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"Utada"'s english album.

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S

sprsk

force push the doodoo rock
listened to easy breezy (wtf is japanesey??????) and devil inside and i have to say.


what the hell is that girl thinking? is she artsy? is she poppy? what the hell? I dont see this album going anywhere and its a shame cause shes pretty talented. oh well if you wanna hear devil inside they have it in the itunes store.


atleast the single's album cover is cool.
 
3

3phemeral

Member
I don't know what her Japanese music was like, but listening to an mp3 that was released a while ago gave me the same feeling. I was reaidng her official US site and she seems to pride herself in her ecclectic musical tastes ... but it just comes off being unable to decide a specific style that'll distinguish her from other artists. Also, I wasn't too fond of her singing -- perhaps the track I listened to wasn't a good indication of her abilities, but the guest vocalist blew her away near the end of the track, leaving me to wonder if she'll show any sort of personality on her other songs.
 
Blackace

Blackace

if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
sp0rsk said:
listened to easy breezy (wtf is japanesey??????) and devil inside and i have to say.


what the hell is that girl thinking? is she artsy? is she poppy? what the hell? I dont see this album going anywhere and its a shame cause shes pretty talented. oh well if you wanna hear devil inside they have it in the itunes store.


atleast the single's album cover is cool.
Click to expand...


Everytime I hear her speak English I want to jab something sharp in my ear! her Japanese songs are pretty good...but boy does her voice piss me off when she speaks English
 
S

sprsk

force push the doodoo rock
3pheMeraLmiX said:
I don't know what her Japanese music was like, but listening to an mp3 that was released a while ago gave me the same feeling. I was reaidng her official US site and she seems to pride herself in her ecclectic musical tastes ... but it just comes off being unable to decide a specific style that'll distinguish her from other artists. Also, I wasn't too fond of her singing -- perhaps the track I listened to wasn't a good indication of her abilities, but the guest vocalist blew her away near the end of the track, leaving me to wonder if she'll show any sort of personality on her other songs.
Click to expand...


her earlier japanese music was better. oh well, there are a bunch of much better artists in japan anyway.
 
Blackace

Blackace

if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
3pheMeraLmiX said:
Wasn't she born and raised in the US (Manhattan)? So I would hope her english is somewhat withstandable.
Click to expand...


Well she lived in both Tokyo and New York (nice to be rich from birth)... and it is not that her English is bad.... it is really high pitched....
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
Easy Breezy is just bleh, the Japanesezy line had alot of fans wondering what she's thinking. Devil Inside on the other hand is really good I think. Easy Breezy was going to be her first single, but it seems like its switched to Devil Inside now (thankfully).

There's a sample of the album out too of 5 songs. Devil Insidie (original), Exodus 04 (Timbaland produced), Easy Breezy, and unknown song that sounds more like Hikki's Japanese stuff than anything else so far, and what most think is the Workout another Timbaland song. Exodus 04 is really good, the Unknown track is probably the best song released so far just because.

I want to her Kremlin Dusk the most, that's the song she did with the drummer from Mars Volta.
 
S

sprsk

force push the doodoo rock
Yeah devil inside is definitely better than easy breezey. but still, i dunno i miss the first love hikki :(
 
3

3phemeral

Member
The track I heard (I think was produced by Timbaland) she was singing in a very soft, whispery voice -- I got the impression it was more of a lack of her ability to produce powerful vocals rather than a stylistic choice. How's her singing overall? Doesn't seem to be a good choice if they plan on using her for a successful flood of Asain entertainers =P

Personally, I think someone like Regine Velasquez would have a better chance at breaking into the US market. There really hasn't been any successful US Asian entertainers... mostly due to the lack of an ability to show that Asian artists have real talent (at least, that's the way I've interpreted it). Regine has an incredibly powerful voice and a phenomenal huge range that'll leave anyone speechless... and since her style seems to typical ballad-y type of stuff, she'd probably be an easy shoe-in for adult contemporary/RnB.

Right now I don't see the market being very friendly to Asian pop acts, god-forbid they produce an asian britney spears. But hey, if it gets more Asians entertainers in the US, so be it ^_^ What I find disturbing is the lack of press on other Asian artists like Harlem Lee, who won the Fame contest or the Viet guy who won Last Comic Standing (he did win, right?).

Eh -- sorry for ranting *_*
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
sp0rsk said:
Yeah devil inside is definitely better than easy breezey. but still, i dunno i miss the first love hikki :(
Click to expand...

Track 4 from the sampler is the First Love Hikki. :p It's probably the first time she's really sounded like that since then.

