Curaga Posted January 25 Posted January 25 3 hours ago, Aria0327 said: i ranked her songs from first to last and spread out the scores evenly so some songs have to be in the lower range (and i thought i was being generous by not handing any 1s nnn) overall it's nice tbh and for some sneaks let's hope they would be chopped off next update also wow at her top 40 possibly having an average of at least 8 points Ah, that makes sense then. I rated them just on how I was feeling each song on a scale of 1–10 for songs in general, with a mood/reaction in mind for each number, but maybe that makes me more of a villain for actively disliking quite a few of their songs nnnnn. But 10 was the most common score I gave, and I didn’t give any 1s or 0s either, so…!
Curaga Posted January 25 Posted January 25 Server keeps dropping on my side 1 minute it’s working, then it’s down, then it’s back up…
Graves Posted January 25 Author Posted January 25 Somebody up there does not want this rate to go ahead... I will try to do the update at 10:30 (~35 minutes from now). Tags to come.
Graves Posted January 25 Author Posted January 25 I've tried to post a tagging message at least three times but this place keeps crashing. IDK!
Cruel Summer Posted January 25 Posted January 25 I feel like the server got mad when it saw Pink Blood ranked so low
Curaga Posted January 26 Posted January 26 Whoa, this time, instead of the 500 error, it specifically said they were offline for maintenance, so maybe that means there will be more consistency in the future? idk
Suilen Posted January 26 Posted January 26 P*tin saw that Kremlin Dusk was about to be out and sent hackers and bots
nostalgic Posted January 26 Posted January 26 Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you're always a day away...
Cruel Summer Posted January 26 Posted January 26 As we wait for a stable server day, thanks to this rate, Distance like finally clicked for me today and… damn I can’t even tell what my favorite part is - the jaw-dropping key change halfway through Time Limit, the proto-Deep River instrumentation in parts of Kotoba Ni Naranai Kimochi, the emotional tension both the lyrics and production of For You, the melodies in the title track (especially with the added context of its later rebirth as Final Distance), even Parody is kind of hitting! 3
Graves Posted January 26 Author Posted January 26 HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 2 (Curaga, Cruel Summer) LOWEST SCORE: 4.5 x 1 (Suilen) MY SCORE: 9.5 The third single from Hatsukoi, Anata is also the album's biggest hit - #2 peaking digital single with a nifty Platinum cert under its belt. Sure, the days of utter chart domination were behind us, but Hikaru still grabbing hits twenty years into their career is why they're the monarch! The single cover is one of my favorites of theirs, proof that they can still serve some great visuals when need be. ...The music video is the antithesis of that, of course. Eugh. You win some, you lose some. The single was also used as the theme song for the film 'DESTINY Kamakura Monogatari', and as the commercial theme for Sony's Noican wireless headphones. Most Utada singles get maybe one brand deal, this song got two. The privilege. Anata is a hymn in the same vein as the preceding song, Play A Long Song - it's a sweet serenade to a partner, an assurance of constant companionship and protection. Anata literally translates to "you", so it's a confession that amounts to "nothing matters without you". Look, the lyrics are nice if a bit simple, but the lyrics aren't why I love this track. That would be down to the melodies here. Oof, the chorus is a complete earworm, good luck not singing along. And when the trumpets start coming in? It's over. One of their late-career highlights for sure and easily my favourite Hatsukoi track. HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 5 (Subomie, Curaga, scenekiller, Cruel Summer, nostalgic) LOWEST SCORE: 3 x 1 (Aria0327) MY SCORE: 10 They really saved all the synths for this song. Take 5 is one of those legendary-tier album tracks that gain some reputation. And rightfully so, this synth-laden track is one of the more beautiful and tragic ones of Hikaru's entire career. Despite how pretty it sounds, the song is actually about death. It does fit together when you realize as much, and the song's frantic nature becomes a fitting vessel. It really does sound like Hikaru's delivering some last-minute confessions, unsure of how much time they have left at all. I'd call it an artistic triumph, right down to the sudden ending. Cutting the song in what seems like the middle of the outro. It'd make for a perfect closing track! ...So it's a shame it wasn't. Yeah, of all the tracklisting quirks throughout their discography, following up Take 5 with Boku wa Kuma must be one of the most baffling. Pleading, desperate death-bed confessions giving way to... the dumb bear song for the kids. Even the soundscapes clash real bad. The pulsating synths stopping and you immediately having to hear the entirely-too-happy notes of the bear song. My fingers can never hit the skip button quick enough. And yes, I've heard the theory that it represents rebirth. Going from the death song to the children's song. I don't care! It still sounds whack! Take 5 should've closed the album and that's final! 3
Graves Posted January 26 Author Posted January 26 Enjoy those while I try to figure out a schedule for this top forty stuff. **** the server.
Suilen Posted January 26 Posted January 26 PANata out, what a wonderful day Take 5 done dirty, lowkey expected it to be the top song on the album.
