Exodus-Utada Hikaru [Album Review]
Posted on 11 September 2009 | 8 responses
~I’m back!!! I enjoy my senior year in high school very much, however I don’t want to imagine what my life will be like in the next two to three months…..
~Anyways! I’m about to review this strange album, some people address this album as Utada’s big FLOP in her music career, let’s not listen to those idiots 
You are about to embrace with the most original and mysterious album from our dear beloved Utada A.K.A Hikki!
Released: September 8, 2004
Rank: Billboard # 160/ Oricon Japan #1
Sales: 55,000 (USA)/ 1,074,393 (Japan)
Genre: Dance/ Electronica
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Utada’s music genre began to change during her DEEP RIVER era, switching from R&B to Experimental pop. Her U.S debut album Exodus’04 is her most experimental album ever , I suppose during this time period Utada is trying to find her own style of music, and I am glad that her later works wasn’t as experimental as this one, because if she was to continue make experimental music like this her idea is going to become very limited. To me Heart Station has the perfect style, it is not too R&B and not too Experimental.
Have arrived to a sanctuary-like place with the Opening interlude, our minds then was take over by the mysterious and alluring Devil Inside, a catchy dance pop with strange and eerie atmosphere, the electric guitar sounds absolutely fantastic in the song, a song you will immediately fall in love with. Exodus’04 was presented with a poem like feeling, the flowing lyrics and the desert-ish vibe is incredible and memorable. Aside from the weird but sexy ( also with heavy experimental) The Workout and the Urban R&B Easy Breezy(I’m Japanezy…), Tippy Toe and Hotel Lobby gives the listener imaginations with the “sneaky” and tropical feeling of the songs.Animato, Utada’s favorite track off the album, is a song with outer-space feeling and has a hint of sorrowfulness implying in the song.
The Crossover Interlude is an alternative version of the Opening interlude, the mood and Utada’s voice became more techno-ed and cheerful.
Kremlin Dusk has this pressured feeling that makes you feel like something is on your chest, the song reminds me of those sunset in the dessert, where the entire desert is bathe in bloody red color. The quiet but persistent guitar riffs changes with the mood of the song, the simple guitar verse formed a sad and memorable verse in your head. No need to compliment more about Utada’s gorgeous vocals, the song breaks to its emotional peak towards the end. Most memorable and absolutely fantastic.
You Make Me Want to Be A Man is like the twin of Kremlin Dusk, compare to the Ancient sounded Kremlin Dusk, You Make Me Want to Be A Man is futuristic and also very emotional. The weird beats played throughout the song was funky and creepy but definitely in a good way. Utada’s voice was sexy and feminine. The line “You Make Me Want to Be A man…” is emotional with helpless feelings.
Wonder’Bout and Let Me Give You My Love both contains addicting beats but you can see that these two tracks are heavily “Americanized”, it is the lyrics that made them that way. Not bad at all but sounds weird among rest of the creepy/dark tracks, except Easy Breezy.
I Love About Me because of the totally weird chorus, this song present us a different Utada with her unique way of singing the song. Began with quiet A-Capella with guitar riffs, the song slowly turns more pop and experimental during the middle chorus. It is a song with remarkable arrangements.
The special things I love about this album is how creative it is, although it is mostly experimental combined with dance pop, each song is able to stand out individually without any sense of resembling or repetitiveness. One amazing thing Utada has done was using the story-telling way to present the songs, each song has its own story and the strange atmosphere linked them all together into one.
I never see this album as a FLOP from Utada, because it is such an memorable album and shines over This Is the One (overly mainstream made it repetitive/ dull). Out of all of Utada’s albums Exodus gives me strongest impressions because every track is deeply attached to each other and sending off this strong vibe to the listeners.
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SCORE: 5 -REMARKABLE/IMPRESSIVE
No No No I’m still alive like Crispy…
Posted on 15 August 2009 | 7 responses
Hello my dear friends
Haven’t been writing reviews for a while…I actually got lots of drafts with half finished reviews, sometimes I feel so inspired, sometimes I can’t write another sentence…
School is starting next Tuesday, and I will be a senior in High School, with lots of activities and my 5 AP classes…I don’t know how to survive!
There are lots of albums I want to write about, recently I’ve been in love with Heart Station again, also Shiina’s Sanmon Gossip is becoming better and better by the day.
Today I’ll go fishing and have an overnight camping trip with my friend, I’m so excited!!!
I will make sure to write something soon! Although my mother is not satisfied with my grades or SAT or ACT..Oh my god and there is SAT Subject tests!!!
Deep River- Utada Hikaru [album review]
Posted on 27 July 2009 | 5 responses
This album deserves to have the “OMG!!!” avatar, it’s OMG so damn amazing and perfect.