"There really hasn't been any successful US Asian entertainers."

Surely you've heard of the most succesful Asian artist ever in the US, William Hung. :p

"Right now I don't see the market being very friendly to Asian pop acts, god-forbid they produce an asian britney spears."

I don't know if she can sing in English but Koda Kumi would fit that pretty well.

There are acts trying to break into Europe and US markets though. L'arc~en~ciel is releasing Smile here sometime I believe. And Dir en grey of all bands is releasing Saku is Europe. I'd love to see DEG make it just to see the reaction from parents. If they thought Marilyn Manson was bad, DEG is going to scare the the hell out of them.
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
DonasaurusRex said:
ahahaha you guys actually listen to that? Get yourself some X Japan, Pillows, B'z anything ya sissies.
Click to expand...

Who said we didn't listen to them? I prefer a wide variety of music, not just a few styles.
 
R

RiZ III

Member
Yea I've heard three songs off of her upcoming album. The first time I listend to Easy Breezy I thought it really sucked. But then I listened to it again and it kinda grew on me.
The Devil Inside Scumfrog radio edit and the Richard Vission Mix is good.
Then theres By Your Side. Thats more r&b-ish. I never liked her R&B songs to start with so I didn't really like this one either.
 
R

Rose of Pain

Member
Bah, she should've went the safe route and did an English version of her recently released singles collection. Now it'll be another few years before someone pulls another Coco Lee.
 
3

3phemeral

Member
Yea, I heard "By Your Side" and it sounded pretty bland. Coco Lee was more of a B-list celebrity and disappeared, she's the asian equivalent of Tamia and Deborah Cox when it comes to her public exposure... probably even less than that, considering I haven't heard much from her recently.
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
There's no way Hikki will go down the same way Coco Lee did. A 3phe said she wasn't that big anywhere, atlhough she had some popularity. DefJam paid out alot of money just to sign Hikki to a contract so she'll get a much bigger push than Coco Lee ever did.
 
3

3phemeral

Member
I wonder how they plan on marketing her.. and to whom? Will they push her out like every other artist, hoping she catches on? Or will she pull a Jin and rely on cultural motives and kind of force it down your throat? That 'learn chinese' song was a terrible way to introduce someone that had decent skills -- I think that killed him on the spot in the public eye as a bankable rapper.
 
D

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
RiZ III said:
Yea I've heard three songs off of her upcoming album. The first time I listend to Easy Breezy I thought it really sucked. But then I listened to it again and it kinda grew on me.
The Devil Inside Scumfrog radio edit and the Richard Vission Mix is good.
Then theres By Your Side. Thats more r&b-ish. I never liked her R&B songs to start with so I didn't really like this one either.
Click to expand...

Scumfrog remix?? I *MUST* hear this...
 
R

Rose of Pain

Member
Hrm, they could market her to the Asian population, although I don't know if the Asian population is big enough to sustain her. Her brand of pop pretty much non-existent in American nowadays, so she'll have to carve her own niche. I'm sure the album will sell, say 3-5 million in Japan by virtue of having her name plastered on the cover.
 
K

Kumiko Nikaido

Vindication...sweet.
Hikki's U.S. album has been a LONG time in coming. It's about time it's finally almost here. Some pics from her U.S. site: (www.utada.com)

1078-5282004-124201.jpg


800-4302004-114618.jpg


876-5142004-125808.jpg


5968-1142004-54600.jpg


^ Doesn't her hair in the pic above remind you of a certain blue, speedy hedgehog? :p
 
F

fart

Savant
2 things americans don't like:

complicated music
foreign languages and/or accents

1 thing that americans do like:

pretty girls


so basically the pop acts are the only ones that really have a mainstream chance. i haven't heard any of hikki's US album, but i'm guessing she has a good chance if she can follow the crowd so to speak, massage her sound to appeal to ameripop sensibilities (most of her music already does, so this is easy) and if she can find the right marketing (super super-important. she NEEDS mtv)

as far as the asian community is concerned, it just doesn't have the size as say, the spanish speaking community, and there's a plurality of languages, so her records will have to be in english, and the way the music industry is set up, you don't make any money until you sell a very very large number of records, so it will have to be composed with the spearsian/l'avril/etc. sound and image in mind.

i think she has the potential to pull it off, but she'll need a huge marketing push and a solid single. i would love to see hikki on mtv us (assuming i ever watched mtv us of course).
 
F

Fresh Prince

Banned
3pheMeraLmiX said:
I wonder how they plan on marketing her.. and to whom? Will they push her out like every other artist, hoping she catches on? Or will she pull a Jin and rely on cultural motives and kind of force it down your throat? That 'learn chinese' song was a terrible way to introduce someone that had decent skills -- I think that killed him on the spot in the public eye as a bankable rapper.
Click to expand...