Graves Posted January 26 Author Posted January 26 HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 3 (Hey Dude, confide in me, Reverie) LOWEST SCORE: 5 x 1 (Suilen) MY SCORE: 8 The little baby that would grow up into Final Distance! Though I believe that version of the track to be superior, I do think this is a great little tune too. Sweet and bouncy, Distance is probably the best of the 'teen love songs' of these early years. Embodying the optimistic, and perhaps naive view that love can conquer any distance in the way, Hikki wrote an anthem for the long-distance relationship girls. Put your paws up! There's such a genuine innocence to their voice on here, I don't see how anybody could hate this. It's pure sugar. Though Distance received no single release, that was not always the plan. Initially a planned single release was scheduled as a post-album single for early-mid 2001. Plans were changed, however, and the release was re-worked into the Final Distance we know and love after Hikaru was inspired by the victim of a tragic school massacre in 2001. It's a sad tale, but we can talk more about it when the Final mix leaves. Still, Distance has remained quite popular despite that. It is still one of their most streamed non-singles, received and outing at their 2004 live shows, and even got voted as one of Japan's favorite Utada songs back in 2015... being chosen over Final Distance, even. Those girls love their bops extra sweet, I suppose. HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 2 (Take Me Apart, gingguu) LOWEST SCORE: 6 x 1 (nostalgic) MY SCORE: 6.5 An R&B-infused number, this impatient banger serves to bring us into the final stretch of the Deep River. Though I quite like some of the production choices here, and the ad-libs at the end are very pretty too, I don't think this is one of the stronger album cuts. It's somewhat lacking, I find. The chorus melody isn't as arresting as a lot of the other songs, and I even find it to be a tad repetitive? I dunno. I use it - it's still a Deep River track and they're all decent - but not that often. The lyrics... from what I understand, ASAP is the sound of pleading. Of a needy girlfriend, begging for some affection. The type of person that wants her man's constant presence around her, and will summon him as if its an emergency even for the slightest problems. That's the impression I get. There's an implied coldness to it, that she now has to beg him for his attention. "Just believe me one more time, I swear this will be my last lie." I like a lot of the individual lines here, actually. Lyrically it makes for a cool song, but even I don't know if I'm interpreting it right. No live performances either, as far as I can tell. I feel that the Deep River album tracks got a little shafted on that front. They deserved some live outings. We definitely didn't need B&C or Paint It Black at the 2004 shows. There was room for some of the newer girls. 3
Suilen Posted January 26 Posted January 26 Not me outhating Curaga but I'm a staunch FINAL DISTANCE believer, so ASAP deserved better, like that despair, that rush are PALPABLE. 1
Aria0327 Posted January 26 Posted January 26 distance is cute but prefer this version more (other than final distance) 2
Graves Posted January 26 Author Posted January 26 HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 3 (Subomie, Curaga, Cruel Summer) LOWEST SCORE: 4 x 1 (gingguu) MY SCORE: 10 What a bop! Just when you think you might be losing hope on this album, Hikaru drops the biggest banger of the entire record. And the audacity to use the interlude slot as a glorified intro for this song? Nice. She deserves it. I love this track, and it's one of the rare moments that Heart Station feels like a truly worthy follow-up to Ultra Blue imo. I enjoy the way the production bounces between sparse, empty sounds and the fully animated backing for the chorus. And that spoken-sung part? Brilliant! In a surprise to nobody, Celebrate is a song about... celebrating. Partying. Letting loose. Being free. It's joy incarnate. You know, for as positivity-oriented as their material was around this time, not much of it is as dancefloor-ready as this track. Sometimes you just need the basic bops. Hikaru narrates a trip to the club in this song, praising the DJ set, popping open some Dom Pérignon, and making time to complement sexy ladies on their backless dresses (bi icon). Apparently, Celebrate was the last song made for the album and was finished at the last minute. Imagine a world with no Celebrate... Curaga: "Gentle Beast Interlude is her best interlude and I looove its transition into this song. This is the song I have listened to the most from this album because it’s so addicting." Meloetta Carey: "the end of the best 4 track run in parent's discography, incl. gentle beast." AMIT: "love her vocals in this." HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 4 (Take Me Apart, AMIT, confide in me, Reverie) LOWEST SCORE: 5 x 1 (Ewan Chaos) MY SCORE: 8.5 The second single from the debut, Movin' on without you dropped in February 1999 and showed audiences a different side to Hikaru Utada. Where Automatic and time will tell had been sweet love grooves, Movin' on showed a more defiant and spunky side to the teen. An ultimatum to a distant partner, Hikki tells this person to either start communicating or else watch her go. Not only that, but the super '90s dance sound was a departure from the R&B vibe that otherwise occupies the debut. It's easy to see why it remained one of the fan favorites from the early years, even through to today. It bops! Movin on' was also Hikki's very first #1! And as their first single to peak at the top of the Oricon charts, it would go on to sell over a million copies too. Applause! It remains one of their best-selling tracks to this day. It also had a tie-in as the song for the Japanese commercials for the Nissan Terrano. Automotive icon. The video is... very '90s! Dancing in the airlock of a spacecraft by the looks of it! Bright colours, high-technical! It's very cute. The song was also covered by one-time rival, Ayumi Hamasaki for the Utada tribute album in 2014. Miss Hamasaki gave the gays exactly what they wanted when she reinvented the track as an early-2010s trashy banger. It also bops! Curaga: "Very fun song, but after hearing Ayumi Hamasaki’s version, I understand the potential this song really had. I only noticed this song after hearing her version." AMIT: "the 1-2 PUNCH after Automatic, no wonder she had the geepee gagging." 3
Graves Posted January 26 Author Posted January 26 And sorry for rushing through these, but last night was frustrating as a host and the server drops every hour anyway. Just wanna get through the ten I had prepped
Suilen Posted January 26 Posted January 26 The fun fact about Celebrate is that according to my last.fm, which I've had for more than 10 years and which has data even from before then, I NEVER listened to it before the rate, and it's weird because it's not like the song is so bad that I would avoid it like plague (it's rather good actually). So it's either some kind of a mistake or, knowing myself, I actually never listened to it because back in the day I wouldn't listen to full albums and would only turn my ear to the songs with the titles that gave me a 'good' vibe, and maybe Celebrate didn't pass the vibe check for some reason. As for movin' on without you, I have to admit that I didn't care much for it until the Ayumi cover, but then I was like hmm, there's something about it. 1
Aria0327 Posted January 26 Posted January 26 celebrate is a carefree blissful bop i must say. love the opening ascending melody and the last chorus one of the highs in heart station 2
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