Utada Hikaru
Deep River
Released: June 19, 2002
Oricon rank: #1 (yearly)
Sales: 3,605,000
*8th highest selling album in Japan of all time
Deep River is one of my favorite album from Hikki, well actually all of her albums are my favorite. But this one is special, because everything about this album is special.
The album was released just after Utada underwent surgery to remove her ovarian tumor, when she was only 19 years old, you can imagine that she is starting to grow up and become more mature, in her life and also in her music. three months later she got married to Kazuaki Kiriya, a director who directs most of her MVs.
The album is like the bridge between her old Pop R&B style and her new Experimental pop style. There is a bit of everything, a bit of R&B, Experimental, Dance pop, even Rock, but the album doesn’t seems chaos or out of order, instead all the tracks flows perfectly in the album. It’s a beautiful piece of artwork.
I thought my favorite album is Ultra Blue, However, Deep River seems to have this magical glow that’s just unforgettable to me. Every single song catches my attention with their unique glows
The album began with Sakura Drops, a Experimental pop song that gives you the feeling of fairytale with the use of different music instruments and the traditional Asian melody. The song sounds so colorful with all kinds of voices and instruments, so imaginative and beautiful. Definitely a perfect opening track to get you excited and impressed.
Traveling is a dance pop song, with refreshing techno beats and exciting, danceable chorus, the entire feeling of the song is cheerful and uplifting. Shiawase ni Naro (Let’s be happy) follows the footsteps of the happy Traveling, it is also a cheerful and relaxing song but this time its more R&B pop instead of Dance pop.
Deep River, one of the best ballad out of Utada’s other wonderful ballads. Like the word “Deep River”, this song is flowing with the beauty of sadness. It flows like the river, quiet and natural. The instruments used gives a classical touch to the song. Just so beautiful and memorable.
Recently, Letters has grown onto me alot. The entire song has this very “chill” feeling, it feels cold yet warm at the same time. The continuous acoustic guitar riffs and the nonidentical beats sounds mystic and magical like the tropical forest. The melody and the chorus is absolutely lovely and wonderful. The little rap like singing Utada did towards the end of the song adds extra love to the song.
Play Ball sounds more like Utada’s older R&B works, it starts with simple R&B beginning but towards the main chorus the melody become more complex and more pop. Other amazing song off the album might out glow this simple track, but it still has its own flavor to it.
Tokyo Nights is also a simple song with simple verses and melody, but it is very unique with its strong Japanese feelings. The song starts with short/rhythmic verses then derives into more complex and past faces chorus. The chorus and instruments is very traditional Japanese like, which is of course very memorable and interesting.
I would say Play Ball+Tokyo Nights+A.S.A.P =the little fun trilogy in the album. Those three tracks has simple melody but sounds extremely refreshing and interesting, they are like this chilling cold wind that fresh up you mind. Oh yes, A.S.A.P is a fast paced pop song with catchy chorus and like the previous two tracks, with interesting instruments. The quiet and mysterious bells in the beginning is Oh so interesting.
Why did I exclude Uso Mitai I Love You when talking about the non single tracks? Because the music style of this song does not fit with the other three. It is a Rock song. A Rock melody with a touch of traditional-like chorus. The chorus of the song is awfully similar to Hikari’s chorus, but the rock elements adds uniqueness to the song.
Final Distance, a re-arrangement of Distance. With the same exactly chorus and lyrics but completely different feelings. Distance is a lighthearted R&B song that’s cheerful, Final Distance is a ballad with extremely sorrowful feelings. After Utada sang the first line, the follow up humming sound so holy and sad that bring tears to your eyes ( or at least in your mind, I guess). It is a track Utada re-composed in the memory of a little girl who is murdered by a psycho in elementary school, the girl was a huge fan of Utada and won an essay competition talking about her admiration to Utada. I think it is a perfect dedication and the feeling of the song is just so sorrowful and memorable.
Bridge is a short interlude to the last song Hikari, I personally enjoyed this interlude so much that it outplayed other tracks from this album. Began with the sound of heartbeat, a more colorful side began to reveal with the emerge of amazing violins and beats and sounds like the feeling of a deep forests in the dark, then slowly ends with the same sound of heartbeats, its like a magical dream.
The final track of the album is Hikari, also the Japanese version of “Simple and Clean“. An emotional up-tempo pop song that starts off immediately with fast paced chorus. The feeling of this song is pure passion and love, especially towards the end of the song, Utada’s vocal is amazing with strong emotions. A classic from Utada and I guess a fan’s favorite song from her.
You know, Utada is really just amazing.
