Utada Hikaru's new English ablum, "This is the One" -- thoughts?
 

Hey, so Hikki just released a new English album (technically her third, I think, but this is supposed to be her "breakthrough" album for the US market). It's called "This is the One." You can probably find most of the songs on youtube, or you can just go out and buy the CD (it just came out in stores).

So, if you've heard it, what do you think? I've always liked Hikki's music... some more than others. I have her First Love, Distance, and a couple singles/offshoots CDs. Her new English CD sounds a lot more like typical US r&b / hip hop stuff, which I sometimes listen to, but didn't really expect from Hikki. The songs are catchy, but certain parts are kinda repetitive. Some of the lyrics are weird, but she said in an interview that she knows her lyrics are funny, so maybe it's intentional?

I have listened to some of the songs, and my first impression in listening to her songs was Mariah Carey. It wasn't good, but it wasn't shabby as well. I hope she would return to her usually ethereal style.

I've been a fan of Utada since I heard the songs she did for Kingdom Hearts. Its amazing to me how well she can sing in both Japanese and English. I think this new album is gonna be great, and I'll probably buy it eventually. Her voice is just so pretty~ I dont really mind the style change, its her voice that caught my attention in the first place. :)

As much as I like Utada Hikaru, I was a bit unsure about buying this CD because I didn't like her other English album so much...okay, I just listened to all the songs and kind of liked I feared, I didn't like most of them. I don't like the style or lyrics she takes with a lot of them. It's just not her.

I guess I won't buy the CD and just get the ones I like off Amazon for .99 a song. While I'm at it I'll check out Boa's English CD. I'll combine the two and get a CD for my car.

Edit: Actually, I really like only 3 songs (Merry Christmas, Apple and Cin, This one) but I can pay $5.00 and get all the songs. Although I only really like those 3, there are some more that I'm not sure whether or not I like them yet. There's only two that I dislike, Poppin and Automatic II, so I guess this would be the better way to go about it.

I like a lot of her songs, she has a beautiful voice. I may not buy the whole CD, but I will buy many of them off iTunes or something like that. My favorite song from this albumn is Apple & Cinnamon.

its cool.. but i like her old style..

Kinda saw this coming ever sense she did a collaboration with Ne-Yo. It was typical stuff but that's what she has to do to break through over here.

Her voice is a love-hate thing for me. Her voice sounds good and she can hit high notes really well but I hate how she uses that really fast vibrato all the time.

Not as good as when she uses her voice to sing Japanesse song...

From this album i only like Apple and Cinnamon, Merry Christmas, and Come Back to Me..


And her next single will be an OST for Evangelion Rebuild 2.0

I have to say, I don't like his album in any shape or form. Everyone seems to quite like it. Maybe it's because I don't like R&B. I was looking forward to this after the last thing I heard from her was Prisoner of Love.

I noticed all the songs I liked from her was related to a game, anime or dorama. :heh:

Ye. Do you think Hikki will sing for Kingdom Hearts III as well?

I would say it's very likely she will.

Was the song, "Prisoner of Love" included in this album?

Nope. "Prisoner of Love" was on her last (Japanese) album, Heart Station.

I love me some Hikki, but only when she does Japanese albums...She seems to "Poppy" when she does her English albums...
No thanks...

Apple and Cinnamon can be addictive.

Her song titles are pretty flawed in a sense that it turns me off - Sometimes I get disheartened listening to "Taking My Money Back" when it's supposedly one of the better tracks as compared to the rest (in the album).

Yeah, i think the song apple and cinnimon is one of my favorites on her album
Yeah, i agree i think that she could have named her songs a little better

I like the sound of This is the One. It has some nice beats and her voice is wonderful. I hope she is able to break out in the U.S.A. music stream and keep making quality music.

Well i guess contrary to the majority, I'm a pretty big fan of this album. I mean, honestly, I don't think her traditional "pop" albums would see too well in the U.S., it;s just not the in thing. That being said, I am a fan of R&B so I might be a little biased.

On a side note, I've read some fans (not here I don't think) complaining about the content of some of her lyrics (promiscuity etc. ) but I don't really see what the big deal is. She's only 26, I think its perfectly fitting that she adds those themes into her songs.

I hope she succeeds in the U.S. =D

This album feels like one of those that grows on you. On my first pass with the album I wasn't all too enthusiastic about it, only finding some of the tunes to be catchy. After listening to it more and more, I'm really liking it, if not only a few of the songs. Come Back to Me, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI, Apple and Cinnamon and This One (Crying Like a Child) being my favorites. I actually find the lyrics kind of cute too, because it's Hikki. =D

I hope she's going to continually attack the North American market and eventually make a breakthrough! Keep it up Hikki!

^ I agree with you on that last statement too, reflection.

I believe she is good enough so that if she releases enough music in the U.S. she will eventually break into the market.