted January 19 (edited) 2 hours ago, Subomie said: HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 (AMIT) LOWEST SCORE: 5 x 2 (Curaga, Aria0327) MY SCORE: 5.5 Released as a double A-side single with Time Limit, For You was the third release from Distance and lo and behold - an easy #1! Hikki was just throwing them out and cashing in chart toppers at this point in their career. Though this was notably the only one of the Distance singles that didn't cross one million copies sold... Is that perhaps an indicator of a lesser quality song? Well... maybe. Ah, I shouldn't be so harsh. For You is a nice track, all chilled out and with some cute melodies to sing along to. It doesn't achieve much more than "nice" for me, though. I do enjoy some of the production flourishes, but it kind of blends in with the scenery I fear. While I have a lot of time for Time Limit, I feel like another album track might've made for a better single choice than For You. Distance is way too eclectic to have just For You representing it imo! All of that AND it only got a live performance music video. Hate them, always have and always will (and they make graphic designing so much more ugly...). They were knee-deep on their 2000 Summer Tour at this time, so the live performance at the shows served as the music video for the single. How lazy. Well, if Hikki ain't gonna put in effort then neither am I. Bye! Distance anti Curaga throws some more shade: "Sounds so similar to the previous track, but not as good." Luckily, the good sis Distance always has AMIT in her corner: "one of my fave Utada songs, a chill R&B bop. the beat is so infectious, you can't help but bop along to it." This is one of my absolute top favorites by her, but I never expected it to do well here. It's a whole MOOD. Distance is somewhat similar to First Love, and iterates on a lot of its ideas, but I think it stands alone. It's sleeker, glossier and bit more experimental. Her voice was starting to mature and she started embracing the lower register we know her for. And you really start to get the hints that she might be something special. You can see that she has an understanding of what truly makes great Pop records. Edited January 19 by Taste of Honey 3
Cruel Summer Posted January 19 Posted January 19 4 minutes ago, AMIT said: Ultra Blue for me is great great highs that I better not see here anytime soon, but also the tracks that left already that I don't really care for. So a bit inconsistent for me, but I actually consider it a good album overall, maybe because the highs are just THAT good. My early favorites (pre-fantome) were Deep River and Heart Station, and now Bad Mode joins them, with Distance trailing just after. I consider those 4 to be her best and a tad above her others. Kinda hard to rank the middle. Hatsukoi and This One is Deleted definitely at the bottom though. I think the big thing for me with Ultra Blue is that it just doesn’t make me feel anything - except for one track, which I wouldn’t be sad to see in the top five. Like it’s a well-crafted, technically very good record, but I just don’t move when I put it on. It’s actually a little bit like Hatsukoi in that way for me - a lot that I don’t really ever seek out, a few standout great tracks, and then one single track that hits just perfectly. I thought for ages that Deep River, Heart Station, and Fantôme would be my top three forever. But personally, Bad Mode kind of stomped me hard when it dropped, every album took a -1 on my list that day! 3
Suilen Posted January 19 Posted January 19 9 minutes ago, Curaga said: Embracing the Sephiroth and Firaga allegations. Distance is going down If Addicted to You leaves prematurely you'll be Aerith 5
Graves Posted January 19 Author Posted January 19 3 minutes ago, Cruel Summer said: This is actually a great point! For me, it’s always been in the top half or so, and I think a part of that is because I don’t pay any attention to the visuals outside looking at the album cover to hit play. Until Fantôme - and specifically the video with Sheena, actually - I didn’t engage with Utada in terms of music videos, single covers, photo shoots, booklets, etc. at all. While tastes of course differ, my own evaluation of Heart Station was solely based on the music. But it’s also so heavily composed of synth-pop that isn’t exactly dated, but that still sort of feels “of its time,” that I think it doesn’t quite hold up as well as some others do. Where it was once my clear favorite, I’d really struggle to put it ahead of Deep River anymore, I can’t really say I listen to it more than Fantôme, and I sort of see Bad Mode as an upgrade to the same overall musical feeling. As a late arrival to the fanbase, I've kind of had the luxury