Minus the Heart Station, Deep River is not too R&B pop like Distance, nor is it too Experimental like Ultra Blue, it is just in between and handle the style perfectly.
I mean, with so many memorable and absolutely beautiful singles at the same era, and with the simple and cute little trilogy of non single albums, plus one exciting Rock song, plus one gorgeous interlude, how can you deny the awesomeness of this album??
SCORE: 5, HIGHLY RECOMMEND, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, FLAWLESS
*Oh my how cute and adorable Hikki looks in the picture below <3
~Hyperballad doesn’t claim any ownership of the music. The albums and singles that are posted here are for PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES only. If you like the album, please buy the original one to support the artists.~
2NE1 EP -2NE1 [album review]
Posted on 18 July 2009 | 5 responses
Released: July 8, 2009
Genre: KPop/Reggae/Hip-Hop
Tracklist
1. Fire
2. I Don’t care
3. In the Club
4. Let’s Go Party
5. Pretty Boy
6. Stay Together
7. Lollipop (bonus track) ft. Big Bang
2NE1, the girl group under the famous YG entertainment delivers us with this exciting and high quality mini album that is amazing and fun in many ways. The EP starts off with their debut single Fire, a spicy and fun dance song that is extremely catchy and exciting. It is the perfect track to open the album and shows off 2NE1’s fierceness. The follow up track I Don’t Care is the group’s second single, which sounds more western and calming. The summer-ish Reggae styled track is lovely with memorable chorus. The next two tracks In the Club and Let’s Go Party sounds very Big Bang style ( the boy group under the same company) The two tracks are up-tempo Hip-Hop songs with emotional feelings to it, however they sounded a bit dull with the over repetitive chorus, still enjoyable though. Pretty Boy resembles Fire with its fierce beats and danceable melody and Stay Together can be seen as a mid-tempo pop song that is smoothing and memorable, it is quite unique and refreshing among the other tracks off the album. I really don’t think Lollipop should be included in the Ep…especially the “L-o-lli-l-o-lli-Oh-lollipop” thing Sandra did in the beginning. Bleh…Lollipop is a collaboration between Big Bang and 2NE1, it is pretty interesting and fun to listen to, but it just doesn’t fit with other tracks…
I am impressed with this EP, because all the songs are enjoyable and catchy and tracks flows perfectly (except lollipop…). However some tracks does sounds a bit repetitive and dull and most tracks does not stands out much because the overall feeling of each track is quite flat. (All enjoyable and good, but lack something that sparkles) Still they did a fantastic job and this is a very strong debut for 2NE1. You will enjoy this EP for sure.
Score: 4, Highly recommend, wonderful and fantastic
Recommend tracks: Fire/ I Don’t Care/ Let’s Go Party/ Pretty Boy/ Stay Together
Download it (mediafire)
~Hyperballad doesn’t claim any ownership of the music. The albums and singles that are posted here are for PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES only. If you like the album, please buy the original one to support the artists.~
random
Posted on 18 July 2009 | 1 response
I feel great, I feel wonderful, I feel exciting, I feel like updating again haha
I just realized how little attention and love I have give to my dear BoA in the past few months..I used to be a big fan of her and now WHF why am I not liking her anymore?
Anyways, so today I was reading her on Wikipedia and her profile picture is finally updated!!! The old picture of her is so ugly and blurry.
BoA’s new profile photo
The picture was taken during the SF Gay Pride event?
I think it is a wonderful candid…even though her facial expression is a little aggressive but I’m lovin’ it! She looks fierce and hot <3
And she also got a tattoo on her back…
I like the design, although it looks a little weird on the back…
Meanwhile Hikki is at Hawaii right now, she is going to promote her 2nd U.S single soon. It’s good to know that she is still promoting…I wonder which song is going to be the 2nd single?
Kyouiku (Education)-Tokyo Jihen [album review]
Posted on 16 July 2009 | 2 responses
Tokyo Jihen, meaning “Tokyo Incidents”, is a Japanese band composed of Shiina Ringo as the front woman, Seiji Kameda as the bass player, Toshiki Hata the drummer, Izawa Ichiyou the keyboarder, and Yukigumo the guitarist. The music style of the band can be described as a mixture of jazz and rock music. Shiina Ringo compose almost all the music and write all the lyrics , but later on other band members also starts to play a part at the composition, especially in their 3rd album Variety.
I myself discovered Tokyo Jihen from Shiina Ringo, and I highly recommend Tokyo Jihen to all of you who likes Shiina’s music. It’s quite different from her solo works but you can still feel her unique talents in music composition and singing.
