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Started out so simple (and clean)
I first got into Hikaru Utada (a.k.a. Cubic U a.k.a Hikki, a.k.a Utada) after I heard the Johnny Vicious remix of "Automatic;" since then, it's been my favorite song of hers. I've made a habit of buying as many of her albums and singles as I could get my hands on, including her "new" English debuts (she originally debuted in English as Cubic U before she was in Japan; she was in a different genre then, though), "Exodus" and "This Is The One."
I bought her new single "Come Back To Me" and the album it's on, "This Is The One" as soon as they came out on iTunes.
"Come Back To Me" eventually grew on me, and the video is fairly nice (I love her haircut, but she has more costume changes in it than Cher does in a half-hour of her concert!), though in most of Utada's videos, she doesn't look like she's really singing so much as mouthing the lyrics half-heartedly (the one exception: when she's wearing her bright-red lipstick. Must be something empowering about wearing it). That's probably been one of the big reasons I don't seek out her music videos as much as I used to ("Traveling" from back in the day was awesome, though) or DVDs.
Even though she's classed as a J-Pop artist, I'm confused why her new album is considered Pop. It's got more of an R&B or possibly Hip-Hop vibe to it, which got me thinking Utada's trying to go back to her roots for her second English album (since her re-debut).
As for the songs... "Automatic Pt. II" has nothing to do with the original awesome song, and if it shares more than a few chords with the original, I couldn't tell. I frankly think the "song" is a poor assembly of self-plugging lyrics, in even poorer taste than the "She's got a new microphone" line in one of her "Exodus" songs. It's not really a "song" in my book, and it disappoints me that it shares a title (if only because the phrase "It's automatic..." is repeated so incessantly in it) with the song I love so much.
"Apple and Cinnamon" is a nice song, with a cute melody and a sad story. It doesn't scream "Utada" to me though, which is a double-edged sword: one the one hand, the song will likely appeal to a wider audience than her "Exodus" songs, but on the other, ANYONE could have sung it just as well. Without something to make it distinctly "Utada," there's no reason anyone would associate the title with her, which I would think is a hope of artists. For example, if I say "Funhouse," I imagine people immediately think of P!nk, and if I say "Circus" or "Womanizer," people immediately think of Britney Spears. But saying "Apple and Cinnamon" doesn't recall Utada, no matter how cute the lyrics or melody.
What bothers me most is that a huge chunk of the songs on the album are like siblings of "Exodus"'s "The Workout" and "Let Me Give You My Love"--songs about sex. Sex sells, and when you're not using vague metaphors or symbolism, it sells even better. Apparently someone crammed this message into Utada's brain, because she's got "Taking My Money Back," "Dirty Desire" (the most blatantly sexual of them all, and my least favorite song of hers on the album... quite possibly EVER), and "Poppin'" (at least the sexual references are mostly innuendo and not explicit).
"Mu Muero" is interesting, but it seems a little strange that of all "exotic" languages Utada would opt to use for her second English album, she'd go for the tried-and-true Spanish, instead of something Japanese, because... uh, DUH!? Why Spanish? It doesn't seem "her" at all, but seems a "generic English label" thing to do (by "English" I mean the language, not "of England"). The song itself is nice-- maybe the only songs of hers on this album I like are the sad, almost break-up/I want you back-type songs, as opposed to the "empowerment" themes.
If there's an exception to that, it might be "On and On," though when I first heard the lyrics, "Honeys, if you're gay / burn it up / like a gay parade / Honeys, if you're straight / bump it up / take it all away" I was like "WHAT did she just say?" I was on the border of getting offended before I listened to the song again and got the lyrics.
"Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence - FYI" is another innuendo-laced song, but like "Come Back To Me," I think it grows on you. Or it did on me, anyway. There's nothing "Christmasy" about it, but the title probably has more to do with the sexual nature of the lyrics than a holiday in December (for an album in March, I did think it was weird she had something with "Christmas" in the title, until I heard the song).