of having everything on streaming and videos all uploaded, unblocked. I guess in that regard I've probably delved into the visuals a lot more freely than some other fans. I could say that it's because of this rate and making the graphics that I got this bad impression about Heart Station but truthfully I always kind of dismissed it a little bit. Even on a surface level - that album cover? Coming after the first four albums and their beautiful cover art? It just painted an image of Heart Station being basic or not up to par. Lesser. Simple. It probably didn't help that I just did not vibe with the big singles like Flavor of Love / Prisoner of Love at all (Prisoner did grow on me leaps and bounds though! Flavor... well, let's move on...) I did eventually come around to it, though. It was a surprising grower! For reference, I don't have a solid ranking order, but I would put the albums into tiers in terms of my enjoyment. GOATed: Deep River, Bad Mode Oh she's taking it: Ultra Blue, Heart Station, Fantome Still gives me life: Distance, Exodus They're neat: First Love, Hatsukoi This Is: The One 1 3
Taste of Honey Posted January 19 Posted January 19 1 hour ago, Subomie said: HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 (Hey Dude) LOWEST SCORE: 4.5 x 1 (Aria0327) MY SCORE: 8.5 Does this song give album closer energy to anybody else? Maybe it's the downtrodden vibe and the mix of more traditional instrumentation (loving the flute!) with the digital effects coming in and out... they just come together and seem like a nice book-end for the album. A sister song to This Is Love in sound and in lyricism, you know? ...But then they realized they had two singles yet to fit in on the tracklist and put them on at the end. I dunno, just my two cents! But yes, WINGS makes a great lyrical counterpoint to the loved-up intro track. The through-line of ULTRA BLUE is optimism in the face of hard times, but on WINGS the facade seems to slip ever so slightly. Hikaru is more wistful than hopeful in places here, confessing ugly truths like how easy it is to be dishonest with your partner at times. I really like one of the closing lines too: "There are things I could do to be ready for tomorrow, but I’m going to bed early tonight." I LOVE relating to an artist's self-destructive behaviors! Oh, and gaming-minded listeners might have picked up that the ending to this track sounds a lot like some of the songs from games like Pokémon and The World Ends With You. Initially, people thought that both tracks sampled WINGS itself, but it turns out that all three merely used the same vocal sample from a virtual instrument software pack made by Spectrasonics. Neat. The track in question is called 58-Motion Century Vocal Slicer for all those curious! Catch AMIT dragging the vocals here, fake fan: "better than Kairo, but this time she's the one that sounds a bit annoying lol, also still a bit filler-ish to me." Curaga could take or leave it: "Good, not my fav." Fun fact! Utada is not much of a gamer. Not for Pokémon and definitely not for Kingdom Hearts. However, they do love Tetris! Mx Hikki prefers puzzle games, and even hosted a Tetris invitational tournament for Nintendo during this era back in 2006. Icon demolished those kids with no hesitation! ...But how cool would it have been if Pokémon really was sampling Utada? I love this one. Another fun fact about that sample pack, which I've never seen anywhere, but I'm sure it samples Biggie's "Mo Money Mo Problems". The vocals in the ending are absolutely Kelly Price's. 2
Suilen Posted January 19 Posted January 19 1 hour ago, Suilen said: A man on Utada's song - automatically -3 points. Lowkey forgot about KOHH and techically Darkchild while writing this, they get a pass. The man on Homodachi, however... 1
AMIT Posted January 19 Posted January 19 11 minutes ago, Taste of Honey said: This is one of my absolute top favorites by her, but I never expected it to do well here. It's a whole MOOD. Distance is somewhat similar to First Love, and iterates on a lot of its ideas, but I think it stands alone. It's sleeker, glossier and bit more experimental. Her voice was starting to mature and she started embracing the lower register we know her for. And you really start to get the hints that she might be something special. You can see that she has an understanding of what truly makes great Pop records. preach the gospel sis
Curaga Posted January 19 Posted January 19 2 minutes ago, Suilen said: Lowkey forgot about KOHH and techically Darkchild while writing this, they get a pass. The man on Homodachi, however... Whoa, ruthless! I think he’s great! Loved their collab on the Sheena Ringo tribute album too
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