This is hopless
Posted on 10 July 2009 | 5 responses
This is seriously hopless…
now I am not grounded or sick or dying or is going to a vacation
it’s just… lacking of ideas…
I don’t know what to write about…
I sit there, and my brain become broken tofu
I’m deeply in love with Tokyo Jihen’s Adult album right now
Also L’arc en Ciel’s Kiss album
Mother, 2 hours is not enough…it’s not enough for me to write >_<
Mother!!!!
By the way, I am ashamed of calling myself a Hikki fan. I only reviewed This Is The One (don’t read that review…it’s really really long and useless)
I need to review her, seriously…
Please come back later in a few days…you might find me updated with something worth reading <3
Yay! <3
Posted on 6 July 2009 | 6 responses
Holla~
I really want to thank Cerri for being so generous and kind, and also thank her for helping me with all the set ups. Oh my god how much trouble I have caused her……I hope I won’t do something as stupid as that again XO
I have no idea wordpress got this much templates…but I choose this one because, well you should know!!!! Doesn’t this theme looks extremely similar to Hikki’s website? *3*
Anyways, so I was checking out my blog stats and this…
1970…I wasn’t even born yet…WOW how amazing..
Going to review BENI maybe tomorrow. I spend all day yesterday to setting up things, I really don’t know if I will be able to install a music player but it doesn’t matter. Cerri made it so easy for me to post..that’s all it matters.
I’m going to the dentist in 2 hours, can I say that I seriously don’t want to go?
Happy July 4th!!!
Posted on 5 July 2009 | 7 responses
…Is that the correct way to say it? Happy July 4th???
(this is not a reviewing post, so skip it if u dont want to hear me talking nonsense)
Genie-SNSD [album review]
Posted on 4 July 2009 | 6 responses
Intro
SNSD…Girl’s Generation…9 beautiful girls…ahh…isn’t this great? └(^o^)┘
They are pretty big in Korea right now, especially since Wondergirls has gone to America, since they have released their chart-topping mini album Gee, since they are all good singers and good dancers…
~My favorite member is Yoona, the girl in the center of the cover, she is beautiful…<3 I like Sunny as well <3
Info
Released: June 29, 2009
Rank: #1
Sales: TBA
Genre: Pop/Dance/Ballad
*There was a controversy over the battle plane Yonna is carrying, I can’t distinguish between them so if I have the original cover with the Japan ship I’m sorry.
Tracklist
1. Genie (Tell Me Your Wish)
2. Etude
3. Girlfriend
4. Boyfriend
5. Fairy Tale
6. One Year Later
Review
Genie, as the promotion track for the album, is pretty great. No, it’s really awesome! I guess all the boy fans’ heart melted into the shape of heart when the girls sang “I’m genie for you boy, I’m genie for your wish, I’m genie for your dream…” But, what does “genie” mean? It says “genie” means “monster” in my dictionary…
Whatever about the meaning, Genie is a addictive dance song with nice melodies and showed a more mature side of the girls. I really hate the talking part in the beginning/middle/end of the song though, they should cut that part out. The leader (Taeyeon)’s solo towards the end was amazing. I don’t know if it will do better than Gee but it is a very nice song.
Etude is a typical song from SNSD, it has their signature cheerful and youth feeling to it. The song is sweet and laid back, it feels pretty great to hear all the girls join together and sing because it just sounds wonderful.
I love Girlfriend and Boyfriend. Girlfriend is a cutesy and upbeat song that feels smoothing and lovely, it’s just full of liveliness and youth! The main chorus is just <3 . Compare to Girlfriend, Boyfriend is more of a sexy pop song with strong background beats and catchy chorus. The chorus is really unique and fresh. I actually like Boyfriend the most out of the entire album.
And now we have two ballads, it is the perfect way to show off their strong vocals. Fairy Tale is a heartwarming ballad, the special part is the cool beats in the background that makes the song have more rhythm. How I love all the members singing together, it’s just so lovely! Fairy Tale also give the Fairytale-ish presence with all the classical instruments played in the song.
One Year Later is a duo between Jesssica and Onew from SHINee. It is a sad, emotional ballad. There is nothing special to this song, it sounds like the typical ballads you hear with the piano and slow melodies, but the vocals were really great. I’m just not a big fan of ballads…
Conclusion
I am truly impressed with SNSD this time! To tell you the truth…I only liked Gee in their Gee mini album, I was quite disappointed with other tracks from Gee. But this time all the tracks sounds amazing with high qualities that not only showed SNSD’s ability to sing but also is really addicting. This album showed more variety from SNSD and also contains wonderful and enjoyable tracks.
Score: 4, highly recommend, well done, better than their previous works in overall quality
Recommend tracks: Genie/Girlfriend/Boyfriend
Bonjour! C’est Kuma chan!
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