"This One (Crying Like a Child)" was another one I liked, but like "Apple and Cinnamon," it could have been sung just as well by someone like Vanessa Hudgens and sounded more or less the same. (BTW, I like Vanessa, but I think Utada and Vanessa's singing styles --even if they're both classed as "Pop"-- are very different). I do like the melody a lot more, though; the instruments used are much more unique and blended well than some of the other songs.
All in all, I'd probably give the album a 3/5. I liked "Exodus" a lot more, with songs like "Kremlin Dusk," (my favorite) "Exodus '04," and "Hotel Lobby" (my second favorite). I didn't like "Tippy Toe," "The Workout," "Easy Breezy" very much, and "Let Me Give You My Love" is one of those 50/50 songs with me, but the songs I do like I think are so catchy and wonderful that it makes up for those I don't enjoy as much. Nonetheless, I don't think Utada should have tried to change her style when debuting in English again. Her Japanese songs were great, and if her English ones had the same feeling in them, I'd probably like them a lot more.
My favorite album to date: Heart Station ("Beautiful World" is another favorite song of mine, after the Johnny Vicious "Automatic" remix). Thank goodness I can keep importing her Japanese albums, and iTunes will have some of her Japanese singles, too. I wish Utada nothing but the best, but she's not going to get the super-stardom she did in Japan here in the States with generic lyrics like her last two albums have had. There needs to be something unique --something "Utada" to make me want to buy them again.
Beautiful World by Hikaru Utada from HEART STATION (Rating: 0)
I bought her new single "Come Back To Me" and the album it's on, "This Is The One" as soon as they came out on iTunes.
"Come Back To Me" eventually grew on me, and the video is fairly nice (I love her haircut, but she has more costume changes in it than Cher does in a half-hour of her concert!), though in most of Utada's videos, she doesn't look like she's really singing so much as mouthing the lyrics half-heartedly (the one exception: when she's wearing her bright-red lipstick. Must be something empowering about wearing it). That's probably been one of the big reasons I don't seek out her music videos as much as I used to ("Traveling" from back in the day was awesome, though) or DVDs.
Even though she's classed as a J-Pop artist, I'm confused why her new album is considered Pop. It's got more of an R&B or possibly Hip-Hop vibe to it, which got me thinking Utada's trying to go back to her roots for her second English album (since her re-debut).
As for the songs... "Automatic Pt. II" has nothing to do with the original awesome song, and if it shares more than a few chords with the original, I couldn't tell. I frankly think the "song" is a poor assembly of self-plugging lyrics, in even poorer taste than the "She's got a new microphone" line in one of her "Exodus" songs. It's not really a "song" in my book, and it disappoints me that it shares a title (if only because the phrase "It's automatic..." is repeated so incessantly in it) with the song I love so much.
"Apple and Cinnamon" is a nice song, with a cute melody and a sad story. It doesn't scream "Utada" to me though, which is a double-edged sword: one the one hand, the song will likely appeal to a wider audience than her "Exodus" songs, but on the other, ANYONE could have sung it just as well. Without something to make it distinctly "Utada," there's no reason anyone would associate the title with her, which I would think is a hope of artists. For example, if I say "Funhouse," I imagine people immediately think of P!nk, and if I say "Circus" or "Womanizer," people immediately think of Britney Spears. But saying "Apple and Cinnamon" doesn't recall Utada, no matter how cute the lyrics or melody.
What bothers me most is that a huge chunk of the songs on the album are like siblings of "Exodus"'s "The Workout" and "Let Me Give You My Love"--songs about sex. Sex sells, and when you're not using vague metaphors or symbolism, it sells even better. Apparently someone crammed this message into Utada's brain, because she's got "Taking My Money Back," "Dirty Desire" (the most blatantly sexual of them all, and my least favorite song of hers on the album... quite possibly EVER), and "Poppin'" (at least the sexual references are mostly innuendo and not explicit).