He totally ruined 'They want EFX', now whenever I hear it, I hear this 'I aint your jigga man, I'm a chinaman'.
All this talk about international pop stars are making me think the labels are scurrying(sp?) to try and find the next new thing.
Guess America doesn't make popstars like they used to.
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
"complicated music"

Are you talking lyrically? Because so far judging from this album she's still using alot of metaphors like on her Japanese albums.

"foreign languages and/or accents"

I guess that's one benefit she has, she doesn't have any accent when speaking in English.

"so it will have to be composed with the spearsian/l'avril/etc. sound and image in mind."

I guess that's where the hurdle comes in. The only songs that have the sound you mentioned are the ones composed by Timbaland, they ones she, her dad and her composed (which is every song except for those 3) really sound more like her Japanese songs. I kinda think that's for the best, those above artists are really on their way out so it's best to not jump on an already sinking ship.
 
K

Kumiko Nikaido

Vindication...sweet.
Island Records is having now having a contest. The prizes:

Grand Prize: A trip for 2 to see Utada in New York City. Also, a 20 GB Apple iPod and an autographed copy of Utada's new "Exodus" album.

First Prize: (3) 20 GB Apple iPod and an autographed copy of Utada's new "Exodus" album.

Plus, the first 500 people to enter get the "Easy Breezy" CD single - Utada's debut radio track off "Exodus"!

Enter here:

http://www.utadaexodus.com/default.asp?referrerCode=utadalist

Good luck!
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
shoplifter said:
I actually think some of the visual bands could do well over here.
Click to expand...

That's be interesting if they'd bring the really edgy bands over without censoring them. Although that'd be fairly impossible. Like I said earlier, i'd love to see DEG over here because they'd be censored left and right if they got any sort of marketing push.

I doubt you'll ever see Olivia in the US, atleast not on a major label.
 
Shouta

Shouta

Member
Wow, I don't like Utada in Japanese but man, her stuff in Japanese was 1000x times better than this. She's definitely capable of better in English.
 
G

GG-Duo

Member
It's not that bad. Devil Inside sux. But Easy Breezy's chorus sounds like her Japanese stuff.

she just seems too deliberate in her enunciation.
 
W

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
Apparantly the album is "out". Anyone listen to it yet?

01. Opening
02. Devil Inside
03. Exodus 04
04. THE WORKOUT
05. Easy Breezy
06. Tippy Toe
07. Hotel Lobby
08. Animato
09. Crossover Interlude
10. Kremlin Dusk
11. You Make Me Want To Be A Man
12. Wonder 'Bout
13. Let Me Give You My Love
14. About Me
 
S

Sho Nuff

Banned
I don't know if she has plans for idol status in the USA, but that album certainly isn't going to be taking her anywhere in the English speaking world. Even the Hikki fans here in Japan are rebelling against that crap. ("Japaneezy tte nani???")
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
"10. Kremlin Dusk "

That's the best track. Its 5 minutes long and starts off almost like a ballad and builds into a really loud song. Animato and About Me are really good too.

Once you hear the whole thing, Easy Breezy doesn't fit anywhere on the album, its the only "pop" song on there, everything else is very R&B flavored. The EB music video is just bad also.
 
T

Troidal

Member
Wow, Kremlin Dusk is awesome indeed.

I've played it 2-3 times last night, its a good album as a whole, but other than Kremlin, the others don't stand out as much.

Right now, I'm still leaning towards her 3rd album Deep River as her best album piece yet.
 
K

Kumiko Nikaido

Vindication...sweet.
B0002ZYE3M.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


Utada's Exodus U.S. album is now in stores. Anyone pick it up and have more impressions? Looks like I'll be pushing out her CD purchase a bit since I have to cover other game purchases first...heh. ^_^
 
C

crestfallen

Member
glad that other people think that Kremlin Dusk is the best track on the album.

yeah, i'm pretty disappointed in this one, i'm sorry to say. =/ only a handful of tracks are good.

seriously, wtf is with the lyrics in easy breezy? they're horrible :(
 
Brofist

Brofist

Member
Hrm, they could market her to the Asian population, although I don't know if the Asian population is big enough to sustain her.
Click to expand...

Asian population as in all of Asia? Don't China and India alone account for half the world's population?
 
Brofist

Brofist

Member
Probably 99% of the people in here complaining the lyrics sound stupid now coudn't even understand them in Japanese before anyway :lol
 
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