"Mu Muero" is interesting, but it seems a little strange that of all "exotic" languages Utada would opt to use for her second English album, she'd go for the tried-and-true Spanish, instead of something Japanese, because... uh, DUH!? Why Spanish? It doesn't seem "her" at all, but seems a "generic English label" thing to do (by "English" I mean the language, not "of England"). The song itself is nice-- maybe the only songs of hers on this album I like are the sad, almost break-up/I want you back-type songs, as opposed to the "empowerment" themes.
If there's an exception to that, it might be "On and On," though when I first heard the lyrics, "Honeys, if you're gay / burn it up / like a gay parade / Honeys, if you're straight / bump it up / take it all away" I was like "WHAT did she just say?" I was on the border of getting offended before I listened to the song again and got the lyrics.
"Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence - FYI" is another innuendo-laced song, but like "Come Back To Me," I think it grows on you. Or it did on me, anyway. There's nothing "Christmasy" about it, but the title probably has more to do with the sexual nature of the lyrics than a holiday in December (for an album in March, I did think it was weird she had something with "Christmas" in the title, until I heard the song).
"This One (Crying Like a Child)" was another one I liked, but like "Apple and Cinnamon," it could have been sung just as well by someone like Vanessa Hudgens and sounded more or less the same. (BTW, I like Vanessa, but I think Utada and Vanessa's singing styles --even if they're both classed as "Pop"-- are very different). I do like the melody a lot more, though; the instruments used are much more unique and blended well than some of the other songs.
All in all, I'd probably give the album a 3/5. I liked "Exodus" a lot more, with songs like "Kremlin Dusk," (my favorite) "Exodus '04," and "Hotel Lobby" (my second favorite). I didn't like "Tippy Toe," "The Workout," "Easy Breezy" very much, and "Let Me Give You My Love" is one of those 50/50 songs with me, but the songs I do like I think are so catchy and wonderful that it makes up for those I don't enjoy as much. Nonetheless, I don't think Utada should have tried to change her style when debuting in English again. Her Japanese songs were great, and if her English ones had the same feeling in them, I'd probably like them a lot more.
My favorite album to date: Heart Station ("Beautiful World" is another favorite song of mine, after the Johnny Vicious "Automatic" remix). Thank goodness I can keep importing her Japanese albums, and iTunes will have some of her Japanese singles, too. I wish Utada nothing but the best, but she's not going to get the super-stardom she did in Japan here in the States with generic lyrics like her last two albums have had. There needs to be something unique --something "Utada" to make me want to buy them again.
Beautiful World by Hikaru Utada from HEART STATION (Rating: 0)
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I'm a bit confused as to how the song lyrics might relate to the movie's plot, though with Utada lifting a portion of the song and using it in the title, I can see how it must be in there, somewhere, and I'm just not getting it because I haven't seen the movie.
I mean, here are the lyrics:
I give you my heart
Hold on, let me sign it
Your senorita, aka your best friend
Hereby, let it be known
Love like, never before
I'm always at your service
You just have to holler at me
NYC, NYC (what, what?)
Tokyo, Tokyo (what, what?)
Send it out from the streets to the highest, to the highest high
MP3, MP3, players
Work it out, work it out, hustlers
Oh my name got him there, ooh
[Chorus:]
You know why, I'm gonna be yours tonight
We're gonna oooh aaaah
FYI, we're gonna be up all night
I'll see you later
Call me
You know my number
Like Captain Picard
I'm chillin' and flossin'
It's seven o'clock
I issue you the warning
That's right, we're stealing this show
Damn right, letting him know
We're sipping Chardonnay on 2 PM on our working day
Ching a ling, ching a ling (what, what?)
Ching a ling, ching a ling (what, what?)
Take me down to the fields where the grasses, where the grasses, lie
MP3, MP3, players
Oh my name got him there ooh
[Chorus]
See I don't need a freeloader
No I don't want a freeloader
If you want a piece of this stuff
Got to give, got to give something
[Chorus x2]
Based on what I read in the Wikipedia article, I can't see a link, but again, maybe it's because it requires deep analysis? Or maybe it's just "use the song melody, use the title" and the lyrics have nothing to do with the plot of the movie?